For a band that made only one studio album – 30 years ago – Arc Angels has quite a devoted fan base. That loyalty was clear at Houston’s Heights Theater on November 16, when the band drew an enthusiastic near-capacity crowd for its third Houston show of 2022.
Arc Angels – named for the Austin Rehearsal Center, or ARC, where the band came together – originally included drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon (aka Double Trouble, the rhythm section that backed Stevie Ray Vaughan) plus singer-songwriter/guitarists Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton. For the current tour at least, Eric Holden is handling the bass duties.
Doyle Bramhall II, Chris Layton, Eric Holden, Charlie Sexton (Photo by Paul T. Mueller)
In a high-volume set of bluesy rock that lasted an hour and 45 minutes, the band ripped through most of its self-titled album’s 12 tracks, starting with the bad-behavior tale “Paradise Café.” Most of the songs found Bramhall (son of Vaughan’s late running buddy Doyle Bramhall) and Sexton (who spent years in Bob Dylan’s band, among others) trading licks and solos, while Layton and Holden supported them with a steady and seemingly effortless groove.
About midway through the show, Sexton led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to Layton (67, for those keeping score). A bit later, the band launched into Charley Patton’s “Oh Death,” prefaced by Sexton’s joking apology to Layton for playing such a song so soon after the birthday wishes.
The main set wrapped up with three of the stronger songs from the Arc Angels album – “Spanish Moon,” “Shape I’m In” and “Living in a Dream.” After a short break, the band returned for a one-song encore, the powerful “Too Many Ways to Fall.”
Austin-based quartet Madam Radar opened the show with an energetic 40-minute set. The band’s sound, and appearance, featured something of an early ‘70s hippie vibe, fueled by the rock-star posturing of guitarist/singer Kelly Green and the cool elegance of bassist Violet Lea. They closed, fittingly, with a faithful rendition of Golden Earring’s “Radar Love.”
HAVANA (AP) — Pablo Milanés, the Latin Grammy-winning balladeer who helped found Cuba’s “nueva trova” movement and toured the world as a cultural ambassador for Fidel Castro’s revolution, has died in Spain, where he had been under treatment for blood cancer. He was 79.
One of the most internationally famous Cuban singer-songwriters, he recorded dozens of albums and hits like “Yolanda,” “Yo Me Quedo” (I’m Staying) and “Amo Esta Isla” (I Love This Island) during a career that lasted more than five decades.
“The culture in Cuba is in mourning for the death of Pablo Milanes,” Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz tweeted Monday night.
Milanés’ representatives issued a statement saying he had died early Tuesday in Madrid.
In early November, he announced he was being hospitalized and canceled concerts.
Pablo Milanés was born Feb. 24, 1943, in the eastern city of Bayamo, in what was then Oriente province, the youngest of five siblings born to working-class parents. His musical career began with him singing in, and often winning, local TV and radio contests.
His family moved to the capital and he studied for a time at the Havana Musical Conservatory during the 1950s, but he credited neighborhood musicians rather than formal training for his early inspiration, along with trends from the United States and other countries.
In the early ’60s he was in several groups including Cuarteto del Rey (the King’s Quartet), composing his first song in 1963: “Tu Mi Desengano,” (You, My Disillusion), which spoke of moving on from a lost love.
“Your kisses don’t matter to me because I have a new love/to whom I promise you I will give my life,” the tune goes.
In 1970 he wrote the seminal Latin American love song “Yolanda,” which is still an enduring favorite everywhere from Old Havana’s tourist cafes to Mexico City cantinas.
Spanish newspaper El Pais asked Milanés in 2003 how many women he had flirted with by saying they inspired the song. “None,” he responded, laughing. “But many have told me: ‘My child is the product of ‘Yolanda.’”
Milanés supported the 1959 Cuban Revolution but was nevertheless targeted by authorities during the early years of Fidel Castro’s government, when all manner of “alternative” expression was highly suspect. Milanés was reportedly harassed for wearing his hair in an afro, and was given compulsory work detail for his interest in foreign music.
Those experiences did not dampen his revolutionary fervor, however, and he began to incorporate politics into his songwriting, collaborating with musicians such as Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola.
The three are considered the founders of the Cuban “nueva trova,” a usually guitar-based musical style tracing to the ballads that troubadours composed during the island’s wars of independence. Infused with the spirit of 1960s American protest songs, the nueva trova uses musical storytelling to highlight social problems.
Milanés and Rodríguez in particular became close, touring the world’s stages as cultural ambassadors for the Cuban Revolution, and bonding during boozy sessions.
