Midland will release his debut studio album, on October 4, after more than a decade releasing singles and EPs that helped establish him among the United Kingdom’s leading underground DJs and producers. Fragments of Us, released via his own label, Graded, is an “homage to and celebration of the gift of otherness and the spaces and voices that have helped along the way,” Midland said in press materials. Listen to new song “Never Enough,” sung by Midland himself, below.
As well as his own singing, Fragments of Us incorporates the voices of outsider artists including David Wojnarowicz, Horse Meat Disco’s Luke Howard, Jonny Seymour, and Marlon Riggs.
01 Omi Palone 02 Fragments of Us 03 In My Head 04 Never Enough 05 Vogue in Slow Motion 06 David’s Dream [ft. David Wojnarowicz] 07 Ritual 08 1983 – 1996 [ft. Jonny Seymour] 09 You Said You’d Be Good 10 NYCDL [ft. Luke Howard] 11 Chapter 10 12 Construct a Future [ft. Marlon Riggs] 13 First Light Over the Grove
Erica Banks has sparked major criticism online after she shared a tribute post about Rich Homie Quan. Additionally, Bank’s post — made hours after reports of Quan’s passing — appeared to display intimate moments between her and Quan.
Furthermore, audio has also been released of the 911 call requesting paramedics for Quan.
On the afternoon of Thursday, September 5, Banks took to Instagram to share a now-deleted post paying tribute to Quan. In the caption of her post, she wrote, “All you wanted was to find happiness again… I always saw it in your face and heard it in your voice… But you had so much left to do…”
Banks continued her post by seemingly explaining that Quan had upcoming milestones such as his tour kick-off, his album, and his birthday on October 4.
“I’m just glad we were able to enjoy such peaceful and memorable moments while you were here man,” she continued. “Such a sweetheart! Rest in Paradise Quan…”
Furthermore, Banks’ now-deleted post featured footage of Quan planting kisses on her face while another slide showed him seemingly lying in her lap. A final post in Bank’s carousel seemingly showed a text she received from Quan where he confessed his interest in her.
Social Media Reacts & Akbar V Weighs In
Social media users reacted to Erica Bank’s tribute in The Shade Room’s comment section. To note, Quan shared two children with a woman named Amber Williams, although it remains unclear whether the pair were currently dating. Quan also reportedly had multiple kids from previous relationships, per Distractify.
Instagram user @ceo.unique wrote, “It’s always that one girl….”
While Instagram user @_itshelenb added, “Girl our childhood rapper is gone please sweetheart stop 🤨 this isn’t about you right now ma’am”
Instagram user @adonis_dfetty wrote, “Y’all crazy if my lil yeah yeah pass away I’m posting them . Idc how nobody feel”
While Instagram user @sheisdaren added, “If he didn’t come out publicly about me when he was alive, I would show my condolence just a tad bit differently after his passing.”
Instagram user @jasminetaylortv wrote, “lol oh wow. . NFS, I h8 when girls do this when a dude pass away.. keep it P like you were when he was alive 😫”
While Instagram user @daisha__j added, “Yall be mad at everyone but the nigga, if he had a woman, he shouldn’t have engaged with her like this. She has a right to express her love and experience with him just like everyone else. He gone now.”
Instagram user @nailglambycham wrote, “If it was a secret when he was alive, why expose it in his passing 😢🤔”
While Instagram user @ceebeauty1 added, “Posting his text is super weird pressed ish!”
Instagram user @repotheworld wrote, “Y’all females gone dry snitch on the dead if yall don’t do nothing else. 😤 everybody wanna look important at the funeral I guess. SMH sad. Family and actual loved ones can’t even get their person in the ground without females doing this. It really sucks man.”
While Instagram user @king.petty._ added, “Yall be so ready to say ‘dam I was JUST with him’ 🙄”
Instagram user @snookj wrote, “The man ain’t been announced dead for 24 hrs.. and here you go”
While Instagram user @_foreverkee added, “Girl we are grieving……it’s not the time”
Furthermore, fellow rapper Akbar V took to X to react to Banks’ tribute to Quan.
