Cleer Audio is one of our favorite audio brands around here, and they are kicking off 2023 and CES week with the announcement of the ROAM SPORT true wireless earbuds. These Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds are IPX4-certified sweat and water-resistant, perfect for those intense workouts and activities.
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The ROAM SPORT features custom-designed Cleer Audio dynamic 5.8mm drivers, noise cancellation of up to 25dB of environmental noise, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, long battery life of up to 20 hours on-the-go listening, and multi-sized Freebit wings for a comfortable and secure fit. Its Intuitive TouchPad gestures give you control over music playback, volume, calls, and your phone’s voice assistant.
The new custom designed 5.8mm, dynamic drivers, with AptX® Adaptive Audio, the next generation of AptX, deliver clear, vibrant, and robust audio performance. ROAM SPORT includes the Cleer +App for ultimate personalization, where you can adjust the EQ music playback, customize the Touch Pad functions device controls, and receive firmware updates. The unit’s powerful noise cancellation with custom filters provides the peace and tranquility you need wherever you go.
The lightweight, compact design of ROAM SPORT allows for lasting wear. Select your preferred size ear tip and Freebit wing, then twist and lock the earbud in the ear for a custom, secure fit that won’t budge no matter how intense your workout is.
ROAM sports Ambient Awareness mode lets you let outside noise in to have a conversation without taking your earbuds out. With up to 20 hours of battery life for on-the-go listening. *5 hours playback per charge and 15 hours additional with its USB-C charging case.
“The new ROAM SPORT is geared for the active sports and exercise enthusiasts,” says Patrick Huang, CEO/President of Cleer Audio. “It is feature-rich and works great for answering calls and enjoying your favorite podcast and music track, whether jogging or working out in the gym.”
ROAM SPORT includes a carrying case with an integrated charger, multi-sized Freebit wings, a charging cable, and a user manual. Available in a black finish. U.S. MSRP is $99.99 and is available now!
What do you think of the Cleer Audio ROAM SPORT earbuds? Please share your thoughts on any of the social media pages listed below. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network. Be sure to subscribe to our RUMBLE channel as well!
Stephanie Chang of Greenwich, a student at Greenwich High School, has received a 2023 YoungArts award in Classical Music, recognized for the caliber of her artistic achievement. She joins 702 of the most accomplished young visual, literary and performing artists from throughout the county.
Selected through the organization’s competition, YoungArts award winners, all 15 to18 years old or in grades 10 through 12, are chosen for the caliber of their artistic achievement by discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process.
“Every year, we are inspired anew by the talent, dedication and creativity of extraordinary early career artists,” said YoungArts Artistic Director Lauren Snelling. “YoungArts is proud to support artists at critical junctures throughout their lives, and we look forward to providing community and professional and creative development opportunities that will empower the 2023 award winners as they embark on exciting careers in the arts. Now more than ever, it is essential to support artists so that their voices can be heard long into the future.”
Winning the award comes with eligibility for exclusive creative and professional development support including a wide range of fellowships, residencies and awards; microgrants and financial awards; virtual and in-person presentation opportunities in collaboration with major venues and cultural partners nationwide; and access to YoungArts Post, a free, private online platform for YoungArts artists to connect, collaborate and discover new opportunities.
For more information, visit youngarts.org, facebook.com/YoungArtsFoundation or twitter.com/YoungArts.
Daisy troop learns about women’s suffrage
While election 2022 showcased the right to vote, members of Daisy Girl Scout Troop 50147 in Old Greenwich learned that was not always the case.
The girls found out that women did not always have the right to vote in the United States, according to troop leader Michelle Horgan. And Katie Vairo, the mother of a troop member, was on hand to tell the girls about her great-great-aunt, Gertrude Harding, a famous suffragette who fought in the 1910s for women to get the right to vote.
Harding was one of the highest-ranking organizers in the United Kingdom’s militant Women’s Social and Political Union and was also the editor of an underground newspaper called “The Suffragette.” She later became a social worker in the United States.
During the suffragette movement, women often marched with signs to protest, Horgan said. To reenact a protest, the Daisy Girl Scouts made signs and marched around the room, shouting “Votes for Women!”
The Daisy Girl Scout troop leaders are Horgan and Julie Hammer.
Local students earn academic honors
A number of students from Greenwich have earned academic honors for the fall term at the Harvey School in Katonah, N.Y.
Several have been recognized for making the head’s list as Cavalier Scholars with GPAs of 4.0 or higher, the head’s list with 3.7 GPAs or higher, or the honor roll with GPAs of 3.3.
The Greenwich students who were named Cavalier Scholars are Spencer Elkind, grade 12; and Wesley Elkind and Eleanor Florin, both grade 11.
The local students named to the Head’s List are Rachel Dickey, grade 11; Lily Hakim, grade 10; and Adalaine Hayes and Lily Kutai, both grade 8.
The local students named to the Honor Roll are Teddy Aaron and Daniel Lehman, both grade 8; Raizy Akrongold, grade 11; and Brady Campos and Maximilian Denner, both grade 10.
