As someone who’s made a career of writing about music for the internet, allow me to offer some sage advice: Don’t piss off a Barb. Nicki Minaj’s online fanbase is ruthless, and they don’t discriminate. Not even towards Minaj herself.

It’s been less than a year since the Smile’s last album, and they’ve already got something else cooking. Earlier this month, they quietly put out a 12″ LP with some new songs called “Don’t Get Me Started” and “The Slip,” the former of which has appeared in their live setlists along with other unreleased tracks. Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner have not officially announced a new album, but that might change soon.

Aside from the opportunity to make Drew Barrymore proud, inclement weather and outdoor festivals are not a good mix. Torrential downpour at Burning Man last year left tens of thousands of burners stranded. Reneé Rapp’s set at Leeds Festival on Friday was canceled after extreme rain caused a delay. And while the precipitation let up by the time she was supposed to perform at Reading today, the leftover dampness caused a lot of technical issues, cutting her set short.

Lana Del Rey has not had the best track record lately at UK festivals. Last year, her headlining set at Glastonbury was cut short after she came onstage 30 minutes late. Saturday night at Reading was a similar situation: After arriving about 15 minutes late to her headlining set at that festival, her mic was cut off during the encore, with about five minutes left to go. The festival later apologized and said it was “an error by the Reading production team.”

Chris Hemsworth hosts a National Geographic series called Limitless, which is described as “an epic mission to discover how to live better for longer.” It’s executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, whose films don’t often involve living a good, long life. But I won’t hold that against Hemsworth. For an upcoming episode of the show, the actor learned how to play drums to illustrate how playing an instrument can help you maintain your cognitive health. He flaunted his chops in front of a humble 70,000-person crowd at an Ed Sheeran concert in Romania Saturday night.

So far, Katy Perry has previewed her forthcoming album 143 with the much-hated lead single “Woman’s World” (but don’t worry; it’s satire!) and the virtually ignored follow-up “Lifetimes.” On Friday night, the pop artist debuted three new tracks during an intimate performance at the Evita club in LA.

Last month, Donald Glover released Bando Stone & The New World, his last album as Childish Gambino. The rapper kicked off his world tour earlier this month, performing live debuts and rarities. However, he just announced that tonight’s Connecticut show at Mohegan Sun is canceled due to production issues, and he promises to make it up to ticketholders.

In February, Liam Gallagher said Noel Gallagher turned down a Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour. When there were rumors of an Oasis reunion in April, Liam shut them down: “I’ve never mentioned oasis reunion it’s over we must all really move in for our own mental health.” However, the reunion rumors have returned, and Liam seems to be fueling the speculation.

Slipknot is slated to play Rocklahoma next weekend. However, the band’s DJ Sid Wilson is currently being hospitalized for serious burns following a bonfire explosion on his Iowa farm. On Instagram, Slipknot said he’ll still join them at the festival.

Earlier this year, Macklemore released a pro-Palestine protest song called “Hind’s Hall.” Today, the rapper announced he’s canceling his concert in Dubai due to UAE’s involvement in the Sudan war.

A few days ago, Peel Dream Magazine unveiled their new album Rose Main Reading Room. Today, the band’s Joseph Stevens revealed he scored the forthcoming film Let’s Start A Cult.

Daron Beck, the vocalist and keyboardist of Fort Worth synth-doom band Pinkish Black, has died. The news was shared via the group’s label Relapse Records who say Beck passed due to “medical illness.” He was 48.

Earlier this month, Drake shared a 100GB data dump that had new music with Young Thug and Latto. On Friday, the rapper returned with three more tracks posted to his finsta.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Beyoncé’s team issued a cease-and-desist order to the Trump campaign for using her song “Freedom.” Now, Foo Fighters are speaking up about how their hit “My Hero” was used at a Trump rally without their permission.

Earlier this week, Chappell Roan posted TikToks rebuking her fans’ invasive behavior. The rising pop sensation was met with some backlash, and on Friday she made an Instagram post clarifying her feelings.

The 2024 DNC had Jason Isbell and Lil Jon, but not Beyoncé. Rare miss, TMZ.

The city of Olympia in Washington has declared today, August 23, “Bikini Kill Day,” in honor of the foundational riot grrrl band, which famously formed in 1990 with members Kathleen Hanna, Billy Karren, Kathi Wilcox, and Tobi Vail. (The current lineup includes Hanna, Wilcox, Vail, and touring guitarist Sara Landeau.) The honor is another feather in the band’s 2024 cap; earlier this year, Hanna released her memoir Rebel Girl: My Life As A Feminist Punk, Bikini Kill made their late-night TV debut on Colbert, and the band is currently on tour.

