A weekly update on all things music, advertising and technology coming straight to you from Anthony Vanger at MassiveMusic. #TWIM
ARTIST OF THE WEEK: PUP
I just love this video. It also renewed my faith in social media after a relentless few months of seeing stuff on the news saying that FB, Twitter and IG were collectively responsible for all the evils in the world. They are, but they are also quite useful (which is why we like them). And in this video you can see the full force of social media put to the best possible use. The band is called PUP. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario they have slowly but surely built up a following. In the last five years, they’ve moved to playing bigger and bigger venues, were nominated for Juno Awards three times, and were long-listed for the Polaris Prize. Their third album, Morbid Stuff, is a collection of snappy, pop-punk-grunge tunes. Think of a modern version of Green Day. The album is full of dark songs that make you want to hit the pit and throw your body around to exercise the demons. This video, “Free At Last”, says it all. Enjoy! Click here to watch
AD OF THE WEEK: APPLE AT WORK – THE UNDERDOGS
This one was easy. A brilliant piece of advertising, with plenty of humour. One aspect that really caught my (ear) was the music. The process the design team undertakes has an improvised, jazz-like quality to it and the music captures the process perfectly, swirling round and round with a busy beat. I am not sure what influences the ad agency used for the music, but I could have sworn I heard Nina Simone’s Sinnerman in there. Nice job.
Interestingly, as Wired and others reported back in May 2017, the pizza box is an actual thing that exists at Apple’s campuses in Silicon Valley, designed by Apple for the express purpose of allowing employees to bring a crisp personal pizza back to their desks instead of winding up with a soggy crust.
BEST OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY’S APRIL FOOLS
- Mixmag reported that Shazam was no longer available in the EU due to Article 13. A somewhat believable story until you read further.
2. Spotify Acquires, discontinues Serato, Traktor, Rekordbox DJ Softwares as reported by DJ Tech Tools which goes onto say that Spotify will endeavour to replace the DJ with its new automated playlist mixing feature by 2020.
3. Nissin is best known for its Cup Noodles, but the company occasionally cooks up unique items like the Slurp-Cancelling Fork. Now, the Japanese brand has found a new purpose for its hugely-popular pantry staple: a limited edition pair of Cup Noodle headphones.
KFC’S COLONEL SANDERS PLAYS A LIVE DJ SET IN UNUSUAL ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP (NOT AN APRIL FOOL!)
The Colonel came under fire with some heavy criticism
KFC has offered a glimpse into the future of music sponsorship by buying a spot for its mascot and founder Colonel Sanders to DJ at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami last weekend.
In a stunt (which could have been the best April Fool’s Day prank, if it was indeed a prank), the fried chicken brand modelled Sanders as in the style of Deadmau5, with a big foam head finishing off the costume.
DJ Marshmello, who is also accustomed to shaking up music conventions by performing a live gig in multiplayer shooter Fortnite tweeted, and then deleted, that it was “lame”, adding: “I can think of a lot of other artists that actually deserve to be on that stage instead”.
Alison Wonderland suggested the festival “could have found a better way that doesn’t cheapen what we do”.
If you cant quite believe it you can check it out for yourself below:
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND NILS FRAHM ANNOUNCE NEW PIANO PLUGIN
Native Instruments and Nils Frahm have once again teamed up, this time on a Kontakt sampler instrument called Noire. Based on his customised nine-foot Yamaha CFX 9, the samples were recorded at his studio at Funkhaus in Berlin, using most of Frahm’s mics and preamps.
While on the face of it, Noire is a simple piano instrument, behind the scenes it’s possible to introduce some of the more experimental electronic elements using the Particles engine. Essentially introducing random rhythmic or melodic effects between notes, Particles is designed to add motion to your playing, separate from any delay or reverb effects. Watch below to find out more and hear the instrument in action.
Ed Note: I am definitely going to order this one!
BEATS’ NEW POWERBEATS PRO ARE AIRPODS WITH A LONGER BATTERY LIFE AND BETTER FIT
Apple may make the AirPods, but lest anyone forget, it’s the owner of another headphone company, Beats, which now has its own true wireless competitor, the Powerbeats Pro.
The first true wireless headphones from Beats also have Apple’s H1 chip and always-on Siri, but no wireless charging. They’re coming in May for $250.
Written by Anthony Vanger
Additional reporting by Adam “Badger” Woolf
Artwork by Gustav Balderdash
To join This Week In Music please send me an email: anthonyvanger@gmail.com