1inMusic, Author at 1 In Music

Ed Rox introduces himself as a rapper to the world

by 1inMusic | Dec 15, 2022 | News, Releases

Ed Rox introduces himself as a rapper to the world:
SHOCKING, FUTURISTIC, REVOLUTIONARY AND DIFFERENT.

Ed Rox is a young rapper from Carolina (Puerto Rico) who surprises with an untraditional proposal called La Trilogía, which promises to be a trend in the urban genre. Ed Rox is a naughty, inappropriate and funny rapper. Those who know him would say he has a little bit of genius and a little bit of crazy. He promises to impact the urban genre with a futuristic and risky proposal.

La Trilogía.

This is a new way of telling a story in a fun way. It is composed of three videos, its first track: “Mucho Gusto”; it continues with the video of “La Ciencia” and concludes with the video of “Bájale 1000”. Parallel to the story in the videos of this trilogy, Ed Rox raps clever and unconventional lyrics, creating a connection with the audience and generating a fun and joyful vibe. This new concept invites the public to participate in a new risky but authentic project that, more than being explained, has to be experienced and felt.

MUCHO GUSTO –

Ed Rox “the madman”, an ordinary, authentic and proud of his origin young man is about to enter an insane asylum. Then, in the video it is shown how Ed Rox “the madman” is being admitted to the asylum, but because he is so skilled, he will make the psychiatrist fall in love with him during the admission interview. This first video is constructed as a half-fatal, Pulp Fiction-like love story.

LA CIENCIA –

Ed Rox “the madman” is in the asylum and the nurse puts him in a straitjacket. The nurse gives him special treatment and since “the madman” is resourceful, even while he’s in the asylum tied up, he seduces both the psychiatrist and the nurse and they dance for him, comb his hair and are very special with him, while the nurse makes his beard. This time Ed Rox “the madman” gets his way again using his genius powers of persuasion. In addition to the above, “the madman” is always in his business and you can see how the “Mira Diime” Asylum is part of his investments.

BAJALE 1000 –

Shows Ed Rox “el loco” in the back of a car, with a driver and co-driver who cannot be identified. “The Madman” flaunts his power as he is now free and empowered. He has the backing of his companions. Halfway through the video the car stops and the driver gets out, who surprisingly, it is observed to be a woman without a mask and flirting with “The Madman”. The identity of the driver and the co-driver is fully seen: the psychiatrist and the nurse from the asylum who, convinced by the wit of Ed Rox “the madman”, who is also a bit of a genius, decide to accompany him in his witticisms and misdeeds. Demonstrating his power and conviction over others at all times. The above shows the outcome of the crazy love story achieved by the protagonist.

His talent is in elaborating the tracks and making word games, as if putting together a puzzle, with an unusual style, resulting in funny stories, with an entertaining and intelligent street language.

Empowered and self-confident, Ed Rox wants to show his followers another way of rapping, with a different symbology, capturing other realities, but with a little peculiar language, always assuming a radical stance and leaving, with his lyrics, a clear and forceful message. This can be seen in his recent discography that makes up La Trilogía: “Mucho gusto”, “La Ciencia” and “Bájale 1000”, which begins the musical development of an artist who came to stay.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/21KgbmS7TGPyWhnvoqf9iS

https://www.youtube.com/@edroxpr

https://www.instagram.com/edroxpr/

Meet American DJ and Producer Alex Bailey in this exclusive interview

by 1inMusic | Nov 22, 2022 | Interviews

Meeting DJ and producer Alex Bailey

Alex Bailey, from Campbellsville, KY, is a DJ and producer, specializing in future bass and dubstep genres. He has made a splash DJing in the country scene, opening up for the likes of Frank Ray and Randall King, while also throwing after parties for acts just as Koe Wetzel, Trace Adkins, and others. Alex Bailey has recently begun producing his own music, utilizing his many artistic influences to create tracks ranging from head-banging dubstep to melodic futuristic tracks. 1 In Music meets the American DJ and producer for an exclusive and candid interview and the reveal of his next release.

What is unique about Alex Bailey and the music you produce?

Alex Bailey [AB]: Being able to DJ so many genres in many different locations and venues gives me the ability to take my favorite parts from each genre and combine them into something special in my tracks. My influences are many and vary dramatically. I believe that what makes me unique is my ability to break down music in the different genres I DJ and to manipulate that into what I think can tell the best story. My imagination and creativity has no boundaries or limits, and that will make each project I create unpredictable; telling a story in my music and performances, with its highs and lows, is something I take pride in.

