Immerse Yourself in Suwannee Hulaween's 10th Annual Festival With Our Favorite Art Installations

Suwannee Hulaween celebrated its 10-year anniversary over Halloween weekend, welcoming 20,000 fans back to its home at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida.

Hulaween stands as one of the last truly independent, large-scale music festivals thriving amongst today’s corporatized concert landscape. Heralded as one of the leading immersive art experiences across the U.S. festival market thanks to Spirit Lake, this year’s event offered its most robust programming to date with over 20 installations.

The festival was brimming with talented sculptors, fire workers, painters, thespians and lighting designers as attendees reveled in lakefront projection mapping, got hypnotized with light shows and lost themselves in the vast array of interactive installations.

“The evolution of this event has been inspiring to witness,” Jasper Mosher, who runs the projection-mapping company The Electric Dream Machine and works onsite at Hulaween, said in a recent interview with EDM.com. “Not only has the Spirit Lake production area continued to grow over the years, but the intricacies of the artwork, creative depth and the community of creators has developed by leaps and bounds. Thankfully, Spirit Lake has managed to retain the original personality from its youth while blossoming into the creative behemoth of an immersive environment that it is today. I personally find the Spirit Lake artists’ use of natural elements to be a true part of its charm.”

Hulaween continues to be emblematic of what makes a festival unique, cultivating an ineffable space for creative expression, interconnectedness and true magic. To celebrate its persevering reputation as a pioneering festival at the intersection of music and art, we compared 10 artists to the overall feeling evoked by its various immersive art installations in 2023.

The String Cheese Incident – Spero Totems

Spero Totems lit up at night in Spirit Lake.

The Dans

Futuristic archetypes exist within all of us—morsels from past lives, love and new experiences waiting to be unearthed and explored. The String Cheese Incident undeniably represent the spiritual core of Hulaween throughout its decade-long history.

Through each of the band’s six sets over the weekend, Hulaween’s 10th anniversary celebrating its Full Moon Family Reunion relayed more than just music to fans. Just like the six pillars of the Spero Totems, all six members of The String Cheese Incident cultivated a space to explore the inner world that lives within each of us with child-like awe.

Elderbrook – Cosmic Portal

Attendees grounding at the Cosmic Portal.

Josh Skolnik

Step into the Cosmic Portal, where we embark on a journey of transformation by exploring the dichotomy of light and dark within nature.

Blending his organic and raw vocals with electronic production, Elderbrook offered a sanctuary where dance music naturally formed through his emotive and grounding soundscapes. Just as you started to settle into your ethereal trance, the renowned producer and singer-songwriter brought back the beat to rediscover the wonders of vibrational music.

John Summit – Mural Maze

Walking through and exploring the Mural Maze.

Mikala Lugen

Having originated at the debut Hulaween in 2013, the Mural Maze sprawled across 15,000 square feet and provided an immersive experience.

Just as you would turn a corner of the mural maze not knowing what to expect, John Summit’s performances over the weekend had attendees on their knees as he played through nearly every genre of electronic music. From his classic house and techno takes to the surprise flashes of dubstep and drum & bass, Summit was a musical maze to be reckoned with.

MZG b2b Manic Focus – Bioshrooms

An attendee discovering the magic of Spirit Lake’s bioshrooms.

The Dans

A selection of Spirit Lake lit up at night as interactive, bioluminescent mushrooms grew on the side of select trees. While Hulaween veterans MZG and Manic Focus both played their own sets, together they summoned quite the sonic trip for fans at their b2b set on the Incendia Stage.

Just like naturally-occurring mushrooms in nature, the b2b performance saw the producers at their best together, delivering a trippy and one-of-a-kind experience for attendees.

Channel Tres – Alebrijes

Alebrijes vibrantly lighting up Spirit Lake at night.

The Dans

Considered ambassadors of Mexico abroad, the monumental Alebrijes are created by mixing pictorial and sculptural elements of contemporary art by the artist Emanuel Zarate Ortiz. These breathtaking installations are meant to honor tales of traditional Mexican storytelling and inspire spiritually expansive messages to the Hulaween attendees.

Channel Tres—usually seen onstage with his live band—changed it up and treated us to a DJ set wherein the R&B and house music virtuoso cycled through his kaleidoscopic arsenal of disco and remixes of classic pop anthems.

