Layoffs continue in the music world, with Revolver, Alternative Press, Goldmine, and—this is what pains me the most—BrooklynVegan all having their staff decimated in August. This was all done by the same parent company. Jazz Monroe has more at Pitchfork.
Katy Perry took umbrage on social media at the Trump administration using her song “Firework” to promote military strikes in Iran. “I am deeply appalled and angry,” she wrote.
A trove of rave sets from the ’90s have been uploaded to the Internet Archive: audio and video from the Rave Preservation Library. Florence Amoroso has the details at Midnight Rebels.
Worm has released what it calls a short film series for its latest black metal album Necropalace. It’s a trilogy of three music videos for songs off the record, the videos adding up to over 30 minutes of music. Check it out below.
UMDCore is a flyer, photo, and video archive for hardcore and adjacent shows at and around the University of Maryland. It’s online at https://umdcore.neocities.org/.
Rest In Peace
Ken Landers of the Detroit band Gore passed away in July. Repulsion, among others, shared a brief tribute on social media.
Dave Stimson co-founded and wrote for Touch and Go (the publication and record label). He passed on in July. The label shared the news on social media.
Jim Goad died in July. He co-wrote and published Answer Me! and wrote the book The Redneck Manifesto, among other works, and also played music. He was a controversial figure that served a prison sentence for assault.
Dave Kendall passed away in July. He was best known as creator and host of 120 Minutes on MTV. He was also a writer and DJ. His colleague Matt Pinfield wrote a tribute on social media.
Jennifer Finch died in July shortly after the revelation of a cancer diagnosis. While best known as the bassist for L7, she also documented the punk scene at an early age through photography and played in other bands.
Photo: Amazonqwe
Wayne Charvel passed away in July at 85. He was known for the guitar brand bearing his name and was also a master luthier who made some unique, custom guitars for famous players. Emily Swingle has more at guitar.com.
William Orbit was a British producer, perhaps best known for his work with Madonna and Blur. He also had solo work and was a Grammy winner. He died at 69 in July. Tom Breihan has the story at Stereogum.
Mike Milford died of cancer in August. The vocalist from Scars Of Tomorrow also had a career in the music business outside of the band. Lambgoat has more info.
Lou Koller was the vocalist of Sick Of It All. He died in July after a long illness, about which he was very public. I was fortunate to have interviewed him and other guys in the band a few times for the Disposable Underground ‘zine.
