Soul II Soul in discussion, a biting satire of EDM, Twitter walks away from possible SoundCloud deal and a composer examines audio medium nostalgia.
Roy Ayers: Vibe master. RA spends time with one of the planet’s favourite musicians – the man who made some of the best soul, jazz and funk of all time, and continues to influence musicians from across the musical spectrum. Find the interview here.
When will the bass drop?! This hilarious new SNL Digital Short satirises a modern culture of “overpaid DJs, endless techno breakdowns, and the inevitable drop that blows minds, perhaps literally”. Watch it above.
Examining audio medium nostalgia. As a historical audio installation opens at London’s Science Museum, composer Christopher Fox illuminates the ‘audio medium nostalgia’ phenomenon. In our age of digital clarity and efficiency, listeners and artists still maintain a reverence for outdated and supposedly obsolete technologies such as vinyl and tape for their particular aural/experiential characteristics. Read more in the Guardian‘s article.
Soul II Soul in discussion. Wax Poetics speak to Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler of Soul II Soul about how they went about creating their highly memorable album Club Classics Vol One in 1989, and on the story of their exponential rise to fame on the back of meteoric hit ‘Fairplay’. Read more in the in-depth interview.
Win tickets to Roni Size’s masterclass at Metropolis Studios. This June, drum and bass pioneer Roni Size will be appearing at London’s Metropolis Studios to perform a live show with Reprazent and to talk exclusively about his music and career in a one-off production masterclass. Find out more and enter the competition here.
A TR-808 Rubik’s cube appears as part of Google’s Cube Lab project, which encourages programmers to creatively implement exciting new in-browser web technologies. 808cube allows you to program, play and vary your classic drum machine rhythms in a gloriously clever manner, and works entirely within your browser. Give it a go here.
NERD ALERT. A vintage synth enthusiast and repair man shows us around the components and inner workings of the Roland TR-909 on his YouTube channel. Check it out in the video above.
Twitter walks away from mooted SoundCloud deal. Twitter is reported to have considered buying the popular music-streaming service but apparently backed out last week by letting an exclusive negotiating period with the music-sharing service expire. The Wall Street Journal reports.
EDM biz worth $6.2bn, according to new report issued at the International Music Summit in Ibiza last Wednesday, as compiled by EDM trade group the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM). The figure includes revenue from festivals ($1.03 billion); Las Vegas clubs ($800 million) and other global club gigs ($2.4 billion); traditional recorded music sales ($800 million) and streaming/video services ($600 million); sales of DJ software and hardware ($360 million); DJ earnings from other ventures ($60 million) and value from other platforms like SoundCloud ($140 million). Find out more at Billboard.