Radiohead reworks Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' for new stage production

 

Agence France-Presse - Agence France-Presse

September 27, 2024 | 11:21am

LONDON, United Kingdom — Shakespeare will meet Radiohead in a new stage production of "Hamlet" due to premiere next year, set to a reworked version of the band's "Hail to the Thief" album.

Alternative rockers Radiohead had a string of best-selling singles in the 1990s and early 2000s including "Creep," "Paranoid Android," and "No Surprises."

Frontman Thom Yorke's lyrics for the 2003 album were originally a response to the election of George W. Bush as US president and his "war on terror" that followed the September 11 attacks.

The singer-songwriter is deconstructing and reworking the album for the production, which will be performed by a cast of some 20 musicians and actors.

Yorke, who is working with Tony- and Olivier award-winning designer Christine Jones and director Steven Hoggett, said in a statement it was an "interesting and intimidating challenge."

"For years I've wanted to see the play and album collide in a piece of theater; eventually I shared the idea with Thom, who was intrigued," said Jones, who conceptualized the idea.

She had been struck by the "uncanny reverberances between the (Hamlet) text and the album", she said. "We've found that the play haunts the album, and the album haunts the play."

Radiohead, comprising former school friends Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, and Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway, formed in Oxfordshire, southern England, in 1985.

"Creep" was their 1992 debut single and remains their most successful, with over a billion views on YouTube. By 2011, they had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

The band, which has also campaigned passionately for environmental causes, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

"Hamlet Hail To The Thief" will stage its world premiere in Manchester, northwestern England, in April 2025 before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon in June.

Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for US president

 

Maggy Donaldson - Agence France-Presse

September 11, 2024 | 2:12pm

This combination of pictures created on September 10, 2024 shows (L) American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift performs on stage as part of her Eras Tour in Lisbon on May 24, 2024 and (R) US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris listens to former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. Taylor Swift, a self-declared "childless cat lady," has endorsed Kamala Harris for president of the United States. The global megastar broke her silence on the current state of US politics September 10, 2024, voicing support for Harris over Donald Trump for the White House, and calling the Democratic candidate a "steady-handed, gifted leader."

AFP / Andre Dias Nobre and Saul Loeb

NEW YORK, United States — Taylor Swift, a self-declared "childless cat lady," has endorsed Kamala Harris for president of the United States.

The global megastar broke her silence on the current state of US politics Tuesday, voicing support for Harris over Donald Trump for the White House, and calling the Democratic candidate a "steady-handed, gifted leader."

"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election," Swift, among the biggest names on the planet, posted on Instagram.

She did so in the minutes following a televised presidential debate that saw the candidates face off for the first time, which the singer said she tuned in to.

"I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them," Swift wrote. "I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos."

She signed off her Instagram post by dubbing herself a "childless cat lady," a swipe at a much-mocked sentiment expressed by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, which he had wielded in a bid to insult Democratic women.

Until Tuesday, Swift had been conspicuously quiet on the subject of 2024's race, even as many of her fans began organizing under the banner "Swifties for Kamala" and raising more than $150,000 for the Democratic hopeful.

But the 34-year-old said discovering AI-generated images of her falsely endorsing Trump -- which "conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation," she said -- had inspired her to speak up.

"It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter," she said. "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

She encouraged her legions of loyal fans to "do your research."

Swift, fresh off the European leg of her blockbuster "Eras" tour, balked at explicitly telling her ardent supporters to vote Harris, instead saying "I've done my research, and I've made my choice."

"Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make."

She also shared the post to her Instagram "stories" with a voter registration link.

The artist voiced special support for Harris's choice of a running mate, Tim Walz, praising the Minnesota governor for "standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman's right to her own body for decades."

Team Harris has been quick to latch on to any boost she can get from the pop world, which generally skews left, and a number of stars have publicly backed her.

Beyonce has not outright endorsed the Democrat but she allowed the Harris camp to use her song "Freedom" in advertisements and on the campaign trail.

And British artist Charli XCX saw her smash album "brat" become core to the early online Harris campaign, as the Democrats vie to stay current on social media's pulse.

'With love and hope'

But until now, Swift hadn't chimed in.

A global celebrity with hundreds of millions of social media followers and a wildly loyal -- and chronically online -- fan base, Swift's influence is vast and her approval coveted.

For years the "Blank Space" singer stayed emphatically out of politics, including in 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidency.

Speculation abounded that the superstar was a closet Republican until 2018, when she broke both her silence and the internet by endorsing the Democratic opponent of far-right politician Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee.

Blackburn won anyway, but it ushered in a new chapter for Swift.

She later explained that handlers had urged her against voicing political opinions, telling her it could damage her career -- particularly in the country music industry, which despite its complexities is often associated with conservatism.

Since then, Swift endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and has conveyed pro-LGBTQ messages through her songs and music videos.

