The Postal Service’s Give Up has been given a limited vinyl re-pressing by Newbury Comics.
The Postal Service Re-Pressing
The Surprisingly Interesting Story Behind the Filet-O-Fish
Karl Smallwood, at Today I Found Out:
According to McDonald’s executives, approximately 23% of the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches sold by the chain each year are sold during Lent. While the exact rules vary somewhat from region to region, in general, Catholics traditionally abstain from eating most meats on Fridays and Saturdays during this period. In some regions, the requirement is even that members of the Church avoid non-seafood meat on every single Friday of the year.
‘Stranger Things’ Soundtrack
The new Netflix series Stranger Things is one of the best things I’ve watched in quite a while. The binge is strong with this one. It has a great 80’s throwback feel that brings forth memories of Spielberg, Stephen King, and finishes it off with a really great soundtrack (and score). What’s On Netflix has compiled a list of the songs that appear throughout the show and created a Spotify playlist for your listening pleasure.
Drake Back on Top of Charts, Blink-182 Moves to Third
Drake has reclaimed the top of the Billboard charts this week. Blink-182 has moved down to number three.
Views spent its first nine weeks on the chart at No. 1, then stepped aside a week ago for Blink-182, which opened at No. 1 with California. The latter album slips to No. 3 in its second week with 37,000 units (down 80 percent).
Apple Music Getting Audio Fingerprint Matching
Jim Dalrymple, writing for The Loop, on how Apple Music has started to use fingerprint-based song matching to fix the (annoyingly bad) metadata-based system it was using before:
Apple has been quietly rolling out iTunes Match audio fingerprint to all Apple Music subscribers. Previously Apple was using a less accurate metadata version of iTunes Match on Apple Music, which wouldn’t always match the correct version of a particular song. We’ve all seen the stories of a live version of a song being replaced by a studio version, etc.
I can’t believe this isn’t what the service launched with. The key feature for me has been the combination of my library with a streaming library and every time this fucked up I wanted to randomly delete a line of code from whomever wrote the system so they could feel my pain.
Netflix Launches Flixtape Service
Sara Perez, writing for TechCrunch, on Netflix’s new “Flixtape” service that lets you create mixtape/playlists of TV shows and movies:
The new tool lets you create these lists based on a genre or theme of some sort, then share them with friends or family over text message, email or social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
There are a number of ways you can use something like Flixtape. You can make your own mixes of favorite movies or shows, just for reference’s sake, or you could create curated recommendations for friends.
I’ve only got one current obsession I’d put into a flixtape: Stranger Things.
Apple Proposes New Streaming Music Royalty Structure
Robert Levine, writing for Billboard, about Apple’s new proposed royalty structure for streaming music services:
Apple’s suggested royalty structure would make accounting simpler and more transparent, but it would also make it more costly to run a free service, since streaming companies would have to pay a minimum rate, rather than a percentage of revenue. The current system arguably benefits Spotify and YouTube, since their free tiers don’t generate much revenue compared to paid services.
Seems win/win for Apple here: They score points with artists, and they make Spotify look bad.
Taylor Swift and Kanye West Again Dominate The News
I can’t believe that with everything going on in the world right now the internet is parsing words about if Taylor Swift knew, or didn’t know, about specific words in a Kanye West song. But, that’s what the internet is doing. It’s newsworthy enough that I feel it’s worth covering – even if I don’t feel great doing it. Jemima Skelley, writing for Buzzfeed, details what’s happened now that Kim Kardashian has uploaded to Snapchat a phone call Kanye had with Taylor Swift discussing his song “Famous,” a video that does not ever mention the specific portion Taylor Swift apparently had a problem with in the song, but has still tossed the internet into pure chaos:
Though Taylor never denied that she had a conversation with Kanye, it does seem weird that she would publicly call the song misogynistic when she told Kanye that it was a compliment. It does prove, however, that Taylor never actually heard the lyric where Kanye calls her “that bitch”. On the other hand, Kim should have released this right at the beginning of all this drama, instead of holding it to promote her show. Kanye also shouldn’t have recorded Taylor without her permission.
The song bugs me, the video bugs me, and the internet reaction bugs me. Nothing about this feels right.
Behind the Playlist Professionals
Reggie Ugwu, writing at Buzzfeed, with a really great profile on the professional playlist creators at Apple, Spotify, and Google:
We’ve come to expect that virtually all of our problems can be solved with code, so much so that we summon it unthinkingly before doing almost anything: from choosing what movie to watch, to finding a doctor, to deciding where to wake up the next morning and who with. But what if music is somehow different? What if there’s something immeasurable but essential in the space between what is now called “discovery” and, you know, that old stupidly human ritual of finding and falling in love with a song? Algorithms excel at the former, but the latter is stubborn heritage: It’s your father’s old record collection, your sister’s stash of mixtapes, a close friend’s desert island soundtrack of choice.
Mötley Crüe Singer Sued by Assault Victim
Kimberly Lawson, writing for Broadly, on Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil being sued for physical assault:
Guerrero said Neil and Cage were engaging in “horseplay”—Cage had put Neil in a headlock—as she attempted to catch Cage’s attention.”My son loved you in Ghost Rider and City of Angels,” she called out to him as the group passed by.
“Then,” the suit contends, “as Mr. Cage let go of Vince Neil and was walking away, Vince Neil attacked Kelly without warning or provocation. Neil grabbed Kelly’s hair from behind, yanking her down to the pavement on her back.”
Mark Hoppus Talks with TMZ Live About Pokémon
Bayside to Release Black IPA With Oskar Blues
Bayside have teamed up with Oskar Blues Brewery to collaborate on a “Black IPA.” Anyone want to send me some to review?
The beer, which features a malty backbone with bright, citrusy hops, will be limited to 100 barrels and available for a pre-order bundle with the new album via Craftshack (availability restricted to participating states). The cans will also be available at Total Wine & More, as well as select venues with a special focus on stores/venues along Bayside’s tour (dates below).
Nintendo to Release Mini Version of NES Console
Nintendo has announced that they will release a “mini” version of their classic NES system on November 11th. The mini console will be only $60 and come with 30 games built in.
“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.”
I think this is pretty great. Even if it’s just parents picking one up to play some old retro games with their kids. I’ve still got my old system and a bunch of games around here somewhere, some day I’ll figure out what to do with those.
Beastie Boys’ Mike D Gets Beats 1 Show
Beastie Boys’ Mike D will be getting his own show on Apple Music’s Beats 1. He spoke with Rolling Stone about the new show, “The Echo Chamber”:
It’s heartbreaking sometimes, but I’m still fascinated with and stay rooted in current music. I vacillate between what’s current and things that I think have influenced me a lot. The show also depends on records that I’m working on at this moment as a producer. So if I have an artist that I’m working with, then we’ll play records that inspired us or that we were listening to in the studio and make it more about that.
Spotify Adding Two New Radio Shows
Rich McCormick, writing for The Verge, on Spotify’s two new radio shows:
Swedish streaming service Spotify is launching two new radio shows today, both of which feature musicians talking about the kind of music that they like listening to while they’re making their art. The first, AM/PM, will feature artists like electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and Terry Hall of ska icons The Specials talking about the music they listen to in the mornings before work, and in the evenings after a day spent creating. The second, Secret Genius, speaks to the songwriters and producers behind major songs, and features the actually-pretty-well-known James Blake, among others.