The Day the Music Burned

The New York Times

The New York Times:

The archive in Building 6197 was UMG’s main West Coast storehouse of masters, the original recordings from which all subsequent copies are derived. A master is a one-of-a-kind artifact, the irreplaceable primary source of a piece of recorded music. According to UMG documents, the vault held analog tape masters dating back as far as the late 1940s, as well as digital masters of more recent vintage. It held multitrack recordings, the raw recorded materials — each part still isolated, the drums and keyboards and strings on separate but adjacent areas of tape — from which mixed or “flat” analog masters are usually assembled. And it held session masters, recordings that were never commercially released. […]

The list of destroyed single and album masters takes in titles by dozens of legendary artists, a genre-spanning who’s who of 20th- and 21st-century popular music. It includes recordings by Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward, Sammy Davis Jr., Les Paul, Fats Domino, Big Mama Thornton, Burl Ives, the Weavers, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Bobby (Blue) Bland, B.B. King, Ike Turner, the Four Tops, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Sonny and Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Captain Beefheart, Cat Stevens, the Carpenters, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Al Green, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles, Don Henley, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Iggy Pop, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Barry White, Patti LaBelle, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Police, Sting, George Strait, Steve Earle, R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Eric B. and Rakim, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Guns N’ Roses, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Sonic Youth, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Hole, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, 50 Cent and the Roots.

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Radiohead Release Leaked ‘Ok Computer’ Sessions

Radiohead

Radiohead have decided to post up a bunch of OK Computer sessions on Bandcamp after they were hacked and leaked on the internet.

We got hacked last week – someone stole Thom’s minidisk archive from around the time of OK Computer, and reportedly demanded $150,000 on threat of releasing it. So instead of complaining – much – or ignoring it, we’re releasing all 18 hours on Bandcamp in aid of Extinction Rebellion. Just for the next 18 days. So for £18 you can find out if we should have paid that ransom.

Never intended for public consumption (though some clips did reach the cassette in the OK Computer reissue) it’s only tangentially interesting. And very, very long. Not a phone download. Rainy out, isn’t it though?

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Blink-182 Announce Secret Show

Blink-182

Blink-182 were on KROQ this morning. They announced they’ll be playing a secret show on June 20th somewhere in California, but no tickets will be available for purchase, you can only win them via the radio station. Their new album is “really close” to being done, they’ve been tweaking things and writing new songs they like that they want to add recently, but it’ll be out within “couple of” months and they’ll be continuing to “release things” (I’m assuming other/more music) even after the album is out.

Mark’s the best at Mario Kart, Travis doesn’t like video games that much, and Matt is hanging upside in a coffin somewhere.

Anberlin Talk Reconciliation

Anberlin

Anberlin sat down with Billboard to talk about their “reconciliation:”

Christian is elated to return to Anberlin “with a revived passion.” This is on their terms with nobody breathing down their neck. “This feels so liberating,” he exclaims. “For the first time in probably eight years, I’m actually looking forward to a tour. We have already talked about quality of life. Sometimes you need to walk away and take time out or a break or a vacation so that life can talk to you. I think that money has a way of slaughtering the muse. It’s not just money – it’s responsibilities and mouths to feed. So many different dynamics are such a quick killer to the muse. And once she feels betrayed, it’s not easily accessible for some time. I just feel that sense of energy and electricity back in the air. That’s something that I haven’t felt in a long, long time.”