a Sasquatch 2011 patron (more by Josh Darr)

The new year is approaching, and while you're making last minute plans and thinking up your resolutions, you can also start thinking about what festivals to attend in 2012. Here are some updates on next year's US festivals (not in any particular order).

SXSW, which is taking place from March 9-18 in Austin, with the music portion form March 13-18, has already announced a bunch of bands. If you register before January 13, you'll be able to save a bit.

New Orleans Jazz Fest is taking place from April 27 - May 6. The lineup includes The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Foo Fighters, Bon IverMy Morning Jacket, Feist, Janelle Monae, and others. The full lineup is below. Tickets are on sale now.

Sasquatch is taking place this year from May 25-28 in Gorge, Washington. 4-Day passes will be on presale through New Year's Eve, and general sale starts February 11. New for 2012, "Patrons who purchase a 4-day festival ticket will be allowed re-entry from the Festival grounds! This will not apply to any other ticket, only the 4-day pass."

Bonnaroo will be taking place from June 7-10 this year in Manchester, TN. Presale tickets have sold out but tickets will go on sale to the general public in the coming months. Also check out a Spotify playlist of the Bonnaroo staff's favorite songs of 2011.

Coachella, will take place over the course of two weekends this year (April 13-15 and 20-22). Other than a fake lineup poster that has been floating around, no artists have been officially announced yet.

Noise Pop will be celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2012 from February 21-26 in San Francisco. So far the lineup includes Archers of Loaf, Built to Spill, Big Freedia, Surfer Blood, Grimes, Bleached, John Vanderslice, Ume, and others. Check out the full list below.

Austin City Limits is taking place from October 12-14 in Zilker Park in Austin. Souvenir 3-day passes and early bird 3-day passes have sold out but regular 3-day passes are on sale now.

Lollapalooza will take place in 2012 from August 3-5 in Grant Park in Chicago. Tickets will go on sale this spring. As BVChicago mentioned, Lollapalooza is also taking place in Chile and Brazil this year.

Bamboozle, now in a new location, is taking place from May 18-20 in Asbury Park in New Jersey this year. So far the scary lineup includes Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Blink 182, Incubus, and Mac Miller. 3-Day wristbands are on sale now.

Bumbershoot is taking place from September 1-3 at Seattle Center in Seattle, WA. Tickets are available and Bumbershoot are currently having a holiday sale where single day tickets are half off (originally $150, now $75).

NYC's own Governors Ball, which took place at Governors Island in 2011, has been moved to the bigger Randall's Island and will take place over the course of two days, June 23 and 24. Like last year, there will be no overlapping sets. Compared to the others listed here, this is not quite a big "festival", but unlike anything else listed above, it does happen in NYC. Artist announcements and tickets are coming soon.

Current NoisePop and Jazz Fest lineups below...

Continue reading "2012 Music Festival Roundup (Jazz Fest, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Noise Pop, ACL, Coachella, Bamboozle, SXSW, Bumbershoot & more)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Rusko & fans

Clean or dirty? Uplifting or brutal? Those were choices dance-music fans could make on Saturday, the second day of the weekend-long Electric Zoo 2011 on Randalls Island. They could go for the polished tones, warm chords and step-by-step buildups of trance and house, the overlapping styles that have long dominated dance clubs worldwide and that gave Electric Zoo its headliners: Tiesto on Friday, David Guetta on Saturday and Armin van Buuren on Sunday. The unsubtle four-on-the-floor beat of trance has been a longtime staple of European pop hits, and in recent years American acts like Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and Rihanna have also embraced it.

Or they could get knocked around by the squirmy, distorted bass lines, sudden blasts and saw-toothed bits of melody of dubstep, which after years of enjoyment by devotees is now making itself known to a broader United States audience through D.J.'s like Skrillex, whose fans screamed with joy on Saturday afternoon. [NY Times]

Continue reading "pics from Electric Zoo 2011 @ Randall's Island"

What was supposed to happen on Governors Island during Hurricane Irene will now happen on Randall's Island on September 16th, 17th and 18th. Aside from post-jam band Dispatch and the dude the festival is named after, the exact lineups are still TBA, but tickets are on sale, and...

