It's been about four years since Lorde released her third studio album, "Solar Power", a collection of psychedelic pop, which was meet with a largely mixed reaction. The New Zealand based artist had laid low since then but recently has returned to the scene with new music. With "What Was That", the singer has returned to form with more of the synth-pop sound that first brought her attention. Teaming with new collaborators, Jim-E Stack and Daniel Nigro, the song has Lorde haunted by memories of a relationship that has ended, trying to understand what it was all about. And the music video for the song has the singer moving through New York City, on foot and by bike, before ending up at Washington Square Park, surrounded by a swarm of her fans who were waiting after being notified she was going to make an appearance. This seems to be a good indicator that a collection of new music is on the horizon from Lorde but in the meantime, have a listen to her latest:
The question is asked in "Sly Lives", the follow-up to musician-turned-filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's Oscar-winning documentary feature, "Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" on the legendary musical creator, Sly Stone; "Is there a burden on Black Genius?". It is answered by many artists who appear in this riveting film like Chaka Khan, George Clinton, D'Angelo, Andre 3000, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who all tend to agree that when you put art out into the world, there is an intense pressure by success which can be even more stifling than a fear of failure. They also agreed that Stone, a free-spirited prodigy, was an important and highly influential visionary who kicked down the racial, gender and musical barriers that had been long held-up in society. He would go on to pay a heavy price for his rewarding sonic disruption, although some of the trauma may have been self-inflicted through his struggles with lingering drug addiction. Yet his profound musical legacy has continued to endure and thrive.
Born Sylvester Stewart, he first got into music performing with his family as a gospel group in church after migrating to the Bay area from Texas. As a child, he became proficient at playing several instruments, effortlessly mastering the keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. Stewart went on to become involved in a mixed-race, doo-wop singing group, the Viscaynes in the early 1960's, finding some local success. After later becoming a DJ in San Francisco at KSOL where he played soul records while occasionally mixing in some British rock, Stewart got the opportunity to produce for Autumn Records, making records with San Francisco-area rock bands such as The Beau Brummels, The Mojo Men and The Great Society that featured Grace Slick in her first band.
This lead to the forming of Sly and the Family Stone, a racially integrated, mixed-gender band who performed what would become known as Psychedelic soul, a merging of funk, rock and r&b. After an indifferent reaction to their debut album, Sly and the Family Stone broke through with their follow-up release, "Dance to the Music" in 1968 with the title track reaching the top-ten on the pop charts. More hits followed; "Everyday People", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", "Everybody Is a Star", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Family Affair" with a highlight being an electrifying live appearance during the summer of love at Woodstock.
This sudden success brought problems to the band with creative and personal friction between the musicians and far more prevalent drug usage. But it was Stone's increasingly erratic behavior that would eventually drive some band members to leave the group. And while they would usually be replaced, largely for touring purposes, Stone began to perform most of the instruments and vocals himself during the recording of new music.
Fast-paced and visually arresting, "Sly Lives" reminds us of what a musical anomaly Stone was as an artist at the time. Fearlessly challenging the convention of genres, he was unmotivated by chasing fame, only making music that truly inspired him. Sly and his band were officially together for about seventeen years but really only had almost a decade where they were productive creatively as a musical outfit. But what they were able to accomplish during that explosive period was absolutely innovative and breathtaking.
David Archuleta had seemed to be happy during his time pursuing a music career and getting a jump start by becoming runner-up during the seventh season of "American Idol" back in 2008. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his faith was very important to Archuleta, even putting his rising career as a pop singer on hold while he spent two years as a missionary. But he had also been keeping a secret that he had been struggling with for many years: he was gay. This created a problem for him with the Mormon Church when he finally came out in 2021, eventually feeling he had to leave it behind. Archuleta has continued with his music career, more recently with a desire to perform freely whatever kind of music that personally motivates him and he can have fun with. His latest single, "Crème Brulée" is exactly that, clearly inspired by Sabrina Carpenter's catchy hit, "Espresso" which he had performed live in concert. The music video for this playful song has Archuleta dancing with smooth choreography interchangeably locked with male and female dancers.
