The Melbourne-based Miami Horror have just released their album Illumination and have offered a music video for the second single (which we’re loving), “I Look To You.”

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Miami Horror - I Look To You (Feat. Kimbra) [MP3]

The vocals of New Zealander Kimbra are featured on the track.

Check out the brand new music video:

Also give a listen to the first single off the album, Moon Theory. It’s music video, released a few months ago, is at the bottom of the post.

You can check out the band’s live set on a US tour that launches September 3 in California. All dates are “live” except a couple DJ sets as noted.

Sep 3 - Mezzanine - San Francisco, CA
Sep 4 - Pacific Festival - Costa Mesa, CA
Sep 5 - Beauty Bar - Las Vegas, NV
Sep 9 - Double Door - Chicago, IL
Sep 10 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
Sep 11 - U Street Music Hall - Washingtin, DC
Sep 15 - Liv - Miami, Florida
Sep 16 - PM Lounge (DJ Set) - Dallas, TX
Sep 16 - Granada Theatre - Dallas, TX
Sep 17 - The Phoenix - Austin, Texas, TX
Sep 18 - The Central - Santa Monica, CA

Sep 25 - Village Fair - Bathurst, NSW, Australia
Oct 8 - One Movement Festival (DJ Set) Perth, Australia
Nov 27 - Foreshore Music Festival - Canberra, Australia

continue reading "Miami Horror Offer New Album, Music Video, Tour Dates"

For the first time in 23 years, the UK’s Level 42gave U.S. fans a long-awaited tour, which just wrapped up in Vegas. I was lucky to catch them in LA at Club Nokia, where I solidified my mantra: when it comes to having to chose between multiple bands in one night, always go with the legend. This night was no exception.

Immediately embracing the dedicated fans, original members Mark King (bass/bocals) and Mike Lindup (keyboards/vocals) were joined by long-time members Nathan King (guitars/vocals) and Sean Freeman (sax). Taking over for Gary Husband on drums was the talented Pete Ray Biggin.

Now, even though I’m a sucker for those ’80’s hits “Lessons in Love” and “Something About You,” I had completely forgotten how jazzy and funky Level 42’s sound is and how M. King helped develop the slap and pop sound with his bass playing. I was quickly reminded. King’s amazing bass solo was worth the price of admission alone. L42’s caliber of talent is undeniable and they were clearly having a good time on stage for their 90-minute set. The energy between the band and the crowd was so great that people couldn’t help but dance and get funky.

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Level 42 - Something About You [MP3]

Showing their appreciation for fans, the band stuck around for the after party, to which everyone was invited. Apparently, they did this throughout the tour; this is something friends do–not a band just stopping by.

And good news for anyone who missed them on this tour: King said the band will be back next year. Please, if you have a chance, do not miss them. As their banner on the stage stated: “Friends for 30 Years.” And they will make you feel like one.

Setlist:
Hot Water
Dream Crazy
World Machine
Kansas City Milkman
Running In The Family
It’s Over
Bass Solo
Love Games
Sunshine Of Your Love
Starchild
Almost There
The Sun Goes Down
Something About You
Lessons In Love

Encore:
Mr. Pink
Sunbed Song

Friday brought me to the crowded streets of New York’s West Side club scene where old-school ravers, Jersey Shore look-alikes, fashionistas and other music lovers would gather to hear the bumping sounds of Richard Vission and a special guest DJ set from Black Eyed Peas frontman and international tastemaker, will.i.am.

Vission opened the night and seeing him work was like re-living the dance scene a decade ago when I first saw him spin at the former Nation venue in DC. Later on that night, he reminisced, “[Nation] was one of the most fun venues I have played.”

will.i.am brought a refreshing mixture of fast-paced club beats, pop, rock n’ roll and disco, which left the crowd constantly jumping well past 4 a.m. Will even managed to MC a few tracks and skillfully weaved in some interesting remixes of the Black Eyed Peas. It was nice to see such a well-known artist let loose, have a good time and make it seem effortless. (Videos below.)

Among many others having a good time, we happened to catch New York-based duo The Fire and Reason hanging in VIP. You’ll find their photo among the others, below.

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The Fire And Reason - NME (Toxic Avenger Remix) [MP3]

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will.i.am - One More Chance [MP3]

Videos:

continue reading "Photos, Review: will.i.am DJs Pacha NYC"

Musician Chilly Gonzales has a film on the way bearing the same title as his forthcoming album, Ivory Tower. We’ve just had our first preview of the film, which stars musicians Peaches and Tiga alongside Gonzales, himself, and features music from Boys Noize and, of course, Gonzales, himself.

Ivory Tower (the film) focuses on the story of two champion chess-playing brothers, Hershell (Gonzales) and Thadeus (Tiga) who share a love for the same girl, Marsha (Peaches).

A preview is now upon us in the form of a music video for his new song “I Am Europe,” which is composed of clips from the film:

The clips point to a quirkiness and comedic skill that we’ve seen before from Gonzales.

He held a piano battle against Andrew WK live at New York’s Joe’s Pub (video) where he also held a series of “Piano Talk Shows” with artists including Sia, A-trak and Princess Superstar, achieved a Guinness World Record for longest live performance by any individual (27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds), offered a challenge to TV host Jools Holland (video), literally challenged “THE WORLD” to a game of Internet chess, and starred in a comedic film series called Superproducer.

