Francis & the Lights @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Natasha Ryan)

Hopefully you had fun getting down on Friday. I am in a weird rut and did not go out! A lot of things I am really excited about are happening tonight/Saturday (4/11), but I won't be here. Have a good dance for me and let me know what I missed in the comments. Here's what's going on Saturday night along with some events happening next week:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Four Tet (aka electronic musician Kieran Hebden) has announced six dates in US and Canada, including a NYC performance (UPDATE: DJ SET) at The American Museum of Natural History's monthly One Step Beyond party on Friday March 13 (tix here). The gig, with Jon Hopkins and Mapei, is the first time Hebden will play a NYC "Four Tet" set (UPDATE: DJ SET) since canceling his June 2008 Studio B show.

In 2008, Hebden paired up with drummer Steve Reid to release the collaborative record NYC. Appropriately, the duo visited New York in December and July.

Opening for Four Tet at the AMNH (and two other shows) will be Domino signee Jon Hopkins, a British "composer, pianist and self-taught studio wizard," who is releasing his third record, Insides, on May 5 - free single "Wire" is up at Domino Records. Hopkins also plays Pianos on 3/14.

You may know Four Tet's Madvillainy remixes - released by Stones Throw and as part of the Domino released Four Tet Remixes 2xCD - well, Hebden and other remixers should have new source material soon, as Lex Records reports that it will release (MF) DOOM's new CD, Born Like This, on March 24, 2009. We reported last Fall that DOOM might be preparing his MM..FOOD follow-up for an unexpected release. The new disc is currently available for pre-order, and tracks "That's That" and "Ballskin" are now streaming on DOOM's Myspace.

All tour dates, "Rhinestone Cowboy" Four Tet remix video, and Born Like This track list below...

Continue reading "Four Tet & Jon Hopkins tour dates & a new MF DOOM album"

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid

Reid and Hebden have made several albums together by now, including the excellent Tongues in 2007. Those sea legs seem to have a mighty short half-life, though: Reid's creative phrasing and pulse games are, as always, a fascinating contrast to the rigid rhythmic grids typical of Four Tet constructions, but on NYC [their album releaesd November 3rd by Domino] the pair doesn't seem to find a happy middle ground anywhere. With Reid on tap, ready to dive in headfirst with limbs flailing and very few responsibilities, you almost have to wonder whether Hebden just found himself in over his head; the album may have been considerably more focused if Hebden had sampled Reid's performances and woven them in as loops. But that would defeat the whole point of the project, now wouldn't it? [Popmatters]

Continue reading "Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) - Tour Dates (tonight @ LPR)"

DOWNLOAD: Tittsworth - WTF (Nadastrom remix - Stretch Armstrong Edit) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tittsworth - WTF (Eli Escobar remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Lifelike remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Runaway - Use Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy (Grandmaster Flash remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Daisy O'Dell - (3 live mixes): Electro Bounce, Groovy Disco Breaks, and Boogie Hits (yousendit MP3 link)
DOWNLOAD: Mikix The Cat - Freeze (Kanji Kinetic remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Captain's Holiday Mix '08 (Mediafire MP3 link)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - All the Cash (Glitch Mob Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Acquaviva - November '08 Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Drlkt Freddie - Airtight (MP3)

Fake Blood is not Soulwax

I took two nights off after my early start Wednesday night, leaving me eager to hit the B Saturday night for a party that featured a nice mix of deejays that were both familiar and new (to me). I arrived in time to catch the tail end of Van Scott's set which featured a dancey Lykke Li remix, a super-voded mix of Little Boots' "Meddle" (which I later found out was by Treasure Fingers), and lots of other recent tracks.

Franki Chan followed with an excellent mix of some tracks I didn't recognize along with some new favorites including Whomadewho's "TV Friend" (one of the remixes that just came out at the end of last month) and a lovely hybrid version of the Soulwax remix of the Chemical Brothers' "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" that featured the original "super star deejays" vocal sample instead of "2manydj's" but as far as I could tell, retained all the instrumental parts from the Soulwax remix.

Princess Superstar took the evening in a highly dancey meets retro direction, dropping some current stuff mixed with some updated, oldie but goodie classic 90's tracks. Her set segued into Larry Tee's with the pair performing a live version of their hit "Licky" that's had dancefloors freaking out since last winter. Larry's set had everyone getting down and remembering what an innovator the pioneer of electroclash was and continues to be.

