GZA at Rock the Bells 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

GZA, who is about to play two shows with Bad Brains next week, including one in Brooklyn at MHOW on 4/18 (sold out), has announced that he'll be performing his classuc solo LP, Liquid Swords, in its entirety at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 14 as part of Northside Festival. He'll be backed by by Austin's Grupo Fantasma like he was at SXSW (videos HERE). Grupo Fantasma's "psychedelic funk alter-ego" Brownout opens the show. Tickets are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/13) at noon.

GZA released Liquid Swords in 1995 as his second solo LP and first to come out after Wu Tang's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). He's toured the album in the past and recently performed it again at Rock the Bells 2011. The videos for "Cold World" and "Shadowboxin" off Liquid Swords are below.

GZA and RZA (who produced Liquid Swords) have been planning a sequel to Liquid Swords which continues to be postponed, but GZA plans to release a different new album, titled Dark Matter, this year.

In other hip hop news, Schoolboy Q is in NYC to play SOB's tonight (4/11).

All dates and videos below...

Continue reading "GZA playing 'Liquid Swords' in Brooklyn backed by Grupo Fantasma (like he was at SXSW)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Death Grips - "Get Got" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Death Grips - "Lost Boys" (MP3)

Death Grips at FFF Fest 2011 (more by BBG)

Noise rap trio Death Grips (MC Ride, Zach Hill, Flatlander) arrived last year with the Exmilitary mixtape and plan to follow it this year with two full lengths, The Money Store and No Love. Both albums will come out on the group's new major label home, Epic Records. The Money Store is due out on April 24 and No Love will be out this fall.

Death Grips have been revealing videos and tracks from The Money Store. If you're at all worried that the major label signing will lead to Death Grips cleaning up their sound, fear not. Other than some bigger sounding production quality (which only helps the group), they sound as heavy and out-there as ever. The videos for "Blackjack," "Get Got," and "The Fever (Aye Aye)" are below. You can also download "Get Got" and "Lost Boys" above or stream them below. The album's artwork and tracklist are also below.

Death Grips have a few upcoming dates scheduled for 2012 including Coachella and a pre-Coachella show in California with Refused. In late May and June, they'll head to Europe for a few festivals and upon returning to the US, they'll play a NYC show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 13. They'll also return to the NYC-area in September for ATP I'll Be Your Mirror NJ. Tickets for the MHOW show are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/6) at noon. UPDATE: even more tour dates have been announced and are listed belo.

In other news, Death Grips released a series of GIFs (109 to be exact) called "RETROGRADE" that are meant to be played at the same time. Here's what the group had to say about the project:

The piece itself is a musical instrument. Our real performances are disassembled, mangled, and thrown back together in a renegade way. We recommend the "PLAY ALL" button. This is exactly how we create our art. It's dirty, chaotic, and constantly on the brink of catastrophic failure. We encourage others to deconstruct our ideas and this piece in similar ways. We are excited about people creating their own content out of this device. It's not about the machine itself but the process of exploration.

All dates, videos, streams, and more below...

Continue reading "Death Grips releasing 2 albums on Epic (MP3s, videos, animated gifs, a Williamsurg show & other dates)"

Stalley @ SXSW 2012 (more by Ryan Muir)

For the month of April, NYC venue SOBs will be presenting 'I Love SOBs Music Fest.' A $100 badge will grant you access to every single show the venue puts on during April. The flier for the fest is below.

The shows include Obie Trice and friends on 4/3, Stalley and friends on 4/4 (also Stalley's album release party), Schoolboy Q on 4/11, Shabazz Palaces on 4/13, Casey Veggies on 4/25, and more. Individual tickets for all of these shows are on sale too.

Meanwhile, for Shabazz Palaces, the SOBs show (4/13) is one of two NYC shows on their upcoming tour which hits Brooklyn Bowl the next day (4/14). Tickets for the Brooklyn Bowl show are still available.

Stalley, like MANY rappers this year, was just down at SXSW where he played with Rick Ross at Fader Fort and was on the huge Warner Sound bill with T.I., Curren$y, B.o.B., and many others.

'I Love SOBs Music Fest' flier below...

Continue reading "SOB's offering pass to all April shows (Stalley, Shabazz Palaces, Schoolboy Q, Casey Veggies & more)"

Schoolboy Q

Rapper Schoolboy Q is playing SOB's in NYC on 4/11, right before he kicks off a tour with fellow Black Hippy member Ab-Soul. That tour doesn't currently include any NYC dates, but it does hit New Haven, CT on 5/2. and Chicago where Q will return in July for Pitchfork Fest. All Schoolboy Q dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q playing SOB's, Pitchfork Fest & other dates"

photos by Julie Schabel

Odd Future @ Hammerstein Ballroom - 3/20/2012

As you may have noticed when Bowery Presents announced an Odd Future show at Hammerstein Ballroom, the big NYC venue is no longer exclusive to Live Nation. The room also received a technology uprade. Venues today reports...

One of New York's iconic theaters is being retooled into a HD broadcast-capable concert facility, equipped to stream or broadcast any event live in beautiful 1080p.