She also condemned the Supreme Court's reversal of the federal right to abortion, and has encouraged droves of her fans to register to vote.

But Swift's massive popularity has also meant she's a regular target for political misinformation and right-wing conspiracy theories, often fueled by AI and amplified by the likes of Trump.

Speaking out on her own terms gripped the news cycle within seconds of going live Tuesday night, and her post notched more than two million "likes" after just 30 minutes.

"With love and hope, Taylor Swift," she concluded her message.

Song lyrics are getting simpler, more repetitive: study

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Mar 29, 2024 08:31 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Lyrics have also become angrier and more self-obsessed over the last 40 years, the study found, reinforcing the opinions of cranky ageing music fans everywhere. 

In contrast to Bob Dylan's literature Nobel, lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the last 40 years, a study says (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) - You're not just getting older. Song lyrics really are becoming simpler and more repetitive, according to a study published on Thursday.

Lyrics have also become angrier and more self-obsessed over the last 40 years, the study found, reinforcing the opinions of cranky ageing music fans everywhere.

A team of European researchers analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs across the genres of rap, country, pop, R&B and rock from 1980 to 2020.

Before detailing how lyrics have become more basic, the study pointed out that US singer-songwriting legend Bob Dylan -- who rose to fame in the 1960s -- has won a Nobel Prize in literature.

Senior study author Eva Zangerle, an expert on recommendation systems at Austria's University of Innsbruck, declined to single out an individual newer artist for having simple lyrics.

But she emphasised that lyrics can be a "mirror of society" which reflect how a culture's values, emotions and preoccupations change over time.

"What we have also been witnessing in the last 40 years is a drastic change in the music landscape -- from how music is sold to how music is produced," Zangerle told AFP. 

Over the 40 years studied, there was repeated upheaval in how people listened to music. The vinyl records and cassette tapes of the 1980s gave way to the CDs of the 90s, then the arrival of the internet led to the algorithm-driven streaming platforms of today.

For the study in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers looked at the emotions expressed in lyrics, how many different and complicated words were used, and how often they were repeated.

"Across all genres, lyrics had a tendency to become more simple and more repetitive," Zangerle summarised.

The results also confirmed previous research which had shown a decrease in positive, joyful lyrics over time and a rise in those that express anger, disgust or sadness.

Lyrics have also become much more self-obsessed, with words such as "me" or "mine" becoming much more popular.

'Easier to memorise' 

The number of repeated lines rose most in rap over the decades, Zangerle said -- adding that it obviously had the most lines to begin with.

"Rap music has become more angry than the other genres," she added.

The researchers also investigated which songs the fans of different genres looked up on the lyric website Genius.

Unlike other genres, rock fans most often looked up lyrics from older songs, rather than new ones.

Rock has tumbled down the charts in recent decades, and this could suggest fans are increasingly looking back to the genre's heyday, rather than its present.

Another way that music has changed is that "the first 10-15 seconds are highly decisive for whether we skip the song or not," Zangerle said.

Previous research has also suggested that people tend to listen to music more in the background these days, she added.

Put simply, songs with more choruses that repeat basic lyrics appear to be more popular.

"Lyrics should stick easier nowadays, simply because they are easier to memorise," Zangerle said.

"This is also something that I experience when I listen to the radio."

Beyonce becomes first Black woman to helm top country songs chart

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Feb 23, 2024 10:28 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Her song "Texas Hold 'Em" dropped smack in the middle of the Super Bowl earlier this month, and has debuted on the Billboard charts on the number one slot of "Hot Country Songs."

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Beyonce (AFP) 

NEW YORK (AFP) - Ahead of the release of her album that's set to take the country music scene by storm, Beyonce this week became the first Black woman to top the US charts in that genre.

Her song "Texas Hold 'Em" dropped smack in the middle of the Super Bowl earlier this month, and has debuted on the Billboard charts on the number one slot of "Hot Country Songs."

A second single, "16 Carriages," is also on that chart, clocking in at number nine.

"Prior to the triumph for 'Texas Hold 'Em,' no Black woman, or female known to be biracial, had previously topped" that chart, said industry tracker Billboard.

Country is a quintessentially American style of music with influences from Africa: the banjo notably grew out of instruments brought to the United States by enslaved people in the 1600s and 1700s.

And yet on the surface contemporary country has developed an overwhelmingly white image.

The issue came to a head in recent years when Lil Nas X soared to viral fame with his infectious, record-breaking "Old Town Road," a single that mashed banjo twangs with thumping bass and dominated the industry's most closely watched singles chart in 2019. 

Controversy famously stoked the artist's rise to fame after Billboard removed the fusion novelty song from the country charts but left it on the rap list, triggering accusations that the Atlanta musician's work was pigeonholed purely because he is Black.

