Fri, 05/24/2019 - 10:20 am

Today, rising singer-songwriter, J.S. Ondara released a brand-new Amazon Original cover of Neil Young’s iconic track, “Heart of Gold,” available only on Amazon Music.

“Back in high school in Kenya I used to skip school many times to go to internet cafes to listen to folk records. I spent a lot of time with Neil Young’s Harvest and with the song ‘Heart of Gold,’” Ondara explains. “Upon moving to Minneapolis, Heart of Gold was one of the first songs I learnt when I picked up the guitar for the first time. It’s a song that has been pivotal in my musical voyage, and has undoubtedly shaped my landscape as a storyteller, a folk-singer and a troubadour.”

Ondara’s powerful cover comes just as the Kenyan singer/songwriter finishes up a West Coast tour alongside Neil Young, opening for the legendary artist on select West Coast shows. Ondara will also continue touring throughout the summer and fall in support of his critically acclaimed, debut album, Tales of America.

The tour follows Ondara’s sold out debut headline run, and will also include special appearances at Xponential Festival and Newport Folk Festival. Brooklyn Vegan praises his live performance as “one of the most commanding sets…with just his voice and acoustic guitar, he had the packed room mesmerized and so silenced that you could hear a pin drop.” More details on the tour below.

In addition to his Neil Young cover, J.S. Ondara filmed a new installment of Amazon Music’s The Come Up, Amazon Music’s series focusing on rising artists. In the video, Ondara discusses his inspirations, how he found his voice, and his plans for the future. Watch the video here.

J.S. Ondara grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, listening to American alt-rock and making up his own songs for as long as he can remember. At an early age, he fell in love with the music of Bob Dylan and moved to Minneapolis in 2013 to pursue a career as a singer and songwriter. He began making his way in the local music scene, continually writing songs about what he saw, felt and experienced in a place far different from home. Ondara’s debut album, Tales of America, was released in February via Verve Forecast to widespread acclaim, including a nomination earlier this month for “Best Emerging Act” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards.

Amazon Music listeners can find Ondara’s cover of “Heart of Gold” on the playlist Brushland, the global stage for today's Americana fan. Customers can also simply ask, "Alexa play the Amazon Original by J.S. Ondara" in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originals featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

J.S. Ondara Tour Dates:

May 25 /// Richmond, VA /// Richmond Music Hall

May 29 /// Columbus, OH /// The Basement

May 30 /// Nashville, TN /// The Basement

May 31 /// Charlotte, NC /// The Evening Muse [SOLD OUT]

June 1 /// Canton, NC /// Lake Logan Conference Center (Cold Mountain Music Festival)

June 4 /// Atlanta, GA /// The Earl

June 5 /// Birmingham, AL /// The Saturn

June 7 /// Austin, TX /// Antone’s Nightclub

June 8 /// Dallas, TX /// Sons of Hermann Hall

June 10 /// St. Louis, MO /// Old Rock House

June 11 /// Des Moines, IA /// Vaudeville Mews

June 12 /// Madison, WI /// High Noon Saloon

June 27 /// Montreal, QC /// Festival International De Jazz De Montreal

July 24 /// Pittsburgh, PA /// Club Café

July 26 /// Northampton, MA /// Iron Horse

July 27 /// Philadelphia, PA /// Xponential Festival

July 28 /// Newport, RI /// Newport Folk Festival

July 30 /// Baltimore, MD /// The 8x10

July 31 /// Cleveland, OH /// House of Blues-Cambridge Room

August 10-11 /// Edmonton, AB /// Edmonton Folk Festival

September 14 /// Burlington, VT /// Grand Point North Festival

October 10 /// Portland, OR /// Aladdin Theater

October 11 /// Vancouver, BC /// Hollywood Theater

October 13 /// Seattle, WA /// Neumos

October 17 /// San Francisco, CA /// The Independent

October 18 /// Los Angeles, CA /// Troubadour [SOLD OUT]

October 19 /// Los Angeles, CA /// Troubadour [SOLD OUT]

