Hikari-Ultra/Republic Records duo City Morgue debuts at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart and in the top 20 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart today with their new album CITY MORGUE VOL 2: AS GOOD AS DEAD.Despite being in the rock categories on all of the digital service platforms and number one on the Apple Music Rock Albums chart, Billboard went in a different direction, placing it on their urban genre chart.
Impressively generating over two million total streams in under two weeks, the pair—SosMula and ZillaKami—launch a full-scale infiltration of both the rock and hip hop marketplace with this culture-splitting album. These two urban kids from a new generation are making waves to bring new life to rock music, with a hip-hop touch.
The 17-track album is executive produced by legendary producer Mike Dean andfeatures their previously released single “THE BALLOONS.” On the album, the duo spin gothic hood tales, harking back to timeless East Coast hip-hop—yet sharpened by their signature dark metallic edge. New York’s most notorious duo flex their storytelling like never before and hint at a deeper, darker and deadlier narrative. The duo partnered with Bravado to create exclusive merch surrounding the release of their new album that sold out in three days and collaborated with A$AP Bari’sVLONE to create t-shirts, sweatshirts, bandanas and more that sold out in 72 hours.
The melding of Rock and Rap is a concept that’s existed within the underbelly of music for decades, yet few have done what City Morgue is doing. When upstarts SosMula and ZillaKami come together, their fusion is seamless—oozing true skill with a reckless lack of fucks left to give. On the supergroup’s debut mixtape City Morgue Vol. 1: Hell or High Water, the dynamic duo delivered a new and exciting vibe for any fan of true music—from hip-hop to metal. They will continue this movement on their second album CITY MORGUE VOL 2: AS GOOD AS DEAD. Their music is an experience anyone can appreciate and shows what happens when two worlds meet to form an entirely new planet. The Hikari-Ultra/Republic Records signees have already shown a significant track record of hits in a relatively short amount of time, and it won’t stop there. The duo also dominates the merch scene, with countless sold out exclusive collections. Most recently, the pair teamed up with famed illustrator Mark Riddick and creative director Joe Perez for merch that sold out in 24 hours. Stay tuned for more merch announcements.
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Mistletoe Kiss
Not sure why kissing under a plant is a holiday tradition…but we’re good as long as a cocktail is involved.
Ingredients:
1oz London Dry Gin
0.5oz Fresh Lime Juice
0.5oz Vermont Maple Syrup
Mint and Fresh Cranberries (for garnish)
RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA
Directions:
Fill a shaker with ice and add gin, lime juice, and maple syrup.
Shake vigorously for 20 seconds and strain into a coupe glass.
Top off with RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA and garnish with mint and fresh cranberries.
Ebenezer Rita
Holidays got you feeling sour? The Ebenezer Rita will have you saying bah humbug to any drama!
Ingredients:
1.5oz Bourbon
1oz ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
3oz RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA
Rosemary Sprig (for garnish)
Directions:
Fill a pint glass with ice and add all ingredients except rosemary.
Stir well.
Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
Top off with more RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA if needed and garnish with a fresh sprig of rosemary.
Feeling extra festive? Make ice cubes out of RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA and add fresh cranberries and tiny sprigs of rosemary.
Home for the Holidays
A cocktail so sweet and smooth, even your cousins won’t be able to complain. Pairs perfectly with a warm fire and hot gossip.
Ingredients:
1.5oz Blanco Tequila
0.5oz Vermont Maple Syrup
1.5oz Lime Juice
RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA
Pinch of Fresh Ground Cinnamon
Cinnamon Stick, Fresh Cranberries (for garnish)
Directions:
Fill a shaker with ice and add tequila, maple syrup, and lime juice.
Shake vigorously for 20 seconds and strain into a collins glass over large ice cubes.
Top off with RITAS’ Cran-Ber-RITA and garnish with a cinnamon stick, and fresh cranberries.