Single day and 3-day GA tickets and VIP Packages to Dave Matthews Band Caravan at Governors Island will be valid for the corresponding dates at Randall's Island, e.g. Friday tickets will be valid on Friday, Saturday tickets will be valid on Saturday and Sunday tickets will be valid on Sunday. Three-day General Admission tickets will be valid for all three rescheduled dates. Tickets previously used for entry at Governors Island on August 26 will be valid for the new respective Randall's Island dates. Those wishing to exchange their tickets for other days must submit their requests by email prior to Noon ET on September 14, 2011. (dmbcaravantix@musictoday.com for tickets purchased through DMBCaravan.com and whtix@davematthewsband.com for tickets purchased through the Warehouse fan association). Full and partial ticket value refunds are available for those that cannot attend some or all of the festival. Ticketholders may obtain full details on all the above options at http://www.dmbcaravan.com/exchange.

The annual electro fest on Randall's Island, Electric Zoo, begins today, Friday, 9/2, and lasts through Sunday. And though much of the lineup and crowd may scare you (Tiesto is the big headliner tonight), there is also something for everyone. Today's lineup also includes a DJ set by Moby, Rusko, a bunch of Ed Bangers, MSTRKRFT, and what is sure to be a very special set by Richie Hawtin in the form of Plastikman.

Press release describes it like this:

Electronic music producer and performer Richie Hawtin returns to U.S. soil with his darker alter-ego PLASTIKMAN. The Berlin-based artist will bring his one-hour live experience that explores the connection between audio, visual and interactivity to Electric Zoo on Governor's Island Friday, September 2. This will mark the debut of PLASTIKMAN LIVE in New York City. Richie Hawtin will also DJ a separate set at Electric Zoo in addition to presenting PLASTIKMAN LIVE on Sunday, September 4.

PLASTIKMAN LIVE was voted the best live act of 2010 by Resident Advisor readers and also was included in U.K. tastemaker magazine MixMag's best live dance act shortlist. Since launching March 2010 at Timewarp in Mannheim, Germany, the PLASTIKMAN show has been under a constant state of evolution helmed by Hawtin and his partners visual architects Derivative and visual designer Ali Demirel.

There is also a customized iPhone/iPod Touch application called Plastikman SYNK. Conceptualized by Hawtin and developed with RJ Fischer (http://hexler.net) and Bryan McDade (Minus), SYNK is available for free and is the official companion iPhone/iPod Touch application of the current PLASTIKMAN LIVE worldwide tour. SYNK users will participate in an experiment in audience-performer interaction aiming to blur the lines of perception and participation.

PLASTIKMAN LIVE is a fully immerse real-time interactive concept experience. It is the only show where the entire event has been created from the ground up with the artist (Richie Hawtin/PLASTIKMAN) spearheading each part of the development and vision. There is one performer--Richie Hawtin aka PLASTIKMAN--on stage employing the cutting edge and custom technology to control the entire audio/visual and lighting experience, with live real-time generative visuals (no timed coded pre-rendered video or movies) in connection with cutting edge Derivative TouchDesigner software, live control over DMX-controlled lighting (custom Ableton Live Midi>DMX solution), and real-time audience/performer interaction and communication with the custom iPhone SYNK App (The only live concert that allows the audience to control part of the show, HUD readouts, audience/performer chat client, live on stage camera feed, etc.).

"I'm very excited to bring my PLASTIKMAN show to Electric Zoo," states Hawtin. "I am very energized by the incredible developments in the electronic scene in North America, and finally we're seeing the underground movement that I represent with my label, artists, DJing and live shows being acknowledged by the big events and festivals. This is a great moment in American music history, and I am delighted to have a platform to present my take on where electronic music is today and my vision for its future."