The night ended with a bang that unfortunately, hardly anyone was left to see: Nadastrom absolutely killed it. I'm not sure what specifically was great about their set ...it might have been the song selection, excellent mixing, just the right amount of wobbly bass...but one of the most satisfying elements of their set was the enthusiasm the pair maintained as the not too big to begin with, Studio B crowd dwindled down to a few handfuls of people:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Fake Blood, Lifelike, Larry Tee, Tittsworth, Moby, Evil Nine & more)"

This weekly post was really just meant to be an (arguably) interesting news roundup of where (mostly BV-covered) music and musicians are showing up besides in our stereos/computers/headphones/players/etc. Like all news, it might be positive, negative or neither depending on your point of view. Whether or not an artist is "selling out" by licensing their song to a particular product advertisement and/or TV show is always going to be a valid issue/argument/debate, but I removed "It's Not Selling Out Anymore" from the post title because, lighthearted or not, I think it was making this post into something it's not. Most importantly, I didn't want the title to be misconstrued as an official BrooklynVegan position on anything. There will always be (arguably) cringe-worthy examples of licensing (see Of Montreal + Outback Steakhouse) and licensing-related broken (fan's) hearts (see The Moldy Peaches + Atlantis resorts), but a lot of licensing news (as you can see below), is (arguably) pretty neutral. Are there any Modest Mouse fans offended that a Modest Mouse song appears in a snowboarding video game? I doubt it. Does it bother anyone that Stars of the Lid gave a song to the Environmental Defense Fund? Probably only people that are anti-polar bear... That's all I wanted to say.... I won't write intros to these posts after this week (please try to keep the conspiracy theories to a minimum!), so without further ado... it's "This Week in Music Licensing"...

by Ryan Barkan

Battles @ Irving Plaza (more by Bao Nguyen)

42 Below likes to do things because they can, like make Vodka and wear white suits. The New Zealand spirit maker just launched a campaign and website around the brand's mantra, "Because We Can" - living by your own rules and following your dreams. Pretty deep. The web-based campaign consists of five short films and a user-generated video contest.

Each of the five short films have a few things in common - men in all white suits, left-of-center creative, art installations, cool music, and no relation whatsoever to Vodka. Carpet Cupcake uses Battles' 2007 jam "Atlas". Two different Boards Of Canada songs are used in Beach Dolls and Car Wrap. Domino artist Four Tet provides the sonic background to Mountain Rainbow, a spot where the white suit men create a huge arch of colored plastic chairs on top of a snowy mountain. South African electronic artist Felix Laband is used in Crate UFO.

Do you have a "because I can attitude"? Do you also like to make your own videos? Do you want to win some money for doing those things ($4200)? If so, you can head to the campaign's website to find out more about the contest.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Tokyo Police Club think it is "really cool and really awesome" that they made a cameo on Sunday night's (11/16) episode of Desperate Housewives. They entered a "battle of the bands" contest, performed "In A Cave", and had two of their song titles ("Shoulders And Arms" and "Cut Cut Paste") featured on the club walls as faux band posters. Even more, two band members have lines in the dialogue. Stereogum has the video. In semi-related news, TPC's Graham Wright just released a solo EP online as a free and/or pay download.

On the tube, Gossip Girl featured three tracks from the new Kings Of Leon album, Only By The Night; One Tree Hill for the second week in a row used a song by Margot & the Nuclear So-So's and also had a song by Earlimart; 90210 went with Kanye West, and Stereolab; CSI Miami used both Jenny Lewis and Bloc Party; NUMB3RS had Cold War Kids; Privileged used CSS; Grey's Anatomy had The Coral Sea. All this week Letterman is featuring cover bands.

Nissan'snew Canadian commercial "Morning Light" goes singer-songwriter with Alexi Murdoch's "Breathe". Nice song but I think they could have found a similar style track with a better lyrical match. Watch the video here.

Toshiba's UK agency breaks the broadcast mold a bit with a commercial featuring Matrix-esque cinematography while using the Crystal Castles song "Air War". Watch the video below.

Stars Of The Lid hit NYC's (le) Poisson Rouge on Friday 11/21; I wonder if they will play the serenely spatial "A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaningless Process", a song used by the Environmental Defense Fund to help fight global warming. The web commercial was released at the end of August. The powerful Polar Bear spot can be seen below.

What do 2008 Mercury Prize winning band Elbow and Electronic Arts have to do with each other? Elbow's song "Grounds For Divorce" is the soundtrack to the commercial announcing EA's new first person shooter, Left 4 Dead; the game hits shelves this upcoming week. Video is below.

Ubisoft Montreal just released Shaun White Snowboarding in North America. The game's soundtrack is a good mix of classic (Bob Dylan, Heart, Blue Öyster Cult, Living Colour, Run DMC, Harry Nilsson) and modern (Modest Mouse, MGMT, The Ting Tings, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) bands. Check out the full soundtrack at Wikipedia. Bob Dylan plays NYC this Friday night (11/21).

Interesting downloadable content (DLC) was made available this week via Xbox Live and Playstation Network for both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2: GH got both a Jimi Hendrix and Smashing Pumpkins three song pack and RB2 fans can now play the entire Foo Fighters album The Colour and the Shape.

