Peter Helman
Stereogum
New York, United States
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Past articles by Peter:
The Books' 'Thought For Food' Came Out 20 Years Ago Today
“Aleatoric,” a sampled voice intones amidst crystalline chimes on “Read, Eat, Sleep,” the second track on the Books’ 2002 debut album Thought For Food. “Aleatoric. Alea-toric. Aleatoric,” others dutifully repeat, testing different pronunciations and emphases. The first voice — possibly the host of a spelling bee — uses the word in a sentence: “By digitizing thunder and traffic noises, Georgia… → Read More
Willie Nelson – “Energy Follows Thought”
Willie Nelson is releasing his new album A Beautiful Time on 4/29, his 89th birthday. We’ve already heard lead single “I’ll Love You Till The Day I Die.” And today, just after the passing of Nelson’s older sister and pianist Bobbie Nelson, he’s sharing “Energy Follows Thought,” an original song co-written with his longtime musical collaborator Buddy Cannon. Listen below. → Read More
Pixar's Turning Red: Hear Billie Eilish & Finneas' Boy Band Song "1 True Love"
Turning Red, the new Pixar movie about a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who turns into a giant red panda, the Incredible Hulk style, whenever she gets too excited or stressed, officially hits theaters today. Set in the early 2000s, the film features a fictional boyband called 4*Town, and all of their songs were written by the real-life world-dominating pop songwriting duo of Billie Eilish and… → Read More
Alanis Morissette – “Olive Branch”
Alanis Morissette just announced new dates for her world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill. She’ll be supported by Beth Orton in Europe in June, and Garbage are joining her for the North American leg in July and August. And today, Morissette is releasing a new song called “Olive Branch,” which was co-written by Michael Farrell and produced by Farrell and Henrik… → Read More
Jordana – “Pressure Point”
Young indie-pop artist Jordana announced her new album Face The Wall — which is technically her sophomore record but her official studio debut — last month. And today, following lead single “Catch My Drift,” she’s back with another song called “Pressure Point,” written with the LP’s co-producer Cameron Hale and MICHELLE’s Charlie Kilgore. → Read More
Watch Flea Join Nick Cave & Warren Ellis On “We No Who U R” In LA
“I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?’ And the answer is always the Red Hot Chili Peppers,” Nick Cave reportedly said in 2004. But last night, RHCP bassist Flea joined Cave and Warren Ellis onstage during their show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in support of last year’s Carnage. → Read More
Tess Parks – “Brexit At Tiffany’s”
Toronto-born, London-based artist and Anton Newcombe collaborator Tess Parks is releasing her new solo album And Those Who Were Seen Dancing in May. And today, following lead single “Happy Birthday Forever,” Parks is sharing new track “Brexit At Tiffany’s,” in which she delivers scratchy spoken-word poetry over a deliciously smoky psych-pop groove. She says: → Read More
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat – “European Moons”
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, the Baltimore duo of Ed Schrader and Devlin Rice, are releasing their new album Nightclub Daydreaming in a couple of weeks. We’ve already heard the tracks “This Thirst,” “Berliner,” and “Echo Base.” And ahead of their tour kickoff today, Ed Schrader is sharing one final single alongside the following personal statement: → Read More
Louder Than Life 2022 Headlined By NIN, Slipknot, KISS, & RHCP
Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, KISS, and Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining the 2022 edition of Louisville’s Louder Than Life festival, which bills itself as the World’s Largest Rock ‘N’ Roll Whiskey Festival. The lineup also features Bring Me The Horizon, Evanescence, Shinedown, Lamb Of God, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Alice In Chains, Incubus, Halestorm, Tenacious D, Yunglud, Baroness, Mastodon,… → Read More
Tomberlin – “tap”
Artist To Watch alum Tomberlin is finally releasing her sophomore album i don’t know who needs to ear this… at the end of April. “The theme of the record,” Sarah Beth Tomberlin says, “is to examine, hold space, make an altar for the feelings.” We’ve already heard two songs, the title track and “happy accident,” both of which have been real good. And today, we’re getting another, “tap.” As she… → Read More
Destroyer – “June”
Dan Bejar is releasing the new Destroyer album LABYRINTHITIS in a couple of weeks. We’ve already heard the singles “Tintoretto, It’s for You” and “Eat The Wine, Drink The Bread,” and today, we’re getting another one that’s twice as long as either of them. → Read More
Jane Lai – “Age Carry”
Teenage Halloween keyboardist Jane Lai is stepping out on her own with the release of her debut solo single. “Age Carry” is a lovely little DIY folk-pop song that Lai tells Brooklyn Vegan is about “about growing up too fast and also remembering to validate the pain that happens in your youth as you grow older.” Listen to it below. → Read More
Frog Eyes – “I Was An Oligarch”
Just four years after releasing their “final” album and breaking up, Frog Eyes are back. The Vancouver indie-rock greats are releasing their new album The Bees next month, and we’ve already heard one song from it, “When You Turn The Light On.” Today, we’re getting another single called “I Was An Oligarch,” which is a definitely a Frog Eyes song title. As frontman Carey Mercer explains: → Read More
Watch Sting Play Newly Relevant “Russians” In Support Of Help Ukraine
Sting has posted a video of himself playing his 1985 song “Russians” — one of the essential ’80s songs about nuclear anxiety — in support of Help Ukraine, an initiative to send medicine and humanitarian aid to a warehouse on the Ukrainian border in Poland. In a message before the performance, Sting says: → Read More
Stream JEFF The Brotherhood’s New Ye Olde... EP
JEFF The Brotherhood, the rock duo made up of Nashville brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, returned last year with a new 7-inch single. And today, they’re back again with Ye Olde…, a very spacey, psychedelic new EP recorded over four days at Earthbound Sound Studio in New Orleans last year. It comes with quite a description on Bandcamp: I imbue thee, my divinely favored brother, to ride eastward… → Read More
Watch David Byrne’s America Utopia Perform “Burning Down The House” On CBS Saturday Sessions
David Byrne’s American Utopia is currently in its second run on Broadway. And today, he stopped by CBS Saturday Morning along with his 12-piece marching band to perform “Burning Down The House” and Marching Through The Wilderness.” → Read More
Sam Smith And Normani Sued For Stealing “Dancing With A Stranger”
In 2015, Tom Petty was awarded a songwriting credit for Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” due to its resemblance to “Don’t Back Down.” And now, Rolling Stone reports, Sam Smith is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over another of their big hits, the 2019 Normani duet “Dancing With A Stranger.” → Read More
Battle Ave – “Black Jeans”
Battle Ave are releasing I Saw The Egg, their first new full-length album in seven years, next month. They’ve already shared the tracks “Maya,” “Leo,” “Core,” and “Fool.” And today, for Bandcamp Friday, they’re sharing some more music. → Read More
Watch Hurray For The Riff Raff Play “Pierced Arrows” On Colbert
We named Life On Earth, Hurray For The Riff Rafff’s first album in five years and their first for Nonesuch Records, our Album Of The Week a couple of weeks ago. Alynda Segarra is heading out on a North American tour in support of the LP later this month, and last night, they stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to play early single “Pierced Arrows.” Check out their performance below. → Read More
Mark McGuire – “Keep Going”
Former Emeralds guitarist Mark McGuire has been releasing extremely pretty loop-based ambient guitar music on his own for years now. And today, for the first Bandcamp Friday of Bandcamp’s new era, he’s released a new song called “Keep Going,” which starts out as an acoustic reverie before slowly adding in more and more layers of electric guitar. Listen below. → Read More