U2 isolated tracks are rare so it’s cool to find this Bono-only live vocal from “Every Breaking Wave” recorded at a live acoustic performance. The song was originally released in 2014 on U2’s Songs of Innocence album.
The last company that still makes VCRs is set to stop later this year
Even after they’re obsolete, technologies can take a long time to fully die out. It was only in 2011, after all, that the last typewriter factory shutdown. And now, at long last, it appears the videocassette recorder is suffering the same fate: Funai Electric, the last company known to make VCRs, is ceasing production.
Funai has a long history with the VHS format and VCRs. In 1980, it launched the CVC Player, the first ever compact cassette recorder, which attempted to compete with the more popular VHS and Betamax formats. Funai’s website notes that the CVC “attracted a great deal of interest when Japanese television broadcasters used these for a program on climbing Mt. Everest,” but they were no match for the more popular formats. In 1983 Funai started making VCRs of their own, applying technology used in the CVC, and haven’t stopped until the end of this month.
Vote For This Government: “Our secret weapon will be the Rolling Stones!”
Finally, a great campaign song and a party platform I can get behind!
A Mix Tape? Pfft. How About A Cassette Tape Coffee Table?
There was a time when a friend’s mix tape, a sonic love letter from a crush, or a cassette played endlessly in your parent’s car could forever change you.
Pause, rewind, and let that happen again with a company called Altar Furniture. The ‘Great Tape’ collection of tables is a line of 1:10 scale copies of compact music cassettes functioning as furniture. With conversion kits available, the purpose of the same cassette is variable between coffee table, dining table and desk.
These items have been designed and built by hand to bring back that exciting and nostalgic feeling of discovering music. Our designs are being inspired by many things related to tapes: Legendary demos, classic albums, bastardly bootlegs, mixes (comps) making a statement and also more contemporary influences for those looking for something really special.
It’ll set you back by about $2,100, but that’s the price for being a music fan, right?
Check Out Youth From Killing Joke’s New Project, Hypnopazūzu
Hypnopazūzu is the duo of none other than Martin Glover aka Youth (Killing Joke) and David Tibet (Current 93). A long time in the making, Create Christ, Sailor Boy is their new album, an elaborately-packaged 3-sided LP (with a laser etching on side 4). It contains ten songs bringing together spheres and planets for the ultimate Hallucinatory PickNick.
You can now bring the noise home with the Public Enemy Action Figure Set
Kings of Hip Hop and inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Public Enemy’s “first action figure as a set” featuring four of the central members from the 80’s. Members are: Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, and Terminator X.
Both the dolls and the packaging are designed by Ed Piskor, author of the New York Times Best- Selling and Eisner Award winning comic series: Hip Hop Family Tree. You can get them here.
Nick Jonas and Sun Life Financial provide select members of the diabetes community to meet their pop icon
Sun Life Financial Inc. is teaming up with BEYOND TYPE 1 to provide select community members of the Canadian Diabetes Association and JDRF Quebec living with diabetes the once in a lifetime chance to meet singer/songwriter Nick Jonas.
“I’m thrilled to join forces with Sun Life Financial in the fight against diabetes and encourage people living with this disease to follow their dreams and live beyond their diagnosis,” said Nick Jonas, co-founder, BEYOND TYPE 1. “Since I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 13, I’ve learned how to properly manage my disease to not only live, but live well. Although type 1 diabetes is not preventable, 90% of people with diabetes live with type 2, which in many cases can be prevented or delayed by identifying risks, eating well and staying active.”
Throughout the summer of 2016, Sun Life Financial, the CDA and JDRF Quebec will be joining Nick Jonas on the road for the Canadian leg of his world tour. With stops in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, select community members of the CDA and JDRF Quebec living with diabetes will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Nick Jonas and enjoy his concert free of charge.
“We want to inspire these people to continue to manage their disease effectively and, like Nick, lead full and successful lives,” said Paul Joliat, Assistant Vice-President, Philanthropy & Sponsorships, Sun Life Financial. “Diabetes is a global epidemic and rates continue to rise. That’s why, at Sun Life, we’re committed to the prevention of diabetes and its related complications and want to remind Canadians that knowing their risk level is simple yet vital.”
Sun Life Financial is encouraging Canadians to visit here, get screened for their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and take the proper steps to help prevent it or manage its onset.
“Eleven million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes. That’s why learning your risk for type 2 diabetes is such an important step to take charge of your health. The CDA works with Canadians affected by type 1 and type 2 diabetes to help them better manage the disease and to try to prevent new cases of type 2 diabetes whenever possible. We are thankful to Nick Jonas, Sun Life Financial and BEYOND TYPE 1 for helping us get this important message out,” said CDA President and CEO Rick Blickstead.
Springsteen Manager: “Bruce’s next record is a solo album”
Next up for Bruce Springsteen is a solo album, which Landau calls “a very different kind of record” from Springsteen, says manager Jon Landau. As for a release date or supporting tour, “it’s premature to say much about it,” Landau says. “It’s a wonderful record, and we’ll see how the next year unfolds. We’re terrible planners. You have people who know where they’re playing 18 months from now and have all of next summer’s festivals booked, and we just have a knack for not planning that far ahead. That’s our way.”
