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      Beatles’ ‘Now and Then,’ Billed as ‘Last Song,’ Due Nov. 2

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      “Now and Then,” an unfinished composition from the late 1970s, was completed using technology that separated John Lennon’s vocal from a piano track.“Now and Then,” a recently finished recording from the late 1970s that is being billed as the “last song” by the Beatles, will be released on Nov. 2, more than half a century after the group broke up, thanks to advancements in audio technology, the band’s remaining members announced Thursday.The track — along with two other songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” that were released in the mid-1990s — was initially recorded by John Lennon as a demo with piano and vocals at his home in Manhattan’s Dakota building not long before he was killed in 1980.After receiving those recordings from Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, in 1994, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr worked on the tracks, but found that the home recording of “Now and Then” could not be properly mixed with the tools of the time.Last year, according to the announcement, McCartney and Starr worked to complete the song, using the same audio technology — WingNut Films’ MAL — that the director Peter Jackson used to isolate instruments, vocals and chatter for his 2021 documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back.”“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney said of “Now and Then” in a statement on Thursday. “It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.”Starr added: “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”McCartney previously caused confusion and consternation among purist Beatles fans earlier this year when he said that they had used “A.I.” technology to finish a final Lennon track. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this A.I., so then we could mix the record, as you would normally do,” he said at the time.But rather than any artificially created sounds meant to reproduce Lennon’s voice or playing, the official announcement makes clear, the technology was used to preserve “the clarity and integrity of his original vocal performance by separating it from the piano.” The same technology was used for last year’s rerelease of the 1966 album “Revolver,” which included a new mix sourced directly from the four-track master tape recordings.“Now and Then,” which will be preceded by a 12-minute making-of documentary the day before its release and a music video the day after, includes “electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by George, Ringo’s new drum part, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing,” according to the announcement. McCartney also added a slide guitar solo inspired by Harrison, as well as backing vocals with Starr in the chorus.The track will also feature a string arrangement by Giles Martin, the son of the former Beatles producer George Martin, who died in 2016, along with McCartney and the composer Ben Foster, plus backing vocals from three other Beatles songs — “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because” — as a nod to the Beatles’ stage show and album, “Love.”The release of “Now and Then” will be paired with the Beatles’ 1962 debut single “Love Me Do” as a double A-side single with an original cover by the artist Ed Ruscha. The song will also be included in the expanded reissue of the Beatles’ greatest hits collections, “1962-1966” (known as “The Red Album”) and “1967-1970” (“The Blue Album”), due out Nov. 10. More

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      The Rolling Stones Played Old! They Played New!

