Zebra Katz @ BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Zebra fucking Katz, about to spend some serious time in Europe, dropped a mixtape yesterday and you should stream that bitch. With dates below...

Continue reading "Zebra Katz touring Europe, releases mixtape (listen!)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Chief Keef - "Love Sosa" (RL Grime Remix) (MP3)

One of the best parts of RL Grime's recent sets (like his set at HARD Miami) is his remix of Chief Keef's "Love Sosa," and he's just blessed us with an MP3 of the official remix, which you can download above or stream below (via FADER). If there's anything we learned from Keef's mostly-disappointing Finally Rich, it's that he's more of a hook guy than a verse guy, and on its best moments (like "Love Sosa"), he essentially got away with carrying those hooks on for the entire song. But on this remix of the track, RL plays with the hook, introduces plenty of dynamic changes, and throws in his fair share of trap thrills, arguably topping the original song.

RL Grime is currently on his previously mentioned North American tour, which hits NYC on May 9 at Le Poisson Rouge. Since we last spoke, it's been announced that the LPR show will be opened by Fool's Gold DJ Nick Hook and Maxiavelli. Tickets for that show are still available.

Chief Keef just announced a NYC show too.

Updated dates are listed, along with the remix, below...

Continue reading "RL Grime remixed Chief Keef's "Love Sosa" (MP3); Nick Hook and Maxiavelli opening his LPR show"

Rustie

As mentioned this past January, Williamsburg got a new, 452-capacity dance club, Output at 74 Wythe Ave by N. 12th St. We weren't sure exactly what types of "techno, house and other EDM styles" would be booked at the venue, but we're happy to report that they've already got some great shows coming up, as part of their weekly Thursday party, INPUT.

Tonight (2/28), Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is DJing the venue with Rory Phillips and Nick Hook. Tickets for tonight's show are available.

We already mentioned that Shlohmo's tour with D33J hits the venue on March 7, but that show is even better than we knew then, because Rustie, Jackmaster, and Oneman are on it too. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Then on March 14, Maxxi Soundsystem will play with Compuphonic, Plastic Plates, and Let's Play House's Jacques Renault (tickets). Meanwhile, there's a Let's Play House party happening this Friday (3/1) at Le Bain with DFA Records DJ Shit Robot and Eug.

The Night Slugs crew is hitting the venue on March 21 for a great show which features Bok Bok, Kingdom, L-Vis 1990, Girl Unit, Mike Q, Rizzla, and a live set from Teengirl Fantasy collaborator Kelela. Tickets for that one are on sale now.

You can stream a Rustie track below...

Continue reading "Rustie playing w/ Shlohmo, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs DJing, Night Slugs party, & other upcoming shows at Output"

Disclaimer: 285 Kent may/may not have a fridge full of 40s like the "G Thing" video

Twenty years? Yes, it's been that long since we first heard Snoop "pimpin' hoes and clockin' a grip like [he] was Dolemite" from the classic "Nuthin But a G Thing." The stars have officially aligned too, with this past weekend capping off a string of celebrations called Dre Day. Dre Day is both a time to look back to the classic The Chronic LP and also to celebrate the birthday of its creator, Dr. Dre.... you know, the guy that makes those headphones.

Anyway, the weekend featured events from coast to coast (Hannibal Buress was tweeting from one in Miami last night) in celebration of the West Coast hip hop favorite, and continues tonight (2/18)with a party set to blast at 285 Kent with Cosmo Baker, Nick Hook, Egg Foo Young and Project Matt. Tickets are still available, but get there early for some free Bulldog gin (and juice, naturally).

Head below for some classic videos from The Chronic, a full stream of it's follow-up LP Chronic 2001, and don't hold your breath for a follow-up LP Detox (which has been coming soon for close to ten years now).

