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Light at the End of the Tunnel: 15 EDM Shows to Look Forward to in 2021
2020 has been—for lack of a better term—a dumpster fire. It’s been a miserable year, marred by an unrelenting virus that continues to suck the soul out of the live music scene like a Dementor. However, myriad concerts and festivals have already been announced for 2021, serving as a light at the end of a tunnel that seemed bleakly boundless following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While these shows are not set in stone due to the uncertainty of the virus’ impact and the mercurial safety ordinances instated by the government, fans can certainly hold out hope. Here are 15 EDM shows to look forward to in 2021, courtesy of the EDM.com staff. March 27: Chase & Status (DJ Set) at Victoria Warehouse Dimension, My Nu Leng, Notion, and Bou round out an absolutely massive lineup—...
“Driving While Black” Is a Hard Look at a Distinctly American History
When was the last time you thought about what the word automobile means? Breaking it down, auto comes from the Greek for self, and mobile is from the Latin, meaning to move. An automobile is a technology that enables autonomy over one’s mobility—instead of relinquishing control over that mobility to someone else operating a commuter train, ferry boat, or airplane. What viewers will learn watching Driving While Black is that the restriction and policing of the mobility of Black citizens in our country is more intertwined with American history than any Corvette, F-150, or muscle car that has graced this publication. Driving While Black comes from professor and Cooperstown graduate director Dr. Gretchen Sorin, who published a book of the same name in early 2020 (an excerpt of which we w...
A Story of a Woman in ICT
Growing up in Thabakgone GaMamabolo in Limpopo, I never conceived that I would find myself working as a fibre optic technician for one of South Africa’s largest ICT infrastructure companies. As a woman, I am one of very few. Despite all that is being done to increase female representation in male-dominated fields, it’s still very rare to find women in my field. This is for a number of reasons, a major one being that many are not necessarily looking into my type of work as a possible career. Although I have found it to be thoroughly rewarding, it requires me to be available at odd times and days of the week. It’s not a route that I likely would have taken had I had other opportunities that I could pursue but I am glad I did. I always say that the career found me. /* ...
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Watch DJ Diesel’s Epic 2019 Lollapalooza Set [Exclusive]
Watching Shaquille O’Neal perform at Lollapalooza in 2019 was a surreal experience. It’s rare to see someone go from rattling backboards to crowds in the tens of thousands, but O’Neal did so with the gravitas one would expect from a true Renaissance man. O’Neal’s foray into the EDM scene may have seemed like a pie-in-the-sky idea a few years ago, but he put his naysayers to bed after dropping a breakthrough Lollapalooza set as triumphant as his legendary NBA career. Performing as DJ Diesel, he graced the stage of the quintessential music festival and went on to play a set that was emblematic of a real genesis, like a butterfly emerging from a (gigantic) cocoon. After he kicked things off with a hypnotic intro edit of Kanye West‘s “Je...
Dive Into an Exclusive Playlist of Electronic-Punk Hybrids from You Me at Six Drummer Dan Flint
Dan Flint, drummer of prolific British band You Me at Six, is making an emphatic statement about the latticework of electronic and punk music. The band’s style is rooted in rock and punk, but electronic music courses through Flint’s veins, representing an unspoken yet powerful presence that pumps through the bedrock of his artistry. You Me at Six’s August 2020 single “MAKEMEFEELALIVE” was emblematic of the conjuring of that electronic spell, incorporating kinetic breakbeat influences and raucous drum & bass percussion. Flint has now doubled down on the track with a remix of his own, flipping it into a frenetic breakbeat bomb that moonlights as the genesis of a bona fide electronic music producer. You can listen to the remix below and find it...
2021 MotorTrend of the Year Testing: How We Did It
We’re a nimble bunch at MotorTrend. The global health crisis has affected our daily reality. Mobility is limited. Fear of mass-spread infection events is high. We take this crisis and the safety of our testers, editors, photographers, and videographers very seriously. But we also take seriously our obligation to provide our readers with the best, most complete information on cars, trucks, and SUVs. In confronting what is typically a logistical mountain to bring you OTY, this year added the hazards of performing these tests under threat of contagion. Traditionally, for Car and SUV of the Year, we have used Honda‘s and Hyundai’s desert proving grounds located a couple hours’ drive north of Los Angeles as the staging areas for instrumented testing and the basic driving...
