R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and bass player Mike Mills talks with Matt Everitt for the BBC‘s The First Time With… on that time the group first met David Bowie.
Cinematic Games and Music Licensing
Cinematic games and music licensing have an uneasy relationship. On the one hand, a lot of people love to see games that truly tell a story these days. They want to be able to enjoy games that have music that will truly last the duration and feel of the stories. This setup truly requires music that is well-written and epic in its own right. The older video game scores and theme songs, which featured a lot of beeping and short bursts of sound, just will not cut it with the cinematic games of today.
However, licensing almost always becomes a huge problem when it comes to almost anything that is cinematic and almost anything that involves really good music in the first place. There are lots of television series that took a long time to be released on DVD purely because of all of the licensing issues involved with the background music of some of the episodes.
Some shows specifically focused on the quality of the music to a large extent, and this just made it that much more difficult for the entire piece to be released. Something similar seems to be happening with cinematic video games today. Background music is important with almost everything related to games today. People getting no deposit casino bonuses want to have music going on at some point, and people playing the simplest of flash games will want music. People who are playing detailed cinematic games certainly want beautiful music that will match.
Lots of people are trying to figure out solutions to this problem. Licensing agreements are inherently unstable. Even if the video game companies manage to secure the licensing agreements in the meantime, the agreements will usually have deadlines attached. Distributing the same game later will be that much more difficult as a result. Some developers will wonder why they bothered even using certain songs at that point in time.
Some developers are trying to get around this issue by just using scores that their own departments created for themselves. Lots of video games have purely original scores these days, and this should make a huge difference for the people who are trying to experience great music with their games but who are worried about the long-term changes with the licensing agreements.
Lots of people also really love the purely original video game scores. They might feel as if these are some of the best songs that could have been used under the circumstances, and they won’t miss almost any of the other songs that could have been used. Video game music itself is turning into a very popular genre by this point, making it that much easier for a lot of people to enjoy the games that they want and everything else. If the video game industry as a whole changes this way, licensing issues might be less of a problem. However, intellectual property laws are still often problematic for many people involved. Problems like this will still happen in the short-term.
Music Archeology: Reviving the World’s Forgotten Records
For generations, record collectors have played a vital role in the preservation of musical and cultural heritage by “digging” for obscure music created by overlooked artists. These music “archeologists” are consumed by a desire to give these records a second chance at being heard and appreciated. In our digital age, these record-diggers also act as music curators and are crucial alternative voices to a contemporary culture often served by computer algorithms.
Alexis Charpentier (DJ Lexis) is the founder of Music Is My Sanctuary (MIMS), a website and collective dedicated to showcasing “future classics & forgotten treasures” to an audience of open-minded music lovers. Created in 2007, the website has become a highly influential and trusted music source worldwide. In addition, MIMS launched several ventures such as 24 Hours of Vinyl, numerous signature events and several music curation projects, including a weekly radio show. For the past 15 years, Alexis has been a pillar of the Montreal music scene as DJ Lexis. He is a music entrepreneur, a music programmer at Montreal’s Phi Centre and tours for worldwide DJ shows and festivals.
Your First Look at the Epic Grateful Dead Documentary ‘Long Strange Trip’
Over the last 50 years, there has been a LOT of Grateful Dead audio releases – 67 live albums and 10 studio releases so far, and yet there hasn’t been a definitive documentary about the band, but all of that is changing with with this summer’s Long Strange Trip. And Deadheads will get their money’s worth: The film runs an impressive 241 minutes, or the equivalent of one fab Dark Star song.
You can get your first look at Long Strange Trip in the exclusive trailer below.
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story, My Kid Could Paint That) and produced by Martin Scorsese (every great film in history), Long Strange Trip culls new interviews, never-seen-before footage, concert performances, acid flashbacks, and more to tell the untold story of the Grateful Dead, from their conception in Palo Alto, California, to the 1995 death of leader Jerry Garcia and beyond.
“It’s not up to us to define the Grateful Dead, it’s a living breathing thing,” Garcia says in the preview. “That’s one of the parts of its magic.”
The documentary will be in theaters May 26 and on Amazon Prime June 2.
Miniot Wheel Turntable Isn’t Bigger Than A 12″ Vinyl Disc
Wheel by Miniot is an minimal record player. It’s only a wheel. Simple, pure and easy to use. Just place a record on Wheel and it will play the bottom. All functions are controlled by the center stick, and it even can play records while mounted vertically on a tabletop or on the wall.
