June 17, 2011 · 11:24 am

Newest Love: The Japanese Popstars

New album Controlling Your Allegiance out June 21

The Japanese Popstars – Gary Curran, Declan ‘Decky Hedrock’ McLaughlin and Gareth Donoghue – may have been together for just four years, but they’ve carved out a reputation to rival the biggest names in dance music as a must-see live act and purveyor of raucous, foot-stomping, energetic electronic dance music. In the two years since their debut album We Just Are dropped on Gung-Ho! (UK), they have played major market dates in the U.S. including Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Electric Daisy Carnival in LA, played in Australia, across Europe and, of course Japan – a place that’s especially taken them to their hearts.

The band has also made a name for themselves as sought after remixers, having notched up their own inimitable re-rubs for luminaries such as Beyonce, Depeche Mode, Gorillaz and Kylie Minogue. In keeping with this proud tradition, The Japanese Popstars were also featured in the Tron Remix album, Tron: Legacy Reconfigured with their take on Daft Punk‘s Arena.

But it’s Controlling Your Allegiance, that’s the real leap forward as this is The Japanese Popstars first use of vocalists on an album.  And they didn’t pick just any old session singers either…  Wonder why the track “Take Forever” sounds like The Cure? That’s because the trio has enlisted collaborations from top notch artists such as Robert Smith (The Cure), Lisa Hannigan, Jon Spencer (of Blues Explosion), Tom Smith (The Editors), Green Velvet,  Morgan Kibby, M83 and Ireland’s James Vincent McMorrow.

I’m not sure what this video is really about…and I’m not sure what that creature is. All I know is that I felt bad for it while watching…it sort of made me sad. Quite an odd video.

Anyhow, you’ll like them if you’re a fan of Depeche Mode and Gorillaz.

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June 17, 2011 · 9:25 am

Snoop Dogg To Headline 2nd Annual Pacific Festival

Steve Aoki and Pacific Festival Entertainment are pleased to announce the addition of Snoop Dogg as the official festival headliner to the 2nd annual Pacific Festival: OC which will be held on August 13 (10am – 12am).  The festival will be held at the picturesque Oak Canyon Ranch near Irvine Lake in Silverado, CA.  Tickets are now on sale at www.pacificfestival.com.

The 2nd Annual Summer Festival is set to be Southern California’s premiere event for fun in the sun and FILTERMagazine.com has already placed Pacific Festival: OC in their “Top Five Most Anticipated Summer Festivals” list. With such a strong lineup,the renowned KCRW and both LA/OC Weekly have recently jumped on board as official media sponsors for the festival.  This year’s event will be offering entertainment from over 50 live acts and DJs from around the world.  Artists scheduled to appear include:  SNOOP DOGG, CUT COPY, STEVE AOKI, CALVIN HARRIS, GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY, !!! (CHK CHK CHK), PHANTOGRAM, TORO Y MOI, BAG RAIDERS, ZEDS DEAD, THE TWELVES, CLASSIXX, FRED FALKE, AFROMAN, ZOOT WOMAN, THE GROWLERS, HANNI EL KHATIB, JACQUES RENAULT, BIRD PETERSON, SUPERHUMANOIDS, POOLSIDE, AUTOEROTIQUE, ALI LOVE, DANGEROUS DAN & GUS DA HOODRAT (BANG GANG DEEJAYS), MR. WHITE, THE C90S, JUSTIN MILLER, COSMIC KIDS, THEM JEANS, POSSO, DAN SENA, AMERICAN ROYALTY, FIFINASTY, KEDD COOK, WISHENGRAD, FRANKIE WILDE, BONES, G.L.O.V.E.S., GUNS IN THE SUN DEEJAYS, STEFFI GRAF, BRADY MILLER, MORGAN COLLETT, CASSETTE, BRAZZABELLE, ISAIAH MARTIN, TROPICOOL & MO: ROCKIN with more to be announced each week.

The event has been designed as music festival for a wide range of genres and offers the finest amenities and production for attendees.  Both VIP and VIP Hosted Bartickets will be available for guests looking for a first class experience.  For those participating in the VIP Hosted Bar,hospitality and cabana services courtesy of Voyeur Nightclub and Chosen Hospitality Group will be available.  To add to the all around experience, Pacific Festival: OC has paired with the Hyatt Regency Irvine located only minutes away from all the festival action. The Hyatt Regency Irvine will be offering room discounts for festival attendees as well as a park and ride shuttle service.  Furthermore, Roaming Hunger will be hand picking a variety of Southern California’s best food trucks to ensure attendees have a plethora of exciting local fare throughout the event.

