“COMA” - THE FIRST SINGLE IN A SERIES FROM SASHA -
SET FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 12
SASHA is back.
We‘re talking about Sasha the producer, recognized as one of the world‘s leading DJ‘s, who over the years has turned his hand to some extraordinarily brilliant remixes and productions. He has returned to the studio over the past months producing new material with his renowned collective-Charlie May, Duncan Forbes and Barry Jamieson, aka COMA, a pseudonym that also provides the title for the first release. Together they are now proud to release “Coma” November 12.
Sasha‘s first original recording since the acclaimed album Airdrawndagger, “Coma” is the first of three recently finished and outstanding pieces of work that will be released singularly over consecutive months starting in November; when put together, they‘ll form the beginning of a series of releases and stunning collectors pieces. To make things even more interesting, they will be released through emFire, Sasha‘s own brand-new label, an exclusive outlet for his original material.
All three tracks–“Coma,” “Park It In The Shade” and “Sparky”–are very different in composition, each heading in a direction of their own. “Coma” is a record that encompasses the sound of Sasha now, yet cleverly retains his signature, emotive soundscape. Its beauty, twists and intensity increase with repeat listens, taking the listener somewhere new every time. “Park It In The Shade,” however, has a much more minimal but cheeky sound to it, while the third track “Sparky” returns to the sweeping atmospherics, keeping a keen eye on modern sounds and production techniques.
All three recordings will be released on both digital and vinyl. A high-design factor will be applied to the vinyl format, each coming as a limited, one-side etched 12” which marries to a numeric sequence, the design being handled by Insect, who‘s best known for their recent work with Banksy. While Sasha is a great pioneer of new technology and constantly experimenting with different ways to produce and play music, the dance genre began and still has firm roots in vinyl, which these collectors editions will pay particular homage to.
Look out for the subsequent releases “Park It In The Shade” and “Sparky” to be released December and January, respectively. This is just the beginning…
‘MORE‘ EP SET FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 25 VIA ARTWERK
No stranger to gaming enthusiasts, JUNKIE XL (Tom Holkenberg) has composed the score for two top-selling Electronic Arts (EA) games, SSX Blur TM and Need For Speed TM. This fall “More,” the lead track from the highly anticipated release of Need For Speed Pro Street TM–which is the next release in the franchise–will be front and center in the consciousness of both music and gaming fans.
Scheduled for release on October 31, 2007, Need For Speed Pro Street TM already has fans anxiously blogging about who will pick up the first copy. The fast-paced action game by EA consists of extreme car racing backed by a twist of accelerated police pursuits. Fans will get a little taste of the action before the game hits shelves, as JUNKIE XL‘s “More” will be available as an EP for digital download September 25, 2007 through all major DSP (iTunes, Emusic, Napster, Rahpsody).
Set for release through the Artwerk label, a joint venture of EA and Nettwerk Music Group, the “More” EP will feature the original song–an 80‘s-inspired saucy club track with newcomer Lauren Rocket on vocals–along with three different mixes: Junk O Rock remix, Junk O Punk remix and Junk O Flamenco remix. Also included is the b-side “Clash” which originally appeared on EA‘s monster FIFA 08 TM game. The EP serves as a lead-up to JUNKIE XL‘s new artist album, titled Booming Back At You, which will be released in February 2008.
JUNKIE XL is scheduled to shoot a video for “More” September 10 and 12 in Brooklyn, NY with Dutch directorial team Kaap & Van Bellen. Inspired by famed party website www.lastnightsparty.com and a short film Kaap produced in China five years ago, the treatment lands JUNKIE XL and Lauren Rocket on the cobblestone streets of D.U.M.B.O. flanked by various partygoers including photographer Bronques of Lastnightsparty.com and others for a visual raw mash-up of dirty music and the fascinating NYC club scene.
NATIONAL BATTLE ENSUES AMONG UP-AND-COMING HIP HOP PRODUCERS-Red Bull Big Tune Regional Qualifiers End and Top 12 producers Advance to Finals
in Seattle on November 1-
Brooklyn, NY - (September 14, 2007) - Brooklyn-based nightclub Southpaw is known for showcasing premier musical talent such as the outspoken KRS-One, Prefuse 73, and TV on the Radio but last night a crowd of 500 packed the club to see the Northeast‘s freshest up-and-coming Hip Hop producers engage in a heated battle known as Red Bull Big Tune.
