Engadget

URL	engadget.com
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Weblog
Registration	Optional
Available language(s)	English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Korean, German
Owner	AOL[1]
Created by	Peter Rojas
Launched	March 2004
Alexa rank	456 (June 2012[update])[2]
Current status	Online

Engadget is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. Though on appearance Engadget functions much like a blog and may be defined as such, much of its editorial content takes the form of an online magazine. Engadget currently operates a total of ten 'blogs' - four written in English and six international versions with independent editorial staff. Engadget frequently ranks among the top 5 in the 'Technorati top 100'^[3] and was noted in TIME for being one of the best blogs of 2010.^[4]

History[link]

Engadget was co-founded by former Gizmodo technology weblog editor and co-founder, Peter Rojas. Engadget is a member of Weblogs, Inc., a blog network with over 75 weblogs including Autoblog and Joystiq and formerly including Hack-A-Day. Weblogs Inc. was purchased by AOL in 2005.^[5] Engadget's editor-in-chief, Ryan Block, announced on July 22, 2008, that he would be stepping down as editor-in-chief in late August, leaving the role to Joshua Topolsky. On March 12, 2011, Joshua Topolsky, along with most of the senior editorial staff, announced that he was leaving Engadget making Tim Stevens the editor-in-chief.^[6] Joshua Fruhlinger, who has been writing for Engadget since 2004, has acted as Engadget's Editorial Director since 2007.

Writers[link]

Engadget Blogs[link]

Engadget operates a number of blogs spanning seven different languages including English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Korean and German. The English edition of Engadget operates four blogs which, like the international editions, have been assimilated into a single site with a sub-domain prefix. These include Engadget Classic (the original Engadget blog), Engadget Mobile, Engadget HD and most recently Engadget Alt.

Launched in March 2004, Engadget is updated multiple times a day with articles on gadgets and consumer electronics. It also posts rumors about the technological world, frequently offers opinion within its stories, and produces the weekly Engadget Podcast that covers tech and gadget news stories that happened during the week.^[5]

Since its founding, dozens of writers have written for or contributed to Engadget, Engadget Alt, Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD, including high profile bloggers, industry analysts, and professional journalists. These writers include Jason Calacanis, Paul Boutin, Phillip Torrone, Joshua Fruhlinger, Marc Perton and Susan Mernit. Darren Murph, who became the World's Most Prolific Professional Blogger as recorded by Guinness World Records on July 29, 2010, is the site's Managing Editor and has written over 17,212 posts (and growing) to date.^[7] Industry analyst Ross Rubin has contributed a weekly column called Switched On since October 2004.

Engadget has been nominated for numerous awards, including a 2004 Bloggie for Best Technology Weblog, and 2005 Bloggies for Best Computers or Technology Weblog and Best Group Weblog; Engadget won Best Tech Blog in the 2004 and 2005 Weblog Awards.

Google Reader, as well as many other RSS readers, has included Engadget as a default RSS feed, pulling the latest articles which appear at the top of all user's mailboxes.

To extend readership, the blog is available in several languages including Spanish, Japanese, German, Polish (until 1.04.2010), Korean, and Chinese (traditional and simplified).

Engadget uses the Blogsmith CMS to publish its content.

The Engadget Podcast[link]

The Engadget podcast was launched in October 2004 and was originally hosted by Phillip Torrone and Len Pryor. He was the host for the first 22 episodes of the podcast at which point Eric Rice took over. Eric Rice is known for his own podcast, called The Eric Rice Show and has also produced podcasts for Weblogs Inc. Eric hosted and produced 4 episodes of the podcast for Engadget until the show was taken over by Peter Rojas and Ryan Block. The podcast was hosted by Editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky along with editors Paul Miller and Nilay Patel with occasional special guests, until their 2011 departure. The podcast was produced by Trent Wolbe under Topolsky's editorship and continues to be under Tim Stevens (Editor).

The topic of discussion for the podcast is technology related and closely linked to events that have happened during the week in the world of technology. The show generally lasts an hour or more. The show is normally weekly, however the frequency can change, especially during special events. When events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) occur, the podcast has been known to be broadcast daily.

The Engadget podcast is available as a subscription through iTunes, Zune Marketplace and as an RSS feed. Alternatively, it can be downloaded directly from the site in either MP3, Ogg, AAC or m4b format. The m4b version features images related to the current topic of discussion and can be displayed in iTunes or on a compatible player.

Engadget has started doing live podcasts, usually broadcasting Thursday or Friday afternoons on Ustream. The recorded podcast is usually available the day after.

The Engadget App[link]

On Dec 30th 2009 Engadget released its first mobile app for the iPhone and iPod touch.^[8][9] Engadget then released an Engadget app for the Palm Pre and Palm Pixie phones on January 1, 2010 claiming it was the "1000th application in the "webOS" Catalog".^[10] A week later, on January 8, 2010 they launched the app on the BlackBerry platform. An app for Android devices was released on March 25, 2010^[11] & finally the app for Windows Phone made its way to the marketplace on July 1, 2011^[12] making the app available on all major mobile smartphone platforms. The app's features included sharing articles through Twitter, Facebook or e-mail, the ability to tip Engadget on breaking news, and the ability to bookmark and view articles offline.

The Engadget Show[link]

On September 8, 2009, Josh Topolsky announced that Engadget would be taping a new video show once a month in New York City. The show will be free admission and will later be put onto the site. It features one-on-one interviews, roundtable discussions, short video segments, and live music. At first it was taped at the Tishman Auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design, but after the 5th show they began taping at The Times Center part of The New York Times Building.

