After releasing their debut single “Cake by the Ocean” in 2015 (which reached the top 10 on US Billboard Hot 100), anticipation for another slice of Joe Jonas’ funk-pop experiment, DNCE, was mounting. With over a year of waiting, fans could finally rejoice with the release of the group’s debut, self-titled album, “DNCE” on November 18. The album features tongue-in-cheek lyrics and throwback beats that embraces old-school funk and modern pop as it’s signature sound. With breakout hits like the self-titled opening track, “DNCE,” “Body Moves,” and “Blown,” “DNCE” is the non-believers pop group, a welcome breath of change to a mostly stagnant genre.
On this day in 1956, celebrated Rock n Roll trailblazer, Fats Domino, sat atop the R&B music charts for the 11th week in a row with his timeless rendition of, “Blueberry Hill,” making it his most commercially successful recording. The song, written by Vincent Rose, Al Lewis and Larry Stock in 1940, was previously sung by Louis Armstrong. A New Orleans native, Domino was born in the Lower Ninth Ward, and stayed there through Hurricane Katrina in 2005 due to his wife’s poor health. Many believed he had died in the massive flooding, but Domino and his wife were eventually airlifted by U.S. Coast Guard helicopters. He has rebuilt his home and resides there to this day.
As 2016 winds down and draws to a close, it is time to look back on the events – as well as the music – that helped shape and define a tumultuous year. Popular online music journal Pitchfork has shared their ranking of ‘The 50 Best Albums of 2016,” which features the bold and welcome return of A Tribe Called Quest after an 18-year hiatus, the final album from the otherworldly David Bowie, and not one, but both, of the Knowles sisters, who, in their albums Lemonade and A Seat at the Table, have redefined the modern protest song. Take a look to see if your favorite album of 2016 made the cut.
January – Chelsea (Netflix Original TV Series – Season 2)
Comedian and TV personality Chelsea Handler returns in January for all new episodes of her talk show, Chelsea, which takes her around the world to interview unusual people and to experience everything life has to offer. New episodes air on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Check out the trailer from last year:
January 6th – One Day at a Time (Netflix Original TV Series – Season 1)
One Day at a Time is the latest show to get a reboot from the streaming giant.Based on a 1975 series of the same name, One Day at a Time follows the story of a newly-single, former military, Cuban-American woman as she raises her two children.
January 6th – Coin Heist (Netflix Original Movie)
“United by dire circumstances, four unlikely allies from a Philadelphia prep school – the hacker, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student – band together to attempt the impossible: steal from the U.S. Mint.” (IMDb)
Trailer:
January 13th – A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix Original TV Series – Season 1)
Netflix is diving deep into Lemony Snicket’s widely popular 13-volume, macabre children’s novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events. The books (and the Netflix Original Series) follow three orphaned siblings, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire as they attempt to solve the mystery behind their parents’ sudden death, while continuously escaping the clutches of an evil distant relative, Count Olaf, played by Neil Patrick Harris. You have been warned.
Trailer:
January 20 – Frontier (TV Series – Season 1)
The first original, scripted series by Discovery, Frontier, puts viewers right in the midst of the Canadian-American Fur Trade of the 18th Century. Starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Declan Harp, a fur trader bent on obtaining wealth and power, Frontier is a bloody battle of man versas animal, man versus nature, and man versas man.
Trailer:
These are the Netflix shows and movies debuting in January. For a complete list of upcoming Netflix content for 2017, click here.
This past November, Blackfire Research founder and CEO, Ravi Rajapakse, was asked to speak about innovation in the music industry at Europe’s largest tech conference, Web Summit, in Lisbon Portugal. Joining him on stage was NWA member and founder of INOV8 NEXT, Arabian Prince. Watch them discuss their visions for the future of the music industry and what’s next for audio technology in their panel, “Innovate or Die” below.
Spotify