SBTRKT, who DJs twice tonight at the similar North Coast Music Festival in Chicago, DJs Electric Zoo on Saturday (despite what his posted tour dates say)

A Plastikman video below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo begins, Richie Hawtin is Plastikman tonight"

Giant and very-varied Labor Day Weekend electro festival Electric Zoo returns to Randall's Island on September 2-4 and just announced 14 more artists to its already big lineup which is split across four stages (times three days).

The fest this year features performances by big names like Moby (DJ set), Rusko, MSTRKRFT, Richie Hawtin as Plastikman, Chromeo, Boys Noize, Calvin Harris and Diplo. The lineup also includes smaller but familiar and exciting names like Daedelus, SebastiAn (Live), SBTRKT, Nicolas Jaar (Live), and many more. The whole thing is listed below.

SBTRKT meanwhile has dates coming up in July.

SebastiAn, who has had singles floating around for a few years now, and more recently a film score, finally released his first proper full length Total on May 30 via Ed Banger. The album is 22 songs of Daft Punk-esque aggressive French House and features vocal contributions from Mayer Hawthorne and M.I.A.. Check out a soundcloud stream of the M.I.A.-featured "C.T.F.O." (which stands for chill the fuck out) and the full tracklist also below.

More tour dates for Diplo, Chromeo and Rusko, along with the EZ lineup, and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo expands lineup (SBTRKT, Nicolas Jaar, MSTRKRFT, MANY more), SebastiAn released 'Total' on Ed Banger"

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]

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.

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

words by Kon Glikos, photos by Zach Dilgard

Flying Lotus / ravers

As we were saying, This past Labor Day weekend saw the second installment of the Electric Zoo festival, taking place on Randall's Island. The two-day festival boasted a line up of over 70 artists on 4 stages, catering to most genres of electronic music. The line up ran the gamut. Commercial dance DJ's/acts such as: The Chemical Brothers, Moby, Armin Van Buuren, and house and techno staples the likes of: Richie Hawtin, Claude Von Stroke, and Steve Bug found themselves along side each other on the bill. In addition, artists such as Martyn, Erol Alkan, and Aeroplane represented genres like dubstep, electro, and nu-disco.

Highlights on Saturday included a blistering live techno set from Reboot, taking place in the Sunday School tent. In the evening, Major Lazer brought the crowd into a frenzy with their all-encompassing musical mash-ups. Over on the Red Bull Academy stage, Flying Lotus's much anticipated set had its moments of brilliance, namely a re-edit of Radiohead's Idioteque towards the end of his set. The Chemical Brothers closed out the night on the main stage, starting off with a string of new songs, signifying a musical directional change, giving way to older crowd favorites. Additionally, the visual production paired with their music, made their performance memorable for the thousands that listened in.

Day 2 started off on a high note, with Jon Hopkins's thoroughly original take of a live electronic set, which seemed largely improvisational. The next time slot called for witnessing a meeting of the techno minds back at the Sunday School tent. Techno heavy weights: Martin Buttrich, Mattias Tanzmann and Davide Squillace performed a track for track DJ set that was mainly composed of their favorite techno classics. It quickly became one of the highlights of the weekend. On the main stage, Moby played his DJ set to a sea of people in full on festival mode. His set was a retrospective, made up of tracks from dance eras gone by. What he played was a nice contrast to the seemingly endless stream of commercial trance and progressive house sounds coming from the main stage all day long. He was one of the top main stage performances all weekend.

While the aforementioned performances made up what I thought to be some of the most significant of the weekend, there was no shortage of cringe-worthy music being performed. For example, the countless musical crimes being committed in the Hilltop Arena tent (aptly re-named the Jersey Shore tent by many), aided in shedding some of the festival's musical credibility. Still, the premise of this festival seems to be that there is something for everyone because "you get what you pay for". Only time will tell if this is the electronic music festival that New York City deserves.