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      Last week the band played an intimate release show in New York celebrating its latest album, “Hackney Diamonds.” Now hear songs from the new LP in conversation with ones from the past.The Rolling Stones onstage in New York last week: Ronnie Wood, Steve Jordan, Mick Jagger (and yes, Keith Richards is just behind him!).Kevin MazurDear listeners,Last Thursday, I had the absurd good fortune of going to Racket — a 650-capacity club in Manhattan that one recent Google review called an “intimate venue, perfect vibe to see a small concert — to see a seven-song set by … the Rolling Stones.I know. I know. To quote the lead single from the band’s new album “Hackney Diamonds,” don’t get angry with me.The show was technically a release party for “Hackney Diamonds,” the Stones’ first album of original material in nearly two decades. (Jon Pareles spoke to them about it last month.) And though rumor had it the band would be playing, I did not believe it until I was standing several people back from a stage onto which Mick Jagger — 80 years old; unflagging; approximately a women’s size 00 in both jeans and leather jacket — strutted and announced, “We’re going to play old! We’re going to play new!” Even then, I did not quite believe it.They greeted our fair city with “Shattered,” that eternal anthem of New York squalor and survival. (I wish the song sounded more dated 45 years later, but alas there are still rats on the Westside and bedbugs uptown.) Ronnie Wood shredded exuberantly; Keith Richards strummed coolly in purple silk; Jagger shadoobied in fine form. They sounded — miraculously — just like the Rolling Stones.Well, with one obvious absence: Charlie Watts, the band’s longtime, quietly virtuosic drummer, who died in 2021. Steve Jordan, who was Watts’s personal pick to take over, meshed well with the group’s live energy, though. (The bassist Darryl Jones, the keyboardist Matt Clifford and the backing singer Chanel Haynes — who had a particularly impressive turn on “Tumbling Dice,” rounded out the lineup.)The set, as Jagger implied, pulled from the fresh and the classic, which is appropriate for a show introducing “Hackney Diamonds” to the world. There’s a throwback spirit to the album, but it also sounds rooted in the present tense, thanks in part to the production of the 32-year-old Andrew Watt. “Hackney Diamonds” at times also plays like an A-list rock ’n’ roll revue, featuring contributions from Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga — who, at Racket, came out for a transcendent encore of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” clad in a glittery jumpsuit that matched the smoldering fireworks display of her vocals.I’m still reeling from this show (did it actually happen?), so consider today’s playlist a postscript to it. I wanted to place some of the highlights from “Hackney Diamonds” in conversation with older Stones songs, to chart certain progressions and recurring sensibilities.Also, my dad has had familial Stones bragging rights for my entire life for seeing the “Exile on Main St.” tour in 1972. Please allow me my long-awaited hour of boasting.Listen on Spotify as you read.1. “Start Me Up” (1981)There’s an easy but irresistible simplicity to the leadoff track from “Tattoo You,” a bare-bones Stones classic: two verse chords, that chunky little riff, steady but shuffling percussion. The brilliantly low-concept music video — an early MTV staple — is also a master class in rock star charisma. (The cutaways to a smiling Watts are the best.) (Listen on YouTube)2. “Angry” (2023)Similarly, the Stones don’t overcomplicate things on “Angry,” the first single and opening track on “Hackney Diamonds.” I like the negative space in this song, which puts all of its elements — grumbling guitars, fleet-footed beat, Jagger sass — in stark relief, really making them pop. (Listen on YouTube)3. “Under My Thumb” (1966)A musical highlight of the Brian Jones era (some crucial marimba playing here) marred by some of the more controversial lyrics in the Stones’ catalog, “Under My Thumb” tells the spiteful story of a sexual power struggle — well, one side of it, anyway. (Listen on YouTube)4. “Depending on You” (2023)“I invented the game but I lost like a fool,” a heartbroken Jagger sings on this mid-tempo ballad, sounding uncharacteristically regretful and even repentant. The change has come: He’s under her thumb. (Listen on YouTube)5. “Street Fighting Man” (1968)Though some found the lyrics incendiary when it was first released in the tumultuous year of 1968, “Street Fighting Man” sounds less like a call to revolution than a cheeky, somewhat self-deprecating show of support from the sidelines: “What can a poor boy do ’cept to sing for a rock ’n’ roll band?” Jagger sings atop Richards’s spikily textured rhythm guitar. “’Cause in sleepy London Town there’s just no place for a street fighting man.” (Listen on YouTube)6. “Whole Wide World” (2023)The Stones revisit those London streets on this menacing rocker, though they don’t sound quite so sleepy this time around: “The streets I used to walk on are full of broken glass,” Jagger sings, referencing the image from which the new album gets its name. (“Hackney diamonds” are the shards of debris left over after a robbery.) The members of the Rolling Stones are obviously a long way from the shadier streets of Hackney now, but on this song they sound nostalgic (at least in theory) for a more hardscrabble past. (Listen on YouTube)7. “Gimme Shelter” (1969)An ominous, era-defining anthem that Jagger once called “kind of an end-of-the-world song,” “Gimme Shelter” is all about Richards’s serpentine riffs and the explosive guest vocals of Merry Clayton, the only female singer to be prominently featured on a Stones album for 54 years. At least until … (Listen on YouTube)8. “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” (featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder) (2023)… this gospel-tinged “Hackney Diamonds” highlight, which finds Lady Gaga and Jagger pushing each other ever higher into the stratosphere. (As if that weren’t enough star power, Stevie Wonder also plays keys on the track.) As the album’s producer Andrew Watt said, “She joined the band on that song. She’s almost embodying Merry Clayton.” (Listen on YouTube)9. “Stop Breaking Down” (1972)The influence of blues artists — especially Black American blues artists — looms large over the Stones’ entire discography. That’s explicitly apparent on the ambitious double-album “Exile on Main St.,” particularly on this grimy rework of a 1937 Robert Johnson song. (Listen on YouTube)10. “Rolling Stones Blues” (2023)The finale of “Hackney Diamonds” is this back-to-basics take on the Muddy Waters song that inspired the band’s name all those years ago. As Pareles put it in his profile, “It’s just Jagger’s voice and harmonica and Richards’s guitar, unadorned in real time, circling back to the love of the blues that brought them together as teenagers. It could be a career postscript or a reaffirmation.” (Listen on YouTube)Look at me, I’m in tatters,LindsayThe Amplifier PlaylistListen on Spotify. We update this playlist with each new newsletter.“The Rolling Stones, Past and Present” track listTrack 1: “Start Me Up”Track 2: “Angry”Track 3: “Under My Thumb”Track 4: “Depending on You”Track 5: “Street Fighting Man”Track 6: “Whole Wide World”Track 7: “Gimme Shelter”Track 8: “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” (featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder)Track 9: “Stop Breaking Down”Track 10: “Rolling Stone Blues”Bonus TracksOver the weekend I saw Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” — a great, challenging, heartbreakingly gorgeous American epic that I cannot recommend highly enough. I was especially moved by Robbie Robertson’s score (completed before his death earlier this year), which fuses blues and folk with the music he heard growing up on Canada’s Six Nations Reserve. It’s a fitting coda to a singular career, and luckily much of it appears on the soundtrack released last week. Give it a listen.Also, I avoided reading much about the movie before seeing it, so I had no idea that singer-songwriter Jason Isbell was in it (?!), let alone that he played such a prominent role. He was great! And he’s hilarious in one particular scene with Leonardo DiCaprio — if you’ve seen it, you know the one. More

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      Who Is Jackson Mahomes and Why Are Taylor Swift’s Fans Concerned?

