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Cosmicity
Cosmicity is the project name for the American, Detroit-based electronic musician, Mark Nicholas. His music combines singer-songwriter melodies with synthesizers, drum machines, and deeply personal lyrics. In the 1990s, as a student at the University of Michigan School of Music and Technology, Nicholas released his first full-length album ''The Vision''. Since that time, Cosmicity has become one of the best-known artists in the so-called synthpop underground, most notably as a founding artist on the iconic synthpop record label A Different Drum. His accomplishments have included playing large synthpop festivals alongside 1980s acts like Alphaville and Anything Box, winning songwriting contests (such as the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006), and even placing music on a few television shows - such as the Matthew Fox series ''Haunted''. In addition to original compositions, Cosmicity has released cover songs such as "Bloc Bloc Bloc" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Different Drum
A Different Drum was an independent record label and online store based in Smithfield, Utah, founded in 1996. The label specialized in synthpop and related genres. A Different Drum has released hundreds of albums, singles, and compilations and was the biggest synthpop label in the U.S. The label is credited with helping to keep the synthpop genre progressing during the grunge rock mid-1990s and into the early 2000s, particularly supporting American Synthpop Groups ( Cosmicity, The Echoing Green, B! Machine and others) in their early years. The label also supported older synthpop bands which previously had Billboard chart hits during the 1980s, such as Alphaville (band), and Real Life (band), putting out releases for both bands during this time. In the early to mid 2000s, A Different Drum signed new acts such as Iris and Provision. The label held a yearly Synthpop Music Festival which ran for 3 years, from 2004 to 2006; in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Red Lion Hotel. The festiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Flag (band)
Red Flag is a synthpop act founded in 1984 in San Diego by brothers Chris and Mark Reynolds. After the death of Mark in 2003, Chris has continued as a solo act since 2007 under the name Red Flag. History Hailing from Liverpool, England, and after growing up there, the brothers moved to locations such as Montreal and Seattle, following their father's itinerant job. In 1979, the family settled in California, arriving first in Los Angeles. The brothers first started playing electronic music in 1982, when Mark Reynolds bought a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer over a guitar on a trip to a music store. The first song they recorded, "Distant Memories", under the name Shades of May, was discovered and selected for a compilation album by San Diego radio station 91X in 1984, prompting them to move to San Diego. Shades of May subsequently received offers to play live, and the brothers began to study music and computer technology seriously in turn. In this interim, the band also changed its na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, and the mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians. After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra introduced the TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover Songs
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams (saxophonist), Paul Williams' 1949 in music, 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou), Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital multimedia, on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating systems, and can be used to rip songs from CDs, as well as play content with the use of dynamic, smart playlists. Options for sound optimizations exist, as well as ways to wirelessly share the iTunes library. Originally announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2001, iTunes' original and main focus was music, with a library offering organization and storage of Mac users' music collections. With the 2003 addition of the iTunes Store for purchasing and downloading digital music, and a version of the program for Windows, it became a ubiquitous tool for managing music and configuring other features on Apple's line of iPod media players, which extended to the iPh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, which owned it until Universal Music Group (UMG) took control of part of it in 2013. It is ultimately owned by UMG subsidiary Virgin Records Limited (until 2013 by EMI Records Limited, nowadays known as Parlophone Records and owned by UMG's competitor Warner Music Group). The studio's most notable client was the Beatles, who used the studio – particularly its Studio Two room – as the venue for many of the innovative recording techniques that they adopted throughout the 1960s. In 1976, the studio was renamed from EMI in honour of their final recorded album, ''Abbey Road''. In 2009, Abbey Road came under threat of sale to property developers. In response, the British Government protected the site, granting it English Herita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). In recent years digital masters have become usual, although analog masters—such as audio tapes—are still being used by the manufacturing industry, particularly by a few engineers who specialize in analog mastering. Mastering requires critical listening; however, software tools exist to facilitate the process. Results depend upon the intent of the engineer, the skills of the engineer, the accuracy of the speaker monitors, and the listening environment. Mastering engineers often apply equalization and dynamic range compression in order to optimize sound translation on all playback systems. It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording—known as a safety copy—in case ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be created by record companies without express approval from the original artist as a means to generate sales. They are typically regarded as a good starting point for new fans of an artist, but are sometimes criticized by longtime fans as not inclusive enough or necessary at all. It is also common for greatest hits albums to include new recordings, remixes or unreleased alternate takes of the hit songs, plus other new material as bonus tracks to increase appeal for longtime fans (who might otherwise already own the recordings included). At times, a greatest hits compilation marks the first album appearance of a successful single that was never attached to a previous studio album. History The first greatest hits album was Johnny Mathis's ''J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remix Album
A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007, the best-selling remix album of all time is Michael Jackson's ''Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'' (1997). History and concept ''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'' (1971) by Harry Nilsson is credited as the first remix album. It was released after the successes of "Everybody's Talkin'" and ''The Point!'', when he decided that his older material had started to sound dated. Neu!'s ''Neu! 2'' (1973) has also been described as "in effect the first remix album", as many tracks see the duo "speed up, slow down, cut, doctor, and mutilate the material, sometimes beyond recognition". In the 1980s, record companies would combine several kinds of electronic dance music, such as dance-pop, House music, house, techno, Trance music, trance, drum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bird And The Bee
The Bird and the Bee (stylized in all lowercase) is an American indie pop musical duo from Los Angeles, consisting of Inara George ("the bird") and Greg Kurstin ("the bee"). Kurstin is a seven-time Grammy Award–winning producer and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with artists including Sia, Adele, Beck, Kendrick Lamar, and the Foo Fighters. George and Kurstin met while the two were working on her debut album and they decided to collaborate on a jazz-influenced electropop project. Their debut EP, '' Again and Again and Again and Again'', was released on October 31, 2006, followed by their self-titled debut album on January 23, 2007. History 2006–07: Formation and ''The Bird and the Bee'' According to their Myspace page, Greg and Inara were introduced in 2004 by mutual friend Mike Andrews, whom George had enlisted to produce her solo debut, ''All Rise''. George and Kurstin soon found themselves spending hours together in the studio, where a shared interest in j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real Life (band)
Real Life are an Australian new wave and synth-pop band that achieved international chart success with their 1983 singles " Send Me an Angel" and " Catch Me I'm Falling", both of which were taken from their debut studio album, ''Heartland'' (1983). The band originally consisted of David Sterry (lead vocals and guitar), Richard Zatorski (keyboards and violin), Allan Johnson (bass), and Danny Simcic (drums). Steve Williams (keyboards) replaced Zatorski in 1986, and was replaced by George Pappas in 1995 after a long hiatus of band activity. History 1980–1984: ''Heartland'' In late 1980, Richard Zatorski placed an ad in a Melbourne newspaper as a keyboard player looking for a guitarist with whom to write songs, and David Sterry responded. The two formed a writing partnership and began work on the material that would eventually become the first songs by Real Life. First using the name The Wires, Sterry and Zatorski started doing gigs accompanied by a primitive drum machine they n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country, and rock. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as "Pointers, a Pair". The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita joined them. Their record deal with Atlantic Records produced several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972. They then signed with Blue Thumb Records, recorded their debut album, and began seeing more success, winning a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Country Vocal Performance for "Fairytale" (1974). Bonnie left the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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