The Harvey School in Katonah is an independent coeducational college-preparatory school for students in grades 6 through 12.
When Disney+ launched in 2019, they announced their plan to offer Disney’s back catalogue of movies and TV series. However, since Disney+ launched, the streaming industry has been shaken up with the launches of HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and Netflix, losing a million subs before rebounding a couple of months later. Netflix added video games to its service in 2021 to become more competitive with other streamers. Still, Disney has a vast library of a form of content that will allow them to dominate the competition. This is why Disney+ should add music to its streaming service.
Disney’s Music Catalog Is Full Of Iconic Hits:
Let’s first of all start with Disney’s music catalogue. There are thousands of songs in Disney’s music library, including, “Spoon Full Of Sugar” from the film “Mary Poppins”, “You’re Welcome” from “Moana”, “Let It Go” from “Frozen” and “We’re All In This Together” from “High School Musical”. Disney’s catalogue of music has grown massively since the company’s inception in 1923, and if they wanted to offer their music on Disney+ either as a premium perk or as a perk for everyone, it will allow more and more Disney fans to find their favourite classics easier and hopefully with the music videos.
Disney Now Owns A Lot Of Music From 20th Century Fox’s Back Catalogue:
Now let’s look at another massive reason why Disney should integrate a music streaming platform. They own the music catalogue from their former rival, 20th Century Fox (which was later acquired and then rebranded). Some notable movie soundtracks Disney own the rights to from 20th Century Fox library include “The Sound Of Music” and “The Greatest Showman” as well as hundreds of songs from hit shows like “The Simpsons”, “Bob’s Burgers” and “Glee”.
Disney+ Needs To Offer More Than Just TV and Film:
This is the biggest reason I can personally think of as to why Disney+ should offer music, and that’s the fact it will set Disney+ apart from competing services, similar to why Netflix now offers video games. Disney already owns a century’s worth of music tracks which they could use as a third pillar of content using music from content from their six core brands, Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars. National Geographic and Star. Disney regularly releases music videos on YouTube, pulling in millions of viewers, so it makes sense to utilise this type of content more.
How Should They Integrate Music Tracks?:
Now to this idea, there are a few ways Disney could integrate music tracks on Disney+. They could either add the music tracks into the extras tab of each film or television series or, more preferably, “Music” would be its own content category like how movies and TV series are. Disney could also offer different genres of music, with some genres being things like “Family Fun”, “Classic Disney Hits”, “Summer Moments”, and “Holiday Hits”, among many others. Disney+ already streams the music videos “Calling All Monsters” and “Puppy For Hanukkah”, so adding music as its own content category with the scenes from the movies and series.
Final Thoughts:
Whilst I was working on this article, Disney+ added music videos from “Encanto” and “Turning Red”, so it looks as if Disney is working on adding music videos to Disney’s almost bottomless content library. Hopefully, Disney will continue this trend but siphon all the music videos into a third content category instead of listing them all under the “shorts” genre under the movies tab. Hopefully, if Disney is going to continue this trend, then hopefully we will see more titles like “Frozen”, “Tangled”, “Moana”, and “The Simpsons” would have all their songs added as individual music videos.
Hopefully, Disney will also allow us to download the music videos as audio files and allow us to put them in a playlist where we can listen to the songs offline, similar to how Spotify Premium works.
Do You Think Disney+ Should Add More Music Tracks and Videos?
Ethan Holloway
Ethan is an autistic, type one diabetic, Disney fan who grew up with properties like Iron Man, The Lion King, Aladdin and Toy Story. Ethan wants to someday get his own books/films/TV shows made to inspire those with disabilities to be themselves, but for now, Ethan covers his opinions on Disney, their content and how Disney+ can improve.
There are many things that put the “sweet” in “Sweet Home Alabama,” but among them are the good times we enjoy with our friends and family in the state.
Often overlooked by surrounding metro areas and cultural regions known for their unique music, food and entertainment industries like New Orleans, Nashville and Atlanta, it’s easy to underappreciate the talent right here in Alabama.
In 2020, 1819 News did its best not only to uncover the corruption in our state but also to highlight everything there is to like about Alabama, including the state’s artistic talent and entertainment facilities.
Here are the five top entertainment stories for Alabama in 2022:
American music is Southern music. Blues, country, jazz, and rock and roll all have roots below the Mason Dixon. Alabama, in particular, sits at the intersection between numerous musical traditions.
Throughout 2022, 1819 News highlighted Alabama’s musical talent, from the history-rich studios of Muscle Shoals to young acts just getting their start in the real LA: Lower Alabama.
The Burnells a cross-genre jam band that finds itself in the crosshairs of the folk music of Bob Dylan and artists of the Athens, Georgia, grunge scene of the likes of REM.
1819 News interviewed country music star Tim Dugger. Dugger got his start performing at NASCAR races in Talladega and performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time in December 2021.