The iconic Hammerstein Ballroom, built in 1906 and once a popular stop for vaudeville acts, is now home to a new revolution in performing arts -- the complete integration of a state-of-the-art broadcast and recording studio. Since 1997, the Hammerstein has been the anchor of the Manhattan Center, a television and music studio used to record musical performances for television, special concert events and other programming.

In December, the Manhattan Center made two large changes to open the space up to new clients. First, they ended Live Nation's exclusive booking contract for the facility, opening up the 3,500-capacity standing room concert hall to independent promoters and anyone interested in booking the building.

The Manhattan Center management team also completed the installation of TV1, a new fully HD recording studio that allows any content performed at the space to be streamed in HD, or digitally delivered for future distribution. The upgrades come on top of some physical improvements to the building including renovated dressing rooms and a new marquee.

A few more pictures from the Bowery-presented Odd Future show, below...

Continue reading "Hammerstein Ballroom upgraded & can now be booked by anyone (Odd Future played there, Tenacious D on sale)"

Along with partner Lenny Roberts (RIP), Breakbeat Lou put together the Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilations that represent the sonic building blocks of hip-hop - the OG breakbeats discovered by pioneering Bronx DJs back in the day. This Wednesday Lou celebrates the release of his forthcoming mix CD, Da Diggin' Ek-Suh-Bish-Uhn with all vinyl sets by an all-star line-up of turntable technicians, including the great Kenny Dope, and Boogie Blind of the X-ecutioners. It all goes down at Props - Rich Medina and Akalepse's mid-week soiree.

Lil B has dropped another nugget of ridiculosity with "Ima Eat Her A$$". On YouTube he writes:

THIS IS A BASED FREESTYLE FOR THE WOMEN,
THIS IS VERY RARE THAT LIL B HAS SHOWN HIS FACE FOR THE PEOPLE TO SEE HIM,
PROTECT LIL B AND IF YOU LOVE LIL B TELL THE WORLD- Lil B

The supremely eloquent MC will also speak at an NYU event on April 11th, tickets are $5 with NYU ID and $10 to the public. Make sure to get there to witness the "AMAZING HISTORICAL VERY POSITIVE FIRST LECTURE, PROGRESSION, 4 LIFE".

Videos below....

Continue reading "Lil B speaking at NYU, drops more videos with NSFW titles"

DJ Shadow @ Pitchfork Fest 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Aside from performing at both weekends of Coachella, DJ Shadow has a 2012 tour which kicks off Tuesday at the Fillmore in Silver Springs, MD. All dates are listed below.

On Wednesday night (3/28) he'll be in NYC at Irving Plaza with Nerve. Tickets are still available.

Last DJ Shadow played Pitchfork Fest. Pitchfork Fest just added more artists to their 2012 lineup (like The Atlas Moth, Danny Brown, Dirty Projectors, Clams Casino, Flying Lotus, Iceage, The Men, Olivia Tremor Control, Purity Ring, Schoolboy Q, and Sleigh Bells).

All Shadow tour dates and his video for Scale It Back ft. Little Dragon below...

Continue reading "DJ Shadow kicking off tour, playing Irving Plaza, Coachella & other dates; Pitchfork Fest expands 2012 lineup"

by Andrew Sacher

Drake at Tammany Hall in 2010 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Earlier this month, Drake wrapped up a tour with Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky, before the latter two made their way to Austin for SXSW.

That tour didn't hit the NYC area but Drake has since announced another slew of North American dates which include PNC Bank Arts Center on June 12 in Holmdel, NJ and Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on June 16 in Wantagh, NY. Like the Kendrick/A$AP tour, most of the new dates, including both NYC area shows, are with a list of on-their-way-to-being-huge rappers: J. Cole, 2 Chainz (who last played NYC when he sold out SOBs in January), Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, and French Montana. Tickets for the PNC Bank Arts Center show and the Jones Beach show are on sale now.

All dates and the video for "Headlines" below...

Continue reading "Drake anounces more 2012 Tour Dates, shows at PNC Bank ARts Center & Jones Beach (w/ J. Cole, Waka Flocka, more)"

The Foreign Exchange

The Foreign Exchange (aka Phonte of Little Brother and DJ Nicolay) have a few upcoming shows this year, including one in Brooklyn on June 4 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/30) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (3/28) at noon. All known dates are listed below...

The Foreign Exchange's most recent release is the live CD/DVD, Dear Friends: An Evening with the Foreign Exchange, which came out last year. The album documented a private acoustic show that The Foreign Exchange performed in Durham, NC in February, 2011 with their touring lineup of Zo!, Sy Smith, and Jeanne Jolly. Check out the video of "Laughing At Your Plans" from the DVD below.

Zo! and Sy Smith also play shows as a duo and have an upcoming NYC show happening on May 3 at DROM with Morris Alan and Frances Jaye. Tickets are on sale now. The show flier and all dates are below.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "The Foreign Exchange (Phonte & Nicolay) schedule shows, released a live CD/DVD (w/ Zo!, Sy Smith, more)"