Last month Carly noted some of the reasons that Prime Music as rumored – limited selection, older titles – made sense in the context of the other Prime offerings. Well, overnight Amazon introduced Prime with access to a million songs and hundreds of curated playlists. The depth and breadth are limited, but it provides a decent entry point.
The first time I wrote about Marco Minnemann was in the context of Trey Gunn composing against a 52-minute drum solo by Minnemann in 2010. Then last year Minnemann was back as part of the Levin-Minnemann-Rudess trio, producing an incredible collection of music with appeal across jazz fusion, experimental and metal genres. Now he returns with a solo recording ‘EEPS’!
In school systems across the country, arts programs are under budget attack – easy fodder in a system that is loaded with required functions and more attractive programs. Some schools still manage to provide arts education, and more efforts are being made to find alternative resources to fund these critical programs. The latest is Humble “Music in Schools” Bundle.
Every year at CES and NAMM IK Multimedia presents a bunch of great new technology for music and media aimed largely at the consumer electronics market. This year was no exception, and now we have gotten word from IK multimedia that the iRing music motion controller is shipping! We will have a review soon, but here are some details.
Manchester Orchestra is currently on tour to support their fourth studio album, Cope, which is described by lead singer Andy Hull as being ‘brutal’, ‘pounding’, and ‘unapologetically heavy’. That was a fair summation of their April 22nd show at Emo’s, which started strong and wrapped up perfectly.
Manchester Orchestra‘s album COPE will be out on April 1st, and their tour starts March 27; We’ve already got tickets for the Austin show (April 22nd), and now all that’s left is to enjoy their new album. While it’s not out for download yet, it is available for streaming via YouTube.
rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes premieres in North America with a unique video game music concert series, executive produced by Jason Michael Paul. Specially chosen video game musical scores combine with professional theatrics, visuals and orchestral arrangements in this upcoming tour.The first show will take place at St. Petersburg’s Mahaffey Theater on April 19.
For the true fan of music, genre doesn’t matter in appreciation of an iconic and legendary artist or group. This is true for Miles Davis, Beethoven, Michael Jackson, or the Allman Brothers Band. Alan Paul’s new book One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band seeks to illuminate their history for new and old fans alike!
If you ask anyone involved with electronic music during the digital age to name an instrument – it would be the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer drum machine. The sounds appear on countless songs from the last 30+ years, and vintage systems sell for steep prices. Now Roland is back with the Aira line that is both classic and modern.
Raoul Björkenheim is one of those artists who has been around for years, but has not seen the recognition he deserves. I first heard of him through work with Bill Laswell a few years back, and more recently with Scorch trio. Now he is back with his group ‘eCsTaSy’, and the results are powerful and engaging.
So … did you watch the Grammy Awards? My family watched most, and with expectations set suitably low it was not a bad time. Spirited performances by Kendrik Lamar and Imagine Dragons easily offset the awful Katy Perry vocals, bland Taylor Swift showing, and plainly lip-syncing Pink. But the real question is … how did Spotify do predicting winners?
This weekend the Grammy Awards present the music side of insular industry self-celebration and back-patting. Trying to figure out who wins in the post-Esperanza Spalding years is as much about who the industry needs to ‘reward’ as anything else. But the folks at Spotify have used data gleaned from their streaming service over the last year to make predictions!
If you were to ask my younger son about his most elusive piece of affordable technology, it would be the M-Audio Trigger Finger from 2005. The popular controller was used by all of his favorite music producers but was discontinued. Now it is back and better than ever with the M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro announced at NAMM 2014! Here is what M-Audio is saying: Trigger Finger Pro is a fully encompassed performance instrument and software control station in the form of a portable, 16-pad (4×4 configured) instrument with onboard sequencing. Nearly a decade ago, M-Audio revolutionized the industry by introducing…
When I reviewed Mary Halvorson’s ‘Illusionary Sea’ (which made my Top Music of 2013) I noted that there was a trade-off of intimacy for the larger ideas that are only possible with the broader palette of a septet. Now Halvorson is back leading the trio Thumbscrew in their self-titled debut recording, and it is simply amazing.
2013 is over, and it was an amazing year in music – cool new pop, a rap album from Kanye West I actually liked, Daft Punk returned and more. But my main area of interest is jazz … and there was TONS of great jazz! So I wanted to detail some of the best stuff I heard all year.
Just over a year ago I reviewed iRig Keys, the 37-note multi-platform mini-key controller. It remains in constant use by either myself or my son! Now IK Multimedia is has released iRig Keys Pro, featuring 37 full-size velocity sensitive keys, Lightning, 30-pin and USB cables, for universal compatibility with all models of iPhone, iPad, and Mac/PC.
Thursday night, Judie and I had the chance to listen to Linkin Park through a specially installed JBL sound system at the Hard Rock’s The Joint. The concert was a celebration of the relaunch of Infinity by Harman and a celebration of a partnership between Linkin Park and Harman International. Read on to learn more and see Judie’s amazing pictures.
Ever since I got Amplitube it has become my go-to tuner. Whether I plug in or use the built-in mic on either iPad or iPhone, I always check my tuning in Amplitube before I get started playing – even if I am using another app! Now they have introduced UltraTuner, and it is the best tuner I have ever used!
The other day the local youth bureau called asking if my kids could help an older person set up a universal remote for multiple devices – and they declined because I was the only one in our house who knew our system! This is true for millions, making it great news as Blumoo Home Audio Remote Debuts at CES 2014!
Since my wife bought me the original iRig a few years ago I have been a huge fan of stuff from IK Multimedia, currently absolutely loving the iRig Keys Pro. Now they are heading in a different direction as IK Multimedia announces iRing at CES 2014. iRing is the first motion-tracking controller for iOS music apps and offers unprecedented control.
I’ve recently attended Dell World, the newly private company‘s expo where attendees “gain insights into key industry trends, engage with industry visionaries, exchange ideas and learn how Dell is evolving to deliver the solutions of tomorrow.” Key words used during the conference were “Transform, Connect, Inform, & Protect”; amazingly enough, Dell managed to make the event interesting and fun.