"There's a good reason why the new record is called Scars," says Felix Buxton. "Making it has been a grueling process. When we finished recording, it felt like we'd come out of a boxing ring." His bandmate Simon Ratcliffe nods in agreement.

Basement Jaxx's new album 'Scars' will be released by Ultra and XL Records on October 6th. A little less than a month later the band will visit North America to DJ in a few major cities, including New York City of course. Tickets are now on sale for a November 7th gig at Santos Party House which doubles as FIXED's 5-year anniversary party.

'Scars' is full of guest appearances including Kelis, Maleka & Chipmunk, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Sam Sparro, Lightspeed Champion, Amp Fiddler, Yo Majesty, Yoko Ono, Paloma Faith, Lisa Kekaula, Jose Hendrix, and Jose James. All dates, the tour poster, the Scars (cover art above) tracklisting, and the video for "Raindrops", below....

Continue reading "Basement Jaxx - 2009 DJ tour dates (NYC on sale), new album w/ Kelis, Yoko, Eli Reed, Lightspeed Champion, more"

MIA @ MoMA (more by Ryan Muir)

Best Alternative Music Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Modern Guilt
Beck
[DGC Records/XL Recordings/Interscope]

Narrow Stairs
Death Cab For Cutie
[Atlantic]

The Odd Couple
Gnarls Barkley
[Downtown/Atlantic]

Evil Urges
My Morning Jacket
[ATO Records]

In Rainbows
Radiohead
[TBD Records]

M.I.A. and Adele are up for Record of the Year which is not to be confused with Album of the Year which Radiohead is up for in addition to the "Best Alternative Music Album" category you see listed above. Radiohead's "House of Cards" is also up for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals", "Best Rock Song" and "Best Short Form Music Video". Radiohead also placed in "Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package" and "Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical" for a total of seven nominations. Make that eight if you count Jonny Greenwood's Best Score nomination for There Will Be Blood. Juno is up for Best Compilation Soundtrack. No Age is up for "Best Recording Package". Hot Chip, Daft Punk and Sam Sparro are competing for Best Dance Recording. All nominees HERE.

It appears that Sam Sparro's September tour has been cancelled. According to Music Hall of Williamsburg where he was supposed to play on September 17th,

"This show has been canceled due to visa issues. Refunds available at point of purchase"

None of the other tour dates appear on Sam's MySpace anymore either. "Visa issues" is the same reason he gave last time he cancelled shows. Maybe he's not an American citizen... I have no idea. According to b news,

Sparro's own story is an intriguing, cross-continental tale. Born in Sydney, he lived here until the age of 10. In the 15 years since then, he's jumped between LA, Australia and London.

"I've moved around a lot, so I do feel more of a citizen of the world than of any particular nationality," he says.

Maybe the world won't let him play.

He also cancelled his appearance at this weekend's V Festival in the UK. I wonder if that was visa issues too.

Sam Sparro in rainbow poncho? @ Global Gathering festival - July 26, 2008 (shirlaine)

Earlier this week Sam Sparro cancelled his August 5th show at Santos Party House and promised he's "make it up in September". September it is. Eight North American shows are now scheduled for that month including September 17th at Music Hall of Williamsburg ($15 tickets on sale Thursday at noon) and the day before that at (le) poisson rouge (tickets are on sale). No Santos at all. All dates below...

Continue reading "Sam Sparro - updated 2008 Tour Dates (2 x NYC)"

Sam Sparro @ iTunes Festival, London - July 21, 2008 (PaulJay)

"we're really bummed to say that this show has been cancelled due to visa problems! We'll make it up in September, promise!" [Sam Sparro]

Sam Sparro seems to be everyone's new (Soul, dance, electrofunk, R&B, House) guilty pleasure. I'm guilty of listening to the new self-titled CD as we speak.

I thought he (Sam himself aka "Vocals, Keytar, Guitar, Synths, Programmin") was from the UK until I finally just looked at his MySpace and found out his home is LA (moved there from Australia when he was 10). That means traveling to NYC to play Santos Party House in August shouldn't be as big of a deal for him as I originally thought. TICKETS ARE ON SALE.

Sparro's first single, Cottonmouth, was released in 2007. His second single, Black and Gold, debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 23 on March 24 2008, and then climbed 19 places to number four on March 31 due to heavy download sales. On 13 April, it rose to number 2. It peaked at number two on the UK iTunes chart. Black and Gold was also used in a commercial for the British TV show Skins. It also reached number 5 in the Irish Singles Chart. His debut album Sam Sparro was released in the UK on 28 April 2008.

In April 2008 he performed "Black and Gold" on networked chart show, hit40uk and also in Jo Whiley's Live Lounge on BBC Radio 1, where he also covered "American Boy" by Estelle. On 18th April 2008, he appeared as the musical guest on The Friday Night Project, where he performed "Black and Gold". [Wikipedia]

The record hs since gone gold in the UK and the single "Black and Gold" hit #1. Check out the videos and all tour dates (only two of which are in this country) below....

Continue reading "SAM SPARRO - videos, tour dates, a NYC SHOW @ Santos"