“Big Tune was one of the dopest shows I’ve been a part of in a long time,” said DJ Maseo Plug 3 of De La Soul who performed a head-bobbing closing set at last night‘s event. The excitement and energy in the room was electric. It was a truly inspiring event.”
Also supporting the Brooklyn Red Bull Big Tune battle was featured producer Hi-Tek and special guest performer Sean Price.
WHERE‘S THE BEAT?
Started in Seattle in 2005 as a partnership between event producers Vitamin D and Jonathan Moore, Big Tune was created as a way to showcase the musical talents of emerging and established producers in a fresh and forward thinking way. The spirit of the Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall culture, where battles such as this occurred nightly and were commonly referred to as “clashes” is the inspiration behind Big Tune.
This year was the first time the battle went national with competitions hosted in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Seattle and New York. At each stop, hundred‘s of producers applied for 12 coveted battle spots. The head-to-head competition format is simple. Each producer is given one minute to throw down their illest beat. They go blow for blow for 2 rounds. What makes Red Bull Big Tune truly unique is the integral role the crowd plays in determining who advances and who goes home. Only the producers that elicit the largest response from the audience will make it to the next round. The last person standing will be the one with the big tune.
Last night was the final qualifying event to determine who would represent New York in the Red Bull Big Tune National Finals taking place on November 1 at Neumos in Seattle. The night began with twelve producers who brought heat with their beats, despite having various levels of experience. For some, this was their first battle. For others, it was a means to showcase years of grinding out raucous beats. After several rounds of contentious clashes, seasoned beat maker Marco Polo and up-and-coming producer Algorythm were the last producers standing. That was until Algorythm threw down a “boom bap” that reverberated through the crowd and got everybody shouting, throwing up fists and ultimately naming him the crowd favorite and champion of Red Bull Big Tune -New York. At this stage of the competition, there is room for two at the top. Both Algorythm and Marco Polo will advance to the National Finals to go up against the first and second place producers from the other 5 qualifying events.
ON AN AMERICAN TOUR WITH A BEAT IN MY HAND
Since April, 2006, Red Bull Big Tune has toured San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Seattle and New York in search of talented music producers and the next Big Tune. On November 1, Algorythm and Marco Polo will represent New York against Babu (World Famous Beat Junkies) and Swiff D from Los Angeles; Cambo and Beat Rock from San Francisco; The Are and Joe Traxx from Houston; Tall Black Guy and Rio from Chicago; and Sabzi and Brainstorm from Seattle.
To learn more about the battles and to listen to tracks from Red Bull Big Tune producers, visit http://www.redbullbigtune.com. For press inquiries, contact nyla.hassell@us.redbull.com or sarah.chambliss@us.redbull.com.
New website for sharing free samples, sound effects and music loops
Athens, Greece (October 11, 2007) - Soundsnap is a new online platform for finding and sharing free samples, sound effects and music loops. Designed as a resource and community for musicians, sound designers, producers, film makers and web/video game developers, Soundsnap provides user driven content for use in virtually any kind of media production. Users can freely download and upload content to be legally shared and used in any media project.
“We like to think of Soundsnap as ‘YouTube for sounds” where users not only download sounds for their own use, but submit their sounds and help the library grow organically,” said Tasos Frantzolas, creator of Soundsnap.com. “Free, on-demand, and publicly available audio clips and samples encourage experimentation and creation and makes for better audio within any kind of project.”
Soundsnap launched with over 30,000 available free sounds ranging ‘from high quality music loops and music samples, sound effects such as animals, industrial, nature, sports, and human, to sound design, sound art, comic, unreal, and science fiction. Visitors can search for sounds by keyword searching or browsing by category, user/creator, or tags, which are user generated keywords used to place sounds into categories.
Soundsnap allows only original samples and sounds that have been recorded or created by contributors that have accepted Soundsnap‘s license agreement. This ensures that previously copyrighted material is not downloaded, distributed, and used illegally. Contributors to Soundsnap retain all ownership rights to submissions while granting SoundSnap a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable sublicense.
In many ways, Soundsnap is part of the ‘web 2.0′ generation of websites, which is characterized by user submitted content, social networking and clean, user friendly interface. Its creators have been inspired by YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia in order to create the same sharing environment and apply it to music creation and sound design.
