Emmys, Oh My ...

Veering off topic here.  Not that the Emmys had all that much credibility (with me, anyway) before, but where was the nomination for Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black? Or Aden Young in Rectify, or Allison Tolman in Fargo, for that matter?

Back to music soon, where things are pretty much as screwed up there, too.

The Magic Clap & The Coup

If you asked for the name of my favorite hip-hop band, it would likely be The Coup.  Saw the Oakland-based group on public radio's Art Beat TV program last night performing their anthem, "The Magic Clap" from the Sorry To Bother You album (catch the video at about 25:00 in at http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/).  I'd almost consider these people, led by Boots Riley, the spiritual successors to The Clash.  Try this:

In 2014, The Classical World Still Can't Stop Fat-Shaming Women

That's the title from this revealing article at NPR which reports that five London opera critics dissed the bodily appearance of Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught.  And here's the source article on this matter.

A beautiful young woman who sings beautifully ...  visit her website here.  And check out some of her performances on YouTube, like this one:

Salut Salon: "Wettstreit zu viert"

Even more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz2ljLqQ4cE&list=RDBKezUd_xw20&index=0

Kelis at Apogee Studios 4/24/2014

AKA Kelis Rogers ...and ... visit her site to stream her new album

Music & Tech

Right on the heels of my earlier post on Imogen Heap's electronic gloves, I find in my inbox the current edition of Bob Lefsetz' news post decrying the state of music and tech, or even music vs. tech.  Read it here.  Well, I have to agree with Bob, but I also have to note that Imogen Heap, imho, is a real musician making real music that I want to hear and also happens to make real innovations.  Btw, you could definitely do worse than to subscribe to the Lefsetz Letter!

Mi.Mu

Imogen Heap is wearing gloves.  An English singer-songwriter who has long used electronic and ambient sound in her fascinating body of work, Heap recently launched a Kickstarter project to develop and promote her latest innovation, a set of very special electronic gloves.  Created with the help of a team of engineers and software magicians, the wearer can  produce and control music with the Mi.Mu data gloves in what is said to be a more natural way than existing glove and gesture technology has afforded.  Here is a sample:



Visit Heap's Kickstarter page for more video demonstrations and a lot more details.

P.S. Compare how Heap's gloves seem to free her from the machinations that more "traditional" electronic music controls require, such as that performed by her once-keyboard player Jon Hopkins as seen in this earlier post.