Jonah Ray: Close Personal Friend of Al….
(Like all of Jonah’s articles, there is a corresponding Spotify playlist of all the bands he mentions. Feel free to immerse yourself and listen while reading. Imagine that, a feast for yer eyes and ears at the SAME TIME.) “Close Personal Friend Of Al” was the name of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s fan club. As a kid who was a fan, I was always very close to sending in my membership application but never did. I was 1.) Afraid of putting effort into something that might get lost in the mail and 2.) I knew it was just a clever name for a fan club and wasn’t an actual invitation to what I REALLY wanted as a kid: to be a close, personal friend of Al. “Weird Al” never played a show where I grew up and I was slightly insulted as he wore “Hawaiian” shirts but never played Hawaii. If he had played, would I ...
Artist x Artist: Jonah Ray Interviews ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Artist x Artist. So simple, but so telling. When you put two creative minds together for a conversation, it can go literally in every direction. This happens on-stage during a show, it happens backstage, it happens at parties and it happens during great hangs. SPIN’s new series aims to capture the essence of what makes artists tick. Here, we’re going to connect old friends, people who have never met before or those who loosely know of each other’s existence for an unfiltered conversation that is intended to the proverbial fly-on-the-wall as this conversation takes place. We don’t know where it will go or have a set agenda. The goal is to capture the true essence of these behind-the-scenes conversations. We’re excited to launch the series with comedian/musician/SPIN contributor Jonah R...
EDM Comes Together for World Mental Health Day
While mental health is a serious issue every year, 2020 has been especially tough due to the uncertainty related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That is why this past Saturday’s World Mental Health Awareness Day was one of its most important since its inception in 1992. In honor of the day, some of the most prominent artists in EDM came together to share personal stories, offer resources, and just simply assure us that we’re not alone in this fight. Remember to take care of yourself and those around you during these turbulent times. Know that you’re not alone and there are a vast number of resources out there to help you. Important mental health awareness information can be found on the World Health Organization’s website. You can check out their material and...
Why it’s Critical to Nurture Female Talent in Technology
Gender imbalance isn’t just another challenge that companies need to overcome, it could be considered one of the biggest obstacles facing the global tech sector today. This is something we’re seeing across many regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa. To start, the tech sector is facing a talent shortage problem: there aren’t enough professionals in the existing technology pipeline to fill the positions that are expected to open in the next decade. In fact, Korn Ferry estimates that by 2030, the global tech workforce will be short 4.3 million employees. Achieving greater gender diversity in the sector can help close this huge gap, tapping into the half of the population that has so far been left behind. The technology sector also thrives on innovation, which is driven by diverse thinking. As...
Only 19% of Women Use Internet in Uganda, Study Shows
Women in Uganda use the Internet far less than men according to a new survey from the World Wide Web Foundation which found that 27% of men in the country are online, compared with just 19% of women. Uganda had by far the largest gender gap in internet access among four countries included in the survey of women’s online experiences. In Ghana, which also featured in the study, men were just 6% more likely to be online than women, compared with 43% in Uganda. Total internet use in Uganda remains low at 23% of the population, while Ghana has reached 30%. The exclusion of women from the digital society is a huge threat to progress on gender equality and denies women opportunities to improve their lives, the report warns: “The internet is one of the most empowering technologies the world has ev...
Scientists Hope to Use Electronic Music and “Tongue Buzzing” to Treat Tinnitus
Many people around the world, especially those in the music industry, suffer from tinnitus or ringing in the ears. Tinnitus isn’t a standalone medical condition or disease you can catch, but rather a symptom from conditions like hearing loss. While there are a variety of treatments out there, a simple cure that fixes the problem for everyone does not exist. Ireland’s Neuromod Devices has been testing a new device that hopes to help those experiencing the symptom. Interestingly enough, while loud electronic music can bring on tinnitus, the Irish researchers are using electronic music to help patients. Their device—named Lenire—is a peripheral fitted with electrodes that the patient places on their tongue while listening to tones through headphones. The user ...