“If Silvio Rodríguez and I got together, the rum was always there,” Milanés told El Pais in 2003. “We were always three, not two.”
Milanés was friendly with Castro, critical of U.S. foreign policy and for a time even a member of the communist government’s parliament. He considered himself loyal to the revolution and spoke of his pride at serving Cuba.
“I am a worker who labors with songs, doing in my own way what I know best, like any other Cuban worker,” Milanés once said, according to The New York Times. “I am faithful to my reality, to my revolution and the way in which I have been brought up.”
In 1973, Milanés recorded “Versos Sencillos,” which turned poems by Cuban Independence hero José Martí into songs. Another composition became a kind of rallying call for the political left of the Americas: “Song for Latin American Unity,” which praised Castro as the heir of Martí and South American liberation hero Simon Bolívar, and cast the Cuban Revolution as a model for other nations.
In 2006, when Castro stepped down as president due to a life-threatening illness, Milanés joined other prominent artists and intellectuals in voicing their support for the government. He promised to represent Castro and Cuba “as this moment deserves: with unity and courage in the presence of any threat or provocation.”
Yet he was unafraid to speak his mind and occasionally advocated publicly for more freedom on the island.
In 2010 he backed a dissident hunger striker who was demanding the release of political prisoners. Cuba’s aging leaders “are stuck in time,” Milanés told Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “History should advance with new ideas and new men.”
The following year, as the island was enacting economic changes that would allow greater free-market activity, he lobbied for President Raul Castro to do more. “These freedoms have been seen in small doses, and we hope that with time they will grow,” Milanés told The Associated Press.
Milanés disagreed without dissenting, prodded without pushing, hewing to Fidel Castro’s notorious 1961 warning to Cuba’s intellectual class: “Within the Revolution, everything; outside the Revolution, nothing.”
“I disagree with many things in Cuba, and everyone knows it,” Milanés once said.
Ever political even when his bushy afro had given way to more conservatively trimmed, gray, thinning locks, in 2006 he contributed the song “Exodo” (Exodus), about missing friends who have departed for other lands, to the album “Somos Americans” (We Are Americans), a compilation of U.S. and Latin American artists’ songs about immigration.
Rodríguez and Milanés had a falling out in the 1980s for reasons that were unclear and were barely on speaking terms, though they maintained a mutual respect and Rodríguez collaborated musically with Milanés’ daughter.
Milanés sang in the 1980′s album “Amo esta isla” that “I am from the Caribbean and could never walk on terra firma;” nevertheless, he divided most of his time between Spain and Mexico in later years.
By his own count he underwent more than 20 leg surgeries.
Milanés won two Latin Grammys in 2006 — best singer-songwriter album for “Como un Campo de Maiz” (Like a Cornfield) and best traditional tropical album for “AM/PM, Lineas Paralelas” (AM/PM, Parallel lines), a collaboration with Puerto Rican salsa singer Andy Montanez.
He also won numerous Cuban honors including the Alejo Carpentier medal in 1982 and the National Music Prize in 2005, and the 2007 Haydee Santamaria medal from the Casa de las Americas for his contributions to Latin American culture.
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Associated Press writer Peter Orsi contributed to this story.
From Bad Bunny to BTS, we’re in a golden era of global sounds dominating American culture. There’s never been a more diverse moment in pop music, but it is always important to remember that the artists involved in this movement are not a monolith. They all represent their own paths, their own narratives, and their own ambitions. Even in the K-pop world, the swoony funk-pop of recent BTS hits has a very different appeal than the more cutesy bubblegum of Twice, who in turn stand apart from the fierce confidence of Blackpink. It’s easy for casual music listeners to lump them all together, but on Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Banc Of California Stadium, Blackpink demonstrated themselves to be a singular talent that can’t easily be boxed in.
For one, Blackpink’s music and aesthetic is less defined by K-pop as many of their peers. While their affiliation with YG Entertainment as well as their formation and years of training follow the same path as many of their K-pop counterparts, at this point, their interests seem to be more about putting their own spin on an American representation of pop, rather than the other way around. This puts the four women — Lisa, Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo — in a unique position, where they can push boundaries and forge their own path in both their music and the way that music is portrayed. On Saturday night, that included everything from all four artists having a twerking competition to Lisa showing off her pole dancing skills. It was hardly R-rated, but definitely stood in contrast to their more all-ages-appropriate contemporaries.
