Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins (Cybotron, Model 500, Channel One, Infiniti, etc), who is still going strong, will be reissuing two of his classic tracks on Berlin label Tresor this year, as Juno reports (via FACT). The label will release the tracks "I Love You" from 2004's Fast Forward and the 1995 version of his Cybotron track, "Techno City," on vinyl at some point this year. It's the seventh installment in Tresor's archival series, and thus the vinyl will come out under the name Archiv #7. You can stream both of those tracks below.

Juan Atkins was last in NYC at the tail-end of 2012 for a show at Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg and he'll be returning to that same venue this year for a show on May 18. Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's his only US date we're currently aware of but he has some international shows scheduled too, all of which are listed below.

Continue reading "Juan Atkins reissuing classic singles on Tresor archival series, playing shows (dates, streams)"

by Andrew Sacher

Speaking of veteran electronic musicians, Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins is returning to NYC before the end of the year for an intimate gig at Cameo in Williamsburg on December 29 with Brooklyn Bass. Tickets for that show are on sale now. Before recently visiting San Francisco, SFBG wrote...

It's telling that one of the originators of Detroit techno -- who first together with Rik Davis as Cybotron not only exploded what was expected of black American music, but also reinvented the possibilities for machine generated music -- would substitute android names for human ones.

Already the word Cybotron contained the material trace of the cyborg, spun into rapid particle acceleration by the cyclotron. "Not that I was hiding my name," Atkins clarifies. "When I first started making music in the '80s, the music industry was still really racially polarized. Even in America it still is that way to a certain degree. It was harder to cross over to certain genres, so I wanted to put more emphasis on the music as opposed to the person behind the music."

Juan has continued making music throughout the years with Cybotron, and as Model 500, Channel One, Infiniti, and under his own name. Earlier this year, he dropped the single, "Control," on what is currently one of the leading electronic labels, R&S (James Blake, Lone) and he still sounds just as forward thinking as his younger labelmates. You can stream that single below.

In the past year or so, Juan has made a contribution to the Scion A/V remix series and made a FACT mix, both of which you can also stream below. And in 2010, he contributed to RVNG's FRKWYS series, which included him remixing Psychic Ills' "Mantis." That remix is below too.

Continue reading "techno legend Juan Atkins playing NYC this month, listen to some mixes & tracks"

Bon Iver at Bonnaroo 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Bon Iver recorded an iTunes session at East West studios which is available exclusively from iTunes starting today. It includes six tracks off 2011's great Bon Iver, Bon Iver and a cover of Bjork's "Who Is It?," which the band has played live many times. You can stream the session's opening track, "Beth/Rest" below.

As mentioned, Bon Iver is touring internationally throughout the summer and fall and will come to NYC on September 19 and 20 at Radio City Music Hall. Both of those shows are now sold out. All Bon Iver dates, including a recently announced European leg, are listed below.

Speaking of Bjork, she's teaming up with the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Children's Museum of Manhattan to create interactive educational programs for middle school-aged students based on her Biophilia app. Speaking about the program, Bjork said:

"It's not a bookish thing. You cannot learn to make music from a book." "I love books; they're like the best ever," she added. "There are things you can only learn from books, but it's also important to introduce the physical aspects. So for me, it was very important to make, somehow, music education that was physical." (via NY Daily News)

Both Bon Iver and Bjork are set to play Oya Festival in Oslo, Norway this summer (Aug 7-11) with The Stone Roses, Refused, The Afghan Whigs, Bob Mould (performing Copper Blue), Chromatics, Cloud Nothings, John Maus, Purity Ring, Saint Etienne, SBTRKT, Screaming Females, St. Vincent, and more. Full list below.

Way Out West (Aug 9-11) in Gothenberg, Sweden features many of the same bands as Oya like Bon Iver, Refused, Afghan Whigs, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, John Maus, and Bob Mould in addition to Blur, Wilco, I Break Horses, Hot Chip, The War On Drugs, Mark Lanegan Band, Adolescents, Swans, and more. Check out the spotify playlist. The full lineup is listed below.

As mentioned, the reunited Mazzy Star is set to play both of those European festivals. Full lineups and the Bon Iver dates and song, below...