Oh, and did we mention he’s an incredible pianist?

Here’s the first single off the album Ivory Tower, “Never Stop.”

Chilly Gonzales - Never Stop (Original)

There’s a second version, the “Never Stop Rap Mix,” and it has a music video featuring Brian Scott Bagley, incredible hula-hooper Marawa The Amazing, Boubou the cat on a keyboard, and Chilly Gonzales himself.

You can also download his free mixtape here.

Gonzales just played the Field Day Festival in London last night. His upcoming tour dates are below.

Chilly Gonzales 2010 Tour Dates

Sep 10 - Bestival Festival - Isle of Wight, GB
Sep 11 - Berlin Festival - Berlin, DE
Sep 14 - Glenn Gould Theatre - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sep 17 - Cabaret Du Mile End - Montreal, QC, Canada
Sep 19 - Largo - Los Angeles, CA
Sep 21 - Galapagos - Brooklyn, NY

The new Interpol lineup has been making the rounds on tour and last night on Late Night With David Letterman, we got a nice look at new members Brandon Curtis and David Pajo. Musically, these two new members are amazing additions and Pajo does a solid job replacing Carlos D and Curtis fits in well providing backing vocals and keys. The song is “Barricade” off of Interpol which will be released on September 7.

Bruce Haack (1931-1988) was an electronic music pioneer. He created a variety of synth devices and put them to groundbreaking use.

After accumulating a significant body of work, in 1982, he released a collaborative song with Def Jam’s Russell Simmons, “Party Machine,” which turned out to be Haack’s last published work.

This summer, Stones Throw will release Farad: The Electronic Voice, a collection of Haack’s work. It will focus on Haack’s work with the vocoder. He “built one of the first truly musical vocoders in 1969, naming it ‘Farad’ after 1800’s English chemist/physicist Michael Faraday,” the label writes. “Haack’s album Electric Lucifer (1970) was the first rock album to include the vocoder and was followed several years later by Kraftwerk’s Autobahn.”

Farad: The Electronic Voice contains recordings from 1970-1982, including “Party Machine”, which is featured in the above video that the label recently posted to Youtube. It was created by Philip Anagnos.

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Bruce Haack - Electric To Me Turn [MP3]

Hear the influence on The Doors, Little Boots, Black Moth Super Rainbow/Tobacco, and countless others that the above song likely had.

And check out his story about a visit with Native Americans, told through a song called “Walking Eagle.” Backed by electro-funk sounds, Haack tells a presumably true story, as he was really “invited by Native Americans to participate in their pow-wows, experimenting with peyote, which influenced his music for years to come,” says this Wikipedia article, which draws from his official bio at brucehaack.com.

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Walking Eagle [MP3]

“His upbringing in the isolated mining town of Rocky Mountain House in Alberta, Canada,” where the natives also lived, “gave him plenty of time to develop his musical talents.”

Check out Kid Sister’s fun new video for “Big N Bad” here.

That’s The Count & Sinden on production, offering a seriously fun sample of Yaz’s early 80s hit “Situation.”

Video: Big Boi’s surprise rap with The Roots near the beginning of last night’s episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC.

Video: Big Boi performs “Shutterbug” with The Roots on last night’s episode:

Video: Big Boi performs part of his rap from Outkast’s “I Like The Way You Move”

Big Boi - Shutterbug

“Shutterbug” also accompanied the opening moments of this season of Entourage:

continue reading "Video: Big Boi Visits Jimmy Fallon, Joins The Roots, Performs “Shutterbug”"

Right out of the gate, the dark disco sounds of The Aikiu’s debut single “Just Can’t Sleep” grab you, offering no choice but to come along for a sonic journey. Then, singer Alex Aikiu arrives with fittingly arresting vocals that seal the deal. He is remarkably reminiscent of the iconic sound of Erasure’s Andy Bell.

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The Aikiu - Just Can’t Sleep (Original Version) (Preview Clip) [MP3]

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The Aikiu - Just Can’t Sleep (Dub Version) (Preview Clip) [MP3]

And that these sounds take us back to the 70s and 80s is no accident. “Just Can’t Sleep” is an ode to that era of New York City life. There’s a “paranoid element” to the decadence, disco and glamor of the Studio 54 lifestyle, however, Aikiu said. “If you want the party never to stop, you’re inevitably going to get dark.”

Joining Alex Aikiu in the Paris-based group are Julien Vichnievsky and Cedric Pilooski, who is known (simply as Pilooski) for an array of well-received remixes and for the compilations and other ventures of d-i-r-t-y.com. Pilooski also just produced XLR8R’s 150th podcast mix.

The trio plans to release their debut full-length album this Fall and to tour in the winter.

The following remixes are also featured on the debut single, released this week on the Abracada label and available now at Amazon MP3 and iTunes.

The Aikiu ‘Just Cant Sleep’ (Mighty Mouse Remix)

The Aikiu - Just Can’t Sleep (Egyptrixx RMX)

And here’s one great remix that not included on the single.

The Aikiu - Just Can’t Sleep (Sovnger can’t sleep remix)

One more thing: Aikiu had recently been working with artist Jean Paul Goude for a few years. We recommend visiting his site, clicking “Work” and then “So Far So Goude.”