1.
Album
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Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
2.
Massive Attack
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Massive Attack are an English trip hop group formed in 1988 in Bristol, consisting of Robert 3D Del Naja, Grant Daddy G Marshall and formerly Andy Mushroom Vowles & Adrian Tricky Kid Thaws. Their debut album Blue Lines was released in 1991, with the single Unfinished Sympathy reaching the charts, 1998s Mezzanine, containing Teardrop, and 2003s 100th Window charted in the UK at number one. Both Blue Lines and Mezzanine feature in Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the group has won numerous music awards throughout their career, including a Brit Award—winning Best British Dance Act, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and two Q Awards. They have released five albums that have sold over 11 million copies worldwide. DJs Daddy G and Andrew Vowles and graffiti artist-turned-rapper Robert Del Naja met as members of partying collective The Wild Bunch, One of the first homegrown soundsystems in the UK, The Wild Bunch became dominant on the Bristol club scene in the mid-1980s. Circa became a subsidiary of, and was subsumed into, Virgin Records. Blue Lines, was co-produced by Jonny Dollar and Cameron McVey, Geoff Barrow, who went on to form Portishead, was an intern and trainee tape operator at Bristols Coach House studio when the album was recorded. In the nineties, the became known for often not being able to easily get along with one another. Marshall returned to a role in 2005, having joined the touring line-up in 2003 and 2004. Unsigned, Mushroom, Daddy G and 3D put out Any Love as a single, 3D co-wrote Neneh Cherrys Manchild, which peaked at number 5 in the UK single chart. Cameron McVey and Neneh Cherry helped them to record their first LP Blue Lines, partly in their house, the album used vocalists including Horace Andy and Shara Nelson, a former Wild Bunch cohort. MCs Tricky and Willie Wee, also part of The Wild Bunch, featured. Neneh Cherry sang backing vocals on environmentalist anthem, Hymn of the Big Wheel, the group temporarily shortened their name to Massive on the advice of McVey to avoid controversy relating to the Gulf War. They went back to being Massive Attack for their next single, after Shara Nelson left, the band brought in Everything but the Girls Tracey Thorn as a vocalist and released Protection on 26 September 1994. With McVey out of the picture, Massive Attack enlisted the talents of former Wild Bunch Nellee Hooper to co-produce some songs on it. Other tracks were co-produced by The Insects and 3D, a dub version, No Protection, was released the following year by Mad Professor. Protection won a Brit award for Best Dance Act, the other collaborators on Protection were Marius de Vries, Craig Armstrong, a Scottish classical pianist, and Tricky. Trickys solo career was taking off at time and he decided not to collaborate with Massive Attack after this
3.
Trip hop
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Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. Trip hop can be highly experimental and it was pioneered by acts like Massive Attack, Tricky, and Portishead. Trip hop achieved commercial success in the 1990s, and has described as Europes alternative choice in the second half of the 90s. DJs, MCs, b-boys and graffiti artists grouped together into informal soundsystems, Bristols soundsystem DJs, drawing heavily on Jamaican dub music, typically used a laid-back, slow and heavy drum beat. Bristols Wild Bunch crew became one of the soundsystems to put a spin on the international phenomenon, helping to birth Bristols signature sound of trip hop. As the hip hop scene matured in Bristol and musical trends evolved further toward acid jazz and house in the late 1980s, another influence came from Gary Clails Tackhead soundsystem. Clail often worked with former The Pop Group singer Mark Stewart, produced by Adrian Sherwood, the music combined hiphop with experimental rock and dub and sounded like a premature version of what later became trip hop. In 1993, Kirsty MacColl released Angel, one of the first examples of the crossing over to pop. In the 1990s, Janet Jackson brought trip hop into the American charts with the song If, several songs on her Janet. and The Velvet Rope used this genre of music, Songs like Got Til Its Gone and You. Massive Attacks first album Blue Lines was released in 1991 to huge success in the UK, Massive Attack released their second album entitled Protection in 1994. The term trip hop was coined that year, but not in reference to anything on the Massive Attack albums, in 1993, Icelandic musician Björk released Debut, produced by Wild Bunch member Nellee Hooper. The album, although rooted in four-on-the-floor house music, contained elements of trip hop and is credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop. She had been in contact with Londons underground electronic music scene and was involved with trip hop musician Tricky. Björk embraced trip hop even more with her 1995 album Post by collaborating with Tricky, homogenic, her 1997 album, has been described as a pinnacle of trip hop music. 1994 and 1995 saw trip hop near the peak of its popularity, with such as Howie B, Naked Funk. The period also marked the debut of two acts who, along with Massive Attack, would define the Bristol scene for years to come, in 1994 Portishead, a trio comprising singer Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utley, released their debut album Dummy. Their background differed from Massive Attack in many ways, one of Portisheads primary influences was 1960s and 1970s film soundtrack LPs, nevertheless, Portishead shared the scratchy, jazz-sample-based aesthetic of early Massive Attack, and the sullen, fragile vocals of Gibbons also brought them wide acclaim. In 1995, Dummy was awarded the Mercury Music Prize as the best British album of the year, Tricky also released his debut solo album Maxinquaye in 1995, to great critical acclaim
4.
Minimal techno
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Minimal techno is a minimalist subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by an aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition. Minimal techno is thought to have originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit-based producers Robert Hood. By the early 2000s the term minimal generally described a style of techno that was popularised in Germany by labels such as Kompakt, Perlon, minimal techno first emerged in the early 1990s. The development of the style is attributed to a so-called second wave of American producers associated with Detroit techno. According to Derrick May, while the artists were enjoying their early global success, techno also inspired many up-and-coming DJs. This younger generation included such as Richie Hawtin, Daniel Bell, Robert Hood, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin. The work of several of these evolved to become focused on minimalism. Robert Hood describes the situation in the early 1990s as one where techno had become too ravey, such trends saw the demise of the soul-infused techno that typified the original Detroit sound. Robert Hood has noted that he and Daniel Bell both realized something was missing from techno in the era, and saw that an important feature of the original techno sound had been lost. Hood states that it sounded great from a standpoint. People would complain that theres no funk, no feeling in techno anymore, I thought it was time for a return to the original underground. The minimal techno sound that emerged at this time has been defined by Robert Hood as a stripped down. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only whats essential, only what is essential to make people move. I started to look at it as a science, the art of making people move their butts, speaking to their heart, mind and its a heart-felt rhythmic techno sound. Daniel Bell has commented that he had a dislike for minimalism in the sense of the word. By 1994, according to Sherburne, the term minimal was in use to describe any stripped-down, los Angeles-based writer Daniel Chamberlin attributes the origin of minimal techno to the German producers Basic Channel. Chamberlin also sees the use of sine tone drones by minimalist composer La Monte Young, Sherburne has suggested that the noted similarities between minimal forms of dance music and American minimalism could easily be accidental
5.
