Arts & Culture

David Gilmore, Loudon Wainwright III and Bob Mould were among the guests who joined Richard Thompson onstage at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night, for the master guitarist and literate songwriters' 70'th birthday celebration.  Thompson's ex-wife Linda also joined in for a song. Electronic dance music pioneer Moby introduced a Deutsche Bank whistleblower to House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Congressman Adam Schiff at a party in LA, prompting an investigation of ties between the global financial institution and the Trump Administration. And Wilco played their new single "Everyone Hides" on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, as they get ready to wind down their tour in St. Paul next month. 

Foo Fighters frontman and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl revealed in a recent BBC interview which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Abbey Road, that when he hears The Beatles’ "In My Life." he gets a knot in his stomach because it was played so movingly at Kurt Cobain's 1994 funeral service. He also cried over the weekend at the Rock in Rio Festival in Brazil when Weezer played a crunchy cover of Nirvana's "Lithium." In celebration of The Band's self-titled sophomore album's quarter century in existence, the classic will be re-released as a "super-deluxe package," which will feature photos, thirteen bonus tracks, their previously unreleased Woodstock performance, and a documentary. It's out November 1st. AND the family of Ginger Baker has tweeted out that the former Cream drummer is "holding his own" and receiving visitors after being hospitalized last week with an undisclosed ailment that was described as "critical."

A new billboard alongside Interstate 35 in Austin, Texas honors honorary citizen Daniel Johnston, who died earlier this month. The beloved cult artist, who hailed from West Virginia, cut his teeth in the proudly weird music city, passing out cassette tapes of his minimalist songs and earning acclaim from Kurt Cobain, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and many others. Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York turns 25 years old and to celebrate, it's being re-released on vinyl and streaming sites November 1st. And Broken Bells, the groovealiscious duo of James Mercer of The Shins and super producer Brian "Dangermouse" Burton, have released another single in the lead up to a third album.

One of rock's greatest and most cantankerous drummers, Ginger Baker of Cream, is critically ill and in a hospital, according to an official tweet. No word yet on what he's specifically suffering from, but in the past, he revealed he had chronic lung disease and he underwent a major heart surgery in 2016. The highly un-prolific Fiona Apple reportedly is hard at work at a new album which she hopes to have out in early 2020. And The Mountain Goats just released a previously unreleased minimalist homage to Robert Smith and co. called "Get High and Listen to The Cure" on Bandcamp. 

American TV star and cheesetastic German pop superstar David Hasselhoff enlists The Cars' lead guitarist Elliot Easton for a surprisingly faithful and credible rendition of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On", which appears on his new album due Friday called Open Your Eyes.  Innovative King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp says he's owed royalties and "Featured Player" credit on two Bowie albums, Scary Monsters and Heroes, the latter of which he had that sustained. memorable riff on the title song. And two Vampire Weekend members have started their own podcast about the fascinating and multi-layered world of touring. 

Grateful Dead lyricist and collaborator Robert Hunter, known for his vivid words on staples like "Ripple," "China Cat Sunflower," "Uncle John's Band" and many more died yesterday at the age of 78. No cause of death was given by his family, but he recently toured to help raise money for medical bills.  Jerry Garcia met Hunter in the early 1960's and asked him to join a jug band, which he refused. The two reunited in San Francisco, where Hunter wrote words to a Garcia instrumental, which later became "Dark Star." Bob Dylan will kick off a ten-day residency at New York City's Beacon Theater in November, his longest stint since his Greenwich Village days in the early 60's. And Sharon Van Etten reflects on her fifteen years making music in New York City in the short film documentary, Departure, which is out Thursday.