While this week's music headlines have been dominated by news of David Bowie's death, a steady stream of summer festival lineups and announcements have been coming in.
As far as New York City is concerned, AEG/Goldenvoice, the producers of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have announced that their Panorama Festival will be going on July 22nd-24th, with LCD Soundsystem to headline.
So we're running down a bunch of stuff on our radar. It's "What We're Listening to This Weekend." There's definitely David Bowie, a fire new untitled Kendrick Lamar track performed on Jimmy Fallon, and who can forget Erykah Badu's remix of Kanye West's "Real Friends?"
Plus, Governor's Ball announced its preliminary lineup, featuring return headliners Kanye West and The Strokes. Not to mention, there's a Hip Hop Hall of Fame opening in Harlem, so we've got to touch on old school hip-hop.
So strap on some headphones. Give it a whirl. Tell us what you're listening to. What'd we miss?
1. Erykah Badu - "Trill Friends (Real Friends Remix)"
Just like always, Kanye is everywhere. Not only is he a headliner for Governors Ball, but Erykah Badu has shared a playful remix of West's "Real Friends," featuring lyrics from Whodini's "Friends." The above SoundCloud embed is a rough cut, check out the silkiest version here.
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The track was recorded in Dallas, TX while Badu admits, she was supposed to be recording something else. None the less, Badu let fans know "Trill Friends" is part of her upcoming mixtape, THIS $h!t TOO EASY.
2. David Bowie - "Lazarus"
https://youtu.be/y-JqH1M4Ya8
Now, Bowie's last album, Blackstar, is interesting, cool, intriguing, beautiful, awesome, and just down right weird. Much of the weirdness surrounds that it's a parting gift from Bowie to his fans, and that's exactly how he wanted to go out.
So while the idea of an self-eulogizing album is weird on its own, it's something beautiful that we've never even heard of before. Like, who gets to send out a farewell album days before they actually die?
Along with the album, they released this incredible music video for the track, "Lazarus." It's hard to watch Bowie in this condition because after the news of his death your mind might automatically drift to the thoughts of, "Sh*t, that guy is dying of cancer right now."
That part of it is a little dark, but that might make the video even better.
3. Seu Jorge - "Life on Mars"
https://youtu.be/JHo26IhDxx0
First off, you should definitely check out David Bowie's parting gift to the world, Blackstar. It's pretty incredible. But with the litany of various other Bowie tributes floating around the web lately, we thought we'd go with something a little different.
For The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions, Seu Jorge performed David Bowie's "Life on Mars" among other Bowie covers, which are all stellar.
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All of the lyrics are in Portuguese, and it sometimes skews into the realms of kitschy, funky elevator music, but of all of the non-Mothersbaugh Wes Anderson soundtracks, Seu Jorge's contributions to The Life Aquatic rate pretty highly.
4. Kendrick Lamar - "Untitled 2" (Live on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon)
https://youtu.be/iZJXvjeWlVA
Kendrick Lamar appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon recently, during which Fallon paid special attention to Lamar's having earned 11 Grammy nominations for his latest album, To Pimp a Butterfly.
Kendrick, apparently eager for new music in 2016, performed an untitled track during the Tonight Show's live music segment, and it's amazing. It spans much the spectrum of styles we've become accustomed to seeing from Lamar, and the musical arrangement is no less stunning than his vocals.
5. LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends" (Live at Madison Square Garden)
https://youtu.be/a9wnbPUgq6c
It's sadly kind of a footnote on the Panorama Festival announcement that LCD Soundsystem will be headlining.
It's probably because LCD's reunion was announced right around Coachella 2016's lineup announcement.
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It makes sense they'd headline an AEG/Goldenvoice festival on both coasts as they have an agreement for three festival appearances.
So check out this great video from LCD Soundsystem's last NYC show, in 2011 at MSG.
6. Rae Sremmurd - "By Chance (Prod by Mike Will Made It & Resource)"
A little over a week ago, Rae Sremmurd let loose a new single on SoundCloud called "By Chance"
The hook circles around acquiring this or that, Xanax, Kush, whatever it may be..."Are you plugged in by chance?" It's some laid back trap, get with it.
7. Kurtis Blow - "The Breaks"
https://youtu.be/5ZDUEilS5M4
With news of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame opening in Harlem, it only makes sense to roll it back to 1980 and spin some Kurtis Blow.
Other Harlem rappers include Big L, Doug E. Fresh, Immortal Technique, Tupac Shakur, and Cam'ron. They're all awesome and we couldn't be happier a long overdue Hip Hop Hall of Fame is opening... but just let Kurtis flow.
Check out A Conversation with Tony Award-Winning Artist Johnny Gallagher.