4 Non Blondes Reenergized at the RoxyPhotos by Alex Kluft, taken on December 16.

For quite a few years, Linda Perry was quick to reply "Hell no" to any request from fans or interviewers for a 4 Non Blondes reunion. She admitted as much from the stage at the Roxy on a Monday night in December, the first of two gigs at this venue before moving on to a couple in their San Francisco hometown.

Perry said that she was simply done with that chapter of her life. A super-successful songwriter and producer, why in the world would she put herself back into that particular machine again? Well, she found a reason.

It's worth remembering that 4 Non Blondes only released the one studio album--1992's Bigger, Better, Faster, More! They were around from 1989-'94, briefly in 2014, and now this. They are, of course, best known for monster hit "What's Up?" but the album had a lot more to offer, and it feels unjust to think of them as a one hit wonder.

Incidentally, "one hit wonder" is one of the most ridiculous turns of phrase in the modern English language. The idea that musicians have achieved a level of success, and the response from many is to say, "yeah, well, do it again or be subjected to mockery" is frankly insane. The vast majority of working musicians would love to have one hit.

So anyway, back to the Roxy. It was wonderful to see Perry back in stage with bassist Christa Hillhouse and drummer Dawn Richardson. The biggest surprise was that there were only two songs from their one album--"Train" and, naturally, "What's Up?" There was also a gorgeous rendition of the Perry-penned "Beautiful," a hit for Christina Aguilera, with the set filled out with new songs.

That's a bold move, but it proved to be an astute one. The band clearly believes in the new material, as they should. Highlights from those new tracks included "Drama Queen," "What They Want" and "Monomorphic." Hopefully a new release will be available soon.

The post 4 Non Blondes Reenergized at the Roxy first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Cotorro Audio RIPUL-1 Analog Saturator VST3RIPUL ("ripple"): Responsive, Inverted, Partial, Unsymmetrical, & Lumped. The RIPUL-1 analog saturator is a distortion tool that offers tons of analog character as well as a soft-knee limiter. Transform and enhance your drum mixes, vocals, and bass tracks with this fiery addition to your mixing arsenal. You can also create sheer sonic mayhem with this tool. This VST3 implementation is a refined version of the standalone RIPUL-1. RIPUL-1 features: Tube-like saturation (input gain) between 0 dB and 20 dB. Output gain between -24 dB and 6 dB. A choice of either stereo or dual mono output useful for often centered vocals or bass. A soft-knee limiter with a configurable threshold between -12 dB and 0 dB. Leave this setting close to 0 dB for a more "breathing" sound. An analog section that provides various effects based on old hardware, such as hysteresis (subtle input-output lag), electrical noise, and capacitor smearing. This section also functions as a pronounced low-pass filter at higher settings. Mix control to set the wet to dry signal ratio. 4x oversampling. Stereo output metering. Note: If your input (stereo) audio has transients that hit one channel harder than the other, the saturation and analog emulation may magnify those differences in that channel. Installation: Unzip and copy Ripul-1.vst3 into your audio plugin folder. This is usually c:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3. Read More

Pudgy Penguins brings NFT characters to the Las Vegas Sphere during ChristmasThe non-fungible token project owned by Luca Netz appeared on the Sphere’s exterior screens, with the animated display going live on Christmas Eve.

FibreSeeker 3: Continuous Carbon Fiber vs Chopped CFAlthough you can purchase many types of FDM filaments containing ‘carbon fiber’ these days, they are in no way related to the carbon fiber (CF) composite materials used for rocket hulls and light-weight bicycles. This is because the latter use continuous fibers, often in weaved CF mats, whereas the FDM filaments just use small, chopped, fragments of CF. Obviously this will not result in the same outcome, which makes it interesting that a company called Fibre Seek is now running a KickStarter for a very affordable co-extrusion FDM printer that can add continuous CF to any part. They also sent a few test parts to [Dr. Igor Gaspar] for testing against regular FDM CF prints.
It should be noted here that continuous CF with FDM is not new, as Markforged already does something similar, though at a ‘Contact us for a price quote’ level. The advantage of the Fibre Seek solution is then the co-extrusion that would make printing with continuous CF much more flexible and affordable. Based on the (sponsored) [CNC Kitchen] video of a few weeks ago at a tradeshow, the FibreSeeker 3 printer is effectively a standard CoreXY FDM printer, with the special co-extrusion dual print head that allows for CF to be coated with the target thermoplastic before being printed as normal.