Pretty Lights – Chatterpillars

Chatterpillars art installation as seen in the middle of the day.

The Dans

When we open our hearts and our minds, there is no limit to what we can do. The power of human connection can not be understated, and the two sets from Pretty Lights over Hulaween weekend proved that to be true.

With his innovative sound and ethos of collaboration and community, Pretty Lights reminds us what’s possible through innate human creativity, just as the Chatterpillars installation centered our intentions around the powers of communication.

Khiva – Fleeble Flobbler

The Fleeble Flobbler stunned attendees as it periodically lit up in flares throughout the evening.

The Dans

Fiery, wild and raunchy, the Fleeble Flobbler brings silliness and open-heartedness to the front of the mind while pushing us out of our comfort zones and connecting us with one another. Khiva brought a daring, glowing and warm energy to her Hulaween set with flaming deep dub connecting the crowd.

Giolì & Assia – The Spider

Thomas Dambo’s The Spider during golden hour.

The Dans

A center of gravity within Spirit Lake, the Spider brought us into close quarters to make memories, just as Giolì & Assia brought uplifting and collaborative energy to the Amp. With the theme of togetherness at its core, their stunning live set collided expert mixing with unique sound design.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – Bird House Village

Attendees exploring the houses and “nests” of the Bird House Village.

The Dans

Made from upcycled and locally harvested natural materials, the Bird House Village showed us there’s always more than meets the eye—and to never underestimate how things can come together in a perfect way to create something special.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong united a variety of sounds, instruments and vibes to weave special moments together in a curious and unique way in their special “Daft Side Of The Moon” set, which saw the four-piece psychedelic funk band play their take on Daft Punk and Pink Floyd classics.

Lab Group – Lost Lighthouse

The Lost Lighthouse provided a unique sculpture within Spirit Lake into which attendees could climb.

The Dans

Just like the Lost Lighthouse acted as a beacon of radiant light to guide the path, as well as a meeting place for those who aren’t afraid to wander, Lab Group provided a glowing shimmer of powerful energy to inspire and connect.

Check out a photo gallery of the 10th annual Hulaween below, courtesy of the festival’s press team.

View the 68 images of this gallery on the original article





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Selena Gomez’s makeup brand to donate funds to the Gaza relief efforts


Selena Gomez’s makeup company, Rare Beauty, has announced that it will be donating funds to the relief efforts in Gaza.

The brand announced its plans in an Instagram post on Monday (November 6), stating that it stands against all forms of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and will be donating funds to charities that will help the victims of the Israel/Gaza conflict.

Sharing a photo of a burgundy screen with “Humanitarian crisis in Gaza” written in the middle, the caption read: “We are devastated by the images & reports coming from the Middle East.

“Thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes & millions of civilians have been displaced & left without access to food, water, medicine, or basic necessities for survival. A large number of these victims are children. Palestinian civilians must be protected, period.”

It continued, saying that those behind the brand “remain heartbroken” by the Hamas attack at the Nova Music Festival on October 7 – which claimed the lives of at least 260 people – and added that “there is no situation where attacks on civilians are acceptable”.

Later in the post, the brand added that it was against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and that it plans to make “donations to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies – Magen David Adom, & Palestinian Red Crescent Society – who are providing urgent care on the ground.”

“We will also be donating to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief & resources to the children of Gaza,” it added. “We ask that everyone please treat each other with kindness & compassion during these times.”

Mental health resources were also shared at the end of the post for those who have seen the conflict take a toll on their wellbeing.

The update from Rare Beauty follows the statement issued by Gomez herself on her own account, stating that she would be “taking a break from social media” in light of the “horror, hate, violence and terror” happening.

“People being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific. We need to protect ALL people, especially children and stop the violence for good,” she wrote on October 31 on her Instagram Stories (via Billboard).

“I’m sorry if my words will never be enough for everyone or a hashtag. I just can’t stand by innocent people getting hurt. That’s what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won’t.”

Gomez is far from the first famous face to speak out against the conflict in recent weeks, Earlier this month Macklemore delivered a rousing speech at a pro-Palestine rally calling the conflict a “genocide”, while Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Michael Stipe and more wrote an open letter to President Biden, demanding “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”

Selena Gomez at the Music + Health Summit presented by Universal Music Group and Thrive Global at 1 Hotel on September 19, 2023. CREDIT: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

According to a report by AP News, the death toll has now surpassed 10,000 people in Palestine, and 1,400 in Israel.

