HOT: LCD Wax Controversy
Punkish Canadian duo Death From Above 1979 has reverted to its original name, Death From Above, which was changed over a decade ago thanks to lawyers representing LCD Soundsystem head honcho James Murphy’s longtime record label Death From Above. Another DFA “controversy” surfaced days after the naming news — a press release from reissue label Rhino Records announced that vinyl reissues of LCD’s albums were coming soon. On Rhino. As you may recall, Murphy has a label, which has sold LCD’s albums on vinyl since they were released. In a statement, a mad, confused Murphy asked fans to continue buying vinyl from DFA’s online store. Now let the man work on getting his new album out!
WARM: Underground Wu Moves?
Rapper Mach-Hommy has drawn attention with his music, but he’s also been turning heads with his oddball music distribution. After pricing an album at $300 last year (reportedly only available by messaging him on Instagram), Hommy has put his anticipated latest, Dump Gawd: Hommy Edition (featuring production by supporter Earl Sweatshirt), on his Bandcamp site. But you can’t stream it — to hear it, you have to pay $77.77 for the download. Perhaps it’s an eccentric homage to Wu-Tang Clan’s notorious $2 million album?
COLD: PWR BTTM Saga Continues
Since most of LGBTQ-allied Indie Rock duo PWR BTTM’s fanbase would never support the group following sexual assault allegations directed at one of the members, many felt the band’s career was over. After losing a tour, its record deal and many fans, the duo released a statement contesting the allegations, but then disappeared. Now it appears there are at least a couple of others in PWR BTTM’s corner. A music industry veteran who said she felt Polyvinyl Records too hastily pulled PWR BTTM’s new-ish Pageant album from circulation is helping the twosome regain ownership of the album from the label (the group’s debut album on a smaller label was returned to streaming services recently). She called Polyvinyl “irresponsible”; the label took the high road and simply said an agreement was being worked out.