Jason Isbell’s new album is streaming over at NPR.
3×3 Basketball Coming to the Olympics
The International Olympic Committee announced that both men’s and women’s 3-on-3 basketball will be contested at the 2020 Tokyo Games in addition to the traditional 5-on-5 game.
OK, I’m sold. This sounds like fun.
Grosses Analysis: Brendon Urie Gives ‘Kinky Boots’ a Lift
Playbill is reporting that Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco has contributed to a nice uptick in sales for the Kinky Boots musical:
As expected, Kinky Boots’ capacity has increased above 90 percent, while its gross potential has hovered around there as well as Panic! fans catch the lead singer’s Broadway debut. The last time the musical had made over $1 million in a non-holiday week was Wayne Brady’s final set of performances as Lola in the week ending March 27, 2016.
Further Seems Forever Gets a New Re-Press
Further Seems Forever’s How to Start a Fire has received a new re-press on vinyl from Tooth and Nail.
Taylor Swift Returns to Spotify
Taylor Swift’s music is returning to Spotify tonight. Billboard reports:
The pop star’s representative confirmed her full catalog will return to all streaming platforms Friday. Her official Instagram fan account, Taylor Nation, posted the news Thursday (June 8).
Fleet Foxes Stream New Album
Fleet Foxes new album, Crack Up, is streaming over at NPR.
Gerard Way Talks with Billboard
Gerard Way talked to Billboard about his upcoming work with comics, and mentioned in passing a little about My Chemical Romance:
“I wouldn’t count (a reunion) out, but at the same time everybody’s doing stuff in their lives now that they’re really enjoying,” Way says. “In some ways I don’t really miss it; It had gotten so big it was very unwieldy. It took a toll on my mental life and personal life. The thing I’m happiest about right now is everybody’s relationships with each other are really strong. That’s more important than anything else to me.”
And a second solo album:
Way is also starting to eyeball a second solo album, with “a bunch of stuff I’ve written over the past couple of years” already in motion. “I’m just about to seriously figure out my schedule in terms of how many weeks I’m writing comics and how many weeks I’m writing music,” Way explains. “There’s a plan to put something out; I don’t know when that’ll come, but the process is starting.”
Brand New Playing Voodoo Festival
Brand New will be playing the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans this October.
Bryson Tiller Lands at No. 1 on the Charts
Bryson Tiller has the number one album in the country this week:
Bryson Tiller notches his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his second studio effort, True to Self, debuts atop the tally. The set, which was released through TrapSoul/RCA Records on May 26, earned 107,000 equivalent album units in the week ending June 1, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 47,000 were in traditional album sales.
Nine Inch Nails to Release New EP
Nine Inch Nails will release a new EP later this year.
Mutemath Tease
Mutemath are teasing a new single over on their website. Look for that to drop tomorrow.
‘Wonder Woman’ Opens Big
Wonder Woman had a massive opening weekend:
Wonder Woman exceeded all expectations this weekend, delivering an impressive $100 million opening, the largest opening for a female-directed feature, vastly out-performing the previous record holder Fifty Shades of Grey, which debuted with $85.1 million back in 2015.
The Japanese House EP Pre-Order
The new EP from The Japanese House is now up for pre-order.
Google Chrome Will Automatically Block Annoying Ads
George Slefo, writing for Ad Age:
Google’s Chrome browser will soon come with preinstalled technology that will block the most annoying ads currently marring the web experience, the company confirmed on Thursday.
Publishers will be able to understand how they will be affected through a tool Google is dubbing “The Ad Experience Report.” It will basically score a publisher’s site and inform them which of their ads are “annoying experiences.”
At the same time, Chrome will give publishers the option to force a choice on people running their own ad blocking software: whitelist the site so its non-annoying ads can display or pay a small fee to access the content ad-free.
I’m assuming Google’s annoyingly shitty ads will display just fine? I think I’m fine with the move to build this into the browser, but I think Google’s own ads, specifically their tracking capabilities, are just as big a problem as the ones that dance all over my screen on Alternative Press’ homepage.
Further Reading: ‘Wonder Woman’
Did you see Wonder Woman this weekend? Love it as much as most fans and critics did? If you crave more of the character, our forum’s comic book thread has again put together a list of accessible comic recommendations for you to check out. Whether you’re a new or lapsed comic book reader, or just new to this character, you’ll find something to enjoy in these wonderful hand-picked recommendations.