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Google Releases Text-to-Music Tool

Google
Jason Tate

Kyle Wiggers, writing at TechCrunch:

Google today released MusicLM, a new experimental AI tool that can turn text descriptions into music. Available in the AI Test Kitchen app on the web, Android or iOS, MusicLM lets users type in a prompt like “soulful jazz for a dinner party” or “create an industrial techno sound that is hypnotic” and have the tool create several versions of the song.

Users can specify instruments like “electronic” or “classical,” as well as the “vibe, mood, or emotion” they’re aiming for, as they refine their MusicLM-generated creations.

Max of Eve 6 Not Writing a Memoir

Eve 6
Jason Tate

Max of Eve 6 was going to write a book, now he’s effectively writing a blog, the first entry is up and if all of it’s like this, this will be a must read:

The success that we had happened because we were middle class kids who lived in Los Angeles, whose parents could afford to buy us instruments and drive us to gigs. There was some talent involved, sure, just not that much. Our hit song was more a product of guilelessness naivete than talent. A willingness to turn phrases that ought not be turned because the syllables punched. A process we could repeat but never match in entertainment value because it was accidental. This kind of thing isn’t easy to admit. You spend years taking credit for your successes and blaming your failures on others, but the thing that the truth sets you free from is the shackles of your own ego, and as my first sponsor who was equal parts simple minded and brilliant used to say “your ego, my friend, is not your amigo.”

Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro Come to iPad

Apple
Jason Tate

Apple:

Apple today unveiled Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad. Video and music creators can now unleash their creativity in new ways that are only possible on iPad. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad bring all-new touch interfaces that allow users to enhance their workflows with the immediacy and intuitiveness of Multi-Touch.

Hot Mulligan Break Down New LP

Hot Mulligan
Jason Tate

Hot Mulligan talked about all the songs on their (great) new album:

I’m pretty pessimistic. “Leg Hole” is me yelling about how my poor mental health is permanent and I’ve come to terms with that. I’m not sure if that’s exactly true, but at 27 it seems to be a pretty consistent factor in my day to day. “I begin to understand every path, every variable made so it’ll bring me back.”

MTV News Shutting Down

MTV
Jason Tate

MTV News is officially coming to an end:

 MTV News — which was significantly affected by layoffs more than five years ago — will be shutting down. Other units, most of which are operations, will be shuttered as well.

In a memo to staff, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy said that, despite Paramount’s “success in streaming, we continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers,” and that “senior leaders in coordination with HR have been working together over the past few months to determine the optimal organization for the current and future needs of our business.”

“Concert Mode” for AirPods?

Airpods
Jason Tate

Mark Bramhill writes about the idea a “concert mode” for AirPods:

On paper, concert earplugs are very similar to Adaptive Transparency: they allow the sounds of the world around you to pass through, but they lower allsound by an even amount. There are several reasons people use concert earplugs: to prevent searing pain from loud volumes, protect hearing from long-term damage (especially for musicians and audio professionals), and limit overstimulation for neurodivergent people. But while reducing all sounds and frequencies evenly is the goal, even good concert earplugs don’t achieve this. They sound somewhat-to-very muffled, which makes it harder to feel immersed in the music around you.

I have a similar thought as Nick Heer:

This is a great idea in every way, with the sole exception of the optics of a crowd of people watching their favourite band while apparently listening to something else. That will never not look strange to me.

My current favorite concert earplugs are barely noticeable.

Make Something Wonderful

Apple
Jason Tate

From the Steve Jobs archive:

A curated collection of Steve’s speeches, interviews and correspondence, Make Something Wonderful offers an unparalleled window into how one of the world’s most creative entrepreneurs approached his life and work. In these pages, Steve shares his perspective on his childhood, on launching and being pushed out of Apple, on his time with Pixar and NeXT, and on his ultimate return to the company that started it all.

Ruston Kelly Breaks Down New Album

Ruston Kelly
Jason Tate

Ruston Kelly did a track-by-track of his new album:

I wanted whatever it was that I said about my divorce to be something I would find honor in 20 years from now. I wanted to try and speak from my better self, not get lost in anything small. The largest sentiment I could think of was an unending love for someone while simultaneously allowing that love to fade into the background of my new life. To address the scene it took place in to get there, say it, and then be done with it. A highly cathartic and joyful experience writing this song.

The Story Behind the Dog on ‘So Much (For) Stardust’

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Alex Toor went deep into finding out the story behind the dog on the album cover of Fall Out Boy’s So Much (for) Stardust:

With this case officially closed, I’m beyond stoked to introduce Blitz the Doberman to other fans of Fall Out Boy. At the time of publication, Blitz has 12.8k followers on his public Instagram account, which lead me to question how this match hadn’t already been made. Blitz’s bio reveals he was born on February 27th, 2019 and lives in Las Vegas with his human, one Jen Patterson.

Andrew McMahon Details New Album

Andrew McMahon
Jason Tate

Andrew McMahon did a track-by-track breakdown for his new album:

“Submarine” was written for the second Wilderness album, Zombies on Broadway. At the time, I was living in New York making the album and I completely spun out. I wasn’t sleeping, working insane hours, and going out until the sun came up most days. It started as a lot of fun, but by the end, I’d really lost myself.

Pete Wentz Talks With Nylon

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Nylon interviewed Pete Wentz:

Plus, the idea of making a pure throwback record left Wentz with a bad taste in his mouth. “Whenever artists that I love, filmmakers and bands that I love, say that something is a ‘return to form,’ I’m like, ughhhh. He’s a multi-millionaire, how is he going to make speed metal?” Wentz says. “People think they want that, but if we do it, you won’t like it. And it’ll feel inauthentic.”

Fall Out Boy Vulture Feature

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Vulture:

But to Wentz, who often speaks in pop-culture references (and has been watching The Last of Us), making more pop-oriented music felt like reaching quarantine in a zombie apocalypse. “We figured out how to exist somehow, but we’re like, mmm, kind of existing.” The band still had an appetite to do more, like on 2018’s Mania, a heavily programmed, hip-hop–influenced album that some fans feel veered too far into pop, but it gave the band a chance to flex new creative muscles. “It was me goofing around with what you could do to mangle sound waves,” Stump says. “And that was really fun, but we did that, so I didn’t want to just go back and do it again.”