“I understand you might be hurt but baby girl delete those pics and videos out of respect for his family man … you was a secret and not saying what yall shared was fake but certain stuff should remain a secret cause here comes all The unwanted hate towards you that you didn’t even know existed… …think before you do stuff lil one…” she wrote.
More Details About The Rapper’s Passing & The Tragic 911 Call
As The Shade Room previously reported, Rich Homie Quan’s passing was revealed on Thursday, September 5. The rapper’s family exclusively confirmed the tragic news with TMZ.
According to the outlet, Williams, who the outlet names as Quan’s “girlfriend,” saw the rapper lying on the couch this morning. When she returned after dropping their son at school, she reportedly noticed he hadn’t moved.
Williams then called 911, reporting that he wasn’t breathing and he had no heartbeat.
It was later determined that Quan reportedly died at his home.
Ivy’s last album of original material was 2011’s All Hours. Last year, Bar/None also reissued Ivy’s debut album, Realistic, and their sophomore LP, Apartment Life, and unveiled the single “Sleeping Late.”
Schlesinger died from COVID-19 in April 2020, sending shockwaves through the music community. In addition to Ivy, Schlesinger was a member of Fountains of Wayne, Tinted Windows, and Fever High. The Emmy-winning artist also had a vast repertoire of film and TV music, having penned the Oscar-nominated title track for Tom Hanks’ 1996 film That Thing That You Do!, the pop hits of Josie and the Pussycats, and countless songs for the musical-comedy TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, among dozens of other projects. He won three Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award, and was nominated for Academy Awards, Tony Awards, and Golden Globe Awardss. Schlesinger was remembered by artists with a special covers album, reunions by Fountains of Wayne and That Thing You Do! cast members, and a 2021 star-studded tribute show.
01 Undertow 02 Disappointed 03 Edge of the Ocean 04 Blame It on Yourself 05 While We’re in Love 06 Lucy Doesn’t Love you 07 Worry About You 08 Let’s Stay Inside 09 Midnight Sun 10 I Think of You 11 Hideaway 12 One More Last Kiss 13 Digging Your Scene 14 All I Ever Wanted 15 Edge of the Ocean (Duotone Remix) 16 Edge of the Ocean (Demo)
Objekt is launching his own record label, Kapsela, which will release a new EP called Chicken Garaage from the Berlin-based producer this year. Before that, on October 4, the label will reissue Objekt’s song “Ganzfeld”—initially the B-side of the split single “Hypnagogia” with Dopplereffekt—for its 10th anniversary, backed by remixes from Piezo, Djrum, and Ulla. Listen to the original and the Djrum remix below.
Kapsela will also host label events, showcases, and radio shows internationally, a press release notes, while Objekt’s Wormhole residency will remained focused in Berlin. Objekt founded the label, in part, to move beyond the restrictions of the white-label format he has explored in a series of singles since his 2011 debut, “The Goose That Got Away” b/w “Tinderbox.”
Rather ambitiously, Shokz promises these sports headphones can deliver clear highs and natural mids and that the new dual air conduction unit design manages to produces pure vocal sound. The air conduction certainly delivers the bass, while the bone conduction handles the rest. In the battle to compete with traffic, wind and the gym stereo, there’s some winners and losers here. The bass is a big improvement, with a noticeable uptick in warmth and punch.
Annoyingly, however, while more power means bigger bass for your buck, the clarity isn’t on a par with the older OpenRun. Similarly, in a sound-off with the uniquely designed Bose Ultra Open, the lack of clarity is exposed too. When I eased off the high tempo drum-and bass-heavy playlists to listen to a podcast, the backward step in clarity remained noticeable. This doesn’t make the OpenRun Pro 2 a bad headphone, they simply offer a shift to a sound that many runners will greatly enjoy, and one that’s a little closer to typical bass-heavy workout headphones.
Winner by a Nose
Photograph: Michael Sawh
You always have to make compromises with open-ear headphones, but with the OpenRun Pro 2, the compromises are actually relatively insignificant. If you’re looking for running headphones with more bass and power, but you still want to be aware of your surroundings, these are the best available.
Other options worth considering include the Suunto Sonic ($149), which offer a very balanced sound profile from a nicely weighted and comfortable neckband design. The premium-priced Bose Ultra Open give better, more detailed sound, but a dubious fit if you’re running fast. The Sivga SO2 ($70) produce a really likable, open-ear sound and secure fit.
