by Andrew Sacher

Laurel Halo at Glasslands - 5/7/13 (via Impose)

Earlier this month (5/7), Brooklyn venue Glasslands hosted a great multi-genre bill as part of the Red Bull Music Academy NYC residency with sets from rappers Mykki Blanco and Le1f, arty electronic music from Laurel Halo, Crazy Bitch In A Cave, and Papercutz, and DJ sets from Venus X and Spank DJs. Did you go to that show? If so, how was it?

Red Bull Music Academy just posted a video of Mykki Blanco performing "Feeling Special" and Le1f performing "Wut" to their Youtube channel, and you can watch both videos below. You can also stream Venus X's set over at RBMA Radio.

"Feeling Special" appears on Mykki Blanco's new EP, Betty Rubble: The Initiation, which came out this week (5/21) via UNO. If you liked Mykki's debut mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, you'll likely be a fan of the new EP too. You can stream it in full at Pitchfork and listen to two of its tracks below.

Le1f also recently made a video for "Spa Day" off his Fly Zone mixtape. That video, and all other streams and videos below...

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco released a new EP, played Glasslands w/ Le1f, Laurel Halo & others (videos & EP stream)"

Earl Sweatshirt

Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt will be making his SXSW debut this year (he wasn't there when the rest of his crew first played), and will be doing collaborative sets with Captain Murphy, aka Flying Lotus' rap alter ego (who collaborated with him on "Between Friends"). Those sets include the Life or Death showcase on Wednesday (3/13) at Scoot Inn at midnight, the Green Label Sound showcase on Friday (3/15) at Lucille at 9:30 PM, and FADER Fort on Saturday (3/16) at 6 PM. Flyers for all three of those shows with full lineups are below.

Earl just appeared at Flying Lotus' LA show at Low End Theory last week (3/7) and they performed three tracks off Earl's upcoming album, Doris, "Burgundy" (produced by Pharrell), "Hive," and "Guild." Mac Miller is featured on that last one and he was at the LA show too. You can check it all out in a video from the show, which is below. Also below is the video for previously released Doris track, "Chum," and Earl has another new video on the way too.

Earl's other upcoming dates include some festival appearances like Bonnaroo, Sasquatch!, and Coachella. All dates are listed, along with those flyers and videos, below...

Continue reading "Earl Sweatshirt performed w/ Flying Lotus (Captain Murphy) in LA, doing it again at SXSW (dates, video)"

Mux Mool

Instrumental hip hop producer Mux Mool is playing a few shows this month, including one in Brooklyn on Thursday (11/8) at Cameo Gallery with Gobby and Lotide. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

You can also catch Gobby in DJ mode the next day at Santos Party House (11/9) for an All Night Rong party with Venus X, Dreams, and Good Kids. That party is free before midnight.

UPDATE: Venus X is not playing the Santos show. She tweeted, "PLEASE RT I WILL NOT BE HEADLINING SANTOS THIS FRIDAY. NYC GOTTA WAIT A LITTLE BIT LONGER FOR ME SORRY KIDDOS."

A list of all dates and song streams below.

Continue reading "Mux Mool, Gobby & more playing NYC this week"

Fatima Al Qadiri at MoMA PS1 in 2011 (more by Erez Avissar)

Fatima Al Qadiri (who sometimes goes by Ayshay), Nguzunguzu, Total Freedom, Venus XTC, $hayne, and J-Cush are DJing a pre-Halloween show in NYC on October 27 at Club Hell at Knockdown Center, which is a converted factory in Queens (52-19 Flushing Ave). Hosted by 319 Scholes, UNO NYC are guest curators and it's an all night event running from 11 PM to 6 AM (rave till dawn). $15 early bird tickets are on sale now. When those sell out, tickets will be $15 and it's $20 at the door. The flier for this show is below.

Nguzunguzu, who just played Adventures in Modern Music in Chicago, recently made a mix for SSENSE, which you can stream below.

Fatima Al Qadiri released her Genre-Specific Xperience EP last year via UNO following her Ayshay EP on Tri Angle. You can stream some cuts from Genre-Specific Xperience below.