In other news regarding the conflict, earlier this month Steve Coogan defended his decision to sign an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This came after he was among over over 2,000 names from the arts world who signed the letter, including Tilda Swinton, Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja and Miriam Margoyles.

Similarly, Madonna addressed the situation on stage at The O2, while Tom Morello called for the condemnation of harm to all children “no matter who they are”.

Gigi Hadid, who is of Palestinian descent, shared a graphic to her Instagram Story last week, which read: “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas”, and Riz Ahmed, meanwhile, wrote a lengthy post condemning the “horrific and wrong” conflict.

The Comet Is Coming last month announced that they will no longer be playing their last-ever live show in support of Palestine, and Caroline Polachek released a line of limited-edition merch to raise money for Palestinian refugees.

Shortly after the attack on October 7, Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Mark Hamill and Jamie Lee Curtis were among 700 Hollywood figures who signed an open letter voicing their support for Israel. Figures including Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, and Mayim Bialik also added their names to the “first of its kind” letter, condemning the actions of Hamas as acts of terrorism.

More recently, Kid Cudi expressed his support for Palestinians caught up in the ongoing conflict, Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha was seen participating in a pro-Palestine march instead of attending the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.





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Inside Black V Neck's Journey to Usher in House Music's Future With New Label, Retail Records

In the ever-evolving realm of electronic dance music, where artists are frequently confined to certain genres or trends, standouts are those who chart their own musical course. Such is the story of Black V Neck, the spirited production pair altering the house music narrative out of Miami.

Ian Beato and Julian Sacheli united in 2017 to form Black V Neck, a moniker that offers a cheeky critique to the EDM industry’s propensity to label and categorize. Proudly weaving their Cuban heritage into their tracks, the tandem represents a melange of cultural richness and sonic innovation.

Black V Neck.

c/o Press

Their innovative approach didn’t go unnoticed. Influential DJ and producer Shiba San was quick to spotlight their talent, ushering in their hit “Let Me Smash” under the prestigious Basement Leak imprint. This wasn’t just another track; it was an anthem that scaled the Beatport charts and heralded Black V Neck’s arrival.

Subsequent successes were imminent. Claude VonStroke, an industry linchpin, recognized their genius and released their Mouth Music EP via his venerated Dirtybird imprint. Chart-toppers from the EP such as “Sex, Drugs, Alcohol” anchored Black V Neck’s position as a force within the house music space.

Despite the hurdles of 2020, Black V Neck’s zeal remained undiminished. Their debut on Defected Records, EDM.com‘s best record label of 2022, saw them remixing John Summit’s summer anthem “Deep End,” which clinched a coveted spot in Beatport’s Top 10. Industry titans like Chris Lake, Green Velvet and Lee Foss also regularly spun their tracks, amplifying their reach.

Other releases spanned far and wide, landing on preeminent labels like Club Sweat, CID’s Night Service Only, Insomniac Records and the iconic OWSLA. Their remix touch, enhancing tracks from the likes of Salvatore Ganacci and Bruno Furlan, further solidifies their versatile artistry.

Black V Neck aren’t merely an act. They symbolize boundless creativity and vigor in the house music space.

Retail Records: Curating the sounds of house music’s future

Beato and Sacheli are now the curators of a new era with their innovative label, Retail Records. This venture is more than a business—it’s a movement.

Retail Records is a beacon of Black V Neck’s commitment to the community, embodying their philosophy of unearthing and nurturing raw talent. By spotlighting emerging artists without prejudice and prioritizing the art over the artist’s previous accolades or social reach, they’re democratizing the dancefloor and shaping the sounds of tomorrow.

Their vision reflects pure meritocracy in music, a rarity in an industry often swayed by social metrics.

“With Retail Records, we listen to every demo we receive. We don’t look at your Instagram followers or your résumé; what we care about is the music,” Sacheli tells EDM.com. “And with that mentality, we’re able to focus on young up-and-coming talent that most audiences have yet to hear about and give them a platform for their music to reach new people.”