Barry Waldrep, a Randolph County native and the world’s largest banjo store owner has been joined in the recording studio by successful artists such as Vince Gill, Radney Foster, Warren Haynes, Spooner Oldham and Oteil Burbridge.
1819 News interviewed legendary Muscle Shoals singer-songwriter Walt Aldridge. Aldridge got his start working for FAME Studios in the late 1970s and eventually went on to author several popular songs, such as Conway Twitty’s “She’s Got a Single Thing in Mind” (1989) and “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” (2000) by Travis Tritt.
Joe Cagle Band‘s music is “a fusion of country, rock and jazz” inspired by jam icons Dave Matthews and the Grateful Dead.
Drew Travis is the lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Backseat Drivers, a Mobile-area jam band whose members are all in their late teens and early 20s. Though young, The Backseat Drivers recorded an album in 2020 at Mobile’s Dauphin Street Sound.
We live in a crazy world. As serious as it can sometimes be, it can’t hurt to laugh every now and then. Opelika natives Jody Fuller and Dusty Slay will help you.
1819 News spoke to Fuller in September. Fuller is a military veteran, Auburn Tiger fan and lifelong stutterer who built a career by telling jokes on stage. Fuller, whose comedic experience has led him to take on inspirational speaking gigs and author several books, released a special with Dry Bar Comedy in April in which he tells stories about accidentally calling all three time-outs during a middle school football game and reads knock-knock jokes from kids.
Slay once lived in a trailer park and worked at Western Sizzlin. Now, he tells jokes for a living. His “We’re Having a Good Time Podcast” references his signature habit of raising his hand in the air and telling his audience, “we’re having a good time” between jokes. Aside from his solo show, Slay was just made co-host of the “Nateland” podcast with Nashville comedians Nate Bargatze, Aaron Webber and Brian Bates. He also has a 30-minute set on Netflix’s “The Standups.”
Not all entertainment stories are happy, however. In October, news broke about a possible move that would cause Pelham to lose its beloved Oak Mountain Ampitheatre, which would be replaced by a new amphitheater in North Birmingham.
Since then, the move has continued to come to fruition, with several parties electing to fork up funds for the new 8,500-to-9,000-seat entertainment venue, which will be owned by the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center but managed by Live Nation.
Though Shelby County officials have been mostly silent about the proposed move, it has received support from other state and local figures such as State Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.
In August, 1819 News attended Cullman’s classic country music concert Rock the South. The show featured country music stars Morgan Wallen, Koe Wetzel, Jamey Johnson and Fort Payne-native Southern rock band Alabama.
Rock the South has been held since 2012 when it was created as a celebration of the Cullman area’s recovery from the EF4 tornado that struck the region in 2011. From then on, the event has been home to popular country music stars such as Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Dierks Bently, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Thomas Rhett and Eric Church.
In 2023, the concert will be extended to a three-day schedule, as was announced in November.
Aside from laughs and sounds, Alabama’s restaurant and recreation industry emerged from the lockdown era in full swing. Notably, one of Huntsville’s entertainment districts, located in the former campus of S.R. Butler High School, offers residents a place to hang out, play games and enjoy a glass of Alabama beer. A similar location in Pelham is following suit.
Huntsville’s Campus 805 is home to two of Alabama’s most popular breweries, Straight to Ale and Yellowhammer, and also includes a speakeasy, axe-throwing range and an indoor golf simulator.
Pelham’s Campus No. 124 is located in the former Valley Elementary School and, though still under construction, is already home to the steak and seafood restaurant, the Half Shell Oyster House, and the Beer Hog, a beer hall featuring several Alabama craft brews.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email will.blakely@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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You only get to put a 30-track double-CD Best Of together in the folk and trad music world if you have been there, done it, and, if you’re lucky, gained a good measure of recognition through testimonies from peers and a few awards along the way. Scottish fiddle player John McCusker’s 30-year career covers all that and much more besides, amply justifying this retrospective look back at the broad sweep of his time as a professional musician, composer and producer. John has taken the opportunity to gather favourite tunes and songs, ranging across both his solo albums and multiple collaborations, including some perhaps less obvious but delightful tracks.
Besides being an exceptional instrumentalist, John has been a prolific composer of tunes (100 of which can be found in a book – John McCusker: The Collection – being published in parallel with this album), and most of the tracks are composed by him. Two of the most striking and enduring – Wee Michael’s March and Leaving Friday Harbour – are featured here, both having originally been written and recorded in the late 1990s whilst John was still in his 11-year tenure with The Battlefield Band. They will be very familiar to fans of the steadfast trio John is in with Mike McGoldrick and John Doyle, both tunes being perennial favourites in their live shows. Wee Michael’s March is taken from the trio’s Live At Home This Spring album from 2021 (recorded in lieu of being able to play live due to pandemic restrictions) and Leaving Friday Harbour is taken from John’s third solo album Goodnight Ginger from 2003.
