So Liverpool Music Week is back, and this time it’s bigger than ever. With 66 events, 16 venues and over 250 live bands showcased between 30th October & 6th November 2008!
Sponsored by Esprit, Liverpool Music Week is a collaboration between the week’s founder Mike Deane and Cream CEO James Barton. Showcasing a number of merging acts such as Black Kids and Kissy SellOut alongside established names like The Fall, the week will also be running a series of panels and seminars featuring some of the UK’s music industry movers & shakers who will come together to discuss issues and opportunities within the sector and to offer advice and support to a range of related music businesses, artists and individuals with a desire to enter the music industry.
Please find below a handy list of some of the gigs you should get your ass too:
Thursday 30th October – Opening Night
The Fall – Nation, Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool, L1 4JJ.
Thursday 30th October – Opening Night Martha Wainwright + Angus & Julius Stone – Liverpool Philarmonic Hall
Thursday 30th October *** SOLD OUT *** Opening Night
Vampire Weekend – Liverpool Carling Academy
Thursday 30th October Wolfgang Flur (ex Kraftwerk - wow) - The Tate Gallery
Friday 31st October
Goldfrapp – Liverpool University, Mountford Hall
Friday 31st October
MTV LMW & Evol present Bestival Reunion Tour @ Nation, Wolstenholme Square
Live acts: Mystery Jets, Kissy Sell Out, Cuban Brothers / DJ’s: Rob Da Bank, Sombrero Soundsystem, Plus special live guests: The Presets
Saturday 1st November
Black Kids + Ladyhawke + Magistrates – Nation, Wolstenholme Square
Sunday 2nd November
Dizzee Rascal + Newham Generals + Smurfie Syco + Chromeo Liverpool University, Mountford Hall d
Tickets for all events are available here. Go Go Gooooooooooooo!
Visit here for more detailed on Liverpool Music Week.
OH GOODNIZZ!! Scion, the people that keep bringing worthwhile parties in events to cities I live in, has teamed up with Brooklyn based Fool’s Gold (A-Trak, Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, etc.) to bring out Volume 22 of their CD Sampler.
It’s a two disk present that gives you:
On disk one: remixes of the Fool’s Gold crew’s stuff by reputable names like Chromeo, Surkin, and Juri Hulkkonen that have been made just for the Sampler
On disk two: label co-founder Nick Catchdubs selected their biggest club hits and whipped it all together in a frothy DJ mix.
Why should you be excited about this in addition to the dope new mixes they offer? The EVENTS that come along with it (and we all know Scion event= free with RSVP) if you happen to live in Miami, Atlanta, Philly, or Baltimore.
The great thing about supporting a project like this is that all the proceeds from purchase of the Sampler go directly to the artists. You can get this stuff in person for FREE at the events they have and from some of their retailers. Should you be unable to do so- no worries, you can also purchase the remixes online starting October 14th.
One of the catchiest songs you’ll hear this summer is “Cross the Dancefloor“, a really fresh track with a bit of funk and elements of filter house. It’s so infectious and feel good, that the dance floor is immediately filled whenever the song is played. The producer behind the track is Treasure Fingers, a former Atlantan that recently moved to Brooklyn.
While some may know Treasure Fingers through hard step/drum & bass act, Evol Intent, most people are completely unaware of his history. And even though there is a huge trend of drum & bass producers turned electro blog house producers, Treasure Fingers is completely different. Offering music that is more fresh and feel good and roller rink ready then pump your fist, stage dive, and wear neon.
“Cross the Dancefloor” and other productions were so ear-catching that Fools Gold scooped up Treasure Fingers for a 12″. Updating and remastering the track to be even better than before and getting superstar producers Laidback Luke, Lifelike, and Curses! to lend remixes to the release. Then they packaged it up and made it beautiful and ready to purchase through beatport, turntable lab, and itunes.
