Latest news with #indie
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wait. The TikTokers don't love you like I love you - Yeah Yeah Yeahs thrill at Manchester Apollo
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Manchester Apollo. Monday June 16, 2025. What do you do when your most famous song has been completely bastardised by a TikTok dance craze? If you're the Yeah Yeah Yeahs you strip it back entirely and add a string quartet. READ MORE: 45 of Parklife 2025's most fashionable festival-goers READ MORE: Chris Brown brings surprise star guest out at Co-op Live gig in Manchester It could easily have been business as usual for the New York trio - now 25 years into their journey as one of the most revered indie darlings of the 21st century. An electric live band, their pretentious, cerebral art-rock speaks for a generation. So when they announced a short tour to celebrate their many years together, it sold out in minutes. More recently, they have found fame with a new audience much younger than the Millennials who grew up hearing Y Control and Zero blasting out of the speakers at 5th Ave and 42s. That's because their glorious ballad Maps has become part of a viral dance trend that propelled the song to the top of the TikTop Billboard Top 50 chart - 21 years after its release. But it's the die hard fans rather than the TikTokers who fill the seats of Manchester Apollo tonight. After a test run in California, Manchester is the first stop on a tour of 'beautiful iconic theatres' and one of only two UK dates. The Hidden In Pieces tour is intended to display YYY's softer, more mature side with the band working alongside a string quartet to show off a selection of rarities and B-Sides. And from the opening chords of lovesong Blacktop, it's clear this is going to be something pretty special. Frontwoman Karen O's pure, delicate vocal rings out above a reverberating synth - setting the tone for a show filled with delicate and heartfelt moments of beauty. O is usually one of the most energetic performers around. But she spends much of this set gently pottering about the stage in a red jumpsuit, gold boots and a blue diamond encrusted cape. During some of it, she's even sitting down - unheard of at a normal YYY's gig. The last time they visited Manchester, O spat water into the air, growled, roared, rolled around and hurtled about the stage. That's her shtick. Tonight she is a different beast. Older, wiser, more relaxed - much like her audience (I can't have been the only one to delight in the prospect of a seated gig on a weeknight). 'Are you ready to get comfy and cosy with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs tonight?' she asks. 'This is new for us. It's just you and us tonight.' Promising some 'deep cuts' from their back catalogue, O launches into Mystery Girl - a very early song from their first EP. Then there's an acoustic guitar version of the anthemic Gold Lion which doesn't stray too far from the source, but slows the tempo down and adds a double bass. Let Me Know - a B-side O admits is only really for true fans, follows with a searing string quartet intro. A cover of Bjork's Hyperballad doesn't quite work and it takes me a little while to recognise the bonkers lyrics of that masterpiece above a busy arrangement and overly loud synth. And IsIs - a gloriously chaotic racket in its recorded form - honestly sounds a bit of a mess here. But overall the orchestral arrangements in this show throw new light and shade on YYY's raw, exposing lyrics. As O, guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase power into fan favourite Cheated Hearts, the energy ramps up and you can feel they are on safer ground. Warrior lends itself well to this more acoustic sound and really allows O to show off both the vulnerability and explosive power of her unique voice. A new arrangement of Runaway sounds lovely and achieves the Lynchian vibe the band may have hoped to display when they cited the late great director in their press for this tour. It sounds huge and dramatic with strings adding an ethereal, Mica Levi-like eeriness. O has always been an emotionally raw performer - you need only look at the famously heart-wrenching video for Maps to glean that. But this evening's performance is bolder still. 'I'm not really sure why we're doing this,' she admits 'We just really wanted to. 'We just wanted to sing these songs really vulnerable for you. It's really special to be here doing this with you.' This is a bold, experimental show which at times feels more akin to something you would find at Manchester International Festival rather than the Apollo on a Monday night. There are also moments of huge charm and emotion. The short pretty Mars - which O dedicates to her son Django - is an ode to childhood wonder and wisdom. While Maps - an already sorrowful song - is elevated with an utterly beautiful string quartet interlude. 'Those strings man,' gasps a visibly moved O. An acoustic, almost Country version of Spitting off the Edge of the World leads us into songs it would be impossible not to include - Modern Romance, Y Control. An encore in which O dons light-up trainers and blasts out Burning and Zero in her more usual energetic style brings the show to a thrilling end, and all before 10pm - something that disappoints the girls in front of me who have just returned to their seats with fresh pints. As a Millennial of a certain age, I admit that the nostalgia linked to YYYs might not make me the most impartial of reviewers. I love this band. I have a Stan Chow poster of Karen O on my living room wall. I am an early noughties cliché. But even I am not impervious to their mistakes. At some points tonight, the heady mix of strings, synth and fuzzy guitars sounds a mess. But mostly, it's a spectacular show. And unlike some of their peers from the New York indie sleaze era, Yeah Yeah Yeahs are always developing. This might be a gig for true fans, but the TikTokers are missing out on something truly beautiful.