--

As promised, here are more pictures from last weekend's event. Part 1 is HERE. Part 2 is HERE. Part 3 continues below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo in pics - part 3 (Flying Lotus, Moby, Reboot, more) "

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"Dutch this, Swedish that! Germany's answer to house, Boys Noize, put on one hell of a set. Almost every track he dropped was welcomed by a roaring cheer. Technically he was breathtaking and proved once again why he is the future of electronic music." [Dancing Astronaut]

Continue reading "Electric Zoo 2010 in pics - part 2 (A-Trak, Armin Van Buuren, Boys Noize, Diplo, Steve Aoki, JDH, Dave P & more) "

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Pete Tong fan/ Chemical Brothers / Axwell

This past Labor Day weekend, a daily (on both Saturday and Sunday) sold out-crowd of 25,000 electronic dance music fans decamped to Randall's Island to enjoy the beats of the world's best house, trance, techno, electro-groove, break-beat and drum and bass DJs. From 11am to 11pm, nearly 70 acts delivered stellar beats to the eclectic attendees...

There were four different stages at Electric Zoo, each boasting their own sets, intelligent lighting and effects, and featuring a varied line-up of similarly-grouped dance music types. The enormous main stage hosted the headliners, from ATB, Benny Benassi and The Chemical Brothers on Saturday, to Moby and Armin van Buuren on Sunday. The large hilltop venue seemed to focus on progressive trance, electro dance and melodic house, and starred killer acts like Kaskade, Markus Schulz, Steve Aoki and Above & Beyond. Under the Red Bull Music Academy riverside stage, talent hovered around hip hop, electro and big beat, including DJ Mehdi, Fake Blood and Diplo. The final venue dished out retro Detroit beats, techno and progressive house from the likes of Victor Calderone and John Digweed. -[Black Book]

Continue reading "Electric Zoo 2010 in pics - part 1 (Chemical Brothers, Major Lazer, Rusko, Erol Alkan, Fake Blood, Pete Tong & more) "

Chemical Brothers are set to release their seventh studio album, Further, on June 8, 2010 on Freestyle Dust/Parlaphone/Astralwerks. This album is the band's first to be released with corresponding films made specifically to match each of the 8 audio tracks. The films will be included on an iTunes LP and special edition DVD.

As well as an eight-track album, Further is the band's first proper partnership with long-time visuals collaborators Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Now a respected TV and film director, Adam - aka Flat Nose George - has been responsible for creating the visual backdrop for every Chemical Brothers gig since their live debut in 1994. Visuals for Further have been created to correspond with each track on the album and have been planned during the recording of the record.

The band will play four shows at London's Roundhouse in May. These will be the first opportunities for fans to see the band play the album with Smith and Lyall's new films in sequence and in their entirety. -PR

A song expected to be on Further called "Escape Velocity" was debuted last week on BBC. That song, all tour dates and the current Electric Zoo lineup are below...

Continue reading "Chemical Brothers releasing new album, playing shows including Electric Zoo on Randall's Island (dates)"

"Electric Zoo", the NYC electronic music festival whose multi-stage lineups of DJs & producers range from 'Jersey Shore' to hipster disco, returns to Randall's Island September 4-5, 2010. Presale tickets are already on sale.

by Showtrotta

Electric Zoo (more by Zach Dilgard)

While from the outside, Electric Zoo (Sept 5-6, 2009) might seem like a 2-day hell, overrun by fake-tanned, heavily hair-gelled masses and their female counterparts, the actual experience (at least for me) was far from it. While my jaw dropped in horror as many of the element described above boarded the ferry to Randall's Island at the 35th Street pier, and I was only further freaked out when the entire boat broke out in a sing-along to "Now That the Love Is Gone" by David Guetta (one of many deejays playing the festival), once I arrived the dread of dealing that all day, subsided.