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      Taylor Swift spent Sunday’s game in Kansas City, Mo., in a suite with Mr. Mahomes, an influencer known for problematic behavior and a sexual battery arrest.As Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, slapped hands and bumped hips in a touchdown celebration that took over social media on Sunday night, a man in a white T-shirt and a backward baseball cap clapped behind them. The handshake, which was shown during the broadcast of a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, finished with both women turning around and celebrating with the man, who bent down to their level with a broad smile.Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes getting Jackson Mahomes in on the secret handshake pic.twitter.com/3iCaDSFNTy— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) October 22, 2023
      Nothing about the man’s actions was particularly noteworthy. But the Swifties who had not followed football before Ms. Swift began going to Chiefs games this season soon realized what N.F.L. fans had known for years: Jackson Mahomes, who is Patrick Mahomes’s brother, has a knack for getting himself into the spotlight. And his personal history, which includes an arrest on charges of sexual battery, has the ability to complicate what has been a fairly straightforward relationship between Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Chiefs and one of football’s most beloved players, and Ms. Swift, one of the world’s most popular musicians.It was a situation that generated plenty of memes, and more than a few calls for the N.F.L. or the Chiefs to step in.Ms. Swift’s fans are known for finding Easter eggs in virtually anything she does and sniffing out any potential flaws in her romantic relationships. What they are learning about Jackson Mahomes is likely to continue to generate a great deal of discussion.Who is Jackson Mahomes?Mr. Mahomes, 23, is the younger brother of Patrick Mahomes, 28, the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. With 1.1 million followers on TikTok, Jackson Mahomes is a social media influencer who has parlayed his connection to his famous brother, and his friendship with his sister-in-law, Brittany Mahomes, to be a regular fixture at N.F.L. games and beyond.Before Sunday, Mr. Mahomes had not been much of a presence at games attended by Ms. Swift, who was at Arrowhead Stadium to cheer for Mr. Kelce.Jackson Mahomes has built a large social media following based largely on the popularity of his brother, Patrick, an N.F.L. star.Jay Biggerstaff/Getty ImagesWhat are some of his more notable incidents?At an N.F.L. game in 2021, Jackson recorded a TikTok dance on the field at the Washington Commanders’ stadium while standing on the uniform number of Sean Taylor, an N.F.L. star who was murdered in 2007 and was being honored with a jersey retirement ceremony that day. Mr. Mahomes eventually apologized and said he had not intentionally danced on Mr. Taylor’s number.“We were directed to stand in the area and I meant absolutely no disrespect to him or his family,” Mr. Mahomes said in a statement posted on social media.Earlier that year, Mr. Mahomes also had a run-in with fans in Baltimore in which he responded to their taunts after a Chiefs loss by pouring water on them. He later justified the behavior by saying the fans were “thirsty.”What about the assault accusation?Jackson was briefly jailed in May and wound up being charged with three counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of battery. His arrest came after an encounter on Feb. 25 in which Aspen Vaughn, the owner of a restaurant in Overland Park, Kan., said that she had been discussing an earlier incident with him, in which he was accused of shoving a customer, and that he grabbed her by the throat and kissed her at least twice.“He forcibly kissed me out of nowhere,” Ms. Vaughn told The Kansas City Star. She said the advances were unwelcome and shocking.Mr. Mahomes was in court in May for a bond motion hearing in a sexual battery case. His preliminary hearing in the case has been postponed twice.Nick Wagner/The Kansas City Star, via Associated PressThe encounter was captured on video. While Mr. Mahomes and his representatives have said that he is prohibited from discussing what happened, they issued a statement when the accusation was first reported that said they had “substantial evidence refuting the claims of Jackson’s accuser.”He was released on a $100,000 bond. The preliminary hearing in the case was originally scheduled for August, but was delayed because the judge had tested positive for the coronavirus. It was rescheduled for Tuesday of this week, but on Monday The Kansas City Star reported that it would be postponed again, as Mr. Mahomes’s lawyers requested a continuance. A scheduling conference will be held on Tuesday instead.Will Ms. Swift be at more Chiefs games?We may not know for a while if Ms. Swift’s camp will step in to make sure there is more distance between her and Jackson, regardless of how his legal situation is resolved. That is because Ms. Swift’s Eras Tour resumes on Nov. 9 in Argentina, with the South American leg of the tour finishing on Nov. 26 with a show in Brazil.Preparations for those dates could keep her away from Kansas City’s games on Sunday (in Denver) and on Nov. 5 (against Miami in Frankfurt as part of the N.F.L.’s International Series).There has been rampant speculation online, however, that Mr. Kelce could turn the tables on the situation and visit Ms. Swift. The Chiefs do not play on Nov. 12, and while there would probably be practices in some form after the team returns from Europe, Mr. Kelce would be free to do as he pleases late in the week, meaning he could attend one of the shows in Buenos Aires.With another break in the Eras Tour scheduled for December and January, Ms. Swift could be back for more Chiefs games as the regular season winds down. Her return would seemingly be welcomed by the team. After Mr. Kelce recorded 179 yards receiving on Sunday — the second-highest single-game total of his career — Chiefs Coach Andy Reid made it clear that he did not view Ms. Swift as a distraction.“Kelce keeps getting better with time,” Mr. Reid said. “Taylor can stay around all she wants.” More

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      Trance Music Is Coming Back. Evian Christ Is Part of the Revival.

