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'Star Wars' is getting an official electronic music album
There are plenty of Star Wars-inspired songs and remixes (such as Meco's disco adaptations), but the legendary space fantasy series is finally getting something official... and you might want to give it a listen. The upcoming Star Wars Headspace will include electronic tunes that are either influenced by or reworks of the movies, most of them from artists you'll know if you're big on digital beats. The whole thing is produced by Rick Rubin, and there are tracks from Bonobo, Claude VonStroke, Flying Lotus, Kaskade and Röyksopp, among others.
A new chiptune album is coming to the Nintendo Famicom
Every week it feels like a new video game soundtrack gets a vinyl release. Journey, The Last of Us, FTL and Shenmue -- none of these are surprises anymore. So what's next? MiniDiscs? Cassette tapes? Well, some musicians are keen to use cartridges instead. 8BIT MUSIC POWER is a new chiptune album that you'll need to slide into a Nintendo Famicom (Japan's equivalent of the NES) to listen to. Developed by RIKI and manufactured by Columbus Circle, it features 12 original tracks from, among others, former Famicom music composers Yuriko Keino (Xevious, Dig Dug) and Takeaki Kunimoto (Star Soldier).
Wu-Tang Clan sells its one-of-a-kind 'Shaolin' album for millions
Remember Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time In Shaolin album? The group spent nine years recording 31 tracks for a special LP, then decided to sell just one copy of it -- for a very high price, of course. It was finally purchased by a private American collector for "millions," according to Forbes. The deal was completed in May, but the contract was finalized only recently. The buyer will get to listen to the album now, but won't have the right to release it publicly for another 88 years. "The Wu-Tang Clan has always been driven by innovation, and this marks another moment in musical history," said co-founder RZA. He added that "we hoped that this concept would inspire debate and new ways of seeing creativity."
UK's official album charts to count records sold at gigs
Many bands sell their first albums on the road. Whether they're touring solo or supporting a larger act, some music fans will purchase their CD at the venue -- provided they like what they heard, of course. Now, the UK's Official Charts Company wants to recognise these sales in the official albums chart. Through a system called "Lightning Live," these impulse purchases will now feed directly into the weekly chart, better reflecting the popularity of smaller artists and labels. It's not clear exactly how they're being recorded, but the company says the system has been road-tested for six months to ensure the numbers are accurate. Back in February, streaming figures were added to the official albums chart too. The way people are paying for music is slowly changing -- fewer people are buying CDs from a store -- so these moves should help to keep the musical rankings relevant.
Kraftwerk takes techno pop into the third dimension
Not to be undone by bands that release artwork via fax machine or by albums released in sheet music form, German electronic mainstay Kraftwerk's next record will be available in a 3D format. It's a fairly unusual approach to making music as you can't really hear 3D (unless you experience synesthesia). This latest collection of tracks will be released on Blu-ray in autumn. Ralf Hutter, the only remaining original member, told Rolling Stone that it will consist of 3D performances with surround sound.
Dr. Dre's 'Compton' makes its way to Google Music, Rdio and others
Apple Music's exclusive grip on Dr. Dre's new album lasted two weeks. Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre is now streaming from the likes of Google Play, Deezer, Tidal, Rdio and Rhapsody based on our quick look through music services. It's still absent from Spotify, though, perhaps due to its free tier that many artists aren't too thrilled about. If you didn't sign up for Cupertino's free trial, you can now give it a spin from the aforementioned repositories -- just in time for the weekend. We're curious to see if the Apple Music exclusive period in the future remains at 14 days or if it changes with each release.
Prince's 'HITNRUN' arrives September 7th as a Tidal exclusive
In case you missed it, Prince pulled his catalog from nearly every streaming service recently except for a select few. And as you might expect, he's releasing his next album in one place: Tidal. HITNRUN is the title that arrives on September 7th, and the exclusive release is the latest development between the artist and the streaming service since the two first got friendly back in May. Back in the spring, Tidal livestreamed Prince's Rally 4 Peace concert in Baltimore. Of course, pulling his music from those other services isn't stopping the artist from using them to promote singles. Last week, "Stare" popped up exclusively on Spotify -- a service which boasts a few more subscribers than Tidal.
