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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SoundCloud Debuts New Payout Model

Soundcloud

SoundCloud:

Fan-powered royalties are a more equitable and transparent way for independent artists who monetize directly with SoundCloud to get paid. The more fans listen on SoundCloud, and listen to your music, the more you get paid.

Under the old model, money from your dedicated fans goes into a giant pool that’s paid out to artists based on their share of total streams. That model mostly benefits mega stars.

Under fan-powered royalties, you get paid based on your fans’ actual listening habits. The more of their time your dedicated fans listen to your music, the more you get paid. This model benefits independent artists.

Ben Gibbard Debuts New Fender Mustang

Ben Gibbard

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has unveiled a new signature Fender Mustang guitar

Featuring a chambered ash body design for increased resonance and reduced weight and a one-piece 22-fret modern “C”-shaped maple neck with 9.5” radius fingerboard and medium jumbo frets, this guitar is a comfortable and versatile stage performer. Electronics include a set of custom, vintage-inspired Ben Gibbard Mustang pickups and a stage-ready 3-way rotary pickup selector switch. What appears to be a vintage-style Mustang bridge is actually an innovative modified hardtail setup, providing rock-solid stability, intonation and sustain.