The show was originally hosted by Joshua Topolsky along with editors Paul Miller and Nilay Patel. After their departure from Engadget and AOL in early 2011 newly appoined editor in chief Tim Stevens became the show's host. It is directed by Michelle Stahl and is executive produced by Joshua Fruhlinger and Michael Rubens.

The first episode (List of The Engadget Show Episodes) was taped at Parsons The New School for Design on September 13, 2009,^[13] and featured guest Jon Rubinstein, CEO of Palm Inc. The second episode's guest was Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer and was taped live on October 22, 2009 at the Times Center.

Episode three featured HTC's Drew Bamford, Joystiq's Chris Grant and was taped live on November 22, 2010 at Parsons The New School for Design. The fourth episode taped live at Parsons The New School for Design on December 20, 2009, featured guest Peter Rojas. Episode five taped live at the Times Center on January 16, 2010 and featured Erick Tseng, a former Senior Project Manager for Google (now employed by Facebook.) The sixth episode was filmed live on February 27, 2010 at the Times Center and featured guest Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee.

Episode seven featured Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and was taped live at the Times Center on March, 20th 2010. The eighth episode was filmed live at the Times Center on April 21, 2010 and featured guests Ryan Block of GDGT and Dr. Dennis Hong, a mechanical engineer who specializes in robotics. Episode nine featured guest Kevin Lynch, Adobe Systems CTO and was filmed live at the Times Center on May 22, 2010. The 10th episode was filmed on June 23, 2010 and featured Jimmy Fallon and was taped live at Cooper Union in New York City.

The 11th episode was filmed live at the Times Center on August 4, 2010 and featured game designer Peter Molyneux. Episode 12 was filmed on August 27 live at the Times Center and featured guest Omar Khan, CSO of Samsung. The 13th episode featured guest Bobby Braun of NASA and taped live at the Times Center on September 14, 2010. Episode 14 was taped live on October 23, 2010 at the Times Center and featured guest Aaron Woodman of Microsoft.

The show's end is always marked by audience prize give-aways and Chiptune music with visuals from a variety of different artists.

Controversy[link]

Trademark infringement[link]

In early 2006, Engadget reported that they were victims of their likeness being stolen and used as a store name at a mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, they stated they would not be taking any action.^[14] The store has since changed its name (or possibly shutdown and a new store opened with a new name). In July 2007, another store had opened, also in Malaysia, with a logo bearing the same resemblance to Engadget's.^[15]

Apple delay hoax[link]

In May 2007, Engadget published a story based on an email sent to Apple employees announcing that the company was delaying the launches of both the iPhone and Mac OS X Leopard.^[16] After the story ran, Apple's share price dropped 3%.^[17][18] Less than 20 minutes later the story was retracted after the email was discovered to have been a hoax perpetrated on Apple employees. Apple's shares eventually recovered and Ryan Block apologized for the mistake.^[5]

Misattribution[link]

In March 2006, DAPreview, a website about digital audio players, noted that Engadget used a photo that had originally been taken by DAPreview, and then removed attribution by cropping the DAPreview logo off.^[19] Engadget's managing editor Ryan Block agreed that the photo had been copied and cropped, stated that it had been a mistake, and apologized and restored the image's attribution.^[20]

T-Mobile "magenta" accusations[link]

On March 31, 2008, Engadget reported that Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile and T-Mobile USA) had sent a letter requesting that Engadget cease using the color magenta in its Engadget Mobile site, claiming that T-Mobile had trademarked the color.^[21] Engadget issued a response on April 1, mainly by repainting the Engadget sites and changing the Mobile logo for the day to a logo that looks as though it is saying "Engadge t-mobile".^[22] The site has since returned to normal format, with the exception of the highlighting color.

Mass exodus[link]

In early 2011, a mass exodus ensued at Engadget with eight of the more prominent editorial and technology staff members leaving AOL to build a new gadget site with CEO Jim Bankoff at SB Nation.^[23] On leaving, Joshua Topolsky, former Editor-in-chief, is quoted having said, “We have been working on blogging technology that was developed in 2003, we haven’t made a hire since I started running the site, and I thought we could be more successful elsewhere”.

It appears the departure of the team from AOL which includes not only Topolsky but editors Nilay Patel, Paul Miller, Joanna Stern, Ross Miller, Chris Ziegler, Chad Mumm, Justin Glow, Dan Chilton, Thomas Ricker and Vladislav Savov was primarily the cause of an internal memo distributed by AOL detailing "The AOL Way", a 58-page long company plan to turn AOL into a media empire. Some employees suggested that AOL was destroying journalism for page views and that it would be difficult for the organisation to apply a 'one size fits all' business model to a business primarily made up of acquisitions with diverging outlooks.^[24]

Paul Miller makes a mention of this on his blog where he writes "I’d love to be able to keep doing this forever, but unfortunately Engadget is owned by AOL, and AOL has proved an unwilling partner in this site’s evolution. It doesn’t take a veteran of the publishing world to realize that AOL has its heart in the wrong place with content. As detailed in the “AOL Way,” and borne out in personal experience, AOL sees content as a commodity it can sell ads against".^[25] The group set up a "placeholder site", This is my Next, while they developed a new technology news site in partnership with Vox Media. The new site is called The Verge.