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      The producer got his start in the 2010s connecting underground electronic sounds and hip-hop. His first album, “Revanchist,” embraces a long-derided genre of dance music.It was the seventh soggy weekend in a row in New York, but a throng of 20-something club kids with chunky boots and shaggy mullets still made the pilgrimage to a punk venue in an industrial stretch of Brooklyn where the British producer Evian Christ was performing a four-hour D.J. set to celebrate the release of his debut album, “Revanchist.”Backlit by a rig of xenon strobe lights and silhouetted by arena-grade fog that engulfed the dance floor in a blissed-out haze, Christ did the most to bring a religious experience to the room. His masterful, theatrical buildups, full of relentless bass lines, pounding synths and prismatic arpeggios, blasted from the speakers as a single disco ball sparkled overhead. The crowd seemed to rise off its feet and levitate alongside it.But Christ, born Joshua Leary, didn’t always know how to work a room like this.“When I started, I could hardly D.J. at all, to be honest,” he said in a recent interview from his home in the northern English town Ellesmere Port, where he still lives. Over a decade ago, Christ was catapulted into the spotlight after his 2012 mixtape “Kings and Them” caught the attention of Kanye West, who invited him to produce on his buzzing, shape-shifting sex jam “I’m in It,” from “Yeezus.” The track helped catapult his career: Collaborations with the rappers Travis Scott and Danny Brown, an itinerant club night called Trance Party and a fresh record deal followed. But he didn’t put out a full-length album of his own until last Friday.Most artists don’t drop their debut a decade after their breakthrough, but Christ, 34, has long chosen the unconventional path. In the 2010s, he was part of a wave of producers seeking out intersections between underground electronic music and mainstream hip-hop, splicing chopped-up rap vocals with hard-edge synth stabs. His skill for that approach endeared him to ravers across the globe, in part because he has long been devoted to trance, an often-derided genre of dance music rooted in big climaxes and unabashed sentimentality. On “Revanchist” he leans into it at a critical moment in the sound’s bubbling comeback, making a statement about its relevance and power.It’s an audacious album from an artist who practically stumbled into music. The first time Christ stepped foot in a professional recording studio was at West’s request. He was in his early 20s, and had been making tunes in his mother’s garage while studying education and teaching schoolchildren during the day. “I was more interested in other hobbies, like sports,” he explained. “I just did music if it was raining.”At the end of 2011, he uploaded some experiments to YouTube, which the now-defunct Tri Angle released as the mixtape “Kings and Them” in February 2012. A year and a half later, West (now known as Ye) and his team flew Christ to Paris to work on “Yeezus.”“When I was really young, I found this music really exciting, uplifting and sublime,” Christ said. “And through no conscious decision of my own, I ended up getting drawn back into trance music.”Krista Schlueter for The New York Times“It was slightly weird,” he said, chuckling.Christ attributed the long wait for his first full-length partly to his desire to step out of the spotlight and refine his craft. “Since I started making music, I was suddenly expected to work on No. 1 records,” he explained. “I didn’t have the experience or know-how to follow through on that in a way that I felt good about.”His reverence for dance music was planted early. Christ fondly recalled playing the 1996 racing video game Wipeout 2097, which had a soundtrack featuring acts like the British electronic producer Sasha and the rave duo Orbital. “I was obsessed with the feeling of driving these spaceships around and listening to this music,” he said. His stepfather, who D.J.’ed on the weekends, had a room at home where he kept records and turntables; often he’d play compilations from the influential clubbing brand Gatecrasher.Christ was immediately infatuated with the flashy Y2K album artwork of the genre: colorful, sci-fi dreamscapes that featured skyscrapers or hovercrafts from the 22nd century. At the end of trips to the supermarket, his mother often rewarded him with trance CDs to play on his Walkman. “Trance music is quite childish in a way,” he said. “I found this music really exhilarating, really futuristic.”He was introduced to the art of production on weekend visits with his father, who was a fan of ’70s and ’80s synth-pop bands like Human League and Pet Shop Boys; his dad saved up to buy keyboards and sequencers. They’d fiddle around with the machines for fun, but when Christ was in his teens he struck up a Myspace friendship with his fellow English producer Lukid, who taught him the basics and encouraged him to continue exploring.Making “Revanchist,” he returned to old project files dating back to 2014, rummaging through unfinished ideas and upscaling the freshest ones. He completed an initial version of the album in 2020, but the pandemic and sample issues delayed its release. After a monthslong battle to clear one crucial sample failed, Christ decided to write some new songs instead, keeping what he still liked from the original draft of the album.“Revanchist” preserves the sweeping drama of Christ’s style, diving into hyperpop excess and apocalyptic delirium. Its epics embrace trance’s signature soaring supersaws — a type of synthesized sound created by layering de-tuned saw-toothed sound waves.“When I first started playing trance in my sets,” he recalled, “it was really challenging for people’s tastes.” He noted that the culture of electronic music was — and often still is — elitist. “It was like, ‘This is serious electronic music for people with taste. And this is garbage electronic music for normal people.’”The Dutch curator and trance expert Arjan Rietveld said many people perceive trance as the kind of music they’d hear on the radio or TV around the turn of the millennium, citing its commercial sound “with cheesy vocals and distasteful video clips.” (The Belgian artist Ian van Dahl’s turn-of-the-century blockbuster “Castles in the Sky,” for instance.) He said the genre’s negative perception was also somewhat the result of technological advances: “Making and sharing music became accessible to pretty much anyone with a computer, some software and an internet connection.”Today, trance is experiencing a resurgence and critical reassessment. Other electronic artists are returning to the sound: “Strong,” a song by the xx singer Romy and the British producer Fred again.. employs the genre’s sky-high arpeggios and penchant for feather-light vocals and inspirational lyrics. Though it was once a faux pas for D.J.s to spin these tracks in some avant-garde spaces, now it’s not uncommon to hear the genre’s colossal synth leads at underground nightclubs.“It’s a genre of music that has way more depth to it than even I probably have discovered yet,” Christ said. “If 1 percent of people end up doing half of what I’ve done, then it’s all worth it. ’Cause this music has been lambasted for so long.”The fact that “Revanchist” is arriving at a moment of renewed interest in the genre isn’t lost on him. “When I was really young, I found this music really exciting, uplifting and sublime,” Christ said. “And through no conscious decision of my own, I ended up getting drawn back into trance music.”“A lot of things in life go full circle somehow, and this has been one of them.” More

