A DJ at work while young volunteers clear debris from a building destroyed by a Russian rocket in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv Region, Ukraine, Sunday, July 24, 2022. AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna

Young Ukrainians Rebuild Villages With ‘Clean-Up Raves’

In a village in northern Ukraine that was devastated by Russian occupation only months ago, a techno party is in full swing.

AP Justin Spike
Jul 25, 2022, 07:20 AM EDT

YAHIDNE, Ukraine (AP) — In a village in northern Ukraine that was devastated by Russian occupation only months ago, a techno party is in full swing.

In a bombed-out building, more than 200 young people have found a novel way to help rebuild their country.

The daytime “clean-up rave” in Yahidne was organized by young Ukrainians who have been using dance parties as a way to contribute to recovery efforts in the country’s north, which has suffered major damage from Russian bombardment.

Shovels in hand, the volunteers tackle the remnants of a village cultural center that was destroyed in March by a Russian rocket strike, tossing piles of debris onto a tractor’s loader. A DJ, his turntables mounted on a stack of ammunition boxes, spins techno and house dance music as the volunteers work. Some even take a break from their labor to dance.

“Volunteering is my lifestyle now,” said Tania Burianova, an organizer with the Repair Together initiative. “I like electronic music and I used to party. But now it’s wartime and we want to help, and we’re doing it with music.”

Full Story at Huffpost

Read More

‘Sounds That Actually Have Feeling’: The Drum-and-Bass Revival Is Finally Here

How the resurgent U.K. dance genre points to changing attitudes about music and nightlife


British DJ and musician Goldie (aka Clifford Price), 1997.
Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

For years, the truism ran that drum and bass, despite pockets of true believers across the nation, would, in America, remain a specialty taste within electronic music, never mind pop. But, over the past few years, the genre has risen sharply in visibility, both in the U.S. and globally. Some of this is due to TikTok, where artists like the young British vocalist PinkPantheress — who sampled Adam F’s drum-and-bass classic “Circles” for her viral hit “Break It Off” — and piri, whose sprightly, slinky liquid D&B single “soft spot” has now passed 12 million Spotify plays, got their first boosts.

But TikTok is only part of the story. The drum-and-bass revival has been manifesting over the past few years in the DJ world. “It’s very common to hear D&B out, and with increasing frequency,” says New Yorker DJ Voices (Kristin Malossi), who plays regularly at venues such as Nowadays and Good Room. “More parties are booking D&B DJs at techno clubs, and plenty of techno DJs are playing D&B.”

Read the full story on Rolling Stone

Read More

Mind of a Dragon dropped from Kiwi Recordings and several other labels in response to multiple allegations of sexual assault

Shocking news today as one of the most prolific UK Garage artists in recent history was accused of sexual assault by multiple victims (Warning, explicit and potentially triggering content: https://twitter.com/afullix/status/1275387725106032640?s=20). Kiwi Rekords and several other labels who have released his works quickly vowed to cease publishing and remove them from their catalogs.

Read More

Moog and Korg make synth apps free to help musicians stuck at home

Minimoog Model D and iKaossilator could help create a hit in your bedroom.

If you’re a musician (or fan) whose concerts got scrapped over coronavirus concerns, you’ll at least have more tools to produce music when you’re at home. To start, Moog has made its Minimoog Model D iOS synth app available for free. It wasn’t hugely expensive to start, but this could make it easy to recreate the first portable synth and slip some Kraftwerk- or Dr. Dre-inspired sounds into your latest track. Moog didn’t say how long the price change would last, but you might want to act quickly.

Not to be left out, Korg is doing the same for its Kaossilator apps, which normally cost close to $20. Android artists can grab the software for no charge until March 20th, 2020, while the iOS crowd has until March 31st to get iKaossilator. Either app makes the most sense if you’re more into looping audio and variety than strict technical realism, but that may be all you need to add some spice to a future hit.

More on Engadget

Read More

Drum & bass don Spirit has died

Drum & bass DJs such as Randall and Andy C and many others have been paying tribute to stalwart DJ/producer Spirit, who has died following a cardiac arrest.

Feeding quality dancefloor tracks into the scene for over 20 years, Spirit – real name Duncan Busto — began his music career working in the Redeye Records shop in Ipswich in the East of England. This somewhat unlikely hub also spawned Photek, Klute and Paul Arnold’s Certificate 18 Records, and it was with Klute that Spirit made his first track.

Teaching himself his craft as a producer, Spirit went on to record on labels like Timeless and CIA before starting his own label, Inneractive.

His sometime partnership with Digital, following the ‘Phantom Force’ project, and increasing acceptance of his music by scene bigwigs allowed him to go full time just before the Millennium.

