The Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival takes place on Saturday, August 8th. In conjunction with it, the festival and Ableton are co-sponsoring a remix contest… I’ll let them explain it:
“The remix contest will feature Flashmen’s latest track, ‘The Night Rolls On,’ and begins today. One winner will be handpicked by Flashmen and Ableton and receive an Ableton prize pack along with placement on the ‘As The Night Rolls On’ single, released in October by Crushed Records on Beatport, iTunes, etc. The winner will be announced at the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival where their track will be played live and they will receive a pair of VIP badges. Visit the BEMF site for more info. All entries must be sent to partytime@flashmen.net by August 7th for consideration. The stems of the track can be found here.”
WNYC’sSoundcheck is holding a contest in which you can make your own Fiery Furnaces video for the song “The End is Near,” off their forthcoming album, I’m Going Away (Thrill Jockey). The deadline is August 31, and there are a few requirements:
“Start by uploading your video to YouTube, then visit the Soundcheck Video Contest YouTube group page and click on ‘Join This Group’. Once you have joined, click ‘Add Videos’. Select the box next to your Fiery Furnaces video and click the ‘Add to Group’ button, and that’s it, you’ve done it. Be sure to include your contact information in either your YouTube profile or video description so you can be reached upon your win.”
Full details are here. And you can download the “The End is Near” here.
Sean Price has apparently hijacked the hip-hop label Duck Down, rechristening it “Ruck Down,” and getting ready to release some new shit. Uh-oh. From the label press machine:
“Sean Price has taken over Duck Down Records, relieving former CEO’s, Dru Ha & Buckshot, of their duties. The newly formed label will now be called RUCK DOWN RECORDS. Sean Price, current CEO, is excited to be at the helm of an expanding roster of artists as he now prepares for a busy release schedule. Continuing to build on Marco Polo & Torae’s “Double Barrel” album, which debuted as the #24 Independent LP in its first week, as well as prepping Naledge of Kidz In The Hall’s “Chicago Picasso” Mix CD in stores June 30th, Sean Price feels more confident now that he’s in total control stating: ‘the black man is in charge. If you’re not down with Ruck, Ruck ain’t down with you.’”
The most underrated member of Wu-Tang Clan (and sometimes understandably so), U-God, has a new album coming out on Frankradio on June 23, Dopium. You can download the song “Train Trussle” (featuring Ghostface Killah) here.
The latest tribute album to excite fanboys and girls around the world is New Tales To Tell, A Tribute To Love and Rockets, out digitally on July 28 and physically on August 18 on Justice Records. The contributing artists include the well known and the obscure, but all have one thing in common – a sincere admiration of Love and Rockets. The tracklist:
All In My Mind – Black Francis
Holiday On The Moon – Puscifer (MJ Keenan)
Love Me – War Tapes
No New Tale To Tell – Blaqk Audio
I Feel Speed – Dubfire
Inside The Outside – The Dandy Warhols
Kundalini Express – The Flaming Lips
Life In Laralay – Sweethead
An American Dream – Film School
The Light – A Place To Bury Strangers
Mirror People – Monster Magnet vs Adrian Young
Fever – The Stone Foxes
No Big Deal – Frankenstein 3000
It Could Be Sunshine – VEX
So Alive – Better Than Ezra
Lazy – Chantal Claret vs Adrian Young
Sweet F.A. – Ian Moore
No Words No More – Snowden
Merge will release two new vinyl-only releases this summer. On July 7, two new Superchunk songs will see the light of day on a brand-new 7″: “Crossed Wires” b/w “Blinders (Fast Vers.)”. Finally. The pressing will be a limited run of only 1,000, and continuing a damn good trend, Merge will include a free digital download code with the record.
On August 18, Destroyer will release a new EP, Bay of Pigs, which includes one super long song that runs over 13 minutes. Really, Dan? From the hype machine, regarding the song “Ravers”: “It explores some of the more meditative realms of 20th Century classical composition. The song itself is a casual rumination on parties, political parties, madness and suffering (for one’s art).”