It’s not the huge leap in quality I’d hoped for, but Shokz has done just enough for me to recommend the OpenRun Pro 2. That being said, you shouldn’t rule out the OpenRun Pro, which gives you pretty much the same design with solid audio quality and battery performance. You just have to remember where you put that fiddly, archaic, proprietary charging cable.
Duster have released their third album since reuniting in 2018. The influential slowcore and shoegaze band will release physical versions of In Dreams on December 6, via Numero Group, but you can listen to the 13-song LP digitally right now below.
In Dreams joins two other reunion albums from Duster: 2019’s self-titled LP and 2022’s Together. Before that, their last studio album was Contemporary Movement, which arrived in 2000. Capsule Losing Contact, a box set compiling the band’s complete discography, came out in 2019.
In support of the new album, Duster will tour North America this fall. From September 27, Duster will play in major U.S. cities and make a stop in Vancouver before ending the run on November 23 in Los Angeles. Dirty Art Club will open most dates. See the itinerary below.
09-27 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse * 09-28 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle * 09-29 Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club * 09-30 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar * 10-01 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom * 10-02 New York, NY – Webster Hall * 10-04 Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall * 10-05 Boston, MA – House of Blues * 10-07 Lakewood, OH – The Roxy * 10-08 Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme * 10-09 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall * 10-11 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre * 10-12 Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs * 10-13 Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl * 11-01 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues * 11-02 San Diego, CA – Dia De Los Deftones 11-03 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren * 11-06 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall * 11-07 Austin, TX – Emo’s * 11-08 Dallas, TX – Studio at the Factory * 11-09 Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre * 11-11 Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre * 11-13 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot * 11-15 Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre * 11-16 Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown * 11-17 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Pearl on Granville * 11-19 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall * 11-21 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s * 11-22 San Francisco, CA – The Warfield * 11-23 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern *
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Jamie xx has shared a new song, “Dafodil,” from his imminent album In Waves. Kelsey Lu, Panda Bear, and John Glacier feature on the track, which began, said Jamie xx in press materials, “as voice notes [with Lu] about a hazy night we both remembered,” before John Glacier and Panda Bear contributed vocals that “perfectly evoke the unique feeling of summer nights in London.” Listen below.
Jamie xx added, “‘Dafodil’ was one of the first pieces of music that I made for this album, it was actually the song that made me realise I could finally make another album.”
And Lu said, “‘Dafodil.’ A fun ride into a cute sexy hazy night in London shared with my dear friend Jamie xx. Memories of my first London summer I’ll cherish forever that are now encapsulated for us all to be in ecstasy together.”
09-27 Dublin, Ireland – National Stadium 09-29 London, England – Troxy 09-30 Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowlands 10-01 Manchester, England – Ritz 10-02 Bristol, England – Marble Factory 10-03 Coventry, England – The Empire 10-04 Tourcoing, France – Le Grand Mix 10-05 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Kulturfabrik Esch-sur-Alzette 10-06 Paris, France – Le Trianon 10-08 Nantes, France – Stereolux 10-09 Nancy, France – L’Autre Canal (Jazz Pulsation Festival) 10-10 Zurich, Switzerland – Volkshaus 10-11 Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks 10-12 Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom 10-14 Berlin, Germany – Huxleys 10-15 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso 10-16 Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique 10-18 Athens, Greece – Floyd 11-04 Hamilton, Ontario – Bridgeworks 11-05 Toronto, Ontario – The Concert Hall 11-06 London, Ontario – London Music Hall 11-07 Grand Rapids, MI – Elevation 11-08 Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed 11-09 Saint Paul, MN – Palace Theater 11-11 Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall 11-12 Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge 11-13 Nashville, TN – The Basement East 11-14 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theater 11-15 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade 11-16 Charleston, SC – The Music Farm 11-17 Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom 11-19 Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club 11-21 Brooklyn, NY – Pioneerworks 11-22 Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall 11-23 Boston, MA – Roadrunner 11-24 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer 11-25 Montreal, Quebec – M Telus 04-25Austin, TX – TBA 04-26 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater 04-28 Denver, CO – Ogden Theater 04-30 Los Angeles, CA – The Bellweather 05-01 Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory 05-02 Tijuana, Mexico – Cine Bujazán 05-03 Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Hall 05-04 San Francisco, CA – Curran Theater 05-06 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom 05-07 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom 05-08 Seattle, WA – The Neptune 05-09 Seattle, WA – The Neptune 05-10 Vancouver, British Columbia – Vogue Theatre 05-12 Kelowna, British Columbia – Revelry 05-13 Calgary, Alberta – Palace Theatre 05-14 Edmonton, Alberta – Midway
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor on American Highway Beneath Setting Suns Thru the Liberation Autumn of ’24
William Basinski has announced a new album and 2024 tour dates slated for this fall. The upcoming LP is named September 23rd. Contrary to what that title suggests, the album will arrive four days later on September 27 via Temporary Residence Ltd.. The contemporary experimental composer has also shared a new song from the release, “September 23rd (Excerpt 1),” that you can listen to below.
