This Week In Music: 3rd April 2020

A weekly update on all things music, advertising, and technology coming straight to you from Anthony Vanger at MassiveMusic. #TWIM

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: IZZY CAMINA

A rising techno-pop star bringing nihilism to the club

When the world is falling apart, there is no better music than techno, especially the minimal kind. You can pipe it through your ear buds, straight into your sub-conscious and let the bass cover your soul like a soothing poultice. Rising LA-based producer and songwriter Izzy Camina uses sparse arrangements and driving beats to lure the listener in on her new track “UP N DOWN.” From the opening pulse, this track gets straight to the business end of the tune. Moody, sensual and always shifting, the overall effect is unsettling. But the music also makes you move. When the world ends, at least you can go out dancing.

Izzy has just released her debut EP “NIHILIST IN THE CLUB”. Check out the rest of her music here: https://youtu.be/xKTcnudXb0c

AD OF THE WEEK: FACEBOOK | NEVER LOST

Ad from the silicon giant reminds us to stay connected

Before the Corona epidemic, the social media giant facebook was in a moribund state. Despite its official 2 billion users, kids shunned it and many adults strayed to Instagram never to return. But now, FB has suddenly become relevant again. Why? Although many of us had stopped using the platform, FB had a reserve of non-email or phone contacts that were still valid, a kind of digital rolodex of our friends, especially the ones that we rarely saw. That has allowed people to leave messages with friends from past lives - undergraduate, graduate school days and all types of acquaintances who have spread across the globe. The campaign, which is made up of real stories and content from around the world, is voiced by British poet Kate Tempest, reading her 2019 poetic song “People’s Faces”.

CHUCK D REVEALS FEUD WITH FLAVOR FLAV WAS ELABORATE HOAX TO PROMOTE NEW ALBUM

The heated feud between Chuck D and Flavor Flav boiled to extremes earlier in March when Public Enemy revealed that Flav had been fired from the group. In arguably one the weirdest turn of events to ever grace hip-hop, that feud has seemingly been a hoax the entire time, fabricated to promote a new album from Chuck’s Enemy Radio project. Today, on April 1, Enemy Radio released a new album titled Loud Is Not Enough, which features both Chuck and Flav on a politically-charged single called “Food As A Machine Gun.”

Chuck shared that the two had been working on a new Public Enemy Radio album since late February. “There’s a select few that do know—that I had to let know—that me and Flav have been better than ever,” he jested. Chuck also noted that Flav can’t effectually be fired from Public Enemy, solidifying the ruse: “He can’t, he’s a partner. You can’t fire partners. You just walk away from ’em.”

OVER 30,000 CREATORS SIGNED UP TO FUNDING PLATFORM PATREON IN FIRST 3 WEEKS OF MARCH

San Francisco-based crowdfunding/membership platform Patreon saw 30,000 creators launch new funding accounts in the first three weeks of March, and the company adds that the new creators are also “acquiring patrons faster than usual.”

The company, which raised $60 million in a Series D funding round last year, says that these new creators are launching on the platform faster than at any point in its history.

Artists use Patreon to offer exclusive content to more than 4 million patrons in over 180 countries.

According to a blog post published by the platform’s Head of Data Science Maura Church last week (March 25), more than 150,000 artists use Patreon to generate income from the platform and they’ve earned over $1 billion in the process.

AFTER LONDON ENTERS LOCKDOWN, THE LEGENDARY ABBEY ROAD CROSSING FINALLY GETS REPAINTED

The zebra crossing is located right outside Abbey Road Studios and is one of London’s most popular tourist spots. Tourists oftentimes line up to re-create the famous image on the cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album.

Last Friday, London went into lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus. All non-essential businesses, including restaurants, theaters, bars, and gyms, are temporarily closed. That means the streets and tourist hotspots like Abbey Road are finally empty.

Last Tuesday, city workers took the opportunity to get the Abbey Road crossing repainted – without tourists getting in the way. An Abbey Road webcam usually shows the area bustling with tourists as they wait to pass and take pictures.

THIS NEW TURNTABLE CAN CUT VINYL RECORDS

A new turntable called the Easy Record Maker cuts vinyl records, which can then be played on it. 

Designed by Yuri Suzuki in collaboration with Japanese company Gakken, the Easy Record Maker comes with 10 5″ inch discs. 

An audio source can be connected via its aux cable, from which you can “engrave sound directly from the recording stylus,” Suzuki shared. 

Once cut, you can instantly play the recording the device’s tonearm and built-in speaker, as well as design your own labels and sleeves.

Suzuki will be presenting a demo of the Easy Record Maker on his Instagram account, Friday 3rd April.

Written by Anthony Vanger

Additional reporting by Adam "Badger" Woolf

Artwork by Gustav Balderdash

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