Author: Darren Ressler

As an homage to the classic JVC RC M90 boombox depicted on the cover of LL Cool J’s 1985 debut album, Radio, which featured the lead single “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” and The Beastie Boys’ Solid Gold Hits, London-based candlemaker Cent LDN is offering King of the Boom Box, a hand-poured soy wax candle replica of the legendary blaster.

For those too young to remember, in between the advent of the cassette tape and the Walkman (ask your parents), portable boomboxes were a mainstay of urban life. Able to be taken anywhere — as long as you had extra D batteries — the portable AM/FM/cassette sound machines were a vital part of hip-hop’s musical and cultural rise in the ’70s and ’80s.

Though mainly intended as a piece of conversational home decor, each of the boombox’s 22 candles is made to order and burns for 100 hours. The piece weighs 1900 grams — 4.18 pounds — and measures 28cm width, 14cm height and 6.6cm.

Cent LDN’s King of the Boom Box can be yours for £149 (about $192). Compared to the sky-high asking prices stereotypical collectors are willing to pay for the actual vintage units, it’s an offer some boombox aficionados won’t be able to turn down.

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“Collusion 33,” the first collaboration from techno artists Ken Ishii and Greencross and Different Is Different Records‘ Collusion NFT series, will be minted and made available for purchase today via Mintbase Fiundation at 3:30 PM Central European Time.

The premise of the nine-part series is that each producer creates a track, then “colludes to remix each other’s originals and deliver it as a four-track release.”

Each NFT has its own 33-second animation created by Federico Bebber, an acclaimed Italian VFX and 3D artist. To view the entire nine-part animation, you will need to watch each track’s animations in order.

With the purchase of each non-fungible token (NFT), collectors — who will own 33 percent of the publishing rights — will unlock the master file for the track in lossless WAV, plus a 4K video file of the animation.

No paywalls, free to all. Help us remain 100% independent and unbiased. Please give to Big Shot by making a secure one-time donation to help us continue covering DJ culture and electronic music like we’ve done since 2003.

Highly influential DJ/producer Tim Baker has died, according to reports on social media. The cause of death is not yet known. On March 28, he took to Instagram while at the United Center in Chicago to share that he had received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “First shot is in the books! Can’t wait to see all you guys again soon!!!”

A native of Detroit, Baker, who ran the clothing line turned record label Elephanthaus, came of age during techno’s nascent days in the ’80s. Influenced by hometown heroes Derrick May and Jeff Mills, he went on to earn an international reputation for his flawless productions released on Spain’s Minifunk Label, Ovum and BML in America., and NovaMute in Germany.

Known for a wide-ranging sound that covered every corner of techno, he graced the decks at club bastions including Berlin’s Tresor and Paris’ Rex Club.

In 1998, Baker moved to Chicago. The Windy City’s vibrant house scene inspired him to launch his house label, Real Estate Records.

This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Shocked to find out about Tim Baker’s @TB313 untimely passing. I was just emailing him last week to let him know how I enjoy his newest release. My deepest condolences to his family, and friends. R.I.P. buddy! 😢 pic.twitter.com/EHb02GsbUQ

— christian smith (@CSmithLIVE) April 4, 2021

Our dear friend @TB313 has died. Confirmed by those who were there. Definitely one of the good ones. I had dinner with him and @djhyperactive last time I was in #Chicago. I’m in shock😭😭😭😭

— alan_oldham (@alan_oldham) April 4, 2021

No paywalls, free to all. Help us remain 100% independent and unbiased. Please give to Big Shot by making a secure one-time donation to help us continue covering DJ culture and electronic music like we’ve done since 2003.