Pop Music

NPR has interviewed actor Colin Hanks (son of Tom Hanks) about his new documentary about Tower Records. An excerpt: “Tower sort of helped pave the way for your identity,” Hanks says. “For lack of a better phrase, music makes people, sometimes, where you sort of latch on to music as a way of identifying yourself or your tribe. I got …

Oh, dear. Maybe it would sound better if he performed this in his traditional sleeveless muscle shirt. But probably not.

Openly gay 2002 British Pop Idol winner Will Young tackles trans identity in his new single Brave Man, the video for which follows a real life transgender man as he stumbles forlorn and naked through the streets of London. Young explains: “It seems extremely brave to be a man in a woman’s body and then decide to do something about …

Salon raves: Hot Chip is finally releasing their version of Bruce Springsteen’s dance hit “Dancing In the Dark” — a staple of recent live shows — and the video they just dropped is an amazing pastiche of cringe-worthy yet awesome found 1980s TV clips (there’s some definite cable access hair happening in some of these cuts) to accompany their danceable-up …

Superfruit, who are the two gay members of the Grammy-winning Pentatonix, are closing in on a million views with their Broadway take on some recent hip-hop hits.

“How would Rihanna’s Umbrella look and sound as a production number from the 1952 film classic, Singin’ in the Rain? Check out the Postmodern Jukebox version, featuring the inimitable Casey Abrams on vocals and introducing the Sole Sisters on tap dance.”

Last week lawyers for Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler sent the Trump campaign a cease-and-desist letter which demanded they stop using the band’s 1973 power ballad Dream On as his entrance music. Today Trump tweeted that he has a “better song” to take its place, claiming that he had the legal right to use Dream On in the first place. …

Mylene Farmer holds the record for the most #1 singles in France and she’s collaborated with Sting on a cover of his 2003 release, Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing). Idolator reviews the clip: Directed by Bruno Aveillan, the stylish visual was filmed in Paris, between the piers of the Seine river, in the vicinity of Notre Dame De Paris and …

Via Pitchfork: “Earlier this year, it was announced that Bjorn Tagemose’s ‘loudest silent movie on Earth’ Gutterdämmerung would feature performances from Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, Henry Rollins, Eagles of Death Metal, Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, Slayer’s Tom Araya, Mark Lanegan, Nina Hagen, Slash, and Volbeat. The ‘loud and dark fairy tale’ looks pretty wild, and will apparently accompany a live show.”

The Associated Press reports: Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is asking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop using the power ballad “Dream On” at campaign events. Attorneys for Tyler sent a second cease-and-desist letter to Trump’s campaign committee on Saturday. The letter says that Trump does “not have our client’s permission to use ‘Dream On'” or any of Tyler’s other …

The video for Adam Lambert’s latest single follows four lonely Las Vegas performers as they go through their day. One of them is a male stripper, because sure why not?

Perhaps inspired by a recent scathing report by John Oliver, Australian sampling wunderkind Pogo has turned the tongue-babblings of scamvangelist Robert Tilton into a dance track. You’ll like this.

“I’ll state the obvious and say that he seems like he’s a much more open-minded individual, who seems to be moving outside of the dogma of the Catholic Church that has been set in stone since the days of Constantine. So I think it’s good. It’s good to look out into the big, wide world and see that we have …

The production video for a new Gladys Knight dance single is out this week. Via Billboard: The upbeat track teams the seven-time Grammy Award winner with fellow Grammy winner and producer Symbolyc One, aka S1 (Kanye West’s “Power,” Beyoncé’s “Best Thing I Never Had.”). Written and vocal-produced by Knight protégé/R&B singer Avehre, “Just a Little” is the lead single from …

Sam Smith’s song from the upcoming James Bond flick Spectre has become the first-ever Bond theme to top the British pop singles chart. (Adele’s Skyfall and Duran Duran’s A View To A Kill both peaked at #2 in the UK.) Last week we got the audio for the track and out today is the production video which includes scenes from …

With an assist from Nile Rodgers, Lady Gaga has covered the 1979 Chic classic as a promotion of Tom Ford’s latest line. Rolling Stone reports: In the Nick Knight-directed video to accompany the Chic cover, models dance down the runway like it was a Soul Train dance line, with Gaga herself showing up to showcase some of Ford’s skimpier designs. …

Well-Strung’s new studio album Popssical is out today and with it comes a video take on the 1979 Charlie Daniels Band classic.

The Examiner reports: The Beatles have allowed the controversial animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to use one of their best-known songs, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” for a campaign to promote the adoption of animals, the organization announced Sept. 29. The video was directed by Steven Willis and features cats and dogs who have been …

2.3M views in one day. Rolling Stone reviews the new clip: Lorde leaves an illicit lover lasciviously devoted and enflamed in the striking new video for “Magnets,” the New Zealand singer’s collaboration with UK production duo Disclosure. “Magnets” is one of a number of high-profile collaborations on Disclosure’s new LP, Caracal, which also features The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Miguel and …

Morrissey has followed up his much talked about autobiography with a short novel that’s getting wide notice for all the wrong reasons. From a scathing review in the Guardian: Morrissey’s ego remains untrammelled. That, surely, is the only reason for the publication of List of the Lost in this form. It appears to be unedited, the curse of the writer …