Pacific Festival: OC has specifically been curated to entertain attendees from morning to night and with Red Bull on board as an official sponsor, the festival is sure to keep the energy level high.   Co-hosted by Steve Aoki and world-renowned celebrity photographer, The Cobra Snake, Pacific Festival: OC will also be catering to your visual senses with art installations, which will include the legendary Shagadelica double decker bus from Burning Man. In addition, Pacific Festival: OC believes it is important to give back to the community and has paired with Surfrider to donate one dollar from every ticket sold to help protect California’s coastline.

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June 15, 2011 · 2:44 pm

New Download: Architecture in Helsinki – “Contact High” (Björn Yttling Remix)

Architecture in Helsinki have been bringing the infectious, danceable indie pop of their new album Moment Bends to the masses on their current US tour.  As they trek on, they’ve released a new remix of their beloved new single “Contact High,” done by Björn Yttling – the production wizard behind both Lykke Li albums and member of Peter, Bjorn, & John.

Click HERE to listen/download his dark, haunting reworking of the track.

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June 15, 2011 · 2:33 pm

New Track (+ download): Rubblebucket – “Worker”

Leading up the release of Omega La La on June 21 via Sin Duda Records, Rubblebucket is happy to premiere their latest track, “Worker,” with Spinner this morning. The site had great things to say about the band, writing, “Like a love child of the Rapture and Dirty
Projectors, Rubblebucket have been churning out highly polished pop since their inception, and their upcoming record, Omega La La, is sure to have you grooving in your skinny jorts this summer.” As a part of the band’s upcoming summer tour dates, Rubblebucket is also headlining Bikes Rock!, the opening night of the Bicycle Film Festival in New York City, on 6/22 at Santos Party House. Check out the band’s full summer tour below.

Listen/download: Rubblebucket – “Worker”
Read Spinner’s piece on Rubblebucket here 

Omega La La marks a milestone for Rubblebucket. Recorded last year, the record is the Brooklyn eight piece’s most adventurous record yet, with the band dipping into everything from the dancey indie-pop arrangements to Fela-Kuti inspired afro-beat stomps. The album opens with “Down in the Yards,” a track that builds off the ebb and flow of a droning, two-note guitar riff, only to explode into a triumphant chorus anchored by the band’s horn section. That track is followed up by the buoyant psych-pop gem, “L’homme.” “Silly Fathers” and a reworked version of “Came Out of a Lady” show off the band’s penchant for creating pop songs that stick in your head. “Raining” is an eccentric pop song built around intertwining vocal lines and a cascading synth. And so far the record has earned a wealth of praise, with Stereogum hailing the record’s “Tricky arrangements, whistle solos, and disco guitar leads” and PasteMagazine calling the album “instrumentally rich but catchy enough to ass-kick Katy Perry off the pop charts (in a just world)—mega-melodic without sacrificing an ounce of atmosphere or creativity.”

For Rubblebucket, it’s been a long journey to make Omega La La. Led by the musical couple of bandleader/trumpeter Alex Toth and frontwoman Kalmia Traver, Rubblebucket has spent the last four years building a reputation as a band that blurs the lines between psychedelic indie rock, upbeat dance, and radiant, left-field arrangements. In 2009, Rubblebucket released a self-titled album that turned heads. The band then relocated to Brooklyn and released the Triangular Daises EP in 2010. A stylistic precursor to Omega La La, the Triangular
Daises EP was hailed by The Wall Street Journal, NYLON, Paste, and a host of others.

