DOWNLOAD: Flying Lotus - 3 non-album tracks (ZIP)

Flying Lotus (DJ & laptop whiz Steven Ellison) will be at LPR on Tuesday, March 30th for a show with kode9 presented by Wordless Music. Tickets are on sale.

That's part of a larger string of dates (including Coachella in April) that lead up to his new album, Cosmogramma, which comes out May 4th on Warp.

The spirit of his famed aunt, Alice Coltrane permeates the record, notably in the powerful collaborations with relative Ravi Coltrane, bass virtuoso Thundercat and the brilliant harp prodigy, Rebekah Raff.

Certainly these are further reaches into a musical space that Flying Lotus had hitherto been exploring, however other collaborators such as Erykah Badu and Outkast string arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and guest vocalists Thom Yorke and a returning Laura Darlington (featured on Los Angeles' epic closing track 'Inifinitum') help deliver Cosmogramma to dizzying new heights. [Warp]

The label has put up three recent non-album tracks from Flying Lotus, which you can grab above.

He'll also be at SXSW for the Warp showcase Wednesday, March 17th at the Phoenix with labelmates Hudson Mohawke, Born Ruffians, Nice Nice, Pivot and Eskmo. Nice Nice (Portland's Jason Buehler and Mark Shiraz) are getting their record Extra Wow released by the label on April 6th. The trippy video for their song "Everything Falling Apart" and tour dates are below.

All tour dates, streaming tracks from the file above and the new album, and artwork and tracklist are below..

Continue reading "Flying Lotus - new record & tour dates - Coachella, LPR w/ Kode9, the Warp showcase @ SXSW w/ Nice Nice & more"

LPR review by Showtrotta

Jamie Lidell @ Warp's 20th Anniversary @ Le Poisson Rouge - September 5, 2009

Following a great first day at Electric Zoo, I somehow found the energy to head to Le Poisson Rouge to see Jamie Lidell who was performing in one of the many celebrations for Warp's 20th Anniversary (9/5). While Jamie was alone, without any of his bandmates that typically make up the live Jamie Lidell experience, simply armed with a couple of laptops, a mixing board, and some other items indiscernible from the crowd's side of his table of gear...he put on an excellent show. While the set was stripped down, without all the bells and whistles that come with a live band, the solo set-up allowed Jamie's talent, both musically and as a true entertainer and showman shine through.

He opened with the track "What Is It This Time?" off of Multiply before turning to the table of gear which he was behind for much of the set. While I'm not sure if he was playing specific older tracks with which I am not familiar, or if much of it was improvised/experimental, Jamie poured over the equipment, beatboxing, recording and looping vocal snippets, only to sing over and loop them again, tweaking nearly every sound that emerged from behind that table. While more abstract, experimental pieces can sometimes be a bit too out there for a listener of an artist's more everyday fare, the intensity and passion with which Jamie performed, combined with everything sounding amazing, made the show engaging regardless. He sang a few more songs including "When I Come Back Around" and "Music Will Not Last" the latter of which he dedicated to Warp, which he spoke of fondly multiple times during his set. The set finished with a slowed down, much more electronic-oriented version of "Another Day", the perfect ending to a show that combined elements of Jamie Lidell's style both past and present.

Battles, Chk Chk Chk, Flying Lotus and Pivot played the Warp20 show that took place one night earlier at Terminal 5.

Jamie Lidell is from England and resides in Berlin, but this month he might be staying in NYC because there are now two more chances to catch him here before September is over.

We've long followed the collaboration between Jamie and his Canadian friends Feist and Gonzales (and Mocky), but we don't hear much about Gonzales here in the U.S.A. That should change soon. On September 22nd, Arts & Crafts is re-releasing Gonzales's Solo Piano album "as a special deluxe edition- It comes complete with a DVD bonus disc, featuring the documentary 'From Major To Minor' as well as various other entertaining visual complements." One day later, Gonzales kicks off a four day North American tour in LA. From there he goes to NYC for TWO September 25th shows (early and late) at Joe's Pub. Jamie Lidell will be at both of them, and tickets are on sale.