September 23rd is the first record in a new series Basinski is calling Arcadia Archive, an ongoing archival collection dedicated to the discovery and recovery of his work. Recorded in September 1982 inside his first loft in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, September 23rd was built from a piano piece that Basinski composed in high school before expanding it into a different work.
“The original piano recordings were made on on a piano belonging to my downstairs neighbor, John Epperson – later known more famously as world-renowned drag artist, Lypsinka – at 351 Jay Street aka Casa Degli Artisti, our first loft in New York,” explains Basinski. “It was recoded with a little portable (probably Radio Shack) cassette deck sitting on the piano as I improvised a piece I had been working on since high school. It was pretty terrible, but when I did the John Giorno/William Burroughs cut-up technique, suddenly I had something to put through the Frippertronics loop and feedback loop tape delay system – and boy did I get results. A very prolific time for a young, wacked-out queen in NYC.”
Basinski will perform this new piece and other works at his upcoming fall tour dates. Dubbed the Arcadia Archive Tour, it spans four cities in total—San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and New York—with other performances bookending the run, including stops at the Vancouver International Film Festival and a Plantasia show in Chicago. See Basinski’s full list of tour dates below.
In 2022, Basinski partnered with Janek Schaefer on the collaborative album …On Reflection. His last solo album came out back in 2020, Lamentations, the same year that he returned to his project Sparkle Division to record To Feel Embraced. He also unveiled the archival piece The Clocktower at the Beach last year.
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William Basinski: September 23rd
William Basinski:
09-05 Chicago, IL – Garfield Park Conservatory 09-13 San Francisco, CA – Grace Cathedral 09-20 Seattle, WA – Seattle First Baptist Church 09-21 Portland, OR – First Congregational UCC Church 10-02 Vancouver, British Columbia – Vancouver International Film Festival 10-17 Los Angeles, CA – The Nimoy 11-01 New York, NY – Church of the Heavenly Rest 11-02 – Austin, TX – Levitation 2024
It’s a great time to double down on stereo sound. Multi-speaker formats like Dolby Atmos get all the headlines, but if you’re building an all-in-one stereo or 2.1 system to elevate everything from your turntable to your TV, there have never been more options.
With stereo streaming amplifiers and receivers popping up all over the audio sphere (not to mention tons of powered bookshelf speakers), it can be tough to know where to start. The R-N1000A makes things easy. Sitting a step below Yamaha’s flagship R-N2000A, the R-N1000A is pricey yet approachable, with a hardy mix of versatile connectivity, superb performance, and rocksteady usability.
You might expect any legacy audio brand to provide consistent performance across inputs in the streaming era, but as our extensive testing has borne out, juxtaposing traditional audiophile components with conveniences like Wi-Fi and HDMI ARC is no cakewalk. The N1000A proves you can have it all in one box, showcasing uncommon stability in a powerful and downright fun package tailor-made for the modern stereo era.
Old School, New Curriculum
Pulling the hulking yet sleek R-N1000A from its packaging, my first question was, where is the display on this thing? Don’t get me wrong, I love the receiver’s sparkling front face with its tactile selector knobs, especially in the silver model I reviewed, but even the coolest retro design demands modern concessions.
