Billed as a cultural exposé of sorts, encompassing the realms of music, art and fashion—the Be the Riottt festival, which took place at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in November, was never going to live up to its far-reaching intent, but it did put together a line-up that was pretty amazing. The top draw acts were a crazy mixture of the hip and the hip-hop: The Rapture, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Explosions in the Sky as well as The Clipse, Sage...
If turning something old into something new is what’s going on in music right now, then Toronto’s k-os is the man. His third record since 2003, and first for new label Virgin, clearly puts him as one of the most creative and talented musicians and producers in the game right now. The first track off 2007’s Atlantis: Hymns for Disco, “Electrik Heat – The Seekwill,†is yet another take on the “Funky Drummer†break, but there’s homage and a fresh...
“The original blueprint was to combine Carl Craig or early Warp records sounds with that of German groups like Kraftwerk and CAN,†explains David Best of UK’s newest innovation, Fujiya & Miyagi, about their 2007 release Transparent Things. “I like the fact that we can incorporate different styles into our music and it hopefully still sounds like us.†From the first note on “Ankle Injuries,†your ears perk up like when you’re driving down the freeway and you hear a...
Man, everything about The Rapture is fun fun fun! Plain and simple, feeling good is their straight-up agenda. It’s in their name, it’s in their lyrics, it’s in their sound, it’s in who they chose to open and it’s for goddamned sure in their live shows. The clarity of the band’s intentions means everyone shows up ready, willing and eager to stomp the shit out of the floor. It’s in the air before the lights go down—everyone in the place...
It’s sort of perilous to review The Knife’s stage show like any other quote unquote rock show because in many ways it comes off more as performance art than live music. Clad in head-to-toe face-obscuring costumes and standing in front and behind projection screens, there’s plenty to watch but not a lot being played live. That being said, the projections are brilliant and singer Karen Dreijer’s vocals come off pristine. While she hesitantly dances around the mic, her brother Olof...
Buzz darlings the Cold War Kids have taken it upon themselves to gain ridiculous amounts of frequent flyer miles in the month of January by booking themselves at weekly residencies on both coasts. Wednesday nights are in NYC, and Fridays in LA. Thursdays are for mainlining Nyquil and watching The Office. Go Team Karen! Dates are as follows: 1/05 (FRI) – Open Bookstore, LA 1/10 (WED) – Pianos, NYC 1/12 ( FRI) – Silverlake Lounge, LA 1/17 (WED) – Union...
GoldenVoice announced today that the 2007 version of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will be expanded to three days–Friday April 27th through Sunday April 29th. Then, if that wasn’t enough live music, the Empire Polo Grounds will play host to an as-yet-unnamed two day country music festival the following week. Geez, three days? I think that if you camp in the parking lot the whole time, that constitutes a spirit walk. Then the Indian casinos have to give...
Tour Dates: 11/16 – Dallas, TX – Gypsy Theater 11/17 – Dallas, TX – Gypsy Theater 11/18 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s 11/20 – St. Louis, MO – Pagaent 11/21 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater 11/22 – Louisville, KY – Louisville Gardens 11/24 – Chicago, IL – Riviera 11/25 – Indianapolis, IN – Clowes Hall 11/27 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club 11/28 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club 11/30 – New York, NY – Roseland 12/1...
How White Flight is a solo project is beyond any sort of musical comprehension. The “project†rivals any Beck or Arcade Fire record for its imagination and pure listenability. White Flight is Justin Roelofs of Lawrence, Kansas, where he says “is a place where the conditioning is put on an individual in a very heavy way.†After taking a few rides on the White Flight, perhaps rural Kansas isn’t such a bad place to be conditioned. The album is a...
UK’s own Stanton Warriors—Dominic Butler & Mark Yardley—got the invite from the Fabric folks to not only play the club, but to record the 30th installment of FabricLive for the series. You can say that’s quite an honor, but you can also say that the duo deserves the hell out of it. For the past 8 years, Stanton Warriors have been twisting and crafting beats to get people to dance hard and have a blast doing it. This mix might...