For starters, the festival grounds were very accommodating size-wise for the number in attendance. When I first arrived around 12:30 on Saturday, there was ample room and even as the day wore on and the grounds filled up, I never felt that I was trudging through a crowd to get where I wanted to go. Along with the size of the venue, the diverse spread of deejays (who were grouped at four different tents/stages vaguely according to similar genre/sound), kept my interaction with club-goers whom I would rarely run into under normal circumstances, to a minimum. In the instances where I was confronted with people straight out of My New Haircut (NSFW!) I couldn't say a bad thing about them. Everyone at the festival seemed to be too happy to be there, and dancing their asses off, to care what was going on around them, or to do anything too outwardly annoying to ruin anyone's time.

continued below...

Continue reading "the 2009 Electric Zoo Festival in review"

photos by Zach Dilgard

Frankie Knuckles / actual members of the crowd

"This past labor day weekend in NYC, thousands of dance and electronica music fans gathered together for the first, and hopefully annual Electric Zoo Festival on Randall's Island to celebrate Electronic Music. The festival lineup featured over 50 acts which included Steve Aoki, Busy P, Danny Tenaglia, Benny Benassi, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Markus Schulz, Tom Middleton, Kaskade, and Armin Van Burren over the course of two days....

...On the second day of the festival, house music icon DJ Frankie Knuckles alongside Andy Butler (Hercules & Love Affair) blessed the turntables with a raw and authentic classic house music set that made you feel nothing short of spiritual...

..."Music belongs to everybody," Frankie says after stepping off stage from his Electric Zoo DJ set. "Believe me, If I had the ability I would really just make it possible so that any and everybody could just show up (on the dancefloor)...a lot of times that's all you got to hold onto." To that end, it seems rather fitting that his biggest commercial hit was the ethereal and optimistic Whistle Song, which just might make him the pied piper of dance music who tries to leads the masses to a state of bliss.

Dropping next month is Frankie's Motivation Too album, which is his first compilation in six years. When asked about his own personal tactics for motivation, Frankie notes: "I normally get up early in the morning, like seven or eight o'clock. Musically I'm listening to things that are very spiritual and classical while I'm moving through the morning and getting myself together. I pretty much block out a lot of things that could possibly feed me any kind of negative energy, because my day has to be right...I figure why not get up on the right side of the bed and focus and maybe I'll get through the day and it will be alright."" [MC2D Magazine]

Continue reading "Electric Zoo Festival 2009 @ Randalls Island, NYC (more pics)"

photos by Ryan Muir

"Gigantic electronic music festivals have always been more the province of the International EDM scene. However, with electronic music experiencing a renaissance level resurgence in the United States, the time was right for a US foray into a celebration of the vibe, culture and sonically astounding experience of dance music. The inaugural Electric Zoo Festival, held over this past Labor Day weekend in New York was a party that succeeded in capturing the essence of the intense passion people have for music, by presenting it in it's best light, outdoors, at Randall's Island Park, in such a manner where old school house head met up with hipster, candy ravers next to jacked up Staten Island and Jersey gym freaks and their orange tanned girlfriends. Everybody was represented, everyone was respected, and certainly a precedent was set for the justification of making this a regular addition to the national EDM calendar." [True Genius Requires Insanity]

Continue reading "pictures from the Electric Zoo Festival in NYC (day 2) "

DOWNLOAD: Lindstrøm - The Long Way Home (Prins Thomas edit) (MP3)

Andy Butler of Hercules and Love Affair @ Studio B (more by Ryan Muir)

Hercules and Love Affair (aka Andy Butler) is releasing a new DJ mix called Sidetracked... July 21st on Renaissance Recordings. Butler will be making DJ appearances throughout the summer, mainly in Europe. One U.S. gig will be at the July 3rd Firecracker party at the Hammerstein Ballroom (tonight). Also at the event, as mentioned by Showtrotta, will be Steve Lawler, Tiefschwarz, Victor Calderone, Damian Lazarus (live) and Audiofly. Tickets are still on sale.

