London’s own Louisa Rose Allen, better known as Foxes, will release her full-length debut album Gloriousin the US digitally on Monday, June 23rd.The album debuted in the Top 5 on UK Album Charts when it was released earlier this year overseas. Additionally, Foxes will support Pharrell on his UK tour later this year.
Foxes recently won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording for “Clarity”with Zedd which they performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon! and Late Show with David Letterman.
The stunning Foxes has graced the cover of UK’s Fabulous and The New Review as well as gorgeous features in UK’s InStyle and stateside in the likes of Flaunt, Elle, Marie Claire and NYLON. Stay tuned to see Foxes make a cameo on an upcoming episode of BBC’s sci-fi hit “Doctor Who.”
“With a sound that’s ideal for hazy afternoons spent spinning in the sun or warm nights with the wind in your hair, Favored Nations deserves a prominent spot in your summer playlist.” – BlackBook
“Musically it’s as smooth as the flesh on a lady’s inner thigh—100% Steely Dan vibes on a kicky nu-disco tip. We love.“– Noisey
The product of a night out in the city of angels, trans-Atlantic trio Favored Nations has accomplished quite a bit since they cut their first demos in early 2012. They release of their first EP, Blame Game, was met with critical acclaim. Then, Rockstar Games used their song “The Setup” for the finale in their hugely popular video game Grand Theft Auto V.
Their accomplishments thus far aren’t too surprising since the trio is made up of some very familiar and beloved men on the dance music scene. James Curd is one of the most sought after remixers in the genre and he founded the group with singer Morgan Phalen, whose voice will sound familiar to anyone who listened to Justice’s psychy second LP Audio Video Disco. Curd then added Surahn Sidhu, touring bass and guitar player for Empire of the Sun, to the mix.
For the past few months the three have been working through touring commitments, solo projects, and the space of an ocean to construct a new EP. On July 1st Favored Nations will be releasing their second EP Amazon via Jupiter Clique. Yesterday, Stereogum premiered the lead single “Amazon,” which they deemed “a joy” and “a breeze.” This lead single will soon be receiving a music video before the EP is released.
“Amazon” is an energetic track, built on frantic rhythms and soaked in catchy guitar riffs. The song blazes its way through the fun-filled three minutes fifty leaving you with no other choice than to play it again. If “Amazon” is L.A, then “That’s Not Who We Are” is definitely the Bahamas – sun soaked rhythm guitar accompanied by sample heavy drums and an infectious summer vibe. The EP is then finished out with “The Setup,” a track familiar to those who were able to play their way through Los Santos. All in all, the whole EP is cause for a cold drink and a good time.
Rock band O.A.R. and singer Phillip Phillips announced their joint summer tour will benefit Habitat for Humanity to support the organization’s mission of providing safe, decent, affordable housing in partnership with low-income families.“Home means everything to us. It’s our DNA. It’s who we are,” said Marc Roberge of O.A.R. “We had the chance to meet amazing people building Habitat for Humanity homes in LA, pouring love and sweat into the foundation, taking pride in the work they were doing, alongside the Habitat partner family, and it was an honor to be a part of that. Words can’t properly describe the positive swell that brought to our hearts. We hope the donation from our tour will help families, like the ones we met, achieve their dreams of homeownership.”
The 24-city joint tour kicks off in St. Louis today and wraps up in Atlanta on July 26. For every ticket sold, O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips will donate $1 to Habitat. The tour will also host online auctions for a VIP experience in each city, including two premium tickets and an opportunity to meet with the artists. Proceeds from the auctions will go to local Habitat affiliates.
“My team has personally seen the incredible impact Habitat for Humanity can have on lives. We have worked on builds from the Musician’s Village rebuild in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina to local neighborhoods in my community,” said Phillip Phillips. “Habitat’s roots stem from my home state of Georgia but their reach is now worldwide I am honored to partner with Habitat for Humanity in carrying out their mission – to build homes, communities, and hope.”
The artists will also donate 10 concert tickets to the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in each tour city, for use by Habitat volunteers and staff, as well as Habitat partner homeowner families, who they will meet at each tour stop. Habitat affiliates will be provided with space at each venue to raise awareness about their affordable housing work within their communities.
“O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips share our passion for helping low-income families realize the dream of homeownership,” said Colleen Ridenhour, deputy director of Corporate, Foundation and Institution Relations for Habitat for Humanity International. “We are honored to be recognized during their summer tour and are grateful for their generosity in helping raise funds to create safe, decent, affordable housing.”
