Music magazine

50 Years Later: The Greatest Beatles Performance of All Time Months before the T ​ he Ed Sullivan Show​, the band played a seven-song set for Swedish radio that settles any doubt about their electrifying live presence.

COLIN FLEMING OCT 24, 2013

The Beatles in London in October of 1963. (AP)

One of the most pervasive misconceptions about the Beatles is that they were awful as an in-concert act. The myth, as I recall my eighth-grade music teacher putting it, says the Beatles weren’t even playing up there on stage most of the time. They were only

pretending to because no one could hear them anyway. And then when they did play, they weren’t much good, relying as they did on on studio time and trickery to make their records sound nice.

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These lines are often parrotted even by Beatles fans. The band's own record label didn’t see fit to release any live material until seven years after the group had broken up, and that set​ has been out of print for an age.

There is no more orgastic sound in all of rock and roll than when the opening chorus of “She Loves You” segues into Ringo’s cymbal explosion—a most tingly explosion—as the first verse begins.

If you’re a connoisseur of live recordings, you want one thing above all else: energy.

Ballads can have it, death metal songs can have it, pop numbers, folk tunes, anything, potentially. It’s what binds material as disparate as Eric Dolphy and Booker Little’s ​Five Spot dates​, Böhm’s ​Tristan und Isolde​, and Jerry Lee Lewis’s ​Live at the Star Club​. But what’s neat about this Beatles gig is that the band members themselves seem, in the very moments of their music-making, to clock on to this same idea—energy is the thing—and tease it out.

There are only two surviving Beatles concert recordings that feature the band playing both “Money” and “Twist and Shout,” conceivably their two most intense numbers. One reason is that singing both songs in a single session was no easy feat, as John Lennon absolutely screamed both of them. But we’re definitely getting​ “Money”​ here, and Lennon can’t wait to offer some input as the intro begins, letting loose a “Yeahhhh Yeahhhhh!” off-mike. The dual-guitar attack has what would become the Velvet Underground’s trademark fuzz to it, only sped up.

A version of Chuck Berry’s “​Roll Over Beethoven​” follows, and it bests the Beatles’ studio version—the faster pace helps. Then it’s on into “​You Really Got a Hold on Me​” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, rhythmically complex black music that gawky British white kids aren’t supposed to be able to play well. Lennon isn’t fazed, though. He gives the song a jokey intro, telling everyone who it’s by in a slowed-down,

take-some-notes-class kind of voice. The song itself is pure, bottomless groove, with Lennon letting his voice simply skip atop it, easy peasy, save that none of it is.

In 2011, a young musician in Australia named Harley Streten began posting electronic dance tracks online under the name Flume. Every morning before heading off to work at a magazine shop, he checked the site, SoundCloud, to see how many people were listening.

When the play count reached 10,000, he was stunned. When he got a fan letter from Poland, he was really stunned. Now he is at 150 million plays, and practically speechless.

“There is no comprehending that number anymore,” Mr. Streten, 23, said on a recent visit to New York. “It’s just mind-blowing, totally surreal.”

Mr. Streten’s rise reflects the quickened career pace in electronic dance music, or E.D.M., in which young producers can find global renown through free streaming sites like SoundCloud. As Flume, Mr. Streten has released only one album but will soon embark on his sixth tour of North America, playing at major festivals like Bonnaroo (in Manchester, Tenn.) and Governors Ball in New York.

But a detailed review of Mr. Streten’s climb also shows how he and his managers have carefully balanced free online exposure with paying deals, leading to a multifaceted and lucrative career.

According to financial data provided by Mr. Streten’s manager, the Flume business generated revenues in the low seven figures last year.

Flume’s music spread on SoundCloud, which mostly pays no royalties, and YouTube, which pays little. But those outlets alone were insufficient to support his career.

Mr. Streten hit the road early on, playing at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York in 2012.

Remixes of other artists’ work, like songs from Arcade Fire and Chet Faker, has been another key strategy. By themselves, these tracks may not generate much money, Mr. McLay said, since a song’s original artist often retains rights. But by piggybacking on other acts, artists like Flume can reach wide new audiences and find other kinds of exposure.

Kanye West

Kanye West made another rare onstage appearance Saturday when the rapper performed his "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" during Kid Cudi's concert at an Adidas event in Los Angeles.

West also introduced Cudi – who wasn't listed among the scheduled performers – at Adidas' 747 Warehouse St. event, a two-day all-star event tied to the NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.

The two-minute cameo comes four months after West made his last onstage appearance, where the rapper again dropped by a Kid Cudi concert – this time at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom – to perform that Life of Pablo track.

That November 2017 visit marked West's return to the stage in nearly a year; prior to that, West last appeared onstage on November 19th, 2016, the site of the rapper's infamous Sacramento concert where – after arriving 90 minutes late and performing for 15 minutes – West went on a long rant that lashed out at Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

Following that Sacramento concert, West canceled the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour, with the rapper settling a $10 million lawsuit with the insurer of the nixed trek earlier this week.

Alan Walker release third episode of his docu-series ‘Unmasked’ BY ​ALEX GELEVSKI MARCH 2, 2018

Today, British-Norwegian artist, DJ and producer Alan Walker released the third installment of his YouTube docu-series, ‘Unmasked’. The series gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look into Alan’s life, unmasking the story behind his success.

This latest video explores ​Alan​’s production process, including how his hit single “​All Falls Down​” featuring Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals, which is currently #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart, came together, as well as how he taught himself to produce and worked to craft a sound that is uniquely his own.

“I had an interest in creating music for the present time,” ​explains ​Alan Walker in the latest Unmasked episode. ​“My intention back in the day, when I started making music, wasn’t to make money. I just wanted people to listen to my music as much as they wanted to.”

Alan also takes the time in this video to introduce viewers to the people that have supported him throughout his meteoric rise to stardom including his family, label, and collaborators.

In the video Alan’s collaborator, ​Anders Froen​, explains what it was like the first time he worked with Alan stating,​ “I think in the beginning when Alan and I had those first sessions it felt refreshing because we weren’t constrained within those boundaries you often can be when you’re with very experienced musicians. But he was thinking outside the box and he was basing his melodies and his arrangements on instinct and passion versus on – this is how a song should be.”

It was also announced today that ​Alan​ will be joining​ Kygo​ on tour for select North American dates including Seattle, WA; Berkeley, CA; and Denver, CO.