On this week’s episode of Encore we mourn the passing of Prince, discuss Beyoncé’s surprise album release and look how perfect the marketing behind this roll out seemed to be, and try and predict what the new Blink-182 song you’ve all heard would sound like three days early. We discuss Bayside’s new album, The Hotelier releasing a new song, and then tackle some listener questions. We discuss the “image” of bands, our favorite vinyl, how we read websites and why, and then debate if we can declare that emo has been “revived.”

Read More “Song Clip Fiasco (Encore Episode 122)”

This week’s episode of Encore tackles a bunch of listener questions, things like: why would anyone defend The Story So Far kicking a fan? What were our favorite bands growing up and do we still listen to them? What services we use to discover new music? And why do I post about mainstream music these days? We also talk about Taylor Swift and Jimmy Eat World, Moose Blood signing with Hopeless Records, and Green Day, Blink-182, and Brand New.

Read More “Teaching a Brand New Fan to Fish (Encore Episode 121)”

This week’s episode of Encore looks at the first week of the website and how things are going so far, then we tackle a bunch of upcoming movies (Star Wars, Fantastic Beasts, Civil War) and give some thoughts on Batman v Superman. This leads to a little talk about comic books. Then we dive into this week’s main topics: Record Store Day, do we believe in “guilty pleasures” for art, our thoughts on buying albums when they’re on sale from a label, and if a bad album from a band can ruin future albums for us. We end by talking about if we’d leave our jobs for “The Ringer” and, of course, talk about Blink-182 finishing their new album.

Read More “No Guilt, Just Pleasure (Encore Episode 120)”

It was difficult finding something to talk about on this week’s episode of Encore. We almost thought about just continuing our little hiatus because we just weren’t sure if we had any good topics. We ended up settling on one and pretty much spend an hour or so discussing this new website, what led to its creation, some of the decisions made along the way, and what we hope the future holds. This episode is kinda like The Format’s “I’m Actual” and I feel a little awkward spending the whole time talking about me, but, we got it out of the way. Next week we’ll be back with a more regular episode about news and answering questions and stuff. Feel free to hit up the comments (click the little quote button on this post) and let us know if you have anything you’d like us to touch on. Thanks for dealing with our little break — we’re really excited to be back.

Read More “chorus.fm (Episode 119)”

On this week’s episode of Encore we start by talking a little about the Academy Awards, do some follow-up on last weeks “best 10 albums of the last 15 years,” and then tackle some reader questions. Thomas recounts his history with Set Your Goals, we give some updated thoughts on The Wonder Years’ last album, and we look at how we’ve changed or matured how we handle conversations on the forums. We talk a bit about “where to start” with different forms of art by well known musicians or authors or filmmakers and then get into some of the big news over the last week: Transit have broken up, Yellowcard are back with Hopeless, and The Hotelier have released the track listing and album art for their new album. We end with some talk of Rolling Stone’s top 40 emo albums and The 1975 aiming for that number one spot on two charts. And there’s the return of the siren. Rejoice.

Read More “The Great Tank Top Purge (Episode 118)”

So what are your ten favorite albums of the last fifteen years? That’s the question that makes up the main topic of this week’s episode of Encore. The rules are simple: favorite albums, 2001-2015, there can be only ten. We’d love to see your lists in the replies where you’ll find our super-sized episode goes into detail on how we picked the albums on our own lists. This was way harder than I expected. This week’s episode also covers some news on Kanye West and his new album, some first impressions of The Hotelier’s new album, and a discussion around walking into a very anticipated album or band for the first time. Oh, and of course there’s our usual random banter about life and things. We went long on this one to make up for last week! Hope you enjoy it. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or download this episode by hitting read more.

Read More “Ten Albums, Last Fifteen Years (Episode 117)”

It’s coming out late, damn has it been a long day, but this week’s episode of Encore is here. This week we discuss Thomas going on a cruise, some about the Super Bowl and the half-time show, and the internet’s reaction to the halftime show, and some about the commercials. We then tackle the main topic this week: Discussing albums we don’t like in the most productive way, how our feelings on an album may be swayed by someone else’s impassioned defense or take-down of an album, and how this may or may not be related to the new Say Anything album. We finish up with a few questions about long distance relationships, noise-canceling headphones, and Thomas being in early on The Front Bottoms.