Remove noise, hum, clipping, clicks, and restore audio in critical applications
AES - NYC (October 11, 2007) - iZotope, Inc., a leading innovator in audio signal processing technology, announces iZotope RX™ audio restoration software, a new standalone application featuring the essential tools for cleaning and restoring audio.
Using powerful, newly developed technology created by iZotope‘s research team, RX removes hiss and buzz, eliminates clicks and crackles, and repairs overload distortion in audio. New intelligent spectral repair algorithms can even analyze and fill gaps in audio files to restore previously unusable recordings.
Ideal for any application that demands spotless audio, RX features a unique interface designed specifically for audio restoration work. Preset modules attain great results quickly for time sensitive applications like broadcasting and podcasting, video production, and studio recording. Advanced features allow a level of control needed in critical applications such as forensics, audio remastering and archiving.
“There are more sources of recorded audio today than ever before - cell phones, video cameras, computers, old vinyl records, tape - the list goes on,” says Jeremy Todd, CTO of iZotope, Inc. “With RX, we‘ve made our next-generation restoration technology accessible to anyone needing clean and clear audio.”
RX includes groundbreaking features designed to simplify the process of cleaning and repairing recordings. State of the art analysis tools such as an advanced spectrogram with the greatest time and frequency resolution available allow a finer degree of detail work. Isolate and fix damaged audio with selective processing and Spectral Repair. The Compare Settings feature auditions parameters quickly, and a non-destructive undo history makes reverting to previous states simple and flexible. Batch processing makes applying multiple processes to large files much less time consuming.
Key Features
• Denoiser - suppresses broadband and tonal noise independently without harsh artifacts
• Spectral Repair - removes intermittent noises and even fixes gaps and corrupted audio using advanced re-synthesis techniques
• Declipper - saves previously unusable recordings by removing both analog and digital clipping
• Hum Removal - cleans up hum caused by poor wiring and other electrical problems
• Declicker - brings ancient records and master tapes back to life by removing analog and digital impulse noises
• Spectrogram - the most advanced spectrogram display available lets you see what other programs miss
• Selective Processing - select by time and frequency to isolate and repair noise
• Compare Settings window - send multiple settings of a module to the queue, then audition them side by side
• Batch Processing - send audio through multiple processes in one simple step
• Undo History - keep track of the changes you‘ve made, and revert to earlier states
RX Advanced
In addition to the base version of RX, an extended application, iZotope RX Advanced, allows even more precise control over RX algorithms and includes iZotope‘s critically acclaimed 64-bit SRC™ sample rate conversion and MBIT+™ dither for professionals who want finer control over processing and delivery.
Plug-in Versions Announced
While RX is initially available as a standalone application, its real-time processing modules will also be released as plug-ins, scheduled for early 2008. Customers purchasing RX or RX Advanced will receive these plug-ins free of charge when they are released.
Compatibility
Standalone application
Windows Vista, XP
Apple OS X (Universal Binary)
Pricing and Availability
iZotope RX is now available for $349 MSRP.
iZotope RX Advanced is now available for $1199 MSRP.
Download a 15 day fully functional trial today from www.izotope.com/rx.
New portable professional USB Microphone for Mac and PC
AES - NYC (October 11, 2007) - Blue Microphones, a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, follow on the success of their popular Snowball Professional USB Microphone with a new portable design, aptly dubbed the Snowflake.
The Snowflake is the first professional quality portable USB mic and embodies everything Blue has become known for; stylish looks and exceptional sonic quality. Blue has combined a USB bus powered capsule with a class compliant design to make the Snowflake truly plug and play on both Mac and PC.
“We have always valued both form and function in our microphone designs. It‘s what makes us uniquely Blue,” said Skipper Wise, President and Co-Founder of Blue Microphones. “The Snowflake brings a new level of audio quality and functionality to anyone who owns a computer. It‘s one of our most inspired designs yet!”
The Snowflake‘s form factor is not only eye catching and modern, but functional as well. The mic folds into a single compact case which also houses a USB cable for easy transport in a laptop bag or even a pocket. Unfolded, the case serves as a desktop stand or a laptop clip, making the Snowflake a natural for everything from podcasting, calling over the web, narrating a home video, or sketching out a song idea on the go.
Snowflake Features:
• Professional recording quality on the go
• Unique design fits on your desktop or laptop
• Plug and play — no driver needed
• Perfect for podcasting, internet telophony, voice recognition software, movie narration, music
• Mac & PC compatible
• Blue‘s renowned circuitry
• Includes USB cable
Price and availability
The Snowflake will be available November 1, 2007 for $79 MSRP.