Awards[link]

People's Voice Webby Award in Consumer Electronics 2011 for The Engadget Show^[26]

See also[link]

List of The Engadget Show Episodes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Engadget

• Engadget
• Technorati's top 100 blogs
• Engadget on Twitter
• Engadget at the iTunes Preview
• Engadget for iPad at the iTunes Preview

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John Vanderslice
Background information
Born	(1967-05-22) May 22, 1967 (age 45) Gainesville, Florida, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Dead Oceans Barsuk Records
Associated acts	The Mountain Goats Spoon Death Cab for Cutie Mk Ultra
Website	www.johnvanderslice.com

John Vanderslice (born May 22, 1967 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician and songwriter. Previously a member of the band Mk Ultra, he now records and performs as a solo artist.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Early years[link]

Vanderslice grew up in Florida and Georgia, before his family moved to Maryland when he was 11. After playing in several bands in his teenage years, he spent five years as a member of the experimental pop band MK Ultra, with whom he released three albums in the 1990s.^[6]

During this period, he also founded a recording studio, Tiny Telephone, in the Mission District of San Francisco. Established in 1997, the studio was initially used as a rehearsal space before being developed as a full-time, all-analog recording studio. Bands who have recorded in the studio include Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River, Deerhoof, The Magnetic Fields, and Spoon.^[7]

Solo career[link]

In 2000, Vanderslice released his first solo album, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, and briefly gained some national media attention for the single "Bill Gates Must Die" after concocting a hoax in which Microsoft supposedly threatened legal action over the song; Vanderslice then however had trouble manufacturing the CD because the artwork resembled that of a Windows installation disc, and at least one manufacturer was wary of legal action.^[8] During the controversy, he was interviewed by Spin, Wired, and the San Francisco Chronicle.^[8]

Vanderslice at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, 2007.

Time Travel is Lonely and Life and Death of an American Fourtracker followed in 2001 and 2002 respectively, followed by 2004’s Cellar Door.

Many songs on the 2005 album Pixel Revolt referenced the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Iraq War and were more overtly political in their lyrical content. The album earned an 8.3 rating on Pitchfork Media and was cited for its "meticulous arrangements" with "everything in its right place", and declared an "excellent album".^[9] The album's ending resolves the narrator's struggles with acute depression ("Dead Slate Pacific"), suicidal thoughts ("The Golden Gate") with a love song to psychotropic drugs ("CRC 7173, Affectionately").

The title of his 2007 album, Emerald City, references the nickname of the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad and The Wizard of Oz. "I was so beaten down after the 2000 election and after 9/11 and then the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan," said Vanderslice. "I was so depleted as a person after all that stuff happened, that I had to write my way out of it." Emerald City achieved a score of 80/100 on Metacritic.^[10] Entertainment Weekly called the album "a gleaming gem" that doesn't disappoint.^[11] Billboard's review of the record called Vanderslice an "always perceptive lyricist."^[12] Calling Vanderslice a "master story-teller", Matt Fink of Paste said that Emerald City was "vividly imagined yet subtle in tone, with conflicted character sketches unfolding around somber synth melodies, creaky electronic effects, and fuzzy acoustic guitar strums."^[13]

In 2009, he released the album Romanian Names.

In 2010, Vanderslice released a free EP called Green Grow The Rushes.^[14] A full album, White Wilderness, was released on January 25th, 2011 on Dead Oceans. He recorded the album with Minna Choi and her Magik*Magik Orchestra in three days in Berkeley. It was produced and recorded by John Congleton.^[15]

Vanderslice has often chosen bands to tour with him who have gone on to widespread recognition and critical respect, including Sufjan Stevens, Okkervil River, The Tallest Man On Earth and St. Vincent.

Recording technique and collaborations[link]

Vanderslice is a proponent of using analog instruments and recording equipment to produce a richer, more raw sound which he has sometimes called "sloppy hi-fi".^[16] He has collaborated closely with Scott Solter in the production of his recent albums.

On January 30, 2009, Vanderslice collaborated with Magik*Magik Orchestra for a sold-out show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tiny Telephone.^[17]

Vanderslice was a contributing producer on the Spoon album, Gimme Fiction, and also produced The Mountain Goats albums Heretic Pride, The Sunset Tree, and We Shall All Be Healed. In March and April 2009, John Vanderslice toured alongside The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle in the "Gone Primitive Tour". These shows featured Vanderslice and Darnielle each playing acoustic sets and then performing material together.^[18]

Influences and interests[link]

He is influenced by film and is a fan of David Lynch, whose work is referenced in his song "Promising Actress". His declared musical influences are diverse, ranging from Neutral Milk Hotel to Public Enemy. He has incorporated the poetry of William Blake, Percy Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Lowell into his music. In addition, Vanderslice is a prolific amateur photographer, doing publicity photo shots for Thao Nguyen, The Mountain Goats, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, and Mirah. He has also had his work used in album artwork by Matt Nathanson, Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes, Mobius Band, and Vanderslice's own 2009 release, Romanian Names.

Discography[link]

• Mass Suicide Occult Figurines (2000)
• Time Travel Is Lonely (2001)
• Life and Death of an American Fourtracker (2002)
• Cellar Door (2004)
  • MGM Endings: Cellar Door Remixes (2004)
• Pixel Revolt (2005)
  • Suddenly It All Went Dark: Pixel Revolt Live to 2-Track (2006)
  • Scott Solter Remixes Pixel Revolt in Analog (2007)
• Emerald City (2007)
• Moon Colony Bloodbath - vinyl EP (with the Mountain Goats) (2009)
• Romanian Names (2009)
• Too Much Time - 7" (Dead Oceans, 2009)
• D.I.A.L.O. - 7" (Dead Oceans, 2010)
• Green Grow The Rushes - (2010)
• White Wilderness - (with The Magik*Magik Orchestra) (2011)

Tour history[link]

Time Travel is Lonely

• Spring 2001 SW Tour (supporting Death Cab for Cutie)
• Summer West Coast (supporting Spoon)
• Fall 2001 US Tour

