Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans are set to star in The Gray Man, with AGBO’s Joe & Anthony Russo directing their first blockbuster since setting the all-time global box office record with Avengers: Endgame two years ago. The intention here is to create a new franchise with a James Bond level of scale and a budget upward of $200 million.
Ten songs is a weekly playlist from Jason Tate featuring songs enjoyed over the previous week. It is included in every edition of the Liner Notes newsletter and is free to sign up for via email.
This playlist is available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Read More “7/17/20 (Ten Songs)”
The Lawrence Arms do a track-by-track break down of their new album over at BrooklynVegan:
In a way this is a biblical reference, yes. But in a more real way, it’s about finding your place of peace in a hostile world. In the MOST real way, this is a song that I wrote after Chris and I had discussed his suggestion for the album title Skeleton Coast and once we kinda settled on that, it was really inspiring to me. The inception of the notion of the skeleton coast into this sheaf of songs, as well as the idea to title the album Skeleton Coast, both Chris’s, but we both work back and forth and, I THINK, respond to each other’s thoughts and words and vibes until we wind up with a record of cohesive tunes that are coming from the same team soul. This was my “YO! I’m all in on this concept” offering. Also, Chris’s solo in the interlude has this vaguely twisted but otherwise classic vintage vibe that gives me the creeps in the absolutely best possible way, and his whimsical “aaaaahs” under the bridge before the last chorus…Quite possibly my favorite vocal performance on this whole album.
Sarah Perez, writing at TechCrunch:
Facebook is preparing to launch officially licensed music videos on its social network in the U.S. next month, in a direct challenge to YouTube. In materials reviewed by TechCrunch, Facebook informed Page owners linked to artists they’ll need to toggle on a new setting to add their music videos to their page ahead of an August 1st deadline, at which point Facebook will automatically create a page of their videos if no action had been taken.
Artists will not have to manually upload their videos or even provide links, Facebook told the artist Page admins. Instead, by enabling the new setting, artists are giving Facebook permission to add music videos to their Page, where they can be discovered by fans on the Page’s Videos tab. This library will include both the artist’s own official videos and those they’re featured in, Facebook explained in its marketing materials.
Chris Eggertsen, writing for Billboard:
Billboard is changing the rules to its Billboard 200, Hot 100 and other album and song charts. The announcement comes in an effort to rectify how sales are counted with respect to album bundles with merchandise and concert tickets, as well as instant digital sales attached to purchases for physical albums delivered at a later date. […]
Now, Billboard — in an acknowledgement that those measures have fallen short of the intended goal of accurately reflecting consumer intent — has decided to eliminate the practice of counting albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether.
Pop Smoke has the number one album in the country this week:
The set was released on July 3 via Victor Victor Worldwide/Republic Records and bows with 251,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 9, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
The Hamilton soundtrack came in at number two:
With Hamilton surging to No. 2, and surpassing its previous high of No. 3, the cast album is the highest charting cast album since the original cast recording of Hair spent 13 weeks at No. 1 in 1969 (on the April 26 through July 19-dated charts). Until this week, Hamilton was tied with the original Broadway cast recording of The Book of Mormon as the highest charting cast album since 1969, as Mormon peaked at No. 3 in 2011.
Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties talks with Stereogum about her upcoming mixtape:
Yet this arrangement inspired one of 2020’s most brash, defiant, and flat-out righteous projects. It’s just not Illuminati Hotties’ second album: Described as a “mixtape,” Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For — out a week from now — is essentially Tudzin spitting in Tiny Engines’ hand before she puts money back into it
“Like most tours that were happening this year, My Chemical Romance’s world tour was cancelled,” the band tells Rolling Stone. “MCR received PPP money to ensure their crew is funded in these times of uncertainty until we are able to be out on the road again. We are so grateful to these skilled, dedicated people – some of them are parents, others caretakers, still others who simply have rent to pay – and this money helps them take care of themselves and their families.”
Ernest Cline has announced the sequel to Ready Player One, titled … drum roll please … Ready Player Two, coming on November 24th. Pre-orders are now up.
Gary Larson has shared some new Far Side cartoons:
So a few years ago—finally fed up with my once-loyal but now reliably traitorous pen—I decided to try a digital tablet. I knew nothing about these devices but hoped it would just get me through my annual Christmas card ordeal. I got one, fired it up, and lo and behold, something totally unexpected happened: within moments, I was having fun drawing again. I was stunned at all the tools the thing offered, all the creative potential it contained. I simply had no idea how far these things had evolved. Perhaps fittingly, the first thing I drew was a caveman.
The “New Stuff” that you’ll see here is the result of my journey into the world of digital art. Believe me, this has been a bit of a learning curve for me. I hail from a world of pen and ink, and suddenly I was feeling like I was sitting at the controls of a 747. (True, I don’t get out much.) But as overwhelmed as I was, there was still something familiar there—a sense of adventure. That had always been at the core of what I enjoyed most when I was drawing The Far Side, that sense of exploring, reaching for something, taking some risks, sometimes hitting a home run and sometimes coming up with “Cow tools.” (Let’s not get into that.) But as a jazz teacher once said to me about improvisation, “You want to try and take people somewhere where they might not have been before.” I think that my approach to cartooning was similar—I’m just not sure if even I knew where I was going. But I was having fun.
So here goes. I’ve got my coffee, I’ve got this cool gizmo, and I’ve got no deadlines. And—to borrow from Sherlock Holmes—the game is afoot.
Lil Baby still has the number one album in the country:
It sits tight for a fourth straight week with 70,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 2 (down less than 1 percent), according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It spent its first week at No. 1 when it debuted atop the chart dated March 14.
Legendary composer Ennio Morricone has passed away. He was 91.
Nick 13 of Tiger Army has a new Gretsch signature guitar model coming in September. It is now up for pre-order.
Less Than Jake have released “The Sit Around” on Bandcamp.
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