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Music Archive

Archives for December 2022

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Snoop Dogg’s Death Row relaunch managed to get one thing right.

It’s not the updated version of the label’s iconic prisoner logo (Pen & Pixel could do it so much better).

And it’s definitely not the plan for the brand — purchased by Snoop earlier this year — to have a “multi-category cultural platform across music, fashion, entertainment, and cannabis, all united by the blockchain for a new generation.”

But whoever made sure to have DJ Battlecat handling this Death Row Cannabis teaser music instead of going for a cringe BAYC tie-in deserves a raise — paid in real money, not crypto.

Mitchell Clark
Mitchell Clark
Bandcamp Fridays are continuing.

Earlier this year, when Bandcamp brought back its (mostly) monthly event where it waives its platform fees to give musicians more money, the last one on the schedule was December 2nd.

Now, according to an email sent to users, it’s planning on continuing the tradition into 2023, starting on February 3rd. The company says it’ll “share dates for the rest of the year soon.” I’ve marked my calendar with a reminder to finally complete my collection of Colour Revolt and Wallice albums.

Pedro Eustache opens up about video game music and becoming the Flute Guy

Pedro Eustache’s viral performance at The Game Awards was just one of many such moments he’s had over his decades-long career.

Ash Parrish
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
A years-long copyright lawsuit over Taylor Swift’s 2014 hit “Shake It Off” has come to a close.

In a dispute with two songwriters, Swift argued she’d never heard the song “Playas Gon’ Play” by 3LW, cited in 2015 by a judge dismissing another claim against “Shake It Off” over the same lyrics.

With a jury trial set to start on January 17th, Variety reports the parties settled and the credits of the song unchanged.

Compare that to Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams paying Marvin Gaye’s family $7.3 million for “Blurred Lines.” That result, and this episode of Decoder, shows why artists like Olivia Rodrigo have opted to hand out credits instead of fighting in court.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Star Wars beats to chill/study to.

If something is popular, then The Brands will follow, and so it goes for “lo-fi” streaming music, which exploded in popularity during the pandemic.

The Star Wars YouTube channel is filling out a playlist of selections, and Starkiller Base Holiday is good enough to make the cut on any Bandcamp Friday. Disney isn’t the first media company to make the leap, though, Riot launched a lo-fi League of Legends album last year.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Watch this robot play the drums.

It’s not quite as proficient as that one drumming mascot, but it’s still fun to watch this Xiaomi robot play some beats. Now somebody teach it some rudiments.

Broadway’s K-pop musical showed how hard it is to create internet fame

A Broadway musical tried to court extremely online fans of artists like BTS and Blackpink. It didn’t quite succeed.

Monica Chin
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Gorillaz’s next act? An “immersive live performance” for fans in NYC and London.

A teaser video shows giant Gorillaz characters walking around a city and the band says on its website that you’ll need to download the “Gorillaz Presents...” app for the show, so it seems like this will be some kind of wild augmented reality concert. It takes place in New York City on December 17th and in London on December 18th.

Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
“That shit snuck up on me.”

Here’s legendary producer Timbaland talking about the different vibes he gets from audio software like FL Studio, Ableton, and Logic. We treat digital tools as though they’re interchangeable all too often, I think!