YG Entertainment
Their push for Western appeal has been a smashing success. After being the first female K-pop group to perform at Coachella in 2019, they’ve found themselves playing at this year’s VMAs, covering Rolling Stone, and with their recently released Born Pink, topping the Billboard 200 chart. Saturday night was another milestone that the women noted: their first US stadium gig. The quartet was emotional throughout the set when they’d reflect on their journey, so much so that Jisoo had to turn to her native Korean to properly express herself. But with the expert choreography, pyrotechnics, and a guest appearance from Camila Cabello (performing her own “Liar” with Jisoo), Blackpink proved more than up for the task.
Whereas many K-pop groups feature more members than you can count on one hand, the focused nature of Blackpink (much like one of their inspirations 2NE1) allows for each of the women to hold their own in the spotlight and stand apart. Jennie has been maybe the most visible presence in American culture so far, something that will only increase when she appears with The Weeknd in HBO’s The Idol, where Jisoo holds the distinction of being the member who has yet to release a solo single yet — and feels most rooted in Korean heritage. But live, it is Lisa and Rosé who are the biggest standouts. Lisa’s dancing skills impress in their ease, with the Thai singer/rapper able to hold her beaming smile while making the moves look effortless. Rosé, on the other hand, was clearly the strongest vocalist of the bunch, oftentimes handling the reaching pre-choruses before the entire group would join in for a refrain. While no one wants to think about an eventual breakup, there is already movement from most to have their own solo careers, and all seem to have their own unique formula that could find standalone success.
YG Entertainment
But the best moments of the performance were when their camaraderie showed. During a between-song banter session, the four women strolled from one side of their stadium-spanning stage to the other, seemingly offering an off-the-cuff acapella version of the just performed “Typa Girl.” It was playful and kind of snowballed on itself, with Blackpink laughing through it and eventually noting “I just love that song.” And in the encore, the carefully scripted performance became loose, with the stars galloping around the stage with cameras following them, playing both to the audience in front of them and those watching on the massive screen. The strongest songs, including “How You Like That,” “Heartbreak Girls,” and “As If It’s Your Last” all went over perfectly, but it was often these moments between the songs and outside the choreographed perfection that best brought their fans into their world.
With these being the final dates of a relatively brief American tour, Blackpink could still find more peaks to hit in their continued quest for world domination. They still haven’t landed that ubiquitous smash hit in America or Grammys success or many of the other benchmarks that come with the level they are operating on. The ingredients are there, though. It all feels inevitable.
Alt-R&B artist Ay Wing‘s much-awaited debut album is finally here. The LP is titled Bloodstream and carries thirteen beautiful tracks. It was released on October 28 alongside the title-track.
“`Bloodstream’ is about coming to terms with the realization that, after years of suppressing emotions, I had lost touch with my own body. In allowing myself to feel without judgment, I could address the inner conflict that was responsible for this tension, and translate my experience into music. This helped me understand myself, and those around me, a bit better,” Ay Wing says.
Earlier this year, the singer-songwriter dropped her No Wonderwoman EP. With this full-length release, the listeners get immersed into Ay’s dreamscape. Also on exhibition is her powerful voice.
Stream Bloodstream LP and follow Ay Wing on Instagram.
Natalie Mering, the luminary singer/songwriter behind Weyes Blood, recently remarked, “That I ended up making beautiful, feminine music is a surprise.” It’s hard to believe that anyone who can write the shimmering, illustrative folk found on Titanic Rising or Front Row Seat to Earth could come to this music by accident. But arguably, she has: In high school, Mering’s fixation on esoteric noise initially inspired her entry into making music. She launched Wise Blood, named for Flannery O’Connor’s midcentury Southern Gothic opus, altering the spelling over time: Weyes Bluhd in the late aughts, Weyes Blood and The Dark Juices for 2011’s The Outside Room, and finally Weyes Blood from The Innocents on, conveniently establishing distinct eras for the evolving project. Sonic and temporal boundaries are porous, but roughly speaking: If you encounter a Weyes Bluhd record, you can expect lo-fi, eerie noise; if you find Weyes Blood and The Dark Juices, you can anticipate gothic-folk experiments akin to Circuit des Yeux; if you pick up a Weyes Blood record, you’ll probably hear expansive baroque pop.
What’s most exciting about Weyes Blood’s music is that Mering’s keen ear for noise, dark ambient and early music never went away; on 2022’s And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, her experimental foundation pushes baroque pop to even higher heights. The second record in a trilogy, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow responds to the sense of impending doom in Titanic Rising, reckoning with the atomization and devastation that Mering observes all over. Given the chronology of these two albums, it feels almost too fitting for a pandemic to knock the globe off its axis, blanketing the planet in dread and rending social bonds through mass death and enforced separation. Here we are now; can we make sense of it all?