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      Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Hits No. 1 after Four Years

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      The song from Swift’s 2019 album, “Lover,” is a fan favorite that took on new life during her record-breaking Eras Tour. On the album chart, Bad Bunny debuts at the top.Four years ago, Taylor Swift included the song “Cruel Summer” on her album “Lover.” It became a fan favorite, and had been in line to be released as a single in 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic changed all plans. “That is something that happened that stopped ‘Cruel Summer’ from ever being a single,” the singer said a few months ago.But this year, Swift played the song on her record-breaking Eras Tour, and it was belatedly given the proper promotional push. After breaking into the Top 10 in July, “Cruel Summer” has finally made it to No. 1, becoming Swift’s 10th track to top Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.Over the last week, Swift went all out to promote it. She discounted the track for digital sales and released an EP containing a remix and a live version, “so we can all shriek it in the comfort of our homes and cars,” as she announced on social media.Last week, “Cruel Summer” had nearly 19 million streams in the United States, sold 41,000 downloads — up from around 2,500 the week before — and had 78 million “airplay audience impressions,” a measurement of a song’s popularity at radio, according to the tracking service Luminate.On this week’s album chart, Bad Bunny sailed to the top with his latest album, “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” (“Nobody Knows What Will Happen Tomorrow”), which the Puerto Rican superstar released on Oct. 13 with just a few days’ notice. The album, his third to reach No. 1, opened with the equivalent of 184,000 sales in the United States, including 240 million streams and 7,500 download sales, according to Luminate.Bad Bunny, who was the host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, released “Un Verano Sin Ti” last year — a surprise, like “Nadie Sabe” — and it went on to top the Billboard album chart 13 times; he was also the world’s top touring artist in 2022.Bad Bunny’s success bumps Drake to second place after one week at No. 1 with “For All the Dogs.” Also this week, the K-pop quintet Tomorrow X Together opens at No. 3 with “The Name Chapter: Freefall,” which sold 106,000 copies as a complete package and drew about 12 million clicks on streaming services.Zach Bryan’s self-titled LP is No. 4, and “Set It Off” by Offset, of the Atlanta rap trio Migos, opens in fifth place. More

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      ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Cameos Guide

