AudioScape launch DA-3A compressor The latest piece of hardware to join the AudioScape line-up recreates one of the most sought-after compressor/limiters of all time.

Swans at the Lodge RoomThe Swans live experience is unlike most other concerts you might ever attend. Swans create something almost indescribable, but it is our job so we'll give it a go.

When Michael Gira and his band first arrive on stage, and after making a few final adjustments, Gira says "Good evening" to the Lodge Room crowd and then they launch into the set. That subtle greeting is really the only nod to a conventional performance that we get. From there, we're launched into a world of aural insanity.

Gira waves his arms around from his seated position like a madcap orchestral conductor, which is somewhat appropriate because the soundscape that Swans creates is like a hellish, teeth-gratingly experimental version of classical music. It's heavy and intense; it's clear why fans of industrial music, post-punk and yes, metal, like Swans. But the songs aren't structured in the standard "rock" manner. There are no choruses. Attempt to sing along at your peril.

It's always been that way, from the debut Filth album introduced Swans to the world in '83. The band has split and come back, members have come and gone, but Swans have never compromised.

The set at the Lodge Room on Sunday evening featured just six songs, all fairly lengthy. Opener "The Beggar" is the title track from the most recent album, while second song "The Hanging Man" is from 2019's Leaving Meaning. The rest are newly recorded and evolving pieces.

Not that it matters; when Swans perform live, it all blends together into an oddly hypnotic, exhausting, beautiful, dynamic-yet-singular experience. It's like being caught in the tornado of somebody else's nightmare. Trauma smashes you in the senses, and really never lets up.

It's relentless, and you'll feel drained at the conclusion. Like all great art, a Swans show will make you ask questions, of yourself and of the artist. But ultimately, it's fantastically rewarding.

Earlier, Swans' lap steel man Kristof Hahn played a solo opening set that was as gorgeous as it was devastating. His voice is rich, somewhere between Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, and his take on "Heartbreak Hotel," which he credits as the John Cale version, was stunning.

All told, it was a night that won't leave us for a long time.

Photos by Nicole Oike Berlin

Samourai Wallet co-founder pleads not guilty, released on $1M bondThe terms of Keonne Rodriguez’s bail prevent him from engaging in “any cryptocurrency transactions, directly or indirectly,” without prior approval from the court.

NIST launches a new platform to assess generative AINIST, the U.S. government agency charged with testing emerging tech, has created a new platform to evaluate generative AI.
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A shaman, a management coup, a tearful press conference and a $770m market cap dip: What the heck is going on at HYBE?Disputes between record companies and their executives have happened before, but this one takes the cake for weirdness
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Deezer’s revenues grew 14.2% YoY to $144m in Q1; subscriber base reached 10.5mParis-headquartered music streaming service Deezer has published its financial results and subscriber numbers for Q1 2024
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How to get your music on Spotify playlists in 2024
Ditto Music share a few top tips for landing a coveted place on some of the most popular Spotify playlists in 2024.

Tiny Arduino Drone Even Has an FPV CameraIn the turmoil of today’s world, drones are getting bigger, badder, and angrier. [Max Imagination] has gone the other way with his work, though, building a teeny Arduino drone that can fit in the palm of your hand. Even if you have a small hand!
The drone is based around an Arduino Pro Mini, and uses an MPU6050 IMU for motion sensing and flight control. Communication with the drone is via an NRF24L01. Four small coreless motors are used for propulsion, driven by tiny MOSFETs, and the whole assembly is run via a teeny 220 mAh lithium-polymer battery. Oh, and there’s an FPV camera so you can put on some goggles and see where it’s going!
Control is via MultiWii software, written specifically for building multirotor craft. [Max] flies the craft using a controller of his own creation, again using an NRF24L01 for communication.
It’s a neat build, and a titchy one too! Tiny drones have a character all their own, even if they can’t really stand up to windier outdoor environments. Video after the break.

A CH552G Devboard In Case You Missed ItWe might just never get tired of covering cool small cheap MCUs, and CH552G sure fits this description. Just so you know, here’s a Hackaday.io project you should check out – a CH552G devboard that’s as simple as it sufficient, in case you needed a tangible reminder that this chip exists, has a lively community, and is very much an option for your projects.
The devboard design by [Dylan Turner] is so straightforward, it’s almost inspiring – a square of PCB with the chip in the center and plenty of empty space for your mods. Everything is open-source with KiCad sources stored on GitHub. The most lovely aspect of this board, no doubt, is having the pin mapping written on the bottom, with all the alternate pin functions – you won’t have to constantly glance at the datasheet while wiring this one up. Plus, of course, there’s the microUSB port for programming, and the programming mode button that a few CH552 projects tend to lack.
It’s simple, it’s self-documenting, it’s breadboardable, and it’s definitely worth putting into the shopping cart at your PCB fab of choice. Oh, and there are bringup instructions on GitHub, in case you need them. Whether you want to prototype the cheapest macropad or keyboard ever, or perhaps a reflow hotplate, the CH552 delivers. If these CH552 projects aren’t enough to light your fire, here are a dozen more.

One Shot Sampler from Song Athletics Following on from their string of sample pack releases, Song Athletics have announced the launch of their first plug-in instrument.

The Sword By Audiority Is A New FREE EQ Boost Pedal For Windows And macOS
The Sword by Audiority is a FREE EQ boost pedal plugin for macOS and Windows. The Sword is the product of a collaboration between Audiority and The Amp Sim Universe and promises to deliver the ultimate clean boost.  Audiority has based The Sword on the EQ/boost section of its Solidus VS8100 analog modeled solid state [...]
View post: The Sword By Audiority Is A New FREE EQ Boost Pedal For Windows And macOS

How Top Artists are marketing music in 2024This guide teaches how to nurture and build a loyal fanbase using the same techniques and tools as rising stars Donald Glover, Sara Evans, and Conan Gray.....
The post How Top Artists are marketing music in 2024 appeared first on Hypebot.