To celebrate Weyes Blood’s magnificent new album, we looked back at her discography to spotlight the songs that demarcate the project’s mounting achievements. Across two EPs, seven LPs and a smattering of singles, Weyes Blood’s evolution is stark, but at no point does she falter: Whether in noise, pop or folk, every Weyes Blood song is an achievement. That said, these 10 stick out.
Before Mering crafted haunting, gorgeous folk and baroque pop under the Weyes Blood moniker, she experimented with harsh noise under the name Weyes Bluhd. On 2007’s Strange Chalices of Seeing, 2008’s Evacuating Zombie Milk and more, Mering is daring and freaky. While these records are not for the faint of heart, they are cathartic, strangely beautiful projects. “Liquor Castle” is the standout song from the Weyes Bluhd era, merging her initial impulse for elongated harshness into a poetic, barely scrutable performance. Beginning with a feedback-heavy piercing moan that threatens never to leave, “Liquor Castle” features a striking performance on the harmonics guitar, one of Glenn Branca’s more mutant inventions. Mering closes the song with a chant, foreboding her subsequent gothic-folk endeavors.
Weyes Blood’s Mexican Summer debut, The Innocents, was at the time her most accessible release, but its unwavering gloom and disparate sonic influences make it a fitfully challenging listen. She leaned into baroque folk with Celtic overtones and tinctures of noise, never permitting a moment’s comfort to last for too long before jolting the listener to startled attention. The tape hiss undergirding “Bad Magic” gives the track a fuzzy texture while Mering gently picks an arpeggiating canon. Her lyrics are bleak, beginning with, “Get out of bed / Put on some clothes / And find your shoes / At least there’s nothing more / You could really lose, now is there?” She lets her voice break gently as she enters the chorus, betraying her humanity and inviting the collective mourning of whatever plagues us.
Several of the best Weyes Blood songs feature little to no percussion whatsoever, letting Mering’s soaring vocals lead the way, rather than yield moments of emotional resonance to the strictures of tempo. At nearly eight minutes, “Take You There” is nakedly devotional. To listen to “Take You There” feels like eavesdropping on the rehearsal for a pageant in the halls of a medieval cathedral. The droning organ and Weyes Blood’s meandering voice are a divine match. Mering’s lyrics feel like an anchorite’s reformulation of Madonna masterpiece “Like a Prayer”: “You take me there / I’m so scared / You make me shine / I just can’t hide / I want you to try / To take me there.” As with Madonna, Weyes Blood’s relationship with the church is complicated, and the legacy of her Christian upbringing remains latent throughout her discography.
The seven of wands tarot card depicts a figure atop a tall hill, fending off attackers charging up at them. In the upright position, the card recognizes the struggles of its subject, encouraging the subject to hold their ground. This can mean setting boundaries and facing threats head-on. “Seven of Wands” is the final track on the Northern Spy-released Angels in America / Weyes Blood split EP. The Weyes Blood section is heavy on experimentation. For “Seven of Wands,” Mering reverses the vocals from a previous track, “Names of Stars,” into something reminiscent of the demonic incantations that allies of Tipper Gore swore could be heard when rewinding popular music. To call it unsettling is an understatement, and to call it transfixing would be even more fitting.
By the late 2010s, Mering embraced chamber pop as Weyes Blood, finding this lustrous, connective style conducive to the messages she wanted to broadcast. “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” is one of her finest, not just in style but in message, as well. Art that tries to critique the modern condition and our changing relationship with each other often places the smartphone in the line of fire, leading to increasingly facile critique that boils down to “Phones Bad.” But in the poignant and campy video for “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” Mering is astute, humorous and self-aware. Sure, the smartphone is evil, but we’re all acting in concert with it. The song itself is lush, cinematic and instantly memorable, with Mering’s voice projecting gentle power over a lush orchestra featuring winds, strings, a harp and the piano.
On her sole release as Weyes Blood and The Dark Juices, 2011’s The Outside Room, Mering’s music is at its most atmospheric. Psychedelic folk and dark ambient join forces on an album whose lengthy, lo-fi, sometimes harsh songs each possess the denouement of a full symphonic movement. At nearly 10 minutes, “Candyboy” is a sonic mystery. Mering sings the obtuse lyrics with dread, her vocals hanging low beneath a suite of percussion that makes it sound as if she and her organ are performing in a blacksmith’s dungeon. The waltzing guitar track keeps the song chained to Earth, but interjections of noise and improvisation on the organ keep it dreamy and otherworldly.