The process at Retail Records is as genuine as it is rigorous. “The sound of house music can change just by one record, and it’s usually from someone who’s trying something new and has no stress on having a follow up but rather making a standout track,” Sacheli continues, stressing the significance of fresh talent in steering the genre forward. “New artists are usually the face of shaping the future of dance music.”

Julian Sacheli and Ian Beato of Black V Neck

c/o Press

c/o Press

Beato elaborated on the joy embedded in the label’s DNA.

“Part of the fun of running a label is experiencing the joy of releasing music, but now we get to help others get their music out, too.” he gushed. “Everything we’re releasing is stuff that we love, and that we believe will do well.”

It’s this palpable excitement for the craft that Retail Records transmits with every release.

“Nobody can claim they have the answer to such an ambitious question, but we definitely want to keep our future as inclusive and as free of drama as possible while making and enjoying dope music.”

Black V Neck’s forward beat

2023 looms large with exciting prospects. Stellar tracks such as “Daddy’s Back” on Sink Or Swim have garnered acclaim from house music magnates John Summit and Dom Dolla. Collaborations also continue to thrive, evident in their pulsating track “Ride That Thang” with Craze and the electric “Oral Music” with Dutch dance music icon Afrojack.

Emerging stars Essed Up and Joanna Magik, under the Retail Records banner, unveiled compelling tracks in September. October promises the eclectic Records for Sale Vol. 3 compilation, a testament to the label’s commitment to quality and ingenuity. Recently, Essed Up charted 7th in the Beatport’s coveted Tech House chart.

A year of momentous gigs

Black V Neck’s journey transcends studio achievements. Their live gigs, from their maiden performance at the esteemed Ultra to their debut at Coachella, demonstrate their magnetic stage presence.

The duo’s growing popularity was palpable as they sold out twin shows in LA. Moreover, they are set for a Space Miami performance in their hometown of Miami in what many call the mecca of stateside clubbing, joining Matroda on November 22nd.

This juxtaposition of studio brilliance and live energy places Black V Neck on the bleeding edge of EDM. The scene is watching in anticipation as the virtuosic Latinos change the game for the next generation of electronic music. 

Black V Neck are currently celebrating their recent release under the Insomniac Records banner, Bring the Noise / Stutter, a two-track EP which is out now. Take a listen below.

Follow Black V Neck:

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Suede share new song and detail expanded release of ‘Autofiction’


Suede have shared details of a new expanded version of their ‘Autofiction’ album alongside the release of previously unreleased song, ‘The Sadness In You, The Sadness In Me’.

Announced today (November 8), the upcoming expanded release of ‘Autofiction’ arrives one year after it was released. It sees the iconic British band re-share the album alongside rare bonus tracks, unheard material, and a full live album.

Arriving in September 2022, the album marked the band’s highest charting LP since 1999’s ‘Head Music’ and debuted at Number Two on the UK Album Charts. It also received praise from NME, which described it as being “one of the greatest comebacks of the 21st Century”.

Now, the upcoming re-release of their ninth studio album, titled ‘Autofiction: Expanded’, arrives on December 8 and is available in digital formats and as a three-CD set.

For the physical releases the first CD will consist of the full ‘Autofiction’ tracklist including the lead single ‘She Still Leads On Me’. The second will feature six extra tracks and rarities including the freshly shared song ‘The Sadness In You, The Sadness In Me’.

Available to listen to now, this song – along with ‘Days Like Dead Moths’, ‘The Prey’ and ‘Still Waiting’ – were initially only available during the first week of the album’s original 2022 release.

The second disc also includes ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (a song that was featured on the Japanese edition of ‘Autofiction’) and ‘There Is No Me If There Is No You’, an as yet unreleased song recorded by Suede during the album’s recording sessions.

The third and final disc of the re-release contains a new live album, recorded at shows across Suede’s entirely sold-out UK tour in March.

“‘Autofiction’ is Suede’s punk record,” frontman Brett Anderson said of the band’s ninth album. “No whistles and bells. Just the five of us in a room with all the glitches and fuck-ups revealed; the band themselves exposed in all their primal mess.”

‘Autofiction: Expanded’ is releases on December 8 via BMG and can be pre-ordered here. Check out the full tracklist below.

