FEATURES
How Redpill VR is Mutating the Modern Music Festival Into a Visceral Virtual Reality Experience
With each major music festival domino that falls due to the impact of COVID-19, Redpill VR smells the blood in the water. Developing mind-bending, immersive experiences that blend music with virtual reality, Redpill has emerged as one of the nation’s preeminent VR companies. They have been working tirelessly for the better half of the last decade, looking through rose-colored VR glasses to mutate the modern music festival into an immersive shared experience that can be funneled straight to the cerebrum of the raver. “At the end of the day, the core element of the experience is to be social,” Redpill’s Isaiah Martin told EDM.com. As the organization’s Chief Magic Officer, Martin has a bird’s-eye view of its technological advancements, helping to spea...
Deftones’ Chino Moreno on Creative ‘Balance,’ Healing Energy of New LP Ohms
“It’s dark,” says Chino Moreno. “It’s a trip.” Not a bad off-the-cuff summary of Deftones’ ninth LP, Ohms, which amplifies the art-metal band’s signature dynamic extremes: Frank Delgado’s shadowy synth atmospherics are more prominent in the mix, and Stephen Carpenter’s detuned riffs scorch the terrain beneath them. But Moreno isn’t describing the album — instead, he’s marveling at the post-apocalyptic orange skies that blanket his current home of Bend, Oregon. Weeks before Ohms enters the world, the West Coast is ravaged by wildfires that have polluted the air to dangerous levels. “I’m actually out walking right now,” the frontman says, noting one of his regular pandemic-era activities. “But I shouldn’t be because the quality is too bad. It’s 11 a.m., and it’s really dark right now.” ...
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How eevee, the Heroine of Lo-Fi, is Channeling Her Music Through Her Pregnancy [Interview]
Despite its robust presence in the streaming landscape, lo-fi music remains one of the most unheralded and overlooked avenues in the industry. A melancholic and brooding sub-species of dance music, lo-fi is EDM’s ugly duckling, trudging behind the genre flock before quietly emerging as a dominant force. You may not readily know what lo-fi music is, but odds are it is a subliminal quality of your everyday life. Subtly incorporating organic audial elements like the hiss of a cassette deck or the crackle of a vinyl player, lo-fi music is deeply enrooted in its mainstream counterparts—hip-hop, R&B, and soul—and influences much of the contemporary music we hear today. To this day, though, it remains in the shadows, eager to burst out of the murky cocoons of the vast musical genre spec...
Old Burning Man Sculptures Find a Home at New “Area 15” Art Complex
Since the Burning Man festivities were brought to a screeching halt in 2020, one man is keeping the festival’s spirit alive by featuring a number of its awe-inspiring sculptures with a new art complex called “Area 15.” The mysterious Las Vegas bunker opened in the desert last week as the brainchild of Michael Beneville, a 10-year Burning Man veteran whose dream was to bring the ineffable communal spirit of the festival to the outside world. “Burning Man is its own very special thing,” Beneville told Artnet News during a virtual tour last week. “It’s 68,000 of the most creative people on the planet coming together to build something that’s just extraordinary. I’m humble enough to know that we would never try to recreate Burning Man.” Art I...
Sadie Dupuis Chases Down Ghosts on New Solo LP
Whether she’s fronting her longtime indie-rock band Speedy Ortiz or going solo under the more pop-leaning Sad13, singer-songwriter Sadie Dupuis has always been fascinated by ghouls, haunted houses and the unknown. “Even from the earliest Speedy stuff, there’s a lot of Tarot and ghosts and the occult,” she tells SPIN. On her new Sad13 album, Haunted Painting (out Sept. 25 via her label Wax Nine), she chases ghosts of her own. For many years, Dupuis worked a prolific clip, constantly touring and releasing a record every year. Her father passed away prior to Speedy Ortiz’s second LP, 2015’s Foil Deer, and several friends died from overdoses. And she admits that working hard for so long provided an excuse for her to avoid processing grief. “At some point, it was sor...
Continuous Intelligence: The Newest Trend in Data Analysis
Continuous intelligence (CI) provides organisations across industry sectors with a more effective way of conducting data analysis. Being able to do so at greater scale, with higher volumes, and in near real-time will ensure their data will deliver even more business value. CI refers to the design pattern in which real-time analytics are integrated within the workflow of the business, analysing current and past data to suggest actions in response to events. Think of it as automating data analysis on a large scale. Gartner predicts that by 2022, more than half of major new business systems will incorporate CI using real-time contextual data to improve decisions. In basic terms, this enables organisation to improve the cycle time of its data to derive continuous business benefit from it. Furt...