On 2016’s Front Row Seat to Earth, Weyes Blood continued to gesture to past stylistic generations, but instead of early music as on The Innocents and The Outside Room, she harkens back to the late ’60s and ’70s’ lush psychedelic folk and its overflowing emotional sincerity. Nowhere is that more striking than on “Seven Words,” a lovelorn ballad dedicated to the final, desperation-laden communications of a fading relationship. Words said and unsaid churn in Mering’s head while arpeggiating guitars and metronomic percussion guide the soaring harmonies and sonorous keys.
While the concept of feeling like a main character in an indie movie has become something of a cloying meme, Mering showed no concern for sounding cheesy when she released “Movies,” declaring: “This is how it feels to fall in love.” We should be so lucky. “Movies” is a sprawling opus, with Mering’s voice layered in perfect harmonies over undulating synthesizers. Again, “Movies” largely forgoes percussion, and while the underlying synths suggest a tempo, Mering’s voice sounds as if guided by utter entropy. The tension between her voice and the synths explodes halfway through and strings take the lead. Thumping percussion enters and forces the song forward, creating a sense of aural tunnel vision, and the song somehow expands in size well beyond its original scope. Its grandiosity made it instantly resonant; while “Andromeda” has ascended to be the top-streamed Weyes Blood track, “Movies” was the early fan favorite off Titanic Rising.
In the famous myth, Andromeda is King Cepheus’ dazzling daughter, whose fate is jeopardized when her boastful family offends Poseidon and the sea nymphs. When she’s due to be sacrificed, Perseus swoops in, head over heels for Andromeda, and massacres the monster who promises to kill her. Under the shadow of divine resignation, Perseus’ love for Andromeda begot an unfathomable chain of events. But to Mering, love is complicated. For 2019’s Titanic Rising, Weyes Blood embraced the sugary sensations of baroque pop, creating her most clearly beautiful and relatable music without sacrificing one iota of experimentalism. With its familiar structure and ’80s-style percussion, “Andromeda” clicked with audiences quickly, attracting hordes of new fans enthralled by Mering’s wistful voice. Mering’s lyrics chart the all-too-familiar experience of being scared to love after too much hurt. In the first iteration of the chorus, Mering rejects advances: “Stop calling / It’s time to let me be / If you think you can save me / I dare you to try.” However, the sirenic call to love proves too great when the chorus returns: “Love is calling / It’s time to let it through / Find a love that will make you / I dare you to try.” Just maybe, if you let love in, you’ll find someone who’ll slay a sea monster for you.
Colloquially, the myth of Narcissus is understood as a testament to the trappings of vanity. Narcissism, aside from being an official personality disorder, is considered a moral failure wrought by unabashed selfishness, reinforced by none other than smartphones and social media. Mering agrees, elaborating: “Culturally and societally, we are in an age of narcissism.” But on “God Turn Me Into a Flower,” she reveals that the myth is much more tragic: “It always takes me / It’s such a curse to be so hard / You shatter easily / And can’t pick up all those shards / It’s the curse of losing yourself / When the mirror takes you too far.” Narcissus wasn’t simply obsessed with his beauty; he felt fundamentally disconnected from his reflection and yearned for it to be true. That fatal attraction wrought his downfall, but he is reborn as a flower: beautiful, yes, but more importantly, adaptable. Flowers appear delicate, but generations of flowers have achieved their secret hardiness through malleability. They can’t fight back, but they can work within.
Musically, “God Turn Me Into a Flower’’ is sublime. Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) joins Mering on the synths, wielding them more like a modest church organ than a tool for frenzied experiments. Mering’s incantations ache with empathetic devastation, bearing witness to the conundrum of want in an era when pursuit of and for the self is essential for financial survival. When her words have uttered all that they can, she hums sweet melodies while synths, warbling birds and an “ocean of cellos,” courtesy of mother-son duo Claudia and Ben Babbitt, ululate with striking balance. To call the composition moving is the understatement of the season. “God Turn Me Into a Flower” betrays layers of desolation and possibility, daring the listener to embrace either flexibility or fatality. It is daunting to pick up the shattered pieces of yourself after the song evaporates. It is Weyes Blood’s best work.
Devon Chodzin is a critic and urban planner with bylines at Slumber Mag, Merry-Go-Round and Post-Trash. He is currently a student in Philadelphia. He lives on Twitter @bigugly
Universal Music Group-owned Deutsche Grammophon, which claims to be the world’s oldest record label, just launched its own high-res classical music service.
