Celebrating the biggest and most popular names in the music industry, the Grammys have just announced the winners of 2015’s Best Alternative Album, Best Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance.
St. Vincent is having a breakout year, with her self-titled record scoring huge accolades including the 2015 Grammy for Best Alternative Album. In addition to numerous other publications, mxdwn named St. Vincent album of the year. Additionally, the album offered two songs on our Top 40 Song’s of 2014–“Digital Witnesses” (#28) and “Birth in Reverse” (#4). Recent developments for St. Vincent include releasing an expanded Deluxe Edition of her self-titled smash featuring previously unreleased material.
At the close of 2014, she released a new video for “Birth in Reverse”, as well as new song “Bad Believer” to tease the release of her deluxe reissue. These developments came within a month of her releasing two other unheard tracks from the forthcoming expand edition, “Pieta” and “Sparrow.” Talking Head’s frontman David Byrne (frequent collaborator and seeming mentor to St. Vincent) has also decided to tap the avant garde pop star for music for an upcoming color guard showcase he’s planning called Contemporary Color. She is also set to perform at this year’s Coachella Festival along with Jack White.
Speaking of the former White Stripes leader, he just won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance of 2015, behind a strong effort on the album Lazaretto. In addition to being the highest selling vinyl record this past year, White’s Lazaretto is also the highest selling vinyl since Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy, which is obviously quite a feat.
Keeping with the licorice pizza theme, White also found vinyl copy of a single he released with The Upholsterers, one of his bands from before the White Stripes, apropriately enough hidden inside a couch cushion. White’s record label, Third Man Records, also just released the 23rd installment of it’s vault series, which features previously unreleased White Stripes material from when the band was touring South America in 2005.
While he has been touring, he has continued to promote himself furiously, such as releasing video for “Would You Fight for My Love?” White also recently teamed up with Pandora to stream his live performance on January 30th at Madison Square Garden, giving all his U.S. fans chance to hear him play for free. Even at this frantic pace, though, White still found time to reunite with the Racountuers at one of his live shows in Nashville, as well as release the new song “It’s Just Too Bad” with the Alison Mosshart-fronted Dead Weather society (another side project).
Though they definitely veer heavily into comedy territory, no one would dream of taking away Tenacious D’s metal credentials. Truly, their Grammy for Best Metal Performance of 2015 was just icing on the cake of another fun-filled year for duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Following a successful first run of the Festival Supreme in 2013, the band announced second event to be held in 2014. The festival featured a blend of comedy and metal, with a lineup including musicians Metalocalypse, Eagles of Death Metal and the Aquabats as well as comedians Cheech and Chong, Workaholics, the State and Margaret Cho–though, many of these acts straddled the line between music and comedy. The band also contributed cover of “The Last in Line” for tribute album Ron James Dio–This Is Your Life, based on one of their favorite musician’s career.
Leave a Comment