Sounds and Visions: Paul McCartneyBy Shana Nys Dambrot Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964 April 25–June 21, 2025 Gagosian, 456 North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills Our appetite for pictures of the Beatles is boundless across their many eras, but none so captivating as the early years. Regarding the fresh-faced, unbounded joy of their youth, balanced on the precipice of the mania that exploded circa 1963, with their floppy bangs and cute suits—it’s poignant to recall that innocence now, on the far side of decades. What makes Gagosian Gallery’s exhibition featuring photographs of that era unique, even amid the ocean of iconic existing pictures of that time, is that these were captured from the inside, by the ultimate insider photographer—Paul McCartney himself, and he’s really good at it. The three dozen assembled works are but a selection culled from a larger traveling project—Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, which debuted at London’s National Portrait Gallery in 2023 and is currently on view at the de Young in San Francisco through July 6—but the exhibition design goes to great lengths to evoke a museum setting with precious ephemera, enlarged contact sheets, and nostalgic video and sound augmenting the selection of moody self-portraits, jovial and pensive candid moments, crowds chasing them down city streets, and historic locations. Overall, the effect is like if Whit Stillman did a remake of A Hard Day’s Night. Actually, can someone make that happen please? Beyond the content, which would be compelling regardless, what comes through is McCartney’s genuine curiosity about his broadening horizons, and a desire to document and remember what it was like to experience it; seeing familiar moments through his reverse perspective feels fresh. As well, he was friends with artists, and it shows. The finesse of his instincts is genuinely impressive—for framing, finding decisive moments, teasing out intimacy and empathy in portraits of his cohort, embracing the lowkey and totally understandable ego in self-portrait mode, his sophisticated use of light and architectural opportunities, and his presence of mind in the face of his life changing in real time. gagosian.com/exhibitions/2025/paul-mccartneyThe post Sounds and Visions: Paul McCartney first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bitcoin advocate Max keiser casts doubt over new BTC treasury companiesNewer Bitcoin treasury companies have not yet been battle-tested in prolonged bear market conditions, the Bitcoin maximalist said.

Up Close: K&K Insurance Group, Inc.kandkinsurance.comOrigin in Motorsports: Decades before K&K Insurance became a leading provider of sports, leisure, and entertainment insurance, its co-founder, Fort Wayne, IN businessman Nord Krauskopf, was a popular stock car racer. In the late '40s, the only insurance for this high-risk sport consisted of individual racers contributing to a fund that would help cover the costs in the event of an accident. Aware of a gap in the market, Krauskopf and his wife Teddi pitched a plan to Lloyd’s of London to create specialized insurance for race car drivers. Eighteen years after launching K&K Insurance for this purpose in 1952, their dedication to motorsports resulted in winning the Grand National Championship. In the '60s and '70s, they expanded into festival and fair insurance, and in the '80s took a broader approach that included sports, leisure, and event organization across the U.S. and Canada. Over the past 70+ years, K&K has also become one of the largest providers of insurance and claims resolution services for recreation, motorsports, and event organizations. Driven by their trademarked branding motto “Insuring the World’s Fun,” the company offers over 80 specialty insurance programs in numerous categories—ranging from Camps and Campgrounds, Events and Attractions, and Venues and Facilities to Instructors, Schools and Product Liability Insurance.Essential Operations: Staffed with experienced examiners, litigation specialists, and management personnel, K&K’s claims team offers decades of experience in the investigation and resolution of claims, providing quality claims management. The company employs more than 250 agents who perform a variety of traditional insurance company functions on behalf of the insurance companies they represent, allowing them to provide stellar service in sales, marketing, underwriting, loss control, and claims resolution. Through active involvement in industry associations, events, and conventions, its staff stays connected with current industry trends and challenges. Liability Insurance for Musicians: According to K&K Marketing Manager Lorena Hatfield, the company’s claims staff is well versed on the types of risks musicians face when they’re performing at an event, festival, or concert venue. If something should happen that prompts an audience member or facility owner to sue, the performers are often drawn into the lawsuit—and without insurance, they need to hire an attorney to determine liability. Whether it’s injury or property damage, with insurance coverage, K&K manages the process, reducing a musician’s stress considerably. Many facilities require this coverage in advance. There are three criteria for insuring musicians: 1) A group must have at least one member or representative who is at least 18 years old; 2) Annual gross income from the performing group’s activities cannot exceed $500,000 ($300,000 for an individual musician); and 3) No more than 30 members in a performing group. Coverage options are offered for both individual Performer’s Insurance and Entertainer and Musicians (Group) Program.Contact K&K Insurance Group, Inc. 800-637-4757 The post Up Close: K&K Insurance Group, Inc. first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Left-leaning influencers embrace Bluesky without abandoning X, Pew saysIt’s no surprise that many big, left-leaning social media accounts have recently joined Bluesky — but a new analysis from the Pew Research Center attempts to quantify that shift. This comes as an update to Pew’s news influencer report released in November 2024, which did not include Bluesky in its numbers. The report focused on […]

