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![Mindchatter confirms third studio album, announces tour extension, on-site at Outside Lands [Q&A] : Dancing Astronaut](https://californiadigitalnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AZ4A5329.jpg)
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![Mindchatter confirms third studio album, announces tour extension, on-site at Outside Lands [Q&A]AZ4A5329](https://dancingastronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AZ4A5329.jpg)
Bryce Connolly, professionally known as indie dance connoisseur mindchatter, delivered an electrifying live set at a jam-packed Sutro Stage during Outside Lands‘ 2024 installment. At the start of the year, Connolly issued an official remix of Poolside and Ben Browning’s “Ride With You,” streaming via Counter Records. Shortly after, mindchatter embarked on his sold out A Chorus Of Monologues Tour after dropping two EPs, 2023’s Spiritual Puberty followed by the grittier This Is A Reminder That You Are Not Behind Your Face, which also materialized on ODESZA‘s esteemed Foreign Family Collective this past February.
Ahead of his climactic Outside Lands performance, mindchatter co-signed a pair of official remixes for two of his latest singles. The New York City native recruited Familiar Faces, who turned in a minimal tech rendition of “Brain Pills,” as well as Azzecca, who shared her acidic interpretation of “Corporate Shakespeare.”
Now that Outside Lands has come and gone, mindchatter is already gearing up to get back out on the road; this time, out overseas. In an exclusive Q&A with ‘Dancing Astronaut,’ the Foreign Family artist revealed a slew of fresh tour datest, bringing his headline tour to over 35 dates across 5 different countries. What’s more, the acclaimed DREAM SOUP producer confirmed that, yes, his third studio album is indeed in the works.
Browse mindchatter’s extended tour dates and read the exclusive Q&A below.
You’re no stranger to major festivals. How has your live set evolved over time?
Bryce: “I’ve added a lot of different equipment. It used to be me on one skimpy little stand up there, but I’ve built out my production to effect more stage presence. I added a malletSTATION, which is that xylophone you see onstage. That’s been a game changer because I feel like it’s more visual for the audience, more engaging… Also, adding new visuals time coded to new music, just sort of brick by brick additions. I used to use house VJs that would mix on the fly, but my production feels a lot more professional now that I bring a VJ on the road with me. I have more of a solidified team.”
Last year, you put out “Cash” with Emmit Fenn, who you also worked with on “Hips” in 2022. Aside from those records, mindchatter operates pretty independently. Is this by happenstance or do you like working solo?
Bryce: “I like working solo, for sure. I started off as a producer, and then I became the guy hunting down vocalists to work with. But eventually, I just started adding in my own voice. So, I’m pretty self-contained. I can make a record entirely on my own, which is fun. I’ve gone into sessions and, sometimes, it feels like anything special I might have sort of leaves the room. That level of access requires me to basically isolate myself and shut out the world for a bit. But I loved working with Emmit because we have a lot in common; he both sings and produces… But he’s also a classically trained pianist, which I’m not. I lean a bit more into the production side. When I can work with people like that, it works really well.”
DREAM SOUP officially landed over two years ago, in April 2022. Has it felt that long? How much do you still identify with the project?
Bryce: “Damn, that makes me feel old! Some of those records I made when I was in music school, like four years earlier. So yeah, I felt like I had to get that project off my chest. There are certain songs you sit on for so long that end up getting stale. DREAM SOUP was a way for me to pull out all the old shit that I loved and finally present it to the world in a cohesive format. But I’m ready to move on, and I feel like the stuff I’m making now is a bit more elevated. Sometimes I listen to old stuff and cringe a little bit; it can be like looking at an old Facebook photo.”
You’ve maintained a consistent aesthetic since launching your artist project in 2019. What inspired this vision?
Bryce: “It really has grown organically. It started with the first cover for “Trippy,” the first song I put out. I work with a really talented graphic designer; I remember telling him I want a man looking back at himself with his eyes in his hands to represent self-awareness. The cover art went through a bunch of different iterations. We finally landed on a Greek statue, and it felt so right. All of the imagery since then ties together in an organic way, but you can’t really put your finger on it. When it feels right, we keep it up. When it feels wrong, we throw it right out.”
What goes into deciding on the producers who remix your original works?
Bryce: “Anyone who’s done a remix for me is someone who I’m a fan of. It’s pretty much that simple. And I try to choose a song for them that they’d be successful in putting their own spin on. I wouldn’t give someone a song that wasn’t a match. There are a lot of people I’ll reach out to. Typically, it’s like 10% of them who, if they aren’t touring or busy, are available or down to take on a remix. You don’t always get everybody you want, but I’m super grateful for the talented artists that have remixed my stuff.”
