Biffy Clyro has released their new song “Animal Style” on Spotify and iTunes.
Biffy Clyro – “Animal Style”
Spotify’s Discovery Weekly Reaches 40 Million Users
Ben Popper, writing for The Verge, looks at just how big of a hit Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist has been:
According to the stats Spotify released, more than half of Discover Weekly users listen to 10 tracks a week and save at least one of those songs to their favorites. The company is trying to highlight the boost in listening this feature has given to small- and medium-sized artists, and noted it will be sharing data from Discover Weekly with bands to try and help them connect with their newest fans.
20 Years Ago: Sublime Frontman Passes Away
Brendan Manley, writing for Diffuser, remembers Bradley Nowell, the Sublime frontman, on the 20-year anniversary of his death:
After the album was released, it became a runaway success and spawned four hit singles (“What I Got,” “Santeria,” “Wrong Way” and “Doin’ Time”) on its way to multi-platinum status. It also helped define the ’90s third-wave ska scene (which also featured genre-bending bands like No Doubt and 311) and the album placed a global spotlight on Nowell’s evocative lyrical imagery and his unflinching portraits of the seedy side of SoCal.
Advice to Writers: 22 Rules of Storytelling from Pixar
The Front Bottoms Acoustic Sessions
The Front Bottoms are the latest to play for Punks in Vegas’ acoustic sessions. You can find the three song performance below.
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace Pens Op-Ed
Laura Jane Grace, writing for Vulture:
The nerves started as soon as I got to North Carolina. Just driving into the state, stopping at gas stations, going where you go — I was on edge all day. I always wait until there’s a unisex restroom, because I’m afraid. I also don’t want to make people uncomfortable — my desire is to feel comfortable, but I don’t want to make other people feel uncomfortable either. If it’s a crowded public restroom, I know I don’t pass, and I know that if I walk into a women’s restroom, someone would possibly take offense. Maybe scream. Who knows? In North Carolina, with it being illegal, it was like, Okay, well, we’re going to wait until there’s a Starbucks, since Starbucks has single-unit bathrooms, and that’s where we usually stop. Which is ironic because I’m someone who wrote a song about throwing bricks through Starbucks’s windows.
SoundCloud to Offer Free “Digital Mastering”
SoundCloud has teamed up with LANDR to offer a free “mastering” service to their members. From the SoundCloud blog announcing this partnership:
Driven by the smartest algorithms in the game, LANDR’s all-in-one, drag and drop interface makes mastering your tracks easier than ever. For this partnership, LANDR has created a new format specifically optimized for SoundCloud streaming.
Really I’m just excited I can now make jokes about how algorithms can do a better mastering job on albums than some bands end up with.
Fat Mike Clarifies His Detox Program
Fat Mike of NOFX has clarified on Instagram that he’s not in rehab but is going through a detox program.
I just got released by the doctor. It wasn’t rehab, it was detox. Had a little problem with the Whiskey and the Roxy’s. Now I’m off everything and boy does my tummy hurt. […] I’m not in rehab! I’m detoxing from painkillers, staying sober and really digging it! Well, not the detox part. It sucks!
Owen – “Lost”
Owen’s new song “Lost” can be streamed below.
Face to Face – “Double Crossed” Video
Face to Face have premiered their new video for “Double Crossed.”
Real Estate Part Ways With Matt Mondanile
Real Estate have announced that Matt Mondanile will be leaving the band.
Having previously announced a short run of shows in California and a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater with The National, Real Estate expand on this by adding two further California dates. This limited run of dates is a prelude to the recording of their next album, tentatively slated for early 2017. These upcoming shows will be the first with new member and fellow scion of Ridgewood, NJ, guitarist Julian Lynch. Lynch takes the place vacated by the departing Matt Mondanile, who is focusing on his own Ducktails project, a musical endeavor that predates his involvement in Real Estate. The band will commence recording their follow-up to Atlas this summer.
Modern Baseball Announce Help Hotline
Modern Baseball have announced a free help hotline for their upcoming tour in an effort to keep fans save at their shows. If you’re feeling unsafe at a show you can text (201) 731-6626. A video detailing the new hotline can be found below and an interview with Brendan Lukens from the band goes into more detail on MTV:
I feel like enough people were just coming up to us after shows and hitting us up via Twitter in general and just giving us subtle hints or just flat-out telling us that they were having a weird time or an uneasy time at our shows. So after we saw bands like PWR BTTM and Speedy [Ortiz], all these sick bands, do really great things to help their fans out, we thought we could hopefully do something similar.
I love seeing stuff like this.
Letlive. – “Another Offensive Song”
Letlive.’s new song “Another Offensive Song” can be streamed below.
Boys Night Out – “Of Waves”
Boys Night Out’s new song “Of Waves” can be streamed below. Pre-orders for their new EP, Black Dogs, are also now up.
Review: Saosin – Along The Shadow
Surely by now you have heard the good word: almost two years ago, Anthony Green rejoined Saosin, the band he fronted back in the early to mid-2000s, for a series of long-awaited headlining dates. It was unknown at the time whether the band would ever reconvene for a proper full-length with Green on vocals. But sure enough, here we are in 2016, and Saosin has just released Along The Shadow, their first full-length in seven years. The titular shadow could well refer to the dark specter of expectation that looms over this comeback album.