October 21 /// Denver, CO /// Bluebird Theater

October 24 /// Chicago, IL /// Lincoln Hall

October 26 /// Toronto, ON /// Mod Club Theater

October 30 /// Washington, DC /// 6th & I

November 1 /// Boston, MA /// Sinclair

November 2 /// Brooklyn, NY /// Music Hall of Williamsburg

December 7 /// Minneapolis, MN /// First Avenue

Tue, 10/20/2020 - 12:03 pm

Today, Amazon Music is launching the first installment of Breakthrough Live, a new, weekly livestream series on the Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel and in Amazon Music mobile app. Airing Tuesdays at 5pm EDT, Breakthrough Live will feature intimate live performances from developing artists alongside celebrated mainstays from a different genre each week. Each artist featured on Breakthrough Live will also have their music spotlighted on their genre’s Breakthrough playlist.

Today’s inaugural episode of Breakthrough Live will feature two set of music from revered singer/songwriter Laura Veirs and Nashville songwriter Michaela Anne. Amazon Music customers can also hear music from these three artists on the Breakthrough Folk playlist here, alongside other great music from indie folk and roots musicians.

Breakthrough Live is just the latest new initiative from Breakthrough, Amazon Music’s developing artist program aimed at championing emerging artists at the most crucial moment in their careers. Announced earlier this year, Breakthrough has actively supported artists from across a wide spectrum of genres, developing curated campaigns for artists like included rising country powerhouse Gabby Barrett, emerging R&B singer Kiana Ledé, breakout U.K. Rap star JAY1, 19-year-old rising alt R&B singer/poet Arlo Parks, critically acclaimed folk pop group Provinz, and rising German pop sensation Malik Harris. As part of the program, Amazon Music also revealed brand-new global playlists under the Breakthrough name, which are now the home for the best music from the best rising artists from around the world. Covering multiple genres and languages and available across all tiers of Amazon Music, Breakthrough can be heard here or by asking “Alexa, play Breakthrough.”

Watch Breakthrough Live Today at 5pm EDT:

https://music.amazon.com/live/streams/tw-amazonmusic

Breakthrough Folk:

https://music.amazon.com/playlists/B08L8SSL4Y?ref=dm_sh_3e2b-35e8-dada-50a4-e78d3

Wed, 11/11/2020 - 2:22 pm

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, the new studio album from artist & producer Daniel Lopatin, has been out less than two weeks and is already gaining traction as one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, including high praise from GQ, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, the FADER, The Guardian, Clash, Le Monde and more. In addition to the landmark Age Of album, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never follows the widely celebrated scores for Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019), which established Josh and Benny Safdie and Daniel Lopatin as one of the most visceral and enticing new director/composer partnerships in contemporary cinema. Now the trio furthers their ongoing creative relationship with the Safdies’ psyche-bending video for “Lost But Never Alone”. Having originally bonded over a shared love of cult music and film, it’s tough to imagine anyone else being able to weave the imagery and performances of this music video into a defining, epic whole.

“Nostalgia is both warming and deeply depressing,” states Josh Safdie. “It’s a love/hate relationship. Emotions themselves are haunting. LBNA is a haunted piece of surfing— a screen-capture of our desire to pull meaning from the past at all times and the triumph of breaking through it with something else.”

“When the pandemic hit, Dan and I sat around sharing airchecks from mid-level radio dials from yesteryear,” he continues. “Cut up and edited so as to evade copyright problems playing entire songs. The results are these 40 min streams of time captured with snippets of radio-songs…. Aptly, one station in particular was known as ‘Beautiful Music.’ As the album took shape and I’d hear pieces of tracks, cut ups a la Steve Reich, the ghosts of upper and lower dial radio started to haunt me, I loved the feeling. I love the album and this song in particular fills me with a deep sense of sadness, angst, loneliness, creativity and of course triumph. We’re all lost but never alone.”

The video premieres tonight exclusively on Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel as part of a ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER PRESENTS: “THE PIT” broadcast and follows an exclusive radio show by OPN titled "Depressive Danny's Witches Borscht Vol. 2: The Reckoning". Tune in tonight at 6PM PT / 9PM ET HERE.  LBNA will have wide release on 11/12 via Oneohtrix Point Never Youtube

“There are few — if any — creative partnerships that are more exciting than Oneohtrix Point Never and The Safdie Brothers,” said Stephen Brower with Artist Relations at Amazon Music. “We’re extremely excited to participate in the premiere of “Lost But Never Alone” and can’t wait to hear what OPN has in store for ‘The Pit.’”

