Music

Chinese Pop Star Chen Chusheng Commissions 14 Paintings From Artist Li Erpeng for ‘Wasteland of Wonders’ Vinyl (EXCLUSIVE)

• Li Erpeng painted 14 works for Chen Chusheng’s album vinyl.
• The artwork is designed to extend the album’s world visually.
• The vinyl earned QQ Music’s “Double Diamond” certification on pre-order day.

Chinese singer-songwriter Chen Chusheng commissioned Hong Kong-based artist Li Erpeng to create 14 paintings for the vinyl release of his album “Wasteland of Wonders”. The collaboration turns the physical record into a visual as well as musical experience, with the artwork intended to express the album’s emotions, fractures…

Guitars in September, bass in April: The My Bloody Valentine album that took over three years to record

• *Loveless* took years to record.
• Kevin Shields used 19 studios and over a dozen engineers.
• The album became a landmark of shoegaze.

My Bloody Valentine’s second album, *Loveless*, took years to record as frontman Kevin Shields pursued a particular sound through repeated studio and engineering changes. The drawn-out process slowed the band’s momentum and strained its relationship with Creation Records, but the finished album became a defining work of shoegaze.…

In 1999, Elvis Costello heard “the greatest incomplete couplet” in pop lyric history. Since then, it has been streamed 28,000,000 times

• Costello praised the lyric’s deliberate omission of an expected rhyme.
• He said the song’s music contradicts its words.
• “Hold On” later gained attention through *The Walking Dead*.

Elvis Costello praised Tom Waits’ “Hold On” for the restraint in its lyrics, calling two lines about dancing in the cold with no music “the greatest incomplete couplet” he could think of. His point was that leaving the expected rhyme unsaid makes the moment more affecting, while the…

Swift telescope hurtles towards Earth as Trump’s defamation case is dismissed

A Nasa observatory is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry today. A judge has dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, while a former DJ Khaled flight attendant alleges harassment in a new lawsuit.

Australian Consumer Advocacy Group Blasts Ticketing Giants for ‘Fleecing Fans’

• Choice named Ticketek and Ticketmaster in its 2026 Shonky Awards.
• A premium ticket for a John Farnham tribute concert cost A$1,650.
• Ticketek said most tickets sold at unchanged prices.

Australian consumer group Choice has criticised Ticketek and Ticketmaster, naming both in its 2026 Shonky Awards for ticketing practices it says drive up prices and make costs harder to understand. Choice chief executive Monique Perry said tactics such as dynamic pricing, “in demand” tickets, concealed prices and short…

‘Radio Cure’: The first song that truly moved Charlotte Cornfield

• Wilco’s “Radio Cure” deeply moved Charlotte Cornfield as a teenager.
• The song’s experimental sound blends sadness with hope.
• Cornfield says it inspired her to pursue music.

Canadian singer-songwriter Charlotte Cornfield says Wilco’s “Radio Cure” was the first song to show her how deeply music could move someone. Hearing it repeatedly in her early teens, she found its mix of sadness, hope and unusual production so powerful that it helped inspire her to make music…

20 years after the film that changed everything, Anvil frontman Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow has no regrets

• The documentary brought Anvil a new generation of fans.
• Kudlow says he has no regrets about its candid portrayal.
• The upcoming tour will feature songs from the band’s first three albums.

The 2008 documentary *Anvil! The Story Of Anvil* introduced the Canadian metal band to a much wider audience, at a time when frontman Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow was delivering school meals. Nearly 20 years later, Kudlow says the film helped create the audience the band has today, and he…