Mixtape #22

"Harvard on the Hudson" came out from With The Punches in January and left fans dying for more.  Last Tuesday, the band from Newburgh NY dropped their first LP, Seams and Stitches with much success.  "I Told You Already" is this week's number 1 for the mixtape because it is one of the stand out singles off the album.  The song shows that With The Punches has learned the formula on how to make music well. A little more poppy than punk, "I Told You Already" falls right in the middle of the record and helps pick the pace back up.

Rest of this week's Mixtape:

• Gallows: " Last June"
• Handguns: "Song About You"
• Close To Home: "Family Ties"
• Runner Runner: " Who I Am"
• Minus the Bear: "Lonely Gun"
• The American Scene: "Just Say It"
• As I Lay Dying: "Cauterize"
• Forever Came Calling: "If Bukowski Could See Me Now"
• What's Eating Gilbert: "Complaining"
• A Great Big Pile of Leaves: "Pet Mouse"
• A Rocket to the Moon: "Going Out"
• Anchor & Braille: "Goes without Saying"
• Deap Valley: "Gonna Make My Own Money"
• Good Luck Varsity: "Lakes"

Waves of News from Circa Survive...

There has been a lot of exciting information the last couple of days for Circa Survive fans.  The boys from Philly announced yesterday that their latest album, Violent Waves, is slated for release on August 28th.  This will be the band's fourth studio effort, but the first to be self produced and released.  Circa paid for the whole process on their own.  Pre-orders are on sale now, and Waves will be on sale digitally for $5.  Check out Circa's  for Official Website a statement from the band, as well as a chance to download a new single, "Suitcase".

Also announced yesterday, Circa Survive will be going on a full U.S. tour in the fall to promote the album.  Touche Amore, Balance and Composure, and O'Brother will support.  To celebrate the release of Violent Waves, the band will be having 2 release shows in Philedelphia on August 24th and 25th.  Opening acts will be revealed soon.  Tickets for all shows will go on sale this Friday.

Listen to a new track from Circa Survive, "Sharp Practice", below!

The Bear is Back...

Last week, Minus the Bear announced that their fifth full length, Infinity Overhead, will be released on August 28th.  The indie rockers from Seattle started working on the album in January with former keyboardist and producer Matt Bayles.  Their last record, Omni, was released in 2010.  Below is the track listing and a teaser video, which includes a clip from "Diamond Lightning", a song off the album.  Minus the Bear will be making a tour and pre-order announcement on July 9th, so stay tuned for details!

Track List:
1. Steel and Blood
2. Lies and Eyes
3. Diamond Lightning
4. Toska
5. Listing
6. Heaven Is A Ghost Town
7. Empty Party Rooms
8. Zeros
9. Lonely Gun
10. Cold Company

Mixtape #21

Let me just say, the summer of 2012 is definitely the summer of music for me.  Between all the album releases, festivals, and reunions, I do not think it could get any better! Get What You Give is the newest record from The Ghost Inside.  The album is quite good, and shows the progression and growth the hardcore band has made since their last album in 2010.  "Engine 45" is just one of many great examples on the album.

Rest of this week's Mix Tape:

• Dave Hause: "Pray for Tucson"
• Passion Pit: "I'll Be Alright"
• Fiona Apple: "Anything We Want"
• Like Moths to Flames: "The Worst in Me"
• Teenage Bottle Rocket: "Maverick"
• Mixtapes: "I'll Give You a Hint, Yes"
• Certain People I Know: "King of Shots"
• Matt and Kim: "Let's Go"
• I Call Fives: "The Fall Guy"
• Deserters: "Optimism's Victim"
• Owl City Feat. Carly Rae Jepsen: "Good Time"
• The Early November: "In Currents"
• States: "Brighter Lights"
• Cady Groves: "Revenge"

MCA of Beastie Boys Passes Away...

"If you can feel what I'm feeling then it's a musical masterpiece"

Sad news in the music industry today, Rapper Adam "MCA" Yauch is dead at 47.  Yauch was a founding member of the Beastie Boys.  The trio is a pioneer group in the rap industry.

Yauch was diagnosed with cancer of the salivary gland, or parotid,  in 2009. The Beastie Boys released Hot Sauce Committee Part Two in 2011. The boys from Brooklyn were also inducted into the Rock And Roll Music Hall of Fame this year.  Yauch did not attend the event, but wrote a letter to fans that the Beastie Boys read.

About a half hour ago, The Beastie Boys publicity firm sent out an official press release.  Read the entire release below:

"It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam "MCA" Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums--including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band's 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill--win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and  activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces.  In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985's Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, with net proceeds  disbursed to the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans--each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including  "So Whatcha Want," "Intergalactic," "Body Movin" and "Ch-Check It Out." Under his own name, Yauch directed last year's Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for "Make Some Noise" from Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch's passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin' For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy,  Oren Moverman's The Messenger,  Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze's Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch."