Manila’s ELEPHANT (aka thatelephantparty) has a collection of curated culture that deserves echoing here. All that, and let’s also spotlight some meaningful music that you almost certainly haven’t heard.

Universal Audio’s Spark subscription (native plug-ins) is on sale for 99 cents for 3 months for new customers through the end of the day Monday the 31st. That seems a good time to check in on the subscription offering, which is on my short list of subscriptions I’d consider. (If you prefer perpetual licenses, though, I’ve got some quick picks on their sale there, too.)

“Chaos and resiliance” – the words become cruel cliché when applied on repeat to Beirut’s music scene. But the three latest releases from the Ruptured label tell a sonic story that’s not from some periphery, but the center of our world. They do so in collage — like film fragments (one from a filmmaker). That include’s today’s debut of Ripe from Postcards and in the recent sound narratives of Nour Sokhon, Stefan Christoff, and Camille Cabbabe.

Both VCV Rack Free and VCV Rack Pro 2.6 are out, including the ability to Zoom to fit / Zoom to fit modules and drag multiple cables stacked on a port. It’s a nice upgrade for this free and open source modular tool (and its partly-proprietary Pro package, too) – while we wait on upcoming v3.

When reality slaps you, slap back. Poly_Chain, aka Kyiv-born multi-talent Sasha Zakrevska, has a pure-fire mix of “bumpy electro” and adrenaline-driving broken beats, a lot of it unreleased (though some of it you can and should buy.) The Choreography and Merriment departments say you’re welcome.

Is it sound design? Or is it composition? Yes. Here’s a full exploration of the Haken Continuum, the oft-misunderstood expressive device, as a musical instrument, plus creations for the hardware. It might inspire you to rethink how you view digital interfaces for performance.

Apple Music is now streaming in major DJ software like Serato DJ Pro. That comes complete with playlists and companion Apple Music curation on desktop and mobile – plus support for some all-in-one Pioneer hardware and even Engine OS-powered Denon decks.

It’s a quad digital delay with a bunch of patch points in its sprawling 42HP. But Xaoc Devices’ new Samarkanda and its audio buffer can transform into a lot more, from granulators to loopers to resonators – basically, anything you can build out of its four independent delays. It might be the most powerful re-patchable effect we’ve ever seen.

The synthesis community is sharing an outpouring of remembrances following the loss of Paul Schreiber, creator of the MOTM synthesizer, Synthesis Technology, co-designer of the Realistic Concertmate MG-1, and more. He was not just an inspiration but a friend to many in the synth world.

Interactive Shader Format (ISF) code for working with Metal and rendering on macOS, plus an underlying Metal framework that powers live visual app VDMX6, are now free and open source. That’s great news even if you’re just toying around with shaders or working with visuals, as it opens up lots of possibilities to come.