Few have had a bigger 2011 than Skrillex. Replete with 2 EPs, the cover of SPIN Magazine, and over 300 performances on several sold-out world tours, Sonny Moore capstones an incredible year with five Grammy nominations, more than almost any other artist. The Atlantic/Big Beat artist has been exceptionally active throughout the last 12 months while simultaneously launching his own record label, OWSLA, as well. These are the 23 year-old’s first Grammy nominations, and honors include Best New Artist (a first for an electronic musician!), Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronica Album for Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Best Remixed Recording for his remix of Benny Benassi’s “Cinema” and Best Music Video for “First of the Year (Equinox)” which has garnered over 20 million views on Youtube.
Grammy Nomination – Diplo
Finally! Official Video for Avicii’s “Levels”
Filed under Holy Freaking Crap!, video, Whoa!
New Video: YACHT – “I Walked Alone”
YACHT Tour Dates:
12/01/11 Miami, FL – Electric Pickle
12/02/11 Worcester, MA – Clark College
12/03/11 Purchase, NY – The Stood at SUNY Purchase
12/03/11 New York, NY – Santos Party House (9 PM Set Time)
12/04/11 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
12/05/11 Pittsburgh, PA – REX Theater
12/06/11 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
12/29/11 Lake Tahoe, CA – SnowGlobe Music Festival
Free Download: Boots Electric – “I Love You All The Thyme”
After bestowing the videos for “Boots Electric Theme” and “Complexity” upon us, Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes is sharing a third track from his solo project, Boots Electric. The track finds Hughes showing a different side from his notorious winking, seductive persona that gets all the girls. Instead, “I Love You All The Thyme” is a moment of genuine pining for someone he loves that seems to have their eye on someone else. The song is on Honkey Kong (Dangerbird Records), Hughes’ debut album under the Boots Electric moniker. The album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, The Kooks) and co-written with legendary keyboardist Money Mark, best known for his many collaborations with the Beastie Boys.
After creating three albums of dirty and danceable garage rock anthems as the frontman of Eagles of Death Metal, Hughes expands his sonic palette as Boots Electric while continuing to deliver the hooks that he’s known for. The electronic drums that kick off opening track “Complexity” immediately signal the new direction. The track is a mix of glam-pop, keyboard-heavy dance grooves, and Hughes’ signature brand of rock ‘n roll grit that drips with swagger. Elsewhere, he tries on space-funk synths on the track “Boots Electric” and “Trippy Blob” has some of his most absurdist lyrics yet. Hughes continues to show his earnest side on tracks like “No Ffun” is an honest-to-goodness ballad and “Swallowed by the Night” is a soulful slice of honky tonk gold. Honkey Kong reveals what many already knew – beneath the tongue-in-cheek lyrics and his charismatic strut, Hughes has always been a gifted pop songwriter at heart. Boots Electric is coming out of the closet.
Listen/download: Boots Electric – “I Love You All The Thyme”
Related articles
- Boots Electric Says Amy Winehouse Was ‘Surrounded by Vipers and Sharks’ (spinner.com)
- Boots Electric: Honkey Kong (Review) (popmatters.com)
Free Download: Digitalism – Circles (Dillon Francis remix)
Germany’s electronic duo Digitalism is bringing their live show back to North America this week, kicking off a full tour sponsored by Jägermeister. The band has also announced the Circles EP, which will see a release on December 6th via V2/Cooperative Music/Downtown. The band premiered the Dillon Francis remix of “Circles” today via RCRD LBL.
Download: Digitalism – “Circles” (Dillon Francis Remix)
The band released their sophomore album, I Love You, Dude, this past summer, and hit the road with the HARD Festival Summer Tour in support. The album features 10 tracks, each of which has their own vibrant identity. With amazing tracks like “Forrest Gump,” co-written with Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, “Circles,” with its Who-ish keyboard and apparently existential lyrics and standout lead single “2 Hearts.”
Upcoming North American Tour Dates
- 11/28 – Chicago, IL – Metro
- 11/29 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club
- 11/30 – Montreal, QC – SAT
- 12/1 – Boston, MA – Paradise
- 12/2 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
- 12/3 – Philadephia, PA – Trocadero
- 12/5 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
- 12/7 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel 12/9 – Austin, TX – Parish
- 12/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
- 12/12 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
- 12/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box
- 12/14 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine
Free Download: Escort – “Makeover”
“The Best Disco Album Of 2011”
– SPIN
“The best New York disco tracks since West End Records’ early-‘80s heyday.”
– Pitchfork
“Escort is New York City’s greatest perpetual buzz band…”
– The Village Voice
Escort has been setting dance floors ablaze with their disco-infused beats, irresistibly catchy hooks and seductive live shows since releasing a series of 12” singles in 2006. The seventeen-member “disco orchestra,” founded by producers Eugene Cho and Dan Balis, and fronted by lead singer Adeline Michèle, features an incredible cast of musicians who have played with everyone from indie-rock titans Arcade Fire to avant-classical luminaries Alarm Will Sound. Escort’s long-awaited debut LP will be released on vinyl and CD on January 31st but is out on iTunes now!