Gonzales may be best known as the producer of Feist's Let It Die and The Reminder. Feist is known lately for playing 'special guest', and her last such appearance just took place at a NYC show on September 10th. So who knows, maybe she'll be there too - the Joe's listing does read that Gonzales will be "Accompanied for each show by unexpected (or expected) guests from the gang".

In related news, Gonzales recently launched a sitcom, filmed in Paris, "Superproducer", and entered the Guinness Book of World Records for longest solo performance - over 27 hours (in June). A picture of him with his award and all dates below...

Continue reading "Gonzales re-releasing Solo Piano, touring, playing Joe's Pub (twice) w/ Jamie Lidell who played Warp20 (review)"

photos by Ryan Muir

!!!/Battles

"Though the undercards threw devastating curveballs -- Pivot's set was punchy yet serene, Flying Lotus's DJ set spanned everything from his earlier EPs to wobbling, quaking dubstep 12"s -- it was the evening's headliners that offered the most surprises. !!! sounded loose and fluid in their only New York date of 2009; "Must Be the Moon," normally an insistent, beeping rave-up, became looser and more open, with looser, longer guitar leads; "Heart of Hearts," normally clenched around tense guitar and synth riffs, was practically liquid, echoing and ringing instead. Indeed, when the band previewed a new track, "Treat Me Right," they sounded (however remotely) like the Band, with old organ whirs girding the rhythm section's grooves. !!! is a band that's built its name on its rhythmic force, but even in this smoother, more limber style, the band sounded right at home. Frontman Nic Offer got to strut his stuff, and the band's rhythm section, which included two drummers and an additional percussionist, got to embellish their songs with more cymbal color.

But changes aside, !!! was also thoroughly upstaged by Battles, the night's headlining act. Playing their only North American show of the year, the American foursome treated the event like a special occasion." [PAPER]

Battles also played new songs...

"Among the new works played were tracks called "Sweetie and Shag" (a vocal and bass-heavy track), "SDICT" (which starts as a sparse set of back-and-forths between Braxton, Williams and Konopka and eventually comes to a crescendo when Stanier's drums kick in) and "Sanford and Son" (which features Williams playing a loop in the middle of the song that sounds like what would happen if an accordion and a harmonica had a child -- this was by far the best-received moment of the evening). Though it initially sounded out of place, the band played around it, letting the music evolve into something entirely different by the end." [MTV]

The Friday night gig at Terminal 5 was the first of three Warp20 shows that happened over the weekend. The final one took place Saturday night with Jamie Lidell at Le Poisson Rouge. Pictures of Pivot HERE. The rest from Terminal 5, below...

Continue reading "Battles, !!! & Flying Lotus celebrated Warp's 20th Anniversary @ Terminal 5 in NYC - pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

Pivot was the first of four acts to play Warp Records' 20th Anniversary party at Terminal 5 in NYC on Friday night (9/4), but as previously mentioned, that wasn't their only show in town while visiting us from Australia. You can catch them one more time tonight (Tuesday, September 8th) at Mercury Lounge with Hex Message and Vacations (ex. Chin Up Chin Up). More pictures from their st of Terminal 5, and a video, below...

Continue reading "Pivot played Terminal 5 (pics), playing in NYC again (tonight)"

"The prospect of an established rock musician venturing into classical territory will probably always raise eyebrows, and rightly so. It takes a major leap of faith to view Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio or Billy Joel's Fantasies & Delusions as anything other than a misguided stab at legitimacy.

Fortunately, Central Market, a new album of compositions by Tyondai Braxton--best known for his work with the innovative instrumental-rock quartet Battles, which plays this week as part of Warp20, an anniversary celebration for its esteemed label--falls on the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. No puffed-up vanity project, this set of lush, highly kinetic pieces, performed with the Wordless Music Orchestra, ranks among the year's most forward-thinking releases. And despite its grand scope, sci-fi-esque weirdness, cryptic titles and dearth of lyrics, the album is surprisingly accessible. For fans of Battles, this brand of listener-friendly experimentation shouldn't come as a shock: Despite its considerable oddness, the band's last effort, 2007's Mirrored, stunned the indie-rock set with its furiously funky rhythms and crystalline melodies." [Time Out]

Central Market is out on September 15th via Warp Records. Battles plays with !!!, Flying Lotus and Pivot tonight (9/4) at Terminal 5. Set times below.