The tension simultaneously offered a moment to spotlight the vast contributions of Black artists to country both past and present, including today's stars like Mickey Guyton and Brittney Spencer.

Beyonce's new studio album, her eighth, is for release March 29, and as of now is characterized simply as "Act II."

"Act I" refers to the 42-year-old's album "Renaissance," an ode to disco and house which reigned over the summer of 2022 as it paid homage to the Black, queer and working-class communities that molded the electronic dance genre, which first developed in Chicago in the 1980s.

She now appears primed to take a similar approach to country, reclaiming it as an emblem of Black American history. 

Floods and landslides leave six dead in Davao de Oro

 

Situation at Km. 74, Purok 1B, National Highway, Brgy. Sawangan, Mawab in Davao de Oro.

Agence France-Presse

February 2, 2024 | 8:36am

MANILA, Philippines — Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain have killed six people in Davao de Oro, with one other person missing, rescuers said Thursday.

Rain began pounding wide areas of Mindanao, the country's second-largest island, last weekend, causing floods and landslides that officials said sent thousands fleeing to emergency shelters.

The hardest-hit areas were the mountainous municipality of Maragusan, which recorded 23 landslides since Sunday, and the adjacent town of New Bataan where more than 10,000 people were evacuated from flooded homes.

Three people were killed and a fourth was missing in the Maragusan landslides, its municipal disaster officer Romeo Tublag told AFP.

"Our town is surrounded by mountains so landslides are an ever-present threat. It's been raining almost daily here," Tublag said.

In New Bataan, a landslide killed a man while a woman was swept away and killed by floodwaters and another man electrocuted outside his flooded house, disaster official Aeona Armocilla told AFP.

Swollen rivers flooded three villages, forcing the evacuation of 10,100 residents, Armocilla said, adding that it was still raining in the area late Thursday.

Floods also hit the municipalities of Bunawan and Veruela in nearby Agusan del Sur province, with more than 5,000 people sheltering in evacuation centres, provincial disaster official Alexis Cabardo told AFP.

'Guten Tag babes': Adele announces Munich concerts

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Feb 1, 2024 07:21 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• The British singer will perform at a specially-created, 80,000-capacity venue in the southern German city on Aug. 2, 3, 9 and 10.

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Adele (AFP) 

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Pop superstar Adele on Wednesday announced four open-air concerts in Munich in August, her first shows in mainland Europe since 2016.

The British singer will perform at a specially-created, 80,000-capacity venue in the southern German city on Aug. 2, 3, 9 and 10.

The 35-year-old said she had been on the last stage of her Las Vegas residency -- "Weekends with Adele", which runs until June - when she was approached about the Munich shows. 

"A one off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on? Pretty much slap bang in the middle of Europe? In Munich?" she wrote in an Instagram post.

"That's a bit random, but still fabulous!"

The concerts will come right after Euro 2024, which Germany is hosting, and "with the Olympics next door", said the singer, known for hits including "Easy On Me" and "Someone Like You".

Paris is hosting the Olympics in July and August. 

"I couldn't think of a more wonderful way to spend my summer and end this beautiful phase of my life and career with shows closer to home during such an exciting summer," she said.

"Guten Tag babes x".

Pederson raises Scandinavian hopes at The Annika

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Nov 11, 2023 10:48 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Denmark's Emily Kristine Pederson shot a five-under 65 to seize a two-stroke lead at the LPGA Tour's The Annika tournament on Friday, Nov. 10.

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MIAMI (AFP) -- Denmark's Emily Kristine Pederson shot a five-under 65 to seize a two-stroke lead at the LPGA Tour's The Annika tournament on Friday, Nov. 10.

Denmark's Emily Kristine Pederson (AFP)

Pederson leads Japan's Minami Katsu with Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand three shots off the lead.

The event was rebranded this year to be named for Swedish legend Annika Sorenstam, who won 72 LPGA titles, including 10 major crowns. 

And, heading a strong field, Pederson has a chance to become the first Scandinavian to win the event at Belleair, Florida.

The 27-year-old from Copenhagen had an eventful round at the Pelican Golf Club, with eight birdies and three bogeys.

Pederson, who grabbed attention with only the second hole-in-one in Solheim Cup history in September in helping Europe retain their title, again showed her ability to rise to the big occasion.

"I think maybe when the gun is to my head a little bit it sharpens my focus and I can't think too far ahead, about what's happened in the past and what's going to happen," she said. 

"I can think a little bit more about what is right in front of me. When I get nervous I try to break my day down and break the holes down and I think that's maybe what helps me," she added.

Pederson, whose six professional wins have all come in Europe, said she had been impacted by increased wind on the back nine.

"I started really well, five-under on the front nine. Holed some good putts...I had a few good rolls to start with.

"Then I think it got a little bit more windy out there and my back nine was not as I hoped. I hit a few uncommitted golf shots that I'm a little bit mad at myself about - that happens.