Hot Rod Backyard Bath on Steel Spring LegsIn a fusion of scrapyard elegance and Aussie ingenuity, [Mark Makies] has given a piece of old steel a steamy second life with his ‘CastAway Tub’. Call it a bush mechanic’s fever dream turned functional sculpture, starring two vintage LandCruiser leaf springs, and a rust-hugged cast iron tub dug up after 20 years in hiding. And put your welding goggles on, because this one is equal parts brute force and artisan flair.
What makes this hack so bold is, first of all, the reuse of unforgiving spring steel. Leaf springs, notoriously temperamental to weld, are tamed here with oxy-LPG preheating, avoiding thermal shock like a pro. The tub sits proudly atop a custom-welded frame shaped from dismantled spring packs, with each leaf ground, clamped, torched, and welded into a steampunk sled base. The whole thing looks like it might outrun a dune buggy – and possibly bathe you while it’s at it. It’s a masterclass in metalwork with zero CAD, all intuition, and a grinder that’s seen things.
Inspired? For those with a secret love for hot water and hot steel, this build is a blueprint for turning bush junk into backyard art. Read up on the full build at Instructables.

Nordic Audio Labs introduce the NU-24K Nordic Audio Labs have recently announced the launch of a new capacitor mic that employs their own original D100K capsule and proprietary FloFET technology. 

Music Business News Last Week: Live Nation, NIVA, Tickets, MoreHere’s a roundup of the key music business news last week with highlights including Live Nation, the NIVA Conference, Quebec's battle with Spotify and more.
The post Music Business News Last Week: Live Nation, NIVA, Tickets, More appeared first on Hypebot.

Indie Musician News Last Week: Marketing, Merch & MoreThis week, our tips, advice and indie musician news covered some unique merch ideas, music PR, a guide to A/B testing, and more...
The post Indie Musician News Last Week: Marketing, Merch & More appeared first on Hypebot.

SlapAsSound VoXoV vol.13 – Free Vocal VSTVoXoV vol.13 is here, and this time, it's Elk behind the mixing desk. Majestic, calm, and quietly powerful, Elk brings a deep, resonant vibe to this volume, ready to charge straight into your creative process. What's Inside: 20 expressive presets. 980 unique vocal samples. VoXoV vol.13 is available for one week only. Grab it here: https://www.slapassound.com/voxov-free Read More

New Music Critique: Bobby Bognar's HandsomeContact: bobbybognar@gmail.comWeb: PandoraSeeking: Film & TV PlacementStyle: RockBobby Bognar’s Handsome delivers a familiar brand of rock that rarely strays from the genre’s well-worn paths. “Every singer tells a story, all are more melodic than mine,” he admits on “Get Out!”—a line that proves unintentionally self-aware. The vocals lack distinction, and while the lyrics occasionally hint at poetic depth, they fall short of resonance. The guitar work is serviceable but uninspired, and production choices do little to elevate the material. Despite its sincerity and flashes of introspection, the tracks struggle to leave a lasting impression.The post New Music Critique: Bobby Bognar's Handsome first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

FTX starts $5B payouts — Here’s what you need to knowThe payouts to FTX creditors have sparked both controversy and speculation that the payouts could be reinvested back in the crypto markets.

Yep, X was down againPeople reported that photos weren't loading, its banking service XMoney wasn't working, and search wasn't returning any results, among other things.

Tidy LED Matrix Displays GIFs On DemandWhen it comes to LED matrixes, building one is just the first step. Then you have to decide what to display on it. [panjanek] came up with a relatively flexible answer to this question, building an RGB LED matrix that can display the GIFs of your choice.
The web interface accepts GIFs for display.
[panjanek] grabbed WS2812B addressable LEDs for this project, assembling them into a 32 x 32 matrix that fits perfectly inside an off-the-shelf Ikea picture frame. The matrix is hooked up to an ESP8266 microcontroller, which acts as the brains of the operation. The WiFi-enabled microcontroller hosts its own web interface, with which the project can be controlled. Upon opening the page, it’s possible to upload a GIF file that will be displayed as an animation on the matrix itself. It’s also possible to stream UDP packets of bitmap data to the device to send real-time animations over a network.
It’s a neat build, and one that answers any questions of what you might display on your LED matrix when you’re finished assembling it. Code is on Github if you fancy implementing the GIF features in your own work. We’ve featured some unexpected LED matrix builds of late, like this innovative device for the M.2 slot. Meanwhile, if you’re cooking up your own creative LED builds, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!

