Today’s video interview from the Firefly Music Festival is with X Ambassadors. The band recently released their new album, Orion, with the radio hit “Boom.”
Interview: X Ambassadors (Video Interview)
A Simple Streaming Music Sharing Page for Chorus
The music streaming service revolution has been one of the biggest, and most exciting, developments to the music and technology world in my lifetime. We went from driving to a store to buy music, often without ever hearing it beforehand, to having countless hours of music in our pockets with virtually no limits to what we could discover and listen to with the mere press of a button.
As someone that runs a music website, and now a weekly newsletter, that often includes recommendations about new music, I’ve long struggled with just how to share those recommendations with the most people. On this website, I often link to the YouTube video in the post itself for instant listening and then will link to Apple Music and Spotify when appropriate (or if the song isn’t on YouTube yet) since those are the two biggest streaming platforms. I like those short URLS that a lot of labels and PR people are using these days that aggregate all of the streaming platforms into one place for easy sharing; however, what I really wanted was something that I had a little more control over. What if I use a service like this and then it goes under, and all my links die? All of a sudden hours of meticulously linking music recommendations on this website or my newsletter could end up having dead links. So, after coming across the excellent Song.Link service and their API, I decided I would be best served in creating something for myself. That way I could easily create a place to share a song or album, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the URL going away in a few years or it not being updated as streaming services come and go.
The end result is a page that includes links to all the big streaming services, as well as a YouTube video for quick streaming if it exists, and links to purchase the music as well. For example:
- Blink-182 – “Happy Days”
- Mannequin Pussy – “Patience”
- MxPx – “Doing Time”
- Paramore – After Laughter
- Sigrid – Sucker Punch
Read More “A Simple Streaming Music Sharing Page for Chorus”
Interview: Tanya Batt of BATTS
Tanya Batt is many things. First off, she’s a proud Gecko mum. Then, she’s a musician, an actress, she nannies, and she even works in a theatre. You wouldn’t know it by glancing at our table in the busy Melbourne café, The Hub, but Tanya Batt – who performs under the musical moniker BATTS – played a show in a packed Hamer Hall just a week earlier. Hamer Hall is one of Melbourne’s most beautiful venues, a room Tanya never thought she’d play in. Following a string of concerts as a special guest for Sharon Van Etten (“Sharon is the best. She watched my sets from the side of the stage”), Friday night saw Batt end her album launch shows with a special hometown performance.
Interview: Sego at Bonnaroo (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is from Sego at Bonnaroo. Sego is a four-piece band from Utah, whose debut album Sego Sucks is just what this summer needs.
Liner Notes (June 28th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you with a massive craving for pizza.
In this week’s newsletter, I share a new fun productivity tip I started using this week, talk a little about the current project I’m working on, and share thoughts on music, movies, and TV shows I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved and a rant about political debates. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
Interview: GoodSex at Firefly Fest (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview from the Firefly Festival is with GoodSex. GoodSex, as the name implies, is all about having a good time. Their electronic sounds keep the crowd moving and everyone happy. GoodSex will be keeping parties going at almost every major music festival this summer.
Emily Blue – “Bad Decisions” (Song Premiere)
Emily Blue is a pop singer from Chicago whose music is catchy and perfect for summertime. Her new song, “Bad Decisions,” is all about making the choice to not lead a mundane life, even if some of those decisions wind up being bad. The song follows her 2018 EP *69 and we’re thrilled to be premiering it today. Give it a listen below and it might just become one of your favorite songs of the summer.
Interview: Max Frost at Firefly Fest (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with Max Frost at the Firefly Music Festival. Max opened for Twenty One Pilots recently and is setting out on a headlining tour in July.
Interview: Ripe at Bonnaroo (Video Interview)
I sat down to talk with Ripe at Bonnaroo.
Track List: June – The Sounds Of Summer
Welcome back to Track List, your monthly dose of 30 songs aimed to match the time of year, sequenced into a playlist for you to vibe out to however you see fit. Hopefully some names will be familiar, and hopefully some will give you a new discography to dive into. Drop me a line with some of your seasonal favorites and check back every month for a new playlist.
You can find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music and read more about the selections below.
Liner Notes (June 21st, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by the immortal phrase, “I wish it were longer.”
A whole lot of music stuff to write about this week, including thoughts on the new Blink-182 single, the three-album drop from Dashboard Confessional, a bunch of new music, and my first impression of the new Banks album. Plus, I go through my regular media diet rundown, share a playlist of ten songs I loved last week, and write about some other stuff. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
Russian Girlfriends – “Redfield” (Video Premiere)
From Albuquerque, New Mexico, Russian Girlfriends and I are excited to premiere their new music video for the single, “Redfield.” Rich with religious imagery detailing lead vocalist Adam Hooks’ realizations that his upbringing as a pastor’s son may not be the best fit in his personal life, this video rocks with the immediacy of bands such as The Bouncing Souls and Anti-Flag.
Read More “Russian Girlfriends – “Redfield” (Video Premiere)”
Chorus TV: Punchline
Punchline’s most recent tour found them supporting their longtime friends and influencers, Less Than Jake. The Pittsburgh, PA quartet performed a half hour of catchy tunes, from early fan favorite “Heart Transplants” to material from their latest album, Lion, along with a cover of Operation Ivy’s “Sound System” for the ska loyalists.
Enjoy their full set live from College Street Music Hall in New Haven, CT on April 16, 2019.
Liner Notes (June 14th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by those newly formed habits you never thought’d have.
In this week’s Liner Notes, I write about new features in the forums, share some apps I really like, and offer thoughts on a whole bunch of new music that’s been coming out these past few weeks. There’s also my regular media diet rundown and a playlist of ten songs I loved this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
Interview: Hannah Joy of Middle Kids
Earlier this month, I was able to catch up with Hannah Joy (singer/guitarist) of the indie rock band, Middle Kids before they played a sold out show at the legendary 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. During our conversation, Hannah shared the band’s approach to creating a memorable set of songs for their live shows, the process that goes into writing their music, as well updates on the progress of their second full-length album. Middle Kids recently released New Songs For Old Problems on Domino Records, and the EP is available for purchase wherever music is sold.