Florida rapper PlayThatBoiZay has worked a lot with Denzel Curry, and Curry is among the impressive cast of guests that appears on Zay’s new album out today. VIP also boasts appearances from A$AP Rocky, JPEGMAFIA, Kenny Mason, and Mike Dimes. The Curry and Rocky appearances come on “Hoodlumz,” a song you might have already heard on Curry’s King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 this year. As for Zay himself, he errs on the side of amped-up rage rap but can pull off smoother, more agile bars on tracks like “CUT UP.” Explore what the album has to offer below.

Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)

Kid Cudi is selling his own funnel cake mix. General Mills announced Thursday that Cudder, a self-professed funnel cake connoisseur, is teaming with Bisquick to launch his own spin on the product. It’s apparently a nostalgic favorite that takes my fellow Ohioan Scott Mescudi straight back to his childhood:

Buffalo rap hardhead Benny The Butcher has a truly chaotic discography. Earlier this year, Benny released his Def Jam album Everybody Can’t Go. A couple of weeks ago, Benny and his Black Soprano Family crew released an album called Summertime Butch. Now, Benny has a new EP with three songs, each of which has a big guest star. One of those guest stars is Drake.

In 1965, the Staple Singers, already giants in the world of gospel, released Freedom Highway, an album explicitly inspired by the Civil Rights struggle. Pops Staples wrote the album’s title track, and his daughter and bandmate Mavis was in her mid-twenties when it came out. Mavis Staples is 85 years old now; she had an all-star birthday celebration in April. Last night, she got together with her frequent collaborator Jeff Tweedy to sing that song on Colbert.

Last month, Queens Of The Stone Age announced that the rest of their July shows would be cancelled while frontman Josh Homme headed back to the US for emergency surgery. Today, the band announced via Instagram that the remainder of their 2024 tour, including festival appearances, would be canceled as well. “Josh has been given no choice but to prioritize his health and to receive essential medical care through the remainder of the year.”

Thurston Moore is set to release a new album, Flow Critical Lucidity, in September. We’ve already heard quite a few tracks from the Sonic Youth co-founder’s latest, including “Isadora,” “Hypnogram,” “Rewilding,” and “Sans Limites” featuring Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier. Today, Moore is back with another album preview called “The Diver,” which features lyrics by Radieux Radio, bassist Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine), and percussionist Jem Doulton (Roisin Murphy).

The wildly creative Florida singer and rapper Doechii signed with Top Dawg Entertainment a few years ago, and she scored a hit last year with the Trillville-interpolating Kodak Black collab “What It Is (Block Boy).” Since then, Doechii has released a handful of promising one-off singles like “Booty Drop,” “Pacer,” and “Alter Ego.” (She’s also featured on the new Katy Perry album, but you can’t win them all.) Doechii hasn’t released a larger project since the 2022 EP She / Her / Black Bitch, and people have been wondering when she’d get a chance to drop something larger. It’s finally happening, and we won’t have to wait long.

In July, experimental rock vets Oxbow lost its lead singer right in the middle of a European tour. At the time, frontman and founder Eugene Robinson announced his departure in an ominous Substack post reading: “The very real prospect that we might have contributed to the misery of the world makes me sick to my stomach.” A few days later, guitarist Niko Wenner wrote on Instagram that “an accusation was leveled at me” and that Oxbow “no longer exists.” Now, Robinson is back with the noise-rock supergroup Buñuel, who have announced a double LP titled Mansuetude, coming in October.

Mötley Crüe have announced the Cancelled EP, produced by Bob Rock and arriving in early October. Following their 2019 soundtrack to the biographical film Dirt, not to mention 2021’s 40 Years cassette boxset, Cancelled features the already released, Mick Mars-less “Dogs Of War” and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right,” which Mötley Crüe have performed live in the past.

OutKast released their sophomore album ATLiens in 1996, and it’s an absolute bulletproof rap classic. You could argue that it’s OutKast’s best album, and plenty have. As it turns out, there’s a masked dubstep duo from Atlanta that calls itself ATLiens. They’ve been around for a while, they play big venues, and they’ve got tracks with producers like Bassnectar. OutKast, or at least the lawyers representing OutKast, would like to let ATLiens know that you can’t just do that.

