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Jeff Rosenstock Releases Live Acoustic Album

Jeff Rosenstock
Jason Tate

Jeff Rosenstock has released a surprise, live, acoustic benefit album.

Last year, my friend Dan opened a record store in Long Island and we almost immediately talked about doing an acoustic show the week whatever next record I was working on came out. The night of the final presidential debate, a bunch of us crammed into his small air-conditioned store, which soon became muggy with human sweat. I played a bunch of songs I’d never played before, with no microphones or PA system, spoke to some people, changed my shirt, drank a water and headed back home to get ready for tour. A buncha weeks later my buddy Dan e-mailed this recording and was like “heyyyy” and I was like “heyyyyyyy” and here we are!

iOS 10.3 Beta Adds “Find My AirPods”

Jason Tate

Joanna Stern, at the Wall Street Journal:

Apple has added an alarm to help find earbuds in proximity. Tap “Play Sound” in the iOS app and the AirPod will start chirping. In the app, you can specify which AirPod you’d like to sound. Only problem? If the AirPod’s battery runs out, it’ll remain silent.

In regard to losing these little suckers, I agree with John Gruber:

In short, the best way not to lose them is to treat them as easily lost, valuable objects. I’ve misplaced my AirPods in my house far more often than I’ve come close to actually losing them — that’s the feature I’m looking forward to with AirPods support in Find My iPhone.

I spoke in more detail about the AirPods on last week’s podcast, but, in short: I love these things and don’t think I could go back to any other type of in-ear headphone.

Why I’m No Longer a Punk Rock ‘Girl Girl’

Jason Tate

Kristy Diaz, writing at Track Seven:

I was the punk rock version of the ‘cool girl’ trope for years.

The punk rock cool girl likes real music. Good music. Proper music. She’s into the latest hot hardcore band playing to 15 people right now. She knows every word to The Shape of Punk To Come. She doesn’t listen to pop music, or dance music, or stuff that Other Girls like. Her favourite Braid record is the Correct One. She only sings along to Panic! At The Disco ironically. She can hang out with your musician mates and hold her own in a conversation, but she won’t point out the ways in which even punk rock, this glorious utopia we inhabit, has the capacity to oppress.

And, much like the original concept, she’s not real.

The xx Debut at Number Two on Charts

The xx
Jason Tate

The xx have debuted at number two on this week’s Billboard charts while The Weeknd stays at number one (completely due to streaming):

The xx scores its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 chart, as the alternative band’s third studio album, I See You, debuts at No. 2. The set earned 46,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Jan. 19, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 36,000 were in traditional album sales.

I’ve been hearing this album everywhere over the past week.

How Many Subscribers Does Tidal Actually Have?

Tidal
Jason Tate

Micah Singleton, writing at The Verge:

According to a lengthy report from the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, Tidal has been inflating its subscriber totals to the public since the company was acquired by Jay Z two years ago. Dagens Næringsliv says it obtained internal reports from the streaming service that show Tidal only had 350,000 subscribers in September 2015, the same month when Jay Z tweeted that Tidal had reached 1 million users.

They probably should’t worry about this too much since Sean Spicer will go on TV and defend whatever numbers our President makes up — alternative facts in streaming subscribers are probably just fine.

John Nolan to Release New Music Compilation

John Nolan
Jason Tate

John Nolan has unveiled a new compilation with proceeds going to the ACLU. Music For Everyone will be released this spring:

Artists who have committed to donating rare or unreleased music to the compilation include Taking Back Sunday, Anti-Flag, Answering Machine, Baggage, Chris Farren, Potty Mouth, Brendan Kelly, Anthony Green, Frank Iero, Dave Hause, Sleep On It, Jared Hart, Cassino, Dead Heavens featuring Walter Schreifels, Allison Weiss, Brett Newski and more artists to be announced.

Logic Pro X and GarageBand Get Updates

Apple
Jason Tate

Logic Pro X for macOS and GarageBand for iOS have both been updated today. MacStories has a good rundown of the new features:

Logic Pro X 10.3 adds Touch Bar support to the app for the first time, implementing it in a number of ways. The Touch Bar can serve as an instrument, allowing users to tap out a drum beat or play a piano keyboard. Power users will appreciate the ability to keep some of their favorite controls on the Touch Bar, as it can be configured with different keyboard shortcuts to suit each person’s needs. There is also the option to navigate audio waveforms using the Touch Bar.

An Interview With Zane Lowe, Bozoma Saint John, and Larry Jackson

Jason Tate

Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Bozoma Saint John, and Larry Jackson sat down for an interview with Complex:

Zane Lowe: Larry was the first person who ever called me and asked if I wanted to be involved in Apple Music. For the most part, it remains how he and I talked about it in that first conversation, which was a place for music to live, and for artists to call home, and for an audience to feel like this is where the conversation is happening. I want it to go deeper than just availability.