This Week In Music - Dua Lipa Is Taking Over The World, Phil Spector, Father of "The Wall of Sound" and Convicted Murderer, Passes Away, New Lana Del Ray, Juice Wrld And More

- Dua Lipa graced the cover of this month's Rolling Stone and was the centerpiece of their feature article. 

It's available to read here- but it's basically everything I wrote back in August. 

- Phil Spektor, super-producer of the 60s and famous father of "The Wall of Sound" passed away today. 

Phil Spector, the music producer behind some of pop music’s biggest hits, has died aged 81 while serving a prison sentence for murder.

Media reports said Spector, who had been sentenced to 19 years to life for murdering the actor Lana Clarkson, died after being diagnosed with Covid-19 four weeks ago.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would only confirm he had died “of natural causes at 6.35pm on Saturday 16 January 2021, at an outside hospital”. It added: “His official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner in the San Joaquin county sheriff’s office.”

Spector was famed for his “wall of sound” approach to recording music, producing 20 Top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965 and going on to work with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner. He also influenced artists ranging from the Beach Boys to Bruce Springsteen.

During an initially highly successful career, Spector had been hailed as a visionary for creating the wall of sound that merged vocal harmonies with orchestral arrangements to produce pop hits such as Da Doo Ron Ron, Be My Baby and He’s a Rebel.

Springsteen and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson replicated his recording techniques, and John Lennon called him “the greatest record producer ever”.

The secrets to his sound were an overdubbed onslaught of instruments, vocals and sound effects that changed the way pop songs were recorded. He called the result “little symphonies for the kids”.

By his mid-20s he had produced about two dozen hit singles, making him a millionaire. He would enjoy a deep association with the Beatles, producing their final album, Let It Be, and Lennon, producing his 1971 hit Imagine. Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

It's poor taste to talk badly about the dearly departed, but few people will argue Phil Spector was a dear soul. Was he uber-talented and did he change the sound of music forever in the 1960s? Absolutely. But was he a dirtbag notorious for threatening artists (with weapons), railroading and blackballing others, tanking many careers. (If you wanna see some great examples watch the special I mentioned in this blog- "20 Feet From Stardom") R.I.P. I guess?

- Lana Del Rey dropped a new single off the same titled album, "Chemtrails Over The Country Club" and for some reason people are up in arms claiming it's a pro-Trump song. 

People need to chill the fuck out. Man oh man.

- Selena Gomez released a new Spanish single, fueling rumors she's dropping an all Spanish album

- Olivia Rodrigo and her song "Driver's License" took the internet by storm. Song is blowing up and getting love from the world's biggest pop stars-

- Ariana Grande dropped a remix to 34+35 featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat-

ROCK - 

- Foo Fighters dropped their third single ahead of their forthcoming album, this one titled "Waiting for A War"

- Death Cab For Cutie dropped an EP of covers titled "The Georgia EP"

RAP 

- Da Baby dropped a new single, "Masterpiece"

- A new Juice Wrld/Young Thug song was released titled "Bad Boy"

- Zayn released a new album "Nobody is Listening"

EDM

- That clown Dante released a new future bass vocal track featuring up and comer Sam James, "Givin' Up On Love"

- Nicky Romero and Timmo Hendriks released a new single, ‘Into The Light’

- Sub Focus reworked CamelPhat’s ‘Easier’ 

- Nitti Gritti and RUNN dropped ‘Where I Belong’

- Chicago's John Summit released a new record, "Beauty Sleep’'

Country

- Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line) and Tim McGraw combined forces on "Undivided" - a song of unity. Musicians seem to be doing more than politicians to bring people together with lyrics like “I just kinda wish we didn't think like that / Why's it gotta be all white or all black / And when we gonna learn to try on someone's shoes sometimes / And when we gonna learn to see from someone else's eyes.”

- Florida Georgia Line released the title track to their upcoming album Life Rolls On, coming Feb 12.

- Ross Cooper released “Freewheelin’ Feelin’”. Cooper is from Lubbock, TX who gave the ladies the bucking bronco (you know, when you’re doing it doggie style and call her by the wrong name and see if you can hang on for 8 seconds). Not really, but he really was a professional bareback bronco rider. New album, not entitled Bucking Bronco, comes out Feb 26. And he went with Chasing Old Highs… pretty solid album title.

- Kip Moore released “How High” and wrote it with Bobby Terry, Luke Dick and Westin Davis. Moore’s deluxe album will be released on Feb 12. Also, he’s apparently written another project no one has heard. He built a studio in his Arizona home and for a month straight, wrote in the mornings and with mountain biking and rock climbing during the day.

- Maren Morris teams up with JP Saxe in “Line By Line.”

- Parker Millsap, an Oklahoma native, released “Real Thing” as part of a new album announcement to be released Apr 9. Millsap said in light of current times, “The thesis for the song is: FaceTime ain’t shit.”

h/t Augie