The Brussels/Marseille band Cœur À L’Index play sparkling guitar-led indie pop, and on new album Adieu Minette they’ll do it for the great UK punk label La Vida Es Un Mus, whose roster tends to skew a lot harder and nastier than this. The label bills the record as a collection of “fragile pop songs for people who love C86 as much as they love power pop and punk, but who also have a soft spot for French Chanson from the 60’s onwards.” “Minette,” the new album’s lead single and quasi title track, lives up to that lofty description. If you were vibing with all those Skandinavian guitar-pop acts of the 2010s like Makthaverskan — or if you’re in the market for a less dreamy, more down-to-earth complement to Alvvays — you’ll probably quite enjoy this too. Listen below.

Maria Jacobson, the Chicago musician who records under the name Fran, released their album Leaving at the top of 2023. Today, they’ve released a really cool new song, a watery waltz called “Florida.”

Bluegrass giant Billy Strings announced a new album Highway Prayers earlier this month. Featuring his longtime band and production by Jon Brion, Highway Prayers includes the lead single “Leadfoot” and a 20-song(!) tracklist. One of those tracks is the double-named “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe In You,” which is out today alongside a music video directed by JJ Horner.

Back in the early-to-mid ’90s, college-rock four-piece Cell were making the rounds and impressing Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, who released a 7-inch on his Ecstatic Peace imprint. Cell only ever released two LPs and several EPs (via the DGC subsidiary of Geffen), such as 1992’s Slo-Blo and 1994’s Living Room, before parting ways in 1995. Today, Cell are back with a new-old song, “Free People,” which was originally written in the ’90s and performed live a few times. Now, “Free People” has been properly recorded and has a music video to match.

After making a big splash this year with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter released her anticipated new album Short n’ Sweet today, which turns out to sound a lot more like “Please Please Please” than “Espresso” in general. (I love both songs, but the album’s strong resemblance to Kacey Musgraves is not a bad thing.) Along with the new LP comes a wildly entertaining music video for opening track “Taste.”

This year, the Boston Celtics won their first NBA championship since 2008, pretty much trouncing the Mavericks. Celtics star Jaylen Brown won the Finals MVP, but he wasn’t selected to play for the American Olympic team, and he says that he was passed over because of his longstanding beef with the Nike corporation. Now, he’s out here rapping about it.

In July, Pixies released a single with their new bassist, Emma Richardson. Titled “Chicken,” the release is set to appear on the band’s forthcoming album The Night The Zombies Came, which also features the previously released single “You’re So Impatient” and is out in October. Today, Pixies have shared another cut from the album — the stomping, distortion-heavy “Oyster Beds.”

Back in 2021 we bestowed Album Of The Week honors of Always Something, a garage-rocking, power-popping delight from Gainesville band UV-TV. Today they’re back with news of a new album, and it sounds like quite the departure.

New Radicals, the band responsible for the 1998 alt-pop anthem “You Get What You Give,” broke up shortly after the release of Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, their sole album. Band mastermind Gregg Alexander disappeared from the public eye, but he kept writing songs for other artists. Alexander has been tentatively coming back to the spotlight over the last decade, partly because of some of those songs that didn’t come out under the New Radicals name and partly because a few political types really, really like “You Get What You Give.”

For the past decade, the house band for Seth Meyers’ version of Late Night has been the 8G Band, an indie rock combo featuring two members of Les Savy Fav (guitarist Seth Jabour and bassist Syd Butler), keyboardist Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys. SNL/Portlandia guy Fred Armisen, a veteran indie rock drummer, serves as the music director and occasionally sits in behind the kit, though the show has welcomed more than 200 guest drummers when he’s away on other business. Guitar hero Marnie Stern also used to be part of the band too. It’s been a cool, under-appreciated aspect of the late night TV landscape, and unfortunately, it has come to an end.

For what feels like the first time in a while, we’ve finally got some new pop stars really going off this year. One of them is Sabrina Carpenter. Technically, the 25-year-old Carpenter isn’t new. She was a Disney child star, and she’s on her fifth album. But Carpenter has had a series of huge breakout moments this year, releasing the massive hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” The former was a true song of the summer contender — Stereogum readers voted it #2, right behind Kendrick — and the latter debuted at #1. Carpenter already sold out her upcoming arena tour — a real accomplishment in this climate. Now, her much-anticipated album Short N’ Sweet is here. On first listen, this one pays off on the promise of those two songs.