It wasn’t until I fired the unit up that I realized the demure black strip along its base is the display, offering a small but legible guide for source, volume levels, and other settings. It’s not as handy or as versatile as the large screens on pricier streaming amplifiers like Rotel’s RA-5000 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) or Naim’s Uniti Atom (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but it gets the job done without disturbing the vintage aesthetic. It helps that Yamaha’s MusicCast app, necessary for Wi-Fi setup, displays conveniences like album art and digital file resolution.
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Style aside, the R-N1000A is crafted with performance in mind. It utilizes Yamaha’s TopART (Total Purity Audio Reproduction Tech) design, with a “meticulously symmetrical left/right circuit layout” and “special resin” to block vibrations. A double-bottom chassis with a 1-mm iron damping plate and anti-resonance feet further dull unwanted noises. The unit’s vented frame weighs a healthy 27 pounds and stands 6 inches tall, over 17 inches across, and 15.5 inches deep, so you’ll need plenty of console space.
While the R-N1000A doesn’t get the giant toroidal transformer found in the R-N2000A (and other pricier rivals), its capable custom transformer and block capacitors provide potent A/B amplification at a claimed 100 watts per channel of continuous power at 8 ohms and 140 watts at peak power. Yamaha doesn’t publish continuous power specs at 4 ohms but claims 220 watts per channel of peak power. A 384-kHz/32-bit SABRE ES9090Q DAC provides topline high-resolution digital transference for hi-res sources with support for WAV and FLAC files up to 384 kHz and DSD files at up to 11.2 MHz.
Locked and Loaded
Even with stereo network receivers and amplifiers seeming to spring up autonomously, you’ll have a hard time finding one with better connectivity than the R-N1000A. The back panel is loaded with three dedicated digital inputs (two digital, one coaxial), USB-B connection, AM and FM tuners, three RCA line inputs (one for a CD player), HDMI ARC for your TV, a subwoofer output, Ethernet, and stereo pre-outs for a second amplifier. There’s also a solid phono input, though I actually preferred my Orbit Theory’s built-in pre-amp. Up front is a quarter-inch headphone out.
A handy second speaker zone set below the gold-plated A-zone stereo terminals allows you to connect two pairs simultaneously, designated for 8-ohms only. One other note on impedance: If you’re connecting a single pair of 4- or 6-ohm speakers as I did, Yamaha recommends you navigate to Advanced Setup and change the impedance. It’s a minor pain, but takes just seconds.
If you have other MusicCast devices, you can create additional playback zones from any connected sound source wirelessly in the app. There you’ll also find loads of built-in streaming services, including internet radio stations, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Sirius XM, among others. The wireless suite finishes with AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth 4.2 in a pinch. Chromecast is notably missing, though with so many supported services, including both Spotfy Connect and Tidal Connect, Android users should be in good shape. The receiver is also “Roon Tested” for Roon’s dedicated server system.
I’m writing this letter to you to send out an S.O.S. to all the artists and music people across America that the clock is truly ticking for us to save our democracy.
The time is clearly NOW for all to jump in and use whatever influence for the greater good and endorse the candidate who doesn’t “weirdly” (love that Coach Walz!) advocate taking away women’s rights and everyone’s freedoms. Or brags he’ll cancel America’s Presidential election in 2028!? […]
When we spoke in NY, it was clear that you’re a family man of conscience who cares about his country and its people. It’s what makes Kamala and you true “new radicals” of the best kind. And anyone knowing Hall & Oates covered our “Someday We’ll Know” or king of critics, Robert Christgau, gave our album an “A” is pretty cool in my book! […]
For the record, New Radicals turn down every request from drug companies or anyone asking to change our lyrics (never!) and our publishers support that by saying “no problem.” We’d never morally support any type of industry that might contribute to an opioid epidemic that has already killed a million Americans.
Doug, I wonder what song these Silicon Valley jingle masseuses will try diseasing next, “Celebrex Sadness”? Well just a month past our July 12th, 25th anniversary — to any FDA Big banker Pharma’s out there…come around we’ll STILL kick your ass in!
We’re grateful our music is still inspiring some young “new radical” athletes and musicians who are jumping in too. Like BRAT Charli XCX who loves Kamala’s politics (and we beyond love Charli’s “1999” New Radicals video homage!), or Travis Kelce who tweeted “I’ve got the Dreamers Disease!”, which choked me up because that just means fighting for what you believe!!