Virgin Records
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Virgin Records is a British-founded record label originally founded by English entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman in 1972. It was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992, today, the operations of Virgin Records America, Inc. are still active and headquartered in Hollywood, California, as it operates exclusively under the Capitol Music Group since 2007. US artists include Knox Hamilton, LTric and Rise Against, in fact the first real store was above a shoe shop at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label, the name Virgin, according to Branson, arose from Tessa Watts, a colleague of his, when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like virgins, the original Virgin logo was designed by English artist and illustrator Roger Dean, a young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed serpent and the word Virgin in Deans familiar script. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label and this was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album Phaedra by Tangerine Dream, and The Faust Tapes and Faust IV by Faust. The Faust Tapes album retailed for 49p and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band to reach number 12 in the album charts, other early albums include Gongs Flying Teapot, which Daevid Allen has been quoted as having never been paid for. Under the guidance of Tessa Watts, Virgins Head of Publicity, shortly afterwards, the Notting Hill record shop was raided by police for having a window display of the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, Heres the Sex Pistols in the window. After modified versions of the label came the red, white and blue design introduced in 1975. The current Virgin logo was created in 1978, commissioned by Simon Draper, brian Cooke of Cooke Key Associates commissioned a graphic designer to produce a stylised signature. In 1983 Virgin purchased Charisma Records, renaming it Charisma/Virgin, then later Virgin/Charisma, before folding the label in 1986, in the process they acquired Genesis and comedy group Monty Python. The Charisma label was reactivated in the US in 1990 and enjoyed success with such as Maxi Priest, Right Said Fred,38 Special. When this Charisma label was retired in 1992, all of its artists were, as before, in 1987, Venture Records was created for new age and modern classical artists including Klaus Schulze, who had been associated with Virgin since the early 1970s. 10 Records Immortal Records Delabel Caroline Records was a label used from 1973 to 1977. The name and logo were used for some American editions of Virgin records in the 1980s and 1990s. Caroline was primarily used for independent distribution until the label was reactivated in 2013, today, Caroline Records acts as an independent label taking the place of EMI Label Services, after Virgins former parent company EMI was purchased by Universal Music Group. Front Line Records was a label for issuing Jamaican and English reggae music from 1978 to approximately 1987, a short-lived associated label, Dindisc, had Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Monochrome Set during its brief existence, after which its recordings became part of Virgins catalogue. Noo Trybe Records was a hip hop label that existed from 1994 to 1999
6.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
7.
Robert Del Naja
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Robert Del Naja, also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective The Wild Bunch, Del Naja is one of the founding members of Bristol trip hop collective Massive Attack. In addition to his work with Massive Attack, he provided vocals to Invasion on Unkles album Never, Never, Land and he counted with the collaboration of artists such as Guy Garvey, and the Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band. In December 2014, Del Naja donated ten unreleased tracks to the Game Jam site Ludum Dare. The songs will be used by the developers to make soundtracks for the games. This new music material is available for free download. In February 2015, Del Naja and Thom Yorke released the soundtrack for documentary The UK Gold, the songs are available for free download. In 2015 he also collaborated with Jean-Michel Jarre on the Electronica 1, The Time Machine album, Del Naja was a graffiti artist before becoming a vocalist. His work has featured on all of Massive Attacks record sleeves. The graffiti artist Banksy cites his work as an influence, Del Naja is credited as being the first graffiti artist in Bristol. He is also regarded as the pioneer of the graffiti movement and bringing hip hop. Del Naja has co-designed all of Massive Attacks lighting shows with UVA, Del Naja took part in a group show in 2007 called Warpaint at the Lazarides Gallery in London, featuring his art from the Unkle album War Stories. He also created an exhibition of flags at Massive Attacks Meltdown Festival on Londons South Bank in 2008, the installation was called Favoured Nations. In the exhibition, alternative flags of the British Commonwealth were recoloured in the anarchist red and black, Del Naja and Davidge collaborated with United Visual Artists on the large scale installation Volume at Londons V&A museum in 2006. It consists of a field of 48 luminous, sound-emitting columns that respond to movement, visitors weave a path through the sculpture, creating their own unique journey in light and music. In a 2010 interview, Del Naja said Painting is difficult for me because Im colour blind, back in the day, I had to label my spray cans with what colour they were because I couldnt tell. Its like the new clothes, telling me its great. Del Najas first solo art show ran in the Lazarides gallery, the show featured many of the works he created for Massive Attack, reinterpreted especially for the exhibition
8.
Neil Davidge
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Neil Davidge is a record producer, songwriter, film score composer, musician, and occasional backing vocalist. Once an associate of dance producers DNA, he is best known as the long-term co-writer and producer for the production outfit Massive Attack. In 1997, he produced the Sunna album One Minute Science. During that time he has established a career as a score composer including projects such as Push, Bullet Boy, Trouble the Water. Artists he has worked with include Unkle, Damon Albarn, Elizabeth Fraser, Mos Def, David Bowie, Davidge worked with UK Band DNA in the period between 1989–1992 co-producing four singles and one album. Davidge had met Massive Attacks Andrew Vowles as early as 1991, Mezzanine won a Q Award for Best Album and was nominated for a Mercury Award. As with Mezzanine, Massive Attacks fourth album 100th Window was largely piloted by Davidge, sessions were protracted and pressurised, the group discarding material to re-write the whole record in the last six months of a three-year odyssey. Some great things had been said about Mezzanine and we didnt want to ourselves, says Neil It was a strange period of isolation and the weirdness of 9/11. Collected was Massive Attacks best of released on 27 March 2006. The album was preceded by the release of the single Live With Me on 13 March, Live With Me was co-written and produced by Davidge. Heligoland is the studio album by Massive Attack, released almost exactly seven years after 100th Window. Davidge co-wrote eight of the ten tracks as well as playing keyboards, bass, the album was mixed by Mark Spike Stent although Davidge produced and mixed Paradise Circus. In 2004 Luc Besson approached Davidge and Robert Del Naja to score the movie Danny The Dog, there then followed scores for Bullet Boy, Battle in Seattle, and Trouble the Water, which received an Oscar nomination as Best Documentary Feature. It is a study of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina which won Best Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Working with Snoop Dogg, Neil also scored the music for In Prison My Whole Life and he was approached by director Louis Leterrier to replace Matt Bellamy from Muse who had to pull out due to touring commitments in the USA. On 11 April 2012, Davidge was revealed to be the composer for the Halo 4 Original Soundtrack, Davidge established his own studio in 2010 and has since been working on several projects including his upcoming debut solo album titled Slo Light
9.
