Merchbar Minute: Fiona Apple Returns, Radiohead Guitarist Opens Up
Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Opens Up
Radiohead founding member Ed O'Brien has spent decades complementing the musical ideas of Thom Yorke, but his newly-released solo debut Earth steps out of the massive shadow of his former success and is an amazing record on its own. He opened about the process of creating going solo in an expansive Q&A with Rolling Stone.
Fiona Apple Is All The Way Back
Eight years have passed by since we last had a new Fiona Apple album in our hands, but Fetch The Bolt Cutters came out last week with resounding critical acclaim around it. How good is the record? Pitchfork gave it a 10/10 in their in-depth review, and Metacritic's aggregate critic score is a whopping 100 out of 100.
Producers Are Outsourcing Loops
The dig for the perfect sample to loop has driven some of the greatest hip-hop producers of all-time, but the industry is changing, and clearing samples is a costly endeavor. This has paved the way for "loopmakers" to compose packs of their own loops they send to producers, a practice delved into in this excellent piece.
Every week we take to Google Trends to see what people are searching for. Are people looking for WD-40 or E-40? What about Lil Yachty vs. Boat Rentals? Are people yawning, or looking up Yanni's discography? What's more popular; NASCAR or Coachella?
Since we're talking about Fiona Apple, I figured I'd pop her into the ole' Google Trends machine and see what kind of impact the new album had on her search score. Unsurprisingly it's surged over the last week after she treated fans to an incredible record. Speaking of treats, anyone like caramel apples? Google says folks certainly do, but which apple will take the prize this week?
Despite only capturing a handful of states, Fiona Apple comes out with our narrowest victory yet with an average popularity score of 8 to caramel apple's 7.
We want to share pictures from our growing community of music lovers! Let's see your favorite live concert shots, band tees you cherish, trademark hoodies, collection of instruments, posters, and everything you love about music!
No, we're not looking at a wall of vinyl record sleeves, these are all fan art covers made by community member Bronte, done by hand with watercolor. We're in love with this awesome display of music fandom, thank you so much for sharing!
Do you have any music art hanging on your walls? We want to see your creations, awesome pieces you've picked up, and all of your beloved music goodies. Send 'em in folks!
You've probably seen photos of Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire on stage before, and the very first time he doused his axe in flames was in London back in 1967.
But did you know he gave that Fender Stratocaster to Frank Zappa? Zappa not only held onto the guitar, he restored it to give it a second life, bridging a fascinating relationship between two icons.