“My Side of the Country” is the opening song on House on Fire. Guyton made the track with producers Corey Crowder, Karen Kosowski, and Tyler Hubbard. The follow-up to 2021’s Remember Her Name also includes the Kane Brown collaboration “Nothing Compares to You” (not a Prince or Sinéad O’Connor cover), “Scary Love,” and “Make It Me.”
House on Fire:
01 My Side of the Country 02 Make It Me 03 Here With You 04 House on Fire 05 Little Man 06 In Between 07 Make ’Em Like You 08 Deserve 09 Nothing Compares to You [ft. Kane Brown] 10 Grayson’s Interlude 11 Scary Love 12 I Still Do
“‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ was a formative song for both of us,” Sylvan Esso revealed in a press release, adding that the duo’s Nick Sanborn first caught a promo version of the track “pooling out of his car speakers while he delivered pizza.” Amelia Randall Meath, meanwhile, was introduced to it “in the back of someone’s van during her freshman lunch hour.”
Of the new remix, the Postal Service’s Jimmy Tamborello said: “I love Sylvan Esso and was excited to hear the song through their ears. It came out so good, big and tweaky and fun!”
Or, there’s always the company’s Music app (free for iOS and Android). It too has playback control, but also adds in ANC options (hybrid, off, or pass-through) and will let you integrate your favorite music streaming services—provided they’re Deezer, NTS, Qobuz, SoundCloud, Tidal, and/or TuneIn. And it includes a very useful five-band EQ, along with a Bowers & Wilkins True Sound preset. By prevailing standards, it’s a clean, logical, and usable app, which is about as much as anyone is entitled to expect.
As far as performance is concerned, the headline here is that Bowers & Wilkins has come within an ace of justifying the asking price of the Pi8—and, what’s more, drawbacks (such as they are) to Pi8 ownership are both mild and not centered too heavily on the way they actually sound.
Keep volume levels anywhere between “realistic” and “perhaps a little too loud,” and there’s a huge amount to enjoy about the way the Pi8 perform. They create an expansive, well-defined, and rigorously organized soundstage, which means that every element of even the most complex recordings have plenty of room in which to spread out and express themselves.
This spaciousness and separation doesn’t affect the singularity or unity of the way the Pi8 present something like Fela Kuti’s Gentleman. No matter how hectic the going gets, there’s a togetherness to the Pi8 sound, despite their ability to peer so deeply into the mix that any individual instrument is easy to isolate and examine.
Photograph: Simon Lucas
Avoiding Aural Pileups
The same recording allows the Bowers & Wilkins to demonstrate their facility with dynamics, too. There’s plenty of headroom when the shifts in intensity or simple volume come along, but the earbuds are also able to identify and contextualize the more minor (but no less important) harmonic variations or transient occurrences.
In fact, detail levels approach sky-high at every turn. No aspect of the recording is too fleeting or too far back in the mix to be overlooked by the Pi8. To these earbuds, there’s no such thing as “negligible.”
The Evo One is a modern all-in-one speaker wrapped in a beautiful walnut and aluminum case. It has a 700W amplifier that powers the 14 drivers wrapped around its body. It can play up to 32-bit/192kHz audio over Wi-Fi or Ethernet from major streaming services. It also connects via HDMI, MM phono, optical, USB, and Bluetooth.
Flying Lotus is back with a new song that’s inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The single, “Garmonbozia,” gets its name from the mysterious substance that looks like creamed corn and represents “pain and sorrow.” It’s also a rare Flying Lotus with vocals from Steven Ellison himself, with the producer singing of “pain and sorrow” and “the red room.” Find the track below.
Yes, you currently have a device in your pocket capable of capturing audio—your phone. But, the quality of the audio from those tiny microphones leaves a lot to be desired. You’ll easily overwhelm the mics if you try to capture an impromptu jam session with your band. You’ll never get solid stereo imaging of your environment. And echoey lecture halls will reduce any speaker to a muddy mess.
There are plenty of reasons to pick up a field recorder. They can be used to capture lectures at school, record audio for a video shoot, serve as a mobile podcast studio, collect samples to use in your music, and even create IR (impulse responses) for building custom audio effects.