For more information, please visit http://www.bluemic.com.
Blue Announces Joe, a new microphone aimed at project studios
AES - NYC (October 11, 2007) - Blue Microphones, a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, is proud to introduce Joe, a high-quality condenser microphone for the project studio.
The newest addition to Blues award-winning microphone line, Joe is a cardioid large diaphragm condenser mic that is a perfect addition to any project studio microphone cabinet. With a classic look and anodized finish, Joe‘s styling is uniquely Blue, while its Class A discrete electronics and hand tuned and tested capsules are built on the pedigree of award-winning Blue mics like the Dragonfly, Kiwi, and venerable Bottle microphone system.
“Joe is a perfect choice for project studios or anyone looking to expand their microphone choices,” says Eli Probst, CEO of Blue Microphones. “Modern production techniques allow us to apply more than a decade of Blue design and engineering experience to make high-quality mics at great prices.”
Joe is designed to capture a wide variety of sound sources, such as vocals, acoustic instruments, drums and more, with excellent detail and clarity. Its unique form factor is not only visually inspiring, but functional as well. The microphone cable plugs into the mic clip, leaving the capsule housing “floating” in balance to accommodate a wider range of positioning options.
Joe Features:
• Polar pattern: Cardioid
• Class A discrete amplifier circuit
• Blue‘s famous hand-built large diaphragm capsule
• Rich lows and detailed highs
• Beautiful anodized design
• Unique swivel mount for easy positioning
• Velvet storage bag
Price and availability
Joe will be available January 1, 2008 for $499 MSRP.
For more information, please visit http://www.bluemic.com.
New Advanced Audio and Post Production System with innovations and dedicated new features for audio post, studio production and live recording
Hamburg, Germany (September, 24 2007) - Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH is proud to announce a new version of its award-winning Nuendo audio production environment. Nuendo 4 offers a range of new features and technologies dedicated to mixers, engineers and editors in post production, studio recording and live recording.
“Nuendo 4 empowers audio professionals by elevating both creativity and productivity to new heights,” comments Steinberg‘s General Manager Andreas Stelling. “The new functionality accelerates and enhances workflows by increasing efficiency and speed, offering probably the most valuable commodity in today‘s deadline-driven world: more time. And because Nuendo 4 caters directly to audio post and studio production, Steinberg is now in the unique position of being able to offer dedicated products for four different target groups: Nuendo for the post and pro audio community, Cubase for musicians, composers and producers, WaveLab for audio editors and mastering engineers, and Sequel for entry-level music creation enthusiasts.”
Among the new functionality in Nuendo 4 is a state-of-the-art new automation system on par with the world‘s best. Preview mode, Fill commands, Punch Logs, Virgin Territories and the unique new Touch Collect Assistant are only some of the new functions which unite the best functionality found on traditional hardware mixing consoles with the flexibility inherent in Nuendo 4 as a modern DAW environment.
The new MediaBay file management system for audio, video and other media files can replace many external FX database solutions. MediaBay browses, archives, retrieves and searches media files across any connected drive. Utilizing intelligent database technology, user-definable tags and other features MediaBay allows instant pulling up and filtering of search results, smart file management and much more.
Nuendo 4 sees a vastly upgraded set of 38 new first-class surround- and sidechaining-capable VST3 audio effect plug-ins that cover dynamics, spatial FX and filtering for almost any situation. Standard on each channel is a brand new VST3 Channel EQ, with an audio quality that can replace many expensive additional 3rd party EQ plug-ins. Drag & drop and copy/paste for plug-ins make using plug-ins in Nuendo 4 even faster and more efficient.
Nuendo 4 offers a range of features designed specifically to accelerate and enhance workflows in audio post production. Advanced post pro editing commands allow even faster editing workflows, including many new options to move, place and trim audio faster and with outstanding precision to save valuable time. The highly flexible Post Filter is engineered specifically for audio post, and features special options to remove unwanted noises form audio material, for example from location recording.
Flexible new recording and routing options offer creative new ways to route and manipulate audio, with any track now able to record audio from any summing object such as groups or FX returns. Common recording configurations such as stems and print master recording are now extremely easy to setup, obviating the need to route audio outside the system for recording on external recorders.
