Beach Boys @ The Grammys

Though the Bonnaroo lineup won't be announced until later today (via Spotify), Knoxville.com has supposedly leaked some of it via a photo gallery which includes Beach Boys, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Phish, Foster the People, Alice Cooper, Ludacris, Black Star, Skrillex, Punch Brothers, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Flogging Molly, Feist and Aziz Ansari. We can't know for sure if this is all correct, but I did hear that the Beach Boys were playing, and many of those bands have been rumored for a while, and the Beach Boys have promised more dates, so... well, we'll see soon! UPDATE: Yep, they are!

If it is all true, I really hope that this time Foster the People stay off the Beach Boys' stage unlike at the Grammys, as you can watch below...

Continue reading "Beach Boys played the Grammys, playing Bonnaroo? (we'll know for sure soon)"

Justin Vernon & My Morning Jacket before the Grammys (by dariusjagjag)

Someone from Jagjaguwar tweeted the above picture not long before Justin Vernon shouted out "Jagjaguwar" to end his acceptance speech at the Grammys pre-show this evening (2/12).

Bon Iver won "Best Alternative Music Album", beating out Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Foster the People & Death Cab Cab For Cutie. Other pre-telecast winners include Adele, Foo Fighters (who beat Mastodon, The Decemberists and TV on the Radio), Skrillex (who won three already and beat Cut Copy, Robyn, Deadmau5 and others), Kanye West (who also won three already), The Civil Wars (who won two already and beat Fleet Foxes), Levon Helm, Alison Krauss, Tinariwen, Louis CK, Cee-Lo, and Booker T Jones who won "Best Pop Instrumental Album" for the 2nd time, and nervously thanked Biz Markie, Questlove, Gabriel Roth (of Daptone Records), Matt Berninger (of the National), and Lou Reed.

Arcade Fire also won another Grammy already (for Best Recording Package).

A Numero Group Syl Johnson release was up for two Grammys but lost in both categories.

And that was just all the stuff they don't show on TV. The regular show with all the big awards (and possibly more for Bon Iver) starts at 8pm EST, Whitney Houston tribute included.

UPDATES:
* Jack Black makes "indie cred" joke that includes "Bon Iver" while introducing Foo Fighters
* Denise from PS22 in Adele commercial

When we first mentioned the lineup for this year's Bamboozle, which is taking place from May 18-20 in Asbury Park, NJ, it only included Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Blink 182, Incubus, and Mac Miller. The generally lame festival has since revealed more artists including a surprising number of not-lame artists like the reunited Promise Ring (their first East Coast date announced, hopefully an NYC show to come?), Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, A$AP Rocky, Action Bronson, and Murphy's Law. Take that, Warped Tour.

Tickets for Bamboozle are on sale now. Updated lineup below...

Continue reading "The Promise Ring playing Bamboozle (Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, ASAP Rocky & Action Bronson too)"

Friends (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The BBC's list of 15 bands who will make up the "Sound of 2012" is below...

Continue reading "BBC lists the 'Sound of 2012' (Friends included)"

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)"

by Andrew Sacher

Theophilus London in the studio w/ AraabMuzik (via AraabMuzik)

Theophilus London is touring the US and Canada in January and February after he plays the SnowGlove Festival in California at the end of this month. His tour will bring him to NYC on February 9 at Webster Hall. Tickets are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

Theophilus, who has been tweeting about being in the studio, was just pictured in studio with AraabMuzik, who posted the above picture to his facebook earlier today.

AraabMuzik will be in NYC for New Year's Eve at the Ad Hoc party at 285 Kent with Balam Acab, Laurel Halo, Light Asylum, Run DMT, and a special guest. Tickets for that show are still available and there will be two open bars during the night.

Theophilus London's track, "I Stand Alone," was recently remixed by Skream (listen below) who it was just announced is opening for Skrillex at T5 (which sold right right out today). AraabMuzik also opens one of Skrillex's LA shows. Diplo opens one too. But even though Diplo's playing a Skrillex show and approving of the American kids loving it, he still feels that the "most exciting sound out of 2011" is the more atmospheric bass stuff like Balam Acab (who plays the NYE show in Brooklyn with AraabMuzik).

Speaking of approving, Balam Acab seems to approve of the track his Tri Angle label-mate Clams Casino produced for The Weeknd on The Weeknd's new mixtape, which you can download for free.

All Theophilus dates and the Skream remix below...

Continue reading "Theophilus London in the studio w/ AraabMuzik, remixed by Skream, going on tour (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Skream & Benga

Dubstep originator Skream recently talked to UK mag the Quietus:

Quietus: A lot of people would say with the Skrillex stuff, that it's damaging to dubstep, it's perverting the sound.

Skream: But what are we gonna do, form a united front against Skrillex? Honestly, it's pathetic, I think, it's ridiculous. Either listen to it or don't listen to it. There's still nights playing the stuff those people want to hear. It's just bitchiness, it really is. You haven't got to like his music, you don't particularly have to like him, but there's no reason you can't like what he's done - he's smashed it. He's up for five Grammys. He must be doing something right, you know what I mean?

