The Ultimate Andrew McMahon Setlist

Craig Manning Feb 10, 2017

We’ve been giving Andrew McMahon a lot of love this week, all in honor of his brand new album, Zombies on Broadway. On Monday, we published an interview with him and yesterday, we reviewed the new record. Today, we’re attempting the impossible: distilling McMahon’s impressive 15-year career into one ultimate concert setlist.

For this playlist, I mostly adhered to the rules established last year in Craig Ismaili’s Ultimate Jimmy Eat World Setlist: 20 songs for the main set, two songs for the encore, and a mix of tunes that includes both hits and career-best songs. I did, however, dispense with Craig’s 80-minute rule, simply because that would mean burning one-eighth of the set on “Konstantine.”

Interview: Andrew McMahon

Craig Manning Feb 6, 2017

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness will release their sophomore LP, Zombies on Broadway, later this week. I spoke with McMahon on the phone about the new record’s pop-leaning direction, his ever-evolving sound, the way family has defined his last few albums, and whether or not he’d ever consider writing a memoir. We also spoke briefly about next year’s 10-year anniversary of Jack’s Mannequin’s The Glass Passenger and whether or not fans can expect any special tours or reissues to mark the occasion.

You Know That I’m A Sucker For Anything Acoustic Playlist

Becky Kovach Feb 3, 2017

When the weather gets cold, there’s nothing I love more than curling up on the couch with a new book, hot chocolate, and some acoustic tracks as my soundtrack. So for this week’s playlist I decided to share the warmth and coziness by putting together a few of my favorite acoustic songs.

You can check out the full track list below, which includes everything from Sorority Noise to State Champs to Sugarcult and beyond, or stream it now on Spotify and Apple Music.

After the Party (Encore Episode 142)

Jason Tate Feb 3, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined once again by special guest Thomas Nassiff. Thomas returns for a deep dive on the new album, After the Party, by The Menzingers. We talk about the band in general, their catalog, and what they mean to us. Then we go through the album and talk about our favorite songs and how we think this album may just be something “special” for the music scene. We end with some chatter about the latest Japandroids’ release, and do a little bit of catching up as well.

Carousel Kings – “Dynamite” (Song Premiere)

Jason Tate Feb 2, 2017

Today we’ve got the premiere for the new song “Dynamite” from Carousel Kings. The track comes from the band’s upcoming album, Charm City, due out February 10th. Lead singer, David Alexander, had this to say about the song:

“Dynamite” is one of the heavy hitters from the album and definitely one of our favorites to jam live. Where most of the album has a positive outlook, this song was written as an expression of the band’s thoughts/distaste/unhappiness about the current state of affairs. The song is a call for all who hear it to look inward for the answers pertaining to how we can possibly change the world we live in.

Pre-orders packages are currently up.

Interview: Tom Chaplin

Jonathan Bautts Feb 2, 2017

Keane frontman Tom Chaplin reflects upon his debut solo record The Wave, why he felt the time was right for a change, his personal road to getting healthy, discovering a newfound place of creativity, and how music connects us all together.

Most Anticipated of 2017

Jason Tate Feb 1, 2017

2016 was a helluva year for music and 2017 is shaping up to be pretty damn good as well. The world may be falling apart around us, but at least we have a little something to look forward to. I talked about the albums I was most anticipating on a recent episode of Encore, but I wanted to reach out to some of our contributors and see what albums they were looking forward to most as well.

Read More “Most Anticipated of 2017”

Interview: P.O.S.

Jonathan Bautts Jan 31, 2017

P.O.S. goes into the journey behind his first solo record in five years, Chill, dummy, the challenges of writing about yourself versus politics, the things necessary for real change to happen, and why he’s still baffled people like his music.