Nuendo Expansion Kit: Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4
Together with the launch of Nuendo 4, Steinberg also introduces an additional product: Nuendo Expansion Kit: Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4 (NEK). This add-on module to Nuendo 4 contains optional music compositional functionality, including full Cubase scoring and notation, the Cubase MIDI Drum Editor, four integrated VST instruments as well as support for the MusicXML standard.
Nuendo 4 is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and both Intel and PPC-based Macintosh computers running Mac OS10.4.
Price and availability
Nuendo 4 is priced at $1799.99 MSRP, with the optional NEK module available at $299.99 MSRP and will be available in October, 2007.
Recently featured as an artist to watch on the influential music blog, Stereogum, T.H. White has announced that he will be performing songs from his forthcoming new album ‘The Private Spotlight‘ (Sky Council) as part of this year‘s CMJ New Music Marathon. The showcase performance will be Friday, October 19th at Piano‘s on the lower east side of Manhattan.
The show kicks off a busy fall for White, who will confirm additional dates soon, and has also been working on a number of projects since completing the recordings for ‘The Private Spotlight‘. He is currently completing two remixes for Friendly Fire recording artists, The Faunts. (Another remixer of note for that release will be Fischer Spooner). This Fall will also see him co-writing and producing the debut by Meghan Wolf which will also be released on Sky Council in 2008.
After seeing his ‘05 debut praised everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to Paper Magazine, T.H. White‘s second offering of downbeat club grooves, solid pop songwriting and ethereal soundscapes is set for release on Nov. 27th of this year. The varying influences represented on the album stem from the textures that have affected and influenced T.H. White over his years in New York City. This release spotlights his surplus of talents as multi-instrumentalist (and crack guitarist), producer, songwriter, arranger, and programmer, The Private Spotlight manages that rare feat: amalgamating an intriguing variety of sonic textures into a cohesive - and fun - set of songs that might just provide a soundtrack to the bustling city from which it draws inspiration.
For more information on T.H. White contact Nick Baily (nbaily@shorefire.com)
or Brendan Gilmartin (bgilmartin@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media - 718-522-7171
Andy Smith was the first DJ to release a multi-genre mix album on a major label. When his mix-CD The Document hit the streets back in 1998, it became the soundtrack for a generation who had heard Coldcut’s “Journeys By DJs” but needed to hear more - The Document filled the void.
It segued tracks from artists such as Tom Jones (way before he came back in vogue with Reload and newer tracks such as recent top ten hit Stoned in Love); Peggy Lee (sample source for the Beastie Boys single Ch-Check It Out); The Jungle Brothers and even The Spencer Davis Group. This was new to record buyers but for Smith a mixed bag of treasures has always formed the typical contents of his DJ set.
This appreciation of different genres made Smith the ideal person to provide sample material for Portishead on their first two albums. He went on to make his name as the band’s international tour DJ - reflecting their respect for both the art of digging for breaks and Hip Hop DJing. sound.
Production: Since the Portishead tours he has established himself as an underground producer of some of the most irresistible Hip Hop breaks-based music around, working with Scott Hendy (Boca 45) under the name Dynamo Productions. Their album Analogue, which notched up a top-ranking five out of five in Mojo magazine, featured San Diego-based MC Profile from the much respected Sound Providers Crew.
The Document mix-CD series: Following on the success of The Document, which sold in excess of 100,000 copies, Andy released Document 2 and Document 3 to critical and popular acclaim. Vinyl copies of all three are sought after and regularly go for a king’s ransom on Ebay!
New releases: The Document series gets Reggae flavour with the release of The Trojan Document (Sanctuary Records). The release presents another mix album first - with Smith giving the listener a live sound system experience complete with rewinds, shout outs and reverb sounds. The Trojan Document takes you on a journey from early Ska, Rocksteady, Roots, Dub, DJ tracks and Dancehall - it’s set to be yet another classic. Andy has also produced the single Sounds Start Rockin, as featured on Kiss FM’s Joe Ransom show. This is taken from Andys new mix CD ‘DJ Andy Smith’s Freestyle Mix’. They are both out now on Freestyle Records.
London and International Residencies: Smith regularly appears in clubs across the world and his strong cult following has secured him constant DJ bookings including several residencies at:
Cargo (London) Andy Smith presents The Document Live Sessions
Jazz Café (London) Andy Smith’s Northern Soul
Madame Jo Jos (London) Lost and Found (w/ Keb Darge)