Music streaming has officially exploded in the UK
Music streaming has never been more popular in the UK. The latest figures from the Official Charts Company show that 11.5 billion tracks were streamed in the first six months of 2015. That's almost double the 6.4 billion recorded for the same period last year, and close to the 14.8 billion tracks logged for the entirety of 2014. Likewise, streaming on video platforms such as YouTube are skyrocketing. The Official Charts Company reported 14.3 billion streams last year, and already listeners have clocked 12.5 billion streams in 2015.
Tinder sneaks ads for albums into your dating profiles
There comes a point in every zeitgeisty app's life when it wonders if it should stop eating nothing but Doritos and having those drunken one-night stands and become a mature, serious business. We've already seen Snapchat evolve from a way to distribute pictures of your genitals to a news broadcast system, and now Tinder is seriously considering becoming a music promoter. The dating app has just signed a deal with Interscope Records to promote the new album from Russian DJ Zedd.
Relax: De La Soul's album's already smashed its Kickstarter goal
De La Soul love sampling, so much so that they feel as if a whole branch of copyright law was invented just for them. The sample-heavy trio (for three is the magic number) didn't want to have to compromise their artistic vision for their ninth album, so took to Kickstarter to ask for your cash. It didn't take long before the group smashed its $110,000 crowdfunding goal, and so the new De La Soul album will find its way into mailboxes this September.
Friday is the New Music Tuesday, thanks to piracy
You'll have to change your music-buying habits starting this summer, because new albums are going to be released every Friday at exactly 00:01, instead of Tuesdays like you're used to. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents music labels worldwide, has just announced that Friday is now global album release day. Why? Well, the IFPI is hoping that it can help curb piracy: "An aligned global release day puts an end to the frustration of not being able to access releases in their country when the music is available in another country."
Interactive album artwork doubles as a DJ controller
Jack White isn't the only act doing amazing things with vinyl releases. Inside DJ Qbert's Extraterrestria, one of the jacket inserts doubles as a controller for Algoriddim's djay iOS app. After connecting to a mobile device via Bluetooth, Novalia's printed MIDI tech makes the album art the console, complete with scratching and a smattering of other tools. What's more, it'll work with Apple's desktop OS, too. The album was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and most of the copies will go to those who committed ahead of time. Unlike White's Lazaretto release, it's not the record itself that's the main attraction here, but rather the packaging -- not that it makes the project any less awesome. Jump down past the break to see it in action.
Final Fantasy composer records symphonic album at Abbey Road
Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu is crafting an album of symphonic music from the Final Fantasy series, to be recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios and released digitally in early 2015 through Merregnon Studios. The album plays off of the Final Symphony concert series, which features songs from Final Fantasy 6, 7 and 10. "It is always an honor to hear my work being performed live on stage, but in bringing Final Symphony to Abbey Road Studios I hope that many more people will now be able to enjoy the outstanding arrangements that Merregnon Studios has become famous for," Uematsu says in a press release. "To work with the London Symphony Orchestra in a studio that has played host to many of my own personal, musical heroes will be a very special experience." Uematsu will supervise the album's production. Working alongside Uematsu is Final Symphony concert conductor Eckehard Stier and solo pianist Katharina Treutler. The Final Symphony concert series began in May 2013 and toured through Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. This album is the second collaboration between Merregnon and X5 Music Group, following the game music concert series Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo, which features music from Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and other classic games. [Image: @vgmconcerts]
OK Go plans to release an album as DNA
Most bands release a new album as MP3s, and on both CD and vinyl. If you caught any of OK Go's music videos, you know they prefer to do things a little differently. In addition to the aforementioned formats, the band plans release its latest album Hungry Ghosts as DNA. Yep, that's right, nanograms of Deoxyribonucleic acid will carry the music. With the help of a biochemist from UCLA, the record's digital files -- basically a collection of ones and zeroes -- were translated into the genetic code. "Legally speaking, it's unclear whether we will be able to sell the DNA to anyone, or how we would physically get it to them," Kulash told The New Yorker. "This stuff is regulated really fucking heavily." For example, fans may see the DNA version of the album as a small vial with a few drops of water that carry copies of the tunes. "Obviously, it's an artistic gesture and a scientific project, not the most efficient way to actually buy our album," explained Kulash. [Photo credit: Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images]
Backtrace, the geekiest album you'll hear, hits Billboard comedy charts
I saw James Dempsey speak at AltConf this past June (AltConf runs during WWDC for those who want something a little different). James goes way back in Apple lore to the NeXT days, and for his talk he pulled some code to show how Swift didn't just materialize from thin air, it has its origins in NeXT. Dempsey worked at Apple for 15 years, but lately he's been having a good time releasing music with his band, James Dempsey the Breakpoints. Their latest album hit Billboard's charts. So in case you were wondering if being a developer pays off, then yes. But being an artist who writes and performs music that only developers will grok seems to also be lucrative -- if you're as talented as Dempsey. With songs like Endian Reservations and The Fetch Spec Song, it's clear these are inside jokes. But the music is fun and Dempsey's joy for coding and music-making is evident in this album, which got up to number five on the comedy charts. That's no small task considering Patton Oswalt is also on that chart. You can check out his AltConf talk here and buy Backtrace on iTunes here. I'm hoping James winds up making a cameo on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. soon.