Continue reading "Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' is 20 years old, celebrate w/ "Dre Day" (NYC party tonight at 285 Kent)"

photos by Oliver Correa & Amanda Rohowsky / HiFi Cartel

"Mykki Blanco freaking out the crowd at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival. #fierceness #nobros" - Tavia Nyong'o

"#BEMF Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival
exceeding expectations after 1 set" - Schuyler Van Horn

Nicolas Jaar / Gold Panda @ MHOW, 11/10/2012

The 2012 Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival went down this past weekend (11/9-10) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Glasslands, Cameo, Public Assembly, 285 Kent, and Brooklyn Bowl, with shows running until about 4 AM each night. A worthy alternative to people who don't like the excesses of major electronic festivals like Electric Zoo and Ultra Music Festival, BEMF has become one of the most forward thinking ones around. And this year may have been their best lineup yet with some great names in IDM, downtempo, post-dubstep, deep house, instrumental hip hop, and more like Nicolas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, Nguzunguzu, Kingdom, Mykki Blanco, Salva, Shlohmo, and many others.

N. 6th St. in Williamsburg was flooded with people, likely due to having Public Assembly right next to Music Hall of Williamsburg which is just down the street from Cameo, and the ticket pickup tent in the parking lot across the street. (Not that N6 isn't a madhouse anyway on the weekends.) But also very likely that on Saturday night it was due to one of the festival's most in-demand acts, Nicolas Jaar, whose set was pushed back from 1 AM to 2:30 AM after the last-minute addition of Dave P. Ashley from Et Musique Pour Tous wrote, "I've never seen Music Hall of Williamsburg as crowded as it was last night. For the first half hour of Nicolas Jaar's hour and a half long set, nobody could move, and dancing was an intimate experience to be shared with strangers." Hazel Sheffield call his set "precocious," writing:

He turned the chorus from Cat Power's 'Cherokee' - "Marry me, marry me to the sky," - into a slowburning, plaintive swirl of a lyric, then slipped the clanging chords from Dave McCallum's 'The Edge', best known as the opening sample on Dre's 'Next Episode', into an interlude, sending people wild for about two seconds, before they realised the joke was on them. Precocious, then. But completely absorbing.

More pictures from the festival below.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival 2012 in pics (Nicolas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, Nguzunguzu, Mykki Blanco & more)"

BEMF 2010 (more by Chris Doss)

The Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival is here tonight (11/9) and Saturday (11/10), and since our last update, the full schedule has been revealed. They're no longer using Villain as one of the venues, but will be using 285 Kent instead.

Tonight's updates include Omar S, Drop the Lime, Nick Catchdubs, Morri$, Deadboy, Jackmaster, and Matt Shadetek playing Public Assembly; and Nadastrom & Sabo, Uproot Andy & Geko, and DJ Blass playing 285 Kent (all ages). Those are in addition to the previously discussed sets by Gold Panda, Photek, and more at Music Hall of Williamsburg; Nguzunguzu, Kingdom, Fatima Al Qadiri, MikeQ, and more at Glasslands; and Braille, Brenmar, Mykki Blanco, Mess Kid, and more at Cameo.

Saturday's updates include Groundislava, Shlohmo, Salva, Lazy Brow, Jubilee, Wildlife!, Dre Skull, Dubbel Dutch, Fantasy Thrilla, and a special guest at Public Assembly; and Hussle Club and Body Language at Brooklyn Bowl. Those are in addition to the previously discussed sets by Nicolas Jaar, Lauren Flax, Nick Hook, and Heathered Pearls at Music Hall of Williamsburg; KI:Theory, FaltyDL, Benji B, and Pearson Sound at Cameo; and Baths, XXYYXX, Hiawatha, and Shadowbox at Glasslands.

Tickets for the festival are still available, including 2-day passes, 1-day passes for Friday (Saturday is sold out), and a special all ages ticket, which grants you access to tonight's 285 Kent stage (the rest of the venues are 21+).