O.A.R. – Phillip Phillips joint tour dates:
June 12: Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO June 13: Crossroads, Kansas City, MO June 14: Red Rocks, Morrison, CO June 15: Stir Cove, Council Bluffs, IA June 17: LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH June 18: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA June 20: Jacobs Pavilion Nautica, Cleveland, OH June 21: FirstMerit Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago June 22: Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, Sterling Heights, MI June 23: Frederik Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI June 28: Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH July 2: Art Park, Lewiston, NY July 6: Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT July 10: Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA July 11: Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY July 12: P.N.C. Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ July 13: Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC July 16: Uptown Amphitheatre at the NC Music, Charlotte July 18: Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, PA July 19: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD July 20: NTELOS Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA July 24: Innsbrook Pavilion, Glen Allen, VA July 25: Family Circle Tennis Center, Charleston, SC July 26: Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA
Hooray! Jenny Lewis is back!!! Ohhhh, how I miss Rilo Kiley.
Celebrated California singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis has debuted her new single, “Just One Of The Guys,” taken from her forthcoming album The Voyager, which will be released by Warner Bros. Records on July 29th. The album is now available for pre-order today from all participating digital retailers. Those who pre-order will receive an instant download of “Just One Of The Guys.”
“Just One Of The Guys” was produced by Beck, who also contributes backing vocals. “It was one of the tunes I’d tried a few different ways before I finally recorded it with Beck at his home studio in Malibu,” Lewis says. “The whole experience was super laid-back – walking on the beach, talking about movies, the Rolling Stones, and French pop music. It was just very mellow and lovely.”
Beck is one of several artists Lewis chose to produce tracks on The Voyager, which also features production from Ryan Adams, alongside Mike Viola, as well as her longtime collaborator, Johnathan Rice. The Voyager is the former Rilo Kiley frontwoman’s third solo album and first in six years, following 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat (with The Watson Twins) and 2008’s Acid Tongue. It finds the always relatable songwriter at her sharp-witted best, singing about her recent experiences with honesty and incisiveness.
The Voyager is Lewis’s most deeply personal album to date, documenting her struggle to cope following the death of her estranged father in 2010 and the subsequent break-up of Rilo Kiley. The Voyager‘s rootsy, golden glow comes courtesy of Lewis and the artists she chose to produce various tracks, including Ryan Adams (who, alongside Mike Viola, produced all but three of the tracks), Beck, and Lewis’ longtime collaborator Johnathan Rice. The Voyager finds the always relatable songwriter at her sharp-witted best, singing about her recent experiences with honesty and incisiveness.
“Making The Voyager got me through one of the most difficult periods of my life,” she says. “After Rilo Kiley broke up and a few really intense personal things happened, I completely melted down. It nearly destroyed me. I had such severe insomnia that, at one point, I didn’t sleep for five straight nights. Many of the songs on The Voyager came out of the need to occupy my mind in the moments when I just couldn’t shut down.”
After several years of writing new material, Lewis took 2013 off to tour with The Postal Service. Sharing the spotlight was a freeing experience, providing the realization that she needed to give up control in order to move forward. While on the road, she reached out to Ryan Adams to record at his newly built studio, Pax Am, at Sunset Sound. Her first day back from tour, she went into the studio with Adams and his partner Mike Viola, and found the creative collaboration she was missing.
“Ryan and I didn’t know each other very well before this album — we had hardly even listened to one another’s music, to be honest. But I trusted the vision, and Ryan ended up being the person to get me over the fear of finishing something I’d been working on for so long. This record was the hardest one I ever made,” she says. “The Voyager tells that story: the longest night of my life and the journey to finally getting some rest.”
In other Jenny Lewis news, the sometimes actress also appears in the June 5th episode of IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang as a musical co-host filling in for Reggie Watts and singing a duet with Zach Galifianakis. She is on tour throughout the summer, including several dates with Ray LaMontagne, as well as appearances at Lollapalooza and the Outside Lands Festival. Lewis will also perform a hometown show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on August 9th. See below for all tour dates.
June 4 Portland, ME State Theatre w/ Kurt Vile
June 6 New York, NY Governor’s Ball (Randall’s Island)
June 7 Washington DC 9:30 Club SOLD OUT
July 6 Toronto, ON Urban Roots Festival
July 8 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Blues Fest
July 10 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 11 Orlando, FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Center w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 12 Miami, FL The Fillmore w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 15 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theatre w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 16 Charleston, SC North Charleston PAC w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 18 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 19 Birmingham, AL BJCC Concert Hall w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 20 Louisville, KY Forecastle Festival
July 22 Interlochen, MI Kresge Auditorium w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 23 Grand Rapids, MI Meijer Gardens w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 25 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival
July 26 Camden, NJ XpoNential Music Festival w/Ryan Adams
July 27 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
July 31 Indianapolis, IN Deluxe at Old National Centre
Aug 2 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza SOLD OUT
Aug 3 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Aug 9 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Aug 10 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Festival SOLD OUT
I love Teddybears. The group and the bears. And now, the group returns with a psychedelic summer jam, “Sunshine”(out now via Big Beat Records) which highlights their signature—pop x electronica x rock n’ roll x hip-hop x reggae x punk—and arrives with a video to accompany that shares an outrageous mix of themes and color schemes.
Featuring Jamaican dancehall star Natalie Storm and Swedish musician Kee Marcello (hailing from mega-bands Europe and Hellacopters); smashing a drum-kit made of ice, this playful video, combined with equal parts electric guitar, gold lamé, and neon illustrations is simply fun to watch – and definitely not like anything else you’ll see all day.
Slaptop was born in the abandoned buildings and forgotten beaches of the Northern California Coast. His music evokes feelings of wandering through sun-soaked adventures and chasing a wild youthful spirit. His debut single, “Sunrise,” is about a group of friends embarking on an all-night adventure that culminates in watching the sunrise together. They call it a “Sunsquad.”The single was fittingly written and produced over the course of one night in Slaptop’s college dorm room.
“Filled to the brim with a cluster of melodic elements such as subtle drum and xylophone patterns, sexy saxophone solo’s, and lyrics that bring chill vibes to the production…will have you hitting the replay button repetitively” – This Song Is Sick
Slaptop DJ Set:
6/27: San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge (w/ STRFKR) (tix stage 10pm / all ages)
7/26: Los Angeles, CA @ The Standard Downtown (stage 1-2pm)
Strange Desire Tracklisting:
1. Wild Heart
2. Rollercoaster
3. Shadow
4. I Wanna Get Better
5. Wake Me
6. Reckless Love
7. Take Me Away Ft. Grimes
8. Live A River Runs
9. You’re Still A Mystery
10. I’m Ready to Move On/Wild Heart Reprise Ft. Yoko Ono
11. Who I Want You To Love
The highly anticipated debut album, Strange Desire, from Bleachers will be out July 15th. And now, fans who pre-order the album starting today will receive the new track, “Rollercoaster” instantly.
In addition, any fan who pre-orders the album from Bleachers web store will receive a CD or an exclusive transparent orange vinyl, a limited edition T-shirt, a limited edition Autumn de Wilde print and a 5 song bonus CD containing demos from the album. They will also be supplied a pre-sale code granting them early access to tickets for the first leg of Bleachers’ The Strange Desire World Tour. Special ticket offers for the second leg of the tour will become available on album release day, July 15th.
Since the initial announcement in February, Bleachers has been selected as a Spotify Spotlight artist and “I Wanna Get Better” has shot into the top 5 at Alt radio and is still growing. This past weekend Bleachers kicked off their summer festival tour dates at New York’s Governor’s Ball, ““The crowd was nothing but fully awake for his closer, the upbeat anthem and first single “I Wanna Get Better,” and the audience danced along and sang with the refrain. It was a perfect way to start Gov Ball Day Three.”” wrote Billboard.
Out now is “Kicking Down Doors”, a massive collaboration that melds Santigold’s acclaimed vocality with YOGI’s arrestingly meticulous and gritty production. The track is part of Pepsi’s star-studded Beats Of The Beautiful Game compilation in honor of the World Cup.
At the star-studded MTV Africa Awards a few nights ago, South African band Goldfish scooped the night’s biggest gong, winning ‘Best Pop Act’ for their latest album Three Second Memory. The duo, currently on tour in Europe and Asia, flew back to pick up the accolade in front of a live audience with millions more watching on TV sets around the world.
Goldfish, who figured heavily in the official after-movie for Ultra South Africa, also unveiled the new video for their latest track “Moonwalk Away (Moonlanding Mix)”, featuring historic footage of the first moon landings plus incredible time-lapse photography from both the International Space Station (ISS) and the starlit plains of Africa.
Having used original recordings of Neil Armstrong and Mission Control in the remix, Dominic Peters and David Poole contacted NASA on the off-chance that they could use archived film from the ISS and the moon landing itself. “We never expected to get a response,” said Dom, “but they came back saying we were welcome to use any of the footage!”
“The video also has African children’s voices in it and we’re from South Africa, so we wanted to give it an African perspective too. After much back and forth with various landscape photographers traveling around the world we got some mind blowing time-lapses of the African sky shot from around southern Africa.”
The remix, part of a package that includes edits from German stars Alle Farben and Lexer, is indicative of Goldfish’s symphonic yet funk-filled production work; sweeping orchestral sections and evocative piano chords harmonize against warm, driving percussion segments and spine-tingling vocals to create beautiful house music of the absolute highest degree.
The award for ‘Best Pop Act’ will come as no surprise to fans of Goldfish, who take the ‘traditional’ DJ mindset when performing live to a whole new level, incorporating instruments as diverse as saxophones, flutes, keyboards and electronic cellos into their shows. The pair has become internationally renowned for their show stopping performances as well as their original production and remix work – perfectly highlighted in the brand new tour video from their explosive set at Kingsday 2014 at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium in The Netherlands.
Over the next few months Goldfish will continue their tour across Europe, hitting venues and festivals in Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic and Lithuania. For more information and to find out how to buy tickets, visit www.GoldfishLive.com.
Musically Amusing 