After months of competition, Massachusetts outfit Biscuits & Gravy have been crowned the champions of the first installment of the Ernie Ball “Save Your Strings” competition!

Hailing from Boston’s Allston neighborhood, Biscuits & Gravy have crafted a unique brand of accessible R&B that has the ability to both excite and soothe. Their sound fuses the soul of Motown, the raw energy of funk, and the drive of hip-hop to bring listeners a sound that is completely original while feeling entirely familiar. It’s a fine line of musical perfection, and they might as well be considered masters. Click here to discover their music.

As part of their victory, Biscuits & Gravy will receive a year’s supply of strings from Ernie Ball, as well as slew of accessories to help further their creative output. The group also moves on to the final round of competition, which will pit them against the other “Save Your Strings” winners throughout the year. Check in tomorrow for information on the ROCK edition of the competition.

In “new reasons to feel old” news this morning, Backstreet Boys have announced a 20th anniversary tour.

The “In A World Like This” tour kicks off August 2 in Chicago and will likely be the lead in to, or occur right after, the new BSB album drops. The tour will come to an end about a month later on September 8 in Concord, CA. Jesse McCartney and DJ Pauly D will be opening. Dates can be seen below.

Tickets go on sale on various days. Fan club members mark set your alarms for 7am local time on May 15, there’s a Facebook presale May 16 and then the rest go on sale May 17 and 18. More info can be found here. Continue reading ‘Backstreet Boys Announce 20th Anniversary Tour’

The problem with being one of the most popular musicians on the internet is that everyone is constantly doing whatever they can to get the next tidbit of information. Be it something as simple as an album title, as revealing as tour plans, or potentially financially crippling as leaking unreleased material, as fandom grows so does the difficulty of maintaining everyone’s excitement. We live in an instant gratification society, and people will do whatever they can to get that quick fix. The smart artist plan for this, and such is the case with electronica legends Daft Punk.

Random Access Memories is not scheduled for release until May 21, but on Monday, May 13, the album leaked online (in high quality). Given the way physical distribution works, Daft Punk and their label were unable to immediately put the album up for sale, so the band decided to do the next best thing: Stream it themselves.

Those hoping to hear the latest from Daft Punk can now stream Random Access Memories for free, legally, by heading over to iTunes. If you enjoy the record, you can also pre-order the album from the streaming page. Click here to access the album.

Months have passed since we last heard new material from Canadian recording artist The Weeknd, but all that will change soon as he begins ushering in the next phase of his music takeover.

Set against a VHS-like video feed, a twenty-one second preview for a new single titled “John Carpenter” made its way online recently through The Weeknd’s YouTube account. The song features a similar feel to the work found on Trilogy, only this time things feel a bit mor sinister. It’s too early to tell “John Carpenter” will be a hit, but we are definitely curious to hear more. Click here to stream the snippet.

Epitaph rock outfit Falling In Reverse have announced the last minute cancellation of their upcoming tour with Hollywood Undead.

Just a week after announcing plans to release a new album over the Summer, Falling In Reverse released an update to fans yesterday afternoon expressing the need to drop all of their immediate tour plans. Fans need not worry about the state of the band, however, because the reason has essentially nothing to do with their efforts. Frontman Ronnie Radke and his girlfriend are expecting their first child soon and Ronnie wants to be there for the occasion. You can read the band’s message below. After that, click on the video to hear the group’s latest single, “Alone.”

“Our apologies but Falling In Reverse has to cancel the rest of the dates scheduled in May. Ronnie will not be able to appear as his girlfriend is about to give birth to their first child and he needs to be by her side. Thanks for your understanding. See you soon.”

Now a month into the release promotion of their new self-titled album, Paramore have announced plans to venture overseas in the months ahead.

Kicking off their Fall touring efforts, Paramore’s stretch of UK and Ireland dates will run throughout the month of September. Not every date has been confirmed, but we do have a handful of dates and venues available now. No on sale dates have been announced.

Paramore will see the entire world in the months ahead, so keep checking back for updates. Continue reading ‘Paramore Announce UK And Ireland Tour Plans’

The Dillinger Escape Plan have released a stream of their entire new album, One Of Us Is The Killer.

After teasing a few songs in recent weeks, One Of Us Is The Killer turns out to indeed be on of the fiercest albums to surface in 2013. The Dillinger Escape Plan have built a career on pushing metal are far as they possibly can, both live and in the studio, and this release is yet another fantastic release to add to their legacy of being one of the downright heaviest acts around. Pitchfork is hosting the listening event, so click here to experience the album.

One Of Us Is The Killer hits stores May 14.

You know MTV’s Tr3s network. The well-known cable powerhouse is a staple in the Latin American entertainment world, capable of pushing emerging artists into the national spotlight.

If you think that kind of invaluable national exposure might help your career, we have good news for you.

Tr3s and OurStage have teamed up once again in the search for what we call “El Headliner.” It’s simple – we put your tracks to the fans, who tell us what they like the most. Then Tr3s and special guest judge Karlos Rosé will personally sort through each of the top tracks to find the one artist worthy of spotlight artist features on Tr3s’ show Top 20, as well as Tr3s.com’s Music My Güey,Descubre & Download, and Blogamole.

Submit your best track by June 22, 2013 for a chance to win.

Good luck!

Ohio’s Attack Attack! recently announced that their plans to embark on a comeback tour had become plans for a farewell run. This news came as a shock to many, but when one steps back to look at the group’s troubled carer with rotating members and a overall lack of direction (perhaps resulting from the revolving door of membership) shows this was bound to happen at some point. Now the group is saying their goodbyes one city at a time, and PropertyOfZack sat down to with the band to reflect on their run.

Though POZ’s full interview has yet to be released, a snippet with the group describing their “one mistake” as a band. The phrase “Our biggest mistake was being us” sums it up pretty well, but you need to read the band’s full response to undersand what they’re trying to say. Click below to read the excerpt: Continue reading ‘Attack Attack! Proclaim “Our Biggest Mistake Was Being Us”’

Diva Mariah Carey has released the official music video for her Miguel assisted single, “#Beautiful.”

A sonically different, but altogether fitting addition to her singles catalog, “#Beautiful” continues to be an a-okay song with a perfectly acceptable video. At this point in her career there is very little mystery to the formula for Carey’s video. and that isn’t necessarily a complaint. Mariah appears, looking glorious as ever, and everything that follows is in some way a sequence designed to showcase her physical (and vocal) assets as much as digitally possible. Whether or not it sells the song is anyone’s guess, but why fix what isn’t broken, right? Click below and enjoy “#Beautiful.” Continue reading ‘Mariah Carey Releases “#Beautiful” Video’