Life and Death of an American Fourtracker

• Winter 2002 Tour (supporting The Mountain Goats)
• Summer 2002 US Tour
• Fall 2002 US Tour (supporting Spoon and Dismemberment Plan)
• Fall 2002 US Tour "All Hail West Texas" (supporting The Mountain Goats)
• Summer 2003 US Tour (supporting Jets To Brazil)
• Japan Tour Fall 2003 w/ Quruli and Dismemberment Plan
• Fall 2003 US Tour "Coast Is Never Clear" (supporting Beulah)

Cellar Door

• Japan Tour Winter 2004
• Winter 2004 "Cellar Door" US Tour (with Okkervil River and Sufjan Stevens)
• Summer 2004 US Tour (supporting Pedro the Lion)
• Fall 2004 US Tour "We Shall All Be Healed" (supporting The Mountain Goats)

Pixel Revolt

• Japan Tour Summer 2005
• "My Aim Is Only True When I'm Aiming At You" US Solo Tour, Summer 2005
• John Vanderslice and Photographs "I've been living in a k-hole" US 2005 Fall Tour
• European Tour 2005 with Nada Surf
• European Tour Spring 2005 with Death Cab for Cutie
• "Getting it on with the hangman's daughter" US Spring 2006 Tour (with Laura Viers supporting)
• John Vanderslice and Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday European Tour Fall 2006
• Summer 2007 Australia Tour "Get Lonely" (supporting The Mountain Goats)
• John Vanderslice and Suburban Kids w/ Biblical Names Spring US Tour (with St. Vincent)

Emerald City

• Emerald City Fall US Tour (with Bishop Allen supporting)
• Fall 2007 European Tour
• Spring 2008 European Tour
• Spring 2008 US Tour (supporting Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks)

"Moon Colony Bloodbath"

• Spring 2009 US Solo Tour "Gone Primitive" with The Mountain Goats

Romanian Names

• Summer 2009 US Tour (with Tallest Man On Earth and The Morning Benders supporting)
• "Steady The Bow" Fall 2009 European Tour
• Fall 2010 "Undercard" Tour (supporting Extra Lens)

White Wilderness

• 2011 SXSW Tour
• "White Wilderness" Spring US Tour (with Damien Jurado supporting)
• "I Couldn't Wait To Fall Off The Map" Fall 2011 European Tour

Notable Performances[link]

• On March 17, 2000, Vanderslice played his first solo show, opening up for Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats, and Thingy at Bimbo's, San Francisco, CA.
• On August 27, 2003 Vanderslice joined Quruli and Dismemberment Plan on stage at Namba Hatch in Osaka, Japan.
• On September 12, 2005 Vanderslice performed live on Soundcheck with cellist Erik Friedlander New York's NPR affiliate, WNYC.
• On May 14, 2005 Vanderslice joined The Mountain Goats to perform songs from The Sunset Tree on NPR's Weekend Edition.
• On March 6, 2006, Vanderslice joined Death Cab for Cutie onstage at the Melkveg in Amsterdam.
• On December 31, 2006, Vanderslice performed with The Mountain Goats at the Falls Festival in Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tasmania.
• On May 3, 2007, Vanderslice performed with St. Vincent at Randy Bacon's Gallery and Studio in Springfield, MO. For the last two songs of his show, he invited the crowd on stage to sing along. Then he told everyone he wanted to play in the middle of the street, so he walked off stage, through the crowd, and out the front door. The entire crowd ended up outside, surrounding Vanderslice in a circle in the middle of a city street. He proceeded to finish his entire set, playing acoustic guitar, the drummer on a bass drum, and Annie Clark on backup vocals. The mass of bodies filled the entire city street, blocking traffic til the last note of "Nikki Oh Nikki."
• On May 18, 2007, Vanderslice sang "Such Great Heights" at the Fillmore, San Francisco with Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis.
• On July 29, 2007, Vanderslice performed "Live at the Fremont Drawbridge" where songs from Emerald City were accompanied by the Fremont Bridge bells in Seattle, WA.
• On Dec 7, 2007, Vanderslice played with The Liars and Deerhunter at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain.
• On September 1, 2008, Vanderslice performed the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, WA with Beck and The Black Keys.
• On September 21, 2008, Vanderslice played at Treasure Island Music Festival with Spiritualized and Tegan and Sara.
• On October 18, 2008, Vanderslice played the grand opening of 92YTribeca in New York, NY with Michael Showalter.
• On January 30, 2009, Vanderslice played a show with Magik*Magik Orchestra at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Tiny Telephone.
• On May 24, 2009, Vanderslice played the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Quincy, WA with Animal Collective, Bon Iver, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• On August 30, 2009, Vanderslice played at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, CA with Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, and Calexico.
• On September 22-24, 2008, Vanderslice joined Spoon on guitar and vocals for their residency at San Francisco's Fillmore.
• On June 17, 2011, Vanderslice performed with a 35-piece configuration of the Magik*Magik Orchestra at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre to celebrate the release of White Wilderness.
• On July 16, 2011, Tiny Telephone and The Bay Bridged presented Phono Del Sol, a yearly San Francisco music festival featuring Aesop Rock, Mirah, and Man/Miracle.

