May 9, 2022 - Music Observer

Albums by Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest Archived in Library of Congress

Music Observer Staff on May 9, 2022

Today, the National Recording Registry announced that classic 1990s hip-hop LPs by Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest will be archived in the Library of Congress.

The new full-length additions to the registry are Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Low End Theory, Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor, the Shirelles’ Tonight’s the Night, Terry Riley’s In C, the Ry Cooder-produced Buena Vista Social Club, Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time, Duke Ellington’s Ellington at Newport, and Max Roach’s We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.

The registry will also archive new individuals songs, including the Four Tops’ “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Robin Williams’ 2010 appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast also made the list.

The 2021 batch included songs by Janet Jackson, Nas, and LaBelle.

South Korean Band BTS to Hold In-Person Concerts in the US in April

Music Observer Staff on May 9, 2022

Photo: Time

BTS, a boy band from South Korea, will smash a comeback to the United States for a set of concerts in Las Vegas in April, according to their agency, Big Hit, on Wednesday.

The concerts are among the scheduled “Permission to Dance on Stage” tours that they put on hold due to the pandemic. In a statement issued by Big Hit Entertainment, the concerts will occur on April 8–9 and 15–16, with the final show broadcasted live for streaming.

BTS has been a vanguard for the K-Pop industry since its debut in 2013, influencing young people worldwide with their upbeat music and dances and inspiring Gen Z with their lyrics and social campaigns to empower the younger generation.

The K-Pop sensation held its first in-person concerts since the onset of the pandemic in November in Los Angeles. Last week, they revealed that they would perform the first shows for their home fans since the pandemic started, with three concerts in Seoul, the country’s capital, next month.

Big Hit announced Tuesday that the band’s singer and songwriter (also considered by the fandom as the visual) Kim Tae-Hyung, widely known as V, had recovered from the coronavirus infection.

He was the fifth member out of seven who got infected with the virus, including three who tested positive in December soon after they arrived home from the US shows.

During the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the band delayed and then canceled what was supposed to be their most massive international tour encompassing, more or less, 40 concerts. Alternatively, they organized a few online shows.

The band is composed of seven members, with Kim Namjoon (leader and rapper), Kim Seokjin (vocalist and visual), Min Yoongi (lead rapper), Jung Hoseok (lead rapper and main dancer), Park Jimin (lead vocalist and main dancer), Kim Tae-Hyung (vocalist and visual), and Jeon Jungkook (main vocalist, lead dancer, sub-rapper, and maknae).

“The Batman” Will Have Its Own “Bat-verse,” says Matt Reeves

Music Observer Staff on May 9, 2022

Photo: Cinema Blend

With the upcoming latest installment “The Batman,” American filmmaker Matt Reeves wants to create a new Bat-verse as an offshoot.

The film follows Dark Knight’s second year—portrayed by Robert Pattinson—a murder mystery that involves familiar characters from the canon: the Riddler (played by Paul Dano), a serial killer that preys on Gotham’s corrupt aristocrats; Selene Kyle (portrayed by Zoë Kravitz), who will later set off as Catwoman; and the Penguin (played by Colin Farrell), aka Oswald Cobblepot, who is just a mid-tier mob lieutenant in the film and has not even reached a good enough villain achievement.

“The Batman” is created as a story on its own and not standing within DC’s universe (DCEU); Reeves has already been thinking of plans to broaden this world outside the big screen.

Two new shows in the works at HBO Max will have the “Cloverfield” director as executive producer; one is a Gotham City Police Department drama announced back in July 2020 while another circulates the Penguin’s rise to power.

“What I really wanted this movie to do is create a Batverse,” Reeves told a media outlet. “You don’t do a story and go, ‘This is Chapter 1’ because you might not get to do Chapter 2. So, the story had to stand on its own. But the thing about it is that the Bat world is so rich with character that as you’re starting to come to an end, you can already start thinking about the next thing. Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham’s story never ends.”

As per Reeves’ statement, the Penguin show appeared out of discussions with HBO Max, which wanted more than sideline characters from the film.

“I was thrilled by that,” Reeves says. “I said [to HBO Max], ‘To be honest with you, the thing that was going to be the seeds of what I thought the next story could be in terms of the Penguin is that I saw there being this kind of ‘American dream in Gotham’ sort of story, almost like “Scarface;” the rise of this character who we all know will achieve mythic status.’ He is underestimated, and he’s like a time bomb … They were like, ‘Oh my God, we’re in!’ And that was really exciting because, by that point, Colin had already given life to this character.”

Despite Reeve’s hold back on giving more information about which characters will be spotlighted next, he clearly showed his hopes for these projects because of its focus on characters.

Batman is coming to the theaters on March 4.