The ‘Autofiction: Expanded’ tracklist is:

CD 1 – ‘Autofiction’

01. ‘She Still Leads Me On’
02. ‘Personality Disorder’
03. ’15 Again’
04. ‘The Only Way I Can Love You’
05. ‘That Boy On The Stage’
06. ‘Drive Myself Home’
07. ‘Black Ice’
08. ‘Shadow Self’
09. ‘It’s Always The Quiet Ones’
10. ‘What Am I Without You?’
11. ‘Turn Off Your Brain And Yell’

CD 2 – Extras & Rarities

01. ‘The Sadness In You, The Sadness In Me’
02. ‘Days Like Dead Moths’
03. ‘The Prey’
04. ‘You Don’t Know Me’
05. ‘There Is No Me If There Is No You’
06. ‘Still Waiting’

CD 3 – ‘Autofiction’ Live

01. ‘She Still Leads Me On (Live)’
02. ‘Personality Disorder (Live)’
03. ’15 Again (Live)’
04. ‘The Only Way I Can Love You (Live)’
05. ‘That Boy On The Stage (Live)’
06. ‘Drive Myself Home (Live)’
07. ‘Black Ice (Live)’
08. ‘Shadow Self (Live)’
09 .’It’s Always The Quiet Ones (Live)’
10. ‘What Am I Without You? (Live)’
11. ‘Turn Off Your Brain And Yell (Live)’

Following the release Suede are set to embark on a run of headline tour dates taking place across the UK throughout the remainder of 2023.

These will kick off with a show at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne on December 9 and continue with a stop in Lincoln the following day. From there Anderson and co. will play shows in Portsmouth and Wolverhampton before closing off the tour with three back-to-back stops in London.

Next summer the band are set to hit the road again as part of a co-headline tour with Manic Street Preachers. The tour will see them play across the UK and Ireland including a show at London’s Alexandra Palace. Find a full list of dates and remaining tickets here.

Following the release of ‘Autofiction’ last year, Suede sat down with NME to discuss the inspiration behind the album and the reasons why they wanted it to have more of a punk sound.

“The idea was for this record to have the feel of a live record,” explained Anderson. “The last two were increasingly odd and left-field. We wanted to come back with a primal howl of a record.”

Mat Osman agreed: “We [initially] had this idea that we’d do a really old-fashioned live album where we get fans down to watch us recording it, have it half-gig and half-recording session – to really try and capture that feeling of a Suede gig.

“Then everything happened and you couldn’t see anyone any more. We still wanted to make a record that felt like that, but had to do it as the five of us geeing each other on.”





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Tomorrowland's "The Great Library of Tomorrow" Writes New Chapter in Barcelona

In an electrifying fusion of fantasy and technology, Tomorrowland is set to enchant Barcelona with the unveiling of “The Great Library of Tomorrow.” 

Curated by a combination of visionary creatives hailing from the iconic Belgium-based festival brand and Xtended Reality Music Hub, the immersive experience promises to transcend the boundaries of traditional festivals by bringing the universe of Tomorrowland and its expansive annual themes to life.

Housed within the Aribau Immersive Space, this future cultural phenomenon opens its doors on December 15th, inviting adventurers of all ages to embark on a journey that has captivated the hearts of Tomorrowland’s global community for 20 years. Stories like the World of the Great Tree to the Realm of Melodia, once exclusively confined to the sprawling grounds of Boom, will now envelop visitors in a collective VR powered experience.

The magic of “The Great Library of Tomorrow” awaits from December 2023 through March 2024. For more details and to secure your passage to this groundbreaking experience, visit their website. Early bird tickets are available now from now until November 13th.

FOLLOW TOMORROWLAND:

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Fans react to Girls Aloud reunion rumours: “I am literally shaking”


Fans have been taking to social media to share their thoughts on rumours that Girls Aloud are set to reunite.

Speculation of the rumoured reunion first arose last night (November 7), when The Sun reported that members Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts had secretly entered a recording studio together.

According to the outlet, the group are set to release a new single soon, which will be their first new release since their split back in 2013.

It also claims that the rumoured new track will be dedicated to bandmate Sarah Harding who died of cancer in 2021. She was aged 39.