Landau did provide a little insight into Springsteen’s creative direction. “All I can say is that there is a solo record — and when I say solo record, I’m not talking about an acoustic record,” he says. “It is, in fact, a very expansive record, a very rich record. It’s one of Bruce’s very creative efforts. Stay tuned, and we’ll see exactly how that shapes up next year.”
Springsteen, Madonna, Beyoncé and The Rolling Stones Lead Biggest-Grossing Concerts Of 2016 So Far. Where’s Adele? Good Question.
In the face of security concerns and an uncertain global economy, the touring business is showing resilience and, despite a few rough spots in the festival sector, looks poised to remain robust through the end of 2016.
Tapping into this bull market are ongoing tours by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Beyonce, Coldplay, Justin Bieberand others. Also making the list, based on box-office data reported to Billboard Boxscore for the period of Nov. 10, 2015, through June 6, 2016, are already completed tours from Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift. (Two of the year’s biggest tours, Adele and Garth Brooks, do not report their box-office data.)
Twenty One Pilots Lead Rock Charts Hafway Through 2016…And Then There’s Everyone Else
On Nielsen’s 2016 mid-year rock charts, there’s Twenty One Pilots… and then there’s everyone else. The rock act has by far the most popular rock album of the year so far, as Blurryface earned 905,000 equivalent album units in the tracking period of Jan. 1 through June 30, 2016. (Equivalent album units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums [TEA] and streaming equivalent albums [SEA].) Trailing in second place is Panic! at the Disco’s Death of a Bachelor, with 577,000 units.
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 Rock Albums (Based on Overall Equivalent Album Units)
1. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface (905,000 units)
2. Panic! at the Disco, Death of a Bachelor (577,000 units)
3. David Bowie, Blackstar (447,000 units)
4. Coldplay, A Head Full of Dreams (392,000 units)
5. David Bowie, Best of Bowie (347,000 units)
6. The Lumineers, Cleopatra (335,000 units)
7. Disturbed, Immortalized (318,000 units)
8. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool (310,000 units)
9. Twenty One Pilots, Vessel (301,000 units)
10. James Bay, Chaos and the Calm (284,000 units)
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Rock Albums
1. David Bowie, Blackstar (428,000)
2. Panic! at the Disco, Death of a Bachelor (397,000)
3. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface (371,000)
4. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool (289,000)
5. Coldplay, A Head Full of Dreams (236,000)
6. The Lumineers, Cleopatra (229,000)
7. Disturbed, Immortalized (183,000)
8. The 1975, I Like It When You Sleep… (157,000)
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Getaway (131,000)
10. Megadeth, Dystopia (124,000)
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Digital Rock Songs
1. Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out” (1,586,000)
2. James Bay, “Let It Go” (802,000)
3. Disturbed, “The Sound of Silence” (784,000)
4. Prince and the Revolution, “Purple Rain” (563,000)
5. Twenty One Pilots, “Ride” (514,000)
6. Elle King, “Ex’s & Oh’s” (447,000)
7. Coldplay, “Adventure of a Lifetime” (435,000)
8. X Ambassadors, “Unsteady” (421,000)
9. Prince, “When Doves Cry” (397,000)
10. Prince, “Little Red Corvette” (327,000)
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand Rock Song Streams (Audio and Video Combined)
1. Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out” (277,195,000)
2. Twenty One Pilots, “Ride” (107,984,000)
3. Coldplay, “Adventure of a Lifetime” (77,268,000)
4. James Bay, “Let It Go” (74,466,000)
5. Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive” (69,228,000)
6. Passenger, “Let Her Go” (65,157,000)
7. Disturbed, “The Sound of Silence” (64,693,000)
8. Fall Out Boy, “Centuries” (59,728,000)
9. Twenty One Pilots, “Car Radio” (59,467,000)
10. Walk the Moon, “Shut Up and Dance” (58,537,000)
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand Rock Audio Streams
1. Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out” (141,619,000)
2. Twenty One Pilots, “Ride” (78,601,000)
3. James Bay, “Let It Go” (66,824,000)
4. Coldplay, “Adventure of a Lifetime” (55,099,000)
5. The Lumineers, “Ophelia” (38,267,000)
6. Hozier, “Take Me To Church” (37,905,000)
7. Walk the Moon, “Shut Up and Dance” (37,409,000)
8. Elle King, “Ex’s & Oh’s” (37,393,000)
9. Coldplay, “Hymn For the Weekend” (34,463,000)
10. Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive” (33,468,000)
2016’s Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand Rock Video Streams
1. Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out” (135,576,000)
2. Passenger, “Let Her Go” (38,338,000)
3. Disturbed, “The Sound of Silence” (36,498,000)
4. AWOLNATION, “Sail” (36,222,000)
5. Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive” (35,759,000)
6. Fall Out Boy, “Centuries” (35,746,000)
7. Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (29,653,000)
8. Twenty One Pilots, “Ride” (29,383,000)
9. Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger” (29,274,000)
10. Panic! at the Disco, “Emperor’s New Clothes” (26,988,000)