Link - PAGE 192

Why Indie Bands Go Major Label in the Streaming Era

Pitchfork
Jason Tate

Marc Hogan, writing at Pitchfork:

Scott Rodger, who manages Arcade Fire, Paul McCartney, and Shania Twain, points me to various artists’ pages on Spotify. Arcade Fire have 5 million monthly listeners on the streaming service. Radiohead have 6 million, while Grizzly Bear, the War on Drugs, and LCD Soundsystem all have more like 2 million. But Imagine Dragons, while critically scorned, have 30 million-plus. And the most popular artists right now, like “Despacito” hitmakers Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi, along with Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris, have upwards of 40 million. “With the world moving towards streaming, most indie or alternative acts simply don’t stream as well,” Rodger says.

The Killers Talk With Noisey

The Killers
Jason Tate

The Killers sat down with Noisey to talk about the current state of rock music and their new album:

Do you think a band like yours could gain similar traction in the present day?

“It could happen — but there hasn’t been anybody good enough. If there was a band like the Strokes, or Interpol, people would talk. [Points outside to Brooklyn] If there were some kids out there right now playing [Interpol’s] ‘Obstacle 1’ tonight, I would hear about it, you would hear about it. But there isn’t.”

Yeah, I don’t think that’s it.

Google Search Uses a Medical Quiz to Help Diagnose Depression

Google
Jason Tate

Jon Fingas, writing for Engadget:

Only half of Americans who face depression get help for it, and Google is determined to increase that percentage. As of today, it’s offering a medically validated, anonymous screening questionnaire for clinical depression if you search for information on the condition. This won’t definitively indicate that you’re clinically depressed, to be clear, but it will give you useful information you can take to a doctor. And importantly, the very presence of the questionnaire promises to raise awareness and promote treatment beyond what a basic information card would offer.

The Apocalyptic World of Brand New’s ‘Science Fiction’ Feels Realer Than Ever

Brand New
Jason Tate

I really liked this review of Brand New’s Science Fiction by Craig Jenkins, published at Vulture:

In any other year — hell, any other month this year — Science Fiction’s gallery of druggies, atom bombs, and separatist militiamen would’ve read like, well, real-deal science fiction. But summer 2017 is a place where guys with guns tout full-fledged white supremacy, and the guy with the nuclear codes promise “fire and fury” to overseas enemies. The protagonist of Brand New’s “Desert,” a gun-toting, homophobic wing nut who thinks God commanded him to wipe out liberals, isn’t a far cry from the people on TV rallying in support of ethnic cleansing. The nuclear winter of “137,” a song literally named after a byproduct of decaying radioactive uranium, suddenly seems possible.

Architects Stop Festival Show To Call Out Sexual Assault

Jason Tate

The Huffington Post:

Sam Carter, lead singer for the metal band Architects, has rightly been hailed a hero for stopping in the middle of a show to defend a fan from a groper. […]

“I saw a girl, a woman, crowdsurfing over here, and I’m not gonna fucking point the piece of shit out that did it, but I saw you fucking grab at her boob,” Carter said. “I saw it. It is fucking disgusting and there is no fucking place for that shit.”

Chvrches to Appear in Archie Comic

Chvrches
Jason Tate

Chvrches will appear in an upcoming Archie comic book:

This October, Archie Andrews is hitting the road with his best friends in The Archies, a new ongoing comic book series from Archie Comics. The series will pick up right where The Archies One Shot, by writers Alex Segura and Matt Rosenberg, with art by Joe Eisma, left off: with Archie and his bandmates Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie pursuing their rock and roll dreams as The Archies.

Dan From Much the Same Diagnosed With Cancer

Much the Same
Jason Tate

Dan O’Gorman, guitarist and vocalist for Much the Same, has been diagnosed with cancer:

Hey friends, we are really saddened to announce that our guitarist Dan has been diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. He will be starting chemotherapy in September and then having an operation to remove the tumor in his abdomen. Everyone is optimistic that he will make a full recovery, but of course this will be a very difficult time for Dan and everyone that cares about him.

St. Vincent Talks With The New Yorker

St. Vincent
Jason Tate

St. Vincent sat down with The New Yorker to talk her upcoming Jack Antonoff produced new album:

Clark and Antonoff had met casually around New York but hardly knew each other until they somehow wound up having what he described as an emotionally intense dinner together at the Sunset Tower in Los Angeles. “She was very open about the things in her life,” Antonoff said. “That’s what I was interested in. Continuing to reveal more and more. I said, ‘Let’s go for the lyrics that people will tattoo on their arms.’”

QOTSA Tracks Pressed to Another Album

Queens of the Stone Age
Jason Tate

It seems through a mixup, some copies of vinyl version of Gordi’s upcoming album Resevoir contain some unreleased Queens of the Stone Age tracks:

Both albums are set for release on the same day, 25th August. “Obviously I was aware that the Queens of the Stone Age album was coming out the same week as mine and I was aware it would probably garner all the limelight, so the logical solution was to just chuck a bunch of their songs on Reservoir,” Gordi joked in a statement. “I anticipate either people won’t notice or they’ll appreciate the dynamic shift.”