Continue reading "Bon Iver's new iTunes session, Bjork's new program at the NYPL & the full Oya & Way Out West festival lineups"

Lindstrom

Lindstrom will be releasing a 12" of remixes from his Six Cups of Rebel LP on June 25 with remixes from Oneohtrix Point Never (who plays Ecstatic Summer), Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, and Mark McGuire (of Emeralds). Have a listen to Oneohtrix Point Never's take on "Call Me Anytime" below.

Lindstrom is currently on a tour which brings him to NYC on Friday (5/25) for the previously discussed Webster Hall show with Simian Mobile Disco (tickets). That tour will also bring him to Detroit's Movement Electronic Music Festival this weekend where he'll play alongside Public Enemy, Actress, SBTRKT, Major Lazer, Gold Panda, Nina Kraviz, Matias Aguayo, FaltyDL, AraabMUZIK and more. Tickets for the fest are on sale now. The full lineup is listed below.

Speaking of electronic music festivals, Mutek goes down in Montreal from May 30 - June 3. The Mutek lineup includes Kode9, Nicolas Jaar, Clark, Blondes, Apparat, Shlohmo, Shackleton, Stephen O'Malley & Tim Hecker, Biosphere & Lustmord, and more. The full lineup is listed below.

In related news, as mentioned, Apparat will come to NYC after Mutek for a show at Gramercy Theater on May 31. It's since been announced that Sleepyhead will open that show. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Contest details below, along with a list of all dates, song stream, and those festival lineups.

Continue reading "Lindstrom releasing remixes 12", touring (dates); Movement Fest & Mutek coming soon (lineups); Apparat adds opener (win tix)"

photos by Greg Cristman

"Just saw Francois K DJ all Kraftwerk set in the MoMAPS1 dome for 90 minutes with 360 degree visuals. Sound by Jim Toth. I love NY." - DFA Records

"Only non-Kraftwerk song that both Juan Atkins and Francois K. played: Yaz's "Situation."" - Sasha Frere-Jones

Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk & Francois K @ PS1

Being that Kraftwerk began their 8-night, 8-album run of performances at MoMA back on April 10, and today is only the 16th, as of this writing there are still two chances to see them perform a full album in 3-D at the modern art museum. However, your chance to participate in "Kraftwerk Fest" at MoMA's PS1 has come and gone and featured two special Kraftwerk sets by DJs Juan Atkins (Saturday) and Francois K (Sunday).

Sunday, which we have pictures from in this post, was made even more special with a guest appearance by uncle Ralf Hutter who stopped by before performing Techno Pop" with his band at MoMA later in the night. Tonight he and his band will do "The Mix", and they finish it off Tuesday with "Tour de France."

The "fest", part of a month-long installation at PS1 (that runs until May 12), was was three hours long each day, with the DJs playing Kraftwerk remixes to a packed crowd. Francois K performs again TONIGHT (4/16) at Cielo with Four Tet (who is also DJing). Check out more pictures from Sunday at PS1, shots of 5Ptz across the street included, below...

Continue reading "Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk joined Francois K @ MoMA PS1 (pics); Four Tet plays with him tonight @ Cielo"

Kraftwerk begin their eight-show run at MoMA tonight (4/10), and MoMA is now selling a limited edition Kraftwerk boxset, but, as you know, there's more! MoMA PS1 in Long Island City is also doing this thing...

Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
On view April 12, 2012--May 14, 2012

In conjunction with Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at The Museum of Modern Art, an eight-channel video and sound installation especially developed for the exhibition is now on display in the MoMA PS1 Performance Dome.

Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider founded Kraftwerk In Düsseldorf in 1970 and set up the pioneering Kling Klang studio, where all Kraftwerk's albums have been conceived and composed. By the mid-1970s, Kraftwerk had achieved international recognition for its revolutionary experimentation with sound and imagery. Its compositions, which feature distant melodies, multilingual vocals, robotic Beats, custom-made vocoders, and computer speech, anticipated the impact technology would have on art and everyday life, capturing the human condition in an age of mobility and telecommunication. Kraftwerk's innovative looping techniques and mechanized rhythms, which had a major influence on the early development of hip-hop and electronic dance music, remain among the most commonly sampled sounds across a wide range of musical genres. Kraftwerk uses robotics and other technical innovations in its live performances, illustrating the belief that humans and machines make equal contributions in the creation of art.

AND, that's not all! This weekend at PS1, to go along with all this stuff, will be a Kraftwerk Music Festival! More details below...

Continue reading "Kraftwerk stuff happening @ PS1 too (installation & fest)"