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Music News: NYC unveils David Bowie MetroCards

David Bowie MetroCards in three of five designs.
David Bowie MetroCards in three of five designs.MTA

by Jay Gabler

April 17, 2018

Everyone in New York is complaining about the subway these days, but the MTA has managed to do something cool this year: roll out David Bowie MetroCards in five designs, a Spotify co-promotion pegged to the Brooklyn Museum stop of the David Bowie Is exhibit. The cards are available at the at the Broadway-Lafayette station, near Bowie's longtime home in Soho. (Brooklyn Vegan)

Briefly, Bowie fans could also download the late legend's handwriting as a free font — along with fonts based on the handwriting of John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen, and Serge Gainsbourg. The fonts were "created to give musicians inspiration," said the fonts' creators when they debuted their offerings earlier this month. (NME)

Those creators have now had to change their tune. "The unexpected success of this project went a bit too far," reads a website for the fonts. "We have been contacted by intellectual property rights owners, and are sad to announce that we have to shut down this website because of legal issues." Hey, that's no way to say goodbye. Here's how the "Kurt font" looked:

Nick Cave skateboard unveiled

Nick Cave has signed off on a skateboard...again. His first deck came out in 2015, and now he's teaming up with Australian company Fast Times to offer a new board with an illustration inspired by his Grinderman song "Heathen Child." (Billboard)

Lauryn Hill announces Miseducation anniversary tour

Lauryn Hill has announced a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of her classic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She'll perform the show in its entirety at each stop on the tour, which begins July 5 in Virginia and wraps up on Oct. 5 in St. Louis, with a July 22 set headlining the Pitchfork Music Festival. Sorry, no Minnesota stops have been announced.

In a statement, Hill said, "This album chronicled an intimate piece of my young existence. It was the summation of most, if not all, of my most hopeful and positive emotions experienced to that date. I Loved and believed deeply in my community's ability to both Love and heal itself provided it received the right amount of support and encouragement. Our world today, both complex and changing, is in need of the balance between moral fortitude and cathartic expression. I hope the Love and energy that permeated this work can continue to inspire change with Love and optimism at the helm." (Pitchfork)

FJM album details emerge

Speaking of music festival headliners, details have emerged about Father John Misty’s fourth studio album under that name. God's Favorite Customer is posted for preorder on iTunes in the UK, with a release date of June 1 and ten tracks including the recently-released single "Mr. Tillman." (NME)