photos by Sharese Ann Frederick

Ed Banger's DJ Mehdi signs a fan

Bassnectar closes out the final day

"Bassnectar, arms flailing and Cousin It hair flying in all directions, brought the loudest set of the weekend, inspiring two concertgoers to scale a 30-foot support pole inside the tent." [NYU News]

Fresh off a recent appearance at Electric Zoo 2010, Bassnectar will return to NYC to play Terminal 5 on Nov 6th with Beats Antique (DJ set) and Emancipator. Tickets are on sale. The show is part of a larger US trek for the electronic artist that extends until the middle of December (and that was previously listed without the NYC show). All dates below.

In terms of new material, he says:

This week i finished the latest Bassnectar EP, 'Wildstyle' which is the most bonkers collection of music i've ever created. Each song was crafted with you in mind, and how your body and soul will be affected when the waves of this music are crashing through your cells. We will have more info soon with regards to release, but it will definitely become centerpiece of the fall soundtrack.

In the meantime, and as promised, we have our fourth and final set of 2010 Electric Zoo pictures in this post. You can also check out PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3, before continuing with PART 4 below...

Continue reading "the final set of Electric Zoo pics & more Bassnectar dates "

Public Enemy @ Roots Picnic (more by Tim Griffin)

WARREN, NJ, June 24, 2009 Speculation and predictions that have filled blogs and discussion boards can be put to rest. The Virgin Mobile Festival is returning, but with a catch. It'll be free.

Virgin Mobile USA, creator of one of the largest and most critically acclaimed music festivals in the U.S., announced today that it would host the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival on Sunday, August 30, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., free of charge. All tickets will be given away, and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers and Virgin Mobile customers will have the first crack at securing the 35,000 tickets.

The move celebrates both a giveback to music fans in a bad economy as well as an effort to solicit donations to homeless youth agencies in need around the country via The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobiles charitable arm. Most sponsors, including premier sponsor Kyocera Communications, will be building awareness for the cause in their marketing efforts around the festival.

"Instead of focusing on layoffs or the state of the economy, we want to focus on concrete ways to provide assistance to those in need", said Dan Schulman, CEO, Virgin Mobile USA. "People need outlets to both lend a helping hand and to escape and relax, for free, even if just for one day. We want to throw some good news in the mix".

The 2009 Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be hosted on the beautiful, 40 wooded acres of Merriweather Post Pavilion. The grounds and facilities of Merriweather will be expanded to accommodate the multiple stage and dance tent set-up from prior Virgin Mobile Festivals. Those scheduled to appear at this years FreeFest include Weezer, Blink-182, Franz Ferdinand, and Public Enemy, Jet, The National, Girl Talk, The Bravery, The Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Wale, and Taking Back Sunday, as well as dance tent favorites that include HOLY F*CK, Pete Tong, Danny Howells and Lee Burridge.

Weird lineup.
Press release continued, with ticket info and more funny quotes, below....

Continue reading "MD Virgin Mobile Fest returns in 2009 as a free event (lineup)"

words by Showtrotta, live photos by Gabi Porter, portraits by Leia Jospe

Late of the Pier (by Leia Jospe)

Soulwax (by Gabi Porter)

Aside from catching a lot of great new acts during this year's CMJ, the highlight for me had to be Insiders at the Fillmore last Friday (10/24).

Insiders was a "micro-festival" put together by Pete Tong and Live Nation whose goal was:

...to highlight and celebrate a cross pollination of genres, all somewhat considered left-of-center but each possessing the potential to gain mass appeal in the mainstream arena - Insiders is destined to provide a jam packed, quality festivalé of fun and music, redefining the future of electronic music

While I'm not sure if attaching a $55 price tag (though I felt it was easily worth that) to an eight act, one evening, bill was the ideal way of gaining "mass appeal in the mainstream arena", Insiders did provide a lot of fun for everyone present that evening, laying the ground work, and highlighting the future of electronic music. In a time when deejay sets are frequently delivered from behind laptops (which can still be art depending on who's doing it), Insiders brought many electro acts who do more than that to the forefront. Yes, the evening did have its share of deejays. Rob Da Bank, Luciano, James Lavalle, and Pete Tong all managed to get the crowd adequately moving during the time allotted, but anyone there will tell you the true excitement and electricity of the evening came when the live bands joined with electronics during the Whip, Late of the Pier, and Soulwax's performances.

continued below...