There is a gem of a track from Eddi Reader’s outstanding 2006 album Peacetime, which John produced. Baron’s Heir is a traditional song, adapted by Eddi, coupled with Sadenia’s Air, composed by John – Sadenia being Eddi’s first name. Night Visiting Song is another standout, one of two tracks featuring Kate Rusby on vocals (both from John’s solo albums – his production/playing on Kate’s albums between 1997 and 2005 isn’t represented here). John’s tune here is much more contemplative than the tune to the Dubliner’s version, with an exceptional vocal and suitably uncluttered instrumentation on guitar, whistle and fiddle.
Under One Sky, John’s 2008 ‘large scale composition’ – almost concept album (a commission from Celtic Connections and the Cambridge Folk Festival), is well represented with three songs and the title instrumental track, the latter though in the very different version recorded on Hello, Goodbye (2014). The songs are a fitting encapsulation of John’s collaborative proclivities. ‘S Tusa Thilleas has (Gaelic) words written and sung, as impeccably as ever, by Julie Fowlis, in combination with a set of stirring tunes written variously by John and guitarist Ian Carr. An English folk link comes from John Tams with Hush A Bye, a lovely flowing, waltz-like lullaby. A more mainstream connection comes with Lavender Hill, a song from Idlewild singer Roddy Woomble, with the tune again from John, it’s full of longing, and the fusion of fiddle and Roddy’s vocal is astoundingly seamless (as it had been throughout Roddy’s album My Secret Is My Silence, which John produced and played on, from two years before, and again on his collaborative album Before The Ruin).
Before The Ruin was an album collaboration between John, Roddy Woomble and Kris Drever, here represented by the wistful Hope To See sung by Roddy, not dissimilar in mood to Lavender Hill, but offering a wider instrumental palette, accordion, flute, guitar and bass all playing an audible part. I would have loved another track from Before The Ruin – The Poorest Company, written and sung by Kris Drever, which has in the middle section probably my favourite piece of achingly beautiful fiddle playing by John and also happens to be one of Kris’s very best songs.
The chosen tracklist shines a light on some almost hidden gems. Colin’s Farewell was the opening track on the 2003 Heartlands film soundtrack album John made with Kate Rusby. A deceptively simple, evocative instrumental composed by John, on which, after an accordion (from Andy Cutting) and fiddle introduction, he plays the piano, the accordion returning in the later part, alongside flute (from Michael McGoldrick). Trip To Roma, taken from Hello, Goodbye, John’s last solo studio album from 2016, is one of those unassuming tunes that get in your head as it undulates around a dream duo of John and Duncan Chisholm on fiddle, built on an appealing descending guitar refrain and subtle shadings of mandolin and whistle.
The last track on Disc 2 is the shortest – at less than one and a half minutes – Pokarekare Ana is perhaps the most tantalising, taken from the mostly instrumental soundtrack of the BBC series Billy Connolly’s Musical Tour Of New Zealand. Produced and composed mainly by John, it is a traditional Māori love song sung by Billy Connolly and enhanced by gorgeous harmonies from Eddi Reader and Kate Rusby.
As with any retrospective look at an artist’s work, it’s easier to discern shifts in approach and sound over time. To my ears, the four new recordings/re-recordings, the McGoldrick/McCusker/Doyle tracks (The Wishing Tree and Madison Square Set, in addition to Wee Michael’s March) and the material from Hello, Goodbye all have a fuller, slightly more organic sound. That is, of course, not to take anything away from the wealth of preceding music, all of which still provide considerable listening pleasure, as this collection proves.
Calendar Boys was the anthemic opening track on Hello, Goodbye, and who could forget the triumphant, atmospheric performance as part of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at The Royal Albert Hall (at which John received the Good Tradition Award). John has rerecorded it for the album as Calendar Boys 30 with a choir featuring Kris Drever, Katherine Priddy, Karen Matheson, Heidi Talbot, Adam Holmes, Monaghan singer and fiddle player Helen McCabe, Irish actress and singer Lisa Lambe, and Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott. The new version starts very similarly to the earlier recording. Still, the choir add a whole new dimension when they come in halfway through, then overlayed with a lovely subtle instrumental cameo from Jerry Douglas in the later section played partly in league with a flamenco acoustic guitar flourish against a backdrop of discreet pipes.
Another new recording is the memorable Folk on Foot Theme, played chiefly on low whistle and fiddle, underpinned with accordion. The other new ones are equally worthwhile additions: Brian’s Jigs (Shane O’Farrell/The Green Hollow), written with Phil Cunningham, and Not A Care In The World/Fintan’s Day, written and performed with Helen McCabe.