From Taylor Swift’s masters victory to HYBE’s eventful week… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days
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Samples From Mars 808 Loops From MarsUnbeatable Grooves From the Iconic Drum Machine 808 Loops From Mars is an extensive collection of multi-tracked beats from the classic drum machine that has continued to shape electronic music over the past 40+ years. These loops will give you a more authentic representation of the raw, hypnotic energy of this timeless machine than any one-hit sample pack can. From clean and polite to saturated, distorted and harmonized beyond recognition, 808 Loops From Mars is the perfect way to inject the undeniable groove and analog power of this legendary machine into your next creation. https://soundcloud.com/samplesfrommars/808-loops-from-mars-funky-demo Overview With 725 loops ranging from full beats to tops and individual loops from every drum voice, this pack is ideal for creating 808 tracks from scratch or bringing raw grooves into your existing projects. Ranging from 120 - 128 bpm, the grooves are focused around dance music - namely house, techno and electro. From thunderous kicks to overdriven toms and clipped snares, to sizzling hi-hats and blown-out percussion, this pack is designed to fuel peak-time club moments and warehouse sets. Many of the loops are wild and unpredictable - pushed to the edge of coherence - while others stay stripped, minimal, and funky, ready to lock in a hypnotic groove. Because you get access to so many individual drum loops, it's important to note just how easy it is to bend the genre and beat to your liking. You can, for instance, take a top and add a completely different bass drum loop underneath it. The Best Way to Sound Like You Own an 808 While one-hit packs like the 808 From Mars will give you more compositional flexibility, this loop pack will provide a much more realistic sound. Because the 808 is analog, every consecutive drum hit sounds slightly differently than the previous - making the beats sound much more "alive" than repeating the same one-shot. Even the accent levels and drum volumes on the 808 affect each sound, and any analog processing that is applied to these sounds are also greatly affected by these slight tonal shifts. Because we've captured loops up to 16 bars in length, you can really hear all of this. Even though we own an 808, it's been super fun and inspiring to open up an Ableton session with so many individual loops, different grooves and processing that has been created over the course of months. It's really quick, easy and fun to get new tracks going without having to program one-hits from scratch. Uniquely Processed While there are certainly a handful of super clean loops, it's the processing that really makes this pack shine. Since the 808 is so recognizable, we saw it as a unique challenge to bring something new to the table here. How could we obscure this classic machine into something more refreshing and modern? First, we used two great (and very different sounding) consoles - the Zahl AM1 and our trusty API 1608. Here, we tweaked input gain for some tasty analog console saturation, and then patched up Distressors, DBX 165, ADR Compex, Eventide H3000, Space, and Orville, Overstayer NT-02A Saturator and Modular Channel, Space Echo, Moogerfoogers, tube preamps and more! This gave us a huge variety of processing styles that helped the 808 really stand out in a crowd. Check out this loop where we used the Moog Freq Box to create this almost impossible loop from an 808: https://soundcloud.com/samplesfrommars/808-loops-from-mars-shifty The Takeaway This is the 808 unleashed and ready to throw down. Whether you find yourself reaching for the cleaner, funkier grooves, or the heavily processed bangers, these 808s will give your music weight, grit, and analog attitude for days. And because they are multi-tracked, there is a lot of flexibility to tweak, edit and groove to your heart's desire. What You Get: (725) Total 808 loops at 24-bit 44.1k kHz. Clean and processed loops ranging from 120 to 128 bpm. Short and long-form (up to 16 bars) capture the feel of the 808. (100) Full Beats ranging from clean and classic to futuristic and mangled. Tops and individual loops from every drum voice allow for easy beat creation / manipulation. Sounds range from: smooth and smashed bass drum loops, crispy hi hat cymbal and maraca loops, various snare and clap tops, tom combos, cowbells, claves and more. In the style of techno and house but ready for genre manipulation. Recorded though Radial J-DIs, API 1608 & Zahl AM1 consoles, Apogee Symphony MKII, and processed with an Overstayer NT-02A, Summit TPA 200B, Empirical Labs Distressor, Eventide H3000, Eventide Orville, Eventide Space, ADR Compex, Space Echo and a variety of effects pedals. 100% Hardware processing. 1.69 GB Unzipped. About Formatting: Ableton includes (725) original loops as audio clips. Read More