See also[link]

• News related to John Vanderslice plays New York City at Wikinews

References[link]

External links[link]

• JohnVanderslice.com
• Tiny Telephone Recording
• John Vanderslice's Tumblr
• John Vanderslice at NPR
• John Vanderslice's Radiohead cover on Stereogum
• Daytrotter Session
• Pitchfork Feature: Top CDRs Given To Me At Shows
• The Magik*Magik Orchestra
• Dead Oceans Page

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Black Milk
Background information
Birth name	Curtis Cross
Born	(1982-08-14) August 14, 1982 (age 29)
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	Midwest hip hop Detroit hip hop
Occupations	Record producer, rapper
Instruments	Drums, Turntable, Sampler, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, Drum Machine
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Fat Beats Records / Decon
Associated acts	Danny Brown, B.R. Gunna, Slum Village, J Dilla, Random Axe, Royce da 5'9", Elzhi, Bishop Lamont, Jack White, Name Tag, Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson

Curtis Cross, (born August 14, 1982) better known as Black Milk, is a hip hop producer and MC from Detroit, Michigan.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Performing in Toronto in 2012

In 2004, he formed B.R. Gunna, with Young RJ, and Fat Ray, and together they released Dirty District: Vol. 2, a follow up to a compilation released in 2001 by Slum Village, which he had contributed production to. Black Milk released a solo album, Sound of the City, Vol. 1, the following year and in 2006 he signed a record contract with Fat Beats Records (Fat Beats is currently distributed by Koch Entertainment, the largest independent distributor in the U.S.). In the fall of 2006, he released an EP, entitled Broken Wax. March 13, 2007 he released a second album, Popular Demand.^[1]

In addition to Slum Village, Black Milk has worked with J Dilla,^[3] Elzhi, Phat Kat, Frank-N-Dank, Lloyd Banks, Canibus, and Pharoahe Monch, and handled most of the production on T3's Olio mixtape of 2006.

In the Winter of 2007/2008 Black Milk paired with Aftermath recording artist Bishop Lamont to release a mixtape entitled Caltroit, which was nominated for Best Hip Hop Mixtape at Justo's Mixtape Awards.^{[citation needed]}

Black Milk released an album with Fat Ray entitled The Set Up on March 4, 2008 and his third official solo release "Tronic" on October 28, 2008. He also handled the majority of production^[4] on Elzhi's album The Preface, released August 12.

Elzhi's "The Leftovers Unmixedtape" was released on December 11, 2009. Black Milk produced four of the tracks on it.

On December 25, 2009, he leaked the first single from his upcoming album Album Of The Year. The song is called "Keep Going". He also released two more singles named "Welcome (Gotta Go)" and "Deadly Medley" featuring Royce Da 5'9" and Elzhi.

On August 22, 2010, he released the music video for "Deadly Medley". The video features Black Milk, Royce da 5'9" and Elzhi.

Album Of The Year was released on September 14, 2010 through Fat Beats and Decon. Black Milk has announced he has already started work on his 5th studio album which he aims to finish and release some time in Summer 2012.

In March 2011, Black Milk released a 7" single entitled 'Brain'. The single was the result of a collaboration between, Black Milk and his band (AB, Daru Jones and Malik Hunter) and Jack White of the White Stripes. A B Side, entitled Royal Mega, was also released.
As the buzz of many of hip hop’s young leaders-to-be evolves from loud commotion into hushed whispers, Black Milk has stayed relevant by remaining focused on creating music that endures. He’s achieved recognition from fans, critics, and his peers as one of the best producers around, and when coupling that talent with his sharp lyricism and stylish delivery as an emcee, Black has proven to be one of the most vital hip hop artists of his generation.

This is already clear to those who heard his 2008 album Tronic, which capped a successful and astonishingly prolific year (in which he also released collaborative full-length releases with rappers Bishop Lamont and Fat Ray, as well as producing the acclaimed solo album from Slum Village’s Elzhi). Tronic showcased a growth in production technique that few expected from a beatmaker best-known for chopping samples, as his signature drums were now peppered with live instrumentation and richer arrangements.

2009 looked to be another year of tremendous progress for Black Milk’s career. After touring Europe with his newly-formed band, consisting of drummer Daru Jones and keyboardist/singer AB, he returned home to Detroit ready to launch efforts on his next album. The year took an unexpected turn as his mentor Baatin of Slum Village–who Black credits with launching his professional career–died. Only weeks later, Black’s manager HexMurda fell into a coma and was paralyzed with a rare pontine stroke. The quick succession of these events eerily mirrored the abrupt deaths of Detroit legends J Dilla and Proof in 2006, stunning the close-knit hip hop community in the Motor City. Things only got worse for Black as he dealt with additional deaths within his family over the next few months. 2009 had become the most difficult year of his life.

As the year came to a close, he returned to recording, and announced that his next release would be audaciously titled Album of the Year. Black quickly explained that the title was referring to the course of events from the previous 12 months. Many fans and critics discounted that explanation, expressing either excitement or objection that he was brashly proclaiming that his work would be the year’s best before the year had even started.

Far from a melancholic work, Album of the Year once again sees Black Milk working to break new ground in hip hop production, and to both refine and redefine his sound. While continuing to construct the skeletons of the tracks on his same trusted AKAI MPC-2000 XL that he’s been using for years, he now employs a team of studio musicians and session players to add new layers of fat and muscle to his songs, with most of the players’ parts composed by the artist himself. A broad range of influence shines through in the tracks, with tinges of rock, reggae, and afrobeat joining his trademark hip hop bangers.

Other than the heavy contributions from both members of his live band (vocalist/keyboardist AB and drummer Daru Jones), the album exclusively features players and vocalists from his hometown of Detroit, including vocalist Melanie Rutherford, bassist Tim Shellabarger, and the versatile horn player and string arranger Sam Beaubien (who arranged horns and strings on Mayer Hawthorne’s A Strange Arrangement). The few guest raps are provided by Royce Da 5’9″, Elzhi, and newcomer Danny Brown.

Few artists in hip hop are able to create music that can rise above expectations and defy categorization. Black Milk welcomes the challenge to accomplish what others cannot, and he’s doing it not only with his acclaimed recordings but also with an electrifying live show. Performing with Daru and AB, the tracks are taken to another level on stage. Both Album of the Year and exciting live performances across the globe are sure to elevate Black Milk that much closer to the star status many have predicted.