The cast list of musicians and singers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, extensive. That said, there is a core of Scottish, English, and Irish players that John has worked with through almost all of the music on these two discs (having largely been brought together for Hourglass, Kate Rusby’s first solo album in 1997, and then Kate’s subsequent records for the next eight years). Virtually ever-present – album by album, if varying track by track – is Ian Carr on guitar (as far back as the first solo album), Mike McGoldrick on flute, whistle and uilleann pipes, and Andy Cutting on accordion. Regulars include Simon Thoumire on concertina (also on the first solo album), Phil Cunnigham on accordion (there is a track from Phil’s Christmas Songbook), Tim O’Brien on mandolin, Neil Yates on trumpet, James Mackintosh on drums and Ewen Vernal or Andy Seward on bass. Never far away are Duncan Chisholm on fiddle, John Doyle on guitar and Donald Shaw on keyboards. That large company provide a sense of coherence and continuity, and also, unsurprisingly, given the high calibre of musicianship, flexibility, inventiveness and ensemble playing capability that John has consistently made maximum use of.
John McCusker is a rare musician whose distinctive, alluring fiddle style – and overall production sound – seems a perfect distillation of the different traditional styles he plays. He may be a born and bred Scotsman, spending a formative decade with one of Scotland’s finest folk bands, but he is equally at home playing Irish music, not least with Mike McGoldrick and John Doyle, and just as comfortable playing English songs and tunes with English trad musicians. That kind of versatility has also extended through most of John’s career to playing with a good number of indie and rock artists (including Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour and Paul Weller), although that facet of his career is outside the scope of this collection.
What you hear consistently across all of these tracks is not in any sense flashy. John’s playing and production are always in service to the song or tune, and you also notice how empathetic he is to what his fellow musicians are doing. If you either aren’t familiar at all with John’s music or only know some aspects of his output, this 30th anniversary Best Of is an ideal introduction to the breadth and depth of one of the very best traditional musicians working today.
John McCusker – The Best Of – Track listings
Disc 1
The Big Man Set
The Wishing Tree – McGoldrick, McCusker, Doyle
It’s A Girl
Brian’s Jigs
Baron’s Heir / Sadinia’s Air – Eddi Reader
A Trip To Roma
Night Visiting Song – Kate Rusby
Wee Michael’s March
The Shepherd Lad – Battlefield Band (Karine Polwart)
Wiseman’s
Hope To See – Drever, McCusker, Woomble
Shake A Leg
Sprig of Thyme – Heidi Talbot
Goodnight Ginger
Colin’s Farewell – Heartlands Movie Soundtrack
Disc 2
Calendar Boys 30
Madison Square Set – McGoldrick, McCusker, Doyle
’s Tusa Thilleas – Under One Sky – Julie Fowlis
Love Is The Bridge Between Two Hearts
Lavender Hill – Under One Sky – Roddy Woomble
FooFoo
Folk on Foot Theme
The Bold Privateer – Kate Rusby
Kev’s Trip To Brittany
Not A Care in The World – Helen McCabe & John McCusker
As someone generally averse to the fact that album releases never seem to slow down any more, even at the end of December, I managed to miss Chief Keef’s 4NEM when it dropped in late December last year. Known for pioneering drill before it splintered into a thousand different global subgenres, the Chicago rapper is beloved for the kind of abrasive, potty-mouthed raps that older listeners shake their fists at but which send younger listeners into a craze.
The cover art of 4NEM, depicting a gang of toy soldiers engaged mid-combat, is an apt taste of what the album contains. Keef’s hilarious one liners make intense violence sound comical. On Hadouken, he even references classic teen films: “You’s a fuckin’ cheerleader … bring it on.”
The production is equally zany, designed to match Keef’s frenetic energy. His army of producers mash together samples of guns being loaded, explosions, and synths that resemble operatic choirs. Most striking is 4NEM’s use of earth-shattering bass – I don’t think I’ve ever heard harder 808s. This is music that requires loud speakers; it splits eardrums as much as it does public opinion. CO
Half Man Half Biscuit – Bob Wilson, Anchorman (2016)
Because there are so many Half Man Half Biscuit songs out there – and because so many of them seem utterly impenetrable on first listen, either because the lyrical references are so obscure or because the music sounds like a total racket – I find that new instances of Nigel Blackwell’s genius slowly reveal themselves to me each year. This year’s pick: a song pondering how the late Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson became one of our most prominent sports broadcasters, featuring a completely tangential verse about being cold in the Irish town of Dundalk (“It’s raining soup and I’ve got a fork”). It’s hard to think of a record that could possibly be any less relevant in 2022, and thank God for that. TJ
Handsome Boy Modeling School and Cat Power – I’ve Been Thinking (2004)
I went down a deep Cat Power rabbit hole earlier this year, pushed over the edge by her fantastic (and underrated!) new covers collection. Reading every Pitchfork review of her catalogue, I was introduced to I’ve Been Thinking, a 2004 collaboration with Handsome Boy Modeling School – Dan the Automator and Prince Paul – that’s totally unlike anything else in her catalogue. It’s five minutes of honeyed, atmospheric soul music, anchored by Cat Power’s luxuriant and understated vocal, which drifts and meanders as if it has floated in from another song entirely. It’s perfect mood music, evoking the image of Cat Power as a lounge singer in some smoke-filled underground jazz club. SD
Kenny Wheeler – Music for Large and Small Ensembles (1990)
Jazz is a medium full of Kennys: there is the much-maligned smooth jazzer Kenny G, Miles Davis collaborator Kenny Garrett, bebop trumpeter Kenny Dorham, British bandleader Kenny Ball – the list goes on. Earlier this year, someone I interviewed referenced the Canadian composer Kenny Wheeler as an influence, so I stuck on his Music for Large and Small Ensembles as I wrote up my piece. It blew me away. As its title suggests, Wheeler composes 15 tracks for everything from orchestral big bands down to duo formations with John Taylor on piano and Peter Erskine on drums. His eight-part big band suite channels the luscious swing of Duke Ellington, opening on an affecting choral fanfare, while the small ensembles sink deep into delicate melodies as Wheeler slips and squeals on his trumpet. It embodies the wide spectrum of improvised music – making Wheeler possibly my favourite jazz Kenny to date. AK
Llwybr Llaethog – Mad! (1996)
Novelty throwback edits and big drops are the order of the day at clubs right now, so hearing Electro-Sian by Llwybr Llaethog emerge on a dancefloor this summer felt refreshing. It’s an explosive electro number with disorientating dub sensibilities and screeches of guitar flecked throughout, a far cry from the clean and catchy crowd pleasers doing the rounds.