Continue reading "Fatima Al Qadiri, Nguzunguzu and more DJing old Queens factory (dates & streams)"

Rain Machine at BAM in 2010 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

As mentioned, the free Afropunk Festival returns to Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park on August 25-26. You can check out the full schedule for the fest at the bottom of this post. On the Saturday (8/25), the Green Stage will be headlined by Erykah Badu and the Red Stage by Das Racist. On the Sunday (8/26), the Green Stage will be headlined by TV on the Radio following sets by Toro y Moi and Reggie Watts and the Red Stage will be headlined by Janelle Monae.

Speaking of TV on the Radio, Kyp Malone's solo project Rain Machine has a NYC show coming up, that will take place soon after Afropunk at Union Pool on September 1 with Soft Location and Slowdance. No other Rain Machine dates to report at the moment.

Sinkane, who also plays Afropunk Fest, continues his residency at Zebulon tonight (8/20).

2012 Afropunk Fest schedule is below.

Continue reading "the Afropunk Festival 2012 schedule & a Rain Machine show"

TV on the Radio at Catalpa 2012 (more by Toby Tenebaum)

As mentioned, the free Afro-Punk Festival is returning to Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park on August 25-26. Since then, the lineup has been expanded, and now joining the initial announcement of Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Toro y Moi, Das Racist, Reggie Watts, and more is TV on the Radio (who will be headlining), Sinkane, Alice Smith, Flatbush Zombies, Radkey, Joe Jordan Experiment (JJX), and Purple Ferdinand.. Plus, the following DJs have been added: The Supasonics, Grits and Biscuits, DJ Pete Smoke Les, Stack-Aly, Roofeeo and VENUS X GHE20GOTH1K.

There will also be a Bites & Beats Food Truck Festival, an Afro-Punk Spinthrift Market, a motorcycle show, and a Nike Battle For the Streets Skate Competition, hosted by Alex Corporan and Billy Rohan. More details on these are below.

The updated lineup, flier and an Afro-Punk exclusive film, I Am Other, are below.

Continue reading "Afro-Punk Festival expands lineup (TV on the Radio, Sinkane, Alice Smith, food trucks, art vendors, bike show & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Angel Haze - "Werkin' Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Angel Haze - "New York" (MP3)

Angel Haze

As discussed, the next Shortcuts party goes down at Santos Party House on July 19. Kool A.D. (of Das Racist) was originally scheduled to play but he has since dropped off. (He'll still play Mercury Lounge on July 30 though, and tickets for that show are still available.) The lineup for the Shortcuts party as it currently stands is Angel Haze, Carrie Wilds, King Leo, and DJ sets by Venus X and Covert Kids. Tickets for that show are still available.

For 21 year old NYC rapper Angel Haze, the Shortcuts party doubles as a release party for her new EP, Reservation, which comes out on July 17 via True Panther/Noizy Cricket/Biz 3 Records and as her live NYC debut. You can download two tracks from that EP at the top of this post -- "New York" and the just-revealed "Werkin' Girls." She's got rapid fast flow and a no-bullshit attitude that makes her one of the most compelling rappers to recently hit the scene.

Streams of "New York" and "Werkin' Girls" are below, along with artwork for each track and the flier for the Santos show...

Continue reading "Angel Haze releasing 'Reservations' (MP3s), playing release party at Santos (which Kool AD dropped off)"

POP Montreal is returning to Montreal this year from September 19 - 23. The initial lineup was revealed and it includes Grizzly Bear, Gang Gang Dance, David Byrne, Tim Hecker, Julia Holter, I Break Horses, Hot Snakes, Dirty Three, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Cate Le Bon, Bertrand Burgulat (!), and more. The full initial lineup is listed below and many more announcements to come. Early Bird tickets are on sale until June 30, when regular sale begins.

Meanwhile, Montreal will be getting the Ohsheaga Festival even sooner.

Initial POP Montreal lineup below...

Continue reading "POP Montreal initial 2012 lineup revealed (Grizzly Bear, Gang Gang Dance, David Byrne, Tim Hecker, Hot Snakes & more)"