What or who shaped your music and who supports you?

AB: I have many influences to how I share my music. From Excision and Kayzo, to Seven Lions and Krewella. I just enjoy listening to great music, picking it apart, and hearing everything that makes that song so great to listen to. Even with artists from other genres that I don’t make music for, like HARDY, or Beartooth, or i Prevail, I am a fan of good music and love to just break it all down.

My friends and family are some of my biggest supporters. I always keep my family updated on my music, and the friends I made in college especially support everything I do. The DJs that I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the last 4 years, and those connections that have lasted this long, have greatly supported me and taken many chances on me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

When did you realise you were going to make music professionally?

AB: Honestly, not until maybe 5 or 6 months ago. I didn’t start learning how to DJ until I was 21, and getting better at my technical skills on the DJ board was the most important thing on my mind for so long. The more redress and remixes I was beginning to discover and play in my sets, the more I was really intrigued on making custom edits. I did a few, and realized that I could definitely take this a step further and make some music with my own name on it, and recently that’s what I’ve started doing.

What type of music do you listen to?

Alex Bailey [AB]: I am a big Alternative Rock fan.

There’s just something about Rock in general that just makes me want to run through a brick wall and can get my mind going like nothing else.

I do listen to a wide variety of music, I have to keep my sanity in a way. Country, Hip-Hop, EDM, even Latin songs are always playing in my car to and from gigs.

Who, to you, is the most undervalued music artist?

AB: “The Home Team” is a Rock band from Seattle, Washington. They have so many great tracks out and I am a huge fan of theirs. They’re slowly becoming more popular, but they are definitely worth a good listen to (“She’s Quiet” is a good place to start).

How do you prepare for your performances?

AB: Definitely relaxing as much as I can before I have to hit the road is crucial. On the way to the venue, I will typically listen to podcasts or something other than music to clear my mind, and so that I don’t burn out on music before I get to the venue and start playing. When there’s probably 20 minutes or so left in the drive, I’ll start listening to music and get mentally ready to put on an amazing show.

1 In Music: What do you do when you don’t do music (creative or otherwise) and that you are passionate about?

AB: Football is my life-saver during the week to help me get my mind off music for a little bit. I am a huge Baltimore Ravens fan, but I love watching football and other sports during the week as much as I can. When the Kentucky Wildcats are playing, I’m usually locked into their games as well.

Success to you is…?

Alex Bailey [AB]:

[Success to me is] Being where YOU want to be at in your own mind.

I feel like a lot of people tend to base success on other people’s opinions or compare themselves to other people, and I don’t think that is what should determine your success. 10 years ago I would never have imagined myself doing what I am doing as a career, so in my eyes, I am successful. However, just because you have success doesn’t mean you should stop chasing more of it. I think once you can understand that, you can do whatever it is you want without the stress of chasing other people.

What would help anyone who starts out and that you wish you were told when you started out and that you think would help anyone who starts out?

AB:

To start as early as you can and to work as hard as you can starting out.

There were times starting out where I wouldn’t work on anything new, would take weeks off at a time, and treat this as a hobby, and I believe I wasted some valuable time by doing that. Going all in on something you love and not stopping is what I wish I had been told starting out, because if I had heard and believed that, who knows how my career would have been different from where I am at now.

Any upcoming projects?

AB: My newest single, “Heart of Stone“, drops November 24th on all streaming platforms. I have some more projects upcoming early in 2023 with some additional visuals dropping as well, so be sure to stay updated on my socials to see what’s next in store.

Thank you so much for meeting with us. Where do we find your music?

AB: You can find my music on all streaming platforms, my name is Alex Bailey. You can also find links to my music and more content on my Instagram. Just click the link in my bio and it’ll take you all of my content and releases!

Alex Bailey on Instagram at https://instagram.com/alexdbailey/

The Soft White Hand: Discover the 2022 release by Felix Laband

by 1inMusic | Nov 19, 2022 | News, Releases

Compost Records Presents The Soft White Hand by FELIX LABAND

Felix Laband’s The Soft White Hand is the masterwork of an artist who expresses himself through musical and artistic collage acting together to reinterpret his sources and to express significant elements of his own personal story.

In The Soft White Hand Laband works with source materials that will be familiar to those who know his previous four records – Thin Shoes in June (2001), 4/4 Down the Stairs (2002), Dark Days Exit (2005) and especially Deaf Safari which reached deep into the South Africa scene and its political culture to inspire its vocal and music sampling. However, the disengagement he felt from his homeland during his latest album’s creation – an abiding sense of untethered-ness to place and space, exquisitely rendered in tracks like “Death of a Migrant” – is perceptible in Laband’s desire to illuminate instead aspects of his own life.

