by Andrew Sacher

Brooklyn producer Slava released his debut full length, Raw Solutions, last month via Software. He builds most of its tracks off of a repeating vocal loop which can veer towards the prettier sides of future garage ("Girl Like Me") and towards dirtier, Evian Christ-style hip hop ("Girls On Dick"). You can watch a visual clip for the album's single, "On It," along with a Spotify stream of the whole album, below. Also below are streams of Slava's recent FADER Mix and a new track called "As Long As You Love Me."

Slava will play a release show for his new album Tuesday (5/7) at The DL (upstairs). He'll be joined by MikeQ, Rizzla and Telfar, and is totally free to the public. Show begins at 11 PM.

Flyer for the DL show and those song streams below...

Continue reading "Slava playing LP release party this week (stream some songs)"

Small Black at Brooklyn Museum in June (more by Jessica Amaya)

Today we've posted year-end lists by Andy from Cake Shop, Mark Eitzel, and James from Veronica Falls. Now we've got one from Josh Kolenik of Brooklyn chillwavers Small Black giving us a rundown of 12 singles he loved in 2012.

Based on Small Black's own sound, it's got an unsurprising amount of indie pop, R&B, electronics, and Young Chop-produced hip hop. But he also sneaks in the inclusion of some vintage-sounding psych folk courtesy of Jessica Pratt. Check out his full list of songs, along with streams and/or videos for each track, below...

Continue reading "Josh from Small Black's top songs of 2012"

DJ Rashad

Chicago footwork producer DJ Rashad released the excellent TEKLIFE Vol. 1: Welcome to the Chi album earlier this year, and played a Brooklyn show at 285 Kent soon after with Total Freedom and J-Cush. All three of those artists will be returning this weekend for another show at 285 Kent on Sunday (9/23) with Visionist and a "surprise special guest." No word on who the guest is, but the show is the official after party for the Gang Gang Dance and Prince Rama show happening at 285 Kent earlier that night (the third of three GGD shows in NYC this weekend). Admission for this all ages party is $5 before 1 AM and $10 after.

As for LA producer Total Freedom (aka Ashland Mines), who opened on tour for Gang Gang Dance last year, he'll be landing in Brooklyn a bit earlier for a warehouse party at 110 Troutman TONIGHT (9/21) with $hayne and Rizzla. The flier for tonight's show is below.

Meanwhile, J-Cush will also be at 285 Kent on Saturday (9/22) for the previously mentioned Sasha Go Hard show. That bill also includes DJ Manny, Cedaa, and Durban. $5 at the door before 1 AM. That will be Sasha's second NYC show of this week, having played Santos with LE1F last night (9/20). How was that show? Sasha loved it.

If dancing into the wee hours of the night is your thing, those three shows are only two of the many dance options in NYC this weekend. Head below to see more...

Continue reading "DJ Rashad, Total Freedom, Midnight Magic, Nicholas, Pictureplane & more dance options in NYC this weekend"

photos by Erik Erikson

Blondes at 110 Troutman - 9/15/12

The day after the secret show at 285 Kent (9/14), which Ariel Pink didn't play, a Weird Magic-presented show went down at 110 Troutman (9/15) in Brooklyn with Blondes, Huerco S., Lamin Fofana, and Slava, plus DJ sets by Jan Woo, Irradiance Cache, //API//, and Terekke (who was a last-minute addition). Pictures from the show are in this post.

Teengirl Fantasy were on the bill too but the party was shut down by cops before they could take the stage. To make up for that, the band tweeted that they'll do a "secret set somewhere in bk this fri try 2 guess." There's a guest this Friday (9/21) at the Glasslands show with Nicholas, Jacques Renault, and Down + Out, but the guest is "from down under," so we can assume that's someone from Australia and not Teengirl Fantasy. There's also a special guest at the 285 Kent show with Laurel Halo, Ital, M. Geddes Gengras and Magic Touch. Any guesses on where it will be?

More pics from Saturday's show are below.

Continue reading "Blondes, Slava & more played 110 Troutman (pics); show was shut down before Teengirl Fantasy, who play a secret set on Fri"

Teengirl Fantasy on a boat last month (more by Leia Jospe)

Teengirl Fantasy recently wrapped up their tour in support of their solid new record, Tracer. Now that they're home in Brooklyn and have some time to kill before Seattle's Decibel Festival (9/29), they're teaming up with old local pals Blondes for a Weird Magic-presented show on Saturday (9/15) at 110 Troutman in Bushwick with Huerco S., Lamin Fofana, and Slava. All five of those artists will be playing live and there will be DJ sets by Jan Woo, Ircache, and //API//. The flier for this show is below.

