We could all use an 808 kick in our soul about now, so let’s get straight to the 808 Day goodness. Today’s a day to browse through Roland history with Bjooks, turn up NTS Radio, and immerse ourselves in a new animation featuring Mannie Fresh.
Radio listeners
The NTS show, “The Future Is Still 808,” airs three times this month, hosted by Shy One:
SAT 8 AUGUST 19:00 BST | 14:00 EDT SAT 15 AUGUST 19:00 BST | 14:00 EDT SAT 22 AUGUST 17:00 BST | 12:00 EDT
Tokyo-based music guru Nick Dwyer is working on the NTS Radio beat, with a 3-part series on 808 history.
Listening Guide: The Future Is Still 808 Ep. 01 “The Origins”
It’s great to see not just Black music from the US represented, as it absolutely should be, but also a thorough look outside the Western Hemisphere, from Japan to India. That includes Charanjit Singh’s iconic 1982 “Raga Bhairav,” which just sounds better and better, and how about Babla’s Disco Sensation?
Or let’s listen to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “riot in Lagos”:
Readers
Roland buffs, you don’t want to miss the epic book with the really long name, INSPIRE THE MUSIC – 50 Years of Roland History. That’s free today as an eBook (e-Bjook?) at PATCH & TWEAK, Bjook’s nice website. I’m proud to have gotten to contribute to that one, answering questions like “what will happen to my brain if I try to cram the history of Roland piano models into it?”
The physical object is still the best — I often refer to it when refreshing my memory or just browsing for some inspiration. That’s 15% off.
We ran an 808 excerpt of this book here on CDM, too:
Animation
Roland has been doing a delightful, now award-winning animation series called The Rhythm Creators. This episode takes us to New Orleans and, Roland tells us, “features hip-hop and bounce music pioneer Mannie Fresh, best known as one-half of Cash Money Records’ in-house production team behind hits like “Back That Azz Up” and “Get Your Roll On.”
Detroit artist Vaughn Taormina animates these series, narrating by the artists themselves.
Vertical video may be sacrilege for some, but I enjoy watching vertically and horizontally, equally. So I’ll be digging in again on the S-Bahn in a minute.
Also in this series:
Happy 808 Day, everybody.
Let us know if you’re doing anything to celebrate.
The updated Roland page is here:
https://www.roland.com/global/promos/roland_tr-808