A quasi-autobiophony?

“For this album, my source material became almost autobiographical as opposed to African statements I’ve worked with previously,” says the artist. “I have sampled a lot from documentaries from the 80s crack epidemic in impoverished African American communities and believe my work speaks unapologetically for the lost and marginalised, for those who are the forgotten casualties of the war on drugs. In the past, I have had my issues with substance abuse, and I know first-hand about the nightmares and fears, what it feels like to be isolated and abandoned.”

Few artists have managed to air these intimate aspects of their life so luminously as Laband does in tracks like “5 Seconds Ago”, “They Call Me Shorty” and in the strange and meditative “Dreams of Loneliness”. “I’ve been building this weird, autobiographical story using other people talking. It’s kind of humorous but it is also sad and beautiful,” says Laband.

Beauty despite in delineations

Yet, as in all of Laband’s recorded output, the delineations between emotions are never starkly drawn and The Soft White Hand is also shot through with beauty. Nature appears in recordings made in his garden in the intimate early morning hours, whether as in the calls of the Hadada Ibis and other birdsong in “Prelude” or of the vertical-tail-cocking bird in “Derek and Me”. The last is a wonderful track with Derek Gripper, the South African experimental classical guitarist of international renown, whose 2020 song “Fanta and Felix” imagines a meeting between Fanta Sacko and Laband.

Explorations and interpretations of classical music

Laband’s eloquence in reinterpreting classical composers such as Beethoven in “We Know Major Tom’s a Junkie” is another thrilling aspect of the new record. As Laband explains:

I’ve been properly exploring classical music on this album, taking melodies from classical compositions and reinterpreting them.

A fresh quality comes to his work through this sonic adventuring: the tender manipulation of the mundaneness of the computer’s AI voice to reimagine and reinvent iconic lyrics and melodies in strange and unexpected configurations.

The Soft White Hand is Laband’s most cohesive body of work to date. Yet it remains, in its sheer artistic scope, impossible to describe fully. Darkness abuts the gossamer light. A song that summons the sunrise and all the hope of a new day could also be about the final dipping down of the sun that portends a troubled night ahead. Interludes are invitations to expand outwards or shift inwards. Mistakes and “weird fuckups” in the sound are cherished as convincing statements against what Laband calls the “grossness” of perfect sound in modern music.

Felix Laband’s unfixed boundaries

For this world-leading electronic artist, the boundaries are unfixed. He is inspired by the German Dada artist, Hannah Höch, who memorably declared: “I wish to blur the firm boundaries which we self-certain people tend to delineate around all we can achieve.”

His music consequently reflects a primal artistic impulse that is also visible in Laband’s considerable visual art output as seen recently in several solo exhibitions such as that held in the No End Gallery in Johannesburg in 2019 and in the works he produced during his 2018 Nirox Foundation Artists Residency. He affirms:

My music is always about collage, as is my art. Everything I do is collage. It is a medium I find very interesting because you are taking history and distorting it and changing its meaning and turning it upside down and back to front.

In her book Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit calls collage “literally a border art”; it is “an art of what happens when two things confront each other or spill onto each other”.

With The Soft White Hand, Laband is confirming his singular ability to achieve this in both art and music, melting the divisions between the two creative disciplines until they become one. He is also affirming his belief that an album of music should be more than a collection of unrelated tracks, but should unfold a fully integrated, cohesive story as in the song cycles of the great classical composers. In doing so, he claims his position as one of the most significant artists working today.

The Soft White Hand by Felix Laban – Tracklisting

Released by Munich-based Compost Records and in 2-LP format inclusing download / CD / digital, the 14-track album is Laband’s first full-length offering since the critically acclaimed Deaf Safari in 2015. It is heralded by the single “Derek and Me”, and is being pressed on vinyl for distribution globally.