Here is a spotlight on some new music: Kendrick Lamar and SZA team up on the single, "Luther" from his album, "GNX" with the video as a short film; "Tonight", the latest from British pop artist, PinkPantheress that is a part of her upcoming mixtape; Lucy Dacus, member of the indie supergroup, Boygenius, has just released her fourth solo album, "Forever is a Feeling" and this is a single from the collection and Kesha is back with new music from her upcoming album, a country/hip-hop hybrid that features T-Pain.
It's not really a great surprise that the romantic relationship between actress/pop singer, Selena Gomez and producer/songwriter, benny blanco would lead to a musical connection between these two. Beginning their love affair a little over two years ago, although they first met working together on music for her second solo album, "Revival" in 2015, this couple, who are engaged, has just released their recent collaboration, "I Said I Love You First", an album filled with songs that focuses on the ending of one relationship and finally finding true love in a new one. Gomez, who stars in the popular series, "Only Murders in the Building" and recently co-starred in the provocative, Oscar-nominated big-screen musical, "Emilia Pérez" and blanco, the pop music creator who has probably worked at some point with every contemporary artist you may know, has brought on board Gracie Abrams, The Marías and J Balvin to appear on their project. Here are a few of my favorite tracks from the album:
The National Recording Registry has just selected the latest twenty-five sound recordings inducted with the goal each year to highlight what it calls "the range and diversity of the American recorded sound heritage". Some of the recordings that have been honored include the debut albums of the pop-rock group, Chicago and the '80's folk musician, Tracy Chapman; the jazz legend, Miles Davis and his experimentation with electric instruments on "Bitches Brew" that became his very first gold album; "My Heart Will Go On", the love ballad from one of the biggest box-office movie hits of all-time, "Titanic" sung by Celine Dion; the recording of the jazz classic, "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Brother Bones and His Shadows which would later become the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team; the original Broadway cast album of the hip-hop flavored biography of the first US Secretary of the Treasury, "Hamilton"; "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", an album considered by many to be the masterpiece of Elton John's recording career; "Happy Trails", the popular theme song for "The Roy Rogers Show" on radio and television written and sung by Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans; Helen Reddy's enduring feminist anthem for the women's liberation movement, "I Am Woman"; and "Back To Black", the breakout hit album by the late British pop vocalist, Amy Winehouse.
The Registry is an extension of the passage by Congress in 2000 of the National Recording Preservation Act. Since 2002, the Library of Congress oversees the selection of 25 recordings, which must be at least 10 years old at the time of induction, and deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". This latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 650.
Here is the complete list of the twenty-five selections entered into the 2025 National Recording Registry:
"Happy Trails" - Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (1952) (single)
Radio Broadcast: "Game 7 of the 1960 World Series" - Chuck Thompson (1960)
Harry Urata Field Recordings (1960-1980)
"Hello Dummy" - Don Rickles (1968) (album)
"Chicago Transit Authority" - Chicago (1969) (album)
"Bitches Brew" - Miles Davis (1970) (album)
"Kiss An Angel Good Mornin" - Charley Pride (1971) (single)
"I Am Woman" - Helen Reddy (1972) (single)
"El Rey" - Vincente Fernandez (1973) (single)
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - Elton John (1973) (album)
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" - Freddy Fender (1975) (single)
"I’ve Got The Music In Me" - Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker (1975) (album)
"The Kӧln Concert" - Keith Jarrett (1975) (album)
"Fly Like An Eagle" - Steve Miller Band (1976) (album)
Nimrod Workman Collection (1973-1994)
"Tracy Chapman" - Tracy Chapman (1988) (album)
"My Life" - Mary J. Blige (1994) (album)
"Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime" - Brian Eno (1995)
"My Heart Will Go On" - Celine Dion (1997) (single)
"Our American Journey" - Chanticleer (2002) (album)
"Back to Black" - Amy Winehouse (2006) (album)
"Minecraft: Volume Alpha" - Daniel Rosenfeld (2011) (album)
"Hamilton" - Original Broadway Cast Album (2015) (album)
