Interview: Ben Walsh of Tigers Jaw

Tigers Jaw

Tigers Jaw’s new album I Won’t Care How You Remember Me serves as a re-introduction to the Scranton, PA band. For starters, guitarist Colin Gorman and drummer Teddy Roberts were made permanent members, solidifying the band as a quartet once again. But the biggest wrinkle was including Gorman and Roberts in the songwriting mix with original members Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins – fostering a more lively and collaborative setting for the record and resulting in Tigers Jaw’s most ambitious and personal album in their discography. Tracks like “Can’t Wait Forever” and “Lemon Mouth” showcase the new writing dynamic while the title track serves as an all-time highlight – a song that uses its slow build and Andy Hull guest vocals to set the tone of the record. “I think having a group dialogue about each song, and what ideas we had to make each one special and have a distinctive place on the record, was super beneficial to creating something that sounds fresh but still feels authentically like Tigers Jaw” says Walsh. Below, we discussed working with Will Yip, how the Andy Hull collaboration came about, and I Won’t Care How You Remember Me’s writing process.

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Hawthorne Heights Announce Anniversary Edition of ‘If Only You Were Lonely’

Hawthorne Heights

Hawthorne Heights has announced If Only You Were Lonely XV, a reimagined and re-recorded revisit of their second album for its 15th anniversary.

Join us on an emotional trip back to 2006, while we modernize these fan favorites.  Throughout the recording process, we did a deep dive into these songs to try and breathe new life while being careful to keep their original integrity.   Grab your favorite pair of headphones and be prepared for the flood of memories to take you back.

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Square Acquires Majority Stake in Jay-Z’s Tidal for $297 Million

Tidal

The Hollywood Reporter:

Square, the mobile payments firm run by Jack Dorsey, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal for $297 million, the companies announced Thursday.

Through the deal, Jay-Z and Tidal’s other artist shareholders — including Beyoncé, Madonna and Rihanna — will continue to own their piece of the business, which will operate as an independent division within Square.

Billboard Charts to Include Facebook Music Video Streams

Billboard

Billboard:

Streams of officially licensed music videos on Facebook, which were added to the social platform on Aug. 1, 2020, in the U.S., will soon be factored into the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200, Artist 100 and Billboard Global 200 charts, as well as all other charts that incorporate streaming data, it was announced Wednesday.

The changes will take effect with the charts dated March 27, reflecting sales and streams from March 12-18. Only data from officially licensed music videos will be factored in, with user-generated content excluded from the tallies. Facebook video plays are categorized as ad-supported on-demand streams and represent U.S.-based activity only. Within MRC Data’s Music Connect platform, Facebook videos will be included among On-Demand Video totals, with the data visible beginning with activity on March 5.

Well, at least Facebook’s never been in trouble for overstating video metrics before.

Review: Electric Century – Electric Century

Electric Century - Electric Century

With the first taste of new music from Mikey Way’s synth-tinged project Electric Century in five years, Way clearly had lofty expectations for what this band was capable of creating. The band, comprised also of Sleep Station vocalist David Debiak, released their debut For the Night to Control in 2016 and started to build momentum through word of mouth. While the band never toured on their debut material, Way tinkered with the idea of creating visuals behind the music and story. This self-titled effort is also released in conjunction with a comic book of the same name that provides lush visuals and a tale of a character named Johnny Ashford who gets in trouble with driving drunk. The character then begins seeing a hypnotherapist who recommends he go to his “happy place” of the Atlantic City boardwalk, where he stumbles upon a casino named Electric Century. The accompanying album of the same name dabbles into some of the same thematic elements presented in the comic, and makes for a great “guide” to understand the material. This record, much like its predecessor, relies on electronica-styled production to welcome everyone back into the world of Electric Century.

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