As their DJ alter-egos 2 Many DJs, Soulwax have been at the forefront of remixing since bootlegs of their As Heard on Radio Soulwax shows first circulated the net. Now, the Belgian Dewaele brothers have unleashed their latest idea in the form of a Radio Soulwax app. Two and a half years in the making, the app brings the concept of “visual mixes” to iPhones.
By the time the app’s content is complete in 18 weeks, there will be 24 one-hour mixes available to listen to that will come with custom-made visuals for each track on the mix. There are currently six mixes available. The first, Introversy was a mix by the Dewaele brothers for the BBC which features intros to 420 individual singles. The visual mix that accompanies the audio, animates each of the song’s record sleeves in its own way. With 24 mixes in total, no wonder it took so long to do. The app is available for free.
Other bands who do not have the technical proficiency to build their own app have gone in a different direction. Take Scottish band FOUND who have come up with a novel way to promote their records in the real world. They enlisted the services of Fife-based maker and chocolate maker Ben Milne to produce a playable and edible chocolate seven inch record.
Over at bit.ly/chocvinyl, you can watch Milne make the record which, of course comes with edible paper label. See Milne debut the playing of the record for two members , Ziggy and Tommy, of the band and watch how Z &T look unimpressed and embarrassed as a muffled version of their song plays on the chocolate slab. Chocolate vinyl is not the future of music yet then. Maybe it’s just as well, you wouldn’t want rabid music listeners with the munchies near your chocolate musical collection would you?
Back in the world of social media, as Google launch Google Plus, their new social networking tool, a former giant you might remember called Myspace has been sold for $35 million, a fraction of the $580 million that it was bought for by News Corp. in 2005.
The buyer? Justin Timberlake. Well to be specific (ahem), the buyer is an advertising network company called Specific Media. In a life imitating art scenario, Timberlake has placed a financial stake into Myspace echoing his acting role in the film The Social Network. He will also be acting as a creative consultant.
Specific’s plan for Myspace now is to “be a true home for content creators and artists,” but its community has moved on. Myspace really wasn’t that great to begin with, and its fleeting cool factor is long gone. Best of luck, Timberlake and co., you’re really going to need it.
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