Butler will be at Lollapalooza on August 8th, and he'll be making an appearance at NY's Electric Zoo Electronic Music Festival, taking place September 5th and 6th on Randall's Island. Other acts at the fest include Special Disco Version (featuring LCD Soundsystem/DFA's James Murphy & Pat Mahoney), Felix Martin & Al Doyle (of Hot Chip), Lindstrom, Frankie Knuckles, Prins Thomas, and many, many more. Above you can check out the Prins remix of Linstrom's "The Long Way Home" off the latter's Where You Go I Go Too. Tickets to the fest, including 2-day passes, are on sale now. Electric Zoo's current lineup is posted below.

Another electronic music suaree, the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, is on the way as well, happening August 8th at the Old American Can Factory. The fest's headliners will be Juan MacLean (live) and RJD2; full lineup is still on the way. Tickets are currently on sale.

Electric Zoo lineup with Hercules and Love Affair comp info and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo on Randall's Island, BK Electronic Music Fest, Hercules and Love Affair DJ sets & CD & more..."

LCD Soundsystem (CRED)

...also played Randall's Island Saturday night (Oct 6, 2007). Arcade Fire got their posts. Here are some more pics from the show...

Continue reading "LCD Soundsystem, Les Savy Fav, Blonde Redhead..."

(CRED)

I always convince myself that a huge show is going to be bad, but Arcade Fire proved me wrong at Randall's Island last night (Oct 06, 2007). I just saw them too - at another big show in Austin (City Limits) just a few weeks ago, and I couldn't get into that one at all (not their fault). Last night I felt completely the opposite. The video screens on either side of the stage had a lot to do with it - it wasn't just any video, it was the coolest live video I ever saw broadcast at a show, and it was especially helpful if you couldn't see the stage. My only regret is running out of there so quickly, that I missed Arcade Fire coming back into the crowd for a second encore. Set list:

1. Black Mirror
2. Keep the car running
3. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
4. No Cars Go
5. Haiti
6. I'm Sleeping in a Submarine
7. My Body is a Cage
8. Cold Wind
9. Intervention
10. Antichrist Television Blues
11. The Well and the Lighthouse
12. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
13. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
14. Rebellion (Lies)
Encore:
15. Headlights Look like Diamonds
16. Wake Up
Encore 2:
17. Kiss Off (Violent Femmes)

Two more important points.

1. Win announced that they sold 25,000 tickets aka $25,000 raised for charity
2. Win announced that they wouldn't be back to play NYC for a couple of years

Continue reading "Arcade Fire @ Randall's Island, NYC - pics"

Randall's Island, NYC - Oct 6, 2007 (CRED)

A great video from the show is here.

Win Butler & Tim Harrington @ Randall's Island - Oct 6, 2007

Yeah, I missed this too....

Continue reading "video of the SECOND Arcade Fire encore @ Randall's Island"

DOWNLOAD: Blonde Redhead - 23 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Arcade Fire - Rebellion (lies) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - We've Got Boxes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: LCD - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (soulwax Shibuya Mix) (MP3)

The Arcade Fire - LCD Soundsystem - Les Savy Fav - Blonde Redhead - Wild Light show is happening this Saturday October 6th. Tickets are still on sale, and I've got two pairs to give away to two lucky people who email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Arcade). Include your first and last name, and what the last show you saw was. Two winners will be picked at random and contacted.

Opener Wild Light are from Boston, have someone named Seth Pitman in their band which confused me at first, have four Arcade Fire-esque songs streaming on their MySpace, and have also recently opened for the Arcade Fire at some other big shows across the country.

All Arcade Fire tour dates, and the poster for the Randall's Island show, below....

Continue reading "Win tix to the Arcade Fire show @ Randall's Island"