1. “Dreaming In Johannesburg (04:30)

2. “Prelude” (04:59)

3. “Derek And Me” (05:49)

4. “Death Of A Pervert” (05:31)

5. “We Know Major Tom’s A Junkie” (06:00)

6. “They Call Me Shorty” (06:25)

7. “Go To Sleep Little Baby” (05:46)

8. “5 Seconds Ago” (04:27)

9. “7 Rise 7 House” (02:40)

10. “Borc Love” (02:55)

11. “Dreams Of Loneliness” (03:39)

12. “Requiem For The Lord” (03:47)

13. “Snug Retreat” (06:09)

14. “Death Of A Migrant” (07:20)

Artist Statement – Felix Laband – August 2022

When the Khmer Rouge took their captives for processing, they identified their class enemies by looking at their hands. If they were sunburned, rough and calloused, they were those of a peasant, a proletarian to be spared. But if they were soft and white, then they were those of a city-dweller, an intellectual or bourgeois, an adversary to be liquidated.

In calling this album The Soft White Hand, I was reflecting on the Cambodian genocide and how it resonates in contemporary South Africa. The apartheid era is over, and gone with it is white political domination. Yet economic and social privilege is still held in soft white hands. But those who grasp it know just how tenuous is their hold, how it singles them out, and my music reflects their subconscious fears, the stress and guilt of clinging on to what others envy and desire.

The soft white hand of the title suggests to me a further image, one that relates to all of postcolonial Africa. In my mind’s eye, I see the soft, duplicitous handshake of the smooth representatives of the superpowers making deals and promising gifts that benefit only them, and not their African dupes.

Yet, soaring above the wailing of sirens sampled from the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, my music is also about love gained and passion lost. It is about the tender caress of a soft white hand that conducts you into a place of dreams to be enfolded by nocturnal melodies.

Artist’s Music and Social Links

Hear the sound for yourselves:

You can find out more about Felix Laband and his music on the following social and music links:Facebook: https://facebook.com/Felix-Laband-18041251748/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/felixlaband
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/felix-laband
Bandcamp: https://felixlaband.bandcamp.com/

Discover To My Friends: A review of Luca Ridolfo’s 2022 single

by 1inMusic | Nov 19, 2022 | Interviews, Releases

“To My Friends” album release

The album “To My Friends” is a Modern Jazz Solo Piano album by pianist and composer Luca Ridolfo. The album is made up of 9 tracks, 2 of which are available to listen to on Spotify.

“To My Friends” – The long year

While the COVID-19 lockdown plunged the world into silos, there are some who have dug deeper to find beauty in spite of the isolation, creativity in the void. One such artist is composer and pianist Luca Ridolfo. The Italian artist had left his hometown to hone his skills and live in the Netherlands. Although he normally goes back home twice a year, the COVID-19 lockdown period meant that he could see neither friends nor family for a whole year. In his home studio, he composed what was going to be a heartfelt phonic letter, “To My Friends”. The musician does know the limits of his home studio and says:

From the very beginning, my choice was to record it professionally, to have a professional sound that can “compete” with the CD of the jazz heroes I always listen to. I fondly believe that providing the listeners with an outstanding sound experience is important in this period, where the listener has plenty of options to choose from.

The theme behind “To My Friends”

Rather than specifically addressing his won friends, the composer decided to refer to friends that everyone could relate to. Every piece . Ridolfo reveals:

Every song is dedicated to a particular kind of friend we all have. For example, “Compagni di Avventure” (Companions of Adventure) is a piece dedicated to the friends with whom you shared an experience. Risalendo (Rising up) is dedicated to friends who had a hard time in their life and are now picking themself up. In this way, the listener can dedicate a song from this album to a particular friend they know.

The artist let his muse take him to what his friends mean to him. The music is a kind of letter to them and the blend of calm and excitement mirrors the many faces that friendship takes and the void that its absence creates.

The sound that makes up the album

While the spirit of friendship inspired the release, a particular muse is behind the album sound. With Jazz sonorities reminiscent of those you can hear in ECM albums, the music artists betrays his soft spot for the artists.

What I like in the ECM albums is how “spaces” are treated by the artists and the audio engineers and the fluidity that characterises every single album of this particular label. My favourite artists from this particular label are Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, Bobo Stenson, and Abdullah Ibrahim.

His piano doigte is really agreeable and the mind dances as if there was a natural blend of genres beyond Jazz. This is because the young composer’s sound goes beyond its primary muse. What makes this album unique is Ridolfo’s ability to bring in sounds from other genres, blending them cohesively into one to create his own unique brand.

His passion for his idols is such that he waited to be able to travel again to record his album in the Artesuono Recording Studio where Stefano Amerio is the resident sound engineer. Stefano Amerio is the go-to sound engineer associated with many albums produced for the well-known contemporary jazz label ECM. His sound has a particular trademark. As Luca says:

I knew the sound I wanted, and I was sure to get it in the studio of Stefano Amerio.