I think it hurts a lot of people over here because it's a UK sound, but it's been someone with influences outside the original sound that has made it a lot bigger. The bad side of that is that a lot of people will just say 'dubstep equals Skrillex'.

But in all honesty it genuinely doesn't bother me. I like the music he makes. People will fucking burn me for saying that [laughs]. There'll be effigies out in the fucking street! It just is what it is man, you've just got to keep yourself moving. The fact that dubstep, the word - you know I hate saying the word, I love what it is but I just hear it so much now. But even though it's so big now, that means that everybody else is earning a bit more money. Even if you're playing the deepest deepest sound, you're still earning that little bit more money because you're playing dubstep. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are.

Skream is a little more lenient with the Skrillex type stuff than James Blake who called it a "direct misrepresentation of the sound" and Rusko, who said, "brostep is sort of my fault but now I've started to hate it." Rusko told SPIN that his new album, due out in January, is "completely a reaction to the masculine, dance-floor orientated, distorted mess that is the current state of dubstep." Skream's collaborator Benga is also working on a new album that is "different to what's going on at the minute," but like Skream, he says, "I'm not bothered. I'm happy that a lot of people like the music." Skream does admit that the dubstep going on at the moment is a "fad" though, and wants to make sure that when it "dies out, he's still standing."

Skream probably still will be standing, but until that fad dies out he'll be embracing it in NYC on February 4 at Terminal 5 when he and Benga open for Skrillex, along with Koan Sound and FlyLo associate Tokimonsta . Tickets will probably sell right out Thursday (12/22) at noon. They're on AmEx presale now.

(Speaking of Tokimonsta, she recently remixed Eight and a Half, the new project of Broken Social Scene's Justin Peroff and members of The Stills who play two NYC shows in February - both on sale this week.)

If the Terminal 5 show is exactly the kind of electronic show you don't want to be at (I wouldn't blame you), Tycho, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Beacon play the same day (2/4) at MHOW and tickets just went on sale.

Skrillex, who is also one of the many electro artists playing a cruise ship in January, also plays Roseland Ballroom on 2/3 (one day before Terminal 5) with Zane Lowe and Spank Rock who also recently toured with Ke$ha, Spank Rock has also opened for Bjork, and who toured with Big Freedia and friends this year too. From Iceland to Bushwick to mainstream pop to brostep, everyone loves Spank Rock. UPDATE: Skrillex plays Webster Hall while he's here too.

And speaking of James Blake, his new video for his cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" which stars Rebecca Hall is below.

Also best of luck to James Blake collaborator Bon Iver who is going up against Skrillex for "Best New Artist" in the Grammys (you know, because Bon Iver was a new artist this year), not that Justin Vernon will care if he loses anyway (as he shouldn't).

James Blake video and a ton of Rusko tour dates (including New Year's Eve in Chicago), below...

Continue reading "Skream likes Skrillex (and is opening for him in NYC); Rusko says new album is in reaction to brostep (and is touring)"

As many are posting, James Blake told Liz Pelly at the Boston Phoenix that:

"I think the dubstep that has come over to the US, and certain producers-- who I can't even be bothered naming-- have definitely hit upon a sort of frat-boy market where there's this macho-ism being reflected in the sounds and the way the music makes you feel. And to me, that is a million miles away from where dubstep started. It's a million miles away from the ethos of it. It's been influenced so much by electro and rave, into who can make the dirtiest, filthiest bass sound, almost like a pissing competition, and that's not really necessary. And I just think that largely that is not going to appeal to women. I find that whole side of things to be pretty frustrating, because that is a direct misrepresentation of the sound as far as I'm concerned."

As many would agree, that means you Skrillex (who lots of people hate and who collaborates with KORN who... have a new DUBSTEP ALBUM COMING OUT and who are playing Radiohead's favorite venue Roseland soon too) (And though he's Canadian, James might also be referring to Datsik who also collaborated with Korn and who plays Webster Hall tonight).

Speaking of James Blake, who recently played ACL, didn't win the Mercury Prize, collaborated with Bon Iver, and will be back in NYC soon, I saw him play in a church (the perfect setting for him) at the Way Out West Festival in Sweden back in August with Low (perfect for them too). I posted one picture the next day, and a few more to Facebook, but never the whole set, so here they are. They continue with all dates below...

Continue reading "James Blake talks frat-boy dubstep (aka Skrillex), played in a church in Sweden with Low (belated pics)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A-Trak @ Terminal 5 on April 30th

HARD Events, Cloud 9 Adventures, and Bowery Presents have announced the first Holy Ship! cruise (which is the new name for "HARD Cruise"). The cruise leaves Ft. Lauderdale on January 6 aboard the MSC Poesia with stops in Port Lucaya, Bahamas and a private island, returning to Ft. Lauderdale on January 9. The lineup includes Fatboy Slim, Diplo, Rusko, A-Trak, Steve Aoki, Skrillex, Destructo and others. Tickets go on sale June 15 via the Holy Ship! website. The full lineup is listed below.

A Pre-Cruise kickoff party will take place at Revolution Live in Florida on January 5. More details and lineup to be announced.