Staying true to its title, the rest of the record is just as bonkers. Alongside the pacier cuts are downtempo steppers with wonky percussion, alien electronics and agitated Welsh language vocal samples flung in. Ambient noise interludes, heavier moments (Llandub) and a slice of moody cold wave (Ffanny) add a layer of eerie quiet to the chaos.
With its sleazy eccentricity and deep, rattling instrumentals, Mad! is a collection of sounds that could easily have its origins in 80s Germany, 90s New York or in London soundsystem culture. Its origin in a former mining town in Wales makes it even more exciting. SB
Oby Onyioha – Enjoy Your Life (1981)
Perhaps it was grimly predictable, but since turning 30 all the “best new music” I have discovered has been new to me, but decades old. My occasional forays into the pop charts and Spotify trending playlists have left me feeling like an anthropologist in a strange land, where what I understand as music is not necessarily worse, but certainly more precise, metallic-sounding, buffed and honed to a sharp point. Increasingly I’ve been craving the musical equivalent of satin or corduroy: languorous, even baggy; not a hook that grabs you by the jugular, but a vibe that you can sink into like a bean bag.
I’m not sure how I first heard Enjoy Your Life, by Nigerian singer Oby Onyioha – maybe in a 6 Music mix, true to my advancing age – but I experienced it as a bodily relief. That mid-tempo beat, the predictable strings and brass motifs, the minimal escalation in energy over six minutes: it has all of disco’s lust for life, but it still works if your only vices are two glasses of red and an early bedtime. And, better than anything else I’ve heard lately, it captures the necessity of pursuing pleasure, the importance of prioritising fun, even – or especially – when it seems elusive. It’s your right to enjoy your life – even in unprecedented times. EH
Roy Montgomery – Temple IV(1996)
This summer, when interviewing Dry Cleaning for Mojo magazine, I was tasked with asking each band member for one influence on their excellent new album, Stumpwork. Guitarist Tom Dowse cited the New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery and mentioned that he had once been in a band, Dadamah, that was signed to US indie label Kranky. Liking both Dowse’s playing on the new album and Kranky’s output very much indeed, I saved the album behind his most popular song on Spotify, then forgot about it for months.
