There Goes Our Love

I used to love White Lies by the time their debut came out. I spinned the album heavily, along with music from Editors and Interpol. Those were my post-punk days... Unfortunately, their sophomore effort failed to excite me and I cared very little for them ever since.

However, this summer, White Lies are back with their third record, and judging from the two new songs that I've heard so far, it should be pretty good. Perhaps a bit in a Sam's-Town-era Killers way. Fingers crossed. The album comes out August 12. Thoughts?

I Hope You Suffer

AFI will release their ninth studio album, which is titles Burials, on October 22. Considering Sing the Sorrow is still one of the best pop punk albums ever released and that I've spent substantial amount of time with each of their subsequent efforts, I'm quite looking forward to this, even though the new song is far from their best. Watch the lyric video below. It's hard to imagine now, seven years later, that a record like Decemberunderground would top the Billboard album chart...

"Right thoughts, right words, right action."

It's been a long, long time since Franz Ferdinand released something new. Four years after their latest album, the wait is finally over. Was it worth it? Well, I'm not quite sold yet, but their comeback is a welcome news nonetheless. Your thoughts?

Great White Pirate Wonder

Today at work, while browsing the music news on Pitchfork, I stumbled across an article from last September about Bob Dylan's famous 1969 album, Great White Wonder. I say famous, but the truth is I've never heard of it before, and it might've as well stayed hidden for anyone who isn't a die-hard Dylan enthusiast or who's knowlege of the folk singer's discography starts and ends with his biggest classics. (I may be just guessing.)

The reason why Great White Wonder is famous and significant, beside being a Dylan album, is that, at the peak of the vinyl era, it represented the beginning of the piracy phenomenon in the music bussiness. In today's words, it was one of the first leaks ever.

"While history records Great White Wonder as rock's first widely circulated bootleg, underground releases of its ilk are like the cool uncle of the digital leak."

The article starts with the emergence and history of the bootleg, which then waited six more years to be released in the usual manner, and at the end turns into a contemplation about piracy, its origin and present state. If you're interested, I highly recommend reading the whole thing, it won't take you more than half an hour. It is really an engaging piece of journalism.

...

In related news, the amount of piracy in Norway has fallen significantly. Perhaps there is a way after all. If only Amazon, Spotify and others would remove their country restrictions for Czech Republic. Something like Netflix would come in handy too. Whining and filing nonsensical lawsuits isn't the answer.

Rewind the Film

Manic Street Preachers will be back this fall with Rewind The Film, their eleventh studio album, and the first since 2010′s Postcards From A Young Man. About a week ago, they’ve unveiled a video for the title track. I must say, the song itself is nothing short of brilliant. This is the sound of a band, that's been together since 1986. Unbelievable.

Well, the Manics actually recorded two albums simultaneously. The first one to come out will be more acoustic and gentle, while the other one will be way heavier with lots of electric guitars on it. I can't wait. Rewind the Film comes out September 16th.