BreakingNews.ie
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Fontaines DC, Kneecap, CMAT: How much do you know about new Irish acts?
There have been many exciting Irish acts solidifying themselves as impressive performers, incredible vocalists, and talented songwriters in the last decade. Acts like CMAT and Fontaines D.C. have been growing in popularity, receiving well-deserved attention and praise. Advertisement Groups like Kingfishr and The Mary Wallopers have brought a fresh sound to the Irish indie and folk scenes, while the members of rap trio Kneecap champion the Irish language in their music. So, how much do you know about those new to the Irish music scene? Test your knowledge by taking our quiz!
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jamie xx brings ‘good times' to Victoria Park for first ever LIDO festival
If you have ever watched old videos of 90s raves taken on VHS and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you weren't even alive, Jamie xx is the musical equivalent. The DJ and member of indie trio The xx had curated the music lineup for the second day of LIDO festival in Victoria Park on June 7, and saw off the event as headliner. His music will always be nostalgic for me. Not because it is associated with any particular time, nor did it play a pivotal moment in my life. The lightshow brought the crowd on stage with Jamie xx with huge screens (Image: Miles Rebeiro) But something about the echoing sounds coming through the beats, like a party heard next door, makes you sentimental about old times. A sunny day turned soggy with rain in typical festival style. Fortunately, the two smaller stages were sheltered from the elements. As Romy appeared on stage, the sky seemed to lower the lights, and a downpour created a claustrophobic crush under the tent. Romy drew a huge crowd for her retro-infused synth (Image: Miles Rebeiro) Like Jamie xx, her retro synths also blurred the lines between looking back and living in the now. Walking over to the main stage, some drops still fell but a faint sunset cracked through the gloom. The main stage was a feat of engineering, with a huge movable ceiling that lowered itself just above the DJ. LIDO has three stages and a capacity of 32,000 people (Image: Miles Rebeiro) All over and behind, drone shots of the crowd and close-ups of people looking like they are having the best time of their lives are projected, flickering and fading in and out, adding to the sense of being in a good memory in the present. Jamie does not just play his album live, but plays a set of solid, original dance music that would be more suited to a club than a concert venue. The past had not escaped him as he was joined on stage by xx bandmates Romy and Oliver Sim. The festival avoided becoming a mudslide in the rain (Image: Miles Rebeiro) But for someone with so many collaborations on his albums, he was mainly alone, apart from the huge images of the crowd dancing all around him. There were the recognisable hits - Girl, Loud Places - woven in enough to grab a friend and sing the lyrics you know. But seeing him play was not just a play-through of his music but a very different experience from listening to his album. This is music to dance to and to create those good times his songs sing about. Even as you watch him, you are always aware that this is going to be a good memory. Jamie xx may evoke a time you are not sure you were a part of, but this was a party everyone could join.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
indie Semiconductor Announces New Employee Inducement Grants
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., June 06, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--indie Semiconductor (Nasdaq: INDI), an automotive solutions innovator, today announced that it has granted equity awards (the "Inducement Grants") under its 2023 Inducement Incentive Plan to new employees who joined indie. The grants were previously approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of indie Semiconductor. Information regarding the equity awards can be found on the company's investor relations website at: About indie Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA, indie is empowering the automotive revolution with next generation semiconductors, photonics and software platforms. We focus on developing innovative, high-performance and energy-efficient technology for ADAS, in-cabin user experience and electrification applications. Our mixed-signal SoCs enable edge sensors spanning Radar, LiDAR, Ultrasound, and Computer Vision, while our embedded system control, power management and interfacing solutions transform the in-cabin experience and accelerate increasingly automated and electrified vehicles. As a global innovator, we are an approved vendor to Tier 1 partners and our solutions can be found in marquee automotive OEMs worldwide. View source version on Contacts Investor Relationsir@