Musical style and influences[link]

Cross cites some of his main musical influences as J. Dilla, Easy Mo Bee, Pete Rock, Questlove, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul. His music is very soulful, as he was raised on the sounds of the latter two in the 80s and 90s. The late producer J. Dilla had a large impact on him with his soul-influenced, jazzy beats.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• 2005: Sound of the City
• 2006: Broken Wax
• 2007: Popular Demand
• 2008: Tronic (US R&B: #76)
• 2010: Album of the Year (US: #136, US R&B: #28)

Collaborations[link]

• 2004: Dirty District Vol. 2 (with Young RJ as B.R. Gunna)
• 2008: Caltroit (with Bishop Lamont)
• 2008: The Set Up (with Fat Ray)
• 2008: The Preface (with Elzhi)
• 2011: Random Axe (with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson as Random Axe)
• 2011: "Brain" b/w "Royal Mega"(with Jack White)
• 2011: Black & Brown EP (with Danny Brown)^[5]
• 2012: Searching for Sanity (with Melanie Rutherford)

Production[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Black Milk

• Black Milk on Myspace
• Official website
• Template:Http://blackmilk.biz/bio/
• Black Milk RBMA lecture

Dan Deacon
Dan Deacon in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Daniel Deacon
Also known as	Pardalince Bird
Born	(1981-08-28) August 28, 1981 (age 30))[1] West Babylon, New York, United States
Origin	Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Genres	Electronic, indie
Instruments	Vocals, wave function generators, keyboards, trombone, tuba, computer
Years active	2003—present
Labels	Domino Records, Carpark Records, Mistletone Records, Wildfire Wildfire Records, Psych-o-Path, Standard Oil Records, Comfort Stand Records
Associated acts	So Percussion, Health, No Age, Lightning Bolt, Jimmy Joe Roche,
Website	http://www.dandeacon.com
Members
Dan Deacon, Chester Gwazda, Denny Bowen, Dave Jacober, Jordan Kasey
Past members
William Cashion, Gerrit Welmers, Benny Boeldt, Andrew Bernstein, Ryan Syrell, Greg Fox, Kate Levitt, Sam Sowyrda, Stephe Cooper, Kevin O'Meara, Jeremy Hyman, Justin Frye, Andrew Burt, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, Eric Beach
Notable instruments
Wavetek 30 Function Generator

Dan Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2003, Deacon has released eight albums under several different labels. Deacon also has a renowned reputation for his live shows, where large scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the performance.

Life and Education[link]

Dan was born and raised in the suburban Long Island, New York community of West Babylon. He graduated from Babylon High School in 1999 where he was a member of the local ska band Channel 59.^[2] He later attended the Conservatory of Music at State University of New York at Purchase in Purchase, New York where, in addition to performing his solo material, he played in many bands, including tuba for Langhorne Slim and guitar in the improvisational grindcore band Rated R, and had a small mixed chamber ensemble. He completed his graduate studies in electro-acoustic and computer music composition. He studied under composer and conductor Joel Thome and Dary John Mizelle.

In 2004 he moved to Baltimore, Maryland and moved into the Copycat Building and, along with friends from SUNY Purchase, formed Wham City, an arts and music collective.^[3]

Releases[link]

His first two albums as a solo artist, Meetle Mice and Silly Hat vs Egale Hat were released on CD-R on Standard Oil Records in 2003 while he was a student at SUNY Purchase. The albums are collections of both computer music and live recordings of ensemble pieces. They are markedly different from his first popular record, 2007's Spiderman of the Rings, in that they contain almost no tracks where Deacon sings or uses vocal manipulation. Most of the pieces are instrumentals or sound collages. He followed those two albums with a set of records made up of sine wave compositions. "Green Cobra is Awesome Vs The Sun" is a 42-minute piece consisting of of six slowly drifting sine waves. "Goose On The Loose" is a 60-minute piece featuring a Wavetek 180 signal generator being processed through a DigiTech Whammy and a Line 6 DL4.

His next two releases were the EPs Twacky Cats on Comfort Stand Recordings and Acorn Master on Psych-o-path Records. Spiderman of the Rings was Deacon's first commercially distributed full-length album, released by Carpark Records in May 2007.^[4] The album was well received^[5] and was included in the Best New Music section of Pitchforkmedia.com. The album was also ranked as number 24 on the website's "Top 50 Albums of 2007".^[6]

Ultimate Reality was released as a DVD in November 2007 and marked a return to composing music for others to perform. The pieces for percussion and electronics were performed by Jeremy Hyman of Ponytail and Kevin Omeara of Videohippos. The pieces were set to collaged and heavily altered video created by Deacon's long time friend and collaborator Jimmy Joe Roche.

Deacon's latest album entitled Bromst was released on March 24, 2009.^[7] It was produced by Chester Gwazda at Snow Ghost Studios in Whitefish, Montana and features live instruments including player piano and a variety of percussion instruments. The album was well received; Pitchfork gave it an 8.5/10, and it placed it into the "best new music" section.^[8] Bromst also ranked #46 in Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2009.^[9]

Contemporary Classical Work[link]

At the 2008 Bang on a can Marathon 'Ultimate Reality Part 3' was performed at 4:30am on June 1st, 2008.

In 2011 Deacon began to work more outside of the indie and pop music scenes and began working in the contemporary classical scene and film scoring.

On January 20, 2011, Dan Deacon and percussion quartet So Percussion premiered a new piece composed by Deacon titled "Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler" at the Merkin Concert Hall in New York as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival. New York Magazine listed the performance as one of the top 10 classical music performances of 2011.^[10] 'Ghostbuster Cook' was also performed at The Barbican for the Steve Reich Reverberations Festival, May 7, 2001. On February 3 and 4 the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony conducted by Edwin Outwater premiered Deacons first orchestral works, "Fiddlenist Rim" and "Song of the Winter Solstice for orchestra and electronics".