It’s Gonna Be a Long Four Years Playlist

Jason Tate Jan 27, 2017

The first week in the reign of Trump has me in a bit of a mood. The guy’s a total clown and checking my Twitter feed is basically just an exercise in “what has this jackass done now?” — it’s gonna be a long four years. So, while I’ve been spending some time getting ready for the months ahead (organize, organize, organize), I’ve also been diving back into a bunch of punk albums to channel the swings of rage and anxiety. I tossed together a playlist of some of my favorites and put them up on Spotify and Apple Music to share with others.

If you’ve never been into some of the more political punk music, now’s a great time to check out what you’ve been missing. Also, feel free to hit me up with with any recommendations of other bands I should be listening to, I’m not expecting this hole to be filled anytime soon. And, lastly, please be kind to each other out there and look out for those in your community.

Interview: Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge

Jonathan Bautts Jan 23, 2017

Lead singer Myles Kennedy discusses Alter Bridge’s latest album The Last Hero, his interest in writing about heroes in the first place, why exploring the theme of disillusionment is particularly relevant today, and his continuing evolution as a musician, including how he got his musical start.

Craig Manning’s Top 30 Tracks of 2016

Craig Manning Jan 20, 2017

Last week, Jason highlighted some of his favorite songs of 2016 in the wake of Chorus.fm’s Top 30 Albums of the Year list. This week, I’m taking the reigns to share my own favorite songs from last year.

Hobbies, Work, and Everything Between (Encore Episode 141)

Jason Tate Jan 20, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Jacob Tender. This week we discuss AbsolutePunk.net, SpinMedia, UnderTheGun and a lot of behind the scenes chaos that plagued the music web community over the past few years. Then we move into a discussion about creating things and the balance between hobbies, work, and everything between. We look at what it’s like to create things, when to know if they’ve failed, and why it is we both feel a need to create and put things out into the world. There’s also talk about the new MacBooks with Touchbar, some thoughts on AirPods, as well as collecting media and how we track what we listen to, read, and watch.

Jason’s Favorites From 2016 Playlist

Jason Tate Jan 13, 2017

This week we revealed the Chorus.fm staff and contributor top albums of 2016 feature. Along with that a bunch of us put together our own individual lists and I decided to take some of my favorite songs from my list and put them into a playlist. You can find that on Spotify and Apple Music.

I figured this would be a good way to quickly check out any of the artists you may not have heard yet before diving into the full albums. Also I want any excuse to share “Drive It Like You Stole It” with more people. If anyone else has playlists they made of songs from their favorite albums this year, I’d love to check them out — feel free to send over a link.

Chorus.fm’s Top 25 Albums of 2016

Craig Manning Jan 8, 2017

Well then. That was a weird year.

In many ways, 2016 was a whirlwind—a confusing and frustrating year that will probably always be defined by its political tension and long list of celebrity deaths. For our staff and community, 2016 was also marked by the end of AbsolutePunk.net and the birth of Chorus.fm, a major transition that brought some serious nostalgia about the place where many of us grew up online.

No matter where you were or what you were going through in 2016, though, you probably at least had a great soundtrack to keep you company. By almost every metric, 2016 was a remarkable year for albums. If you are a fan of pop music and superstar acts, there was certainly no shortage of marquee releases for you to sink your teeth into. Even beyond the blockbuster surprises and capital-I “Important” albums, though, the year was a goldmine. Rock music was vibrant, highlighting both new bands and longtime veterans. Country music continued a resurgence that even self-described country haters could get behind. Hell, even the movie musical came back in a big way.

In virtually every genre or category, 2016 provided a wealth of new musical treasures. It’s no wonder that our contributors placed votes for 267 different albums while compiling this list. Ultimately, though, it was the 30 records listed below that rose to the top.

Most Anticipated of 2017 (Encore Episode 140)

Jason Tate Jan 6, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Deanna Chapman. The main topic this week is all about our most anticipated albums of 2017. What made the list and what did we decide to leave off? Do we really have to mention Brand New … again? We also talk about movies we are looking forward to, discuss music on TV shows, and nerd out about comic books a little bit.