Called STAGE+, the service is described by Deutsche Grammophon in a press release as “ground-breaking”. The label calls it the “latest milestone in classical music’s digital development”.
According to the STAGE+ website, a subscription for the service will cost EUR €14.90 per month, or €149 per year.
The move brings two rising music business trends into sharp focus – the first of which is Classical music’s streaming age renaissance.
Classical music is rising in popularity amongst younger listeners, with the genre’s potential in the market attracting the attention of tech giant Apple, which acquired Netherlands-headquartered classical music streaming service Primephonic last year.
The other reason the move is significant is that it means UMG has become the latest label to launch its own music streaming service, following the launch, in 2019, of Sony Music‘s high-resolution music streaming service Mora Qualitas in Japan.
Now, a major label-owned classical subscription music streaming service is set to operate (and compete) in a market already occupied by the likes of Spotify, Apple‘s still unreleased dedicated classical music app, and the likes of classical music app Idagio. Not to mention the likes of Qobuz and Tidal, which also offer classical music in high res.
We’ve previously noted that classical music fans have long bemoaned the search functionality for definitive versions of composer-led works, especially on mainstream music services.
Deutsche Grammophon claims that its STAGE+ service “represents a step change in the audio-visual presentation of classical music online,” and that the use of “optimized metadata will enable classical fans to search via title and access individual works, movements or opera scenes”.
The classical music company says that subscribers will get access to exclusive live premieres on its new service, including long-form concert and opera programmes; music videos; documentaries and behind-the-scenes interviews; new audio releases, as well as albums from the Deutsche Grammophon and Decca catalogs.
This content will be available in Hi-Res audio and Dolby Atmos and the service will be available as a TV, mobile and web app to STAGE+ subscribers, with “many” videos offered in 4K resolution and Dolby Atmos Music.
Deutsche Grammophon says that tech firm Siemens “will be a partner and supporter of STAGE+”.
Deutsche Grammophon says that STAGE+ will be able to “showcase the best new performances every week” thanks to partnerships with prominent opera companies globally, orchestras, concert halls and festivals.
The first premiere stream on the platform sees Víkingur Ólafsson performing music from his latest album, From Afar, in full from Harpa, Iceland, and further content in the first few weeks includes Bach’s Christmas Oratorio performed at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, Max Richter’s Voices from Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on Human Rights Day and a Mahler cycle from Vienna’s Musikverein.
The curated live and video-on-demand streams will also include Deutsche Grammophon’s Yellow Lounge classical club nights around the world, a Rising Stars series and performances at World Heritage Sites such as the Forbidden City, Sistine Chapel or the neolithic settlement of Carnac in France.
Deutsche Grammophon was founded in 1898 in Hanover by Emil Berliner, the inventor of the gramophone.
“We want to revolutionise the way people access classical music and, working together with our wonderful partners and family of musicians, bring them the very best of what the art form has to offer.”
Dr Clemens Trautmann, Deutsche Grammophon
Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon, said:: “We want to revolutionise the way people access classical music and, working together with our wonderful partners and family of musicians, bring them the very best of what the art form has to offer.
Added Trautmann: “Our artists’ initial feedback on STAGE+ has been incredibly positive, as this is the first service where their stage life and media output can be presented comprehensively in one place.
“In 2023 DG will be celebrating its 125th anniversary, and STAGE+ is the latest example of the creative and innovative thinking that has been the hallmark of the label since its foundation.”
“There’s an enormous appetite for great classical music content online.”
Frank Briegmann, Universal Music Central Europe & Deutsche Grammophon
Frank Briegmann, Chairman & CEO Universal Music Central Europe & Deutsche Grammophon, said: “There’s an enormous appetite for great classical music content online.
“We’ve seen significant growth in demand for livestreamed concerts and opera performances since launching DG Stage almost two years ago. STAGE+ will transform the space for online classical music.
“I wish to thank our incredible team and our partner organisations for all their hard work and dedication to STAGE+. They have built something special that’s sure to delight and inspire the global classical audience.”
“We are about to enter an exciting new era for streamed classical performances.”
Robert Zimmermann, Deutsche Grammophon
“We are about to enter an exciting new era for streamed classical performances,” said Deutsche Grammophon’s Vice President Consumer Business, Robert Zimmermann.
“STAGE+ will explore the limitless creative and curatorial possibilities that digital technologies have to offer to bring the creative work of DG’s artists – and beyond – closer to their audience.”