Continue reading "Soulwax, Late of the Pier, The Whip & others @ Irving Plaza (CMJ), NYC - pics "

by Showtrotta

DOWNLOAD: The Whip - Trash (South Central remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit - The Very Best Mixtape (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: The Whip - Divebomb (FFS remix) (MP3)

Shout Out Out Out

It's CMJ time again. In a city where there are almost always some good acts passing through it's hard to understand what exactly the big deal is about the CMJ Music Marathon. Then you realize there will be "over 1,000 artists, in more than 65 venues in 5 days" and you have yet to even look at the schedule! Get crackin', run around, and get down! While last year's marathon (which featured Simian Mobile Disco, the Black Ghosts, MSTRKRFT, and Justice to name a few) will be hard to top in terms of dance music, this year's is by no means shabby.

What looks good to me on the official schedule is here (though note that the Little Boots Annex show is actually on Thursday). Explanations & more info is below. Also, be sure to read the official CMJ schedule carefully, as typically late night dj events will often be listed under the following day (ie: a Tuesday night dj set starting at 1am will actually be listed on CMJ's schedule under Wednesday)....

Continue reading "the CMJ week in Dance w/ Showtrotta "

"I still can't believe this is $55." [madmang]

"New York, NY- The economy may have fallen on hard times, but that is no reason any New Yorker should have to miss the premiere of Pete Tong's "Insiders Music Series" on October 24th at The Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza which has become one of the most anticipated events of CMJ week. To prevent this impending crisis we are introducing the "Hipster Bailout" plan. Beginning today a limited number of tickets will be made available for $30.00 while supplies last. Once exhausted, a second limited allotment of tickets will be made available for $40.00 with all tickets returning to normal pricing once these allotments are fulfilled or the day prior to the event, whichever comes first.

Tickets are at Ticketmaster.

I also have a pair of tickets to giveaway for this show. To win them, email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: LOTP). Include your first and last name, A winner will be picked at random and contacted.

Late of the Pier and the Whip are also playing a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Irving Plaza set times, including for the just-added movie screening (with trailer), below...

Continue reading "Soulwax/Pete Tong/LOTP show reduced in price, set times"

Late of the Pier

On October 24th during New York City's CMJ Music Festival, UK DJ extraordinaire, forward thinker and BBC's very own Pete Tong will be teaming up with Live Nation and launching the premier of a new music platform; the Insiders Music Series. "INSIDERS brings together an exciting combination of the hottest electronic artists and dj's for one extended night in the legendary Irving Plaza venue. A cutting edge 'micro' festival in the city." Explains Tong who aims to showcase some of the worlds biggest and burgeoning electronic acts from all over the world, all under one roof and for one night only this October at New York's historical Irving Plaza.

The complete bill (happening at the historical magnificent wonderful legendary Irving Plaza I mean Fillmore): Soulwax + 2ManyDJs, Pete Tong, James Lavelle, Luciano, Rob da Bank, The Whip, and Late of the Pier...

"Boasting a back catalogue of songs that swing from glitchy electronica to 60s pastiche via comedy game-show music, Late of the Pier's set isn't exactly conducive to a calm atmosphere. And it's one of the best festival sets we've seen for a long while, in terms of enthusiasm from the fans and the sheer inventiveness of tracks like Bathroom Gurgle and Heartbeat. So much so we don't even care that we now have 17 pints of lager absorbed in our T-shirt." [Guardian]

Tickets for the Irving Plaza show are now on sale. Unfortunately it is the same night as Roisin Murphy's U.S. debut.

More Soulwax tour dates HERE. The NYC "Insiders" flyer, and info on Late of the Pier's album and other dates, below...

Continue reading "Late of the Pier playing PA & NYC @ Pete Tong's CMJ showcase w/ Soulwax & others (tix)"