Hopefully I can commit a bit more tomorrow and keep it going on the whole round," she said.

Katsu, an eight-time winner on the LPGA Japan Tour, made five birdies but was slightly undone by bogeys on the par-four eighth and 16th. 

Suwannapura, searching for her third win on the LPGA Tour, got in trouble with bogeys on the 11th and 12th but delivered three birdies on the last six holes to card a five-under 65.

American Nelly Korda, the reigning Olympic champion, is seeking to win the tournament for a third consecutive year but trails by seven strokes after a two-under 68.

Her compatriot Lindy Duncan was one of six players tied four strokes off the lead after shooting 65.

France's third-ranked Celine Boutier, a four-time LPGA winner this season who came into the event as leader in the fight for the LPGA Player of the Year award, missed the cut after a two-over 72 left her on even-par.

Women dominate music's Grammy nominations, SZA tops with nine

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Nov 11, 2023 08:14 AM

  

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American R&B singer Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA (AFP)

  NEW YORK (AFP) - It will be a woman's world at the upcoming Grammys, with SZA scooping the most chances for gold ahead of the star-studded music gala with nine, as pop's superstars including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish dominated across the categories.

Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers and the indie rock supergroup boygenius also will strong contenders at the February 4 event in Los Angeles, where music from the blockbuster film "Barbie" will almost certainly clean up, according to the nominations list released Friday.

SZA -- the acerbic, R&B risk-taker whose layered tales of romance earned her acclaim with her debut "Ctrl" in 2017 and saw her top the charts again with 2022's "SOS" -- is poised to rule the night, with nominations spanning the categories.

And Bridgers, one-third of the supergroup boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, earned seven nominations while the collective group earned six, both in the top fields as well as in the rock categories.

The already decorated Eilish has six chances for a Grammy thanks to her work on Greta Gerwig's summer smash "Barbie" film.

The soundtrack, which also features Dua Lipa, earned a total of 11 nominations in the major categories and the visual media fields.

Rodrigo, who already has three Grammy wins under her belt including Best New Artist, earned six nods this time around and will vie for the night's top awards. 

In-demand producer Jack Antonoff scored six nominations for his work, notably with Swift and Lana Del Rey, the baroque pop singer whose album "Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd" earned her five nominations.

If Swift's "Midnights" wins Album of the Year, it would be a record-breaking fourth win of the prize for the 33-year-old, who's already the toast of the music world as she continues her monumental Eras tour.

She is currently tied as the top winner of the most prestigious Grammy with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

Women on top

Jazz polymath Jon Batiste is the sole man up for Record and Album of the Year, two years after he beat out pop's royalty to dominate the 2022 gala.

He earned six nominations this go-around, as did Miley Cyrus and country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark. 

Coveted engineer Serban Ghenea -- who mixed Swift's "Midnights" -- meanwhile earned seven nods.

Rising R&B star Victoria Monet also finished with seven nominations, including for the prestigious Record of the Year and Best New Artist prizes.

Industry watchers predict Ice Spice will win the latter category, after a banner year that saw the bubbly Bronx rapper go viral on loop and collaborate with Swift.

And pop futurist Janelle Monae earned her second Album of the Year nomination for "The Age of Pleasure."

Rihanna picked up a nomination for the song she worked on for the "Black Panther" sequel, but the best visual media category will likely go to one of four songs from the "Barbie" movie.

That award is for songwriters, and includes tracks performed by Eilish, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, Dua Lipa and Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the film.

Bernie Sanders -- yes, that Bernie Sanders -- has a second chance to win a Grammy in the audiobook and narration category.

The leftist senator's reading of "It's Ok to Be Angry About Capitalism" is up against efforts by Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, William Shatner and Rick Rubin in one of the night's quirkier categories.

The Rolling Stones earned a nomination for Best Rock Song for "Angry," while Grammy catnip Foo Fighters is poised to take home prizes in the rock fields, where boygenius could also be a factor.

Dang-good music

The banner year for music's women is a long time coming for many critics of the Recording Academy -- the institution behind the Grammys -- which for many years has faced flak that it overwhelmingly honors white, male acts.

"Women had dang good music -- some of the biggest records of the year and the biggest songs," Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. told The Los Angeles Times.

"And our voters were obviously moved by a lot of it."

The sea change comes as scandal continues to brew within the ranks of the Academy.

In 2019, the former chief of the powerful institution, Neil Portnow, left his post after saying that women artists should "step up" if they want more recognition, comments he delivered at the #MeToo movement's peak.

This week, Portnow was sued in Manhattan for allegedly drugging and raping an unnamed woman artist in 2018.

The suit also accuses the Academy of negligence, saying it protected Portnow and dismissed accounts of his abuse. Both the organization and Portnow vehemently deny the allegations.