#1 — Newsletter things

Hello.

First and foremost, thanks for signing up for this newsletter. I am overwhelmed with the response this has gotten. This only serves as added impetus for me to share interesting, fun and useful content over a period of time. That said, can we all agree that Stranger Things has arguably been the best TV show to come out this summer? For those who aren't familiar with the show, the typography in this email header is borrowed from the show's opening sequence. The eight episodes pay homage to 80s adventure, horror, and fantasy movies like E.T, Alien, the Goonies and a majority of John Carpenter's work. Oh and there are Dungeons & Dragons references too. The plot revolves around a series of mysterious disappearances in a small town called Hawkins. Think otherworldly, supernatural and horror mysterious. That's all that I can reveal without giving away too much of the plot. What works for Stranger Things is the show's attention to detail when it comes to story-writing, a brilliant cast and a killer soundtrack to boot. The show has been out on Netflix for a month now but the hype-train on the interwebs had only picked up in the last two weeks. For those who are up to speed with all this, Vox wrote about the show's references to the aforementioned influences. By the way, if such themes irk you, let me remind you that Stranger Things is only rated TV-14 (the TV equivalent of PG-13 for movies). Get on it already!

Gyroscope.

I came across Gyroscope a few weeks ago and was amazed at the amount of app integrations this has. If you are obsessed with data (and also obsessed with yourself), Gyroscope helps you track your daily activities. And by daily activities, I mean your steps, heart-rate, weight, time spent on social media, sleep routines and more. In order to achieve this, Gyroscope integrates seamlessly with your accounts on Foursquare, Strava, Runkeeper, Fitbit, Healthkit, Instagram etc. (Boy, there are just too many to name). I suspect they will be adding more such meaningful integrations. Unfortunately, they haven't released an Android version yet but it is available on the web and iOS. What trumps it all for this app is a very slick and futuristic user interface. It really is on point with the design. If beautiful design tickles your fancy, you can read about how Anand Sharma (the creator) came up with the concept and design philosophy for Gyroscope. Check out the UI below and also on their website.

Estonian Musicians As Startups.

Estonia is not only the birthplace of Skype but it is now being regarded as a thriving start-up hub in Europe. It shouldn't be surprising that that ecosystem would support musicians and other artists alike. The Tallinn Music Week, a week long festival, aims to help artists operate like startups, attract investors and create business plans. This festival will take place from 27 March to 2 April 2017.

"With the Tallinn Music Week, we wanted to kick-start an artistic entrepreneurship culture. We felt that the success of Estonian music was going to be dependent on artists acting like self-sufficient companies."
- Ms Sildna (Founder, CEO of Tallinn Music Week)

You can read the entire article published by the Economist here. This is great news for the independent music creator and such boot-camps will only empower artists to venture out further sans relying on record companies and labels. The article sums it up in a manner I cannot agree more with - "There is no such thing as the classic music industry route anymore." I hope these kind of initiatives get replicated in other parts of the world too.

Music.

Henceforth, this will be my favorite section of the newsletter. With an audience whose tastes transcend musical genres, I'll try to keep this as diverse as possible. Although for those who know me well, I do lean more towards heavier music. But let's not put me in a pigeonhole, I also do enjoy a fair bit of 80s pop, electronic music (mostly 8-bit), indie-folk, acoustic and rock. Here are some music recommendations (full albums) that I have for you.

FM-84 - Atlas
Genre: Synth-pop
FM-84 captures the 80s synth-pop sound perfectly. The music is keyboard driven (duh) while the vocals on each of the songs are dreamy and atmospheric. My favorite track is 'Running in the Night'. Check out the full album stream here.

Waveshaper - Station Nova
Genre: Retro-synth
I know, I know. I'm having a massive retro-music hangover. Waveshaper's music is instrumental and could easily be the soundtrack to video games you played in the 80s or 90s. Check out the full album stream here.

Hammers of Misfortune
Genre: Heavy Metal / Progressive
HoM have released a stellar album after a five year wait. While I'm not an ardent HoM fan, this album is replete with memorable riffs, terrific keys and some great singing. Fans of 70s prog-rock and traditional heavy metal will dig this. Check out the full album stream here.

The Golden Grass - Realisations
Genre: Rock
I discovered TGG on Bandcamp and ever since they've been getting regular plays from me. You'll probably feel like you've been transported to the Hendrix era instantly. The music has really cool psychedelic vibes for you to get lost into. Happy music. Check out the full album stream here.

Suns of Thyme - Cascades
Genre: Krautgaze
Before you ask me what Krautgaze (so hipster, am I right?) is, I'm guessing it's influenced by 70s German Krautrock, a slightly hypnotic form of rock. All pretense aside, SoT's track 'Intuition Unbound' is beautiful. Listen to it here. The band's sound can be best described as psychedelic, droney with a bit of indie-rock thrown in the fray.

With that, I have come to the end of my inaugural newsletter. I do hope I have been able to tell you something new. If you want to talk about anything mentioned above, please don't hesitate to hit the reply button and let me know.

Until, the next newsletter.

Thanks,
Vince