*Carefully* light the end of the cinnamon stick ablaze, then quickly blow out. Gently rest the smoking cinnamon stick on the edge of the cocktail to send a seasonal scent wafting through the air.
*Credit: RITAS and Dan Magro, Author of Suck It Up: Extraordinary Cocktails for Everyday People.
By Michelle Pisnoy × Vaughn Lowery
On December 6, 2019, Nick Miller, best known for his stage name Illenium, played Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California as a percentage of his “Ascend” Tour. From the visuals to the operation itself, Illenium put on a life-changing show.
Walking inside the sports stadium, there was a storm of people wearing Illenium’s baseball jerseys and if they weren’t wearing it, they were standing in line about to buy one. The floor seats were packed in with fans crying and waiting for Illenium to come on stage.
Finally, Illenium came out playing his guitar, with a flaming phoenix in the background, which added to the singularity of the performance. The production of the show was incredible. The performace had everything you could ask for, and more. From the pyrotechnics aspect of the show, where you could feel the rut from the very back of the room and the multiple co2 machine blasts all brought his album to life.
It was nifty to hear him play all of his tracks from “Ascend,” plus a few oldies, which made the crowd go wild and sing even louder than before. His sets kept a pure balance of explosive drops to melodic tunes, which brought fans to tears.
The grand finale of the show was epic, with “Good Things Fall Apart” being played and confetti shooting into the crowd and onto the set. Overall, the performance was not one to overlook.
Lana Del Rey today shares a stunning video, bringing to life three tracks from this year’s critically-acclaimed album Norman Fucking Rockwell!. The dreamlike visuals directed by Chuck Grant and edited by Lana brings together the tracks ‘Norman fucking Rockwell’, ‘Bartender’ and ‘Happiness is a butterfly’ as Lana finishes her biggest year to date, celebrating one of 2019 and the decade’s best-reviewed records. The LP, her 5th with Interscope, recently debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 in the US. NFR!was mainly produced with Jack Antonoff and features the songs ‘Fuck it I love you’, ‘The Greatest‘, ‘Venice Bitch’, ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’, ‘hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it’, and ‘Doin’ Time’, a cover of the Sublime classic.
Video Link: http://smarturl.it/NFRFilm
In 1982, legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont changed the comic landscape forever with his iconic GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS story in MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #5, a special edition issue that told a heartbreaking yet illuminating story that explored the mutant metaphor in a way readers had never seen before. As Marvel continues to honor Chris Claremont’s 50 years of brilliant contributions to Marvel Comics, celebrate this landmark story with stunning variant covers by Eisner Award-winning Marcos Martin (DAREDEVIL, AMAZIING SPIDER-MAN)!
In GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS, the X-Men join forces with their archenemy Magneto for the first time, pitting all of mutantkind against the worst humanity has to offer. Featuring the art of industry legend Brent Anderson, the story depicted a world that was all too familiar to readers and continues to inspire X-Men stories today. Look for these covers on issues of your favorite X-Men titles this March!
MARAUDERS 9 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200854)
X-MEN 8 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200844)
NEW MUTANTS 9 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200850)
X-FORCE 9 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200852)
EXCALIBUR 9 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200848)
WOLVERINE 2 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS VARIANT COVER (JAN200835)
To find a comic shop near you, visit www.comicshoplocator.com
Through the winter holidays, the Alternative Christmas Yard is going to welcome residents and guests of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to the courtyard of the former Lukiškės prison. The centrally-located city jail will host the light installations symbolizing the transformation of this space and its search for a new identity.
Apart from the light installations, the Alternative Christmas Yard will offer its visitors a water sculpture, which will serve as an alternative Christmas Tree, and the interactive swings. It will also play a role of an alternative meeting point and a substitute for traditional Christmas markets. Last year, a similar experimental Christmas hotspot in Vilnius was built on the non-operating platforms of the city’s railway station.
