BBC Radio 1′s big Hackney Weekend in London was a huge success, with an estimated 50,000 people attending the first day which featured a slew of big-name performers. Artists taking the stage included Jack White, Ed Sheeran, will.i.am, Rita Ora, Nicki Minaj, Emeli Sande, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia (who just announced their latest tour will be their final one) and, of course, the headliner Jay-Z, who was joined by M.I.A. and Rihanna for the first half of his set. For the last half hour, Kanye West surprised the crowd and joined his Watch the Throne comrade.
The pair performed renditions of “Otis,” “No Church in the Wild,” “Murder to Excellence,” and last but not least, “N----- in Paris”. Fortunately for those who could not attend, BBC broadcasted the free event on television, meaning for the first time, there’s pro-shot video of The Throne performing.
Sunday's line-up features headliner Rihanna, along with performances from Florence and the Machine, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Plan B, David Guetta and Lana Del Rey.
Watch video of Jay-Z and Kanye West performing at Hackney Weekend below. Scroll to around the 21:00 mark to see Beyoncé mosh to “N----- in Paris." It's pretty amazing.
Passion Pit has unveiled the clip for the first Gossamer single, “Take A Walk,” a video from the perspective of a world-traveling, bouncing blue ball. It’s a collaboration with the Creators Project and it comes ahead of the album's upcoming July 24 release on Columbia. This week the band released the second single, "It'll Be Alright."
Watch the video for "Take A Walk" and listen to "It'll Be Alright."
Yes, this may seem a little weird at first, but Usher recently performed a rendition of Foster the People's “Pumped Up Kicks" for BBC's Radio 1, and it's actually pretty good. And if that's not enough, the man plays bass, too.
In preparation for her video for “Every Single Night”, the first from Fiona Apple's long-awaited album, The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do, the singer gave director Joseph Cahill pretty simple instructions: “do things to me and put me in situations and surprise me.” The end result, as revealed early Sunday morning, is definitely interesting. The entire video is a bit strange, but beautiful.
Watch the video here for "Every Single Night" below (via Sundance Channel). The Idler Wheel... will be available on June 19.
Last year, M83 released the video for "Midnight City," the first single off the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Today, the follow-up was released with a video for "Reunion."
This second video features mysterious functionaries chasing the same children which appeared in the "Midnight City" piece around an eerie cityscape. The video is directed by Fleur & Manu, who also directed the first video.
Florence and the Machine debuted a new video on Wednesday, this one for the track "Spectrum" off the latest LP, Ceremonials.
David LaChapelle co-directed it alongside John Byrne, and the clip features all the expected sumptuous visual ridiculousness that LaChapelle is known for.
Andrew Bird has released a new animated video for his track, "Eyeoneye," and it's definitely an interesting one. It includes little gremlins living inside Bird's body conspiring to break his heart and make thoughts explode in his brain. It's quite a scenario. The video itself is animated by Yu "Ewan" Morita.
Jay-Z and Kanye West have released the video for "No Church in the Wild," one of the most popular tracks off their Watch the Throne album, which features vocals by Frank Ocean.
Neither Jay-Z nor Kanye West actually appear in their Romain Gavras-directed clip, which was released online Tuesday night, but it's probably for the best, considering the rappers appear to be sending a very strong message in this newest set of visuals.
At the beginning of the video, a clash begins with a fiery explosion in the middle of a Prague street. Gavras depicts a power struggle familiar to people all across the globe, regardless of locality. Of course, there is nothing in the video that directly details a specific storyline or plot: Instead, viewers are expected to rely on their own interpretations of the scenes.
While the deeper message is debatable, the visual is certainly powerful. By the end of the five-minute video, the freedom fighters seem to have notched a victory of some sort, standing in triumph in the face of their oppressors.
Earlier Thursday, Imagine Dragons shared a behind the scenes video about the making of their music video for "It's Time," a song which is quickly moving up the charts and iTunes. In the new clip, the members of the band talk about the inspiration for the video, which was shot on a dry lake bed in Barstow, Calif.
"I just feel like the song is about being bigger than yourself, " says lead singer Dan Reynolds. "And I don't think you can get a place bigger than this place."
The video recently premiered on MTV and has acquired more than 500,000 views. "It's Time" is the first single from the band's latest EP, Continued Silence, available now on iTunes via KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records.
This week's episode of Saturday Night Live proved to be more than just the end of the season. For many fans, it's the end of an era. Speculation had increased over the last few weeks about the future of veteran players Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Kristen Wiig, the latter of whom acknowledged her departure during the season finale.
The show featured Jagger as host, along with musical guests Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck. To his credit, Jagger did a great job throughout his entire performance, but the Oscar-nominated Wiig stole the show--one last time.
During the final moments of the show, the entire cast appeared in graduation caps and gowns with Jagger playing a principal in what appeared to be another sketch. He noted "one particular student who is leaving this summer" before calling Wiig to join him up front.
Members of Arcade Fire played the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow" while Wiig took off her cap and gown and danced with each member of the cast, including SNL creator Lorne Michaels. Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck returned to the stage, along with Steve Martin, Jon Hamm--who was featured earlier in the show. Some of Wiig's former castmates also showed up: Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Chris Kattan and Chris Parnell. As the entire group came together onstage, Arcade Fire transitioned to another Stones song, "Ruby Tuesday," with the line, "still I'm gonna miss you."
It was a rousing send-off for Wiig, closing her seven seasons with the comedy show. Although NBC made no prior announcement of her departure, it comes as no surprise. She starred in and co-wrote the hit comedy Bridesmaids, and has had several notable roles in other films. She has six more in various stages of development.
Meanwhile, Samberg and Sudeikis have yet to acknowledge their status for next season. Lorne Michaels recently said that any cast changes would wait until the summer.
Watch the SNL cast say goodbye to Kristen Wiig below.
Thursday night on the Late Show, Regina Spektor performed "All the Rowboats"--the lead single from her upcoming LP, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats. Conan O'Brien and John Mayer also stopped by to see David Letterman, the latter of whom releases his album Born and Raised on Tuesday.
What We Saw From the Cheap Seats hits stores on May 29 via Sire/Warner Bros. Records.
If Matthew Mayfield has ever made bad music, it's likely no one has ever heard it. From his original music to his covers, he consistently proves his artistry time and time again. Earlier Wednesday, he revealed a new video in which he covers the famed "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, and it is certainly worth watching.
The video comes ahead of his new album, A Banquet for Ghosts, which is due to release May 29. Mayfield, who works independently, raised funds on PledgeMusic for this latest full-length. He is currently on tour with another very talented musician, David Ramirez, who previously opened for The Civil Wars last year. John Paul White and Joy Williams of The Civil Wars are each featured individually on two of Mayfield's songs from his 2011 LP, Now You're Free.
BBC Radio 1′s big Hackney Weekend in London was a huge success, with an estimated 50,000 people attending the first day which featured a slew of big-name performers. Artists taking the stage included Jack White, Ed Sheeran, will.i.am, Rita Ora, Nicki Minaj, Emeli Sande, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia (who just announced their latest tour will be their final one) and, of course, the headliner Jay-Z, who was joined by M.I.A. and Rihanna for the first half of his set. For the last half hour, Kanye West surprised the crowd and joined his Watch the Throne comrade.