To celebrate the release, I met up with Treasure Fingers and we did an interview and he also provided us with one of the remixes of the 12″ single.
sirhan: so, you are in evol intent, why did you decide to start treasure fingers?
treasure fingers: i had always done some house/funk style production stuff on the side and just never pushed it. i played some of it for jordan (of Snowden) one day and he really pushed me to get it out there. The first treasure fingers remix I did was for Snowden’s “Anti Anti”.
sirhan: how do you feel about the way its going now?
treasure fingers: I love it, it just took off and everything started falling into place.
sirhan: you still tour with evol intent?
treasure fingers: yeah, it’s a little sparse with bookings right now because we are all working on other projects at the moment but we’ll have a couple new releases out later this year though and we just released a full length album in march.
sirhan: so you just released, “cross the dance floor” tell me a little bit about it and how did you get such awesome remixes?
treasure fingers: That track actually started out as just a funky instrumental house type tune, then one night I decided to put some vocals on it, then got the idea to have my girlfriend sing a part to play off mine. I meant to write out full verses and put into a pop song structure, but after I showed the rough draft version to Preston/Kiss Atlanta, he wanted to blog it as is, so I mixed it down and let it go as more of a club track. Fool’s Gold sorted out all of the remixes. Once I signed it to them, they hit me up one day and was like.. ‘hey what do you think about these guys to do remixes?’
I’m a fan of all those guys so I was pretty excited. Chromeo also did an amazing remix. It’s going to be featured on a Fool’s Gold CD.
sirhan: so whats the next thing you’re doing?
treasure fingers: I’ve done a bunch of remixes over the past couple months that should all be getting released soon. I’ve got 2 more that I’m wrapping up over the next week, then I’ve got an australian tour. When I get back from that, I plan on working on some original material again.
sirhan: so this is a typical question but who are some of your influences and who should kids go diggin for?
treasure fingers: lots of the 80s funk/disco era stuff. midnight star, shalamar, zapp & roger, dazz, carl carlton. I was really influenced by the 90s french house stuff as well.
sirhan: any particular records by those producers?
treasure fingers: carl carlton - swing that sexy thing / dance with you, most people just know ’she’s a bad mama jama’ by him, but he’s got so much dope stuff!
sirhan: what about new stuff?
treasure fingers: love a lot of the new lifelike stuff, symbolone, that really synthy euro sound, and miami horror also.
sirhan: so you’ve been to tons of places whats you best place so far?
treasure fingers: i think the best / craziest parties ive played have been in ATL or LA. I love traveling though, every city has it’s own charm. I think sometimes, the small towns that you don’t expect much from turn out to be amazing.
sirhan: so, any good stories from your travels?
treasure fingers: i’ve never had anything super crazy. there’s always something going wrong though. last time I was in LA, my door lock had broke after I had left for the gig and no one could fix it and I had an early flight the next morning. they ended up giving me another room, then breaking the door down at the last minute the next morning so I could get my stuff out… I’m not a heavy drinker so I don’t have any crazy club stories.
sirhan: music obiviously takes a lot of time whats your other passions?
treasure fingers: I used to paint/draw a lot. I’d like to get back to that when I get the time. that’s probably the closest thing to a passion, other stuff I do in free time is just for relaxation/fun. xbox360, movies, friends, whatever.
sirhan: so lets close off here any advice to budding producers or closing words?
treasure fingers: It’s kind of contradicting, but find a really good producer and copy them until you can get your engineering and mixdowns really tight, then switch it up and try to do something completely original and different. Most producers lack in one or the other, so I think the key is having something that sounds really fresh and original, that also sounds great sonically.
Closing words: go buy “Cross the Dancefloor” & bug your local promoter until they book me.
If you’re skint like me, you like stuff that’s free right?
Well, for little more than the cost of denting you or your friend’s credibility, you can win a pair of tickets to see funk-tastic Chromeo LIVE at London’s The End/AKA on Thursday 21st August 2008.
We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets to give away.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN A PAIR: email me with a video or link to a video of someone doing some ‘fancy footwork’ . It could be you or your mum or your second cousin’s second cousin - we don’t care, as long as it makes us laugh!
Hell, if you’re really hard up for an unsuspecting victim, you could even rip it off Youtube - but you’ve gotta be a bit clever.
Hang with me and the UK TM crew (plus the ubiquitous PR types) and check out other acts specially picked by the dapper dudes, plus drink free beer all night long, courtesy of San Miguel!! It’s part of their yearly summer music series, Hidden Depths. Dave 1 and P-Thugg return to London after a sold-out gig at Camden’s Koko and wowing music know-hows as support on Bloc Party’s British Tour.
Email your vid to: writers@trashmenagerie.com, with FANCY FOOTWORK in the subject.
DEADLINE: Sunday 17th August 2008, midnight GMT.
