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"