Meanwhile, Blondes have other upcoming shows including a Night Spa party on Sunday at Body by Brooklyn (275 Park Ave), where they'll DJ along with DJ sets by Jordan Lawlor (guitarist/bassist/keyboardist in M83), Physical Therapy and Jubilee. Tickets for that party are available. Blondes (live) were also added as an opener to the upcoming John Talabot show at Le Poisson Rouge on September 27, where he'll be playing live with Pional, who sings on his album. Tickets for show are still available.

All lists of dates, the flier for Saturday's show, and a stream of Teengirl Fantasy's remix of Blondes' "Wine" are below...

Continue reading "Teengirl Fantasy & Blondes playing shows (together and apart)"

Laurel Halo at MoMA PS1 in 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Producer turned art pop wizard Laurel Halo and post-hardcore noisemaker turned producer Ital are teaming up for a tour together later this year. That tour hasn't been announced in full yet but a few dates have been revealed, including a NYC show at 285 Kent on September 21. That show, the DC date, and possibly others are also with M. Geddes Gengras and Magic Touch.

For Laurel Halo, the 285 Kent date is one of many upcoming shows in her hometown of Brooklyn, where she continues to play constantly. Laurel just played a show as part of The Maze last Friday (7/13), and she'll play the previously discussed show at Public Assembly on Saturday (7/21) with Pete Swanson, Noveller and Burning Star Core. Tickets for that show are still available. She's also got upcoming local shows in August, including one at Cameo Gallery on August 2 with Xeno and Oaklander and Telepathe. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Still more: she'll play the Diamond Terrifier (aka Sam Hillmer of Zs) record release show for Kill the Self That Wants To Kill Yourself (due out 8/14 via Northern Spy and produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear) at Littlefield on August 8 with Slava (who also plays countless local shows) and Bubbles. Tickets for that show are available. That show happens after Diamond Terrifier wraps up his monthly residency at Zebulon which happens every Tuesday (like tonight [7/17]). Like Laurel did, Diamond Terrifier also plays a Maze show. His is on July 28 with Amen Dunes, Kel Valhaal: Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, Psychic Reality, Dome Theater, and Das Racist DJs.

Speaking of Telepathe, they play Glasslands on Wednesday (7/18) with Feathers, ERAAS, and Faith. Tickets for that show are available. Faith recently remixed a Feathers song, which you can listen to below. Telepathe also DJ Santos on Friday (7/20 for a Last.fm event with Blondes, TEZEO and Andy Petr. Tickets for that show are available.

A list of all dates, a Pitchfork.tv video of Laurel Halo, and an Ital music video are below.

Continue reading "Laurel Halo touring w/ Ital, playing other NYC shows as usual; Telepathe have upcoming NYC shows too (dates)"

Slava/Salva

We recently profiled Brooklyn producer Slava and mentioned his upcoming NYC shows, which include Warm Up at MoMA PS1 on July 28 and a BPM152 party at Tammany Hall on August 11. But if you'd like to catch Slava even sooner than that, head to Big Snow on Saturday (7/14) where he'll play as part of the ongoing Alan Watts residency with Y.O.U. and Comadrone. That residency also continues on July 19 with Grasshopper, Warcries, Kel Valhaal, and Future Shuttle.

Hopefully we'll stop confusing them one day, but until then I find it worth mentioning that the similarly named Salva plays a NYC show at Glasslands on September 14. Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's a late show which happens after Maria Minerva plays the venue earlier that night.

Lists of dates and song streams from both producers are below...

Continue reading "Slava & Salva playing shows (separately) (dates & streams)"

by Andrew Sacher

Brooklyn producer Slava (not to be confused with Salva), released the Soft Control EP on Ford & Lopatin's Mexican Summer imprint, Software, earlier this year. It's 4 tracks of snap snares, chopped vocals, and thick bass and ends with the orchestral-sounding "Swan." The EP feels right at home on the Software roster and you can stream the entire thing below.

As usual, Slava has a number of local shows, like the one he just played with Laurel Halo and Gatekeeper on Saturday (6/30) (how was that?). His next NYC show is Warm Up at PS1 on July 28 with Sinkane, MJ Cole, DJ Spoko, and Van Rivers. Tickets for that show are available.

After that, he'll play a BPM152 party at Tammany Hall on August 11. The BPM152 parties are a bi-weekly pop-up bass party series, which have been going down in Tammany Hall this summer. The first was on 6/16 with Myrryrs, Cedaa, Mess Kid, and Old Money Knifeshowand Nire, and the second was this past Saturday (6/30) with Gobby, Physical Therapy, and Don Froth. The lineups for the remaining parties (other than the fact that Slava plays on 8/11) have not been announced yet. Stay tuned for more info on those.

A list of all Slava dates and the EP stream are below...

