Australian Music Centre is commissioning 10 presentations in 2020 under the banner of the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address. 10 x $1000 bursaries will be available to the Australian music community to create online works that are realised in 2020. Distribution will be in partnership with the ABC and Monash University, in order that your work reaches as broad an audience as possible, and further embeds Australian music in teaching and learning. Deadline for EOIs is at 5pm AEST on Friday 8 May 2020.

A Florida man has been arrested for the harassment of the family of a Sandy Hook shooting victim. Police allege Wolfgang Halbig emailed hundreds of people the Social Security number of Leonard Pozner, whose 6-year-old son Noah died in the 2012 shooting. Halbig is a contributor to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Infowars website. Halbig claims the shooting was a hoax. Halbig was charged with unlawful possession of personal identification and held on $5,000 bond.

All-round family fun in Bromsgrove.

Tudor Grange date for visually impaired swimmers.

Young swimmers compete and learn at Tudor Grange.

Duchess of Cornwall unveils stunning new Roald Dahl installation.

Olympians Geraint Thomas and Steven Burke attended the Black Country University Technical College’s ‘Accelerate Live’ event last weekend, inspiring students to learn about science and engineering.

Mittwoch Aus Licht by Stockhausen, a commission for the London 2012 Festival, produced by Birmingham Opera Company last August in a disused Digbeth factory has been shortlisted for the two top awards in the world of opera.

The Midlands Racing Club are holding their Grand National Preview on Tuesday

M3 announces record year as it looks to push the West Midlands’ creative talent.

West Midlands Police football unit signs up for Great Birmingham Run.

Initiative follows upsurge in violent incidents.

Police response followed policy before missing man found murdered.

Security roadshow heads to Snow Hill.

Region’s showcase of ambitions sees 50% increase in media profile.

Top BBC presenter Michael Buerk is to return to his old school to chair Solihull’s inaugural Big Debate.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Donkey Assisted Therapy Centre in Birmingham is holding a Summer Fair and fun dog show on Saturday 13th July

Superstar Osaka to play Nature Valley Classic.

New Nature Valley Classic champion crowned world women's tennis number one.

Ark at that! Homer’s Trojan war poem gets the Brummie treatment.

Monika aims to become international Face.

Richard Lutz rifles through his electronic life to find out who he is.

Local professionals and businesses win at the inaugural Midlands Beauty Industry Awards 2018.

HD Brows add city centre to their list of academies.

The Midlands Media Awards is this year to take place at The Holte Suite, Aston Villa FC’s prestigious hospitality centre.

Media and creative professionals from across the West Midlands helped put Birmingham on the map as the new Carnival Capital last week, at a special event organised by the Birmingham Publicity Association (BPA).

Peter Lowe, Managing Editor of Sky News, is to be chairman of the judging panel for this year’s Midlands Media Awards, shortlisted nominations for which will be announced on Monday, May 13.

Les Reid, of the Coventry Telegraph, has been nominated for four categories at this year’s Awards, which are being held next month.

The Birmingham Look Book – a go-to resource for journalists designed to raise the profile of Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull with national and international media

Birmingham Now TV launched online.

Richard Lutz survives a full assault of Jools Holland.

Richard Lutz takes his pew for the Ben Johnson classic that caustically sends up his fellow Londoners of 1610.

This week, we talk to rapper/producer 4th Pyramid, whose new album The Pyramid Scheme was one of the best new releases we’ve heard in quite some time. We discuss his history with Def Jux, which Wu-Tang member gave him the biggest surprise, and how working for a car company was the best career move he ever made.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/7/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we sit down with Brother Ali. Ali, whose new album Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color comes out this week, has long been one of our favorite artists. His fantastic rhyming skills are matched by lyrics that are both intensely engaged with the larger world, as well as by a sense of humanity and empathy that is all too rare amongst artists of any kind.

Then, after our talk with Ali, we have a short but revealing chat with Miss Haze of the Bay Area group 40 Love. The innovative group meshes dreamy, electronic production with smart, positive lyrics to create an ode to dreams and their possibilities. We talk to Miss Haze about chanting for world peace, alchemy, and why she loves the Bay.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/16/ for full show notes and comments.

This episode, we talk to Milk Dee. Along with his brother Giz, they formed the Audio Two, an influential duo whose biggest hit, “Top Billin’,” has been sampled or interpolated by pretty much every rapper alive. We chat with Milk about the Audio Two, his successful production career (he was behind Eamon’s monster hit “Fuck It”), and the work of his sister, the legendary MC Lyte.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/40/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we bring you a convo with Michael P. Jeffries, author of Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America, a fascinating examination of how we think about race in a supposedly “post-racial” America.

