Latest news with #musicinnovation
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Add to playlist: GB's open-hearted pop and the best of the week's new tracks
From DenmarkRecommended if you like Arthur Russell, ML Buch, Rachel's Up next Ressed / Falter EP out now on Untitled The Guardian visited Copenhagen's Rhythmic Music Conservatory recently to find out how a single music school was producing such a ridiculous amount of new experimental pop innovators: Clarissa Connelly, Smerz, Erika de Casier, ML Buch, Astrid Sonne. While writer Sam Davies was touring the classrooms, he unearthed GB, another talent finishing off the record that doubles as his master's project. It's the stage name of Danish musician Gustav Berntsen, and his coursework submission is Ressed / Falter, a double EP that follows last year's debut album, Gusse Music. (He also co-produced four songs on classmate Molina's 2024 album When You Wake Up.) He shares with the famous RMC alumni an uncanny, limpid tone and a deconstructionist approach to pop, but his open-hearted naivety feels different from their mysterious sound worlds. In his boyish vocal modulations and unabashed yearning for someone he can't stop thinking about, 'dressed as a black cat' at a Halloween party while he's dressed as Jesus, he sounds unavoidably like Arthur Russell; as does his off-kilter guitar pop, the guitar often taking a percussive role in his appealingly emo world of echo. That's just the first part of the record: after three delicately turned pop songs, Berntsen plunges into wordless ambience, with eight tracks that recall the Kentucky post-rock scene of the 90s – the Rachel's-like blend of beautiful guitar melodies and unsettling field recordings; heavy, Slint-y murk – and processed, lonesome Scots pipes. It's such a distinct record, it only adds to the mystery of what's going on at this innovative institution – but long may it turn out acts like this. Laura Snapes Mavi – Landgrab (ft Earl Sweatshirt) With a sample of a rapturous old soul track by the Metaphors, this is a brilliant study in disparate flows: Mavi steadily hopscotching on the beat, Earl mooching around it. BBT Alex G – Afterlife He's written dozens of songs across nine albums of much-loved slacker indie, but the lead single from Alex G's 10th might just be his best: a mandolin-powered anthem that flings its arms wide at life's promise. BBT Silvana Estrada – Como un PájaroWhat starts with pristine simplicity – just the Mexican songwriter's pollen-bright voice and acoustic guitar – elegantly expands, adding piano, strings and swooping depth to a rueful ballad wrought from insomnia and heartbreak. LS Lorde – Man of the Year'Can't believe I've become someone else / Someone more like myself,' Lorde sings of a post-breakup transformation, the explosive evolution mirrored in the song's shift from borderline a cappella to unabashed, mutant distortion. LS Tops – Chlorine Canada's best soft rock band have announced their first album in five years, teed off with this sparkling yet morose single as singer Jane Penny struggles to slip the bonds of a toxic relationship. BBT Lucrecia Dalt – DivinaThe Colombian musician conjures a waltz from piano that sounds like marbles rolling over glass, with snapping fingers and her smoky, savouring lyrical delivery giving Divina a gasping sensitivity. LS Cleyra – There's Nothing Happening Between Us Shifting through sustained passages of ambient techno like subtly changing weather, this is the 17-minute centrepiece of the Bristolian producer's distinctive, dreamlike new album Remember This Body? BBT Subscribe to the Guardian's rolling Add to Playlist selections on Spotify.
CBC
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
How Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and more disabled artists changed music
From unique guitar chords to sign singing, we explore the innovations of disabled musicians Cripping is a term used by disabled people to reclaim how they see themselves. As Eliza Chandler, an associate professor at TMU's School fo Disability Studies writes,"animated by the experiences of living in a world that does not typically desire us, or even imagine us as cultural participants, disability arts specifically mobilizes a disruptive politic.... the disability arts community doesn't want to be included in an ableist world/culture, we want to create something new. This disruptive politic comes through the word 'crip.'" When it comes to music, an industry that often treats disabled musicians and spectators alike as an afterthought, they've taken matters into their own hands. In a co-production between CBC Music, CBC Creator Network and AccessCBC, composer, performer and comedian James Hamilton takes viewers through the different ways disabled musicians have innovated, or "cripped," music. "Disabled musicians, by simply existing and being artists, can radically change the music world as we know it. This can be in the concert form, musical content, new technologies, or breaking down our definition of what music entails," Hamilton says in the introduction. Two such musicians are Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, who were both disabled by the polio epidemic that swept Canada in the 1950s. After losing some of the mobility in her hands, Mitchell changed the tuning on her guitar to make it easier to play, and simultaneously changed the sound of the chords, leading to her signature "jazzy" guitar sound. Young recorded his 1972 album, Harvest, in a back brace after an accident on his ranch in the Santa Cruz mountains. The restrictive apparatus could have led to his "more mellow and minimalistic style," limiting his ability to play guitar and sing. More recently, ASL rapper Sean Forbes is popularizing sign-rapping with his songs like Watch These Hands, and Toronto-based composer Stephanie Orlando is writing music with neurodivergent listeners in mind. Both are making space for more diverse music audiences. Watch the video above for more insights into the myriad ways people are "cripping music."
