Review: nanobox adds palm-sized synthesis to 1010music’s cute gear line

It’s the perfect follow-up to 1010’s ultra-compact blackbox sampler and bluebox mixer. Now nanobox adds pint-sized synthesis to the range, with ultra-portable granular and wavetable synths – and we’ve got a first review from resident 1010 expert Andreas Roman.

When Tehran lights up Köln, pull up your experimental electronic caravan and celebrate

Here comes the twist – in a year in which so much of the adventurous end of the electronic music scene was stalled, that dynamism was alive in Köln by way of Iranian diaspora. Timcheh was a window into where electronic musical inventors can go next, together.

Go listen to this podcast about HBO’s epic sounds – and stick around for some retro visuals, too

Podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz is already must-listen material, covering the stories behind sound design and branding. Now clear some headphone time for the story behind HBO’s goosebump-inducing 80s theme and iconic 90s angelic TV-switching-on opener, and beyond.

Celebrate Eliane Radigue at 90 with a free documentary and fresh, radical re-releases

“I prefer to leave complete freedom to the listener … letting them find their own music within themselves from the sounds I offer.” Happy birthday to legendary composer Eliane Radigue – and now is the perfect time to discover yourself in her sounds, if you haven’t already.

Dozens of free sounds, plus deep compilation, by Kyoka, AGF, Matthew Herbert, more

Diving into the depths of acoustic and temporal ecology, transformed by pandemic, a spectacular group of artists have both a must-hear compilation and a completely free bank of sounds you can use free. Listen in on New Chronologies of Sound.

SunVox 2.0: the nearly-free modular pocket DAW just got a slew of new features

It’s the underground sleeper hit, a modular, power instrument-DAW-tracker that runs basically everywhere, for free/donation or (on iOS/Android) just a few bucks. And now it just hit 2.0. There’s a ton of new stuff whether you’ve got an ancient smart device or the latest and greatest. Here’s a look.

Watch this Kazakh pop video for the maximum weirdness of Casio’s singing robot keyboard

Look, I don’t want to say that Casio missed a marketing opportunity here and buried the lede on their awesomely bizarre singing robot keyboard. I’m just saying watch this video and you tell me. It comes from Kazakhstan’s star Imanbek, and getting them one of these keyboards represents in my mind one of the greatest […]

Type in lyrics, and this keyboard sings them, as Casio returns to its Casiotone roots

It’s like the love-child of those fun 80s portable keyboards and Vocaloid. New Casiotone keyboards will sing lyrics for you.

Head by drone to a 3000-year old ruined village for a stunning performance by Hayk Karoyi

You deserve a vacation. If only you could visit what some have dubbed the “Armenian Machu Picchu.” Oh, and also if you could, like, fly. And there was a sick music performance happening.

IK’s model of the Neve 1081 console is free this month, plus free EQ and metering

IK Multimedia are giving away a nice British channel strip model in January. It’s part of a larger download, but you get some free metering and extra EQ in the deal even if you pay nothing at all.