Do you have any upcoming shows in cities you’re excited to perform in?
Bryce: “Yeah, I’ve never played in Europe. It’ll be brand new. I’ve only played outside of the US in Canada, but Europe is a whole ‘nother thing. I feel like I have a good amount of listeners there, which is great. I’m pumped; it’ll be sweet.”
Can fans expect another full-length album anytime soon?
Bryce: “Yeah. Don’t hold me to this, but it’s definitely the next project I’m looking to put out—a really serious album. And I have a decent chunk of it written. It’s something that I want to do right. I want to have the creative vision down far in advance. And just like, really take my time with it.”
Lastly, even though you tend to work independently, is there someone out there you’d love to put out a record with?
Bryce: “Julian Casablancas, from The Strokes.”
![Mindchatter confirms third studio album, announces tour extension, on-site at Outside Lands [Q&A]MindchatterBLUR](https://dancingastronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MindchatterBLUR.jpg)
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Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes look in midseason form already … ’cause the two just connected on a crazy behind the back pass.
The play happened just moments ago during the Lions vs Chiefs preseason game … on third down with three yards to go, Mahomes scrambled to his right — before flicking the ball toward his main receiving threat.
TK’s able to get the first down and more … ending up just inside the Lions’ 25-year-line — a nice little chunk of yardage from one of the weirdest plays we’ll probably see this preseason.
Tons of football fans — including Trav’s big bro Jason Kelce — loved the play … but, don’t imagine the two did this on a whim … ’cause Pat and Trav have been quite open about wanting to make this happen.
When is the behind-the-back pass coming, @PatrickMahomes?! 😅
“Coach Reid wants me to throw it more than anyone in the world. He deliberately puts in plays for when I have the opportunity to throw it. It’s not a coaching thing. One of these games. We gotta do it.” pic.twitter.com/snKDa6ghi1
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) May 22, 2024
@FTFonFS1
Mahomes joined “First Things First” on FS1 just a couple months ago … talking about when exactly he was going to make the play like he previously told them he would.
PM took all the blame for not executing it last season … ’cause he says Head Coach Andy Reid‘s been onboard for years — so he could’ve done it just about any time he wanted.
Pat and Travis are getting ready for the regular season — set to kickoff for them on September 5 against the Ravens — and, they’re back in Kansas City together after months of vacation.
Killa Trav’s been globetrotting with his GF Taylor Swift … who couldn’t make it to Saturday’s preseason game since she’s in the middle of a show at Wembley Stadium in England.
Bummer for Tay … ’cause she just missed one heck of a play!!!
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There’s been a lot of speculation this week that X usage is in significant decline following Elon Musk’s recent comments about race riots in the U.K. The pervading view, based on anecdotal evidence at least, is that more people are abandoning X, and switching to Threads instead, yet, at the same time, X owner Elon Musk claims that X hit a new record high in active user seconds this week.
So which is it? Is X really losing ground, as a result of Musk’s comments, or is it actually thriving amid his broader free speech push?
Well, there are a couple of elements to consider.
First off, as reported by TechCrunch, all of the available external data suggests that X hasn’t seen a significant drop-off in usage.
As per TechCrunch:
“App intelligence provider Sensor Tower, estimated that X’s average daily active users worldwide grew 2% from July to August 2024 [while] website traffic provider Similarweb reported that X is seeing daily and weekly fluctuations in engagement that are within the normal range across the web and mobile apps.”
So there’s nothing apparent in the overall download and usage data fed through third-party analysis platforms that suggests that X is suffering from any backlash as yet, though David Carr from SimilarWeb also shared on LinkedIn that Threads usage did reach new highs in the UK this week, while X continues to decline over time.
But again, in line with the overall trends, the shift here isn’t massive, though there was also another key element at play that would have helped to prop up X’s numbers last week.
On Tuesday, X reported that the 2024 Olympic Games drove record high engagement numbers in the app.
Taking that into account, when considering the notes from Sensor Tower and SimilarWeb, which both saw little change in X usage, it could be that X did see a drop, but that high engagement with the Olympics essentially covered the gap. Which could mean that X is still set to see a decline in the coming weeks, but as noted, X owner Elon Musk also claims that the platform reached a new record high in active users seconds this week.
That’s likely due to Elon’s X Spaces interview with former President Donald Trump, which drew big attention on Wednesday.
And while many have criticized Elon’s “active user seconds” measurement (including me), it could actually make logical sense, with respect to how Twitter had traditionally measured engagement.
