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Music News: James Taylor encourages donations for hurricane relief in North Carolina

James Taylor performs during the 7th Annual Sean Penn and Friends 'Haiti Rising' Gala benefitting J/P Haitian Relief Organization on January 6, 2018, in Hollywood, Calif.
James Taylor performs during the 7th Annual Sean Penn and Friends 'Haiti Rising' Gala benefitting J/P Haitian Relief Organization on January 6, 2018, in Hollywood, Calif.Michael Kovac/Getty Images
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by Luke Taylor

October 17, 2018

Above, listen to an episode of The Current's daily Music News podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also sign up for a daily Music News e-mail.


New video from Mumford and Sons gets fans involved

Mumford and Sons released a new video today for their song, "Guiding Light," featuring the faces and voices of their fans. The video was filmed on Saturday, Sept. 22, outside the Tate Modern on the south bank of the River Thames in central London. Mumford and Sons had invited 100 fans to take part in rehearsals that morning before they all bused over to the courtyard outside the modern-art museum, where the video was filmed and where Mumford and Sons also treated the crowd to an impromptu set of songs.

Directed by Joe Connor, the resulting video for "Guiding Light" is a black-and-white picture postcard of London, with the dome of Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral visible in several shots. The camera frequently cuts away to faces of fans singing along with the band, and the final audio mix includes fans' voices together with the Mumfords, particularly in the song's chorus. (NME)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack at 33 RPM

The soundtrack to the 1990 live-action film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is being released on vinyl, featuring the original score by composer John du Prez (whose other work includes original scores for A Fish Called Wanda and Spamalot). In addition to being remixed and remastered, the deluxe vinyl includes artwork by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman. The vinyl release does not include music available elsewhere, such as M.C. Hammer's track, "This is What We Do." (Pitchfork)

Suspect in custody over David Bowie statue vandalism

A 29-year-old man is in custody following the vandalism of a David Bowie statue in central England. Located outside the Friars Music Club in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (where Bowie debuted Ziggy Stardust), the statue has been defaced for the second time in six months. The first instance of vandalism happened in March, shortly after the statue's unveiling. The words "feed the homeless instead" had been spray-painted on the statue, despite the fact the statue was paid for by a combination of grants and crowdfunding. The more recent instance saw the statue splashed with blue paint. According to David Lynde of Ireland's Radio Nova, the statue has "divided locals who questioned the accuracy of the representation. They also objected to intentions for the statue to play Bowie's music once every hour." (Nova Radio)

Panic! At the Disco cover Outkast

Panic! At the Disco have released a cover of Outkast's 2003 hit, "Hey Ya," recorded for Spotify Sessions. Fan reactions to the cover have been highly positive, reflecting the accolades Panic! At the Disco received after they covered Queen's iconic "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the American Music Awards. (NME)

Musicians engaged in their home communities

Singer-songwriter James Taylor has launched the James Taylor Million Meals Challenge in his hometown of New Bern, N.C. The coastal Carolina town was in the crosshairs of Hurricane Florence as it made landfall last month. More than 4,000 homes were damaged, infrastructure was washed away or otherwise disrupted, and repairs to the city are estimated at more than $100 million.

Taylor, appealing to fans on Facebook for their charitable donations, has promised to match all donations to the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina until one million meals are provided to people in crisis in New Bern and in 22 surrounding counties. (Rolling Stone)

Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, has been civically engaged in his home state of Kentucky. Working with filmmaker Morgan Atkinson, Oldham provides the voiceover for "Our Library," a documentary about the Louisville public library system, depicting the wonders of public libraries but also asking questions facing libraries today. "There's a lot of negativity in the public sphere right now," Atkinson tells the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I wanted to show a public institution that really served the community well, was truly irreplaceable and yet was too often under-appreciated. The Library was a subject made-to-order." The film will debut Thursday at a special event in Louisville, and will subsequently screen on Louisville public-television station KET. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Back in August, Bonnie "Prince" Billy was asked to be the model for a statue of Revolutionary War figure Colonel William Oldham, who died in 1791. Because Bonnie "Prince" Billy is a descendant of the 1700s colonel, sculptor Matt Weir figured Will Oldham would be a fairly accurate model, given that nobody knows what Colonel Oldham looked like. (WFPL)

A complex allegation of conspiracy denied over Cobain artifact

Isaiah Silva, the ex-husband of Frances Bean Cobain, has accused Riverdale actor Ross Butler, along with Courtney Love's manager Sam Lufti and others, of conspiring to break into his house in 2016 in an attempt to kill him and steal the acoustic guitar that Kurt Cobain played on Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. Butler has vehemently denied the charges and asked for all claims against him to be dismissed.

Kurt Cobain's 1959 Martin D-18E guitar is estimated to be worth millions, and has been a point of contention between Frances Bean and Isaiah Silva since their divorce. Silva says Frances Bean gave him the guitar as a wedding present, and indeed, the guitar was granted to Silva in their May divorce settlement.

That said, Silva says Lufti, along with Butler and another man, were conspiring to kill Silva when they visited the home Silva and Frances Bean shared back in June 2016. Lufti, who was in a car with Butler and driver Yan Yukhtman, visited the home after expressing concern for the well-being of Frances Bean Cobain. Silva welcomed them into the home and all the men left without incident, except that police were called shortly thereafter and all were questioned. The next hearing for the case is set for Friday, Dec. 7. (SPIN)

This robot dog dances better than any of us

Boston Dynamics, a robotics company that spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed a dog robot that it has named Spot. To demonstrate Spot's stability, Boston Dynamics released a video of Spot dancing to the Glee cast's cover of Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk." Put simply, this robot dog has got the moves. (SB Nation)


Songs sampled in podcast
Jahzzar - Comedie (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games - Against the Wall (CC BY 3.0)
Mumford & Sons - Guiding Light (music video version)
James Taylor appeals for hurricane relief funds
BoxCat Games - Epic Song (CC BY 3.0)
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
Glee Cast - Uptown Funk