In Strict Tempo, vol. 42: News Roundup
Oasis Tickets, AI, Sheffield and DJ Payments... it's all in here.
It’s been a while since I did a news roundup so here’s my takes on what’s been going on in the world of music lately.
I didn’t get Oasis tickets. Neither did most other people by the sounds of it. They reckon something like 1/4 of the population of the UK was in the queue at some point. That seems high. Anyway, those that did get through saw their £150 tickets now priced at £300+ thanks to ‘dynamic pricing’. Fuck that, it sounds hugely immoral to me, but I’m not sure the Gallaghers care too much. Am I gonna to try again in the next ballot though? You betcha.
AI AI AI… it’s all everyone goes on about these days. I’ve written about it enough in the past, but it seems now some poor bastard somewhere has been arrested for flooding Spotify with enough AI music to earn ten million quid from it. I mean isn’t this exactly what Spotify themselves have been doing for years now? Seems a bit rich to me, and whilst AI music is rightly a scourge on the industry there needs to be some kind of guidelines as to what is and isn’t acceptable. If it was down to me I’d probably ban all AI-generated music from DSPs but there’s much more nuance than that and I’m sure a lot of them will have money invested in it’s success.
I don’t watch much live music these days but last week I went to the launch for Travis Elborough & Stonecirclesampler’s new tape on The Tapeworm at the Horse Hospital. Unfortunately the continued fuckery of Thameslink meant I had to leave before the main event, but I caught the opening showing of the film Burning Pool by Ron Wright & Neil Webb. The film itself is a document of an ever-changing Sheffield, and the soundtrack was worth the price of admission alone. I picked up a numbered vinyl copy before I left. Sheffield’s contribution to the UK’s musical heritage is often overlooked, but if you ask me it’s up there with Liverpool & Manchester. From Cabaret Voltaire & The Human League through to the joint 90’s scenes of Forgemasters/Warp & the bleep techno stuff on one side, and Pulp/Richard Hawley on the other and leading onto the likes of the Arctic Monkeys these days, it’s importance cannot be understated.
The Aslice platform announced it’s closure. I thought this was a really good idea - essentially DJ’s agree to share a portion of their set fees with Aslice who then apportion it between the producers who had their music played during that set. It’s kind of like what the PRS do when DJs submit setlists to them, but it’s not that well-policed. It sounds like they didn’t get enough buy in from bigger DJ’s to make it work, which is really sad, but not wholly unexpected in what is a pretty selfish world. Some EDM bro getting £10k+ a gig could easily have divvied up a few % of that fee to the people who actually made the music, but without anyone forcing them to why would they? Hopefully it’s not the end we hear from this and that there’s some way to build this technology into CDJ’s in the future to ensure producers get fairly paid.
New Music
Moin - Guess It’s Wrecked [AD93]
Moin are one of the most exciting and crucial acts putting music out right now, so a new album is always going to be big news for me. This new single picks up where they left off, all scuzzy guitars and vocals that pay a debt to Mark E Smith as much as they do Dean Blunt. There’s a clear exclusive version of the new album on Boomkat, plus a Dinked Edition with live CD at participating indie stores, or just get the black vinyl version off Bandcamp.
Francesco Leali - Let Us Descend [Until Riots]
The first full-length album from Italian composer and producer Francesco Leali, Let Us Descend takes you straight into the mouth of hell. A mixture of strings, electronics and surreal atmospherics taking influence from Francesco’s interest in religion, cults and the occult, this takes you on a journey deep into somewhere you’re not sure you’ll ever return from.
Underworld - Black Poppies [Underworld]
New Underworld! Always something that gets my ears primed. This is… different, totally beatless, basically ambient with some nice choral vocals. There’s always been more to Underworld than just the Born Slippy & Cowgirl-esque bangers, but this is a real departure. There’s a new album coming next month too, so this won’t be the last you hear from me about it.
Pearson Sound - Twister [Hessle Audio]
I didn’t really like previous single Hornet very much but this is better. Fast and breaky this is one for the hi-nrg dancers.
Or:la - Sea Slugs [Fabric]
It’s nice to hear that broken techno sound never really went away, it makes for a pleasant break from all the relentless 4/4 of whatever passes for big room club techno these days.
Seefeel - Everything Squared [Warp]
Came out last week, but this new EP from Seefeel is perhaps the final proof that Post-Rock Summer outlasted Brat Summer. Okay Seefeel haven’t really done the post-rock thing for a while now, being a mostly electronica act these days, but the roots of it are still there.
Objekt - Ganzfeld 10th Anniversary [Kapsela]
Is this tune really 10 years old? It still sounds fresher than a lot of new tracks. One of the records that really kicked off that broken techno sound and it still bangs to this day. There’s an even more intense 10 minute long Djrum remix out to celebrate the 10th anniversary, but it’s the original all the way for me.
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