“It offers artists the place for their live and filmed performances to sit directly alongside their studio recordings, enabling an integrated experience for classical artist discovery by devoted fans of the genre.”
Dickon Stainer, Verve Label Group
Dickon Stainer, President and CEO of Global Classics & Jazz and Verve Label Group, said: “STAGE+ uniquely immerses the fan in a dedicated multi-dimensional classical experience of the highest quality, complementing the breadth of our repertoire presented on our partners’ services.
“It offers artists the place for their live and filmed performances to sit directly alongside their studio recordings, enabling an integrated experience for classical artist discovery by devoted fans of the genre.”Music Business Worldwide
OCALA, Fla. – In just a few short weeks, a country concert is coming to Ocala’s World Equestrian Center, and in the crowd, you may find a pretty unique audience member.
Travis Mills is one of five surviving post-9/11 era quadruple amputee veterans.
“I’ve got my hook on today,” Mills joked during our conversation.
Mills is the founder of the Travis Mills Foundation, an organization that supports recalibrated veterans and their families.
What does recalibrated mean?
“I was just tired of hearing people call me wounded, you know, I hate that I’m lumped into that,” Mills said. “Like it has negative stigma like, ‘Oh, you’re wounded. You’re one of those.’ I’m not, I’m healed. I mean, I got scars, but that’s about it. And I just decided I was going to be recalibrated, if anything. I’m actually, I guess, a recalibrated warrior, because, you know, we had to change things. I had to find my new normal. And I had to bounce back, if you will, and go forward with life.”
Mills lost his arms and legs more than 10 years ago.
“I was fortunate to serve as a second Airborne Division joined the US in 2006, I went out three deployments, and I’m a third deployment, I have my you know, my backpack on the ground. And my backpack hit the ground or anything was a bomb, the bomb resulted in me losing portions of both arms, both legs.,” Mills said.
At first, he said he found it difficult to look at himself in the mirror, but with a baby at home, he had to get it together pretty quickly.
“I had a 6-month-old little girl that was right there with me the whole time recovering, learning how to walk with me, how to do everything with me, and I’m not one to be down and out for a long time,” Mills said. “It’s difficult when you have to think about, ‘I don’t have arms and legs anymore at 25 years old.’ That’s kind of a hard thing. It’s difficult to realize that I lost the best job I’ve ever had, you know, and I can’t do my job anymore. But the same time, you know, for every negative thought that I had, I think I had a positive support group with my wife by my side, my daughter, my parents, my family, my in-laws, everybody. And at the end of the day, I just don’t see myself as different anymore. I mean, yeah, like I have no arm, I have a prosthetic, like I’ve got a hook on right now. I wear a hand usually, but you know, I’m in my wheelchair, I have prosthetic legs. I just see myself as having extra steps in the morning, put on my legs, on my arm, on my clothes, and I go about my day.”
It’s coming so far in his personal life and the love of those around him that inspired him to give back to other veterans who need the support.
“My wife and I were shown so much love and support, we decided that we wanted to start a nonprofit just to give back. We didn’t know really what we were doing. And we started giving care packages out with a donation from ourselves,” Mills said. “And now we have a fully-functioning retreat that we bring people to with physical injuries due to service, paralyzation, amputation, spinal cord injury, something to do related to service while they were in there, show them and their families a great time. do things adaptively, how to live life to the fullest, to never live life on the sidelines, be active always. And, you know, it’s been a fun ride.”
The retreat takes place in Maine, where Mills lives. It’s an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid experience in the outdoors, which includes bonding with other veterans and plenty of rest and relaxation.
It’s that type of work Mills and his organization do that events like the ‘Never Give Up on Country’ concert funds will go to support.
“We’re having Jimmie Allen as a headliner, Colt Ford and Kidd G as, well. It’s going on in Ocala at the World Equestrian Center, it’s gonna be a great time. We’re very thankful for, you know, all the performers and all the World Equestrian Center staff and Mary and Larry Roberts, for allowing us to host it there. And I’m just excited to see where it goes. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s special, because people come together and do great things. And they believe in my foundation, they want to help my foundation grow,” Mills said.
“Hopefully I see you guys there. And if you can’t find me in the crowd, I’ll be the one with no arms, no legs!”
Get tickets here.
‘Never Give Up on Country’ concert (Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.)
Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
At the concert in the in House of the Blackheads, renowned contemporary Estonian composers Helena Tulve, Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Ülo Krigul and Maria Kõrvits – the Estonian Composers’ Ensemble (EHA) – performed a musical work created especially for the festival, joined on stage by children aged 10 to 13.
