Man Of Leisure

PropertyOfZack is happy to be streaming Night Owl’s new EP, Wounds Again. The release will officially be out on March 1st via Mutant League Records. Stream Wounds Again below by clicking “Read More!” 

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Class Of ‘92, Matty Arsenault of A Loss For Words’ R&B side-project, will be finishing his debut EP any day now. Check out a tweet from Matty below by clicking “Read More.” 

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Over the past few weeks, we here at PropertyOfZack have brought you a lot of new album announcements. And while we’re certainly excited by many of the artists releasing new music, we’re just as intrigued by the variety of ways in which they’re approaching their releases. In this week’s Friday Discussion, we’re taking a look at some of the creative ways bands unveil new recordings to the world. What other possibilities are out there? Reblog and let us know your favorites!

The “Fall Out Boy”
As one Tumblr user quipped in the site’s vernacular (John Green paraphrases), “Fall Out Boy came back the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” Rumors of a return from the infamous “indefinite hiatus” ran hot on the web for months, and we brought you the first official confirmation ten days before the band’s announcement, but even we weren’t prepared for just how momentous that announcement would be — not only were the band back, but with a full album already in the can, a full tour scheduled, and a new single and video live at the time of the announcement. Coming from a band whose prior M.O. involved playful teases and complex, slow-building viral campaigns, the tidal wave of goodies was both shocking and overwhelming, in the best of ways.

See also: David Bowie, who recently emerged from eleven years of musical seclusion with the surprise announcement of an album, the making of which had been so tightly guarded that all involved were required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The “Timberlake”
Like the above, teen-idol-turned-plain-old-idol Justin Timberlake recorded his upcoming album in secret. But he seems to be in no rush to let us hear it. JT began his lengthy tease with a countdown clock; when it hit zero, we were treated to…a video. Not a music video, mind you, but a video of Timberlake announcing an upcoming music video. It was nearly a week until we finally were treated to “Suit And Tie”, and even then, it wasn’t via the song’s true video, but merely a lyric video. (The David Fincher-directed real deal is still in the works). He debuted two more new tracks live at a pre-Super Bowl party thrown by Dallas Mavericks owner / internet gazillionaire Mark Cuban, to a room packed full of Hollywood heavyweights who could be relied on to Tweet, Instagram and YouTube the event, relying on the free cele-buzz for an extra push. The trickle of info continued yesterday, as Timberlake dropped the album’s cover image and track listing on his Twitter feed. And remember, we’re still a month away from actually getting our hands on The 20 / 20 Experience. 

The “Scene”
Of course, for a lot of acts, the goal isn’t to hide the recording process but to make it as visible as possible. In a world where contact is only a tweet away, where audio and video production is cheap and easy, where blogs are hungry for new music to call “first” on, and distribution is as simple as an upload to Bandcamp (or YouTube, or SoundCloud, or…you get the picture), it’s possible for an act to be in their fans’ faces — and on their minds — 24/7/365. “Scene” bands, in particular, seem to be especially adept at this. Daily updates from the recording studio. Instagram photos from the sessions. Video clips of songs in process. Acoustic performances of newly-recorded material. Twitter and Tumblr Q&As with band members during their downtime. There’s no need for an elaborate marketing push with this strategy, because the band is in constant contact with their audience. Instead of selling with surprise, these acts slowly build anticipation over a matter of months; when the final product has finally been mixed and mastered and readied for distribution, they know they’ll have cobbled together army of folks clamoring just to hear the damned thing already.

The “Shone”
“Be Patient. Heatthing.com.” That simple, cryptic tweet, issued from a succession of artist Twitter accounts (including Thrice, Manchester Orchestra, Balance & Composure and Vinnie Caruana) on December 21st, launched the scene into the most frenzied viral marketing campaign in recent memory. Through a series of eerie videos, backmasked sound clips, and even mailed letters, the secret missive was gradually decoded over the next few weeks — Heat Thing was the title for the debut album by a band called Shone, which appeared to include Brand New’s Brian Lane as well as Andrew Accardi, vocalist for Robbers and brother of Brand New guitar-slinger Vin. There’s no question that Shone’s campaign brought a flood of attention that the band would never have garnered otherwise. But as the music finally emerged, it quickly became apparent that Shone sounded nothing like Brand New or their friends-in-virality, and when Heat Thing (the album) didn’t match the high expectations that stemmed from Heat Thing (the marketing campaign), that tide began to turn against the band. At this point, it’s not clear whether the elaborate effort was even a net positive for Shone.

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It has been confirmed that Troy Sanders from Mastodon, Nate Newton from Converge, Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dave Elitch from The Mars Volta, and Max Cavalera from Soulfly have started a supergroup together. Check out what Cavalera had to say about the supergroup below by clicking “Read More.”

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What’s going on in New Haven, Connecticut, you ask? What has the storm wrought in the city best known for providing the gritty backdrop to the education of our future presidents? Here’s what’s going on in New Haven, Connecticut: a fucking ancient skeleton being uncovered by Hurricane Sandy, that’s what.

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PropertyOfZack is excited to be streaming and showing behind the scene footage of a brand new single from Una Jensen called “Don’t Hold Back,” which features Matty Arsenault from A Loss For Words and Class Of ‘92 on guest vocals. Stream and download the song and watch the studio footage below by clicking “Read More!”

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 At just fifteen years old, pop rock singer, Una Jensen has already released her debut EP. The new release so called Shout It Loud And Clear, came out just yesterday and features her most recent hit single “Let’s Write A Song”. In addition to working on some new tunes, Una Jensen just came off a lengthy US tour and some how found the time to answer a few questions for us. 

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Who did you listen to growing up as a kid?
Well, i really liked Britney Spears. I would fall asleep to her “baby one more time” album everynight when i was about four years old. I would listen to all of the famous pop artists of the 90’s and early 2000’s, but I also listened to foo fighters, incubus, coldplay; things my parents listened to back then!!

How would you describe your sound?
I’d describe my sound as Pop-rock, but i really love exploring genre’s!! Lately i’ve been experimenting with bluesy stuff, and even writing some country stuff too. It’s fun!!

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As I sit here with an extra ticket for a panel featuring people from New Girl and Raising Hope, I come to the conclusion that I have very little friends and none of them can go. I sit with the thought of asking my crush and I start to feel a panic attack coming on, thank goodness I have Una Jensen’s Shout It Loud And Clear to gorge on because I am out of Oreos.

for the rest…click here!