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      Musicians, comedians and even a filmmaker make appearances in the epic drama.Throughout his acclaimed filmography, Martin Scorsese has been known for left-of-center casting choices. His longtime collaborator and casting director Ellen Lewis said in an interview that they always “try to go outside the box in interesting ways.” For evidence, consider memorable appearances by Scorsese’s mother, Catherine, in “Goodfellas” and the writer Fran Lebowitz as a judge in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”The director’s epic new drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is no exception. The film tells the story of a 1920s plot by white Oklahoma men, notably an uncle and nephew played by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, to murder members of the Osage Nation, including Mollie Burkhart and her three sisters. Alongside those recognizable Scorsese regulars, a variety of musicians, comedians and other nonactors (some recruited by the Indigenous casting director Rene Haynes) blend in seamlessly.Here’s a spoiler-heavy guide to some of the film’s most interesting cameos.Jason IsbellJason Isbell as the husband of an Osage woman in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”AppleTV+The country singer-songwriter Jason Isbell appears as Bill Smith, husband of Mollie’s ill-fated sister Rita (played by JaNae Collins). For such a sizable part, “Killers” is the first major onscreen acting gig for the four-time Grammy winner. (He had a recurring voice role as a pastor on the Adult Swim series “Squidbillies.”) How did Isbell end up in the film? Chalk it up to downtime. The movie was shot during the pandemic when musicians would have otherwise been touring around the country. As for his main gig, Isbell’s most recent album, “Weathervanes,” with the group the 400 Unit was released earlier this year.Pete YornThis indie-rock singer-songwriter (whose most recent album was “Hawaii,” a 2022 collaboration with Day Wave) eventually shows up as the much-talked-about and elusive Acie Kirby, whom DiCaprio’s hapless Ernest is tasked with finding throughout the film. While “Killers” is Pete Yorn’s first big-screen acting role, he is no stranger to the Scorsese sphere. His brother is Rick Yorn, an executive producer of “Killers” and other Scorsese projects, including “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Gangs of New York.” Rick Yorn also happens to be Scorsese and DiCaprio’s manager.Sturgill SimpsonSturgill Simpson as a bootlegger in the drama.AppleTV+Another noteworthy country singer-songwriter, Sturgill Simpson plays the bootlegger Henry Grammer. Though he won the 2017 best country album Grammy for “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” the guitarist has turned Hollywood roles into a bustling side hustle. In addition to a recurring part on the HBO comedy series “The Righteous Gemstones,” he appeared in the 2019 drama “Queen & Slim” and was on the big screen last month in the sci-fi opus “The Creator.”Tatanka MeansThis busy comedian and actor plays John Wren, a Native American investigator. Means boasts an eclectic filmography ranging from the 2014 comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West” to a recent appearance on the series “Reservation Dogs.” The son of the Oglala Sioux activist Russell Means (a Scorsese friend who died in 2012), the younger Means is perhaps best known for stand-up routines that reflect the Native experience.Jack WhiteThe former White Stripes musician has a thriving career as a guitarist on his own and in groups like the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, but he can be seen at the end of “Killers” providing multiple voices for a radio play that explains the eventual fates of the real-life figures dramatized in the film. This isn’t Jack White’s first acting gig. When he’s not at the helm of his indie label Third Man Records, he has found time to portray Elvis Presley in the 2007 music biopic spoof “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” and to appear in “Portlandia” and “The Simpsons.”Charlie MusselwhiteThis harmonica ace plays the gruff Alvin Reynolds. Charlie Musselwhite is a Chicago blues legend who is said to have inspired Dan Aykroyd’s Blues Brothers character Elwood. Lewis, the casting director, is a music fan who said she sought out Musselwhite after being taken by his weathered look while researching the Chicago label Delmark Records. “Killers” is the 79-year-old’s most sizable acting role after parts in movies like “Blues Brothers 2000” and “Windows on the World.”Everett WallerThe film features several prominent members of the Osage Nation including Waller, who serves as the tribe’s Minerals Council chairman. In the movie, Waller gives an impassioned speech about the plight of his people. Haynes, the casting director, said that much like the other Indigenous performers, Waller was discovered during an open casting call to fill the movie’s 62 Native roles. “His daughter actually came through and she knew I was looking for a gentleman with long hair,” Haynes recalled, adding, “I told her that if she could get him to come in, I’ll let him skip the line because I’d love to meet him.”Brendan FraserBrendan Fraser as a lawyer for Robert De Niro’s character. AppleTV+Though not strictly a cameo, the actor doesn’t appear till late in the film. Chosen by Scorsese and Lewis well before “The Whale” led to a career renaissance and a best actor Oscar win earlier this year, Fraser plays W.S. Hamilton, the defense attorney for De Niro’s William Hale. Lewis said Fraser was an 11th-hour choice after another actor she didn’t name dropped out.John LithgowThis is also not quite a cameo, but John Lithgow doesn’t appear until late in the film. The two-time Oscar nominee has enjoyed a long and eclectic career in roles that span genres, onstage and on the big and small screens. But this is the first time he’s worked with Scorsese. Here he plays the prosecutor Peter Leaward in a series of courtroom scenes.Martin ScorseseOne of the three-and-a-half-hour film’s most surprising moments occurs during the radio-play coda. It’s Scorsese himself who reads from the obituary of Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone). Scorsese is no stranger to appearing in his own work, from his 1973 breakout “Mean Streets” (he can be seen firing a gun during the car-crash finale) to “Silence” (a brief and bearded cameo in that 2016 drama). His turn in “Killers” serves as a fitting tribute to both the forgotten subjects of the story and the director who helped remind us of them. More

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      Dressed for Success: 7 Bands in Uniform

