photos by Diana Wong

Orbital / Disclosure / Thomas Dolby @ Moogfest, 10/27/2012

Day two of Moogfest 2012 (10/27) in Asheville, NC was another full roster of events, musical performances and really cool analog synths. New Wave artist-turned-ringtone pioneer Thomas Dolby recieved the 2012 Moog Innovation Award after which he performed as well. Other performers from the night included techno legends Carl Craig and UK duo Orbital (who had the most infectiously excitable crowd), new talent Disclosure (who just played NYC and sent some of the Moogfest crowd into hysterics) and Magnetic Fields. There was also a presentation on the Moog Google Doodle and more.

Pics from Day 1 of Moogfest are here, with pics from Justice's pre-fest show here. More pictures from Day 2 are below.

Continue reading "Moogfest 2012 day 2 in pics (Orbital, Carl Craig, Disclosure, Magnetic Fields, Thomas Dolby + more)"

Moogfest 2011 (more by Diana Wong)

Moogfest, which is becoming one of the most intriguing US music festivals, is returning to Asheville, NC this year on October 26 and 27. Like in past years, the festival includes some legends like Thomas Dolby and GZA performing Liquid Swords (like he is in NYC and other cities), some of our favorite newcomers like Julia Holter, Trust, and Disclosure, electronic heavy hitters like Orbital, Four Tet, Squarepusher, Richie Hawtin, Mouse on Mars, and Prefuse 73 with Teebs, in addition to a diverse list of other artists like Killer Mike, El-P, The Magnetic Fields, Explosions in the Sky, Primus, Santigold, Divine Fits, Actress, Pantha Du Prince, Bear in Heaven, and more. Tickets for this year's fest go on sale Friday (8/10) at noon. The initial lineup is listed below.

Orbital, who released their new album, Wonky, this year, which featured a track with Zola Jesus, have a few other North American dates this year (still none in NYC though).

For Divine Fits, the new band featuring Britt Daniel (Spoon), Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs), and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks), who recently made their live debut in Austin, Moogfest is one of the few shows they've got scheduled this year, including the Chicago show they played last night (8/5) and an upcoming NYC show.

Moogfest 2012 lineup is listed below.

Continue reading "Moogfest 2012 lineup (GZA, Magnetic Fields, Explosions in the Sky, Primus, Santigold, Julia Holter, Disclosure, Orbital, Four Tet, Divine Fits, Killer Mike & more)"

The 14th annual Voodoo Music & Arts Experience happens from October 26 - 28 at City Park in New Orleans. Among the 70+ acts at this year's fest are Jack White, Green Day, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Skrillex, Justice, Silversun Pickups, Thomas Dolby, Die Antwoord, The Dirty Dozen Brass, and Bootsy Collins. Tickets are on sale with a variety of options as is the usual with festivals these days.

Full Voodoo Experience line-up is below.

Continue reading "Jack White, Green Day, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Justice & more playing the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans (lineup)"

Regina Spektor at Bowery Ballroom in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Regina Spektor is playing a show on February 23 at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, a benefit for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). The HIAS "is the international migration agency of the American Jewish community. They provide rescue and refuge around the world for Jews and other refugees escaping violence, repression, and poverty." Tickets, starting at a $55 option and ranging to a $250 option, are on sale now.

Regina has a new album on the way called What We Saw From The Cheap Seats coming out this May. She left this message regarding the album via facebook:

Hi! So! I'm very excited to say that this summer i recorded a new record with Mike Elizondo in LA land! It's been finished for a little while but i had no idea when it would be out in the world until now... We're trying to get everything ready for it to come out in May (but i will share some stuff before then for sure!!!)
It's called---"What We Saw From The Cheap Seats"
big cheers to you all,
regi

Regina is also one of the many guests on Thomas Dolby's 2011 comeback album, A Map of the Floating City, which he recently announced a tour in support of. Stream Regina's contribution to the album, "Evil Twin Brother," below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor announces new LP, playing Lincoln Center"

Thomas Dolby at 92YTribeca in October (via)

Electro-pop wizard Thomas Dolby, who released A Map of the Floating City, his first new album in two decades, last year, will be touring North America in support of it, kicking off with a SXSW show on March 16, and ending about a month later in LA. The tour is being dubbed the "Time Capsule Tour," and if you're wondering why, this press release should clear it up...