“This has been one of the best-kept secrets in pop, but it’s actually happening now,” an unnamed source told the outlet, adding that it felt like a “totally natural thing to do — in Sarah’s honour”.

f Girls Aloud perform on their ‘Ten – The Hits Tour’ at The O2 Arena on March 1, 2013 in London, England. CREDIT: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

The Sun also claimed that the new song – which, if true, will be their first in 11 years – will come with a music video that sees the members performing in superhero costumes. Rumours of an upcoming tour have also been circulating, although the group have yet to confirm any plans for this.

Despite nothing yet being officially announced nor confirmed by the members, that hasn’t stopped fans from taking to social media to share their excitement at the prospect of a reunion.

“I am not joking when I say the last girls aloud comeback changed the trajectory of my life, we are so readyyy,” one user wrote on Twitter/X, while another said that a reunion would be “a historic event”.

“I don’t know if u can grasp how much this girls aloud news has rocked my world I can’t breathe,” another fan on social media wrote, while a fourth told their followers: “I will not apologise for the person I will become when I hear new Girls Aloud music for the first time in 11 years”. Check out more fan responses to the rumours below.

If the speculation turns out to be true, the new release will mark the first new Girls Aloud music in over a decade. Although they have yet to release any new music since their split, the surviving members did come together earlier this year to announce a 20th-anniversary reissue of their debut album ‘Sound Of The Underground’.

Over the summer Nicola Roberts reflected on her friendship with Harding, recalling how “vivacious and full of life” she was.

“Even going back to that BRITs moment, like, how vivacious and full of life and she was so, talking about authenticity, Sarah very much was authentic in who she was,” she explained. “Didn’t try to be anyone else, never tried to turn herself down, and wasn’t even aware of the fact that she should maybe do that in certain settings.”

More recently, Nadine Coyle spoke to NME as part of the Soundtrack Of My Life series and recalled the artists who have shaped her over the years.

In the discussion, she named Kylie Minogue’s massive summer anthem ‘Padam Padam’ as the song she can’t get out of her head. “This song has been dominating my thought processes since it came out in May,” she recalled. “Me and my little girl have conversations to ‘Padam Padam’. Like, we’ll sing ‘we’re going to the shops, the shops…’ to the tune of ‘Padam’, it’s a big thing in my household.”





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Walker & Royce Return to Dirtybird for Part 1 of Sophomore Album, "No Big Deal"

Walker & Royce have unveiled the first installment of their sophomore album, No Big Deal, on Dirtybird Records. This electrifying album contains four vibrant tracks, each of which perfectly captures the duo’s signature playful and party-starting spirit and serve as a stellar introduction to the forthcoming album, due out in 2024.

Walker & Royce explained that the album contains the music they have been urged to release over the years, but didn’t want to get lost in overly contrived marketing campaigns. It’s a triumphant return to the pair’s roots, as their debut album Self Help was also released on Dirtybird back in 2017.

Staying true to their style, each track is vocal-driven and club-ready with booming basslines. Part 1 kicks off with the boisterous bass house track “Let’s Live It Up,” featuring the lyrical prowess of hip-hop artist Harm Franklin. Following suit, “Cheap Thrills” plunges us into a deeper, darker warehouse sound, featuring the vocals of South Central’s Barney Bones.

Meanwhile, “Get Down Down,” a collaboration with the comedic musician Reggie Watts and “Stop Time,” featuring Glass Petals and Elohim, highlight the unmistakable tech house groove that has become synonymous with Walker & Royce’s sound.

Fans can catch Walker & Royce on their “No Big Deal” tour this fall. Check out No Big Deal – Part 1 below and find the album on streaming platforms here.

FOLLOW WALKER & ROYCE:

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NewJeans’ Minji was “not desperate” to become a K-pop star


NewJeans singer Minji was apparently “not desperate” to debut as a K-pop idol, according to the casting agent who discovered her.

South Korean casting director Darren Won recently recalled the story of how he found and casted NewJeans’ Minji in a new interview with The Korea Times. “I invested a lot of time and effort to cast Minji, who was not so desperate about becoming a K-pop star at first,” he said, recalling first seeing her outside “a music academy in the city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, when she was 13”.

“Back then, I was urgently looking for some idol trainees and the academy’s director told me she had two students to recommend,” he added. One of the students was Minji, however Won noted that she had not “set her sights” on making a debut at the time, despite having aspirations of becoming a singer.