And the Warp Records festival continues on Saturday with two shows. First is the free show at the World Financial Center that Flying Lotus was supposed to play before he was switched to the Terminal 5 show. The new lineup will "include sets from electronic masters Jimmy Edgar, Hudson Mohawke and Clark, as well as Warp DJs." The party continues Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge with a show by Jamie Lidell, The Hundred in the Hands and Born Ruffians. Maybe because of the late set time, last minute notice, and holiday weekend, but tickets are still on sale.

Continue reading "It's Warp20 weekend (World Financial Center show included) ++ Tyondai Braxton releasing Central Market"

Jamie Lidell @ Highline Ballroom - October 2008 (more by Chris La Putt)

Warp20, the 20th anniversary concert series for the estimable UK label, has added a closing party at Le Poisson Rouge to its NYC schedule of events that run from September 3rd to 6th. The new September 5th show, which takes place after the previously-announced WFC Winter Garden gig, will feature sets from Jamie Lidell , The Hundred in the Hands and Born Ruffians. Doors are at 11pm. Tickets are on sale now. Just to be clear:

Sept 4 show @ Terminal 5
Sept 5 show @ World Financial Center
Sept 5 late show @ Le Poisson Rouge

We have a pair of tickets, which are still on sale, to giveaway to the Terminal 5 show with Battles, !!!, Prefuse 73 Flying Lotus and Pivot (who are visiting us from Australia for the first time). Details are below.

More Pivot dates, and a few video clips from the anniversary event Warp held earlier this year in Paris (with Aphex Twin and Hecker) are HERE and below along with a video preview of the label's commemorative box set, which comes out September 25th...

Continue reading "Warp20 adds Jamie Lidell show (tix), win a pair to Battles !!!"

After many months of planning, Wordless Music is deliriously proud to announce details of Warp20 NYC, the second and only U.S. installment in a series of worldwide events taking place this year in Paris, Tokyo, London, and Sheffield.

Warp20 NYC will be a four-day celebration of the music, films, and 20th anniversary of the the peerless UK label Warp Records, without which there would surely have never been a Wordless Music series.

On September 3-6, in venues across New York City, Warp artists Battles, Flying Lotus, Chris Clark, !!!, Prefuse 73, Pivot, and Hudson Mohawke will headline shows in two different venues, while The New Museum offers free and continuous screenings of full-length features, documentaries, music videos, and shorts from several dozen directors hailing from around the globe.

The fest so far includes a September 4th show at Terminal 5 with Battles, !!!, Prefuse 73 and Pivot. Tickets go on AmEx presale today at noon. General sale starts Friday, July 24th at noon.

The other confirmed fest show will be a free concert at the World Financial Center Winter Garden with Flying Lotus, Chris Clark and Hudson Mohawke on September 5th.

The "kick off" for Warp20 NYC (two months before the fest...) will be tonight's (7/22) Alarm Will Sound show at (Le) Poisson Rouge. The program for the night commemorates the five-year anniversary of the group's 2005 album Acoustica with chamber orchestra arrangements of music by Aphex Twin, Autechre, Mochipet, John Dowland, and The Beatles. Nic Offer from the band !!! will DJ the late show. Tickets for both the late and early shows are still on sale.

Also starting tonight (7/22), and also celebrating 20 years of a record label's existence: XX Merge (the Merge Records party in North Carolina).

In addition to the above-mentioned acts, Warp is also home to Grizzly Bear, who will be playing a free Pool Party show on August 30th.

The full program for tonight's LPR show, with more info on Warp20 NYC, below...

Continue reading "Warp Records' 20th Anniversary Fest - shows at Terminal 5 (Battles, !!!, more) & WFC (Flying Lotus) & LPR (tonight)"