Read More “More Pineapple Drinks Please (Episode 116)”

This week’s episode of Encore starts with a discussion about fostering creativity and how we try to stay sharp and inspired and not fall into a rut. It’s hard. We want to be better at it. Then we look at the RIAA changing up how they certify albums, Brand New selling out MSG and announcing some kind of release this year, and looking at the difference between huge stadium like shows versus the small venues we’re used to. We then answer some questions about favorite movies about music, the idea that bands should feel obligated to play “fan favorites” on tours, favorite bands from the UK, and the first albums we ever really anticipated. This week once again (fingers crossed) has chapter marks, so if you subscribe in a podcast player that supports those you should be able to jump right to a topic you want to hear about — if you so desire.

Read More “Tell Your Mom About Our Show (Episode 115)”

This week’s episode of Encore looks at quite a bit of the news that broke over the past week. We talk about Kanye West releasing information about what is now Waves, Brand New and Modest Mouse going on a huge tour, Yellowcard’s Lights and Sounds turns 10, and Brian Wilson is doing a 50-year tour for Pet Sounds. We also do some follow-up on last week’s great “wrong tracklistings” discussion and all sorts of other fun stuff like guessing if Brand New will release an album and what it would sell, plus Thomas’s thoughts on Panic’s album now he’s heard it, and a few brief thoughts on the new 1975 album at the end.

Read More “Get That Superhero Money (Episode 114)”

This week’s episode of Encore has us looking at a variety of interesting, and diverse, topics. We talk a little about the next Star Wars being pushed back, a little about Thomas’s collection of Funko collectables, and a little about Thomas wanting to buy an iPad Pro. We also discover that Thomas has had the wrong sequencing in his iTunes for Everything in Transit for almost a decade now. He discovers this live on the podcast. We tackle a variety of user questions related to Panic! at the Disco’s new album, the TV show “Making a Murderer,” and if we prefer soft or energetic album closers. We also talk some more about Brian Fallon and his upcoming album since Thomas caught him live recently. We finish with some Blink-182 talk and discuss the three big tours that got announced this week.

Read More “A Batman Army (Episode 113)”

On this week’s episode of Encore we look at the best stretches of three or more songs in albums, our preference of albums over playlists, bands going on hiatus, and if the internet has gotten more hostile lately. We then move into discussing the passing of David Bowie and how to get started on his massive catalog. The podcast ends with us talking about the new Kanye West song and Nielsen’s 2015 report (and of course a little Star Wars thrown in).

Read More “Just Dive In (Episode 112)”

Welp, here we are with the first episode of this year’s Encore podcast. This week finds us giving a little follow-up on our past two episodes (Star Wars and End of the Year Lists), before diving into questions about albums we’re looking forward to in 2016, music predictions, the meaning of “production,” and what 10 year tours we’d like to see. We finish the episode giving our first impressions of the new Brian Fallon album, Painkillers, and talk about the new Kanye West song, and the possibilities for Green Day making a comeback this year.

Read More “Sound of Sirens (Episode 111)”

We hope everyone is having a great New Year’s eve – probably playing a lot of Death Cab for Cutie, right? This is officially the last episode of the Encore podcast for 2015. This week Thomas and I look at our favorite albums that came out during the year, discuss how we picked them, why we picked them, where we put them, and then also talk a little about other “favorites” in the year (movies, TV shows, etc.). I’d like to wish everyone a happy end of the year – stay safe out there! – and say thank you to everyone that checked out the podcast this year.

Read More “Best of 2015 (Episode 110)”

With the holiday weekend coming up we wanted to make sure you had enough time to download this week’s episode of the Encore podcast early! So, we’re coming at you today. That way you can download the episode for any long flights, drives, or just needing a way to drown out some drunk relative. This week’s episode, as promised, is actually a special edition episode all about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It contains many, many, many spoilers. So, do not listen to this podcast if you haven’t seen the movie yet! We basically run down every character, every plot point, and discuss what we liked, why, what we didn’t like, what didn’t quite work, and if our expectations were met and what we think this means for the franchise going forward. Both Thomas and I would like to wish everyone a happy holidays and a warm thank you for listening to us each week. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or downloaded this episode in the replies.

Read More “The Force Awakens (Episode 109)”

Today’s episode of Encore looks at the lead up to Star Wars (of course), before looking at this week’s topics: Brian Fallon’s new song, The 1975’s new song, Paramore losing a member, Cartel releasing an acoustic album, The Starting Line releasing a new song, and some weirdness in the Bad Timing Records camp related to Bonfires. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or downloaded this episode in the replies.

Read More “You Don’t Want Demoitis (Episode 108)”