Jeffries is also a huge hip-hop head, and has written about rap music and culture for The Guardian, The Atlantic, and more. We talk to him about Tupac and “thuggin’,” Rick Ross’ controversial “U.O.E.N.O.” lyrics, the changing meaning of being multi-racial, and lots more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/42/ for full show notes and comments.

This episode, we talk to hip-hop impresario Michael Holman. Holman was instrumental in bringing the burgeoning culture in Uptown NYC in the late 1970s — the breakdancers, the DJs, the rappers, and the aerosol artists — to a Downtown crowd and, shortly afterwards, to the rest of the world. He wrote books, made short films, hosted TV shows, made albums, managed breakdance troupes, acted in movies, hosted live shows, you name it. Holman also co-founded the band Gray, whose members have included the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and film director Vincent Gallo.

He is perhaps best known for Graffiti Rock, a TV show he created and hosted in 1984, which was a Soul Train-style show for hip-hop. While it only aired for one episode, its influence is still being felt. In fact, Holman is currently putting together a documentary on the making of Graffiti Rock. You can find out more about the project, and help him make it, here.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/45/ for full show notes and comments.

Beginning with a hometown crew and a particular style of chopped and screwed remixes, Michael Watts successfully turned regional mix tape distribution into a record label empire - turning the national hip hop scene onto the Houston rap community. As we heard from our talk with Houston Rap author Lance Scott Walker, the Houston rap landscape is an incredibly rich one - widely defined by the rappers, producers, and DJs who have never and will never truly leave the city. No one knows that better than Watts.

We talked to the legendary DJ, founder and CEO of Swishahouse Records about the origins of chopped and screwed music, his “fuck action” mixtapes, the hype behind Mike Jones, the beginnings of Swishahouse, and much more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/62/ for full show notes and comments.

Grand Mixer DXT’s invention of the turntable as a musical instrument changed hip hop forever. His background as a jazz drummer gave him not just great rhythm, but inspired him to use the turntables to create pitch. These kinds of innovations brought DXT to the attention of Herbie Hancock, who used the DJ in his 1983 album Future Shock. The single from that album, “Rockit”, launched DXT to worldwide attention. He toured all over the world with the Rockit band, and continued innovating with the turntables. Since those days, DXT has continued being a influential DJ and artist. Most recently, DXT and a group of pioneering DJs were inducted into Hollywood’s Rock Hall of Fame.

We talk with DXT at Rap Genius’ office in Brooklyn. About 40 minutes into the conversation, DXT is joined by Infinity Emcees member Rahiem, who has worked with DXT for decades. We talked New York DJ history, what the turntable did to hop hop, Herbie Hancock and “Rockit”, and much more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/68/ for full show notes and comments.

Live from Bed Stuy’s Restoration Plaza, we bring you a very special event with Buddha Monk and Mickey Hess, authors of a new biography of the Wu’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Occurring only blocks from Dirty’s childhood home, this conversation features not only the authors, but also special appearances from the Wu member’s family and friends. Buddha Monk was Dirty’s close friend since they were children, and had a front row seat to the artist’s rise and fall. His book, co-written with Rider professor Mickey Hess, is The Dirty Version: On Stage, In the Studio, and In the Streets With Ol’ Dirty Bastard, published by Harper Collins. You can buy it here.

If you like this episode, be sure to check out our recent article on the Wu for Radio.com

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/83/ for full show notes and comments.

This week, we celebrate the new year by bringing you an improved, remixed version of our talk with Ron Isley. Isley is the legendary lead singer of The Isley Brothers, and a soul music icon who has been a vital force in popular music for over half a century.

The Isley Brothers first reached the charts with the 1959 hit “Shout,” and had an amazing run all the way through 1983’s oft-sampled “Between the Sheets.” Ron’s career was revitalized by a series of collaborations with R. Kelly starting in 1996, including 2001’s memorable hit “Contagious.” His most recent solo album, released right around the time of this conversation, was This Song Is For You, which featured the single “Dinner and A Movie.”

We talked to Ron about his whole career, from his early years singing gospel straight through to today, with stops in Motown, his influential songs of the 1960s and 70s, the inside scoop on working with R. Kelly, and lots more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/87/ for full show notes and comments.

Adrian Miller is the manager of Anderson .Paak, the rapper/singer/musician who rose to stardom after his show-stopping appearances on Dr. Dre’s new album, Compton: A Soundtrack By Dr. Dre. But there’s a whole lot more to Adrian’s story than helping to guide Anderson from obscurity to overseas tours and late-night television appearances.

