Ezra Koenig in 2015
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Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig Teases New Album Details

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The GRAMMY-winning band's guitarist and lead singer revealed new details about his band's fourth album yesterday on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 20, 2017 - 12:23 pm

Ezra Koenig, guitarist and lead singer for GRAMMY-winning New York City-based rock band Vampire Weekend, has made quite the habit of making big announcements lately.

Just two weeks ago, he announced that Netflix would soon be the home for an original animé TV show that Koenig had written and conceived, with acclaimed director Kazuhiro Furuhashi at the helm and Jaden Smith signed on to voice the lead character.

Then yesterday, when Koenig made an appearance on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show to discuss the forthcoming TV show, the singer also happened to drop some hints about the status of his band's long-awaited fourth album. 

It's been four years since the band released their Best Alternative Music Album GRAMMY-winning Modern Vampires Of The City, and while Koenig was tight-lipped on a specific release date, he did reveal that the album is around 80% done, saying if there were a "gun to [his] head," there was likely enough material to even release the album at present.

Although the forthcoming album's title had already been teased, jokingly, as the somewhat befuddling (but well within the band's typical faux-pretentious goofy-serious wheelhouse) Mitsubishi Macchiato, Koenig did clarify for the first time that the actual title had yet to be revealed.

Koenig was less free with the details of production collaborators. It will be interesting to see what choices get made behind the boards for this record, as all three previous Vampire Weekend releases were produced in-house by mutli-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, who departed the band following the release of Modern Vampires Of The City to pursue solo projects. 

Without giving too much away, Koenig did slyly admit that there would be, "quite a cast of characters" making appearances on the new record. Could this potentially include 2-time GRAMMY-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who contributed to the band's award-winning third album, and won his second career GRAMMY at the 59th Awards for his work on Adele's Album Of The Year-winning 25? Fans might not have to wait too long to find out.

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Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend
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Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig's Next Project Is An… Anime?

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The GRAMMY winner teased details about his latest nonmusical project today
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 5, 2017 - 5:47 pm

GRAMMY winner Ezra Koenig of New York indie rock outfit Vampire Weekend has apparently been hard at work behind the scenes on a new project.

Alongside an unlikely band of compatriots that include Jude Law, Jaden Smith, director Kazuhiro Furuhashi, and The Kid Mero (of Twitter fame, as well as internet infamous for his all-capslock album reviews for Noisey), Koenig will be launching a new anime television show titled "Neo Yokio."

Stereogum was able to unearth additional details from an interview Jude Law conducted back in June 2016 for the TimesTalks conversation series, wherein he hinted, "I think Jaden Smith is playing this little boy called Kai in it, and I’m his butler. I’m this kind of huge robot butler called Charles, who is also a rocket ship. And it takes place in a New York that is sort of combined with Tokyo in the future."

Koenig wrote and conceived the project, and has partnered with Netflix to bring it to fruition. "Neo Yokio" will premiere on the streaming service on Sept. 22.

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Jon Batiste, 2017

Jon Batiste

Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

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GRAMMY Week 2018: Jon Batiste To Perform With GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session Students

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The performance will take place in New York City during the annual "GRAMMYs In The Schools Live!" event just days before the 60th GRAMMY Awards
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 21, 2017 - 4:24 pm

Select students from the GRAMMY Camp—Jazz Session program will gather at the John L. Tishman Auditorium in New York City during GRAMMY Week to participate in the ninth annual "GRAMMY In The Schools Live!" performance and alumni reception.

Special guest and past GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session participant Jon Batiste will join the student band during the performance. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Batiste is the current musical director for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Additional guests of honor will include Pamela Alexander, director of community development for Ford Motor Company Fund, which provides funding and support for the GRAMMY Camp program, Recording Academy President/CEO and Board Chair of the GRAMMY Museum Neil Portnow, as well as the recipient of the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum's fifth annual Music Educator Award.

GRAMMY Camp is one of several flagship music education programs the comprise the GRAMMY Museum's GRAMMY in the Schools initiative, alongside GRAMMY Signature Schools and the Jane Ortner Education Award. GRAMMY Camp offers selected high school students an interactive nonresidential summer music experience focusing on all aspects of commercial music. 

High school instrumentalists can audition for the GRAMMY Camp—Jazz Session, and selectees will travel to the host city for the annual GRAMMY Awards, and participate in high-profile GRAMMY Week performances, recording sessions and attend the GRAMMY telecast.

"GRAMMY In The Schools Live!" will take place on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are on sale now.

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Britney Spears, 2017

Britney Spears

Photo: Image Group LA/Getty Images

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Britney Spears Joins Camilla Cabello, BTS For Dick Clark's Rockin' NYE Lineup

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The pop diva is set to make her first appearance on the annual NYE celebration since 2002
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 21, 2017 - 12:47 pm

As the capstone performance to a four-year residency in Las Vegas, Britney Spears will join the lineup for "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2018" on Dec. 31.

Spears' performance will be broadcast live from Axis Theater in the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino, where the GRAMMY-winning pop diva has held court in Las Vegas since 2013.

The five-and-a-half-hour broadcast will feature separate countdowns in Los Angeles and New Orleans, respectively hosted by Ciara and Lucy Hale, along with the main countdown broadcast from New York's Times Square, anchored by Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy.

The gathered crowd of more than one million partygoers in Times Square will be treated to live performances by Camilla Cabello, Nick Jonas and Sugarland, and throughout the evening additional performances by K-pop sensations BTS, Kelly Clarkson, Fitz & The Tantrums, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Portugal. The Man, and more will be streamed from Los Angeles, along with collaborative performances by Alessia Cara and Zedd, Khalid and Marshmello, Hailee Steinfeld with Alesso, and more.

The countdown in New Orleans will feature additional performances by Imagine Dragons and Walk The Moon.

This year's installment of "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve With Ryan Seacrest" will kick off on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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Cee Lo Green at the 59th GRAMMY Awards, 2017

Cee Lo Green

Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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Cee Lo Green Says New Gnarls Barkley Album Is "Halfway" Done

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The GRAMMY winner claims the album's production will be finished in early 2018
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 20, 2017 - 4:59 pm

Cee Lo Green spoke candidly in a new interview with authoritative hip-hop blog DJ Booth about the prospect of a new Gnarls Barkley album sometime in 2018, calling his forthcoming solo mixtape Songbirds a "prequel" to help warm fans up and build anticipation for a third trip in to the studio with Danger Mouse and the resurrection of their GRAMMY-winning psychedelic soul project.

"We have already started on a new [Gnarls Barkley] album," Green told DJ Booth, stirring excitement over the possibility of the first new Barkley-branded music since 2008's Best Alternative Music Album GRAMMY-nominated The Odd Couple. "We're halfway in and we have some overtures from the other projects that may not have stood the test of time, we don’t know yet."

Green went on to hint that his collaborations with Danger Mouse have always been easily prolific, boasting the much of the recording efforts behind their two previous albums as Gnarls Barkley were finished in the time span of about a week. "That's pretty much all the time we had to do St. Elsewhere," he says. "We were doing [Gnarls Barkley] recreationally."

Further details on the new album are still forthcoming, though Green did reveal that he and Danger Mouse will be getting together at the "top of the year" to wrap up production.

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