Song Premiere & Web-Exclusive Interview Artist: GREGG SGAR Song: “Signs” https://soundcloud.com/greggsgar/signs-1/s-gKpUmniSjzu MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST GREGG SGAR PREMIERES “SIGNS” Never one to play by the rules, Gregg Sgar has found new and inventive ways to manifest the kind of music he wanted to create—on his own terms. On his new single “Signs,” he breathes inspiring words of hope onto the track: “Please believe the signs.... 

PARAMORE A GAME CHANGE Now a trio, Paramore bounces back from turmoil with a cathartic, creative new set By Russell Hall Sometimes it’s true: What doesn’t destroy you makes you stronger. Just ask Paramore. Two years ago, with mainstream success firmly in their grasp, two key members of the pop-rock group walked away. Remaining members—singer Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis and guitarist Taylor York—were roiled by the defection, unsure... 

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS An Omen [Columbia] Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor continues to play mad chemist with industrial music, this time via a side project featuring his wife, Mariqueen Maandig. Her soothing voice lends a twisted effect to this EP. The largely acoustic “Ice Age” is oddly folksy, and for a six-song set, An Omen boasts a wide emotional spectrum. There are periods of tranquility that give way to invocations of disaster—something... 

How to drive your tracks to the next level with customized virtual percussion So many of our favorite recordings would collapse without their own flavor of boom boom pow—the powerful percussion elements that propel a song at the drop of a beat. Whether you’re creating hip-hop, rock, jazz or R&B, your music will almost always benefit by integrating some form of percussion. But what if you don’t have access to Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Carter...