On January 21, 2011 it was announced that Deacon would score the film Twixt by Francis Ford Coppola.

On August 1, 2011 "Purse Hurdler", a composition for a 27 person percussion ensemble, was premiered by the So Percussion Summer Institute at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City.

On March 2, 2012 Deacon performed with So Percussion at the Royal Academy Of Music in Tornto Canada. His compositions 'Take A Deep Breath' and 'Bottles' from 'Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler' were performed.

On March 20, 2012 Deacon premiered a new composition for a chamber orchestra titled "An Opal Toad with Obsidian Eyes." The piece was premiered at the 2012 Ecstatic Music Festival and was performed by the Calder Quartet, NOW Ensemble and Deacon on electronics controlling a Disklavier player piano. The piece was met with positive reviews ^[11]

Deacon made his Carnegie Hall debut on March 26th as part of the Carnegie Hall’s American Mavericks series with So Percussion and Matmos. The concert was a tribute to composer John Cage to celebrate his 100th birthday. The program contained compositions by Cage and others influenced by the composer, including two works by Deacon, 'Take A Deep Breath' and 'Bottles' from 'Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler.' This concert was also met with positive reviews. ^[12]

Live shows[link]

Dan Deacon is famed for his live shows.^[13] When playing solo he performs on floor level within the audience, his musical devices being set up on a low table, and surrounded by the crowd.

In stark contrast to Deacon's electronic performances, the Bromst tour was with a 14-person ensemble of members of various Baltimore bands including So Percussion, Future Islands, and Chester Gwazda. He was accompanied by various acts including Nuclear Power Pants. This tour is also notable for the musicians' use of a veggie oil powered bus.

In the summer of 2009, Dan Deacon went on tour with two other notable acts, Deerhunter, and No Age, on the "No Deachunter" tour.^[14]

In the fall of 2009, Dan Deacon was forced to cancel the small remainder of his North American tour, which included shows at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut due to health complications involving a battle with acute sciatica, all of which were rescheduled in winter of 2010.^[15]

Viral video[link]

Deacon recorded the track "Drinking out of Cups". In 2006, Liam Lynch created a video to accompany the piece. The compilation has been viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube.^[16] As the video spread, rumors of what the video was and how it was made quickly began forming. One popular rumor is that it is a recording of someone on LSD locked in a closet. Deacon has stated numerous times that this is not true.^[17]

Film composer and curator[link]

• Twixt (2011, with Osvaldo Golijov)
• Twixt (2010)
• Ultimate Reality (2008)

In September 2010 Dan Deacon collaborated with Jimmy Joe Roche at the Incubate festival in Tilburg, The Netherlands. While in residency there, Deacon and Roche worked on a new piece of video art. Material was shot at 't Schop, a farm in Hilvarenbeek, and in the area surrounding Tilburg. During the festival, the movie was shown at the farm before Deacon's performance.^{[citation needed]}

Together with Jimmy Joe Roche, Dan Deacon curates and hosts the Gunky's Basement Film Series, a Maryland Film Festival series of films that are favorites of these friends and collaborators.

Stage composer[link]

• Power Moves Forever Quest (2011, with Dan Breen, Josh Van Horne, Chase O'Hara)

Discography[link]

• A Green Giant Is Awesome vs. the Sun (single EP, 2003)
• Goose on the Loose (2003)
• Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat (2003)
• Meetle Mice (2003)
• Live Recordings 2003 (2004)
• Twacky Cats (Comfort Stand Records, 2004)
• Porky Pig (Standard Oil Records New Music Series, 2004)
• Acorn Master (Psych-o-Path Records, 2006)
• Spiderman of the Rings (Wildfire Wildfire, 2007)
• The Crystal Cat (7" single, Carpark Records, 2007)
• Ultimate Reality (soundtrack) (Carpark Records, 2008)
• Bromst (Carpark Records, 2009)
• America (Domino, August 27, 2012)

Media appearances[link]

• July 23, 2003: performed on WFMU
• February 21, 2004: performed again on WFMU
• February 2005: performed "Ohio" on WSAV, Savannah, GA's local NBC affiliate
• February 13, 2006: featured on Liam Lynch's podcast Lynchland. Portions of Deacon's song "Big Big Big Big Big" are also used for Lynchland's opening and closing credits on each episode.
• May 26, 2006: performed again on WFMU
• October 25, 2007: featured on Public Radio International's The Sound of Young America. [1]
• April 5, 2009: featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. [2]
• May 29, 2009: featured on American Public Media's Sound Opinions. [3]
• December 4, 2009: named artist of the year by The Athens Blur magazine in Athens, Georgia [4]
• February 12, 2011: performed for KRUI-FM website and logo launch party.

Charts[link]

• August 1, 2006: Acorn Master hits #162 on the CMJ Radio 200 charts.
• March 24, 2009: Bromst hits #199 on the Billboard Top 200 charts.