Flyers with full lineups and set times are below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival 2012 is here (full schedule)"

FaltyDL - 'Hardcourage'

As mentioned, FaltyDL has been at work on his new album, Hardcourage, which features the single "Straight & Arrow." Details on the album have surfaced and we now know that it comes out on January 22 via Ninja Tune. That's the awesome cover art above [very Barney Bubbles - Bill] and the tracklist, including "She Sleeps," a collaboration with Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane, is below. The "Straight & Arrow" single comes out next week (11/13) via Ninja Tune and features remixes by Four Tet, Gold Panda, and MikeQ & Divoli S'vere. FaltyDL also just revealed the video for that track, which you can watch below.

As mentioned, FaltyDL will play Webster Hall on December 7 with Skream, but you can catch him in NYC sooner than that because he's been added to the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, which happens this Friday (11/9) and Saturday (11/10). FaltyDL plays Cameo Gallery on Saturday with Pearson Sound, Benji B, and Ki:Theory.

Since we last spoke, the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival has revealed more of its schedule (some of it is still TBA though). You already know that Music Hall of Williamsburg is hosting Gold Panda and Photek on Friday and Nicolas Jaar and Nick Hook on Saturday. In addition to Cameo's aforementioned Saturday lineup, on Friday they have Metro Area, Braille, Brenmar, Mykki Blanco, and Mess Kid. Glasslands has Kingdom, Nguzunguzu, Jam City, MikeQ, and Rizzla on Friday, and Baths, XXYYXX, Hiawatha, and ShadowBox on Saturday. Lineups are still TBA for Public Assembly, Brooklyn Bowl, and Villain. Tickets for the festival are still available.

FaltyDL video and album tracklist below.

Continue reading "FaltyDL reveals album info and video, playing Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (updated schedule)"

DOWNLOAD: Photek - "Pyramid" (MP3)

Photek

Last week, we mentioned that Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival expanded their lineup. The full schedule still hasn't been revealed, but it's been announced that Music Hall of Williamsburg will host two great double bills as part of the festival. On November 9, it's Gold Panda and Photek, and on November 10, it's Nicolas Jaar (live) and Nick Hook of Cubic Zirconia. Admission to those shows is gained by purchasing a festival pass, which are on sale now. 1-Day passes for each day and 2-Day passes are available.

Photek, who celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of his influential debut, Modus Operandi, this year, is releasing his fifth full length (and first since 2007) this month. It's called Ku:Palm and comes out physically on October 23 and digitally on October 30 via his own Photek Productions label. You can download the album's lead single, "Pyramid," at the top of this post or stream it below.

Continue reading "Music Hall of Williamsburg announces their BEMF shows (Photek, Gold Panda, Nicolas Jaar & Nick Hook)"

photos by Matt McGinley

SBTRKT @ Terminal 5

SBTRKT brought his tour to NYC last night (10/11) for his largest headlining gig here yet at Terminal 5 with Kilo Kish (who also has upcoming CMJ shows), Nick Hook, and Koreless. SBTRKT (whose live lineup includes main member Aaron Jerome and vocalist Sampha) were joined by a string quartet for a few songs and the stage was set up with two enlarged versions of the masks that SBTRKT wears. They played a good chunk of 2011's excellent SBTRKT and also worked in some bonus tracks and non-album singles.

We were pretty bummed to hear that SBTRKT had "stuff being stolen one minute before stage time from dressing room in Terminal 5" and (possibly related) he had sound issues that delayed the show for about an hour. But once he finally started, the show was wild and the crowd didn't seem to hold the late start against them. Pictures, videos and the setlist from the show are in this post.

The show was presented by Red Bull Music Academy, who also presented the Brainfeeder showcase at VIllain on Wednesday (10/10), and will present Four Tet, Jamie xx, and Floating Points at Autumn Bowl (10/26) and Grace Jones at Roseland (10/27).

More pics, videos and the setlist from last night show are below.