Rubblebucket Spring/Summer Tour Dates:
06/16: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
06/17: Spencer, IN @ Stable Studios Music Festival
06/18: Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Fest
06/22: New York, NY @ Santos Party House – NYC Bicycle Film Fest
06/28: Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
06/30: Madison, WI @ Majestic Live
07/02: Rothbury, MI @ Electric Forrest Festival
07/08: Rochester, NY @ East End Festival
07/09: Schuylkill, PA @ Midsummer Meltdown
07/15: Buffalo, NY @ North Fork Music Park
07/16: Greenfield, MA @ Green River Fest
07/24: Bridgeport, CT @ Gathering of the Vibes
07/29: Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest
07/30: Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest
08/13: Burlington, VT @ Grand Point North
08/18: Stephentown, NY @ Bella Terra
08/19: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
08/20: Sheldon, VT @ Liberate Festival
09/03: Chicago, IL @ North Coast Festival
09/04: Mohawk, NY @ Moe.Down
09/10: Peru, NY @ Backwoods Pondfest
10/08: Roseland, VA @ The Festy
11/11: Live Oak, FL @ Bear Creek Music & Arts Fest

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June 14, 2011 · 9:58 am

Escape to New York Festival

From the creator of the Secret Garden Party UK is the first ever Escape to New York Festival.

The festival includes: three days/nights of some of the best emerging and known musical acts to heard, the world’s biggest brunch at a live music festival, installation and performance art, experimental theater, high-end camping, aka “glamping,” and amazing culinary delights unlike any other festival event.

When?

Friday, Aug. 5th and Saturday, Aug. 6th @ 11 AM until 11:30 PM

Sunday , Aug. 7TH @12:00 PM until 11:00 PM.

It will take place on the Shinnecock Reservation adjacent to Southampton, New York.

Main Stage Line-Up!!!

Friday, August 5th: PATTI SMITH, Best Coast, Chairlift, Lissy Trullie, The Postelles, The Static Jacks

 Saturday, August 6th: EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, The Vaccines, The Psychedelic Furs, White Rabbits, Au Revoir Simone, The Submarines, Graffiti 6

 Sunday, August 7th: OF MONTREAL, The Jolly Boys, Mates of State, Reptar, Tiger Love, Savoir Adore

Guess what? If you live in the NYC area, you have a chance at winning free tix!

Find a bunny near
you, take a picture with the bunny for a chance to win a set of tickets to the
upcoming Escape to New York festival by submitting your photo to www.facebook.com/escape2ny or www.twitter.com/escape2ny.

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June 13, 2011 · 3:05 pm

Holy Freaking Crap!: She Wants Revenge

Earlier today I heard some old She Wants Revenge on the radio and thought to myself, “What happened to them? I haven’t heard of anything new coming from them…”

WELL, guess what? They came out with a brand new album last month, Valleyheart! Where have I been? Anyways, I am so excited to see they JUST came out with new stuff — and didn’t just disappear (it’s been since 2007 since we’ve gotten a new release from them).

Check out the video for “Must Be The One” — I LOVE both the video and the song! Must check out the rest of the album when I get a chance!

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June 9, 2011 · 1:59 pm

2011 Afro-Punk Festival

The Afro-punk Festival is returning to Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park for the 7th Annual Afro-punk Festival on August 27-28. The 2011 festival has the most stellar line up yet with Cee-Lo Green, Santigold, Janelle Monae just to name a few and with more to be added! In addition, the NikeBattle For the Streets Skate and BMX Competition, the largest street skate and BMX competition in NYC will return this year with the nation’s top amateur skaters and BMX riders in a competition to be judged by top professionals in both sports including Nigel Sylvester.

There are some very exciting new additions to the festival this year! Over 20 of the NYC area’s hottest food trucks and vendors have been brought together for the Afro-Punk Bites and Beats Food Truck Festival, which will bring cuisine from around the world and the 5 boroughs to the festival. In addition, Chef Marcellus Coleman, Executive Chef of Alias Restaurant in NYC, will provide his eclectic contemporary American cuisine to the festival artists, athletes and VIP’s.

Afro-punk has invited Harley-Davidson and Brooklyn Black bike scene documentarians, Denim and Chrome, to collaborate on a custom bike show featuring dozens of exotic custom bikes created by black riders in the NYC area. The custom bike show will also serve as the backdrop for the Harley-Davidson/Denim and Chrome 2012 Calendar, photographed by Darius Vick, which will feature exquisite tattooed beauties each month for bike fans across the country. In addition, the festival has commissioned an artist to paint over 300 skateboards as part of one large mural aka The Skate Artwall. The boards will be contested to Afro-punk fans at the Festival and Afro-punk will follow the life of the boards over the next year whether on the wall, the street or the half-pipe.