Last week, Oneohtrix Point Never debuted the first late night TV performance (as Oneohtrix Point Never), performing “I Don’t Love Me Anymore” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - watch HERE. Accompanied by a live band of Eli Kezsler (drums) and Nate Boyce (guitar) and meta visual of a fantasy karaoke set, Lopatin (vocals, guitar, synth) performed one of the early fan favorites and album highlights, in classic OPN style.

Wed, 12/02/2020 - 10:35 am

Today, Oneohtrix Point Never shares “Lost But Never Alone (Forced Smile Edit),” a reimagined version of one of the standout tracks from the artist’s critically-acclaimed new record, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never. Available only on Amazon Music, Oneohtrix Point Never’s edit is a totally new take on the original song, eerily reconceptualizing the track as an upbeat, major-key version of the original. The track can currently be heard on Amazon Music’s Signals playlist.

Listen to Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Lost But Never Alone (Forced Smile Edit)” Amazon Original here:

https://amzn.to/OneohtrixPointNever

Last month, Amazon Music exclusively premiered the video for “Lost But Never Alone” on Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel as part of a ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER PRESENTS: “THE PIT” broadcast. Directed by renowned directors Josh and Benny Safdie, the video reunited the trio for the first time since the release of Uncut Gems, which established Josh and Benny Safdie and Daniel Lopatin as one of the most visceral and enticing new director/composer partnerships in contemporary cinema. In the hands of the Safdie Brothers, “Lost But Never Alone” received a psyche-bending video that weaves imagery and performances into a defining, epic whole.

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, the new studio album from artist & producer Daniel Lopatin, has been out a little more than a month and is already gaining traction as one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, including high praise from GQ, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, the FADER, The Guardian, Clash, Le Monde and more. In addition to the landmark Age Of album, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never follows the widely celebrated scores for Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019).

Last month, Oneohtrix Point Never performed “I Don’t Love Me Anymore” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - watch HERE. Accompanied by a live band of Eli Kezsler (drums) and Nate Boyce (guitar) and meta visual of a fantasy karaoke set, Lopatin (vocals, guitar, synth) performed one of the early fan favorites and album highlights, in classic OPN style.

Amazon Music listeners can find Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Lost But Never Alone (Forced Smile Edit),” on Amazon Music’s Signals playlist. In addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originals featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

Fri, 12/11/2020 - 2:07 pm

Next week, on December 15 at 8pm ET, Foo Fighters will close out the final installment of Amazon Music’s Holiday Plays, a new, three-part holiday concert series hosted by Lil Nas X.

Foo Fighters’ performance will feature a career-spanning set of classics from the band’s 25-year career, including quintessential tracks like “Learn to Fly,” “Times Like These,” and “Best of You.” The band will also perform their Billboard Rock Airplay #1 single, “Shame Shame”—the first single from Foo Fighters forthcoming 10th album Medicine at Midnight. Next week’s performance will also include the debut of the band’s festive cover of Chuck Berry’s 1958 classic, “Run Rudolph Run.”

Watch a brand-new clip from Foo Fighters’ Episode of Amazon Music Holiday Plays, airing at 8pm ET on Dec. 15, here.

Holiday Plays will stream globally at 8pm ET from the Amazon Music app and on the Amazon Music Twitch Channel, and in the U.S. on Prime Video and the homepage of Amazon.com. The series will live on-demand for a limited time.

Tune into Foo Fighters’ Amazon Music Holiday Plays Performance, 12/15 @ 8pm ET, here.

Watch the trailer for Amazon Music Holiday Plays here

Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:10 am

Last night, Foo Fighters captured rock ’n’ roll lightning in a bottle with in their raucous final installment of Amazon Music’s Holiday Plays, the three-part holiday concert series hosted by Lil Nas X. Foo Fighters’ performance featured a career-spanning set of classics from the band’s 25-year career, and is currently available to be streamed for a limited time.