I don’t really believe in cosmic forces but I do think music sometimes finds you when it’s meant to, and in a period of personal desolation – not to mention during a sub-zero week in Berlin – his 1996 album Temple IV hit me at the right time. It’s a thick, instrumental tundra of guitar playing, alternately sharp and white-knuckled, shearing flesh from bone, and loose, jangling and searching: music to lose yourself in, to override the static of your mind. It’s swiftly become an all-time favourite. Proof that you can’t beat the human algorithm – although Spotify took note of my obsessive listening and pointed me towards his new album, which I would otherwise have missed, so I indulged my editor’s privileges to commission an interview with him for our pages in the hope of minting some more new Montgomery fans. LS
To discover Takeshi Terauchi’s work this year has been a blessing. Rightfully lauded as one of Japan’s guitar pioneers, Terauchi’s influence and work has been catalogued neatly by UK record label Ace Records. Charting Terachi’s career from the 1960s surf boom via groovy instrumentals through to 70s fuzz freak-outs and funk rock, his 2011 compilation Nippon Guitars charmed me from its first punchy guitar licks. Taking you through a decade of exuberance and fun, Terauchi’s instrumentation is always acerbic and sizzling. It’s a welcome path to wander down. DB
Tangerine Dream – Network 23 (1981)
Paul Hartnoll from Orbital pointed me towards this tune on Tangerine Dream’s 1981 album, Exit, after I suggested that the Berlin electronic giants’ best work was already behind them by the end of the 70s. Network 23 (which subsequently gave a name to Spiral Tribe’s record label) is fantastic, a gradually building, hypnotic trance track. The motorik rhythm is slightly reminiscent of German peers Neu! but it also clearly points the way to house and techno at a point when both were years away. The ethereal synth line that suddenly erupts at around three minutes and 20 seconds is just glorious. I consider myself told. DS
Taylor Swift – Today Was a Fairytale (2010)
When Taylor Swift released Red in 2012, she put me in a headlock which I am yet to escape from. Her earlier releases hadn’t captured me – I’d mistakenly judged them as too whimsical, too middle American, with a faint whiff of early-2000s Silver Ring Thing energy. Buried among those early records was a non-album single called Today Was a Fairytale that I’ve recently become obsessed with. It’s not Swift’s most sophisticated song, but its guilelessness is its charm. Something about its simplicity hotwires my nervous system, creating nostalgia for an innocent adolescence that, as a queer person, I never actually experienced. Three listens to its soaring chorus and I could walk through a brick wall. The campaign for Taylor to include it on her Eras tour setlist starts here. JS
— Includes expanded licensing and digital distribution for Mayday
HANGZHOU, China, Dec. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Cloud Music Inc. (HKEX: 9899, “NetEase Cloud Music” or the “Company”), a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China, today announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement for digital music distribution (“the Agreement”) with B’in Music International Co., Ltd. (“B’in Music”), a leading C-pop music production company, granting NetEase Cloud Music the right to distribute B’in Music’s music catalog, including one of the most influential C-pop bands Mayday.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the two companies will leverage their unparalleled talent and musical prowess and collaborately promote the presence of prominent and fan-favorite C-pop artists and content within the B’in Music catalog. B’in Music’s robust portfolio boasts a number of influential C-pop artists and groups including JONATHAN LEE, MAYDAY, RENÉ LIU, TARCY SU, DELLA, JIA JIA, ANN and others.
Established in 2006, B’in Music is one of the most influential independent record lable in Asia music community and boasts numerous renowned artists and musical works. Acting on the mission of “Believe in music”, B’in Music attaches great importance to the development of “original singer-songwriters” and “artists with strong vocal skills”. B’in Music’s pioneering business model spanning various musical genres and content, and has demonstrated its expertise in diversified music types that integrate emotional experience and create content reflective of rapid changes in the pop culture industry.
Mayday is an iconic rock band in Asia music community that has influenced and motivated a great number of audiences for over 2 decades. This Agreement enables NetEase Cloud Music to introduce Mayday’s full recorded songs copyright under B’in Music. Together with the existing Mayday copyrights on the platform, NetEase Cloud Music offers users instant access to Mayday’s complete studio album catalogue under B’in Music and Rock Records.
As one of China’s leading online music platforms, NetEase Cloud Music has been a preferred online destination among the younger generation to enjoy music in a wide variety of genres from artists both at home and abroad. The unique music community atmosphere, highly interactive user base and impressive user stickiness of NetEase Cloud Music underpins the platform’s capability in efficiently promoting music content and enhancing the interactions between artists and their fan base.
NetEase Cloud Music has been actively growing its portfolio and expanding its partnerships with top entertainment companies to enrich the high-quality content offering on the platform to better address users’ diverse music tastes. Recently, NetEase Cloud Music has extended music copyright cooperations with a number of top record labels, including Modern Sky, Emperor Entertainment Group, China Record Group, Feng Hua Qiu Shi, Yuehua Entertainment, Linfair Records, SM Entertainment, TF Entertainment, YG Entertainment, KAO!INC, Avex and Pony Canyon. Moving forward, NetEase Cloud Music will pursue further collaborations with upstream copyright owners and continue to provide more high-quality music content for music lovers in China.
About Cloud Music Inc.
Launched in 2013 by NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES; HKEX: 9999), Cloud Music Inc. (HKEX: 9899) is a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China. Dedicated to providing an elevated user experience, Cloud Music Inc. provides precise, personalised recommendations, promotes user interaction and creates a strong social community. Its focus on discovering and promoting emerging musicians has made Cloud Music Inc. a destination of choice for exploring new and independent music among music enthusiasts in China. The platform has been recognised as the most popular entertainment app among China’s vibrant Generation Z community.
Please see https://ir.music.163.com/ for more information.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, estimates of financial performance, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realised in the future. Underlying these forward-looking statements are a lot of risks and uncertainties. In light of the risks and uncertainties, the inclusion of forward-looking statements in this press release should not be regarded as representations by the Board or the Company that the plans and objectives will be achieved, and investors should not place undue reliance on such statements.
Investor Enquiries:
Angela Xu Cloud Music Inc. music.ir@service.netease.com
Media Enquiries:
Li Ruohan NetEase, Inc. globalpr@service.netease.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cloud-music-inc-adds-expansive-c-pop-portfolio-with-bin-music-agreement-301711633.html
The year is 1619, and on a routine Sunday at Chichester Cathedral the service of Evensong is happening. But suddenly, it is rudely interrupted.