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Artist Jennifer Elster Navigates Dystopia With David Bowie, Trent Reznor, Chloe Sevigny, Wu-Tang, And Sonic Youth
David Bowie transformed into Ramona A. Stone by Jennifer Elster for his 20th studio album, 1. ... More Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle) On September 25, 1995, David Bowie released his 20th studio album, 1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle), his first concept album since Diamond Dogs (1974), reuniting him with Brian Eno – his Berlin Trilogy collaborator in the 1970s – for a deeply introspective and non-linear exploration of identity, technology, and art. By gazing back, Bowie, always the innovator, was looking forward, warning us about the world we're experiencing today. Multi-disciplinary artist, writer, filmmaker, musician, fashion designer, stylist, and third-generation New Yorker Jennifer Elster transformed Bowie into an array of characters to craft the labyrinthine narrative inspired by Twin Peaks, the wildly influential cult classic mystery-horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, which premiered in 1990. (Bowie, a fan of the show, portrayed Special Agent Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a 1992 psychological horror film and prequel to the first two seasons of the TV series, directed by Lynch, and co-written by Lynch and Robert Engels.) Outside, as it's known commercially, focuses on residents of the fictional Oxford Town, New Jersey, following Detective Nathan Adler who investigates the murder of a 14-year-old girl. Delving deep into sublime absurdity, Elster transmuted Bowie into a broad range of peculiar characters. The collared shirt Bowie donned as Adler, the slip dress he slinked into as Baby Grace, a blazer he put on to become shop owner Algeria Touchshriek, and a custom garment that was cut on Bowie by Elster and paired with a bullet belt and tights for the character Ramona A. Stone (a throwback to Diamond Dogs) are on view for Elster's solo exhibition, The Classics at The Development Gallery in New York's Tribeca, through June 20. The show, which invites viewers to navigate the complex curated space as a unique immersive experience, was extended from its original run (April 17-May 21), setting a mood that resonates amid ongoing geopolitical and social turbulence. Elster plays with perspective and consciousness in her interactive display, placing some items on the ground and using a rope to keep viewers at a distance from some artifacts and artworks. She opens a verisimilitude of dialogues, borrowing from personal experiences to investigate individual and collective reactions to global turmoil through raw, text-scrawled paintings, jarring historical assemblages, and eerie photographs. David Bowie as Ramona A. Stone (R) with Jennifer Elster (L) 'I've been creating since I was a kid, and I don't think I ever had a specific idea about what I wanted to do. I started that at a very early age, and I think that it was also a way to get through, right?,' Elster said during a walk-through of the gallery last week. 'I think when people create art, it's usually coming from a pure place. It's just another way to function. So when I was a kid, I did all different types of things, and then I continue to do all different kinds of things, and so some of those things are in here.' Jennifer Elster 'Forecast' (2017). Acrylic on canvas at The Development Gallery Elster's singular outlook and dystopian sensibilities are connected to her early career styling counter-culture heroes, such as Bowie, Trent Reznor, Chloe Sevigny, Redman and Method Man from Wu-Tang, and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth. The objects on view are visceral, drawing us into three decades of Elster's creative practices. She compels us to reconsider our role in recent history, how we relate to and grapple with the aftermath of shared occurrences, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which fundamentally changed our everyday behaviors and relationships with other people. New Yorkers, who are accustomed to sharing small spaces and engaging in frequent interactions, were especially rattled. 'When the plane went into the tower, (my husband and I) were standing outside on our terrace, which had views of the two towers. … The plane was just kind of coming straight at us. Because of the close proximity, it was a very intense experience. ... We literally had parts of the World Trade Center falling on us,' Elster said, explaining the contents of a vitrine. Installation view of The Classics (wide view), a solo exhibition for Jennifer Elster at The ... More Development Gallery Elster wants viewers to get into her head, literally, with a presentation of enlarged photographs of her mouth and models of her teeth after deciding recently to have braces, which is typical for children between the ages of 9 and 14. 'I just found the process of the braces and everything that had gone on with correcting the bite and everything else is really interesting,' she said, explaining how she repurposed dental diagnostic materials into art. No doubt Bowie would have laughed and related to Elster's orthodontic journey, as he had extensive dental work, including tooth replacement with crowns in the early 1990s, to straighten his crooked teeth.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Hacking The Music Industry With Tech, Independence And A DIY Ethos
