MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of Michael Hampton's "Into The Public Domain" Mini Documentary - Magnet Magazine
Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton is suddenly quite busy these days. Back in December, he unveiled Into The Public Domain, an EP co-produced by multiple Grammy winner and Ruffhouse label cofounder Joe Nicolo (Billy Joel, Urge Overkill, Fugees). A “founding father of power-funk electric guitar,” Hampton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with Parliament-Funkadelic almost 30 years ago—and his latest work shows that he’s still shredding the perceived boundaries between rock, R&B, funk, world music and jazz.
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of The Purrs' "To Bed With A Smile" Video - Magnet Magazine
Any band whose new album features a “shoegaze-leaning” version of Robyn Hitchcck’s “Queen Elvis” can’t be all bad. And the Purrs have been pretty damn good for 26 years. Lifers on the Pacific Northwest club circuit, the Seattle band is celebrating the pending release of its latest LP, On All Of Us Right Now!, available May 21 via Swoon. While many of the themes on the new album are infused with post-COVID anger and despair, the performances mostly reflect the sort of petulant optimism found on “To Bed With A Smile.”
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of Sweet Undertow's "Jessie Lee" - Magnet Magazine
The making of Sweet Undertow’s “Jessie Lee” was a nine-year slog. “Turns out trying to make things simple is hard,” say Eddy Undertow, the band’s well-traveled, somewhat mysterious namesake. “I just couldn’t figure it out.”
MAGNET Exclusive: Full-Album Premiere Of The Montvales' "Path Of Totality" - Magnet Magazine
At the very least, touring under the epic shadow of 2024’s total solar eclipse had to be disquieting for the Montvales. At most, it was an ominous, even perilous sign, especially for an astrology buff like Molly Rochelson.
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of Devlin And The Harm's "No Havana" - Magnet Magazine
“No Havana” was shaped by tragedy as much as politics. “I was watching my dad’s health deteriorating as it became clear the political tides were rolling back to the 1950s,” says Devlin And The Harm frontman Devlin McCluskey. “He lived through the Battle Of Britain, spent years in Spain and France, immigrated to the U.S. and became a union organizer. He’d traveled the world, and we often talked about going to Cuba. But as a resident alien with kidney failure, he was fearful of repercussions. In his last days, he had to watch the world rejecting the progress he’d been working toward throughout his life.”
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of The Disappearing Act's "Hard Work" - Magnet Magazine
The germ of “Hard Work” dates back more than a decade to a cluster of ideas the Disappearing Act’s Bob Blumenfeld recorded on acoustic guitar with a simple electronic percussion loop.
MAGNET Exclusive: John Power Goes Track By Track On Cast's "Yeah Yeah Yeah" - Magnet Magazine
Cast’s Yeah Yeah Yeah (Scruff Of The Neck) arrived pretty much out of the blue. At least according to frontman John Power. Youth suddenly became available, and who wouldn’t want to take advantage of the Killing Joke bassist’s venerable production credentials (Verve, Paul McCartney, James). The songs Power had were unfinished, but he decided to work it out in the studio with original members Liam “Skin” Tyson on guitar and Keith O’Neill on drums.
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of Eric Gabriel’s “Rent” - Magnet Magazine
Eric Gabriel often kicks off his songs with a “punchline” and works his way back. In this case, it’s a rental car that “gets you where you need to get” without any commitment.
MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of Ghalia Volt’s “Ride” Video - Magnet Magazine
In a perfect world, we’d remember everything we dream. Ghalia Volt awoke one morning knowing there was a song in her brain somewhere, so she recorded what she could on her phone.
MAGNET Exclusive: Full-Album Premiere Of The Monochrome Set's "Lotus Bridge" - Magnet Magazine
The past 50 years certainly haven’t dulled the Monochrome Set’s wiggy-yet-erudite sense of the absurd. As you’d expected over a half century, there’s been some attrition, with band founder Bid and bassist Andy Warren the sole original members wending their way through Lotus Bridge.
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