On January 8, 2012 the cruise stops at a private island where Fatboy Slim, Diplo, Buraka Som Sistema, and Dillon Francis play the first ever Holy Ship! Beach Boutique party.

--

Fatboy Slim also plays the new Dance.Here.Now Festival which is taking place on the Beach at Governor's Island from July 1st-4th, 2011 (Paul Van Dyk, Benny Benassi, and Victor Calderone are also headliners at the Pacha-presented event). Early Bird tickets are on sale at their website.

A-Trak played a headlining show at Terminal 5 back on April 30th with Clipse and the Gaslamp Killer. More picutres from the show with the full Holy Ship! lineup and flyer, below...

Continue reading "Holy Ship! (not Hard Cruise) lineup ++ Fatboy Slim also playing 'Dance.Here.Now' on Governors Island ++++ live A-Trak pics"

Camp Bisco, no longer just about jam bands, takes place at Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, NY from July 7-9 this year. We've already mentioned a few of the artists playing the three day festival, including Cut Copy, Death from Above 1979, Neon Indian, and Yeasayer, but never posted the full lineup. Here it is....

Continue reading "Camp Bisco 2011 -- lineup includes Cut Copy, DFA1979, MSTRKRFT, James Murphy, Yeasayer, Neon Indian & more)"

The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

3-Day passes are sold out. 1-Day passes go on sale at 10am. Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

photos by Brook Bobbins

The Rusko & Doorly tour hit Terminal 5 in NYC on Wednesday night (4/27). Pictures from that HARD-presented show are in this post.

HARD also presents the LA date of the tour which is also the last date of the tour.

LA is also where HARD is holding a 'Summer Festival' on Saturday August 6th. That craziness will include sets by:

"DUCK SAUCE, Boys Noize, CHROMEO live, RATATAT live, Skrillex, ODD FUTURE, JAMES MURPHY AND PAT MAHONEY DFA TENT SPECIAL DISCO VERSION, DIGITALISM live, Jack Beats, KARLSSON and WINNBERG / MIIKE SNOW DJ SET, Caspa, NERO, Noisia, Emalkay, CARTE BLANCHE live featuring dj Mehdi and Riton, BUSY PICTIONARY featuring BUSY P and SO ME, Holy Ghost ! live, SIRIUSMO, GESAFFELSTEIN, GASLAMP KILLER, DESTRUCTO, Juan MacLean, Shit Robot (The Shit Robot Show), Still Going, Nadastrom, DILLION FRANCIS, Acid Jacks, Visuals by Vello V2 labs, + more."

Tickets are on sale.

HARD Cruise sails out of Florida in January, and though no lineup has been announced for that yet, I'm sure the lineup will contain at least a few of the artists mentioned in this post.

More pictures from Terminal 5 are below...

Continue reading "Rusko played Terminal 5 w/ Doorly & Destructo (pics), playing other HARD events (dates)"

photos by David Andrako

Here are a few things that happened on Coachella Day 1:

• it was hot.
• lots of celebrities, like Coachella regular Danny Devito, were walking around
• The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and the Chemical Brothers were the big headlining acts of the day (all on the main Coachella Stage)
• people wore funny outfits, and sometimes NSFW outfits.
• people sinned.
• Lauryn Hill started late, but not too late (aka she still got to play).
• Cee Lo showed up very late, apologized, but acted mad he had to play a short set. He used that anger to give his set-closing hit "Fuck You" context.
• Odd Future predictably drew a huge crowd, and were joined by Pharell.
• Odd Future's set resulted in a possible broken nose (again)
• There were 20 arrests
• Paul McCartney was there, and along with Usher, stood on stage during Afrojack's set.
• YACHT played
• Many other people played, and lots of other stuff happened too, as you can see in the pictures below...

And Day Two is today!

What were your highlights of Coachella Day One? Are you there or watching the stream?

Photographer David Andrako managed to catch 18 acts and other random stuff in between on Friday. His pictures from the whole day continue below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2011 Day 1 in pics (Chemical Brothers, Black Keys, Robyn, Interpol, Cee Lo, Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells & more)"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

by BBG

At first glance, it could be said that Huoratron (that's whore-a-tron) is going for the "sex sells" contingent; the sublimely NSFW video for "Corporate Occult" (viewable below) falls somewhere in between Paris Hilton-style night-vision porno, Paranormal Activity, and a goth-y horror flick. But unlike anything by Katy Perry, the sex-begets-commerce element falls aside after the booming, distorted bass kicks in. Fans of an instrumental Crystal Castles and Ed Banger-style beats, pay attention.

Huoratron is the nom de plume of Finland's Aku Raski, who released the Prevenge EP via Last Gang Records earlier this year. Chock full of blackened, distorted electro beats, the EP features both the original "Corporate Occult" track and the Mixhell remix. It does not contain the Deathface Remix though, which is downloadable and streamable below for the first time.

Huoratron is now on tour and will perform live at Webster Hall in NYC on November 12th with Felguk and Skrillex. Tickets are on sale.

Tour flyer, all dates, downloads, streams and videos, below...

Continue reading "electro artist Huoratron on tour, grab a new remix, check out his NSFW video (dates, MP3, video & more)"