Unfortunately for [Igor] he did not have a FibreSeeker 3 to print on, and the print request for his usual test samples got mixed up by Fibre Seek, leaving him with only 4 out of 10 items to test with. This makes this a bit of an abbreviated test, but should still provide some useful data relative to the Polymaker PETG-CF filament that was used for comparison.
Based on the limited test set, it can be said that the FibreSeeker 3 parts did generally better than the PETG-CF parts, albeit with a few asterisks. Accordingly, [Igor] is left feeling somewhat confused by Fibre Seek, but sees the potential of this new co-extrusion technology. It just feels like the FibreSeeker 3 printer is not quite finished yet, and that the true value of this approach and this new printer will have to prove themselves.

How a Spanish virus brought Google to MálagaSpanish entrepreneur Bernardo Quintero, whose company is at the root of Google's Málaga cybersecurity hub, identified the author of the computer virus that influenced his career.

Black Octopus Sound releases Christmas Starter Deck Sampler with 3 GB of FREE sounds
Black Octopus Sound has released Christmas Gift – Starter Deck Sampler, a huge free sample pack available for a limited time, and a 100% discount for a full Starter Deck of your choice. I downloaded the pack out of curiosity, expecting little more than a generous teaser, but this is a proper sound library. Black [...]
View post: Black Octopus Sound releases Christmas Starter Deck Sampler with 3 GB of FREE sounds

Majetone offers Pantomime 4 virtual synth FREE for email subscribers
Developer Majetone is offering Pantomime 4, a virtual synthesizer with plenty of character, free for a limited time during the holidays. To download this, head to the Pantomime 4 product page, scroll down, and enter your email address. Once you sign up for the Majetone mailing list, a 100% discount code is automatically applied at [...]
View post: Majetone offers Pantomime 4 virtual synth FREE for email subscribers

Overloud add AIR to THU Available now as a free update for all existing THU users, AIR is said to bring a new dimension to amp simulation by recreating the feeling of standing in front of a real amp in a real room.

From stablecoins to incumbents, VCs map crypto value in 2025Venture partners such as Pantera, Hash3 and Variant look back on a year of regulatory shifts and uneven markets, outlining crypto’s biggest winners and losers in 2025.

Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq’s tech and hire its CEOWith Groq on its side, Nvidia is poised to become even more dominant in chip manufacturing.

Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol. 4Chip Kinman

Chip Kinman (In the Red)

As a member of beloved punks The Dils and then a number of other projects, all with his brother Tony (Rank & File, Blackbird, Cowboy Nation), Chip Kinman is a Hallowed figure on the L.A. scene. It's impressive that all of his projects have a different sound, though a family feel for fans.

This self-titled album is Chip's first full length solo effort, and it's a hyper-personal, genre-blurring piece of work.

“I had to figure out something to write about, and I thought, it’s time to make that record,” Chip says. “A long time ago, Tony and I were talking about singer-songwriters, and he said, ‘If you’re going to sing about your life, you better have had a fucking interesting life.’ And I thought, I have. I’ve gotta deep-dive into that. I figured, if I was going to write about what it was like, how was I gonna approach that? How was I going to say that without being nostalgic or without being maudlin or without being over-celebratory? It it was, well, just say it like it was.”

"So Young" is a beautiful backwards glance, while there are awesome guest appearances (Alice Bag on "Que Voy A Hacer," Mike Watt on "Drive Drive Drive"). But it's the blend of electro-punk and rootsy singer-songwriter that keeps the senses perked.

Naïm Amor and Kid Congo Powers

Tucson Safari (In the Red)

Kid Congo, well known for his work with The Cramps and The Gun Club in particular, has been busy of late. His project with Alice Bag, Juanita & Juan, plus his ongoing work with his band the Pink Monkey Birds, has seen him recording and playing shows regularly. This is different though.

According to his bio, "Gabriel Naïm Amor is a French born, Parisian musician who moved to Tucson, AZ in 1997 where he lives with his family." Of this pairing, In the Red says, "Naim Amor and Kid Congo Powers met shortly before the pandemic in Tucson, AZ . When the complete lockdowns hit everybody, Naïm like lots of other musicians reclused himself in his studio and started experimenting with longtime ideas that were on the shelf. The initial idea was to combine rockabilly/ garage electric guitars with electronic drum machines and bass synthesizers, a vague intuition inspired by Link Wray’s guitar tones in one hand and the electronic rawness of the band Suicide."