Continue reading "Slava playing Warm Up before BPM152 party (which continues bi-weekly), streaming EP"

by Andrew Sacher

Laurel Halo

Brooklyn's Laurel Halo released her excellent new album, Quarantine, earlier this month and recently finished up a European tour in support of it. Now that she's back home, she's already begun scheduling local shows, including a Quarantine release party at 285 Kent on June 30 with Gatekeeper, Slava, Anenon, Wish, and DJ sets by Brenmar and Teengirl Fantasy, whose new album Laurel guests on. Tickets for that show are available.

Laurel Halo has another Brooklyn show set to take place on July 21 on Public Assembly with a great local bill of Pete Swanson, Noveller, and Burning Star Core (aka C. Spencer Yeh). As usual, New Yorkers will get plenty of more chances to catch Noveller, like at Entwine on Thursday (6/28) and at Secret Project Robot on August 4, but for Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans), he's saying the Public Assembly show is likely his last NYC show for 2012. If you've yet to hear his new album, Man With Potential, you can stream it below.

Speaking of Gatekeeper, who play the 285 Kent show, they'll release their debut full length, Exo, on July 17 via Hippos in Tanks, along with an accompanying video game. Gatekeeper will celebrate Exo with a record release show in Brooklyn at Public Assembly on July 27. Thunder Horse FX will be doing visuals for their set and the bill also includes Total Freedom, James Ferraro, Yen Tech and Arca. Tickets for that show are on sale now. The show flier and Exo cover art/tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Laurel Halo playing shows; 1 w/ Gatekeeper who also have a record release show"

Warm Up 2011 at MoMA PS1 (more by Erez Avissar)

The Warm Up summer concert series is returning to MoMA PS1 this summer for another run of dance parties from forward thinking electronic musicians every Saturday from July 7 through September 8 in PS1's outdoor courtyard. For the first time, advance tickets for Warm Up will be available this year. They go on sale June 18.

The 2012 schedule includes Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace (DJ), Jamie xx, Danny Brown, Just Blaze, Maria Minerva, Shlohmo, Evian Christ, Howse, Nguzunguzu, Baio, Holy Other, Rustie, Matthew Dear (DJ), Lemonade, Slava, TRUST, Light Asylum, Sepalcure, Floating Points, Jacques Greene and many more.

More info and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "PS1's 2012 'Warm Up' lineup announced (Thom Yorke, Jamie xx, Danny Brown, Maria Minerva, Evian Christ, Trust & more)"

Caged Animals at Brooklyn Bazaar in 2011 (more by Alyssa Tanchajja)

Some pretty solid shows are going down at 285 Kent in Brooklyn this weekend. Tonight (3/2), they're hosting a dance party with Ital, Slava (live), Laurel Halo, Rezzie Weird Magic, Ilirjana Alushaj, Jan Woo, and special guests. More details below.

On Saturday (3/3), it's Caged Animals (who also play the official BV SXSW showcase in Austin later this month), special guest Blood Orange (who recently sold out Glasslands), TOPS, Phone Tag, and Royal Baths (DJ) at the Brooklyn venue. More details below.

The Men's record release show for Open Your Heart goes down at 285 Kent on Wednesday (3/7).

Brooklyn show details below...

Continue reading "shows @ 285 Kent this weekend include Blood Orange & Caged Animals (who play the BrooklynVegan showcase @ SXSW)"

by Andrew Sacher

Megafortress

Megafortress (aka NYC musician Bill Gillim of Tigercity) is releasing his self titled EP on January 31 via Ford & Lopatin's Mexican Summer imprint, Software. There's definitely a How to Dress Well vibe going on with Gillim's simultaneous understanding of ambient electronics and soaring falsetto vocals, but they differ in that Megafortress shies away from any type of beatwork, relying only on his voice, sampled bells, and synthesizer. Check out the lead track, "Green Child," which you can stream and watch the video for below. The album artwork and tracklist are also below. You can pre-order the vinyl at the Mexican Summer webstore now and an MP3 download is coming soon.

Megafortress has one show coming up and its in his hometown of NYC on the album's release date, January 31 at Glasslands. The bill also includes his Software (who is co-presenting the show with PopGun) labelmates Slava and Giffoni, in addition to When the Mountains Turn Blue and DJ Joel Ford (of Ford and Lopatin). Tickets are on sale now.

Slava also plays 285 Kent on January 20 with Huerco S, LF WInd (of Teengirl Fantasy), Innergaze, and Terekke.

Carlos Giffoni also plays The Stone on February 2.

Also catch Software co-owner Daniel Lopatin when Oneohtrix Point Never opens for Tycho at MHOW (2/4). Tickets are still available.

Video, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Megafortress releasing EP on Ford & Lopatin's Mexican Summer imprint, Software (song stream & upcoming show)"