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      Hear songs by the White Stripes, Destiny’s Child and more.The White Stripes’ Meg and Jack White.Oscar Hidalgo for The New York TimesDear listeners,Today’s Amplifier is based on an idea my colleague Jon Pareles mentioned when he was working on a profile of Devo: How about a playlist of bands that wear uniforms?That prompt got me thinking, of course, of Devo’s fire-engine red “energy dome” hats. But also of doo-wop groups and early rockers in matching duds, of country acts in custom Nudie suits, and of girl groups past and present in coordinated colors. Clearly a playlist was in order.There are plenty of different reasons musicians wear uniforms. Sometimes — especially in the case of Motown groups — matching outfits bring an air of polish and professionalism. They’re also a handy and enduring means of visual branding; if you see a scrawny dude with shaggy hair in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket, a song by the Ramones just might pop into your head. But even when a strict sartorial aesthetic risks becoming a gimmick, it can also keep the focus on the music. As Meg White told The Guardian in a 2005 interview, speaking of the White Stripes’ red-and-white dress code, “like a uniform at school, you can just focus on what you’re doing because everybody’s wearing the same thing.”Today’s playlist is a brief sonic tour through some of music’s most iconic uniforms. It contains quite a few omissions, though. I featured Kraftwerk on Tuesday’s playlist, so I didn’t want to repeat myself — even though their robotic coordinated costumes are totally worth mentioning. I also wish I could have included the proto-punk group the Monks, who often dressed like their namesakes, but the band’s great 1966 album “Black Monk Time” isn’t available on any streaming platforms. (If you haven’t heard it, try to find it in a more old-fashioned way. It rules.)That still left me with plenty of uniformed groups to choose from. Today’s playlist finds the common threads (get it?) shared by the Hives and the Temptations, Devo and Destiny’s Child. Put on your energy dome and press play.Listen on Spotify as you read.1. Devo: “Uncontrollable Urge”The members of Devo often use their extensive collection of matching uniforms — trust me, the “Outfits” section of the Devo Wiki is quite lengthy — as social commentary, poking fun at the mentality of conformism they perceive in modern life. That commentary, though, has always been cut with a absurdist twist, whether they’re clad in electric-yellow jumpsuits, matching silver blazers or, of course, those iconic flowerpot hats. (Listen on YouTube)2. The Ramones: “Cretin Hop”From their adopted last names to their standard-issue outfit of tight jeans, T-shirts, shaggy haircuts and — crucially — black leather jackets, the Ramones were all about simplicity, minimalism and uniformity. Those same virtues also applied to the band’s all-killer, no-filler sound. (Listen on YouTube)3. The Maddox Brothers & Rose: “Empty Mansions”The early country pioneers the Maddox Brothers & Rose were “the best-dressed people in country and western,” according to one of their contemporaries. The Maddox family’s flashy, elaborately embroidered matching suits (plus custom cowgirl skirts for Rose) were the work of Nathan Turk, whose designs echoed the group’s energetic sound. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the group blazed a spangled, sparkling path that plenty of country acts would later follow. (Listen on YouTube)4. The Temptations: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”Elegant matching outfits lent Motown artists — like the Supremes, the Four Tops and the Temptations — a sheen of professionalism. But they also reflected the strict aesthetic vision of the Motown founder Berry Gordy, who wanted his groups to project a specific type of aspirational glamour that would appeal to white listeners. Like many vocal groups in the doo-wop tradition, the Temptations were at first known for their slick, color-coordinated suits. But in the late 1960s, as their sound began to move in a more psychedelic direction, the Temptations, tellingly, began to embrace more outré sartorial styles. (Listen on YouTube)5. The White Stripes: “The Union Forever”Jack and Meg White’s peppermint-candy color palette gave the duo an us-against-the-world camaraderie — which got a little complicated when people realized that the Whites were not, as they’d initially said, brother and sister, but rather a formerly married couple. Whatever works! (Listen on YouTube)6. The Hives: “Main Offender”The White Stripes weren’t the only stars of the early 2000s garage-rock revival to embrace the uniform. The zany Swedish rockers the Hives — who returned earlier this year with their first album in a decade — made stage-wear fun again with their bold black-and-white suits. (It wasn’t until they made it big, though, that they could afford to launder them properly. Said the drummer Chris Dangerous in a Times profile earlier this year, their earliest suits “smelled so bad, when we walked onstage at the end of the tour, the audience stepped back.”) (Listen on YouTube)7. Destiny’s Child: “So Good”Destiny’s Child updated the sound — and, of course, the look — of the girl group during its reign in the late ’90s and early 2000s. In coordinated outfits designed by Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, the girls glittered in green at the Grammys and, in the “Survivor” video, projected strength in matching camo prints. As the group’s lineup went through some notorious changes, the matching outfits perhaps served the more practical purpose of reminding people who, at any given time, was actually in Destiny’s Child. (Listen on YouTube)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah!,LindsayThe Amplifier PlaylistListen on Spotify. We update this playlist with each new newsletter.“Bands in Uniform” track listTrack 1: Devo, “Uncontrollable Urge”Track 2: The Ramones, “Cretin Hop”Track 3: The Maddox Brothers & Rose, “Empty Mansions”Track 4: The Temptations, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”Track 5: The White Stripes, “The Union Forever”Track 6: The Hives, “Main Offender”Track 7: Destiny’s Child, “So Good”Bonus TracksFirst, a quick correction from Tuesday’s newsletter, in which I mistakenly implied that Coldplay did not have permission to use the riff from Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love” for the 2005 hit “Talk.” They did, in fact, get the OK from Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter.Also, the aforementioned Jon Pareles took over our Friday Playlist this week, choosing new songs from the Rolling Stones, Kali Uchis, Caroline Polachek and more. Listen here. More