Awards[link]

• Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat #18 in Top 30 most played albums on WFMU in November 2003
• Meetle Mice Third Best Album of 2003 on Top Ten Albums by OCDJ
• Best Solo Performer 2005 Baltimore City Paper Critics Poll
• Best Solo Performer 2006 Baltimore City Paper Readers Poll
• Acorn Master #1 in Top 30 played albums on WFMU in July 2006
• Spiderman of the Rings named Best New Music on Pitchfork Media in May 2007 with a 8.7 rating
• Bromst named Best New Music on Pitchfork Media in March 2009 with a 8.5 rating
• Awarded "Best Awesome" by COOL! magazine
• Spiderman of the Rings named one of the best records of 2007 by CMJ New Music Monthly
• "Crystal Cat" Single listed in top 100 singles of 2007 by Rolling Stone magazine
• Spiderman of the Rings named one of the 25 best records of 2007 by Pitchfork Media

Festival appearances[link]

• SXSW 2007,2008, 2011, 2012 Austin, TX
• NXNW 2007, Portland, OR
• CMJ 2007, New York, NY
• Virgin Festival 2007, Baltimore, MD
• Pitchfork Music Festival 2007, Chicago, IL
• Laneway Festival 2008, Australia
• Coachella 2008, Indio, CA
• Future Days Festival 2008, Dublin, Ireland
• Dot to Dot 2008, UK
• Electric Picnic 2008, Ireland
• Sled Island Music Festival 2008, Calgary, AB Canada
• Bumbershoot 2008, Seattle, WA
• TIM Festival 2008, Brazil
• Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008, Austin, TX
• Langerado Festival 2008, Big Cypress, FL
• Fuck Yeah Fest 2008, Los Angeles, CA
• Golden Plains Festival 2009, Australia
• Transmodern Festival 2009, Baltimore, MD
• Primavera Sound, 2009, Barcelona, Spain
• Lollapalooza 2009, Chicago, IL
• Villette Sonique 2009, Paris, France
• Big Ears Music Festival, Knoxville, TN
• Treasure Island 2009, San Francisco, CA
• Campus A Low Hum, Bulls, New Zealand
• Transmediale 2010, Berlin, Germany
• MtyMx 2010, Monterrey, Mexico
• Sperm Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
• Donau Festival 2010, Krems, Austria
• Bonnaroo 2010, Manchester, TN
• Whartscape 2005-2010, Baltimore, MD
• Haldern Festival 2010, Germany
• Incubate 2010, The Netherlands
• High Zero 2010, Balitmore, MD
• Moogfest 2010, Asheville, NC
• Iceland Airwaves 2010, Iceland
• Ecstatic Music Festival 2011, NYC
• 35 Conferette 2011, Denton, TX
• SXSW 2011, Austin, TX
• Transmodern Festival 2009, 2011, Baltimore, MD
• B.O.M.B. Fest 2011, Hartford, CT
• OFF Festival 2011, Katowice, Poland
• Terraneo Festival 2011, Šibenik, Croatia
• La Route Du Rock 2011, Saint-Malo, France
• Fuck Yeah Fest 2011, Los Angeles, CA
• Rocktucket 2011, Pawtucket, RI
• Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011, Austin, Texas
• Moogfest 2011, Asheville, NC
• Southbound 2012, Australia
• Falls Festival, 2012, Australia
• Camp A Low Hum 2012, New Zealand
• 80/35 Music Festival 2012, Des Moines

Museum and Art institution performances[link]

• The Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA USA, April 2012
• Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH USA, March 2012
• National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania, April 2010
• Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD USA, July 2009
• Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA USA, June 2009
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH USA, June 2009
• Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, USA, May 2009
• Fort Worth Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX USA, April 2009
• The Hirshorn Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC USA, November 2008
• Detroit Museum of Modern Art, Detroit, MI USA, October 2008
• The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA USA, July 2008
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY USA, February 2008
• Model Arts Centre and Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland, December 2007
• Corcoran Museum, Washington, DC USA, November 2007
• The Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD USA, February 2007

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dan Deacon

• Official website
  • Dan Deacon on Myspace
• Wham City video profile
• Dan Deacon interview for the New York Times
• Dan Deacon's electronic jungle — A June 2007 Associated Press interactive piece with Dan Deacon explaining his instruments.

• Dan Deacon: The New Face of Beauty' from State of Mind Winter 09
• Dan Deacon article April 2009
• Pitchfork article
• Music Towers article
• Muso's Guide live review - Fabric London
• Photo gallery of live performance
• Channel 59 official band website

David Cope (b. San Francisco, California, United States, May 17, 1941) is an American author, composer, scientist, and professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His primary area of research involves artificial intelligence and music; he writes programs and algorithms that can analyze existing music and create new compositions in the style of the original input music. In addition to regular music classes, he teaches a summer Workshop in Algorithmic Computer Music that is open to the public as well as a general education course entitled Artificial Intelligence and Music for enrolled UCSC students.

His EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence) software has produced works in the style of over a hundred composers -- ranging from short pieces to full length operas.

As a composer, Cope's own work has encompassed a variety of genres. Most recently, all of his original compositions have been written in collaboration with the computer -- based on an input of his earlier works. He seeks a synergy between composer creativity and computer algorithm as his principal creative direction.

Related quotes[link]

In twenty years of working in artificial intelligence, I have run across nothing more thought-provoking than David Cope's Experiments in Musical Intelligence. What is the essence of musical style, indeed of music itself? Can great new music emerge from the extraction and recombination of patterns in earlier music? Are the deepest of human emotions triggerable by computer patterns of notes?

Despite the fact that Cope's vision of human creativity is radically different from my own, I admire enormously what he has achieved. Indeed, this lovingly written book about a deeply held vision of musical creativity should, I think, earn its place as one of the most significant adventures of the late twentieth century.

Douglas Hofstadter, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach

If only Beethoven or Chopin could explain their methods as clearly as David Cope. So when Cope's program writes a delightful turn of musical phrase, who is the artist: the composer being emulated, Cope's software, or David Cope himself? Cope offers keen philosophical insights into this question, one that will become increasingly compelling over time. He also provides us with brilliant and unique insights into the intricate structure of humankind's most universal art form.

Raymond Kurzweil