Ava Max on Bringing Us Heaven in a Year of Hell
Friday marked the beginning of a well-deserved celebration for Ava Max. After two years of building her musical resumé with a series of hits, the pop riser finally released her debut album, Heaven & Hell — fittingly enough, during one of the most hellish times in human history. And since a pandemic-stricken year isn’t necessarily the ideal time for an album release party, Max instead marked the moment just as one might expect: in the realest way possible. “I’m probably going to scream at the top of my lungs,” she told SPIN on Thursday afternoon, just hours before the big day. “Then I’ll eat a lot of cake and probably spit it out because I’m screaming again.” Jokes aside, Max opted to have friends and family close by for the occasion — something she’s been waiting for sin...
5 Ways to Effectively Defend Against Cyberthreats
Sourced from Republic Title Garmin and Twitter recently joined the ranks of a string of global organisations that have fallen victim to crippling cyberattacks. A little closer to home, last year, the City of Johannesburg’s network was also hacked and held ransom for a hefty 4 bitcoins (worth around R520 000 at the time). While the nature of these attacks may be different, it’s clear that cybercrime is on the rise and companies of all sizes and across all sectors need to be vigilant. An ideal environment for cybercrime It’s no surprise that these attacks are becoming more common in today’s increasingly connected society. The rise of online applications and services means unprotected users are more exposed than ever before. Added to this, the current pandemic has pushed man...
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EDM.com Presents Synth Sisters: Vol. 3 [NERVO Takeover]
There is so much talent within the electronic music community that it’s difficult to keep a finger on its pulse. To assist you on your music discovery journey, EDM.com’s monthly “Synth Sisters” series illuminates new releases from brilliant female producers of all genres and sizes with the hope of celebrating their contributions. In a special edition of “Synth Sisters,” barnstorming dance music production and DJ tandem NERVO have taken over the series to shed light on their favorite electronic music created by women. The prolific NERVO duo—comprised of sisters and mothers Liv and Mim Nervo—are in the midst of a typically triumphant year, releasing new music at a breakneck pace. They’ve unveiled collaborations with Plastik Funk (“Dar...
Blizzard of Ozz Turns 40: Musicians Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne’s First Solo Album
Twenty-three years before he’d achieve cult icon status as the affable patriarch of one of reality television’s most profane families, things were looking fairly bleak for Ozzy Osbourne. Freshly booted from Black Sabbath — the groundbreaking band he co-founded — Ozzy was in the throes of heavy addiction, drowning himself in booze with his musical aspirations seemingly on the brink of collapse. Fortunately, Ozzy’s future father-in-law didn’t let that happen. Instead, Don Arden signed the zoophagic rocker to his label, Jet Records, and Ozzy assembled a majestic band of his own. Boasting Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads and late Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake, along with Rainbow bassist, Bob Daisley, and keyboardist, Don Airey, the band was christened Blizzard of Ozz. However, Jet’s marketi...
The Lemon Twigs on Their Brotherly Balance, Unorthodox Love Songs, Elton John Praise
Brian D’Addario, 23, and his brother Michael, 21, were still teenagers when they signed with legendary indie label 4AD and released their debut album as The Lemon Twigs, co-produced by Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado. The Long Island siblings are both singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who expertly evoke the sound and spirit of ‘60s and ‘70s rock at its most melodic — and they’ve already impressed heroes like Todd Rundgren and Elton John. But their recently issued third album, Songs for the General Public, is the kind of confident step into a brighter spotlight that its title implies — the sound of former teen prodigies now in the prime of their talents. Brian D’Addario spoke to SPIN about how their new album contrasts with their last effort, the whimsical 2018 rock opera Go To School, ...
Go Behind the Scenes of Kygo and Donna Summer’s New “Hot Stuff” Music Video
On Friday, September 18th, Kygo released the latest in his line of tribute remixes. This time, the Norwegian producer took on Donna Summer‘s 1979 classic, “Hot Stuff.” Alongside the reimagination, he also released a music video featuring the stars of Netflix‘s Outer Banks, Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes. Filmed in North Carolina over the summer, the production company behind the video, Lighthouse Films, captured the spirit of decades past to help set the background for the single. Before, during, and after the release of the music video, they shared behind-the-scenes footage of the filmmaking process. It’s interesting to note how Lighthouse transformed the modern-day setting into a nostalgic paradise using props and lighting effects. Also notab...
