Music production

Music production

Will Toledo loves to tinker. Even in the early days of his project Car Seat Headrest-back before he became widely recognized as an indie-rock wunderkind-he occasionally re-worked old songs until they felt right. (Take, for example, "Oh! Starving," originally recorded in 2010, then rerecorded it in 2012 and again in 2015.) But after signing to Matador Records, Toledo took things up a notch, releasing Teens of Style, a compilation of remakes picked from his greatest non-hits scattered across his Bandcamp recordings.

Fully self-produced, Valeria masterfully merges the rich musical heritage of her hometown with the underground beats of London. After years of collaborating with different producers, she leapt to shape her own sonic narratives, igniting a passion to craft music that speaks to the heart. “I wanted to produce my own music after seeing the powerful impact production can have on storytelling,” she reflects.

UMG stated the agreement "extends TikTok and UMG's groundbreaking commitment to AI protections that promote human artistry and ensure platform economics effectively flow through to artists and songwriters. TikTok and UMG will work together to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform, while further improving artist and songwriter attribution."

Each Monday, with our Pitchfork Selects playlist, we're sharing what our writers are playing obsessively and highlighting some of the Pitchfork staff's favorite new music. The playlist is a grab-bag of tracks: Its only guiding principle is that these are the songs you'd gladly send to a friend.

Blod may seem unbearably esoteric. But a little context helps; Dicksson is a spiritual descendant of Swedish Progg movement of the 1960s and '70s-not to be confused with prog rock, it was a left-wing, anti-commercial music movement that encompassed a wide range of styles, from psych-rock bands to nationally beloved singer-songwriters. Blod is indebted to the mossier, more experimental ends of the movement, including bands like Träd, Gräs & Stenar. This is the anti-capitalist, DIY heritage which Discreet Music-the record store and label run by Dicksson-is keeping alive.

You can follow your favorite artists as well as entire record labels. That makes it easy to stay on top of new artists on labels like 4AD, AD 93, Fire Talk, and Warp. Record Club pulls all of its data from the open-source music encyclopedia MusicBrainz.

Hamilton has been one of the hottest Broadway musicals for over a decade, and while the movie has yet to be adapted into a feature film, you can catch it on Blu-ray. The musical historical drama is getting a new Collector's Edition on 4K Blu-ray, and you can preorder it now through Amazon and Walmart for $80 ahead of its June 16 release.

Roger Linn is a legend in the world of musical instruments. He's been at the cutting edge of music technology for decades. He created the LM-1, the first drum machine to use samples, and its successor, the LinnDrum, is one of the most iconic drum machines of all time. They were used on countless records in the 1980s, including hits by Tom Petty, Queen, and Tears for Fears.

Aike 3000 creates raw, reduced pop music that blends indie, RnB, and electronic influences. The songs revolve around themes of failure, loss, and emotional fractures, all while maintaining a sense of beauty. From broken images, intimacy, and clear melodies, a unique form of Broken Pop emerges.

When you first press play on Álvaro Díaz's "Omakase," you are immediately transported into the kitchen. A stove flickers on. A knife hits the cutting board. Chants of "¡Sí, chef!" ring out like a dubbed episode of "The Bear." Then, before the listener can fully settle in, the Puerto Rican rapper and singer fires off bars claiming that Grammys were stolen from him and details his many nights spent sleeping on the floor to his new normal of earning $500,000 per show.