“Children were involved in the creation of this piece. Children’s enthusiasm and ideas have had a real impact on its evolution. We wanted to emphasize listening so that children learn to listen more and respond to one another through listening,” Kozlova-Johannes said.
In in addition to traditional music instruments, unconventional methods were also used to create the “NOMAD: Sleep Doors” music composition. “Everyone in our collective is an avid collector of various objects; nothing that generates noise is left behind where it is, be it is a landfill, a forest or a shop,” she said.
The performance was a part of the Big Bang Tallinn international children and youth music festival in the House of the Blackheads, which offered performances, music installations, seminars and a concert that explored musical virtual reality.
Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Kaarel Oja said that the festival comprised an exceptionally exciting program of quality leisure activity for schools and hobby centers as well as for families with children.
“We have a special emphasis on children and youth in our Music City Tallinn activities, and the ‘Bing Bang’ festival has been the highlight thus far, with the highest quality music performance and affordable ticket costs,” Oja said.
Svea Ideon, festival’s producer, said that Big Bang is all about music. It is a music festival whose primary purpose is to make music accessible to children in the most realistic way possible. The most important thing is that children participate in music creation. “Given the international nature of the festival we were able to bring to Tallinn some very exciting sound and music installations that had previously been unavailable in Estonia,” Ideon said.
During the occasion, the House of the Blackheads in Tallinn hosted free music and sound events. Two unusual musical instruments were imported from Belgium: the “StepStrument” that enables youngsters to make music by walking and the “Serafyn” that is made of 108 whistles, six bellows and sixteen flashing lights — “an instrument which moves, sings and burns.” In addition, there was an interactive display of electronic instruments dubbed “Mobile Touch” and a sound installation titled “Sublumia” in which music is generated and amplified by devices placed throughout the concert hall.
Next weekend, the Big Bang festival takes place in France.
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K-pop band BTS made history at the American Music Awards (AMAs) 2022. The Korean boy band was announced as the winner in not one but two categories.
The K-pop band won the award for ‘Favourite K-pop artist’. The other artists nominated in the category were Blackpink, Seventeen, Tomorrow x Together, and Twice. BTS also won the award for the ‘Favorite Pop Duo or Group’ for the fourth time in a row. It is the first time in AMAs history that an artist has won the award on four occasions.
Interestingly, on previous occasions, the record for most ‘Favorite Pop Duo or Group’ was a tie between five bands, all of whom had won the award nearly three times each. BTS was running the race along with Aerosmith, The Black-Eyed Peas, Hall & Oates, and One Direction previously.
BTS continues to make noise with every single outing. They have also been nominated for the 2023 Grammy Awards. On the flip side, the K-pop band announced its hiatus a while back as they prepare to serve their compulsory military service starting this year. The boy band had also announced a break earlier this year so that they are able to pursue their solo endeavours.
Hosted by Wayne Brady, the American Music Awards 2022 was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 19. The AMAs happen to be one of the most-coveted awards and grabbing accolades at the awards show is an honour. Here is the list of winners in key categories.
Winners at the AMAs 2022 in key categories:
Artist of the Year Taylor Swift
New Artist of the Year Dove Cameron
Collaboration of the Year Elton John & Dua Lipa — Cold Heart
Favourite Touring Artist Coldplay
Favourite Music Video Taylor Swift — All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)
Enhancing our mindsets into a better frame of connection to the earth’s beauty, Jamie Dean is rather special on this soaring new single made with so much love and care towards humanity on Alaska.
Jamie Dean is a Dublin, Ireland-based indie electronic music producer who assembles those exquisite melodies to feel free inside its kind coating.
”He plays piano, synths, guitar, bass guitar and drums and has emerged as one of Ireland’s most innovative musical artists and composers.” ~ Jamie Dean
Helping our spirits renew so naturally after so much heartbreak and tragedy, Jamie Dean is the modern day superhero who has just walked rather smartly into our lives. Calm to the core and grabbing us onto a riveting ride to a better place in time, it’s hard not to be completely enticed into this box of relaxation.
Alaskafrom Dublin, Ireland-based indie electronic music producer Jamie Dean is a simply majestic single with so much elegance and light. Taking us all into the clouds and into happier climates, this is a superb single to swim swiftly into when your soul needs a boost.
When you need to be clear minded again, it’s best to close your eyes and imagine somewhere beautiful.
![Weyes Blood - Bad Magic [Official Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cxs96Mmfu7A/hqdefault.jpg)
![Weyes Blood - Seven Words [Official Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nWvmGwKiOe0/hqdefault.jpg)