I will email the two winners directly on Monday 18th August. In the meantime, to get you in the mood, download and check out these two Chromeo remixes of “Needy Girl” and “Tenderoni” from Lifelike and MSTRKRFT.
PS - Double your chances for tickets by going to the San Miguelsite. And if you miss out this time, they’re playing around Europe for the rest of the summer at the following festivals.
Upon hearing London-based DJ/remixer/producer Neil Parnell’s alter ego, TRONIK YOUTH, I was in some serious awe. The music he creates embodies all the right elements that are sure to please the discerning ear. Or I’m just a sucker for spacey sounds and Speak & Spell.
Tronik Youth has remixed (or in process of), just about everyone under the sun – The Gossip, Late of the Pier, Chromeo, Goose, Franz & Shape, The Rakes, New Young Pony Club, Headman and recent re-edits of Santogold, MGMT and Portishead. He has also been remixed by Punks Jump Up.
His first smash single, “We Are”, came out in November 2007 on Back Yard Recordings, followed by his second excellent single “LaughCryLiveDie“, this past March. Due for official release 2nd June on Back Yard, the single features remixes by Grum, Headman, Young Lovers and Acid Jacks.
“LaughCryLiveDie“, has had a riveting effect on my head since first listen. I’ve played it over and over and still, no signs of tiring from it yet. It’s one of those tunes that sinks into your entire being. And now GRUM has gone and worked his formula, creating a perfect tune into a triumphant slammer!! Excellent remix.
Be on watch for even more Tronik Youth, as he slaves away at his third single, LP and upcoming remixes of Shinich Osawa, New Young Pony Club, Midfield General feat. Lucky Jim and Punx Soundcheck Feat. Miss Odd Kidd. Make your Tronik Youth purchases from Beatport, juno and at all fine retailers.
Ace video by Three Legged Legs!! These zombie dancers are fucking cool!! All the better that they’re dancin’ to Chromeo. Speaking of the Montreal/NYC duo, just read that Vice Records will release a deluxe edition of their second album “Fancy Footwork” on 17th of June! Will it be packaged in chrome??
Zune Arts, the program that aims to bring the best creative minds together to collaborate on inspiring works of art, has released a new video: “Piece of Me, Piece of You.” The new work is a short film created by Three Legged Legs and features the musical styling of Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork.”
I have been a bad, bad, blogger. I have been sitting on some amazing gems, and i’m dying to share them with you all, wish I had more hours in the day, or another one of me. I just can’t keep up! So first off, massive apologies to everyone that’s been sending me great stuff - i’m on a mission to catch up. So, in the next week or so, watch out for a blitz of music and beautiful content, this is just the beginning, and here’s just a lil taste of what’s to come.
Beatport, the electronic music mp3 merchants, launched their first music awards, aptly named Beatport Music Awards. Voting kicks off on Tuesday 18th March 2008, giving all users the opportunity to vote for the best electronic music artists of 2007, according to Beatport sales charts.
The awards are broken down into 19 categories including Best Artist categories from each genre and the multi-genre Best Remix and Best Single. Genres covered include breakbeat, chillout, deep house, tech house, drum n bass, electro house, dubstep & grime, house, techno, electronica - to name the proverbial few.
Since the launch of the new award, complaints from users have been rolling in. Some say that the nominee lists are too narrow, while others bemoan the fact that customers can’t buy all the tracks listed due to “territorial restrictions”. Others pointed out that many artists appear in several categories (eg. Trentemoller appears in “Best Chillout Artist”, “Best Electronica Artist”, “Best Minimal Artist”, and “Best Tech House Artist”).
Jonas Tempel, Beatport CEO/Founding Partner, jumped smack into the online debate and explained:
“The BMA’s are our first attempt to really reach out and recognize the artists that are pushing the sound of electronic music. We appreciate the open debate on the quality of our efforts. Believe me, we read these posts and try to adjust our efforts based on user input. As you can imagine, putting together an awards program is tough with all the awesome music that is released every week. Basing it over a year is even harder.”
Publicity ploy or really great idea? I dunno. I stopped believing in the Easter bunny a long time ago. Check out the nominees (below) and see whether your vote is worth casting.
Lets kick the week off right with a brand new CROOKERS mix which they’ve just posted on their My Space blog. Seems like great things are happenin’ down under!!!! Be sure to get your Crookers fill if you’re in any of the Australian cities listed on their flyer above!!!!