Escort’s self-titled new album pays homage to mutant-pop luminaries such as Kid Creole and the Coconuts & Ian Dury. While embracing the legacy of these forward-thinking but classic acts, Escort has managed to create something strikingly new. Check out the new song “Makeover” below.
Listen/download: Escort – “Makeover”
Opener “CaméleonChameleon” is a theatrical masterpiece about the French serial impostor Frédéric Bourdin, set to a beat that’s equal parts Thriller and the Tom Tom Club. With piercing horns and silky smooth vocals “A Bright New Life” commands you to the dance floor. “Love in Indigo” blends the enormous R&B vocals of Adeline Michèle with lush strings creating a disco extravaganza that is all their own. The tracks, “Makeover” and “Why oh Why” seem to explore the lost possibilities of another era. The 1937 standard “A Sailboat in the Moonlight” is twisted into a lost classic. The album also includes versions of their 12” DJ releases remixed, re-mastered, rearranged, and re-recorded specially for the LP, completing the album as a sonic experience from beginning to end. New Yorkers who haven’t had a chance to catch them live have 2 more chances with a release party DJ event this week and a live disco extravaganza w/Midnight Magic coming up in December.
Escort NYC Shows
11/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo, DJ Release Show
ft. Escort, Prince Languare & DarshanJesrani
12/17: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/Midnight Magic
Related articles
- Escort – “Makeover” (stereogum.com)
- Hear Escort’s ‘Makeover’ From the Best Disco Album of 2011 (spin.com)
- Escort releasing an album, performing it live (brooklynvegan.com)
Filed under Check 'em Out!, downloads, listen, Whoa!
Kid Sister – “Gucci Rag Top” remix feat. Danny Brown
After some serious time in the studio working on her next full-length album, Kid Sister is releasing a new EP, Kiss & Tell, on November 29th on Fool’s Gold Records. The MC born Melisa Young not only spent 2011 tearing down shows all over North America – from the Magic 8 Ball tour with A-Trak to NYC’s 80,000 deep Electric Zoo festival – but managed to bring that boundless on-stage energy to sessions with some of today’s most exciting producers.
The EP offers four of Kid Sister’s latest tracks with a diverse crew of collaborators. “Mickey” is a club workout from heavy hitting DJ/producer duo Nadastrom (Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom who are currently helping pilot Skrillex’s sold-out Mothership tour), while “Hide N Seek” pairs Kid Sis with rap absurdist Riff Raff and bass maestros Sinden & 5kin&Bone5. Hip-hop hero Scoop Deville (Snoop, Game, Fat Joe) mans the boards for “Cliq Claq” (as featured in Stella McCartney‘s recent runway shows) as well as a brand-new remix of “Gucci Rag Top,” now featuring a guest verse from fellow Fool’s Gold rapper Danny Brown.
Click image to check out Kid Sister's facebook page
KISS & TELL TRACK LISTING:
1. Mickey (Produced by Nadastrom)
2. Hide & Seek feat. Riff Raff (Produced by Sinden & 5kinandbone5)
3. Cliq Claq (Produced by Scoop Deville)
4. Gucci Rag Top (Remix) feat. Danny Brown (Produced by Scoop Deville)
Filed under Check 'em Out!, listen, video
Brand New: Skream – “Anticipate”
Skream dropped the appropriately titled single, “Anticipate” feat. Sam Frank on Sunday. This is arguably the catchiest single OWSLA has put out, it was stuck in my head all weekend. Skream is credited for helping to invent Dubstep, pretty cool that he’s putting this out with Skrillex.
Filed under Check 'em Out!, listen, video, Whoa!
Check ‘Em Out: Remember Remember
Click to check out the album on iTunes
Glasgow’s instrumental ensemble Remember Remember released their new album The Quickening on October 11th through Mogwai’s Rock Action Records here in the US. Remember Remember’s musical journey, which began as one guy on stage with a loopstation and a bag of toys, now finds them here with The Quickening, a powerful and exciting listen that promises live experiences just as thrilling. Recorded in early 2011 at Chem 19 Studios in Scotland against a background of tumultuous global events, the new album sees Remember Remember return with the same seven-piece group heard on last year’s “RR Scorpii” EP.
The Quickening is still a playful, colourful record- the music dives deeper into darker, psychedelic territories hinted at on “RR Scorpii.” Pagan waltzes, apocalyptic Egyptian surf and Middle Eastern modes mingle with somber pianos and bleak string interludes, concluding with a duo of songs – “One Happier” and “John Candy,” both bittersweet and stratospheric, creating an ending made of pure, bright light.
Download: Remember Remember – “John Candy”
Related articles
- Check ‘Em Out: Gung Ho (musicallyamusing.com)
- Check ‘Em Out (+ free download!): Hey Geronimo (musicallyamusing.com)
Filed under Check 'em Out!, downloads, listen, new albums, video
Musically Amusing 