So that's how it all came to be, and the results are wonderful. Link Wray is a solid reference point; there's a very desert feel to the music, like a psychedelic spaghetti western but gone surf. The use of the drum machines and synths add an otherworldly vibe that is most welcome on tunes like "Murder She Wrote." A success, all told.

Woo

Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong (Independent Project Records)

We discovered London duo Woo via this column a couple of years ago and, honestly, we haven't looked back. We learned then that Woo were early pioneers of electronic-infused music, but never received the credit afforded to the likes of Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk. The good folk at Independent Project Records are doing a fine job of reintroducing, or perhaps introducing, the world to the joy of Woo through some quite stunning rereleases. Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is the latest.

Mark and Clive Ives are the brothers in question, and this double LP features a remastering of the original album, plus 10 previously unreleased bonus tracks presented as a mini-album.

"Mark and I had been home recording for five very prolific years before Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong was compiled," Clive says. "The 13 tracks we selected from this period are very diverse in style, yet magically complimentary."

Diverse is right. Jazz and folk, prog and electronica, it all makes its way in on songs such as "Swingtime" and "A Wave." The whole set is an experience though, and we're glad it's now a more expansive one.The post Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol. 4 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Disposable Camera Viewfinder Becomes 3D Printed LensDisposable cameras are a fun way to get into classical photography. However, they can also be a valuable source of interesting parts that can be put to other uses. For example, as [Billt] demonstrates, their viewfinders can be repurposed into a rather interesting lens for more serious cameras.
[Billt] was lucky enough to score a grabbag of used disposable cameras from a local film lab, and tore them down for parts. He was particularly interested in the viewfinders, since Kodak equipped its disposable cameras with actual plastic lenses for this very purpose.
[Billt] wanted to see what these lenses would do when thrown on the front of a proper digital camera, and set about designing a mount for that purpose. The 3D printed part was designed to mount one of the viewfinder lens assemblies on the front of any Sony E-mount camera. In a rather nifty trick, [Billt] realized the lens assembly could be installed in the adapter by pausing mid-way through the 3D print to drop it in. The only unfortunate thing? The lenses didn’t really work, and all the camera could see was a haze of unfocused light.
With the aid of some cardboard experiments, [Billt] decided to make some changes. The front element of the viewfinder was dumped, with the rear element being used solo instead. This was fitted to the adapter on a simple slide mechanism so that focus could be reliably adjusted. With these changes, the lens came good, and provided some really interesting shots. It’s quite a cropped lens and it can achieve a very close focus distance, as little as 1 inch in testing. It’s quite sharp in the center of the image, while softly blurring out towards the edges—something that sounds very familiar if you’ve used one of these disposable cameras in the wild.
Sometimes it’s fun to grab a random piece of junk to see if you can turn it into something good. Video after the break.

HoRNet Plugins releases FREE HoRNet TapeLite tape saturation plugin
HoRNet Plugins has released HoRNet TapeLite, a free tape saturation plugin for macOS and Windows. TapeLite is a straightforward tape machine emulation designed to add non-linear behavior to clean digital recordings. There’s no trial period and no copy protection for this one. You just create a free HoRNet account, download the freebie, and keep it [...]
View post: HoRNet Plugins releases FREE HoRNet TapeLite tape saturation plugin

Happy Holidays from Hypebot!Season's greetings and happy new year from the team here at Hypebot.
The post Happy Holidays from Hypebot! appeared first on Hypebot.

Alonso Sound Alonso Spire Trance Plucks Vol. 3Alonso Spire Trance Plucks Vol. 3 is a collection of 128 presets that carries the sound of 2000s Classic and Uplifting Trance into modern Trance production. Inside you will find a diverse palette of 100 pluck presets alongside 28 arp sequences that generate instant melodic motion. Hold a note and let the melodies unfold, or uncheck the arpeggiator and customize your own patterns. Each sound includes modwheel and all four macros controls, giving you intuitive modulation options to shape your sound. As the final release in the series, Spire Trance Plucks Vol. 3 gives you a fresh suite of source sounds to make uplifting drops and euphoric themes for modern Trance music. Read More