Music fan tries to raise $40,000 to make kitty hip-hop 'meowlbum'
Guys, GUYS, this Kickstarter campaign's giving you a chance to make your cat-rap dreams a reality. Hip-hop artists El-P and Killer Mike jokingly wrote on their website that they'll release a remix of their latest album, Run The Jewels 2, featuring cat sounds if someone pays them $40,000. So, what's an avid fan (and cat person) to do but try to raise that money, eh? Even better, one of the artists went on Twitter and promised to do it if the campaign reaches its goal. The duo didn't exactly clarify what kind of cat sounds those are, but we're hoping it's a mixture of meowing, hissing, caterwauling and relentless scratching on furniture.
Paul McCartney banks on apps, not albums
Paul McCartney went through a rift with streaming services, but the former Beatle has been always been keen to keep his albums available on iTunes. Now, Sir Paul is following a growing trend for releases and reissues: apps. Five of McCartney's classic albums (Band on the Run, McCartney, McCartney II, RAM and Wings over America) are now available as iPad apps, complete with bonus material. On top of the extra videos, photos, interviews and remastered tracks, the standalone downloads are priced at $7.99 -- $5 less than the regular deluxe versions. Of course, you'll have to contend with streaming the tracks through each app rather than hopping around the complete set in your mobile library. The move is nothing new though, as Lady Gaga, Björk and others have taken a similar route with companion software and added content. It's no secret that artists are having a hard time paying the bills from record sales, so packaging music as paid apps seems a tactic to fill the void. [Photo credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Eye of the North's soundtrack
The final Guild Wars soundtrack not only took the first game out in style but instantly became one of the best of the series to date. I'm not willing to put it above Prophecies, but it's not too far behind, either. As a whole, it's a wonderful symphonic journey through new lands and new themes, and just about every track is quite listenable. You can't deny that this is Guild Wars to its very core, as composer Jeremy Soule only adds on to the franchise's legacy rather than supplants it with a different direction. Even so, it represents a mastery that wasn't quite there in past albums. If I listened to this soundtrack without knowing its source, I would have pegged it as a major motion picture release rather than a video game with angry bears. It was definitely a difficult score to pick a mere six examples from; I'd recommend that soundtrack enthusiasts listen through its entirety. For a Guild Wars 2 player, it's really interesting to go back and hear the early versions of tracks that Soule would later reprise for the sequel.
Album of inaudible animal sounds puts you inside the head of a bat
Even with fancy Hi-Fi equipment, the weak link is often our ears and their limited 20Hz-20,000Hz hearing range. As pointed out by Motherboard, artist Jane Winderen wants you to get a feeling for what it's like to be a whale or bat with her "Out of Range" album. To do that, she used special equipment to record bat echolocation signals, marine vocalizing and other sub- and ultrasonic sounds from glaciers, oceans, and forests. From there, she slowed frequencies as high as 100KHz until they became audible, then mixed them with other exotic sounds that are within our hearing range. The end result (below) is hypnotic 40 minute recording of sounds that normally pass you right by.
Classic game themes get classier in string quartet album The String Arcade
Composer Dren McDonald pays tribute to Galaga, The Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog and other fondly remembered classics in The String Arcade, an upcoming album featuring a selection of game music newly arranged for string quartet. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, The String Arcade features 15 original arrangements of classic gaming themes performed by Bay Area musicians and the Boston-based Videri String Quartet. Featured games include Altered Beast, Ecco the Dolphin, Monkey Island 2, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Minecraft. A preview track plucked from PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies is available for download and streaming here. The String Arcade is due for release on February 11. The digital album can be pre-ordered via iTunes for $7.99, and a limited-edition CD featuring two bonus tracks is available for $9.99. [Photo credit: Lorrie Murray]