As a former Twitter employee recently explained to social media expert Matt Navarra, the calculations for active seconds and minutes that Twitter had used in the past are very different, with Twitter counting any seconds within a minute as, effectively, a full minute.
“So a user could be on X for 5 seconds and it would be classed as [an active minute] because they were active during that minute.”
If that’s still the case at X, that would mean that active user seconds is a significantly more accurate measure, as X has claimed.
So maybe, X is seeing more usage, but then again it’s been stuck on 250 million daily active users since November 2022, so more active seconds would only mean that the users who are still there are spending more time in the app, as opposed to X growing its influence.
But it would also be hard for X to maintain those active seconds if more users were turning away from the app.
The real pain point for X, however, is creators, and how many people are actively posting in the app. X has previously reported that only 20% of its users ever post anything in the app, or engage with posts, with the vast majority of users only checking in to read through their feeds.
Over time, more and more publishers have stopped posting to X, and the more of these active users it loses, the more it also loses relevance. And because it’s so reliant on these 50 million users, X is susceptible to major shifts if any of its community clusters or highly engaged groups leave.
Again, that’s seemingly not happening, mostly because of sports fandoms that are heavily embedded in the app (hence the popularity of the Olympics). But it’s worth noting that the impacts for X could be felt based on any user migration, because really, the app is totally reliant on a fractional sub-section of its users.
Which is no doubt where Threads is looking.
The app has already added live sports scores, and you can bet that it’s talking with major influencers that are still posting on X to sell them on the value of Threads instead.
But still, Threads trails behind X on real-time engagement, due to Threads’ algorithm weighting away from news and politics, and towards more light-hearted entertainment.
Which, again, is why X continues to win out with major political and sporting announcements, because it’s where you need to be to get the absolute latest info. I doubt that Threads will be able to maintain its aversion to news if it really wants to beat X in this regard, but right now, it’s trying to stay the course, with a view to building a more positive experience than X.
But will that work?
Maybe, on a longer time frame. Because right now the great Threads migration looks primarily like the chart above, with incremental usage declines for X, and slightly bigger gains for Threads.
Adding a few thousand more users a week is a positive, but with X still being around 6x more popular than Threads, the timeframe for a Threads takeover is still pretty, pretty long.
But then again, given X’s financial woes, maybe none of that will matter anyway, because if Elon and Co. can’t find a way to bring in more money, Threads is going to win by TKO, as X simply fades out of existence.
Actually, given Musk’s approach, it definitely won’t fade out, it’ll go down in flames. But following the U.S. election, I do think that X will have a reckoning. And sitting President may well be the determining factor in its future.
But right now, no, X is not in massive decline, and no, Threads is not seeing huge gains. But there is a trend, steady and small, that does point to potential opportunity for Meta’s app.
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Photo: Kamil Krzacynski/AFP/Getty Images
Whoever wins the presidency will be inheriting an unaffordable housing market with no easy way to fix it. Years of high interest rates have made it difficult for buyers to afford a new home, while sellers are reluctant to give up lower monthly payments they locked in from an era of cheaper money. Anyone who’s taken a casual look at Zillow this past home-buying season knows the market is so barren of homes for sale that even unremarkable hovels are going for luxury pricing. (It’s getting so bad that, according to The Wall Street Journal, nearly one in ten cost more than $1 million — about double the rate just five years ago). Even when there’s unabashedly good news, like in the planned 7,000 units announced this week for the East Bronx, there’s a catch: These units have been in discussion since 2018 and will take at least another three years before they’re available. The impact of this yawning unaffordability is generational and lopsided — a recent spike in the generational wealth of millennials favors those who owned property, especially those who bought before the pandemic and saw the value of their homes skyrocket.
On Friday, Kamala Harris proposed a fix for the market by using a carrot-and-stick approach that would, essentially, tilt the housing market toward younger buyers with the least amount of money. The headline of the proposal is that she wants to build 3 million new homes by 2029, about 50 percent more than Joe Biden had promised. This would be spurred by $25,000 in tax credits for first-time buyers to help with down payments, plus tax credits for builders who make affordable homes.
It’s geared toward the masses of wannabe first-time buyers who seemingly have no place to go, rather than large Wall Street investors who have the capital and resources to buy up swaths of apartments and act as landlords. Home-builder companies like Toll Brothers and Pulte Group saw their stock go up on Friday, as did Zillow, and the plan has so far gotten pretty good reviews from economists.
Harris’s plan borrows some of Trump’s ideas, such as tax cuts and incentives for first-time buyers. Otherwise, his plans are either vague (cutting inflation and stopping immigration), unlikely to work (opening up federal lands — a long and expensive process — for building), or of the futuristic variety that a Saudi prince might envision (and then downsize).