Adrian was at the epicenter of the Los Angeles rap scene throughout the 1990s. He played a key role in the rise of acts like Coolio, Freestyle Fellowship, Funkdoobiest, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, The Pharcyde, and many, many more. His time in LA reads like a who’s-who of artists, producers, executives, and even movie moguls. After helping to get the L.A. rap scene on its feet, Miller took a job at Warner Brothers as the Senior Vice President of A&R, working directly under legendary executive and manager-to-the-stars Benny Medina. We talked to him about his entire crazy journey, from getting his first real radio job in Oklahoma all the way to making deals with Dre.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/144/ for full show notes and comments.

F.A.B. is a Bay Area rapper who has been a key part of his region’s scene for well over a decade. His albums like Son of a Pimp and Da Baydestrian, as well as his successes as a freestyle rhymer and a battle rapper, have showed him to be an incredibly versatile artist. He’s equally at home writing tearjerking songs about his family, improvising for ten minutes at a time to whatever beat is thrown at him, or attacking an opponent with a vicious battle rhyme. He was also a key part of the Bay Area’s hyphy movement, which had a moment in the national spotlight in the mid to late 2000s.

Mistah F.A.B.’s brand new album is Son of a Pimp, Pt. 2.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/157/ for full show notes and comments.

!llmind first gained notice for making beats for some of underground rap’s best talent like Little Brother, Akrobatik, Heltah Skeltah, and two-time Cipher guest Skyzoo. But it didn’t take long for him to break into the mainstream, creating songs for Kanye West, Drake, J. Cole, Ludacris, and more.

!llmind also has a group of businesses aimed at helping aspiring producers, from his B.L.A.P. beat battles to his Blap-kits drum sound packages to personal mentorships. In addition, he’s an accomplished educator, and now a label head with his Roseville Music Group.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/163/ for full show notes and comments.

Salaam is a producer who is behind some of the most popular hip-hop, r&b, pop, and dancehall songs of the past several decades. His work with icons like Nas, Amy Winehouse, and The Fugees has been on the airwaves and on the charts consistently since the 1990s.

Salaam is the son of a musician, and got his start early, working on songs with the likes of Kurtis Blow as a teenager in the mid-1980s. By the early 90s, he was already producing hip-hop and dancehall. He did some remixes for an under-appreciated rap group called The Fugees whose first album was on the verge of flopping, and that quickly led to him producing the song “Fu-gee-la” on their monster hit follow up album The Score.

But it was in the early 2000s that Salaam really hit his commercial stride, as he began working closely with Nas on, including many others, the iconic single “Made You Look.” And Remi began working closely with a young singer from London named Amy Winehouse on her 2003 debut Frank, and also produced five songs on her smash hit follow up Back to Black. Miraculously, that’s only the beginning of Salaam’s track record as a producer, musician, composer, and executive.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/183/ for full show notes and comments.

Mid90s, which opened this past Friday, October 19th, is a film Hill wrote and directed about a group of skateboarding friends in—you guessed it—the mid-1990s. The incredibly authentic period piece features plenty of nods to the skateboarding scene and the music of the time period, including songs from the Pharcyde and the Gravediggaz, and a memorable cameo appearance by Del the Funkee Homosapien.

This is Jonah’s first film as a writer/director. He has, of course, starred in tons of films, from Superbad to Moneyball to The Wolf of Wall Street. For this interview, Hill was joined by Sunny Suljic, who plays Stevie; Na-kel Smith, who plays Ray; Olan Prenatt, who plays Fuckshit; Gio Galicia, who plays Ruben; Ryder McLaughlin, who plays Fourth Grade; and Alexa Demie, who plays Estee. To rap fans, Na-Kel Smith’s name and voice may sound familiar—he has a music career of his own, and has appeared on songs with Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/248/ for full show notes and comments.

Mike “Heron” Herard is a record exec, producer, manager, label owner, and all-around music business legend. He first came to the attention of underground hip-hop fans when he was the co-founder of Hydra Records, which released music by Screwball, Godfather Don, and many others. He then moved over to Rawkus Records, where he played a key role in Big L’s posthumous album The Big Picture. He has also managed Joell Ortiz, and is currently the Vice President of A&R at Shady Records. In addition, he runs the company BeatHustle, a firm that manages composers who compose music specifically for rap producers to sample.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/249/ for full show notes and comments.

The University of Birmingham is set to host its first Arts & Science Festival to showcase the wealth of ideas, research and collaboration across its campus.

Madin walking tour led by Alan Clawley Starting at Five Ways Station, 10.30 am, 22nd June 2013

How Welsh National Opera is helping city music students