Music Biz Roadshow targets artists and their teamsMusic Biz Roadshow will launch this year’s Music Biz 2024 industry conference in Nashville on May 13 with a full-day program for artists and their teams.....
The post Music Biz Roadshow targets artists and their teams appeared first on Hypebot.

“They have flashy interfaces that make you think they’re doing more than they’re actually doing”: St. Vincent isn’t a fan of plugins in the studioSt. Vincent has explained why she has moved away from a computer-based setup in the studio and discussed what she believes are the pitfalls of using plugins.

READ MORE: These Universal Audio UAD plugins are available at their “lowest prices ever”

The artist, whose real name is Annie Clark, has just released her new album All Born Screaming. The album is the first that she has self-produced entirely.
In a new interview with MusicRadar, Clark mentions that she has a “very tactile” studio set up which was it was very much her intention to create and in doing so, she moved away from a computer-based set-up.
She goes on to explain why she isn’t such a fan of using plugins in the studio. “Plugins get tricky because you start to hear with your eyes,” she says. “Some of them have flashy interfaces and they make you think they’re doing more than they’re actually doing.”

Instead, on All Born Screaming, she employed analogue synths, which she found much more satisfying. “Working with actual electricity and circuitry, you have chaos,” Clark says. “You get a sound and try to get the same sound again, but it’s never going to be exactly what it was. Right? It’s chaos! In a great way. Modular synthesis is a sickness.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Clark discusses what she gains from helming the production on All Born Screaming completely on her own for the first time.
“I think [taking on the producer role] was how I learned how to hear myself,” she says. “It was something that I’d done on all of my records but I hadn’t been the main filter in the room and I know that emotionally there were places you could only find on your own.”
Clark continues: “Being an artist, that’s the main thing you want. If you’re a singer you want people to know it’s you just from one note. I wanted to have that same kind of recognisable voice as a producer. So I went all-in.”
All Born Screaming is out now via Total Pleasure Records.
The post “They have flashy interfaces that make you think they’re doing more than they’re actually doing”: St. Vincent isn’t a fan of plugins in the studio appeared first on MusicTech.

“I wanted to like Aphex Twin because I loved his records. But when he gave interviews, he criticised me”: Moby reflects on his feud with Aphex TwinMoby, Aphex Twin and Orbital‘s joint headline tour in 1993 promised great things, with dance music’s most exciting stars at the time teaming up for a trek. However, it ended up sparking a long feud between Moby and Aphex Twin.
The clash initially kicked off over transportation. Reportedly, Moby was keen to travel to each tour date by plane, while Aphex Twin and Orbital travelled by bus.

READ MORE: Moby breaks down how he made his classic track Extreme Ways

Environmental implications aside, the different modes of transport left Aphex Twin viewing Moby as an elitist. “He called me an elitist in the press, when actually I just had crippling tour-bus-inspired insomnia,” Moby wrote in his 2016 memoir, Porcelain.
In the same memoir, Moby also wrote about how difficult it was to enjoy Aphex Twin’s music after learning he held him in such contempt. “I wanted to like Aphex Twin, because I loved his records,” he admitted. “But when he gave interviews, he criticised me for playing guitar on stage.”
In an interview that same year, Moby also told the Rave Curious podcast that Aphex Twin had said he “couldn’t understand” why him and Moby had ever been booked on the same tour. Aphex Twin reportedly considered Moby to be “just a buffoon”.
31 years on, Moby has re-addressed the feud. Speaking to Stereogum, the electro star admits that “there was a sadness” to the feud. “I really liked his records,” he asserts. “I especially liked [Selected Ambient Works 85-92]. I went into that [1993] tour feeling like, ‘Hey, we’re all in this together.’ I realised pretty quickly they didn’t feel that way.”
Moby believes that Aphex Twin didn’t embrace the same joyful, heart-on-sleeve approach to music as he did. “What I loved about house music and rave culture was the celebration and joy of freeing yourself from all the repression and inhibition,” he explains. “[But] I felt like there was that period in the early ’90s where the intelligentsia were trying to kill off that joyful expression of emotion that made rave culture so transcendent.”
Moby isn’t necessarily burying the hatchet, but he professes he holds no grudge against Aphex Twin. “I don’t have any ill will towards anyone,” he claims.
He continues: “It did feel like, on the part of the intelligentsia, there was a collective embarrassment about the emotional expression of rave culture. It rubbed me the wrong way, because I love underground electronic music. I always have, even going back even to the ’70s and the ’80s.”
While Moby and Aphex Twin’s 1993 clash will continue to haunt Moby, it’s certainly not interrupting his tour schedule. The American dance star is set to play a European tour this September to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Play, the biggest-selling electronic album of all time. It will be his first tour in 10 years.
Most significantly, however, is that Moby wont be making a dime off of the tour. “What makes the tour most exciting for me is that I won’t be paid anything,” Moby writes on his website. “100% of my tour profits will go to European animal rights organisations.”
So, if you enjoy a good boogie and also support animal rights, the tour is a win-win. The Play tour kicks off at London’s O2 on September 19. Moby will also be heading to Antwerp, Berlin, Dusseldorf and Paris.
For tickets, head to Moby’s official website.

The post “I wanted to like Aphex Twin because I loved his records. But when he gave interviews, he criticised me”: Moby reflects on his feud with Aphex Twin appeared first on MusicTech.