Watch Foo Fighters’ Amazon Music Holiday Plays Performance here:

http://amazon.com/holidayplays/foofighters

Last night’s performance featured some of the Foo Fighters’ quintessential tracks, including “Learn to Fly,” “Times Like These,” and “Best of You.” The band also performed their Billboard Rock Airplay #1 single, “Shame Shame”—the first single from Foo Fighters forthcoming 10th album Medicine at Midnight. To close out their set, the band debuted a festive cover of “Run Rudolph Run,” originally made famous by rock ’n’ roll legend Chuck Berry in 1958. The band’s cover is currently available to download and stream only on Amazon Music, and is featured on the Amazon Originals - Holiday playlist. Customers can also simply ask, "Alexa, play the Foo Fighters song from Holiday Plays” in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices.

Listen to Foo Fighters – “Run Rudolph Run” (Amazon Original) only on Amazon Music:

https://amzn.to/FooFighters

Fri, 01/22/2021 - 10:05 am

Tonight With Arlo Parks will arrive imminently. Premiering globally on Friday 29th January, the same day as Parks’ debut album release, viewable at 3pm EST  on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and the Amazon Music app, before being made available on Monday 1st February via Prime Video.

Fronted by one of Amazon Music’s Breakthrough stars, the film - presented as a “Variety Hour Special” - emulates the spirit of classic, artist-fronted TV formats from the 60s and 70s, yet revamped and reimagined for the 20s. Across a series of bespoke stage set-ups and featuring a plethora of musicians and special guests, Tonight… will serve as a gripping, immersive document of one of our era’s most breathtaking and acclaimed newcomers.

Created together with Amazon Music as a part of its developing artist program, Breakthrough, the hour-long show features a curated selection of Parks’ songs to date, such as singles “Eugene,” “Black Dog,” “Hurt,” “Caroline,” and “Cola,” plus first ever performances from the eagerly awaited debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams (released Friday 29th January via Transgressive Records). Beyond this, there are conversations, poetry readings and collaborations, all existing in a plethora of evocative and gradually unravelling environments.

Also joining Arlo are peers and contemporaries Romy (The xx), Dave Okumu and Glass Animals, as well as an expanded band line-up featuring additional brass and strings players. All arrangements have been uniquely scored and assembled for this one-off performance.

Speaking of her upcoming appearance on Tonight With Arlo Parks, Arlo says: "I’ve always wanted to put together an evening of live music and intimate conversations and in times like these it feels even more special. It’s a blessing to be able to invite people into my musical world and spread a bit of light."

The program is co-directed by Transgressive co-founder Toby L (Foals - ‘Rip Up The Road’) and award-winning music video director Louis Bhose (Michael Kiwanuka, Marika Hackman, Lewis Capaldi, Bombay Bicycle Club, Loyle Carner), who jointly comment:

PREMIERES ON THE AMAZON MUSIC APP ON FRIDAY 29TH JANUARY 2021, 3PM EST

In a time where we’re all unable to leave our homes or travel, we wanted to make something that served a little like an escape to somewhere else. Music and performance are by their very nature entrancing and transportative, and we wanted to create a moment, or series of moments, that perhaps you can get lost in. Artists often have to fit into a format; this time, we wanted to build a format around the artist instead. Arlo is the perfect person to guide the viewer through a world, being that her words and music are an absolute encapsulation of our era. We hope that Tonight With Arlo Parks has the scope to surprise, soothe and entertain.”

Arlo Parks is part of the first class of Breakthrough, Amazon Music’s developing artist program aimed at championing emerging artists at the most crucial moment in their careers, accelerating them to the mainstream. Drawn from the U.S., U.K., and Germany, Amazon Music works with each Breakthrough artist and their teams to develop a long-term, customized global plan tailored to their specific needs. This support includes video and audio content, global marketing support, custom merch stores on Amazon.com, increased visibility across Amazon Music’s playlists and programming, high-profile Amazon Original tracks available only on Amazon Music, support for the artists’ Twitch channels, and more.

Tonight With Arlo Parks is produced and presented by Up The Game, in association with Transgressive Records and Amazon Music.

Collapsed In Sunbeams, the debut album from Arlo Parks, will be released Friday January 29th on Transgressive Records.