One Time, Johnny Depp Destroyed A Hotel Room…
“I was in a bad mood and I assaulted a hotel room. I broke a lot of stuff and it felt good.” – Johnny Depp in 2009, as told to Cal Fussman
A Message From the Underwood Administration
Earlier today, the Underwood Administration delivered a message via Facebook Live video.
House of Cards Season 5 launches on Netflix on May 30, 2017.
Ron Sexsmith And The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Are Performing A Free Concert At Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square
As part of the City of Toronto’s Canada Days—a citywide celebration for Canada’s 150th birthday—the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and guest conductor Jean-Claude Picard join forces with Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith on Saturday, July 1 at 9:45pm. The free concert, taking place at Nathan Phillips Square, also features Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter Rose Cousins as a special guest. Sexsmith will perform some of his greatest hits, including songs from his 13th album, The Last Rider (Warner Music). The TSO is thrilled to be part of the festivities, which run June 30–July 3 at Nathan Phillips Square, and July 1 in Scarborough, North York, and Etobicoke.
Ron Sexsmith’s status as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation has never been in doubt, even from the moment he released his self-titled major-label debut album in 1995. Since then, his career arc has, in some ways, been a study in how that pure ability has been handled in the studio. On his many albums, Sexsmith has worked with some of music’s most celebrated producers—Daniel Lanois, Mitchell Froom, Tchad Blake, Ray Kennedy, Martin Terefe, Bob Rock, and Jim Scott. Like one of his main inspirations, Ray Davies, Sexsmith is a rare songwriter, able to extract profound meaning from even the most mundane aspects of urban life, while simultaneously lamenting what remains of our simpler past. But always, hope springs eternal.
As the TSO continues to celebrate Canadian music and its many genres, this event is part of the TSO’s Canada Mosaic—a Canada 150 Signature Project.
Ron Sexsmith & the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with special guest Rose Cousins
Jean-Claude Picard, conductor
Saturday, July 1, 2017 at 9:45pm
Nathan Phillips Square
FREE
Full Canada Days festival info at toronto.ca/Canada150
Ori Dagan Announces Jazz Music’s First Visual Album
Toronto jazz singer songwriter Ori Dagan is working on an ambitious project: his third- full-length recording, Nathaniel: A Tribute to Nat King Cole will be released as the first visual album in the jazz genre, a collection of music videos he is currently raising funds for by way of a PledgeMusic campaign. In collaboration with 6 Canadian independent film directors, Dagan’s team is producing 12 music videos over the next 6 months with the first video for lead single “Pretend” to be released in late summer.
The project follows up on Dagan’s music video success with “Clap On The 2 And The 4”, an original and humorous “jazz anthem for the rhythmically challenged.” The 2016 clip has earned over 85,000 online views, was screened at 15 film festivals worldwide and garnered 7 international awards including “Best Educational Jazz Short” at the inaugural New York Jazz Film Festival.
“These days you could be a Charlie Parker but if you don’t have a video for your single, nobody’s going to share your track,” says Dagan. “At first I was pretty surprised by the success of “Clap On The 2 And The 4” considering we made the video on a budget of $1000, Canadian! But then when you think about it, social media in particular has changed the way people consume just about everything, music included. Most success stories you read about today in the music business have to do with a video going viral, making a platform like YouTube key to having your music discovered by new fans.”
Dagan is looking to his fans – and those of Nat King Cole – to support this project by pre-ordering the album on PledgeMusic. In addition to fresh takes on Cole classics, he presents 5 original songs on this album, inspired by the master musician’s life, music and legacy, from the bright nod to his style “Keep it Simple” to the haunting “Complexion,” which was inspired by Dagan’s learning of the April 10, 1956 onstage attack on Cole by white supremacists in Birmingham, Alabama.
So, why Nat King Cole and why now?
Dagan explains, “As we gear up for Nat’s centennial in 2019, I think a lot of listeners take for granted just how much of a genius he was, maybe because he made everything sound so easy. Pianistically he made dazzling solos seem almost casual. In researching for this project, I was completely surprised by his forays into foreign languages like Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian and the way he effortlessly and honestly delivered any song.”
Recorded with producer Doug Romanow at Noble Street Studios in Toronto, the album features special guests: 5-time JUNO award winner Jane Bunnett, “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing” Alex Pangman and 88-year-old jazz legend Sheila Jordan, the first female vocalist to record for BlueNote Records back in 1963.