Continue reading "SBTRKT played Terminal 5 w/ Kilo Kish, Nick Hook & Koreless (pics, videos, setlist)"

Jam City

As mentioned, the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival returns on November 9 and 10 to multiple Brooklyn venues, including Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl, Public Assembly, Glasslands, Cameo, and The Villain Loft. Since we last posted, the lineup has been expanded and now includes Shlohmo, Jam City, Nguzunguzu, Kingdom, Salva, Groundislava, Brenmar, Nadastrom, Omar S, Mike Q, and more, in addition to previously announced names like Nicholas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, and others. The updated lineup is below.

Tickets for Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival are on sale now.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival expands lineup (Shlohmo, Jam City, Nguzunguzu, Kingdom, Salva, Omar S & more)"

BEMF 2010 (more by Chris Doss)

Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival is returning to Brooklyn for its fifth year on November 9 and 10 across multiple venues, including Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl, Public Assembly, Glasslands, Cameo, and The Villain Loft. The initial lineup already includes some pretty impressive names. So far, it's got Nicolas Jaar (live), Gold Panda (live), Photek (whose influential debut, Modus Operandi, has been celebrating its 15th birthday this year), Baths, Jackmaster, Onra, Nick Hook, and Hiawatha. Early bird tickets for the fest are on sale now.

The trailer video for BEMF 2012 and a radio rip of a recent Gold Panda single, "Trust," are below.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival 2012 announces initial lineup (Nicolas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, Baths & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Araabmuzik at Pitchfork Fest 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

Summerstage hooked up with Red Bull Music Academy to add a last minute (and really great) show to their 2012 schedule. On August 20 at East River Park they'll be presenting a free show with Araabmuzik, Flosstradamus, Teengirl Fantasy, and Nick Hook (of Cubic Zirconia). The show goes from 6 to 9 PM.

You may remember that Araabmuzik was supposed to play a Summerstage show back in June but cancelled. Hopefully everything goes as planned for this one. Araabmuzik just lent his production to Azealia Banks for her new song, "Succubi," which you can stream below.

For Teengirl Fantasy, the show is part of a tour they're on now and happens three days before the album release party for their new record, Tracer, aboard a Rocks Off Cruise (8/23) with Lemonade (tickets). Tracer drops next week (8/21), but NPR is streaming it in full a week ahead of its release. As mentioned, four of the ten tracks feature guest vocals (from Kelela, Panda Bear, Laurel Halo, and Romanthanony [the voice of Daft Punk's "One More Time"]) and those are balanced out by some pretty great instrumentals. The whole thing is really cohesive and has more of an album flow than their debut. Check it out for yourself.

Meanwhile, you can also catch Flosstradamus in NYC when they play with Rustie at the previously discussed Webster Hall show on September 7. Tickets for that show are still available.

All lists of updated dates and the new Azealia Banks song are below...

Continue reading "Araabmuzik, Teengirl Fantasy, Flosstradamus and Nick Hook playing free show in East River Park (updated dates & streams)"

The Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival will take place across five venues (all of which are on N. 6th St in Williamsburg) this year, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Public Assembly, The Cove, Cameo, and Zablozki's from November 11 - 12. The lineup includes Four Tet (DJ set), Diamond Rings, Matthew Dear, Reggie Watts, Kingdom, Nguzunguzu, Daedelus, and more (with more TBA). Tickets are on sale now. The currently announced lineup is listed below.

Reggie Watts meanwhile plays NYU's Skirball Center tonight (10/23) and will appear as a guest at The Talent Show at Littlefield on October 26th.

Diamond Rings is releasing a limited edition 7" to accompany the European release of his debut LP Special Affections. The 7" features album track "You & Me" and a cover of Teenage Fanclub's "Mellow Doubt." You can stream that cover below.

Matthew Dear also plays Moogfest which takes place in Asheville, NC not long before BEMF.

Lineup and song stream below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival 2011 -- 2 days @ 5 venues (lineup)"