One of the choir members, a lay vicar named Thomas Weelkes, begins to ‘curse and swear most dreadfully’, as an eyewitness report puts it, and ‘so profane the service of God as is most fearful to hear, and to the great amazement of the people present’.
Weelkes’s bizarre behaviour was nothing new. ‘Divers times and very often’ he had previously disrupted services, coming ‘either from the tavern or alehouse into the choir’ in a besotted condition ‘much to be lamented’.
Weelkes was, to put it bluntly, an alcoholic, and just two years earlier had been sacked as organist and choirmaster at Chichester Cathedral after 15 years in position. Perhaps out of pity, he was allowed to remain as a singer in the choir.
Things had once been very different. Weelkes arrived at Chichester Cathedral sometime in 1601-02, when he was in his mid-20s and already the fêted composer of three books of madrigals. The Chichester job was a major improvement on his previous post at Winchester College, and Weelkes soon cemented his position in Chichester society by marrying into a well-off local family. A flourishing professional career seemed to beckon for the young and aspiring composer-musician.
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Chichester Cathedral was, though, a combustible working environment. Well before Weelkes arrived, there was turbulence and insubordination in the choir he had been hired to manage. One of his predecessors as choirmaster had, it seems, assaulted the verger and threatened to shoot anybody who tried to oust him, and two lay singers had been involved in a nocturnal scuffle where a knife was brandished.
Attempts were made by the Cathedral authorities to quell the maverick conduct. One decree stipulated that ‘none of the vicars choral, lay vicars, singing-men or Sherborne Clerks shall be a fighter, common brawler, quarreller or drunkard either within the Close or within the City’. Another choirmaster was admonished for ‘haunting of alehouses’ and a ‘singing-man’ was ordered to desist from going bowling instead of turning up for services.
Despite this history of open lawlessness, Weelkes’s early years at the Cathedral were seemingly placid, and he composed a good deal of excellent choral music. But trouble still rumbled in the choir. In 1605, its members were banned from bringing their dogs with them to services, and later advised there should be ‘no unreverend gesture nor unseemly talking’ during worship.
Perhaps inevitably, given the toxic environment he worked in, Weelkes’s conduct eventually buckled too. In 1613, a decade into his tenure, he was sanctioned for drunkenness – though the popular tale of how he was once fined for urinating on the dean from the organ loft is probably a myth.
By 1616, the ‘insufficiency and defect’ of the choir and the ‘disorderly, scandalous or defamed persons’ it harboured were cited against him. Absenteeism among singers was rife, and Weelkes had allegedly done little or nothing to stop it.
The axe finally fell on 16 January 1617, when Weelkes was dismissed from all of his positions at Chichester Cathedral. ‘He hath been and is noted and famed for a common drunkard and a notorious swearer and blasphemer,’ read the citation. ‘His usual oaths are that which is most fearful to name, by the wounds, heart and blood of the Lord.’
Weelkes reportedly accepted the verdict without comment. Though reinstated as organist at the Cathedral five years later, and continuing in the choir as a rank-and-file member, his career as a composer and musician never properly recovered. He died in London in November 1623, aged 47, leaving just five shillings to each of his three children.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Music City welcomed thousands of people for New Year’s Eve fun — and that included some passionate football fans.
On Saturday, Iowa took on Kentucky in the “TransPerfect Music City Bowl.” The Hawkeyes took home the win, with a final score of 21 to 0, but many fans at the Music City Bowl are really looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve in Nashville.
“Ten to 20 years ago you wouldn’t have this atmosphere. It’s overwhelming; it’s a lot to take in,” UK fan Christopher Moore said.
“We knew it was going to be the Country Music Capital, and we all love country music,” Iowa Fan Janet Sarchett said.
“I was talking to friends in Colorado and Minnesota, and they were mentioning how Nashville is the place to be for New Year’s Eve,” UK fan Terri Millette said.
This football game was a rematch between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Kentucky Wildcats.
The team in blue defeated Iowa in last year’s Citrus Bowl. Of course, Kentucky fans hoped their team would take home the win again this year, but Iowa came out on top this time.
Some fans say that when you’re attending a football game in Music City, you’re just happy to be here to ring in the New Year.
“To come here and see how vibrant the city is and everything — also, how it’s been expanded has been awesome. I think the term NashVegas holds truth,” UK Alumni Association President Antoni Huffman said.
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Sadie Fine is a young singer-songwriter you need to know about. The 16-year-old released her second single “Use Me” on December 9. This song serves as the second single from her upcoming debut EP Grow Up.
“Use Me” was produced by Stefan Skarbek. The song finds Sade with her heart on her sleeve.
“I wrote ‘Use Me’ when I was only 14 years old,” she explains. “I was watching a TikTok where a girl was describing a toxic relationship where the guy she liked just used her, but in a way she was ok with it. The pain inspired me and you can hear it in the song. “