As anyone who’s seen
Richard Hawley in concert can tell you, he’s a bit of a talker. Gigs can often feel more like stand-up shows with musical interludes, as Hawley talks us through the stories behind the songs in anecdotes that are often too blue to put down in print. It’s the same off stage as well. Ostensibly agreeing to chat to mark the re-release of his first three albums, the conversation veers off topic almost as soon as it’s begun. ‘There’s a Memphis in Egypt, you know?’ Hawley suggests at one point, my first name taking us from Elvis to the parting of the Red Sea within seconds. For the rest of our conversation, all manner of diversions pop-up, not least the man himself having to pop inside to put a jacket on as he’s ‘freezing his bollocks off’ sat on the front step taking the call. Like those diversions mid-concert, you don’t mind Hawley striding off on a tangent though – if anything it’s part of what makes him such a fascinating character and a
This Week’s Livestreams (Foo Fighters, Courtney Barnett, Yo La Tengo, Rick Ross, more)
LAST UPDATED: 12/18 at 6:54 PM ET
HERE ARE THIS WEEK S LIVESTREAMS (Sunday, 12/13 - Saturday, 12/19):
Saturday, December 19
4 AM ET, 3 PM ET, and
11 PM ET on Momenthouse. Tickets are on sale now.
BadPond Live Stream Festivals streams on YouTube at
9:30 AM ET, featuring
A.A. Williams, Jamie Lenman, Saint Agnes and more.
All Them Witches stream two virtual concerts at
2 PM ET and
Riz Ahmed is streaming a virtual performance of
The Long Goodbye at
Enslaved are streaming all three parts of the Cinematic Summer Tour at
3 PM ET on
The end of 2020 continues to near, and year-end lists continue to pour in (we posted a reggae list this week, and more BV lists are coming very soon), but this year is not done giving us worthwhile new music yet.
Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack (ft. Grimes, Converge, Tomb Mold, HEALTH, SOPHIE & Shygirl, Run The Jewels, The Armed, and more).
Update: the Lakeyah mixtape is out today too (and really good).
Read on for my picks. What s your favorite release of the week?
Boldy James -
Real Bad Man
What an insane year it s been for Detroit rapper Boldy James. He went from a respected underground rapper to one of the most talked-about and prolific rappers around, with three full-length projects, two of which are widely considered some of the year s best albums (