Phoenix to release Bankrupt! lead single “Entertainment” on Monday

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Next week, Phoenix will rise from the ashes…with new music.

After reaching new levels of success with “1901” and “Lisztomania” from their fourth album, 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the rock quartet from Versailles, France has spent the past two years working on its followup. Earlier this week, the band announced that Bankrupt! would be released during the week of April 22 by Glassnote Records and the band’s imprint, Loyauté, with an international release from V2 Records. The announcement of the album’s release date was accompanied with the album cover, its tracklist, and a short text-based video featuring audio from the track “Bourgeois.”

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Analyzing the microsite for Depeche Mode’s new single “Heaven”

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Depeche Mode recently announced the upcoming release of their 13th studio album, Delta Machine, to be released on March 26, featuring lead single “Heaven.” To prepare for the new album era, the band has partnered with Eyes & Ears Entertainment to put up a countdown site that has currently revealed tour dates and album information, as well as a new Tumblr blog for the band. In contrast to this month’s earlier high-profile countdown for Justin Timberlake’s single “Suit & Tie” (whose website was created by Eyes & Ears partner Uprising Creative), Depeche Mode has already revealed the names of the album and single that will be released, as well as their release dates: before the March 26 release of Delta Machine, “Heaven” will be released as a two-track single (with B-side “All That’s Mine,” which will also be available on the deluxe edition of Delta Machine) and in a five-track remix EP on Friday, February 1. The video for “Heaven” will also premiere the same Friday on VEVO.

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20/20 Vision: cracking the code of Justin Timberlake’s countdown

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UPDATE (Monday): I’m pleased to find out that the predictions in this post were correct, as announced on Justin Timberlake’s website. Buy “Suit & Tie,” from The 20/20 Experience, on iTunes: http://kwn.me/suitandtie

On Thursday at 9:01 AM Pacific time, Justin Timberlake‘s name spread like wildfire across social media and news sites, just as if we had stepped back in a time machine to 2002, with the revelation of a countdown that would all but certainly end with a new single and album from the former *NSYNC member. While the teaser video and website gave no clear indication of the project’s names, a few clues have appeared that indicate a title of “Suit & Tie” for the lead single from forthcoming album The 20/20 Experience. Read on for an explanation of these clues and feel free to draw your own conclusions — none of this information is confirmed yet.

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Kurt’s Favorite Albums of 2012: #30–21

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Though there were a lot of great albums released throughout the entire year, it seemed that the biggest concentration of great albums were found in the early summer and early fall. Among releases mentioned earlier in the list, those such as Walk The Moon, Best Coast, and The Temper Trap stood out as superior summer releases, while The Script, Matchbox Twenty, and P!nk got their turns in my playlist when the leaves turned outdoors. In these next ten albums, comprising numbers 30 through 21 in my year-end list, many of the artists represented were the soundtracks to my summer semester at school and the beginning of my junior year.

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Kurt’s Favorite Albums of 2012: #40–31

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The second set of my favorite albums from 2012 is a good musical microcosm of my overall tastes this year. The ten albums that follow, ranking from #40 to #31, showcase a mixed bag of indie rock, mainstream alternative, a massive pop band, a splash of country, and a bit of jazz as well. I have grown to listen to new music without as much predetermined judgment based on genre as I did in my younger years, and it has led to a greater appreciation for a large number of different artists.

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Kurt’s Favorite Albums of 2012: #50–41

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2012 has brought a lot of new music for me to discover and enjoy, from a multitude of genres and artists. This year marked a conscious shift in my tastes from typical teenage pop/rock to an expansion that included practically all genres, from folk and blues to hip-hop and R&B. There’s a whole lot of great music out there, and being open to all different types and artists has allowed me to discover many more gems than I have in previous years. This year alone, I listened to at least 100 new albums and EPs from veterans and beginners alike, finding many new artists to champion and new music to put on my ever-expanding playlists. Many of these new discoveries were rewarding, with some of my favorite releases of 2012 coming from artists who were completely unknown to me beforehand. This week, I’m sharing fifty of my favorite albums of the year, with the hope that you will find something new to discover and enjoy as well as the year comes to a close. The list kicks off today with albums #50 through #41.

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