Unleashed (film)
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Unleashed is a 2005 British-French martial arts action thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier, written by Luc Besson, and produced by Jet Li. It stars Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman, and Kerry Condon, the films setting and shooting location are Glasgow. Bart is a loan shark whose method of persuading men to pay him back involves Danny the Dog, a man with the mentality of a child. Danny is a skilled fighter who stops at nothing to take down his targets. Danny meets Sam, a blind pianist, at the antique warehouse while dealing with Barts clients. After the collar trick with Danny starts to fail, Bart realizes he can end his loan shark career by entering Danny as a fighter in underground fighting deathmatches, if Danny wins, Bart receives a hefty prize money. However, after the first fight, Bart is involved in a mishap with another criminal and is left for dead after being shot by a machine gun, a critically injured Danny returns to the antique warehouse for shelter, where he is found by Sam. Danny is out for two days and wakes up at the home of Sam and his stepdaughter Victoria, Danny starts to open up to them and he starts a new life with the benevolent family. The two teach Danny how to eat, read, speak, cook, go grocery shopping, Danny socializes with Victoria and Sam by hanging out with them in public areas and taking family photos. Danny drastically changes with new clothes, hairstyle, and fresh lifestyle and he finally learns to live without his collar after Victoria removes it. He is drawn closer to music while spending time with Victoria and he also develops curiosity about who his mother was after Victoria teaches him what it means to have a family. Weeks later Sam informs Danny about moving back to New York and he invites Danny, telling him they think of him as family, and Danny happily accepts. However, Danny runs into Bart’s right-hand man Lefty in the streets and is forced back to Bart after Lefty threatens him by hurting Sam, Bart is still alive after recovering. Bart drags Danny back to the arena, where a death-match is set between Danny and ruthless martial artists. Despite Danny’s refusal to fight, Bart shoves him into the pit, Danny eventually retaliates by pummeling the four fighters, but refuses to kill them. Enraged by Danny’s change of character, Bart kills the first fighter at gunpoint, drags him back home and that night, Danny sneaks through his door and goes through photographs of Bart’s favorite prostitutes, finally finding one snapshot of who appears to be Danny’s own mother. He interrogates Bart, who tells him that she was simply a prostitute who is long gone and he angrily promises to make Danny repay him for the money he had lost earlier that evening. Next morning, Danny manages to escape from Bart by flip-crashing the car and runs back to Sam and Victoria, telling them what he has learned, with the twos help, Danny figures out that his mother was a pianist who had financial problems
10.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
11.
Special Cases
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Special Cases is a song on English trip hop collective Massive Attacks fourth full-length album, 100th Window. It was released as the first single from album on 24 February 2003. Featuring Sinéad OConnor on vocals, it was for fans of the band their first exposure to the new album. 12 vinyl releases contained a remix of Special Cases by Vladislav Delay. The song was made into two separate videos. The Enhanced CD contains one of these, and the video is on a rare DVD release of the single. Despite being one of the higher charting singles, it did not appear on their 2006 singles compilation Collected. com - Massive Attack Discography MASSIVEATTACK. IE song info entry on Special Cases
12.
Electronic music
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In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as the theremin, sound synthesizer, and computer. During the 1920s and 1930s, electronic instruments were introduced and the first compositions for instruments were composed. Musique concrète, created in Paris in 1948, was based on editing together recorded fragments of natural and industrial sounds, Music produced solely from electronic generators was first produced in Germany in 1953. Electronic music was created in Japan and the United States beginning in the 1950s. An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, algorithmic composition was first demonstrated in Australia in 1951. In America and Europe, live electronics were pioneered in the early 1960s, during the 1970s to early 1980s, the monophonic Minimoog became once the most widely used synthesizer at that time in both popular and electronic art music. In the 1980s, electronic music became dominant in popular music, with a greater reliance on synthesizers, and the adoption of programmable drum machines. Electronically produced music became prevalent in the domain by the 1990s. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music. Today, pop music is most recognizable in its 4/4 form. At the turn of the 20th century, experimentation with emerging electronics led to the first electronic musical instruments and these initial inventions were not sold, but were instead used in demonstrations and public performances. The audiences were presented with reproductions of existing music instead of new compositions for the instruments, while some were considered novelties and produced simple tones, the Telharmonium accurately synthesized the sound of orchestral instruments. It achieved viable public interest and made progress into streaming music through telephone networks. Critics of musical conventions at the time saw promise in these developments, ferruccio Busoni encouraged the composition of microtonal music allowed for by electronic instruments. He predicted the use of machines in future music, writing the influential Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, futurists such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo began composing music with acoustic noise to evoke the sound of machinery. They predicted expansions in timbre allowed for by electronics in the influential manifesto The Art of Noises, developments of the vacuum tube led to electronic instruments that were smaller, amplified, and more practical for performance. In particular, the theremin, ondes Martenot and trautonium were commercially produced by the early 1930s, from the late 1920s, the increased practicality of electronic instruments influenced composers such as Joseph Schillinger to adopt them
13.
Mezzanine (album)
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Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998 by Virgin Records. It was the first album to be produced by Neil Davidge, the entire album was provided on their website for legal download many months before the physical release was announced, one of the first major uses of the MP3 format by a commercial organisation. Mezzanine topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand and it saw the band expanding their trip hop sound to electronica stylings, with diverse influences from rock, hip hop and dub genres. The production of Mezzanine was a process, with tensions arising within the group. The albums working title was Damaged Goods, which was the name of the Gang of Fours 1978 debut single, teardrop became the opening theme to the American medical drama television series House, which ran on Fox from 2004 to 2012. The albums textured and deep tone relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, similar to their previous albums, several songs use one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to The Cure. In 1998, Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorised use of a sample of the song Tribute from Manfred Manns Earth Bands eponymous 1972 album, the song has subsequently appeared as Black Melt on later releases and at live performances, with the sample removed. Mezzanine marked the parting of band member Andrew Vowles, due to creative conflicts, Horace Andy, a well-known reggae artist, also performed several spots on the album. Mezzanine entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry on 4 September 1998 and then double platinum on 22 July 2013. However, it failed to share the success in North America, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200. The album received significant critical acclaim, who praised the new sound. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album an honorable mention rating and selected Risingson. John Bush of AllMusic also had positive words for the albums song Inertia Creeps, saying it could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, years after the album was released, it was placed on several best-of lists in the UK and the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, in 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazines list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2013, it was placed at 215 on NMEs list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, sampling credits All samples as per Whosampled. Angel contains a sample of Last Bongo in Belgium by The Incredible Bongo Band, Risingson contains a sample of I Found a Reason by The Velvet Underground. Teardrop contains a sample of Sometimes I Cry by Les McCann, Inertia Creeps contains a synth sample of ROckWrok by Ultravox
14.
Horace Andy
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He is also famous for a cover version of Aint No Sunshine. Andy is often described as one of the most respected and influential singers in Jamaica, born in Kingston, Jamaica, Hinds recorded his first single, This is a Black Mans Country, in 1967 for producer Phil Pratt. This is a Black Mans Country failed to make an impact, after unsuccessfully auditioning at Coxsone Dodds Studio One as a duo along with Frank Melody, he successfully auditioned on his own a few days later. Got To Be Sure, the song he had auditioned with, the following two years saw the release of further singles such as See a Mans Face, Night Owl, Fever, and Mr. Bassie. Andy had a second Jamaican number one single in 1973 with Children of Israel, andys most successful association with a producer, however, was with Bunny Lee in the middle part of the 1970s. Andy set up his own Rhythm label, which became an outlet for his work with DaSilva, the association with the producer was brought to an abrupt end when DaSilva was murdered in 1979. Andys 1978 album Pure Ranking had anticipated the rise of dancehall reggae, andy continued to record with a variety of producers in the first half of the 1980s. In 1985, with his second wife Caroline, he relocated to Ladbroke Grove, London, in the mid-1990s he also worked with Mad Professor, releasing the albums Life Is For Living and Roots and Branches. He continues to record new music, with the Living in the Flood album released in 1999 on Massive Attacks Melankolic record label and he also featured on the world music project,1 Giant Leap, and on the Easy Star All-Stars 2006 album, Radiodread. Some of his lyrics on the subject of homosexuality have been considered controversial, andy stated that Trojan Records only agreed to release his album On Tour after removing a track containing the lyrics, The Father never make Adam and Steve, he make Adam and Eve. Today
15.
Damon Albarn
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Damon Albarn, OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known as the singer of the British rock band Blur as well as co-founder, vocalist, instrumentalist. After spending long periods of time touring the US, Albarns songwriting became influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result of these came in the form of Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife. All three albums received critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop rivalry with Oasis, subsequent albums such as Blur,13, Think Tank and The Magic Whip contained influences from lo-fi, electronic and hip hop music. Along with Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett, Albarn formed the virtual band Gorillaz in 1998, drawing influences from alternative rock, trip hop, hip hop, electronica, dub, reggae and pop music, the band released their self-titled debut album in 2001 to worldwide success. Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, the albums feature collaborations from a range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band and he has also ventured into the world of opera with Dr Dee and Monkey, Journey to the West. In 2008 The Daily Telegraph ranked Albarn number 18 in their list of the 100 most powerful people in British culture, in a 2010 UK poll for Q magazine Albarn was voted the fourth-greatest frontman of all time. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to music, Albarn was born on 23 March 1968, is the eldest child of artist Keith Albarn and his wife Hazel, née Dring. Their daughter Jessica, born in 1971, also went on to become an artist, Keith Albarn, originally from Nottinghamshire, was briefly the manager of Soft Machine and once a guest on BBCs Late Night Line-Up. He was head of The School of Art and Design at Colchester Institute, damons paternal grandfather Edward, an architect, had been a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was involved in a farming community in Lincolnshire, becoming a peace activist. In 2002 Edward Albarn died, Damon stated in an interview that Edward did not want to any longer. The Apollo Cumfycraft and The Tailendcharlie produced by his fathers company Keith Albarn & Partners Ltd under the trade-name of Playlearn, when Damon and Jessica were growing up, their family moved to Leytonstone, East London. The household was described as bohemian and their upbringing as liberal, Albarn agreed with his parents views, later claiming, I always thought my parents were absolutely dead right. I went against the grain in a weird way – by continually following them and his parents primarily listened to blues, Indian ragas and African music. The population of the area was predominantly white as opposed to the ethnically mixed part of London which he had used to. He described himself as not really fitting in with the politics of the place, Albarn was interested in music from an early age, attending an Osmonds concert at the age of six
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2-D (character)
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Stuart 2-D Pot is a fictional character who is a musician and member of the British virtual band, Gorillaz. He provides the vocals and plays the keyboard for the band. 2-Ds voice is provided by Blur frontman Damon Albarn on Gorillaz recordings and performances, while in additional material and he was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The character 2-D sings and plays keyboard and he can play guitar, as can Murdoc, but both leave it to Noodle. In most cases, 2-Ds singing voice is lower than his warbly speaking voice. His vocal range is wide, and he has sung everything from Baritone to a falsetto Soprano. All his singing voices are provided by Damon Albarn, including the verses in the 2005 hit Feel Good Inc. 2-D apparently has had influence in the lyric-writing process. Apparently Murdoc has had Damon Albarn teach 2-D from time to time to sing better than he already could, 2-D was featured on the songs FM by Nathan Haines and Small Time Shot Away by Massive Attack
17.
Sampling (music)
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In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, by the late 1960s, the use of tape loop sampling influenced the development of minimalist music and the production of psychedelic rock and jazz fusion. Hip hop music was the first popular music based on the art of sampling – being born from 1970s DJs who experimented with manipulating vinyl on two turntables and an audio mixer. Historically, sampling was most often done with a sampler — a specialized piece of hardware — but today, however, vinyl emulation software may also be used, and turntablists continue to sample using traditional methods. Often samples consist of one part of a song, such as a rhythm break, for instance, hip hop music developed from DJs looping the breaks from songs to enable continuous dancing. Samples can also consist of words and phrases, including those in non-musical media such as movies, TV shows. Sampling does not necessarily mean using pre-existing recordings, a number of composers and musicians have constructed pieces or songs by sampling field recordings they made themselves, and others have sampled their own original recordings. The use of sampling is controversial legally and musically, in the 1970s, when hip hop was confined to local dance parties, it was unnecessary to obtain copyright clearance in order to sample recorded music at these parties. Aside from legal issues, sampling has been championed and criticized. Hip-hop DJs today take different approaches to sampling, with critical of its obvious use. Some critics, particularly those with a rockist outlook, have expressed the belief all sampling is lacking in creativity, while others say sampling has been innovative and revolutionary. Those whose own work has been sampled have also voiced a variety of opinions about the practice. Once recorded, samples can be edited, played back, or looped, types of samples include, The drums and percussion parts of many modern recordings are really a variety of short samples of beats strung together. Many libraries of such beats exist and are licensed so that the user incorporating the samples can distribute their recording without paying royalties, such libraries can be loaded into samplers. Though percussion is an application of looping, many kinds of samples can be looped. A piece of music may have an ostinato which is created by sampling a phrase played on any kind of instrument, there is software which specializes in creating loops. Whereas loops are usually a phrase played on a musical instrument, Music workstations and samplers use samples of musical instruments as the basis of their own sounds, and are capable of playing a sample back at any pitch. Many modern synthesizers and drum machines also use samples as the basis of their sounds, most such samples are created in professional recording studios using world-class instruments played by accomplished musicians
18.
Jazz
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Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements
19.
Jazz fusion
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Jazz fusion is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined aspects of jazz harmony and improvisation with styles such as funk, rock, rhythm and blues, and Latin jazz. During this time many jazz musicians began experimenting with electric instruments and amplified sound for the first time, as well as electronic effects, many of the developments during the late 1960s and early 1970s have since become established elements of jazz fusion musical practice. Fusion arrangements vary in complexity—some employ groove-based vamps fixed to a key, or even a single chord. Others can feature odd or shifting time signatures with elaborate chord progressions, melodies, typically, these arrangements, whether simple or complex, will feature extended improvised sections that can vary in length. As with jazz, fusion often employs brass and woodwind instruments such as trumpet and saxophone as melody and soloing instruments, the rhythm section typically consists of electric bass, electric guitar, electric piano/synthesizer and drums. As with traditional jazz improvisation, fusion instrumentalists generally require a level of technical proficiency. The term jazz-rock is often used as a synonym for jazz fusion as well as for music performed by late 1960s, experimentation continued in the 1990s and 2000s. Fusion albums, even those that are made by the group or artist. Rather than being a musical style, fusion can be viewed as a musical tradition or approach. Afro-Cuban jazz, one the earliest form of Latin jazz, is a fusion of Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban jazz first emerged in the early 1940s with the Cuban musicians Mario Bauza and Frank Grillo Machito in the band Machito and his Afro-Cubans, based in New York City. Early combinations of jazz with Cuban music, such as Dizzys and Pozos Manteca and Charlie Parkers and Machitos Mangó Mangüé, were referred to as Cubop. During its first decades, the Afro-Cuban jazz movement was stronger in the United States than in Cuba itself, allmusic Guide states that until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. One of the earliest releases from Pink Floyd, London 66–67 incorporated jazz-influenced improvisation to their psychedelic compositions, nevertheless, these developments made little impact in the United States. Jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton was an innovator in the 1960s, in 1967, Burton worked with electric guitarist Larry Coryell and recorded Duster, which is considered one of the first fusion records. Texas-born guitarist Coryell was also a pioneer of jazz in the same era. Trumpeter and composer Miles Davis had a influence on the development of jazz fusion with his 1968 album Miles in the Sky. It is the first of Davis albums to incorporate electric instruments, with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter playing electric piano and bass guitar, respectively
20.
Blue Lines
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Blue Lines is the debut studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on their Wild Bunch label through Virgin Records on 8 April 1991. A remastered version of the album was released on 19 November 2012 and we worked on Blue Lines for about eight months, with breaks for Christmas and the World Cup, said 3D, but we started out with a selection of ideas that were up to seven years old. Songs like Safe from Harm and Lately had been around for a while, from when we were The Wild Bunch, but the more we worked on them, the more we began to conceive new ideas too – like, Five Man Army came together as a jam. Blue Lines is generally considered the first trip hop album, although the term was not widely used before 1994, the album reached No.13 on the UK Albums Chart, sales were limited elsewhere. A fusion of music, hip hop, dub, 70s soul and reggae, it established Massive Attack as one of the most innovative British bands of the 1990s. Music critic Simon Reynolds stated that the album marked a change in electronic/dance music. The songs on Blue Lines run at spliff tempos – from a mellow, down to a positively torpid 67 bpm. The group also drew inspiration from concept albums in various genres by artists such as Pink Floyd, Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes. Blue Lines featured breakbeats, sampling, and rapping on a number of tracks, Massive Attack approached the American-born hip hop movement from an underground British perspective and also incorporated live instruments into the mixes. It features the vocals of Shara Nelson and Horace Andy, along with the rapping of Tricky Kid, Blue Lines proved to be popular in the club scene, as well as on college radio stations. The font used on the cover of the album is Helvetica Black Oblique, del Naja has acknowledged the influence of the inflammable material logo used on the cover of Stiff Little Fingers album Inflammable Material. Selects Andrew Harrison similarly complimented the albums mix of styles. He cited One Love and Be Thankful for What Youve Got as highlights and jokingly wrote, from soul ii skank, those postindustrial blues got them down. According to Acclaimed Music, a site which uses statistics to numerically represent critical reception, Blue Lines is the 37th best-received album of all time, and third best-received of the 1990s. In 1997, Blue Lines was named the 21st greatest album of all time in a Music of the Millennium poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 2003, the album was ranked number 395 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, pitchfork Media ranked it at number 85 in its list of The Top 100 Albums of the 1990s. Stuart Bailie of BBC Northern Ireland stated that, It was soul music, but it had bold, symphonic arrangements. It featured samples of the Mahavishnu Orchestra going hey, hey hey, hey and it had funky breaks and an emotional power that was hard to figure
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Clifton, Bristol
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Clifton is both a suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the citys thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells, other parts of the suburb lie within the ward of Clifton East. Notable places in Clifton include Clifton Suspension Bridge, Clifton Cathedral, Clifton College, The Clifton Club, Bristol Zoo, Goldney Hall, Clifton is an inner suburb of the English port city of Bristol. Clifton was recorded in the Domesday book as Clistone, the name of the village denoting a hillside settlement, until 1898 Clifton St Andrew was a separate civil parish within the Municipal Borough of Bristol. Various sub-districts of Clifton exist, including Whiteladies Road, an important shopping district to the east, and Clifton Village and this area corresponds roughly with the city wards of Clifton and Clifton East, although the former also includes the river side suburb of Hotwells. Clifton is one of the oldest and most affluent areas of the city, much of it having been built with profits from tobacco, grand houses that required many servants were built in the area. Although some were detached or semi-detached properties, the bulk were built as terraces, one famous terrace is the majestic Royal York Crescent, visible from the Avon Gorge below and looking across the Bristol docks. Berkeley Square which was built around 1790 is an example of Georgian architecture, secluded squares include the triangular Canynge Square. The Whiteladies Picture House on Whiteladies Road was converted into offices, Clifton Lido was built in 1850 but closed to the public in 1990, it was redeveloped and opened again to the public in November 2008. Parts of Clifton itself are now in the process of being pedestrianised, Clifton ward, which includes Hotwells, has a population of 10,452 in 5,007 households, according to adjusted figures for the 2001 census. On the same basis, Clifton East ward has a population of 9,538 in 4,741 households, in Clifton ward, 27% of the adult population is in full-time education. Immediately north of Clifton is Durdham Down, a flat and open area. On the western edge of Clifton is Clifton Down, a less open/more wooded area, Clifton is served by Clifton Down railway station on the local Severn Beach railway line, and by frequent bus services from central Bristol. It has road links to the city centre and outer western suburbs, between 1893 and 1934, it was connected to Hotwells by the Clifton Rocks Railway. G. Grace - cricketer and surgeon Francis Greenway - renowned Australian architect and designer of The Clifton Club John Grimshaw - founder of Sustrans, the song Clifton in the Rain by Al Stewart appears on his first album Bed-Sitter Images. The song 32 West Mall, which appeared on the 1971 album Stackridge was named after the flat that the band shared as their headquarters at 32 West Mall in 1970. The 1978 childrens paranormal drama The Clifton House Mystery – produced by HTV, was set in the Clifton area, the plot revolved around a family moving into an old house, and subsequently finding a skeleton of a long-dead person in a hidden room. After some unexplained incidents, they convinced that a ghost connected in some way with the Bristol Riots of 1831 is haunting the house
22.
Spiritualized
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Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce, formerly of Spacemen 3. The membership of Spiritualized has changed from album to album, with Pierce—who writes, composes, Spiritualized have released seven studio albums. The best known and most critically acclaimed of these is perhaps 1997s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, the band took their name from an adaptation of the text on the back label of a bottle of Pernod. Due to formation from a majority of Spacemen 3 members, a technical clause meant that Spiritualized had to maintain the Spacemen 3 recording contract with Dedicated Records, evans was replaced on keyboards by Pierces then-girlfriend Kate Radley for the follow-up single, Run/I Want You. A number of singles followed, before the band, in early 1992, released their first LP Lazer Guided Melodies, the band embarked on a tour with The Jesus & Mary Chain after the release of the album. A second album, Pure Phase, was released in 1995, the musical style of Spiritualized relies heavily on sustained pedal notes and drones. Lazer Guided Melodies and Pure Phase incorporate elements of the style, drones. Such influences dominated Spiritualizeds next album, Let It Come Down, Amazing Grace favoured a more stripped down sound with the gospel, blues, and soul influences even more dominant than before. On 15 June 1997, Spiritualized became the last band to play at Factory Records Manchester nightclub The Haçienda. After several years of work and Pierces serious illness in July 2005, the album, Songs in A&E was released on 26 May 2008 in the UK, the first single from the 18-track album was Soul On Fire. The release was backed by an Electric Mainlines UK tour which began in May, Pierce has also scored Harmony Korines 2008 film Mister Lonely. Pierce is quoted as saying in a 2008 interview that Spiritualized was scheduled to play the CERN collider and we were gonna play in it before they’d thrown the switch. But it was a timing thing—their timings didn’t coincide with ours, in October and December 2009 the band performed 1997s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrows Parties-curated Dont Look Back series. The band had played some of this new material over the past 3 years. The album cover, an octagon surrounding the word Huh. on a white background, is a reference to the working title of the album. In an interview regarding the new release it was revealed that the album would embrace more poppy songs compared to previous albums. In the same interview, Jason Pierce also said that the album was inspired by the experiences of performing Ladies. In September 2016, Pierce revealed on Twitter that the next album would be released on June 16th, 2017—the 20th anniversary of the release of Ladies
23.
Metacritic
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Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of media products, music albums, games, movies, TV shows, DVDs, and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged, Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source, a color of Green, Yellow or Red summarizes the critics recommendations and therefore the general appeal of the product to reviewers and, to a lesser extent, the public. It is regarded as the game industrys foremost review aggregator. Metacritics scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to the critics fame, stature, and volume of reviews. Metacritic was launched in July 1999 by Marc Doyle, his sister Julie Doyle Roberts, rotten Tomatoes was already compiling movie reviews, but Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz saw an opportunity to cover a broader range of media. They sold Metacritic to CNET in 2005, CNET and Metacritic are now owned by the CBS Corporation. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal wrote in September 2004, Mr. Doyle,36, is now a product manager at CNET. Speaking of video games, Doyle said, A site like ours helps people cut through. unobjective promotional language and he added that the review process was not taken as seriously when unconnected magazines and websites provided reviews in isolation. In August 2010, the appearance was revamped, reaction from users was overwhelmingly negative. Certain publications are given more significance because of their stature, games Editor Marc Doyle was interviewed by Keith Stuart of The Guardian to get a look behind the metascoring process. Stuart wrote, the phenomenon, namely Metacritic and GameRankings, have become an enormously important element of online games journalism over the past few years. The ranging of metascores is, Metacritic is regarded as the foremost online review site for the video game industry. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal has written that Metacritic influence the sales of games and he explains its influence as coming from the higher cost of buying video games than music or movie tickets. Many executives say that low scores can hurt the sales potential. He claimed that a number of businesses and financial analysts use Metacritic as an early indicator of a games potential sales and, by extension. In 2004, Jason Hall of Warner Bros. began including quality metrics in contracts with partners licensing its movies for games, if a product does not at least achieve a specific score, some deals require the publisher to pay higher royalties. In 2008, Microsoft began using Metacritic averages to de-list underperforming Xbox Live Arcade games and these are the top 10 individual games with the highest scores on the site as of 2 April 2017
24.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
25.
Alternative Press (magazine)
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Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases and it was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president. Joe Scarpelli is the current general manager, jason Pettigrew is editor in chief. The first issue of Alternative Press was simply a punk rock fanzine, distributed at concerts in Cleveland, Ohio beginning in June 1985 by APs founder. He disliked the music that was then being broadcast on stations and believed that bands playing underground music should be given more media coverage all in the same spot. He said, It has really always been about covering music for the misfits, Shea began working on his first issue in his mothers house in Aurora, Ohio. Shea and a friend, Jimmy Kosicki, targeted the Cleveland neighborhood of Coventry, I took my high school newspaper from Aurora High that looked nice and clean and offset print. Id walk into these flower shops and Hallmark shops, and Id say Were going to put out an entertainment publication, and theyd look at my high school newspaper and say, Its really professional. Thats how we got enough money to make the first issue, financial problems plagued AP in its early years. However, by the end of 1986, publication had ceased due to its financial problems, with the growth of alternative rock in the early 1990s, circulation began to increase. APs covers included bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden, by 1994, the magazine was doing cover stories on Beastie Boys, Henry Rollins and Love and Rockets. Did we sometimes protest too much, maybe, but we were up against a lot, we were underfinanced and still underappreciated in some corners of the music business, so we had to fight scrappily and mean when it was called for. Nobody takes you seriously unless you take yourself seriously, and thats what Norman brings to his position to this day. By the early 2000s, after resisting attempts to purchase the magazine, when asked the magazines audience, Shea said, It went from heartfelt emo, to screamo, to post-hardcore, to metalcore… but, there will always be a suburban kid full of angst. At the time of its 20th anniversary in 2005, AP had grown to a size of 112 pages per issue. AP introduced its own ceremony in 2014. In 2015, the ceremony was moved to Clevelands Quicken Loans Arena. It featured hosts Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat of All Time Low and performances by Rob Zombie, New Found Glory with Hayley Williams of Paramore, Panic. at the Disco, due to the Republican National Convention, the 2016 APMAs were moved to Columbus Value City Arena
26.
Entertainment Weekly
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Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by Time Inc. that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Different from celebrity-focused publications like Us Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EW primarily concentrates on entertainment media news, however, unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which are aimed at industry insiders, EW targets a more general audience. The first issue was published on February 16,1990, the cover price was $1.95 The title word entertainment was not capitalized on the cover until mid-1992 and has remained so since. By 2003, the weekly circulation averaged 1.7 million copies per week. In March 2006, managing editor Rick Tetzeli oversaw an overhaul of EWs graphics, Entertainment Weekly follows a typical magazine format by featuring a letters to the editor and table of contents in the first few pages, while also featuring advertisements. While many advertisements are unrelated to the entertainment industry, the majority of ads are typically related to up-and-coming television and these beginning articles open the magazine and as a rule focus on current events in pop culture. First Look, subtitled An early peek at some of Hollywoods coolest projects, is a spread with behind-the-scenes or publicity stills of upcoming movies. The Hit List, written each week by critic Scott Brown, highlights ten major events, Typically, there will be some continuity to the commentaries. This column was written by Jim Mullen and featured twenty events each week. The Hollywood Insider is a section that reports breaking news in entertainment. It gives details, in the columns, on the most-current news in television, movie. The Style Report is a section devoted to celebrity style. Because its focus is on celebrity fashion or lifestyle, it is rich in nature. Recently, the converted to a new format, five pictures of celebrity fashions for the week. A spin-off section, Style Hunter, which finds reader-requested articles of clothing or accessories that have appeared in pop culture recently, appears frequently. The Monitor is a two-page spread devoted to events in celebrity lives with small paragraphs highlighting events such as weddings, illnesses, arrests, court appearances. Deaths of major celebrities are typically detailed in a one-half- or full-page obituary titled Legacy and this feature is nearly identical to sister publication Peoples Passages feature. Harris column focuses on analyzing current popular-culture events, and is generally the most serious of the columns, harris has written about the writers strike and the 2008 presidential election, among other topics
27.
The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to the benefit of an owner or shareholders, the Guardian is edited by Katharine Viner, who succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. In 2016, The Guardians print edition had a daily circulation of roughly 162,000 copies in the country, behind The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper has an online UK edition as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia and Guardian US, the newspapers online edition was the fifth most widely read in the world in October 2014, with over 42.6 million readers. Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million British readers, notable scoops include the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal, in particular the hacking of murdered English teenager Milly Dowlers phone. The investigation led to the closure of the UKs biggest selling Sunday newspaper, and one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, in 2016, it led the investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing the then British Prime Minister David Camerons links to offshore bank accounts. The Guardian has been named Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards, the paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle and they launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters. They do not toil, neither do they spin, but they better than those that do. When the government closed down the Manchester Observer, the champions had the upper hand. The influential journalist Jeremiah Garnett joined Taylor during the establishment of the paper, the prospectus announcing the new publication proclaimed that it would zealously enforce the principles of civil and religious Liberty. Warmly advocate the cause of Reform, endeavour to assist in the diffusion of just principles of Political Economy and. Support, without reference to the party from which they emanate, in 1825 the paper merged with the British Volunteer and was known as The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828. The working-class Manchester and Salford Advertiser called the Manchester Guardian the foul prostitute, the Manchester Guardian was generally hostile to labours claims. The Manchester Guardian dismissed strikes as the work of outside agitators –, if an accommodation can be effected, the occupation of the agents of the Union is gone. CP Scott made the newspaper nationally recognised and he was editor for 57 years from 1872, and became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylors son in 1907. Under Scott, the moderate editorial line became more radical, supporting William Gladstone when the Liberals split in 1886
28.
Los Angeles Times
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The Los Angeles Times, commonly referred to as the Times or LA Times, is a paid daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008, the Times is owned by tronc. The Times was first published on December 4,1881, as the Los Angeles Daily Times under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and it was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Unable to pay the bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication, in July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara to become the papers editor. Otis made the Times a financial success, in an era where newspapers were driven by party politics, the Times was directed at Republican readers. As was typical of newspapers of the time, the Times would sit on stories for several days, historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment. Otiss editorial policy was based on civic boosterism, extolling the virtues of Los Angeles, the efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the October 1,1910 bombing of its headquarters, killing twenty-one people. Two union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara, were charged, the American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Upon Otiss death in 1917, his son-in-law, Harry Chandler, Harry Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler, who ran the paper during the rapid growth of post-war Los Angeles. Family members are buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios, the site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler, held that position from 1960 to 1980, Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his familys paper, often forgotten in the power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nations most respected newspapers, notably The New York Times, believing that the newsroom was the heartbeat of the business, Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962, the paper joined with the Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for news organizations. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than its previous nine decades combined, eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, thats the pattern followed over more than a century by the Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The papers early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history Thinking Big and it has also been the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications or social science in the past four decades. In 2000, the Tribune Company acquired the Times, placing the paper in co-ownership with then-WB -affiliated KTLA, which Tribune acquired in 1985
29.
Mojo (magazine)
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Mojo is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title that would cater for the burgeoning interest in rock music. Mojo was first published on 15 October 1993, in keeping with its classic rock aesthetic, noted for its in-depth coverage of both popular and cult acts, it acted as the inspiration for Blender and Uncut. Many noted music critics have written for it including Charles Shaar Murray, Greil Marcus, Nick Kent, the launch editor of Mojo was Paul Du Noyer and his successors have included Mat Snow, Paul Trynka and Pat Gilbert. While some criticise it for its frequent coverage of rock acts such as the Beatles and Bob Dylan, it has nevertheless featured many newer. It was the first mainstream magazine in the UK to focus on the White Stripes, Mojo regularly includes a covermount CD that ties in with a current magazine article or theme. In 2004 it introduced the Mojo Honours list, a ceremony that is a mixture of readers. Two hundred photographers and writers from Mojo and Bauers other music magazines, more recently, the magazine has taken to publishing many Top 100 lists, including the subjects of drug songs, rock epics, protest songs and even the most miserable songs of all time. To celebrate 150 issues, the published an Top 100 Albums of Mojos Lifetime list. The list was compiled and voted on by a panel of superstars, including Björk, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, Pete Wentz. Little Richards 1955 hit Tutti Frutti took the one spot. Richards record, dubbed a torrent of filth wailed by an alien, beat the Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand. The magazines editors claimed that the 100 albums, singles and 78s that made up the list make up the most influential and inspirational recordings ever made. Hailing Tutti Frutti as the sound of the birth of rock n roll, three of the most successful were the series telling the story of the Beatles – one thousand days at a time. Other special editions have focused on Pink Floyd, Psychedelia, Punk, the company behind the magazine, Bauer, also produced a digital radio station. This station was called Mojo Radio, and was transmitted on the television networks in the UK. The output of the station was based on that of the magazine and it was announced on 5 November 2008 that Mojo Radio would cease broadcasting on 30 November 2008 in order to save Bauer the financial outlay. The magazines current editor-in-chief, Phil Alexander, has a show on the UK digital radio station Planet Rock entitled Mojo Rocks where he follows a Mojo-inspired playlist
30.
Pitchfork (website)
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Pitchfork is an American online magazine launched in 1995 by Ryan Schreiber, based in Chicago, Illinois and owned by Condé Nast. The site generally concentrates on new music, but Pitchfork journalists have also reviewed reissues, in late 1995, Ryan Schreiber, a recent high school graduate, created the magazine in Minneapolis. Influenced by local fanzines and KUOM, Schreiber, who had no writing experience. At first being Turntable, the site was updated monthly with interviews and reviews, in May 1996, the site began publishing daily and was renamed Pitchfork, alluding to Tony Montanas tattoo in Scarface. In early 1999, Schreiber relocated Pitchfork to Chicago, Illinois, by then, the site had expanded to four full-length album reviews daily, as well as sporadic interviews, features, and columns. It had also begun garnering a following for its coverage of underground music and its writing style. In October, the added a daily music news section. Pitchfork has launched a variety of subsidiary websites, Pitchfork. tv, a website displaying videos related to many independent music acts, launched in April 2008. It features bands that are found on Pitchfork. In July 2010, Pitchfork announced Altered Zones, a blog devoted to underground. On 21 May 2011, Pitchfork announced a partnership with Kill Screen, Altered Zones was closed on November 30. On December 26,2012, Pitchfork launched Nothing Major, a website that covered visual arts such as fine art, Nothing Major closed in October 2013. On October 13,2015, Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork, following the sale, Schreiber remained as editor-in-chief. On March 13,2016, Pitchfork was redesigned, some publications have cited Pitchfork in having played a part in breaking artists such as Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Interpol, The Go. Conversely, Pitchfork has also seen as being a negative influence on some indie artists. A dismissive 0.0 review of former Dismemberment Plan frontman Travis Morrisons Travistan album led to a sales drop. On the other hand, an endorsement from Pitchfork – which dispenses its approval one-tenth of a point at a time, up to a maximum of 10 points – is very valuable, indeed. Examples of Pitchforks impact include, Arcade Fire is among the bands most commonly cited to have benefited from a Pitchfork review
31.
Rolling Stone
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Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
32.
Spin (magazine)
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Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, in its early years, the magazine was known for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard and it pointedly provided a national alternative to Rolling Stones more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R. E. M, Spins extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture, especially that of contributing editor John Leland, was notable at the time. Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, David Lee Roth, the magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas, or Glasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A1990 article on the country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Associates, in 1997, Guccione sold Spin to Miller Publishing. In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC and that company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company. The new owners replaced editor-in-chief Sia Michel with Andy Pemberton, an editor at Blender. The first issue to be published under his command was the July 2006 issue—sent to the printer in May 2006—which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton and Spin parted ways the next month, in June 2006, the following editor, Doug Brod, was executive editor during Michels tenure. For Spins 20th anniversary, it published a book chronicling the prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge, Britpop, and emo, among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, nirvana, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which renamed itself SpinMedia. The September/October 2012 issue of Spin was the magazines last print edition, in December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount. In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide, although the book was not a sales success, it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism. Notable contributors to Spin have included, SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990, note, The 2000 album of the year was awarded to your hard drive, acknowledging the impact that filesharing had on the music listening experience in 2000. Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album,1994 roadside attack on Spin magazine journalists Anon
33.
Uncut (magazine)
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Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, a DVD magazine under the Uncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. Uncut was launched in May 1997 as a magazine aimed at 25- to 45-year-old men that focuses on music and movies. Jones has stated that he idea for Uncut came from my own disenchantment about what I was doing with Melody Maker, according to IPC Media, 86% of the magazines readers are male and their average age is 37 years. Uncuts contents include lengthy features on old albums, interviews with directors, music and film news. Its music features tend to focus on such as Americana, rock. Each month the magazine includes a free CD, which may include new and older music. Uncut underwent a redesign in May 2006, as a result of which the magazine no longer catered for books. Allan Jones writes a monthly column, recounting stories from his long career in music journalism. Uncuts monthly circulation has dropped from over 90,000 in 2007 to 47,890 in the half of 2015. Uncut often produces themed spin-off titles celebrating the career of one artist and this series has been known as Uncut Legends. Artists who have so far had magazines entirely devoted to them include Radiohead, Kurt Cobain, U2, Bruce Springsteen, the Lennon magazine was produced to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of the former Beatle. The majority of titles have been produced by magazine editor Chris Hunt. The series started in 2003 with an issue devoted to Bob Dylan. In 2008 Uncut launched their inaugural Uncut Music Award, which is described as a quest to find the most inspiring and rewarding experience of the past 12 months. A list of 25 nominees is selected by a panel of 10 judges, who are all musicians or music industry professionals, past winners have included Fleet Foxes, Tinariwen, Paul Weller and P. J. Harvey. In late 2005, Allan Jones and publishing director Andrew Sumner launched a spin-off of the movies and music magazine. Billed as the great movie magazine, Uncut DVD was designed to compete with such established titles as Ultimate DVD, DVD Review
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