As an additional perk, the studio is located in Udine, the same region where the musician comes from.

About Luca Ridolfo

Luca Ridolfo is a young pianist and composer from the north of Italy who now lives in the Netherlands.

Covid-19 provided Luca Ridolfo with the spark needed to realize how important our friendships are. the situation inspired him to create his first album, a 9-composition opus.

In this musical release, Luca Ridolfo celebrates the bonds we have with our friends and their different personalities. This first album was released in May 2022 and can be bought on the musician’s official website, where you can also find out more about Luca Ridolfo.

https://lucaridolfo.com/

The Ivors Composer Awards 2022: Announcing winners

by 1inMusic | Nov 17, 2022 | News

Announcing The Ivors Composer Awards 2022

The Ivors Academy announced the winners at The Ivors Composer Awards 2022 on the 15th of November 2022. The Ivors Composer Awards celebrate the best new music in classical, jazz and sound art at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.

12 composers are winners of this year’s prestigious Ivor Novello Awards. The ceremony took placce on the 15th of November and was sponsored by PRS for Music and hosted and broadcast by BBC Radio 3 on the 19th of November 2022.

The Ivors Composer Awards 2022: 3 composers honoured for their contribution to music

Three composers were honoured for their contributions to music.

The Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Works Collection was presented in association with the the Music Publishers Association to Sir George Benjamin. The Ivors Academy said of his work
consistent beauty, complexity and colour of his compositions is outstanding.
Sir George Benjamin – Askonas Holt
The Fellowship of The Ivors Academy was presented to Judith Weir who became the first female Master of the Queen’s Music in 2014
The Ivor Novello Innovation Award was presented in association with the Musicians’ Union to virtuoso tabla player, percussionist, producer and composer Talvin Singh (Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music).

The Ivors Composer Awards 2022: Nine composers won in the 9 categories:

As well as the 3 composers honoured for their contributions to music, The Ivors Composer Awards 2022 reveals the list of nominees and winners for the nine categories of the Ivors Composer Awards 2022, namely:

Chamber Ensemble: Which nominee took the award? Aesop 2 composed by Robin Haigh, Essential relaxing classical hits by Laurence Osborn, Madame Ma Bonne soeur by Brett Dean, Music for Bosch people composed by Alex Paxton, or the Big House by Oliver Leith?
Choral: Who won? The intriguing A Short Story Of Falling or the hopeful All Shall Be Well both by Joanna Marsh, Ken Hesketh’s reflective Carmina Tempore Viri (Songs In Time Of Virus), Seascapes composed by Kristina Arakelyan or There Is No Rose by Cecilia McDowall?
Community and Participation (in association with ABRSM): Daylighting composed by Louise Drewett, Isle Of Sound composed by Emily Peasgood, Something Exciting composed by Derri Joseph Lewis, The Selfish Giant composed by John Barber or When a Child Is A Witness – Requiem For Refugees composed by Liz Dilnot Johnson
Jazz Ensemble: 22:22 composed by Dan Mar-Molinero, Birds of Paradise composed by Tori Freestone, Cwmwl Tystion II – Riot! Suite composed by Tomos Williams, Plant Based Patterns composed by David De La Haye or To Love Itself composed by Alex Hitchcock
Large Ensemble: Candyfolk Space-Drum composed by Alex Paxton, Concerto Grosso by Joe Cutler, Houses Slide by Laura Bowler, Scenes From The Wild composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad or Sleeptalker composed by Robin Haigh
Orchestral: À Mon Seul Désir composed by Brian Irvine, Acts Of waves composed by Edmund Finnis, Concerto For Orchestra composed by George Benjamin, Litanies composed by Julian Anderson or To An Utterance composed by Rebecca Saunders
Small Chamber: Who won of Corale composed by Benjamin Graves, Fantaisie Di Strani E Dolci Misteri Della Parola composed by James Weeks, Natural World composed by Laurence Crane, Rosalind by Hannah Kendall or This Unquiet Autumn composed by Lara Agar
Sound Art: Beacons by Emily Peasgood, Down Gone by Una Lee, Earthquake Mass Re-Imagined by Kathy Hinde, The Mute Still Air by Ed Carter, The Sound Voice Project: Paul, I Left My Voice Behind, Tanja by Hannah Conway

Head to their website to find out the list of winners is outlined on the Ivors Composer Awards 2022 page as well as a link to find out more and listen to each nominee’s music.

#TheIvorsComposerAwards

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