“Christmas spirit will invade the zone that for so long was beyond the reach of most city residents and guests. The city sees this former prison yard as an open cultural space that may be used for events and other needs of citizens and businesses. The initiative of the Alternative Christmas Yard will become an impulse that can make this part of the city centre more attractive,” said Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius city.
Lukiškės prison used to be one of the least attractive spaces of the Lithuanian capital. Built in 1902, when Lithuania was under the rule of Russian tzars, it was initially designed as both a jail for pre-trial detention and a prison for punishment. More than 400 prisoners could serve their sentences there, while almost 300 people could be detained at the same time. In 1905 Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church was added to the complex, which also housed the administrative offices and even apartments of the prison officers.
For more than 100 years, this architectural complex served the same purpose. Lukiškės prison was used by the tzars, the German administration during WWI, the Polish government of Vilnius, the Lithuanian government in 1939-1940, the Soviets, the Germans again during WWII, then again the Soviets and finally by the Lithuanian government after the restoration of independence in 1990. Most of the regimes used Lukiškės prison not only for punishment of criminals, but for incarceration of political opponents as well.
Because of the history of Lukiškės prison and its former use for political repression, some researchers compare it to Rakowiecka prison in Warsaw or La Modelo in Barcelona. Both of these facilities were recently closed and converted to public spaces.
Several years ago, the Lithuanian government also took the decision to close the prison and relocate the prisoners and staff to other confinement facilities. The relocation was completed in summer 2019 and now, this once-grisly space is about to be transformed by an artistic experiment.
“For some time already, we have discussed this idea of light installations in unexpected locations. These installations symbolize that Vilnius is an open, brave city that is ready to face the gloomy parts of its history by transforming them into something completely different and unexpected. The closure of Lukiškės prison inspired the first installation of the kind, and I hope we will be witnessing the beginning of a new artistic tradition,” reflected Darius Kupliauskas, the coordinator of the Alternative Christmas Yard project.
This project will be the first initiative to open Lukiškės prison to all visitors free of charge. The Alternative Christmas Yard will be open daily from 4pm to 10 pm, from December 20, 2019 to January 5, 2020.
Rising artist Ava Della Pietra’s new single has all the ingredients of a Christmas classic
Every year around this time, artists and bands from around the country release holiday music. And while we don’t usually cover Christmas releases, Ava Della Pietra deserves your attention – she certainly caught ours. Listen to Ava’s new single “Christmas Tonight” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVhv7E389IY&feature=youtu.be
Ava is a preternaturally accomplished and talented young artist who began performing at age four and writing songs at age five. She taught herself to play a mind-boggling number of instruments after starring in the original Broadway cast of School of Rock – piano, bass, guitar, violin, and ukulele – and she performs them simultaneously on stage using an innovative loop pedal approach. She has written more than forty songs and recorded at least a dozen with producers Will Hicks (Ed Sheeran, Jamie Lawson), Adrian Gurvitz (Jesse McCartney, Cheetah Girls), and Brian Malouf (Michael Jackson, Sabrina Carpenter). The songs will be released in the coming months, with a full-length album planned for 2020.
Ava’s most recent single, “Christmas Tonight,” is a beautiful and uplifting new song about the magic of the holiday season, focused not on Santa and presents, but on the more unspoken aspects of the season – a fresh snow, shimmering lights, and family and friends coming together to share in the special day. “Christmas Tonight” has been streamed nearly 75k times since being released this month and has featured on lists of the season’s “Best Holiday Songs.”
Ava has been touring in support of her new material, and recently performed at My Father’s Place in Roslyn, New York, and in front of a sold out crowd at NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall. Prior to launching her singing career, Ava performed on the national tours of Les Misérables and White Christmas before joining the original cast of School of Rock, and has been featured on shows like Good Morning America, Sesame Street, the Tony Awards, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and more. She recently performed at the Sundance Film Festival, the Great South Bay Music Festival, and at Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 Knicks fans.
Ava is certainly an artist to watch as we head into 2020. To learn more about her, visit http://www.avadellapietra.com/
