The Algorithm Age

A mysterious new band is climbing the charts on Spotify , racking up over half a million listens in just a few days. The Velvet Sundown sound familiar, and their songs are perfectly listenable, if not the next Sweet Jane. But they’re causing controversy because people think they’re entirely AI-generated, and you can see why. They either don’t exist at all, or they’re pretending to be AI for a marketing gimmick. Who are the Velvet Sundown? According to their ‘verified artist’ Spotify profile, the band was ‘formed by singer and mellotron player Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, Milo Rains, who crafts the band’s textured synth sounds, and free-spirited percussionist Orion “Rio” Del Mar’. Only problem is, none of them have any social media presence or evidence of existing outside of this bio, and the band itself only started posting on X and Instragram three days ago. Not quite what you’d expect if they’d been gigging and promoting themselves for years before their...

Aerosmith’s founding member Joe Perry has teased a possible reunion tour, which would come as a shock to fans after frontman Steven Tyler’s vocal issues . Last year the I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing hitmakers announced they would not be touring again after Steven , 77, damaged his vocal cords during the band’s Peace Out tour in 2023. 10 months into their Peace Out Farewell Tour – which saw a string of concerts rescheduled – the band announced Steven’s ‘recovery from his vocal injury is not possible’ and said they had made the ‘heartbreaking and difficult decision’ to retire from touring. Following a one-off charity performance in February, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum shared an update on his friend Steven, saying: ‘Now, is he going to tour again? No, he’s not. ‘Because, and I explained this to people, Steven cannot put himself under the rigors of doing a full worldwide tour because there’s a lot of pressure.’ Now, Aerosmith guitarist Joe has given fr...

As if the hot, soaring temperatures were not enough to deal with, the final day of June brought an enormous thunderstorm to Madrid, which for a while threatened to make The Corrs return a washout even before it started. But the rain eventually gave way and just after 10pm, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim came out on stage and the applause from the audience made it clear that thousands had been eagerly awaiting the return of the Irish band to Spanish shores. The chords of 'Only When I Sleep' started to play... and the show began! Andrea's voice perhaps suggested that she had been performing for several weeks, but the singer still moved the crowd. After the second song, Andrea approached the microphone and the next charm offensive was upon us: "Buenas noches Madrid, es un placer estar aquí", something we Spaniards appreciate very much: 'guiris' (foreign tourists) speaking the language of Cervantes. Back to Shakespeare's language, he commented...

As if the hot, soaring temperatures were not enough to deal with, the final day of June brought an enormous thunderstorm to Madrid, which for a while threatened to make The Corrs return a washout even before it started. But the rain eventually gave way and just after 10pm, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim came out on stage and the applause from the audience made it clear that thousands had been eagerly awaiting the return of the Irish band to Spanish shores. The chords of 'Only When I Sleep' started to play... and the show began! Andrea's voice perhaps suggested that she had been performing for several weeks, but the singer still moved the crowd. After the second song, Andrea approached the microphone and the next charm offensive was upon us: "Buenas noches Madrid, es un placer estar aquí", something we Spaniards appreciate very much: 'guiris' (foreign tourists) speaking the language of Cervantes. Back to Shakespeare's language, he commented...

As if the hot, soaring temperatures were not enough to deal with, the final day of June brought an enormous thunderstorm to Madrid, which for a while threatened to make The Corrs return a washout even before it started. But the rain eventually gave way and just after 10pm, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim came out on stage and the applause from the audience made it clear that thousands had been eagerly awaiting the return of the Irish band to Spanish shores. The chords of 'Only When I Sleep' started to play... and the show began! Andrea's voice perhaps suggested that she had been performing for several weeks, but the singer still moved the crowd. After the second song, Andrea approached the microphone and the next charm offensive was upon us: "Buenas noches Madrid, es un placer estar aquí", something we Spaniards appreciate very much: 'guiris' (foreign tourists) speaking the language of Cervantes. Back to Shakespeare's language, he commented...

It’s almost time for the gates of Worthy Farm to open, as Glastonbury Festival kicks off on Wednesday. Attention this year is largely focused on the mysterious Patchwork, who are taking to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, and on which secret sets will be played, with Pulp, Haim and Paramore being the most heavily speculated names to show up. However, one act scheduled to perform on Saturday is proving to be the most headline grabbing. You guessed it: it’s controversial Belfast rappers Kneecap . Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was in court last week in London , charged with a terror offence, relating to allegedly shouting comments at a gig in November in support of Hezbollah , which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK. The rap trio has repeatedly denied supporting Hamas or Hezbollah , and argued that they are facing a "co-ordinated smear campaign" after speaking out about "the...

It’s almost time for the gates of Worthy Farm to open, as Glastonbury Festival kicks off on Wednesday. Attention this year is largely focused on the mysterious Patchwork, who are taking to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, and on which secret sets will be played, with Pulp, Haim and Paramore being the most heavily speculated names to show up. However, one act scheduled to perform on Saturday is proving to be the most headline grabbing. You guessed it: it’s controversial Belfast rappers Kneecap . Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was in court last week in London , charged with a terror offence, relating to allegedly shouting comments at a gig in November in support of Hezbollah , which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK. The rap trio has repeatedly denied supporting Hamas or Hezbollah , and argued that they are facing a "co-ordinated smear campaign" after speaking out about "the...

It’s 1976, and an Anglo-American rock band are in a Californian studio making the album that is going to catapult them to global superstardom. But all is not well: creative tensions, personal jealousies, secret ambitions, drink and drugs are all tearing the band apart. They go stir crazy working on the same songs for months on end. The members themselves are falling in and out of love. The female singer finally has enough of her relationship with the band’s controlling creative genius. The keyboardist splits with their coke-addled bandmate. The drummer’s wife wants a divorce. The whole thing is taking ages. Is this the price of making great art? If it sounds like a familiar story – and we’ll get to the lawsuit over the alleged similarities to Fleetwood Mac ’s fabled making of Rumours – then it is precisely the sense of historical recognisability that has helped make Stereophonic the most hyped play of the year. After a nine-month sold out Broadway run that earned i...

Australian rock icons AC/DC will head home to Australia in November, marking their first shows Down Under in nearly a decade. The band, which formed in Sydney in 1973, will be in the country between November 12 and December 14 as part of their Power Up world tour. They will hit the MCG in Melbourne on November 12 and Sydney’s Accor Stadium on November 21. This will be followed by the bp Adelaide Grand Final on November 30, which AC/DC will headline. Then, as an early Christmas present to Perth and Brisbane-based Acadaca fans, the group will head to Perth’s Optus Stadium on December 4 and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on December 14. The Grammy Award-winning group will be supported by Melbourne pub rock band Amyl and the Sniffers. “AC/DC puts their fans ahead of everything else. They’re perfectionists in every way and will always make sure each fan walks out with a big smile on their face,” said Australian tour promoter Christo Van Egmond,...