“Yet, I clearly saw the potential in her as soon as I met her, so I kept persuading her and ended up bringing her to Source Music, a K-pop label that I worked for at the time,” Won added. Her decision to sign with Source Music as a trainee later led her to become part of the sprawling roster of HYBE artists and trainees after the former company was acquired by the entertainment giant.

After some internal shuffling post-acquisition, Minji was transferred to Min Hee-jin’s newly established subsidiary, ADOR, and became part of the NewJeans line-up. “It feels so rewarding to see Minji making waves,” Won said. “As a casting agent, this kind of feeling is the biggest driving force for me.”

The five-piece – completed by bandmates Hanni, Haerin, Hyein and Danielle – most recently released an original single titled ‘Gods’ in partnership with the video game League of Legends. The song is this year’s League of Legends World Championship Anthem, and marked the 10th anniversary of anthems for the annual Esports tournament.

“It was fun to try a new genre and sound,” said the group about the new song and partnership when it was first announced in September. “Through this collaboration, we are happy to present a song that incorporates both NewJeans’ and League of Legends’ unique colours. We hope it brings you a new sense of empowerment!”





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Attendees Report Severe Eye and Vision Problems After Bored Ape NFT Festival

Several people attending ApeFest, an event organized by the parent company of the lucrative Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, claim to have left with vision problems and “severe eye burn,” The Verge reports.

Billed as “less of a music festival, more of an epic, unhinged family reunion,” the event took place in Hong Kong from November 3-5. A handful of attendees said they sought medical attention in the wake of the event and claimed their injuries were caused by improper lighting.

Over 2,000 people are believed to have attended the 2023 edition of ApeFest. One ticket-holder, Adrian Zduńczyk, took to X (the social media platform previously known as Twitter) to reveal he was diagnosed with photokeratitis, a painful eye condition that occurs following unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation, per the College of Optometrists.

“So far, 30 hours since woke up with severe eye burn, I’ve visited emergency hospital and eye clinic and spent there a total of 6 hours,” Zduńczyk wrote. “Got diagnosed with ‘photokeratitis over both eyes, accident related’ with prescribed steroid eye drops and eye lubricants. My vision was tested as close to perfect with no serious cornea damage, luckily.”

ApeFest’s organizers, Yuga Labs, are reportedly investigating the claims. Bored Ape Yacht Club issued a statement and encouraged symptomatic attendees to seek medical attention.

“Apes, we are aware of the eye-related issues that affected some of the attendees of ApeFest and have been proactively reaching out to individuals since yesterday to try and find the potential root causes,” the statement reads. “Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms. While nearly everyone has indicated their symptoms have improved, we encourage anybody who feels them to seek medical attention just in case.”





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Arch Enemy, DragonForce cover Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’


Power metal outfit DragonForce and melodic death metal band Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz have become the latest acts to cover a Taylor Swift song – watch their performance below.

This past weekend (November 5), while performing in Montreal, Canada, DragonForce brought out Alissa White-Gluz as a special guest to perform a special cover of Taylor Swift’s hit song, ‘Wildest Dreams’.

While this isn’t the first time DragonForce have covered ‘Wildest Dreams’ on their ongoing tour, it is the first time that a guest vocalist has joined them for the performance. For the joint cover, Alissa White-Gluz provides guttural backing vocals and sings the song’s second verse as confetti canons go off.

Watch DragonForce’s cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’ featuring Alissa White-Gluz below.

DragonForce and Alissa White-Gluz are the latest high-profile acts to cover Taylor Swift following Pendulum, who reworked ‘Anti-Hero’ into a DnB track, and Counting Crows, who covered ‘The 1’ at a live show.

Taylor Swift most recently released ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ in late October. In a five-star review the album, NME wrote: “As we’re witnessing the biggest year of Swift’s career so far, the artist’s ability to reinvent herself while honouring her core blueprint is only becoming more impressive. By journeying into the past, it’s a reminder that the future of Taylor Swift may hold so much more that will continue to surprise us.”

Before that, Taylor Swift released her concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, in cinemas in mid-October. In a four-star review of the film, NME wrote: “In the space of one seamless performance, Swift is at turns a playfully eccentric artist, a country star and a genuine pop icon. Of course, as The Eras Tour proves time and again, Taylor Swift can do pretty much whatever she wants.”





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