The Time Capsule is a chrome- and brass-plated road trailer that seats three. With handcrafted leather and wood fittings, and complex electrical wiring that could have been designed by Nikola Tesla, it resembles a Jules Verne/HG Wells-inspired time-travel machine. Inside is a high-tech video recording suite that allows a music fan or guest artist to upload a personal video message to the Future. The Time Capsule will be parked in the street outside each venue on Dolby's month-long North American tour, and in front of select local radio and TV stations. It will capture hundreds of 30-second clips over the course of the tour, assembling them into an online video montage.

Fans will be able to walk up and step into the Time Capsule to make their own fully produced and effected digital 30-second video clip. The clips will then be automatically uploaded and viewable on a brand-new YouTube channel along with the individual user's own Facebook and Twitter pages. The most viewed clips will win prizes. Dolby's label Lost Toy People Records is in discussion with several potential sponsors for the project.

"If you had 30 seconds to explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization, what would you say?" said Thomas Dolby. "Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys!"

A picture of the time capsule is below. The tour hits NYC on March 29 at Canal Room and includes special guests Aaron Jonah Lewis and Ben Belcher. Tickets are on sale now. All tour dates, the time capsule pic, and a BBC Breakfast special from November about the new album, below...

Continue reading "Thomas Dolby going on tour with a 'Time Capsule' (dates)"

Thomas Dolby's first LP in 20 years hits store shelves on 10/25 and as such he has hit the road to promote it and its accompanying game with a string of lecture/performance dates.

These solo performances will take the form of a 60-minute lecture about his new social networking transmedia game, The Floating City, interspersed with live songs from his upcoming album (A Map of the Floating City), as well as a few timeless classics.

...At each show, Dolby will give his personal account of the groundbreaking game, which he describes as "a Dieselpunk dystopia . . . weary survivors of a global climate catastrophe bartering and trading to stay alive in the face of techno-piracy and mutant squid attacks!"

More than five thousand players played the online game, forming into nine "tribes" and competing for the grand prize -- a free private concert by Dolby and his band from his new album.

...Dolby will retell the player-created stories that unfolded during the 12 weeks of gameplay, highlighting key characters' profiles, and the "patent applications" they filed to protect themselves against the unpredictable freak events reported by The Floating City Gazette. And he'll share behind-the-scenes insights into the production process, which took place over the course of an eight-month period using a team of developers in different time zones who never met face to face.

So far no word if Dolby has survived said "mutant squid attacks" in one piece, but he is scheduled to appear at 92Y Tribeca in NYC TONIGHT (10/5). Tickets are still available.

If you can't make it to the lecture/live show, you can still participate in Dolby's game, The Floating City or just keep up with the news about the game with The Floating City Gazette.

All tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Thomas Dolby is on tour, playing music, talking about his game (dates include 92YTribeca tonight)"

by Andrew Sacher

Thomas Dolby is releasing his first album of new material in 20 years this summer. The album is called A Map of the Floating City and features an array of guest musicians including Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, Mark Knopfler, and Eddi Reader. Dolby is giving an exclusive sneak preview performance of songs from the album this Friday (2/25) at The Greene Space at 2 PM. He's performing the songs with New York string quartet Ethel and accordion player Rachelle Garniez. Opening the show is the Jamaican group The Jolly Boys. Tickets are still available. If you can't make it you can always listen on WNYC.

Despite being one of the pioneers of electronic pop music, in a press release on his website, Dolby has said of the new album:

"I marvel at the new landscape of the music business - distribution via the Internet and recording technologies I barely dreamed of when I started out," he continues. "But this album does not sound electronic at all. I have zero desire to add to the myriad of machine-based, synth-driven grooves out there. The Net has made a music career approachable for thousands of bands - but I hear too few single-minded voices among them. What I do best is write songs, tell stories."

Dolby's initial plan was to release three EPs leading up to the release of the album. His first EP, Amerikana, was released last June and his next EP, Oceanea, comes out officially on March 28. A music video for "The Toadlickers" off of the Amerikana EP is featured below. The third EP, entitled Urbanoia, is no longer coming out. Instead he has chosen to create an "online multiuser event entitled 'The Floating City,' where you "won't need to buy a download of the 'Urbanoia' EP; but to hear it, you'll need to play the game and find your way to the party." Looks like Thomas Dolby is blinding us with science.

Currently, Dolby's performance at The Greene Space is his only announced date, but his press release says, "A multi-city live tour is likely for 2011."

Videos and the next EP's cover art is below...

Continue reading "Thomas Dolby releasing EPs & a guest-filled album, performing live in NYC on Friday (and on the radio)"