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Netflix's Best New Movie Is An Unlikely Indie With 97% On Rotten Tomatoes
Nicolas Cage stars in the 2021 film 'Pig.' On paper, the premise for Pig sounds like the setup for a Nicolas Cage punchline: a loner of a man ventures out into the woods to rescue his stolen truffle pig. But it's not a self-aware John Wick-esque genre riff played for laughs, nor is it an over-the-top revenge thriller backed by a big budget. No, this quietly profound film is something much more; it's a meditation on grief and memory that uses its bizarre premise not for shock or irony, but for tenderness. Oh, and it also happens to be one of the best-reviewed movies of the 21st century. And it was added to Netflix this morning, accompanying what is already a stellar lineup of movies for the month of May. No, Pig is not at all what you'd expect. But perhaps more surprising than the film's shocking sophistication is the fact that more people haven't seen it, that the movie isn't much more talked about. Because very few films have achieved such great success on Rotten Tomatoes: a 97% score from 272 reviews—a feat almost unheard of for any modern film, let alone a subdued indie about a truffle-hunting recluse and his stolen pig. That amount of positive reviews broaches nearly unmatched territory, recalling what many consider to be the highest-rated movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes, Mad Max: Fury Road, which also scored 97% from 439 reviews. Not many films remain in the high-90s when approaching 300 reviews, which begs the question: shouldn't we all be watching and talking about this movie? Despite its seemingly absurd premise, Pig from director Michael Sarnoski (who also directed A Quiet Place: Day One) is anything but conventional. The film's central star, the often bug-eyed Bela Lugosi super-fan Nicolas Cage, plays Rob, a former fine-dining chef who abandons his past and decides to live deep in the Oregon wilderness with his pig, foraging truffles and avoiding any and all contact with human beings. After a violent break-in that results in his pig being stolen, Rob heads back to Portland not to seek vengeance, but to search for his lost friend—quietly, painfully, and without compromise. What follows is an incredibly emotional journey that requires some heavy acting from Mr. Cage. Critics didn't just like Pig—they were floored by it. Matt Zoller Seitz of gave the film a raving four-star review, calling it 'beguiling' and 'confounding,' the kind of movie that dares to defy genre expectations. Though it teases a gritty revenge plot, the film instead unfolds like a '70s-style picaresque character study. 'Its commitment to its own oddball vision is what makes it linger in the mind,' Seitz writes. 'It's attentive to regret and failure in ways that American films tend to avoid.' In Variety, Michael Nordine praised Cage's 'best performance in years," marveling at the film's ability to 'feel both out there and grounded, often at the same time.' He notes how Cage's portrayal of Rob brings a wounded sincerity to even the film's most bizarre moments, like underground fight clubs for restaurant workers or chapter titles named after recipes. Cage, he writes, finds something 'close to the profound in it all.' Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter highlights Pig's unorthodox emotional prowess, describing it as 'a recipe that takes chances, even if not every ingredient works.' She praises the unlikely chemistry between Cage and Alex Wolff, who plays Amir, a snarky young truffle dealer reluctantly drawn into Rob's mission. Their mismatched dynamic anchors the story, with Linden pointing out how Wolff subtly reveals the self-doubt beneath Amir's ambition. 'Through it all,' she writes, 'Cage plays the enigmatic central character at the perfect simmering temperature, and without a shred of ham.' Pig takes its time, trades catharsis for contemplation, rarely delivers what you expect—and that's exactly why it has resonated so deeply with audiences and critics alike. It's a film about food, yes, but also about identity, about loss, about what remains when everything else is stripped away. Rob doesn't just want his pig back; he wants to remember who he was when he still cared about something bigger than himself. At 92 minutes, Pig wastes absolutely nothing—not a word, not a look, not a moment. It's a lean, haunting film that sneaks up on you and stays there. And with a Rotten Tomatoes score this high, we can officially deem them gem more than a cult classic—it's a critical titan. And it's now streaming on Netflix. So be sure you don't miss it if you're a subscriber.
