Last.fm is outsourcing its on-demand streaming to Spotify, MOG, and others; “Scrobble” still not recognized as word in Webster’s English Dictionary

By Max Sebela on

Last.fm is outsourcing its on-demand streaming to Spotify, MOG, and others; "Scrobble" still not recognized as word in Webster’s English Dictionary http://www.tinymixtapes.com/sites/default/files/news-10-04-lastfm.jpg

Last.fm announced in a blog post that they will be shutting down their on-demand streaming service. Instead, they will be linking individual songs for streaming through a variety of partners. Spotify (for everyone outside of America), MOG (for all us lowly Yanks), and Hypemachine (for everyone; hype around the globe) will now power their MP3 streams, while Last.fm will change its focus to being primarily a music recommendation service. Last.fm writes:

Consistent with how people have used Last.fm since the early days, engagement with features like user profiles and personalised radio stations has remained much higher than usage of on-demand playback. We feel strongly that we can better fulfill our core mission by instead connecting our users to services in the ecosystem that, unlike us, focus primarily on a jukebox-in-the-sky streaming experience.

That’s all fine and good, but what about my play counts? How will the world know that I still stand behind Travis Morrison’s decisions on All Y’all, and listened to it seven times this week on MOG? Luckily, Last.fm is only partnering with services that already “scrobble.” Meaning that if you stream a song off Hypemachine while logged into your Last.fm account, Hypemachine will report that play to your Last.fm account. Absolutely scrobbulous!

Last.fm is also partnering with VEVO for video streaming, which also scrobbles. And Last.fm radio will remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, adding “scrobble” to the dictionary would create a great new way to bingo in games of Scrabble. Plus they half-rhyme. C’mon, Webster. Everybody’s scrobbling these days.

• Last.fm: http://www.last.fm

Tokyo Police Club reveal details for Champ

By Annapocalypse on Apr 19 2010

Since releasing their debut album, Elephant Shell, in 2008 on Saddle Creek, Tokyo Police Club have exploded from buzz band to household name (they played the Coachella main-stage on Saturday). Although they recently split from Saddle Creek, they’ve signed on to Mom+Pop Records for their next album, Champ, which is due out on June 8. Check out the tracklisting below:

01. Favourite Food
02. Favourite Color
03. Breakneck Speed
04. Boots of Danger (Wait Up)
05. Bambi
06. End of a Spark
07. Hands Reversed
08. Gone
09. Big Difference
10. Not Sick
11. Frankenstein

And hear their new songs live this summer:

04.22.10 - Fairbanks, Alaska - University of Alaska
04.27.10 - Millvale, PA - Mr. Small’s Theater
04.28.10 - Columbus, OH - Skully’s (Private Jack Daniels show)
05.29.10 - Neustrelitz, Germany - Immergut Festival
05.30.10 - Hamburg, Germany - Uebel Und Gefaehrlich
05.31.10 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
06.01.10 - Koln, Germany - Luxor
06.02.10 - Munich, Germany - 59:1
06.04.10 - Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
06.05.10 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique/Witloof Bar
06.07.10 - Manchester, UK - The Ruby Lounge
06.08.10 - London, UL - Scala
06.09.10 - Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle &
06.11.10 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo &
06.12.10 - Orlando, FL - Club At Firestone &
06.13.10 - Miami Beach, FL - The Fillmore &
06.14.10 - Tampa, FL - The Ritz Ybor &
06.16.10 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues &
06.17.10 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live &
06.18.10 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s &
06.19.10 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s &
06.21.10 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom &
06.23.10 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant &
06.25.10 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre &
06.27.10 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center &
06.29.10 - Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park Bandshell &
06.30.10 - New York, NY - Governor’s Island &

& Passion Pit

• Tokyo Police Club: http://www.tokyopoliceclub.com
• Mom+Pop Records: http://www.momandpoprecords.com

RIP: Devon Clifford, drummer of You Say Party! We Say Die!

By Shane Mack on Apr 18 2010

From Spinner:

You Say Party! We Say Die! drummer Devon Clifford collapsed onstage during a Friday night concert in Vancouver and passed away early Sunday morning.

After Clifford fell during the concert, lead singer Becky Ninkovic asked audience members to call 911, and soon after midnight paramedics arrived and Clifford was rushed to the emergency room. The show came at the tail end of a long North American tour and the dance-rock band, hailing from the Vancouver suburb of Abbottsford, were planning to kick off their tour of Europe on April 26.

Clifford reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage and after having emergency neurosurgery at 3AM, he was on full life support for about a day before passing away at age 30 early Sunday.

• You Say Party! We Say Die!: http://myspace.com/yousaypartywesaydie
• Paper Bag Records: http://paperbagrecords.com

[Photo: Todd Duym]

Oneohtrix Point Never news bonanza! New album Returnal in June, multichannel art piece, tourdates, and eternal vow to top the TMT year-end list

By E. Nagurney on Apr 16 2010

Last year, Oneohtrix Point Never (a.k.a. Daniel Lopatin) put out a record of (pretty awesome) futuristic synthesizer music called Zones Without People. A lot of people really liked Zones Without People; in fact, some even said it was their fourth favorite record of 2009. While honored, Lopatin feels a little slighted by the mere fourth-place finish. In a (completely fictional) interview with me (again, I’ve never talked to the man), Lopatin had the following to say (I am making this up): “Animal Collective? Shmanimal Collective! Dirty Projectors? More like Smelly Projectors That Nobody Likes Because They Smell Bad. sunn 0)))? Excuse me, I think you mean Sunn :(.” Harsh words. (Go here if you want to see actual words from the guy.)

