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Portugal. The Man Talk With Billboard

Portugal. The Man
Jason Tate

Portugal. The Man talked with Billboard about their hit “Feel It Still:”

It comes down to the way our political parties work where it’s basically football teams. If you’re not on Team Trump, you’re on Team Hillary and it’s such a ridiculous way to look at politics and to look at the way we’re voting. I’ll talk shit all day long but at the end of the day I don’t want to vote for anybody. I don’t feel strongly for either one of those people. So many of my friends were for Bernie all the way and said, ‘If he doesn’t get it, I’m not voting.’ It’s a ridiculous process. The fact at all that Bernie had to run as a Democrat is kind of what the song is about.

Jay-Z Tops the Charts This Week

Jay Z
Jason Tate

Jay-Z has the number one album in the country this week:

According to Nielsen Music, in the week ending July 13, the set earned 262,000 equivalent album units — a larger-than-initially-expected sum, and the fourth-largest week of 2017 for any album. Of its total, 174,000 units were in traditional album sales.

4:44’s No. 1 arrival extends JAY-Z’s record as the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums in the 61-year history of the Billboard 200 chart. He distances himself farther ahead of the two acts with the second-most leaders among soloists: Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand, who each have 11 chart-toppers. Among all acts, JAY-Z has the second-most leaders, behind only The Beatles, which have 19 No. 1s.

While Some Cry ‘Fake,’ Spotify Sees No Need to Apologize

Jason Tate

The New York Times:

For the last week, the music industry has been buzzing over the accusation that Spotify’s playlists are dotted with hundreds of supposedly “fake” artists, with names like Amity Cadet and Lo Mimieux, who are racking up tens of millions of streams yet have no public profile — no Facebook page, no Twitter feed, not even a face.

And:

Peter Sandberg, a 27-year-old composer in Sweden who has created a number of tracks on these playlists, called the term unfair.

“I’m a composer trying to find a way to grow and spread my work,” Mr. Sandberg wrote in an email relayed through an intermediary, “and to be called fake is not something I appreciate.” (Mr. Sandberg, who records music under his own name as well, does have a social media presence, making him a less anonymous figure than many of the other creators of this music.)

This entire story is strange, but when companies like Spotify can get computers to produce hits for their playlists with minimal human involvement, that’s when it gets really weird.

R. Kelly Is Holding Women Against Their Will In A “Cult,” Parents Told Police

BuzzFeed
Jason Tate

Jim DeRogatis, writing at Buzzfeed:

Three former members of Kelly’s inner circle — Cheryl Mack, Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee — provided details supporting the parents’ worst fears. They said six women live in properties rented by Kelly in Chicago and the Atlanta suburbs, and he controls every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records.

The last time J. saw her daughter was Dec. 1, 2016.

Hayley Williams Talks with I-D

Jason Tate

Hayley Williams of Paramore recently sat down with I-D:

I found myself in a really weird headspace in the last few years where I was going through these things in my personal life, but we had just come off of this successful album. People would come up to me in my hometown and have pictures of me in these very superhero type poses across their shirts, and [they’d say], “Oh you’re perfect, I’ve looked up to you for so long.” I never discounted anything that they said because that’s the truth for them and I appreciate that, but what I couldn’t shake was how much that contrasted with the way that I viewed myself. I was crumbling. I was losing friendships, I was going through things with my family, my relationship. I just felt like, “Wow, this person that I’m standing right in front of, has no idea that I’m probably doing worse than they’re doing. And they’re asking for advice, and they’re telling me that I’m perfect.” It made me very angry at myself that I wasn’t at that level, and I never could be.

How to Safely Enjoy the 2017 Solar Eclipse

Globe
Jason Tate

Jason Kottke has put together a buyer’s guide for tools to safely enjoy the upcoming solar eclipse:

On August 21, 2017 across the entire United States, the Moon will move in front of the Sun, partially blocking it from our view. For those on the path of totality, the Moon will entirely block out the Sun for more than 2 minutes. I’ve been looking forward to seeing a total solar eclipse since I was a little kid, so I’ve been doing a lot of research on what to buy to enjoy the eclipse safely. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

I’ve oriented this guide toward the enthusiastic beginner, someone who’s excited about experiencing the wonder of the eclipse with their friends & family but isn’t interested in expensive specialty gear or photography (like me!). And, again, since you will be able to see this eclipse from everywhere in North America to some degree, this guide applies to anyone in the US/Canada/Mexico.

Warner Music Group Acquires Songkick

Money
Jason Tate

Warner Music Group has acquired Songkick:

Concert discovery app Songkick has been acquired by Warner Music Group – but the buyout excludes the company’s ticketing business, formerly known as Crowdsurge. […] The Warner deal includes Songkick’s concert discovery app and website as well as the Songkick trademark.

How Editor Paul Machliss Cut ‘Baby Driver’ in Real Time

Baby Driver
Jason Tate

Michael Maher, writing at Premium Beat, looks at how Paul Machliss worked with Edgar Wright to edit parts of Baby Driver in real time to make sure what they were filming would work:

The distance between production and post-production on the film was seemingly non-existent: “Baby Driver is probably the ultimate expression of the way Edgar and I work together. Built from some reshoots we did on Scott Pilgrim, then to The World’s End we put together a lot of the action scenes together with me on set. To this film, where actually Edgar saying ‘Yeah, you know I think I might want you out there everyday’ basically…”

And:

“This was editing quite literally on the fly. Edgar sitting next to me yelling ‘Cut,’ I could immediately grab the shot from video assist, and we’d put this little sequence together exactly in this manner.”

Jorge Leaves The Casualties

The Casualties
Jason Tate

Jorge Herrera has left The Casualties:

After 27 years of performing with the band, Jorge has chosen that the touring life is no longer for him. With that said, The Casualties will carry on. As anyone who follows us knows, the name The Casualties is stronger then any one member. The songs written in basements throughout New York City shall continue to ring loud. We will continue our commitment to the Casualties Army! We will tour and put forward new anthems for many more years to come. When we said “it’s a f*cking way of life” back in the beginning, we meant it.

Netflix Orders ‘The Umbrella Academy’

Gerard Way
Jason Tate

Deadline is reporting that Gerard Way’s The Umbrella Academy has been picked up by Netflix:

Netflix has given a 10-episode order to The Umbrella Academy, a live-action series based on the popular graphic novels by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. […] “I am thrilled that The Umbrella Academy has found a home at Netflix,” Way said. “I couldn’t think of a better place for the vision Gabriel Bá and myself had when creating the comic and cannot wait for people to experience that world as a live-action show.”