There is also the act of field recording itself—going out and capturing the ambient sounds of the world around you. If you’ve never dabbled before, I can’t recommend it enough. It can teach you to listen more closely to the world around you and make you more observant.
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The first Dyson headphones, the Zone (4/10, WIRED Review), with their attachable air filter for cynical techno-futurists, were so ridiculous and stupid it was hard for me to take the company seriously. Let’s face it: Dyson’s vacuums and hair care products are very nice, but many of its other products have been feeble, design-forward gimmicks that quickly fade behind the media hype. Sure, you’d see a few “fanless” Dyson air movers or purifiers in luxe locales after they first came out, but they never reached the broad-market ubiquity of its shiny plastic-sucking machines.
All this to say: I had low expectations for the new, $499 Dyson OnTrac headphones. With everyone from established brands like Apple, Sony, and Bose to newer brands like Sonos at the peak of their noise-canceling headphone game, it was just hard to imagine Dyson could create a product that competes in anything other than extruded plastic styling. But after a few weeks with my review unit, I think they’re some of the better headphones in the market.
These are visually customizable over-ear headphones with great sound, excellent noise reduction, and 55 hours of battery life. I am surprised to admit I like nearly everything about them.
Sucking Up
A large stately box accompanies the new OnTrac cans, but the hard case you use to protect the headphones between uses leaves a lot to be desired. Much like the case that comes with AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the one that comes with the Dyson cans is a slip-in situation with holes in the bottom and top of the case that allow dust and other dirt in when you throw them in your bag. It does little to protect the headphones from bumps and bruises, which is annoying when you’ve dropped this much on a pair of headphones.
Photograph: Parker Hall
The headphones themselves look a bit like Dyson vacuums: They’re maximalist, plastic, and full of color options. My review units came in a flashy metallic copper with navy blue accents, with the option to swap for different color earpads and earcup caps. Given the price, I actually like that you can swap things like this with such ease, because it means you can change them as they wear out.
Unlike recent competitors like the Sonos Ace (8/10, WIRED Recommends), they’re large and bulky, not sleek and light, with a weight of 451 grams compared to the Ace’s 311 grams and AirPods Max’s 385 grams. That said, a comfortable and well-padded headbands and thick cloth earpads give them a great seal around my ears for good passive noise isolation, and they don’t feel heavy on my head.
Bells and Whistles
When you want to turn the headphones on, press a small physical button on the bottom of the right earcup until you hear the noise and see a small light flashing to indicate they’re in pairing mode. From there you’ll control the headphones with either a joystick (another nod to Apple’s AirPods Max) on the right earcup or by touching the left earcup with your hand to toggle between transparency mode or noise canceling. This mix of touch controls and physical controls is perhaps the only annoying thing I found with the OnTrac; I kept accidentally brushing the earcup and turning off ANC when I was doing yard work. I wish that was just another button on one side or the other, rather than controlled by touch.
Cash Cobain has announced the release date for his long-teased new album Play Cash Cobain. The New York rapper and producer’s follow-up to last year’s Pretty Girls Love Slizzy is out on Friday, August 23. The new album includes the singles “Dunk Contest,” “Fisherrr,” and “Rump Punch.” It also features a new song called “Problem,” which is a new posse cut remix of Laila!’s “Not My Problem” that has bars from Flo Milli, Big Sean, Fabolous, Luh Tyler, YN Jay, Anycia, 6lack, Don Q, Rob49, Chow Lee, and others. Listen to the new track below; scroll down for the Play Cash Cobain cover artwork.
The Primitives song, co-written by Reed and performed with Pickwick honcho Terry Phillips, sowed the seeds for the Velvet Underground when John Cale joined the outfit on an early tour. Another song on the record, the All Night Workers’ “Why Don’t You Smile,” was Cale’s first credit as a commercial songwriter; soon after its release, he and Reed broke off from Pickwick to form the Velvet Underground.
John Baldwin restored and remastered the new record, which comes with liner notes by Richie Unterberger, an essay by Lenny Kaye, and more. Masaki Koike designed the double-LP package; check out the cover and tracklist below.
Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65:
