Old Tech is back in vogue, and take a look at kids reaction to 1st Generation iPods. Don’t forget to gently get off our lawns.
VP Records Holds #1, 2 & 3 Spots On US Billboard Reggae Album Chart This Week
This week, the world’s largest reggae label and distrubutor VP Records holds the No. 1, 2 and 3 spot on the U.S. Billboard Reggae Album Chart. Their annual compilation Reggae Gold debuts at the top spot with Jah Cure’s new album The Cure landing the second position (from No. 1 last week) and Soca Gold 2015 coming in closely at No. 3 on the chart.
“We’re pleased with the opening week results for Reggae Gold this year” says Randy Chin, President of VP Records. The compilation which first appeared in 1993 has long been a staple release for VP Records and reggae fans internationally.
REGGAE GOLD 2015
For over 20 years, the world’s #1 Caribbean music compilation Reggae Gold brings the genre’s top hits into one must-have collection for the masses. 2015’s installment is filled with the season’s freshest sounds in roots, dancehall, lover’s rock and pop-fused reggae from a diverse group of talent. From the Canadian pop supergroup Magic’s #1 Billboard single “Rude” to comedian/actor/singer Eddie Murphy’s return to reggae on his latest single “Oh Jah Jah,” – there is no shortage of crossover appeal on Reggae Gold 2015. This year’s installation features a multitude female artists reigning in reggae today – from emerging stars like Jah 9, Toian and Ikaya to Jamaica’s leading ladies like Spice, Etana and Queen Ifrica. The set also delves into new music from the island’s top male artists like Jah Cure, Beres Hammond, Inner Circle & Chronixx, Christopher Martin, Gully Bop, Busy Signal, Romain Virgo, Gyptian and more. Purchase Reggae Gold 2015 on iTunes now: smarturl.it/RG2015.
JAH CURE – THE CURE
Jah Cure – described by NPR as “a voice that sounds as if he’s wringing out passion from every note” and by Los Angeles Times as “a brilliant crooner of Bob Marley-esque love-and-peace reggae” – effortlessly blends street poetry and sufferer’s tales with beautiful love ballads on his new album The Cure. The 13-track set is a return to roots reggae and lover’s rock with R&B and pop-fused elements. The Jamaican born singer co-produced the entire album with the help of reggae producers like Christopher “Sketch” Carey, Clive Hunt, Llamar “Riff Raff” Brown, Justin “Jus Bus” Nation and Trevor “Baby G” James. The Cure features recent hits like his #1 reggae chart-topping John Legend cover “All of Me” (which received over 5 million YouTube views), “Rasta,” “That Girl” and “Life We Live” as well as brand new singles including “Show Love,” “No Friend of Mine,” “Made In California,” “I Surrender” and more. Jah Cure’s multi-faceted story of struggle and love is intertwined into The Cure. “My struggles made me who I am today. That’s why I sing with feelings, it comes from my heart cause I feel the pain. Who feels it knows it,” he states. Purchase The Cure on iTunes now: http://smarturl.it/JCTheCure.
SOCA GOLD 2015
For over two decades, Soca Gold has been has been the ultimate Carnival soundtrack from the Caribbean islands and beyond. This year’s edition of annual top-selling compilation delivers the genre’s top anthems. Soca Gold 2015 features the Grammy winning singer-songwriter Angela Hunte & soca champion Machel Montano on the EDM-influenced collab “Party Done,” the “Viking of Soca” Bunji Garlin on his uplifting anthem “Our Time,” Trinidadian superstar Fay Ann Lyons on her latest crowd pleaser “Raze” and Lead Pipe & Saddis on the smash hit “Ah Feeling” (which brought them to the finals of the International Groovy Soca Monarch Competition in Trinidad this year). The 18-track set is accompanied with a DVD featuring music videos and exclusive performance and party footage that captures the vivacious energy from 2015 T&T Carnival. Purchase Soca Gold 2015 on iTunes now: smarturl.it/SG2015.
A short documentary about the rise and fall of the compact cassette
Cassette: A Documentary from Robert Gray on Vimeo.
A short-form essayistic documentary about the rise and fall of the compact cassette and its impact on culture, communication, listening, and portable sound reproduction.
Since its patenting in the early 1960’s, the compact audio cassette has changed the way that we listen, think, and communicate. From its humble origins as a transcription aid to its eventual loss of popularity after the invention of the compact disc and MP3 player, the cassette tape has come to be regarded a major cultural artifact, both in terms of its lasting impact on society and its current relevance in the Third World and the international independent music scene. Although the cassette tape has mostly faded from mainstream relevance in the Western world, it remains an important cultural touchstone for a generation of music listeners, and its less-direct influence is still felt today.
Produced in the Media Artists Studio program at The Evergreen State College 2011-2012.
The rare scene from “16 Candles” you can only see on TV. And here.
A lot of TV versions inexplicably contain deleted scenes added into the films. “Modified for time” they say. Many of these rare scenes are still unavailable anywhere else, including the DVDs of the films. Here’s a scene set in the school cafeteria for the televised version of 16 Candles used to fill an additional minute of time.
Say kids? Let’s all check out this 1960s hipster dance party!
Maybe I should laugh…these are someone’s parents!
All about that bass. Destroying a bag of chips with a 30,000 Watt Sound System
What happens when you have 4 18’s and 30,000 watts Rockford Fosgate power and a couple of bags of chips? I’m glad you asked. Go ahead, Steve Meade Designs…
This video? Oh, it’s just a pug wearing sunglasses snoring while lying in a tiny tub
I can’t even…
https://youtu.be/OuoujO9WjhE
A Sneak Preview Of The New Dr. Seuss’s Book “What Pet Should I Get?”
This never-ever-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss about making up one’s mind is the literary equivalent of buried treasure! What happens when a brother and sister visit a pet store to pick a pet? Naturally, they can’t choose just one! The tale captures a classic childhood moment—choosing a pet—and uses it to illuminate a life lesson: that it is hard to make up your mind, but sometimes you just have to do it!
Told in Dr. Seuss’s signature rhyming style, this is a must-have for Seuss fans and book collectors, and a perfect choice for the holidays, birthdays, and happy occasions of all kinds.
An Editor’s Note at the end discusses Dr. Seuss’s pets, his creative process, and the discovery of the manuscript and illustrations for What Pet Should I Get?
Slaight Music Announces “IT’S YOUR SHOT” – Canada’s Songwriting And Artist Development Competition Beginning August 1st
Slaight Music – champion and prime supporter of the Canadian music industry – announced the August 1st kickoff of “It’s Your Shot 2015”, Canada’s premiere songwriting and artist development competition. The contest, which is open to all musical genres, encourages artists to submit a song and/or video to www.itsyourshot.ca for a chance to win a Grand Prize valued at $50,000.
The “It’s Your Shot 2015” competition is one of the many initiatives put forth by Slaight Music—a company focused on discovering, developing, inspiring and supporting Canadian recording artists.
Each year, Slaight Music partners with one of Canada’s record labels to support this initiative. The winning artist this year will receive distribution, radio promotion, publicity, and marketing support via MapleMusic Recordings, along with a professional photo session, a professionally written biography, the development of an artist website, social network pages and an opportunity to perform at a high-profile musical event in 2015.
Ali Slaight, Slaight Music Talent Development Coordinator comments, “It’s Your Shot is something I look forward to every year, and being the curator of the Top 25 gives me the opportunity to go through all of the submissions on my own; discovering so many talented and gifted artists during this process over the last few years is what truly excites me. Winning this competition is a giant step towards a successful musical career for any emerging artist and we can’t wait to hear what the entrants to ‘It’s Your Shot 2015’ bring this year!”
