Moog Mother-32 revealed, Roland officially release Boutique series details, Steve Albini slams dance music culture, and Blawan and London Modular Alliance discuss synth modules.
Moog Mother-32 Revealed. Moog Music reveal their new synth, the Mother-32. Their first tabletop semi-modular, it has been “meticulously handcrafted to inspire unique sound creation, new music and endless sonic exploration”, and features a 32-step sequencer and patch points for extended synthesis complexity and connectivity with modular gear. Hear it in action above and find out more here.
Roland Officially Release Details of Boutique Series. Following internet forum rumours and anticipation, Roland reveal their new Boutique Series: three legendary Roland synths, now available as affordable, limited-edition sound modules, each recreating the sound and user interface of the Jupiter-8, Juno-106 and JX-3P respectively. Watch the promo video above, and find out more here.
Steve Albini Slams Dance Music Culture in E-mail to Powell. XL Recordings artist Powell‘s new single, ‘Insomniac’, samples a recording of rock producer Steve Albini introducing a track at one of his punk band Big Black‘s gigs. Upon being asked to clear the sample for use, Albini took the opportunity to slam dance music culture in a scathing email, which Powell has subsequently used as promo for his single as a billboard in London. Read the full story here.
Albini’s previous thoughts on dance music. Vulture look back at Albini’s previous thoughts on dance music in a brief chronology of his zine interviews, liner notes and forum posts criticising disco, industrial, rave and other electronic music for the last three decades – here.
When New York Danced to Disco. The Guardian showcase excerpts from photographer Bill Bernstein’s new book of striking images of 70s clubland, many of which have never been seen before, with quotes from the book about the photos and the nightlife scene, “illustrating disco’s glamour and decadence” captured as it came to an abrupt end in 1980. Check it out here.
Bitwig Studio 1.2 Available Now. Bitwig introduces the most significant free update to their DAW so far, with Bitwig Studio 1.2 including a major update to the factory library, 500+ brand-new fully mapped clips and presets from esteemed sample pack companies, track grouping, a popup browser, and support for high DPI displays. Find out more here.
Blawan & London Modular Alliance Discuss Modular Units. London Modular Alliance brings Simon Lynch and Phil Vectre of the Hackney Wick-based London Modular shop together with electro producer Gavin Pykerman, a trio that’s been putting on tightly honed performances and improvised demonstrations of live modular synthesis for three years now. They’ll soon be making their Room Two debut, so Fabric invited them and UK techno don Blawan to discuss their favourite modular synth units, here.
Defected release percussion sample pack. UK house mainstays Defected Records have released a royalty-free percussion sample pack, played by Mercury Prize, Ivor Novell and Brit Award-winning drummer Shovell. The 1GB pack includes loops and single hits of congas, bongos and pretty much every other type of percussion instrument you can name. Available now from Loopmasters, Beatport and Traxsource, priced at £29.95.