News Round-Up: 12/5/17

Telling the story of New York disco producer Patrick Adams. Learn music fundamentals with Ableton’s new website. A profile of XL Recordings boss Richard Russell.

Disco lesson. Little known but influential producer Patrick Adams worked with everyone from Sister Sledge to Candi Staton, but rarely gets the hype of his peers. The Guardian tell his story here ahead of a retrospective in New York. You can also watch a 2013 interview with Adams above.

Back to school. Ableton have launched a new website, Learning Music, which offers an interactive electronic music production course that addresses various fundamentals. Explore it here.

Synth saviour. Over the last 20 years repair man John Henson has fixed thousands of analogue machines in Ireland. The most common cause of an inactive synth? Spillages. “The odd time it is tea, sometimes it is black coffee but usually it’s Guinness…” The Irish Times find out more here.

Winner. The PRS Foundation and BBC Radiophonic Workshop have launched a new award ceremony with Mathew Herbert as creative director. Celebrating innovative women in the industry, the award is named after the legendary electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. More here.

Massive. XL Recordings is one of the giants of the modern music landscape. Here, the New Yorker speak to the man behind it all, Richard Russell, who discusses his background, vision for the label and artistic development.

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