Full story at DJ Mag

Read More

Grime artist Stormzy has launched a scholarship for black students in a bid to tackle the chronic lack of diversity at the UK’s top universities

  • UK grime artist Stormzy has just announced the Stormzy Scholarship.
  • With the help of YouTube Music, he will fund two black students to go to Cambridge University this year, and two more in 2019.
  • There is a chronic under-representation of black students at the UK’s top universities.
  • It comes down to a number of factors, including a lack of support in applying, the fear of not fitting in, huge competition for places on certain courses, and racism.

Grime artist Stormzy has just announced he will fund two black students this year and two in 2019 to go to Cambridge University, which is currently ranked the 2nd best university in the UK, and the 6th in the world.

The Stormzy Scholarship will pay for tuition fees and money the same value as a maintenance grant for up to four years on an undergraduate course at the university.

“It’s so important for black students, especially, to be aware that it can 100% be an option to attend a university of this calibre,” the rapper said.

Stormzy will fund one student per year himself, and the rest of the funds will come from YouTube Music.

Both Cambridge and Oxford — the top two universities in the UK — haven’t got the best reputation for giving places to students of colour.

A Business Insider investigation found that the number of black students applying for, receiving offers from, and attending Oxford and Cambridge universities is chronically low. Only 40 black students were accepted out of 2,210 placed UK applicants to Cambridge in 2016. And only 35 black students were accepted out of 2,210 placed UK applicants to Oxford.

Full story at Insider

Read More

Opinion: UK Garage is the best genre ever

This isn’t even a debate

Patrick Hinton – Mixmag.com

There’s an inclination among the human race to muse on difficult questions. What’s the meaning of life? Would you rather? Should I go out for the third night in a row despite being four figures overdrawn and bordering on coma-levels of tiredness? All are the subject of deep thought.

In the underground dance scene this urge translates into a toss-up between the two leading genres. Pick one: house or techno? They’re the most popular styles, and there’s a weighty crossover in the fan bases. It’s a query that can be posed absentmindedly and then spiral out into a brain wracking analysis that has discussers looking like Charlie Kelly.

House is uplifting, soulful, but techno is gritty, powerful, and each can be left feeling lacklustre or overbearing in comparison, depending on your varying mood. Committing absolutely to one and sacrificing the other for eternity is tough. If this is a question that has ever plagued your consciousness then have no fear because I’ve solved it. Don’t worry, it’s not tech-house, which is neither here nor there. The answer to deciding your favourite in the near-existential question of “house or techno?” is: UK garage, which is actually the best genre ever.

Full article on Mixmag

Read More

SoundCloud Accepts $170 Million Rescue, Taps New CEO to Replace Alex Ljung

Kerry Trainor, formerly of Vimeo, will lead the beleaguered service. Founder and outgoing CEO Alex Ljung predicts a “strong, independent future for the company.”

The SoundCloud death watch has ended.

The struggling digital music service today secured a fresh round of funding that assures SoundCloud will remain independent, even as a new executive team takes over to steer the service into the future.

The Raine Group, a boutique merchant bank, joined with the Singapore-based investment company Temasek, in leading a $169.5 million investment round that infuses SoundCloud with much-needed cash.

Former Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor succeeds founder Alex Ljung as chief executive, and Michael Weissman, another former executive at the video platform, was named SoundCloud’s chief operating officer.

“All of this together — the capital, the capital partners — with Kerry and Mike joining our team — it puts our company in a really great position to stay strong and remain independent,” Ljung said in an interview with Billboard. “We see a strong, independent future for the company.”

Full story at Billboard

Read More

Zed Bias announces new album for Exit Records, Different Response

The album, which features collaborations with DRS and Zoë Violet, is out in September.
Zed Bias’s next album, Different Response, will come through Exit Records.

The LP follows the Driftin EP, which was the UK producer’s debut on dBridge’s label Exit Records. Like that record, Different Response features the vocalist Zoë Violet, along with other guest spots from Harleigh Blue, Bahia, Nasrawi and drum & bass MC DRS. The label calls Different Response “modern UK soul delivered in the 160 BPM format.” It’s his first LP since 2013’s Boss, which came out on Swamp 81.

Full story and sample at ResidentAdvisor

Read More

Marcus Intalex aka Trevino has died

The cause of death is unknown

Manchester producer Marcus Intalex, aka Trevino, has passed away.

Details surrounding his death are not known, but fellow artists have been paying tribute to him on Twitter.

DJ Zinc posted “RIP Marcus Intalex. So sad.” Chase & Status wrote “such devastating news, another legend” and Boddika has said he is “truly heartbroken”. One fan said that he “inspired a generation”.

He was due to play at his Soul:ution party in London tonight (May 28), but promoter Ovation posted earlier today saying the night at The Pickle Factory had been cancelled.

Real name Marcus Kaye, he mainly released on his label Soul:r, also releasing on Ingredients, Metalheadz and Exit Records among others.

Full story at MixMag

Read More