Diplo released the "Express Yourself" 7" this month, the single for that track from his EP of the same name. You've already seen the video for that song, which features bounce artist Nicky Da B, and below we're offering a stream of the single's b-side, "Move Around" (featuring Elephant Man and GTA). That's the cover art for the 7" above. Pick up a copy on green vinyl.

Diplo, Grimes, Skrillex (one of the greatest guitarists of all time), Tokimonsta, Pretty Lights, and others are set to head out on the Full Flex Express Tour, a tour of Canada on a train modeled after The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band's 1970 Festival Express tour.

Although the Full Flex Express tour doesn't come to the US, Diplo, Skrillex, and Pretty Lights will all be in NYC later this summer for Electric Zoo, which returns to Randall's Island from August 31-September 1. Tickets are on sale now. The full lineup is listed below. Skrillex will also be in the NYC area for Bamboozle this weekend.

Speaking of electronic dance festivals in New York, the Electric Daisy Carnival will occur at MetLife Stadium this weekend from May 18-20. The lineup includes MSTRKRFT, Richie Hawtin, Fatboy Slim, Bassnectar, and others. Tickets are available. Full lineup below.

In more related news, the touring Identity Festival, whose lineup was a bit better last year but certainly bigger this year since it sold out in less than 24 hours, returns to NY on July 28 at Jones Beach. Artists playing include Datsik, Eric Prydz, Nero, and more. Full lineup below.

Festival lineups and stream below...

Continue reading "Grimes taking a train ride with Skrillex & Diplo; Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo, Identity Fest & other EDM news too"

The Electric Daisy Carnival, the dance music festival which drew over 250,000 attendees to its three-day Las Vegas event last year, will hit New York on May 19-20, 2012, at a soon-to-be-announced location....

"I'm really excited to be working with Pacha to bring our touring experience of Electric Daisy Carnival to New York," Pasquale Rotella, founder and CEO of Insomniac Events, told Billboard exclusively. "The entire Insomniac staff is looking forward to this upcoming EDC weekend on the East Coast." -[Billboard]

Uh oh. Electric Daisy Carnival is coming to NYC. No word on the lineup yet for NYC, or for their flagship event in Las Vegas on June 8th - 10th, or for the third third festival they're doing this year in Puerto Rico. 2011's events featured appearances from The Crystal Method, Skream, Rusko, Diplo, Skrillex, Bloody Beetroots, MSTRKRFT and many, many others (you get the idea).

As you might know, much like the similarly themed HARD, EDC started in California (in 1997), but moved to Vegas last year. This NYC outing is their first venture to the East Coast.

With the announcement of EDC, NYC suddenly has a growing number festivals on our hands, many of which are electro-heavy, such as the similar Electric Zoo which happens on Randall's Island over Labor Day Weekend (pics from 2011), and the slightly more mixed Governors Ball which is now on Radall's Island too, and which is the same weekend as Orion in Atlantic City. Last summer also introduced Escape 2 NY to the Hamptons (which is planning to return). Hopefully these new fests fare better than 2011 Hamptons non-fest Music To Know.

Check out a video trailer from the Las Vegas show below.

Continue reading "watch out, Electric Daisy Carnival is coming to NYC "

Due to events beyond our control, HARD LA M.I.A. July 17 has been cancelled.

Thanks to the continued support of City of Los Angeles, LAPD, LAFD, and California State Parks HARD SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL at the Los Angeles State Historic Park on August 7th 2010 featuring Soulwax, Crystal Castles, Major Lazer, Erol Alkan, Diplo, Digitalism and more will continue as scheduled.

Tickets for HARD LA M.I.A. are automatically valid for the HARD SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL. HARD will offer refund instructions July 13th via HARDFEST.com

HARD NYC M.I.A. in New York July 24 at Governors Island is on as scheduled.

According to that official statement, the official reason for cancellation is "events beyond our control". What do you think those events are? It's probably slightly more than a coincidence that the huge show M.I.A. was set to headline on July 17th was cancelled on the same day her new album was majorly panned (low ticket sales already, no hope of getting better).

That said, like we have Drake to blame for everything here in NYC, LA has the recent disaster that was the Electric Daisy Carnival. So not surprisingly, when the LA Times just broke this news, though they mentioned ticket sales, the headline was: "Citing security concerns, HARD L.A. canceled"..

Documents from sources connected to a number of the acts scheduled to perform at the July 17 concert indicate that the promoters behind HARD L.A. have canceled the show in light of the new scrutiny and logistics demanded of large-scale electronic music concerts in Los Angeles.

The annual festival this year was to feature acts including M.I.A., Die Antwoord, Flying Lotus, Sleigh Bells and others...

The documents indicate that the festival will not be rescheduled, but that the New York installment on July 24 has not been affected. The cancellation comes as rumors of poor advance ticket sales have dogged the festival in recent days.

A little while later, LA Times updated their story with this:

Gary Richards, Hard L.A.'s promoter, said in a phone interview that "We've been working with the city for months and all our security plans were approved. The city was pleased with our plan. The LAPD had asked for some more cops, but most of this was the exact same plan as before. We just thought it would be better to put both events together. This didn't have anything to do with security issues."

When asked if slower-than-expected ticket sales affected the cancellation, Richards said "I'd rather not comment on that."

PREVIOUSLY: Pitchfork trashes new M.I.A. album, cops break up release party @ PS1 +++ here are those Creators Project pics

Videos from the Electric Daisy Carnival Rave below...

Continue reading "HARD LA M.I.A. show cancelled (not for security concerns)"