Yeezus accepts innovation award on behalf of the 808, Moog to bring back the Emerson Modular, and a Lego machine that makes Acid House
Yeezus accepts award on behalf of 808. Rick Rubin, Kanye West and filmmaker Mark Romanek team up in accepting a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award on behalf of the TR-808 drum machine, with an ingeniously mischievous video.
DJ Rashad found dead. Footwork and juke pioneer DJ Rashad Harden was found dead in his Chicago home last week, aged 34. The cause of death is unconfirmed. Harden’s affiliations with DJ Spinn and his Teklife crew led to projects like 2013’s ‘Double Cup’, acclaimed for putting footwork back on the map and expanding its horizons. Read Hyperdub’s statement here.)
Classic NME Techno feature. To mark the 50th birthday of Techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson next week, The Guardian republishes a classic 1988 report on the Detroit scene from NME, taken from Rock’s Backpages, an archive of music journalism. Read it here.
Defected 15th Birthday Party at Oval Space. Established in London in 1999, Defected celebrate their 15th birthday this year, kicking off with tonight’s event in London which features the cream of the Defected crop, from Guti to Osunlade to Chasing Kurt. The night commences 15-party series which will see the label showcasing throughout the globe, from Tokyo to LA. To coincide with the milestone Defected have also opened their first record store, in Shoreditch.
Lynch in conversation with Moby, whose history with the director includes remixes and sampling of the music from “Twin Peaks”. With few questions about music, the interview focuses more on God, death, maggots, painting and Transcendental Meditation.
“That’s American. That’s fuckin’ American. That’s how America works. Deal with it.”. Ranked alongside techno originators from Carl Craig to Juan Atkins, Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir speaks to Juno about his role in the birth of Motor City Techno, dealing with multiple sclerosis and finishing an album that’s been in the pipeline for twenty years.
Fabfilter ’10 years’ sale. Only one day left to take advantage of the FabFilter ’10 years’ sale at Fabfilter.com – 40% off all plugins and bundles.
Represent your area in sounds. CDR and Dimensions Festival team up on a project to engage producers, artists and festival heads. #LocalAudio asks you to capture up to 10 audio recordings that uniquely illustrate your local area. The winner receives 2 x VIP tickets for Dimensions Festival 2014 and a vinyl bundle. Deadline 1st June, more info here.
Lego machine makes Acid House. Programmer, Lego fan and part-time Ph.D student of Polyrhythmic music Alex Allmont fuses these interests together with his latest creation – ‘Play House’, built for AudioGraft, an experimental music festival in Oxford. Read more here.
Moog to bring back the Emerson Modular. At Moogfest 2014, on the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Emerson Moog Modular, the first voltage controlled synth, Moog reveal their painstaking recreation of the iconic synthesiser, which was one of the synthmaker’s most audacious projects. Find out more here.
Moogfest circuit bending contest winner, George Gleixner, builds a battery-powered synthesiser for less than $70. Hacking together a kids’ keyboard with a Moog-esque shell, the synth includes controls for pitch and two types of distortion, as well as theremins for gesture-control and a hexagonal layout keyboard made out of thumb tacks.
arcade fire needs to settle down. some dudes devote their lives to instruments, others to electronic composition by cpu, dafuqs yer problem? — deadmau5 (@deadmau5) April 23, 2014
Deadmau5 vs Arcade Fire Twitter beef. Following jabs about EDM at Coachella Festival a few weeks ago, which included a biting Daft Punk impersonation and lead vocalist Win Butler shouting “to all the bands playing instruments this weekend!”, Arcade Fire provoke outrage from Deadmau5, who expressed his distaste with some defensive tweets. More here.
The Terrence Parker saga continued… Following his announcement of a debt relief tour fund last week, a promoter from Leeds announces intentions to sue Parker and launches a debt relief tour fund of his own “to help cover debts owed to [him] and other hard working promoters due to the incompetence of Terrence Parker” here.
EDM replacing magic shows. American chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain complains about the Las Vegas nightlife’s replacement of live performers and entertainers, such as magic shows etc, with EDM club nights. See below.