Weezer

In a month that saw 18 year old qualifier Emma Raducanu win the coveted U.S Women's Open Tennis Championship without even dropping a set, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and got off to a flying start as he netted five precious goals. Boris Johnson and his cabinet dropped the ball altogether over Afghanistan, failed to predict fuel shortages at forecourts and did little to allay fears that everything would be fine by Christmas as he desperately reshuffled his cabinet. As he continued his long running spat with Kanye West, Drake released his sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy and Lana Del Rey quite all social media platforms citing other "jobs", "privacy and transparency". Global Citizen put on a spectacular 24 hour show - 'A Recovery Plan for the World', with the aim of ending CoVID19, curbing the hunger crisis, resumption of learning for everyone, advancing equity for all and protecting the planet. Amongst those who performed on the five world stages was Sir Elton, who, as it happens, appears in two of the five releases we have selected for September.   

Lil Nas X - Montero. 

Continue reading: September 2021 Favourites: A Stunning Array Of More Than 60 Artists Feature In Our Pick Of The Top 5 New Releases From September

As it turns out, May 10th has been a pretty lucky day for the world of music. There's been nothing of note this year, but in the last 50 years, there have been a string of iconic albums all landing on today's date. Thus, we've put together a special Album of the Week feature this week, including seven of our favourite albums released on this day...

New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon (1974)

The band's second release (coming a year after their iconic self-titled debut album), Too Much Too Soon is very much a cult record often labelled as one of the earliest punk rock albums. New York Dolls enlisted producer Shadow Morton on the album, and while much of it was re-recordings of demos and cover songs such as The Cadets' Stranded in the Jungle, it is still considered an important record in the proto-punk movement.

Continue reading: Albums Of The Week: Top Seven Albums Released On This Day Over The Last 50 Years [SPECIAL]

NEW GUNS N’ ROSES ALBUM ON THE WAY?

Guns N’ Roses’ guitarist Slash has dropped the strongest hint yet that a new album from the legendary rock group might be on the way.

“We want to do something. We’ve been on the road this entire time, we have another leg coming up in November in Asia, then we’re going to start looking at what the next step is going to be,” he told Revolver magazine about the band’s plans once the Not In This Lifetime tour finally ends.

Continue reading: Music News Round-Up: New Guns N' Roses Album, Weezer Record 'Africa' Music Video, Paul McCartney's Children's Book

Two months after Weezer dropped their surprise cover of Toto's 'Africa', Toto have responded by announcing that they have recorded their own Weezer cover and will release it to the world soon. They've chosen a rather unexpected song from the rockers' back catalogue.

Toto performing live in 2015

In the months leading up to Weezer's release of 'Africa', there had been a social media campaign led primarily by a Twitter account called @WeezerAfrica to get them to cover the song. A week before they honoured the fan request, they trolled them with a cover of Toto's 'Rosanna'.

Continue reading: We Can't Wait To Hear Toto's Weezer Cover

There's something to be said about giving the fans what they want. Weezer have managed to land a spot in the Top 100 following their highly publicised rendition of Toto's 'Africa', which originally came about at the behest of a young music fan who set up a social media page dedicated to the cause.

Weezer perform live at Wembley

Weezer can thank their devoted fans - or at least one in particular - for the fact that they've landed their first spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in almost a decade as 'Africa' reaches number 89. It's also their lowest chart position ever in the US; the last time they managed to enter the charts was in 2009 with the single '(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To' taken from their seventh studio album 'Raditude'. 

Continue reading: Weezer Hit Top 100 For First Time In Ten Years With 'Africa'

After much demand, Weezer have finally caved and given fans - or at least one very persistant fan - what they have desperately been hoping for: a cover of Toto's 'Africa'. This comes after mercilessly teasing them with another cover from the same band, which was admittedly amazing but a very cheeky move.

Weezer performing at Wembley

A Twitter account with the handle @WeezerAfrica has been bugging Weezer to cover the 1982 hit since late last year. Tweeting frontman Rivers Cuomo, they said: 'It's about time you bless the rains down in africa'. 

Continue reading: Weezer Honour Fan Request With 'Africa' Cover

Stand by your beds, ‘90s indie fans – alternative rock legends Weezer and Pixies have revealed details of a joint summer tour together in 2018!

The two bands will link up in late June for a seven-week stint, taking in 29 dates, until mid-August next year. The joint tour begins on June 23rd at Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, winding up at the AK-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix on August 12th.

English indie-pop act The Wombats will additionally join the tour, opening on the dates through until July 15th. Tickets are on sale next Friday, November 10th – but fans can sign up for Weezer's fanclub to get pre-sale access on Monday 6th.

Continue reading: Weezer And Pixies Announce Joint Summer Tour In 2018

When it comes to writing music, influences don't always come from other musicians; sometimes it's a movie, a book, a piece of art... or a decorated surgeon. For Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, it was the latter as he found inspiration in the work of Dr. Atul Gawande.

Rivers Cuomo is an unlikely fan of Dr. Atul Gawande

New York professor and writer Atul Gawande is a self-confessed music-lover who most certainly would have gone on to write music had he not graduated from Harvard Medical School. He's been a ground-breaking figure in the medical industry with his unique outlook on surgery affecting many of his peers; one of his most famous movements was the introduction of the checklist, i.e. the art of proper pre-planning, about which he released New York Times bestseller 'The Checklist Manifesto' in 2009.

Continue reading: Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Finds Inspiration In Unlikely Places

As everybody knows, mash-up albums are so 2005, right? Well, they might enjoy a little revival with the online release of Yeezer, the work of a university student who has spent three years cross-breeding a selection of Kanye West’s hits with tracks by pop-punk veterans Weezer.

19 year old Alex Hodowance from Ohio spent three years, on and off, working on the 34 minute collection of mash-ups, ranging from the bizarre to the highly entertaining. It was uploaded to Bandcamp on Tuesday (October 6th), and quickly gained attention on Reddit before going viral.

Nobody knows if Kanye's heard 'Yeezer' yet, or what he thinks of it

Continue reading: Mash-Up Album Of Kanye West And Weezer Emerges Online - Called 'Yeezer'