Videos below...

Continue reading "This Week in Music Licensing (Crystal Castles, Stars of the Lid, Elbow, Battles, Tokyo Police Club, and more) "

DOWNLOAD: Hope Sandoval - Wild Roses (MP3)

1- THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - Asleep from day
2- ALPHA - Elvis
3- *NOUVELLE VAGUE - Confusion
4- FINK - Trouble's what you are in
5- *HOPE SANDOVAL - Wild Roses
6- TUNNG - Bullets
7- TWO FOR THE ROAD - Road Trip
8- APPARAT - Hailin' from the edge
9- *TELEPOPMUSIK - Ghost Girl
10- FOUR TET - Everything is alright
11- *THE SHOES feat. KELLY DE MARTINO - 7 am
12- JOSÉ GONZALEZ - Down the line
13- KELLY DE MARTINO - Long, long, long
14- BOARDS OF CANADA - Dayvan Cowboy
15- ASWEFALL - Between the miles

Six of the songs are streaming at MySpace including all three news ones. Most importantly...NEW HOPE SANDOVAL (also available for download above)

Hope is also supposedly (hopefully) going to appear on the new Massive Attack album ("The Weather Underground") coming out some time in 2009.

In related news, Mazzy Star keyboardist Suki Ewers is still making music and playing shows.

Check out the classic Jesus & Mary Chain video for "Sometimes Always" (starring Hope) below...

Continue reading "HOPE SANDOVAL pens a NEW song for Air France (MP3), Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada & others on CD too"

The next free Ben Neil-curated free show at the World Financial Center Winter Garden happens Tuesday (July 22, 2008). On the bill this time: Kieran Hebdan (Four Tet) and Steve Reid. "Hebden and Reid create an abstract sound that incorporates elements of hip-hop, electronica, jazz, and folk music with live drumming & percussion."

But that's not the only chance to see Kieran perform this week (see flyer above if you didn't already) (RSVP email). All Kieran dates below...

Continue reading "Kieran Hebden plays NYC Tuesday (AND TONIGHT)"

The Field cancelled a bunch of shows in April, but this time it's Four Tet....

We regret to inform you that Four Tet has dropped off the bill for Friday's Show.

THE FIELD, THE YOUNG KNIVES, AND THE GLIMMERS WILL PERFORM AS PLANNED.

A message from their management:

"We are truely sorry to have to cancel this show, unfortunately a family emergency came up and we had to make a decision based on what felt right. This show was incredibly important to us and we apologise for any disappointment this last minute cancellation may have caused -sometimes our personal lives have to come first i guess! We'll be rescheduling another date in New York as soon as possible and thank you for your understanding."

Refunds available via Ticketweb. For those who purchased tickets at Other Music or Sound Fix please follow up directly with club for your refund.

The Young Knives are also playing a few other NYC shows.

Spank Rock also cancelled his (their) last (two) show (shows) at Studio B.

Yes just cancelled a whole tour.

"BEN NEILL is a composer, performer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. Through his use of interactive computer technologies, Neill creates a unique musical and visual experience, melding the worlds of electronic music, jazz, pop culture and visual media." [Ben Neil]

"Ben is the curator of the River to River Festival at World Financial Center this summer. This series of 5 free concerts focuses on leading artists in the field of electronic music, including Ulrich Schnauss, Fennesz/Sakamoto, FourTet and Steve Reid, Nicolas Collins, Dorit Chrysler, Kode 9, Dubwar and Johann Johannsson. See full schedule here" [Ben Neil]

Info on a show Ben is playing himself, as well as a Kieren Hebden (FourTet) and Steve Reid video, below....

Continue reading "Ben Neil curated the five free electronic shows @ WFC "

DOWNLOAD: Familjen - Hög luft (The Field rmx) (MP3)

How far is Saratoga Springs because that's where the Field is playing Friday night before heading west to play Coachella and a few other West Coast shows. Too far probably (plus it's at a college), but that's okay because The Field will be back soon enough - June 6th at Studio B to be exact, with Four Tet and tickets are on sale. The Field will also be in Montreal in early May to play the electronic festival Mutek... with a live band.

UPDATE: West Coast tour dates cancelled

All dates below....

Continue reading "The Field - 2008 Tour Dates (Coachella/Mutek/Studio B)"

More free shows in NYC this summer.....

Continue reading "Winter Garden 2008: Ulrich Schnauss, Fennesz, Four Tet, Steve Reid, the music of Johnny Cash...."

Tickets are on sale for a November 13th White Williams and Battles show at Webster Hall in NYC. Last time I posted White Williams/Battles dates, the tour ended in Boston a day earlier. More dates, and info on a new Battles EP, below....

Continue reading "Battles - 2007 Tour Dates & new EP"