On June 16, Sage Francis will release a new mixtape, Sick of Wasting, available for free at Anti- and his Strange Famous label’s site. This is the third installment in his Sick of… series, and will feature both old and new songs. You can check out the first track here.
The tracklist:
1) Strange Fame (2009)
2) S.A.G.E. Bastard (prod. by Buck 65, 2009)
3) I Trusted You (beat by Buck 65, 2009)
4) Needle (beat and scratches by Buddy Peace, 2009)
5) House of Bees (feat. B. Dolan, beat by Buck 65, 2009)
6) Jaw of Steel (beat and scratches by Reanimator, 2009)
7) If I Go To Hell (demo, 1997)
8) Conspiracy to Riot (beat & scratches by Reanimator, 2008)
9) Be a Star (beat by Buck 65, 2007)
10) Sea Legs (feat. B. Dolan & Sleep. Scratches by Buddy Peace. Additional vocals by Jared Paul and Curtis Plum. Beat by Aupheus, 2009.)
11) Flashback 96 (home recording, 1996)
12) Masturbate Your Brain (AOI demo, 1997)
13) SFR Pays Dues (feat. B. Dolan & Prolyphic, 2008)
14) Pump (beat and scratches by Buddy Peace & Reanimator, 2009)
15) Revenge of the Ogre (interlude w/ Trinity)
16) Who Farted? prt 1 (courtesy of XAUL ZAN)
Another posthumous release from Dilla will see the light of day this month. On June 23, Rapster Records will unearth some Dilla remixes on Dillanthology 2, the sequel to Dillanthology. Some of these you may actually not have heard before. The tracklist:
1. De La Soul – Stakes Is High ft. Mos Def & Truth Enola (Remix)
2. The Pharcyde – Y? (Be Like That) (Jay Dee Remix)
3. Masta Ace – Sitting On Chrome (Ummah Remix)
4. Slum Village – Fall In Love (Remix)
5. Four Tet – As Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee Remix)
6. Busta Rhymes – Whoo Ha (Jay Dee Remix)
7. Artifacts – The Ultimate (Jay Dee Remix)
8. Moods – Secrets Of The Sand (Remix)
9. Spacek – Eve (JayDee Mix)
10. DJ Cam -Love Junkie (Jay Dee Remix)
11. Brother Jack McDuff – Oblighetto (J Dilla Remix)
12. Brand New Heavies – Sometimes (Remix)
I remember reading some bad reviews of The Warlocks in the past, but thinking maybe they were too harsh. After listening to their new album, The Mirror Explodes (Tee Pee), I think the criticism is right. Read my take here.
Tortoise will release their new album, Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey), on June 23. Check out their new video for the song “Prepare Your Coffin” right here. It’s very beautifully shot, sort of an avant-garde Chicago spy thriller in black and white. Also, check out the tour dates here.
Cass McCombs’ new video for the song “Dreams Come True Girl,” off of his forthcoming album for Domino, Catacombs (7/7), features the legendary actress Karen Black. Sure she was great in films like Five Easy Pieces, but how about that performance in The House of 1000 Corpses! Her appearance in this video is kind of random, but interesting all the same. Watch the video below:
I am in Anchorage right now for the World Beard and Mustache Championships, so it’s an appropriate time to be writing about Alaskan Summer. The band recently directed me towards some of their new songs that will appear on an EP available on iTunes by the end of June. They make pleasant (if a bit sleepy) pop music, sometimes lush and sometimes spare, and always buoyed by the female-male vocal interplay of singers Ashton and Douglas. It’s obvious that a lot of care and design went into all of this, so pay a visit to their MySpace page to see what it’s all about for yourself. And they will be performing in Los Angeles at El Cid on June 15th.
Guillermo Scott Herren’s two new albums, one as Prefuse 73 and the other as Diamond Watch Wrists (with Zach Hill from Hella), succeed in varying degrees. I definitely prefer the former, but I’m sure there are plenty who will disagree. Read my review of both albums here.
Shia makes me want to punch myself in the nuts, but he directed Cage’s new video. Watch it here. Mmmm… maybe a little too Linkin Park, but I want to hear the whole album.
