Before he wrote the hit novel Ready Player One, Ernest Cline took to the stage for his spoken-word performances. Check out this one from 2004, which he makes standing in front of people and talking about the destruction of Earth fairly easy to do.
https://youtu.be/O5vmHjJ7LYE
Here’s The Robots by Kraftwerk, still one of those bands that the musicians are playing catch-up with, recreated with just one synth, the Arturia Matrixbrute.
Musician and YouTube star Andrew Huang received an electric guitar built from LEGO, and decided to go one step further.
It’s hep, it’s groovy, it’s outta sight. It’s the word ‘cool.’ It’s not only all of those other things, but unlike those other words, it doesn’t sound dated at all. Slang hardly ever manages that trick. How did ‘cool’ stay cool?
Henry Rollins sat down for an interview with The Sound of Vinyl to talk about his incredible obsession with vinyl records. Rollins also talks about how he listens to vinyl, and the best time to listen to vinyl, how many records he owns, and why so many music fans are getting into the format.
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Musical guest Greta Van Fleet makes their Tonight Show debut performing “When the Curtain Falls.”
https://youtu.be/riPA80M4djM
Island Records, Interscope and UMC today announce the vinyl reissue of The Best of 1990-2000 from U2, remastered and pressed on 180g double LP black vinyl and available on September 28th.
The release will follow that of Achtung Baby (1991), Zooropa (1993) and The Best of 1980-1990 (1998) – all also remastered and pressed on 180g double LP black vinyl – out now.
Originally released in November 2002, The Best of 1990-2000 was the second compilation release from U2, the follow up to The Best of 1980-1990. It contained two newly recorded tracks – ‘Electrical Storm’ and ‘The Hands That Built America’ – the latter written for and features on the soundtrack to the 2002 film ‘Gangs Of New York’. And a selection of tracks were remixed by Mike Hedges for inclusion on the 2002 compilation. The album has now being fully remastered for the double vinyl reissue and will include a download card.
The track listing for The Best of 1990-2000 is:
Side 1
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)
Side 2
One
Miss Sarajevo
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
Side 3
Gone (Mike Hedges Mix)
Until The End Of The World
The Hands That Built America (Theme From ‘Gangs Of New York’)
Discothèque (Mike Hedges Mix)
Side 4
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Staring At The Sun (Mike Hedges Mix)
Numb (Mike Hedges Mix)
The First Time
Destination Studios are back in vogue and Dark Side Of The Moon engineer, multi-platinum producer and artist Alan Parsons has chosen Eagle Wind Sound in the Colorado Rockies as the location for his upcoming recording master class.
Held the weekend of August 10th/11th/12th, the event lets attendees observe and participate in the recording of a new song for Parsons’ upcoming album. Featured musicians include Alan Parsons Live Project vocalist PJ Olsson and renowned ‘cellist Michael Fitzpatrick, who has accompanied His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the past fifteen years as part of the Tuning The Planet project.
Attendees are fully integrated into the session, which makes this a unique and intense learning experience. The first day features the set up, miking and recording of drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, a full compliment of vocals from PJ Olsson, and an original ‘cello part recorded by Michael Fitzpatrick.
Day Two is a day of ‘de-compression.’ “Something of a Magical Mountain Mystery Tour” says Alan. There’ll be a raft of outdoor activities where everyone can let their hair down and chat about music, recording, and the general meaning of life, concluding with a ‘GastroSonic’ gourmet dinner at a local mountain resort.
The final day is back down to business with a full mix session. “This is key,” says event producer Julian Colbeck; “At most of our master classes we’re pushed for time and Alan can rarely do more than a rough mix. Here, attendees will have a golden opportunity to see Alan in action on a dedicated mix session.” Followers of Alan Parsons’ award-winning Art And Science Of Sound Recording video series will now be able to observe Parsons’ many unique mixing skills and techniques; up-close, personal, and live.
With seats limited to 15, the ticket price includes all activities and the gourmet dinner on Day Two plus travel from and back to Denver International Airport from the studio.
The Colorado master class is the latest in a series of live training events for music producers and educators put on by ASSR—the organization behind Parsons’ and Colbeck’s ten hour video series, hardback text book, music stems for remixing (Session Files), and online testing programs.
Royalty Exchange, the world’s largest online marketplace for royalties, today announced the introduction of Private Syndicates—a new type of royalty financing opportunity designed to pair larger music catalogs with accredited and institutional investors.
These Private Syndicates meet the unique needs of music catalogs from top-tier artists. The first such offering has already closed, for the co-publishing share of Grammy-winning alternative rock band Cage The Elephant’s catalog.
“Cage The Elephant is a band in their prime with a long career still ahead of them,” said the band’s manager Cliff Burnstein of Q Prime. “Private Syndicates give artists a strong financial foundation for both their personal and professional future, and shows Royalty Exchange can deliver results for any artist… from a single song to multimillion dollar catalogs. Financially empowering artists is the key to creative control, which is the most important factor to achieving true longevity.”
“It was an honor to work with Cage The Elephant and their representatives in this first Private Syndicate offering,” said Royalty Exchange CEO Matthew Smith. “We expect other artists who share their vision of creative and financial freedom to follow their example.”
Under Private Syndicates, Royalty Exchange creates Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) designed to hold music catalogs like that of Cage The Elephant. Accredited investors can then buy shares of that entity, which grants them a proportional share of the royalty income it generates.
For this first Private Syndicate, Royalty Exchange agreed to purchase Cage The Elephant’s co-publishing catalog (which includes mechanical, public performance, sync, and print royalty streams). The catalog spans the band’s first four studio albums, consisting of Cage The Elephant (including the hit “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”), Thank You, Happy Birthday, the Grammy nominated Melophobia, and Tell Me I’m Pretty, which won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2017.
“We expected strong demand for this incredible catalog, but we were taken aback by how fast investors reacted,” added Smith. More than 40 individual and institutional investors participated, attracted by the potential for double-digit yield (based on the catalog’s five-year compound annual growth rate, industry growth projections, and other factors) and the catalog’s strong cash flow.
Royalty Exchange has now raised over $40 million for music creators in just over two years. The company plans to introduce its next Private Syndicate offering in the weeks ahead.
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Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.
Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com
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