Anyway, to take a shot at this year’s coveted Tiny Mix Tapes Crown, Lopatin’s putting out a new record called Returnal on June 18 via Editions Mego. And if you’re really pumped about the idea of new Oneohtrix Point Never, Edition Mego’s site states that pre-order copies will ship out late May, making you the first kid on your block to own Returnal. The eight-song album’s tracklist can be seen below.

Aside from making Returnal, Lopatin has evidently been quite busy as of late. The man has created a multichannel piece for Anne Hilde Neset’s Sonic Tank exhibit at Tou Scene in Stavanger, Norway. The piece is called “The Martinettis Bring Home A Desiring Machine,” which runs for about 30 minutes and is comprised completely of material from a Mac Performa infomercial. On his site, Lopatin says he’ll never actually see the thing himself and urges you, if you’re in the Stavanger area, to “be his avatar.” So, go ahead, be his avatar. While we’re on the subject of Mr. Lopatin’s recent creations, he’s also made a video for oOoOO’s song “Seaww,” which can be viewed over at EMOTION.

Lastly, Oneohtrix Point Never is going on tour over the next few months. Joining Mr. Lopatin on his synthesizer journeys will be fairly like-minded folks like Emeralds and Tomutonttu. Many of the dates for the Oneohtrix/Tomutonttu tour do not yet have a venue listed, but let it be known that, if you live in any of the cities listed, those two are playing, well, somewhere in your town. Be on the lookout.

Returnal tracklist:

01. Nil Admirari
02. Describing Bodies
03. Stress Waves
04. Returnal
05. Pelham Island Road
06. Where Does Time Go
07. Ouroboros
08. Preyouandi

Oneeohtrix Point Never dates:

04.18.10 - Madrid, Spain - La Casa Encendida &
04.22.10 - Barcelona, Spain - Obra Social Cajamadrid &
04.23.10 - Virgo, Spain - Festival Sinsal
04.24.10 - Lisbon, Portugal - ZDB &
05.27.10 - Brighton, UK - Venue pending ^
05.28.10 - Nottingham, UK - Venue pending ^
05.29.10 - Glasgow, UK - Venue pending^
05.30.10 - Leeds, UK - Venue pending ^
05.31.10 - London, UK - Cargo ^
06.02.10 - Paris, France - La Geode (Vilette Sonique Festival)

& Emeralds
^ Tomonttu

• Oneohtrix Point Never: http://www.pointnever.com
• Editions Mego: http://www.editionsmego.com

Pandora Radio generates nearly half of all net radio royalties, snags 1% of entire radio market

By Deno on Apr 16 2010

I’m sure many of you already know this in your hearts, minds, and ears; Pandora is the king of the Net Radio mountain. FMQB reports that Pandora, the near-ubiquitous online radio broadcaster, accounts for almost half of all royalties (for non-interactive audio streams) collected by performance rights organization SoundExchange. That’s a staggering percentage (44 to be precise) and illustrates both the popularity of Pandora and internet-based radio in a single breath. First it’s non-interactive audio streams, next… the world! As Tim Westergren, one of Pandora’s founders points out, the web radio giant now holds “a shade over 1 percent of the overall radio marketplace.”

Perhaps that doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks (maybe it only hits you like 1% of a ton of bricks) but 1% of the entire radio market is no small feat for an internet-exclusive service, whose survival a couple of years back seemed more precarious than the endangered giant panda. And let’s not forget that it was only because of a financially untenable increase in webcasting rates (to be collected and distributed by SoundExchange) that Pandora’s future was ever in doubt. Thanks to a much discussed webcasting royalty rate compromise, both parties (as well as musicians everywhere) are richer, happier, and able to provide over 48 million people with a free infinite mix tape in the cloud.

But even though Pandora has cemented its legitimacy as a functional model for radio in the twenty tens, the company is still pursuing new strategies to address emerging trends in the use of the service. By forging partnerships with Google, Pioneer, Ford, and Alpine, Pandora is hoping to keep us all connected at home, on the phone, in our cars… really, wherever there are speakers (or headphones) at hand.

• Pandora Radio: http://www.pandora.com

Oneida’s Kid Millions & Bobby Matador are People of the North, Deep Tissue due this month

By Harold Shueberg on Apr 16 2010

Seriously, as if Rated O (TMT Review) wasn’t enough of The O to warp the eardrums for a good long while, a couple of the Oneida bros have stirred up another concoction of rock goodness. On April 27, Bobby Matador and Kid Million’s experimental outfit People of the North will release its debut, Deep Tissue.

Although People of the North is officially made up of Millions and Matador, the rest of the Oneida crew are also involved. Past PotN performances, ranging as far back as 2003, have been known to include every member of Oneida, and O bassist Showtime plays throughout Deep Tissue. So you’re more than likely asking yourself, “What’s the difference between PotN and the mighty big bro Oneida?” Who the fuck knows; probably nothing. But it doesn’t really matter, because it’s going to be awesome either way. But if you want to compare/contrast/categorize yourself, check out the album opener “Tunnels” at the Chocolate Grinder.

Deep Tissue tracklist:

01. Tunnels
02. The Vastest Island
03. Summer Leaves
04. Over Me

Hey, I have a related question: when’s the final part of the “Thank Your Parents” trilogy set for release?

• Brah: http://www.brahrecords.com
• Oneida: http://www.myspace.com/oneidarocks

News
  • Recent
  • Popular

Music Reviews
  • Recent
  • Popular