Described by the New York Times as putting “rock and rebellion squarely in the category of African-American music,” the Afro-punk Festival has become a Brooklyn intuition, the focal point for the burgeoning Afro-punk movement. Over the past seven years, the festival has presented new artists before they hit it big, such as Grammy-nominated Santigold, The Noisettes and Janelle Monae. Afro-punk mainstays like Saul Williams, The Dirtbombs, and Dallas Austin have also graced Afro-punk’s stages.

Afro-Punk 2011  Band Lineup

Cee-Lo Green
Santigold
Janelle Monae
Fishbone
Jay Electronica
Toro Y Moi
Toshi Reagon
Ninjasonik
Cerebral Ballzy
Gordon Voidwell
Reggie Watts
Res
Joi
Rocky Business
Straight Line Stitch

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June 7, 2011 · 2:07 pm

New Single: YACHT “Utopia”

YACHT have already released their apocalyptic-themed synth-pop anthem “Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)” and now that
the rapture hasn’t actually destroyed the earth the duo are ready to share its companion track “Utopia.”  Click HERE to give it a listen. Both songs will appear on YACHT’s forthcoming new album and second for DFA Records, Shangri-La (out June 21st).

“Utopia” is both thematically and sonically different from “Dystopia.”  The track is a frantic piece of arty disco funk.  YACHT’s Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans fuse their vocals to create appropriately celestial-sounding harmonies.  Multiple layers of keys, guitars, drums, and more pound away in varying rhythms while the two sing lines like “there’s nothing in the future / it’s up to us to make utopia.”

YACHT will be joining bands like Guided by Voices, Wavves, Atlas Sound, and more as part of Brooklyn’s Northside Festival.  YACHT’s show will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Midnight Magic, The Miracles Club, and DFA DJ’s on Sunday,  June 19th.

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June 2, 2011 · 10:19 am

New Video: UNKLE – “Money and Run” (ft. Nick Cave)

“It has a sort of Clockwork Orange-esque feeling about it,” says UNKLE’s James Lavelle to Mashable. “It follows the idea of taking the money and running — how vulgar and gratuitous we are financially at this point in time. The story follows the excesses of rich individuals preying
on the weak and poor.”

“It is not intended as a direct broadside to any particular politician, though borrows from the iconography and styling of the Bullingdon set who reign supreme,” says director Tom Haines. “I suppose it’s a crude allegory, but in that sense it allows us to have a lot of fun with the scenarios and settings. The kind of fun that makes you feel uneasy in hindsight.”

UNKLE released Only The Lonely earlier this year on April 5th on their label Surrender All.  All the songs on the EP are new and are headed
up by collaboration with Nick Cave, lending his vocal and lyrics on the track “Money And Run.” In addition there are great collaborations with Liela Moss (The Duke Spirit), long time UNKLE vocalist Gavin Clark and Rachel Fannan(ex Sleepy Sun). The EP is rounded off with a classic UNKLE instrumental.

The Only The Lonely tracklisting is:
01. Money and Run (feat. Nick Cave)
02. The Dog Is Black (feat. Liela Moss)
03. Only The Lonely (Dub)
04. Wash The Love Away (feat. Gavin Clark)
05. Sunday Song (feat. Rachel Fannan)

Stream: UNKLE – The Dog Is Black (feat. Liela Moss)
Stream: UNKLE – Money And Run (feat. Nick Cave)

Find the Only The Lonely EP on iTunes here

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May 27, 2011 · 3:33 pm

Check ‘Em Out: Millions

Click image to listen/download single "Those Girls"

Newcoming band, Millions, have only been playing for about six months, but already they’ve supported some awesome up and coming acts such as Bleeding Knees Club, Gold Fields, The Belligerents and Velociraptor. Members are Dominic Haddad (Moonfleet), Campbell Smith (Comic Sans), James Wright (Stature::Statue, Young Men Dead, Gung Ho) and Steve Kempnich (Goldentones).
Listen and download (in exchange for an email addy) their first single, “Those Girls” right here.
13th May – GOLD COAST: GRAVES @ Elsewhere W/ Velociraptor, Pirates Alive
27th May – SYDNEY: MUM @ World Bar W/ Myth and Tropics, The New Brutalists, Bird & Prey
2nd June – GOLD COAST: SKY PARLOUR @ Elsewhere (Headline Show)
10th June – MELBOURNE: PURPLE SNEAKERS @ Miss Libertine W/ BENI
24th June – BRISBANE: Woodland (Headline Show)

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