Melo Relo (Photo courtesy RXNIN)
Melo Relo is a hip hop and R&B producer and songwriter from Rockville, Maryland, and he’s appearing on Songbyrd Music House’s Caged Byrd livestream series via Instagram on Thursday, May 14.
GFTD during a pre-pandemic performance (from left, iNTeLL, PXWER)
“My seeds grow with his seeds, marry his seeds/ That’s how we keep Wu-Tang money all up in the family,” Ghostface Killah rhymed on “Glaciers of Ice,” off Raekwon’s classic solo album Only Built for Cuban Linx. That was in 1995. Twenty-five years later, the words from the Wu-Tang Clan rapper has proven prophetic.
Will Colbert of Parklife DC recently spoke with iNTeLL, who is the son of Wu-Tang Clan member U-God, and one of half of the group GFTD. His partner in rhyme is PXWER, a fellow Staten Islander and son of Method Man. The pair are part of the 2nd Generation Wu rap collective whose members include Sun God (son of Ghostface Killah) and YDB (son of the late ODB).
The progeny of hip hop royalty constitutes the new Tao of Wu. Enter the next chamber!
Dennis DeYoung (center) performs with his band. (Photo courtesy the artist)
Former Styx member Dennis DeYoung is back with a new original solo album, 26 East, Vol. 1. The album is available May 22 via Frontiers Music Srl.
Joseph Mount (center) fronts Metronomy (Photo courtesy Orienteer)
Joseph Mount from Metronomy broadcasts an exclusive Instagram TV transmission to fans on the @roughtradenyc Instagram TV feed on Tuesday, May 12!
The Del McCoury Band performs at Ram’s Head On Stage in Annapolis in November 2017. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Ronnie McCoury, the eldest son of bluegrass legend Del McCoury and the longtime mandolin player for The Del McCoury Band, says he’s never had this much free time in the four decades he’s been performing music.
Ronnie was just a 13-year-old kid when he got his first glimpse of his father’s buddy Bill Monroe playing the mandolin, and, not long after, he was playing gigs alongside his dad. All these years later, Ronnie’s an eight-time International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year and, just last year, produced the association’s Album of the Year — “Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass” — with his dad.
Christine and the Queens (Photo by Camille Vivier)
Late in February, Christine and the Queens released a surprise EP, La vita nuova, which draws strength from extreme vulnerability. Produced by Christine and the Queens and Ash Workman, the EP is available now digitally on Because Music, and available to pre-order on CD and LP, due for release May 29.
La vita nuova arrives with an accompanying short film of the same name, imagined by Christine and featuring the EP’s five new songs in as many sequences.
Vast Robot Armies album cover for Paper Crown Parade (Artwork by Victor Malang)
Vast Robot Armies describe themselves as “three cities, two countries, one band.” John Agee (guitar, bass, and vocals) and Joe Wells (guitar, bass, synth, and backing vocals) hail from Kansas City, Missouri. Jason Thomson (guitars, piano, synths, and vocals) lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The band recently released a new full-length album titled Paper Crown Parade. I caught up with Jason to ask him about standout song “Little Detroit.”
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries of OMD (Photo by Tom Oxley)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) announces “Live From Your Sofa!” — an online performance featuring never-before-seen footage of the whole of last year’s Hammersmith Apollo London show. The OMD concert film screens on YouTube on Saturday, May 9.
Ocean Alley (Photo by The Sauce)
Australian psych band Ocean Alley recently released a kaleidoscopic new single/video “Hot Chicken.”
Billy Bragg (Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff)
Inspired by Billy Bragg’s recent Mother’s Day video release for his song “Can’t Be There Today,” City Winery and Billy are co-producing a special multi-artist Mother’s Day concert that will be broadcast on YouTube on Sunday, May 10.