Tony Tarleton, GM of MapleMusic Recordings/Fontana North adds, “Both myself and the team at MMR/Fontana are really excited to be a part of the It’s Your Shot competition again. We look forward to working closely with Ali and the Slaight Music team to help deliver yet another great artist to the marketplace. This is such a well-run competition in every aspect and we can’t wait to see and hear what’s to come!”
Past winners of the “It’s Your Shot” competition include: Liz Coyles (2011) who had a Top 20 hit with her debut single “Butterflies”; 2012 winner, Hamilton’s Thought Beneath Film, Jillea (2013), from Saint John, NB, whose debut single and EP are due for release via Universal Music Canada this year and 2014’s winner Sam Drysdale. “The team at Slaight Music is exactly what every artist hopes for early in their career,” says Drysdale. “A group of people genuinely looking to foster and assist up and coming talent. Forget the numbers and the dollar signs, being a part of the Slaight Music family is the real prize; and taking the chance to enter their It’s Your Shot competition has been the most important career move I’ve ever made.”
The competition will run from August 1st to October 31st with the winning submission announced mid-December.
Robert Ott to receive the 2015 Leonard T. Rambeau International Award
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Board of Directors announced today that Robert Ott will receive the 2015 Leonard T. Rambeau International Award. This CCMA Award of Achievement recognizes an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary effort in assisting the aims and initiatives of the Canadian country music industry internationally.
“Robert Ott’s persistence and devotion to the acts he has worked with, along with his forward-thinking approach to music publishing, has benefited Canadian artists by putting them on a global scale and offering them new opportunities. His ability to innovate the Music Publishing model, along with his passion for the business of music, has built one of Canada’s most enduring companies. Robert’s long-time support not only of Canadian country music, but also the CCMA, is undeniable. He is an exceptionally worthy recipient of this CCMA Award of Achievement,” said Chair of the CCMA Board of Directors, Brian Hetherman.
Robert Ott is the co-founder, Chairman & CEO of ole, one of the world’s largest independent music publishing and rights management companies. Ott founded ole in 2004 and has operations in Toronto, Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. The company boasts a team of over 100 experienced industry professionals focused on acquisitions, creative development and worldwide rights management. Before founding ole in 2014, Ott led BMG Music Publishing Canada for seven years.
Through ole, Ott has concluded over $450M USD in acquisitions and controls a catalogue of over 45,000 songs and 60,000 hours of TV/film music across all genres. The company remains steadfast to the creative development of its 100+ staff songwriters, legacy writers and composers, and adding value to its catalogs and client catalogs. ole is unwaveringly committed to being the best and most innovative global destination for world-class songwriters, composers and talent management, and the first choice music source for creators in all media. ole’s current and legacy Canadian roster includes Gord Bamford, George Canyon, Dean Brody, and Johnny Reid, and the company has had a hand in over 230 Canadian cuts and more than 46 Canadian singles since 2013.
“I am very honoured by this recognition from my colleagues and peers in the CCMA,” said Ott. “As Canadians, we have to take our aspirations to the world in a unique way in order to be heard. That’s what makes Canadian talent so special. I look forward to many more years of supporting the CCMA and Canadian Country Music around the globe.”
ole has won the CCMA Award for Music Publishing Company of the Year for eight consecutive years (2007 – 2014), and is nominated again this year. BMG Music Publishing Canada also took home the award five times while Ott was General Manager. Ott is a five-time past President of the Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA) and currently sits on the Board of Directors of CMRRA and SOCAN.
The 2015 Leonard T. Rambeau International Award will be presented to Ott during a private industry event held during Country Music Week, which takes place September 10 – 13 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Visit ccma.org for event information.
The Leonard T. Rambeau International Award was titled after its namesake in 1995. Mr. Rambeau was an influential artist manager and a critical behind-the-scene figure in the development of the Canadian music industry internationally.