What’s more interesting are the disincentives — that is, the stick. These are plans that could actually bring prices lower and do so more immediately. Harris plans to cut out tax breaks for large Wall Street firms, like BlackRock and Blackstone, which have bought up large swaths of apartments and homes throughout the country. The details of this are spotty, but if it becomes less profitable for large firms to buy and hold homes, the market would start to adjust by putting more of those properties on the market. There is also a plan to end the already-controversial practice of algorithmic price-setting for landlords. To an extent, this is just a continuation of the Biden era, since the FBI raided a large corporate landlord in June, over apparent rent price-fixing. Since shelter costs, including rent, continue to be the single biggest drag on getting inflation to come down, this could do more to help affordability not just for homeowners, but also for renters.
The housing market is liable to start changing this September. The Federal Reserve is just a month away from likely lowering interest rates for the first time since 2020, and mortgages have already become more affordable. But how those lower rates affects home prices remains to be seen — it’s just as likely that more buyers will come to market, pushing home costs skyward. There’s still a lot to be determined about how Harris’s plans would work — not the least of which is how she intends to get homes built in California or New York, where zoning rules are tight. But even if she pulls that off, it’s unlikely all that building would change too much nationally — last year, just over 4 million homes were sold, the lowest number since 1995, while prices rose 1 percent, the highest increase ever. What Harris needs to do is spur more people to sell, and that is not only out of her hands but where the real risk is — especially if too many people want to sell at once or the economy implodes out of nowhere. To truly make housing affordable is going to mean walking a fine line between cooling a hot market and crashing it.
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Pep Guardiola insists he has been re-energised by his summer break and is ready to lead Manchester City’s attempt to win a seventh Premier League title in eight seasons.
City won their fourth title in a row last season, after which Guardiola admitted he was “not able to know what will be the motivation” for the following campaign, adding: “The reality is I’m closer to leaving than to staying.”
But after a summer break that included a reunion with members of the Barcelona B side he led to the third-division title during his first season as a manager in 2008, the 53-year-old says he is ready for City’s Premier League opener at Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
“The competition puts me in the position I want to be,” said Guardiola. “In the pre-season I am a little more flat, but when I arrive at the Community Shield it ignites something – and hopefully in the players as well – to do it again.
“When you arrive at the end of the season, you are always a little bit tired. When you take a break in your job and disconnect a little bit, you bring energy back. It’s necessary.
Pep Guardiola confirms Oscar Bobb will be out for up to four months following an injury sustained in training
“To work better, you have to relax and do other things. Otherwise it doesn’t work.
“Sometimes I’m tired and in that moment, I rest. That’s why I have my staff to help me. Before I was not like that, but it’s not productive.
“If you don’t have the enthusiasm, passion and desire, don’t be here. That is the key.
“The pressure is a little bit less because we have done it – it gives you a little bit of peace. When you win, you live better.”
Kweku Afari, Nubaid Haroon and Flex discuss whether Manchester City will be forced into the transfer market following Oscar Bobb’s leg fracture
However, Guardiola admits his motivation at the start of his ninth season in the Premier League is not to lift the title, instead insisting City have to first secure a position in the top four.
“When we begin, the target is to get into the top four,” said Guardiola. “Newcastle is going to play one game a week and so they will be the Newcastle of two seasons ago.
“Arsenal and Liverpool we don’t need to talk about, and Manchester United in the end are going to be there.
“Tottenham invest and the manager knows them better. Chelsea, with the amount of players and the manager, I believe they will be there.
“If you drop a little, you will be away – this is the reality I felt since the first season I arrived here.
“We won six in seven – we conquered the Premier League. But we start from zero. There are 114 points to play for.
“When people say we are favourites, we have to accept it and live with that. Every season is more and more difficult.”
Enzo Maresca says Conor Gallagher will not play in Chelsea’s first Premier League fixture against Man City on Sunday and that the club are trying to resolve his future
City’s first test is against a Chelsea side playing under Enzo Maresca – Guardiola’s former assistant – for the first time since he replaced Mauricio Pochettino this summer.
Chelsea held City to draws in both of their Premier League meetings last season and Guardiola said: “Everyone wants to beat us – that is normal.
“So, you look at yourself and always we can improve. If we increase everyone a little bit, our strength will be 11 times better.
“Now, the motivation to win another Premier League is not there for me. It will be in the last month. Now it is ‘can we beat Chelsea?’ We didn’t beat them last season.
“It will not be a perfect game against Chelsea. We are not at our top – it’s normal.”
Watch Chelsea vs Man City on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm. Stream the Premier League and more with NOW.
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