Nick Hexum stands at the intersection of music and innovation, blending decades of creative ... More evolution with a bold new vision for artist empowerment in the digital age. Some people talk about disrupting the system. Nick Hexum and 311 are actually doing it. 311 recently came through Houston on tour and played at the 713 Music Hall. I had the privilege of showing up a few hours before the band took the stage to sit down with the band's founder and lead singer Nick Hexum. We spent an hour or so talking about a wide range of topics. I was impressed with Hexum but left the interview feeling a little inadequate. Hexum and I are the same age (I have him beat by just a few months), but he has accomplished much more than I in his time on this planet. As the frontman of 311, Hexum has spent over three decades pushing musical boundaries—from funk-rock and reggae-punk hybrids to chill ballads that defy easy labels. But it's not just the band's sound that's evolved. Hexum is also challenging the music industry's outdated business models by using technology and taking a more independent approach. Today, Hexum isn't just continuing to make his own music—he's helping other artists do the same. With his new startup label platform called SKP, he's giving musicians an alternative to traditional record deals. SKP provides digital distribution, promotional support and a way to stay independent—all without demanding ownership of an artist's music. Hexum and I talked about the sometimes contentious relationship between artists and labels, and the traditional revenue model. This fresh model flips the typical record label arrangement upside down. 'Now, with this label platform we're doing, we've been able to flip that in the opposite where the distributor and label services platform would take 12% and give the artist 88%,' Hexum told me. 'Completely flipping it.' It's a response to decades of experience where artists signed away their rights for small royalty checks, often without clear accounting or control. Now, Hexum wants to put power back in the hands of creators. Hexum's journey has adapted over the years with the evolution of technology. He started on a four-track cassette recorder, moved to eight-track tape and later recorded in iconic LA studios. But now? He writes and records from a laptop with a MIDI controller and a pair of headphones—often while flying. 'That has been super helpful—the convenience that the new technology can give you,' he said. This shift has given Hexum more freedom to create, no matter where he is. And more importantly, it's given artists everywhere the chance to make professional music without needing expensive gear or studio time. Hexum uses Apple Music to stream lossless-quality tracks and manage demos. He values the convenience—but he hasn't given up on physical music either. He and his band still release music on vinyl, recognizing how fans appreciate something they can see, hold and collect. Instead of focusing only on one-off singles, Hexum prefers releasing four-song EPs. These smaller collections give fans a more complete experience, including both catchy singles and deeper tracks that show a broader range of creativity. Hexum is also watching blockchain closely. He believes it can solve long-standing issues in music—like delayed royalty payments and ticket scalping. Through SKP, his team is developing 'clever contracts'—a simpler alternative to Ethereum smart contracts. These digital agreements allow for automatic, transparent payments to artists without middlemen taking a cut. He also sees potential for blockchain to reduce scalping by tying tickets to verified identities, making resale more controlled and fair for fans. While some bands only tour with a new album to promote, 311 has toured every summer—no matter what. That consistency, Hexum said, helped them stay strong even when CD sales collapsed and streaming changed everything. Their audience now includes both longtime fans and a younger crowd discovering songs like 'Amber' and 'Champagne.' Hexum said the band's mix of rock, reggae, hip hop and pop has helped them stay relevant across decades. 'We keep finding new eclectic ingredients to try sticking together and see how they fit,' he said. Hexum wants artists to think like owners, not employees. That mindset shift is key to building careers that last. When pop artist Chapel Roan recently said record labels should offer healthcare, Hexum saw it differently. 'Why would you want to be an employee when you can be an owner?' Rather than rely on labels for support, Hexum believes in helping artists build their own businesses. His approach combines fair compensation, creative freedom and a model that rewards long-term thinking over short-term fame. For decades, going platinum was the goal. But in today's music world, the dream has changed. Artists want control over their music, their money and their message. And thanks to technology, they don't need a major label to make it happen. Technology empowers freedom for artists. Today, the smartest move an artist can make is owning the path they're on.
Bloomberg
14-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Turkish Rock Musician's Guitar Firm Plans New Funding Round
By Takeaways NEW Turkish electric-guitar maker Shark is preparing to launch retail sales and a new financing round in a bid to shake up the $3 billion market with customizable instruments. The company's modular guitars are equipped with an interchangeable body, neck and pickups, as well as on-board pedals and effects.
