Still feeling the post-midday blues? We’ve got some tasty afternoon treats in the forms of tracks, videos, and news tidbits from around the interwebs that you may have missed that are sure to get you through the afternoon. Dig in!
Oasis Reunion? Definitely Maybe
The bad blood between the Gallagher brothers is as famous as the legacy of the band their in-fighting eventually torn asunder, but according to industry hearsay the lure of big concerts and bigger dollars may have been enough to get Noel and Liam to set aside their considerable differences.
According to The Daily Mail (so salt shakers at the ready), the Gallaghers are in “top secret talks” to reform Oasis. Promoters have reportedly approached them with ridiculous offers for a pair of reunion shows to mark the 20th anniversary of their 1994 debut, with the two apparently responding (pun warnings at the ready): Definitely Maybe. The reunion shows – to be hosted at Knebworth Arena – are modelled off of Oasis’ hugely successful 1996 shows at the same venue that shifted over 300,000 tickets – the fastest-selling in British history.
Since the Gallagher’s feuding finally put the nail in Oasis coffin in 2009, the siblings have gone their separate musical ways – Noel has gone it alone with his High Flying Birds, while Liam took the remaining Oasis ranks to form Beady Eye – but neither would be able to rake in the money as quickly or solidly as a pair of Oasis reunion shows could. Whether the astronomical sums are enough for them to swallow their pride? Well, that’s purely up to speculation. It may seem unlikely, but then once upon a time, so did chances that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher would ever become mates, let alone collaborate. (via The Daily Mail)
Lorde Drops First New Single From Debut Album
The world conquering, potentially Flume-collaborating, record-breaking Lorde releases her much-hyped debut album, Pure Heroine, later this month and ahead of returning to Australia next month the 16-year-old New Zealand sensation has released the first new slice from her first full-length. Following on from the US busting ‘Royals’ and ‘Tennis Court’, Lorde’s newest single is ‘Team’, which once again shows that the young star has a knack for the ‘natty 3 min pop gem’. A neat bit of vocal manipulation opens the song before clattering percussion and dappled synth dance around Lorde’s vocals as she sings: “We live in cities you’ll never see onscreen/Not very pretty but we sure know how to run free.” All in all, it means good things ahead for Lorde’s Pure Heroine as she continues to ride the ‘next big thing’ wave with class and style. (via Billboard)
Legendary Sound Man Ray Dolby Dies, Aged 80
Even if you don’t recognise the name of legendary US sound engineer and audio pioneer Ray Dolby, you’ve certainly heard his work (try Dolby surround sound on for size). The man who founded Dolby Laboratories and influenced the way audio is recorded and presented in the modern era, has died in San Francisco at the age of 80. Dolby had suffered from Alzeheimer’s for several years and was diagnosed with leukaemia shortly before his death. Described as a “true visionary” by his peers, the Portland, Oregon-born, San Francisco-bred sound engineer’s legacy began with his work at the Ampex Corporation, where he helped develop early videotape recording systems as a student. After completing his PhD at Cambridge University, in 1965 he founded Dolby Laboratories in London. The company was later moved to San Francisco in 1976. Dolby Laboratories became an industry leader with the development and dissemination of audio noise reduction, the Dolby surround sound, 5.1 stere, and what would become industry standards in home sound systems and cinema to many an accolade – including Oscars and Emmys. “Though he was an engineer at heart, my father’s achievements in technology grew out of a love of music and the arts,” said Ray Dolby’s son, filmmaker and novelist Tom Dolby. (via BBC)
Don’t Wanna Miss A (Social Media) Thing? There’s An App For That
Have you ‘followed’ and ‘liked’ your favourite band, but still wanna take your fandom to the next level? Or simply looking for a way to organise all of your music-based social media feeds? Well then Seenth.is is just the thing for you. The iOS (and soon to be Android)-based app works by collecting and filtering content from across Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and SoundCloud into one place and puts them into a one-stop, chronological feed. Designed to “solve the social media information overload that’s plaguing all of us,” in the words of the app’s Stockholm-based developers, Seenth.is (as in ‘seen this’) first launched in July with around 200 artists and gained another 400 names to its cause since then. Its creators aren’t planning on replacing fans’ usual interactions with bands, but instead call it a “second screen” that works by making it easier to sift through a torrent of tweets, photos, videos, news, blog posts – pretty much all and everything to do with an artist online. Under its current model Seenth.is also generates revenue by inserting ads into feeds and allows artists to participate in the profits. So will it be a handy app to clean up the online clutter? Or simply add to it? Our five cents? It seems pretty nifty. (via TechCrunch)