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      The Rolling Stones Release ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ and More New Songs

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      Hear tracks by Kali Uchis, Helena Deland, Olof Dreijer and others.Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Just want the music? Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes). Like what you hear? Let us know at theplaylist@nytimes.com and sign up for our Louder newsletter, a once-a-week blast of our pop music coverage, and The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.The Rolling Stones, ‘Tell Me Straight’Most of “Hackney Diamonds,” the Rolling Stones’ first album of their own songs since 2005, is a romp that celebrates their sheer tenacity, their guitar riffs and their tight-but-loose musical reflexes — the way the band still kicks, defying mortality. True to Stones album tradition, Keith Richards takes lead vocals on one song, “Tell Me Straight,” and as usual it’s a little more ragged and unguarded than the rest. “I need an answer — how long can this last?” he sings. “Don’t make me wait — is my future all in the past?” He could be singing about a longtime friendship, a strained romance, or maybe a band that has endured, despite friction, through six decades.Kali Uchis, ‘Te Mata’The Colombian American songwriter Kali Uchis has proved herself in both up-to-the-minute Pan-American pop and retro excursions. “Te Mata” (“It Kills You”) is richly retro, a cha-cha that gracefully and emphatically rejects an abusive ex. “If you’re looking for the culprit, then look in the mirror,” she taunts in Spanish. “I’m with someone who makes me happy.” Strings, horns and jazz-tinged piano back her as her vocal rises from aplomb to icy contempt, never sacrificing sheer elegance.Caroline Polachek, ‘Dang’One percussive syllable — “Dang” — sums up the sound of this track, an outtake from “Desire, I Want to Turn Into You,” the album Caroline Polachek released earlier this year. Polachek, Cecile Believe and Danny L Harle concocted a staccato, stop-start production laced with full silences and out-of-nowhere samples. A repeated “dang” is also the bulk of the lyrics of the chorus; elsewhere, Polachek allots some melodic phrases to toy with permanence and impermanence, observing, “Maybe it’s forever, maybe it’s just shampoo.” The tone is casual; the construction, impeccably zany.Ana Tijoux, ‘Tania’The French-Chilean songwriter Ana Tijoux lost her sister Tania to cancer four years ago. “Tania” — from Tijoux’s album due in November, “Vida” (“Life”) — is a fond, celebratory tribute; Tijoux recalls her sister struggling in hospitals, but chooses remembrance over mourning. “Your memory always lives in the memories you wanted,” she promises. “We sing here, we dance here, we feel you here.” The track melds Andean rhythms with reggae, and envisions a solace “beyond every earthly plane.”Helena Deland, ‘Saying Something’Helena Deland ponders language, friendship and time in “Saying Something.” It’s a soothing, folky song about a fraught moment, when “Knowing what to say isn’t easy/Words feel like treacherous footing.” Her acoustic guitars and close-harmony vocals promise solace, even as she confesses her need: “Say something to me.”Nailah Hunter, ‘Finding Mirrors’The harpist, singer and songwriter Nailah Hunter floats enigmatic portents in “Finding Mirrors,” a single from an album, “Lovegaze,” due in January. “Don’t wanna fight you, don’t wanna win/Gold inscriptions all on your skin,” she sings. She’s cushioned by low synthesizer tones, illuminated by glimmering harp notes and prodded by undercurrents of percussion; the song stays suspended in its own limbo.Julie Byrne with Laugh Cry Laugh, ‘Velocity! What About the Inertia?’“What ever happened to slow, slow dancing?” Julie Byrne asks in a song that’s made for it: a two-chord reverie with echoey guitars and subdued percussion. Written by Laugh Cry Laugh’s bassist, Emily Fontana, with some lyrics by Byrne, the song finds bliss in the stasis of a long romance: “I’ll love you always/Our names carved in the table,” she muses.Dawn Richard, ‘Babe Ruth’A rap comparing herself to a sports hero (and a candy bar) is the least innovative component of “Babe Ruth” from Dawn Richard’s new EP, “The Architect.” Everything else stays in creative flux. A blurry, glitchy intro segues into an electro thump, a house bounce and a jazz-rock guitar solo that ends as if awaiting another metamorphosis.Olof Dreijer, ‘Cassia’Olof Dreijer, the electronic producer who’s half of the duo the Knife, has released a frisky solo instrumental EP, “Rosa Rugosa,” that toys constantly with riffs, rhythms and permutations. The melodic lines of “Cassia” use sliding, wriggling tones that always feel a little slippery, and Dreijer subverts them further with syncopated cross-rhythms and blipping countermelodies; the 4/4 motion is constant but cheerfully contested all the way through. More