01. Midnight Juggernauts - Scorpius
02. Crookers - Big Money Comin
03. Krames - Sound of The Police
04. SantoGold - Creator (Scottie B mix)
05. Ron Carrol - Nike Spinnin’ (The Count & Sinden Remix)
06. Moby- I love to move in here (Crookers CRACK mix)
07. Boy 8 bit - Wolfen
08. N.E.R.D. - Everyone nose (Phra Re-fix)
09. DJ Godfather - Short Dick Man
10. Skream - Midnight Request Line (Chavy Boys of London mix)
11. Rico Tubbs - Gangsters
12. BSS - One Blood Kuduro
13. Cupid - Cupid Shuffle (Bird Peterson Remix)
14. Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction (Wideboys bassline mix)
15. The Whip - Trash (Crookers mix)
16. Bumblebeez - Rio (Boy 8 bit mix)
17. Bumblebeez - Rio (Crookers mix)
18. Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Crookers mix)
19. Dada Life - The Great Fashionista Swindle
20. Bloody Beetroots - Boom Night
21. Azzido da Bass - Dooms Night (Crookers BUM mix)
22. Crookers - Purple lens game - (Bloody Beetroots mix)
Yeah, Radiohead is all I needed to hear. I haven’t seen them live in 2 years, webcasts don’t count. I’m way in. Nice one Goldenvoice & AEG, festivals kind freakin’ rule.
Radiohead have been confirmed as both the Friday and Saturday night headliner for the first-ever ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL. This marks the first time that a cutting-edge band will headline multiple nights of a major U.S. music festival.
Jack Johnson will headline Sunday night of the three-day, multi-stage music and arts festival taking place August 8, 9 and 10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. The ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL will also feature performances from Underworld, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cat Power, The Roots and The New Pornographers, among others. More than 40 acts will appear on three stages throughout the 80-acre historic location with panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Manhattan skyline.
Tickets for ALL POINTS WEST go on sale Friday, February 29 at 12 Noon (ET) via www.ticketmaster.com only. Single day passes are $89 and three-day passes are $258. A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit “Friends of Liberty State Park.” The Friends of Liberty State Park is an open space advocacy volunteer organization dedicated to the park’s future as a free, green and non-commercial, urban waterfront oasis.
The ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL is being created in a “green” festival environment. Initial “green” plans include on-site parking for carpoolers only and ample public transportation to and from the site. Ferry service will be available from Manhattan directly to the festival grounds; exact details with ferry schedules will be announced at a later date. Additionally, light rail service via NJ Transit will run directly to the festival grounds. Meanwhile, a limited supply of on-site parking is reserved exclusively for carpoolers. Carpool parking passes are available either as single days for Saturday and Sunday or as a three-day pass for the weekend. Note: four concert tickets are required in order to qualify for carpool parking.
The festival’s name is inspired by the area’s rich history, particularly Ellis Island and the NJ Central Railroad terminal located on the festival site, where many arriving immigrants boarded trains for ALL POINTS WEST.
ALL POINTS WEST is produced by Goldenvoice/AEG Live and Liberty Events in association with the HighLine Ballroom. For up-to-the-minute information on the ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL, visit www.apwfestival.com.
If you’re not getting into the holiday spirits then you may as well consider yourself Scrooge! HA There is plenty of joy and excitement to be had by all!! Get yourself ready for a quick meal and some Christmas cheer, provided to you by our dear friend, Alan Hostage, who is always keeping busy in the kitchen!! enjoy. And if you are near Newcastle upon Tyne, in the U.K., be sure to check out Hostage at the “Eat Disco” Christmas blowout!!!!!!
1. Hungry? Totally! It’s winter: always hungry. Made too much chilli last night? OF COURSE YOU HAVE YOU PIG FACED GLUTTON; on purpose of course, nice one – get the chilli & mushroom toasties on the go, eh!? Get the chilli down on some bread, decent stuff though, I go for a specialist seeded effort. I’m finding that a perfect musical accompaniment for this stage is the Jori Hulkkonen Remix of Chromeo’s “Bonafide Lovin”. When I first heard this I though it was a bit wishy-washy, not like this here chilli, but, it’s perfect, it’s beautiful and soaring (the track). oh girl, wouldn’t that feel right, a little dinner with the candlelight - ummmm..well, this dish isn’t really the kinda’ thing you’d want to serve up in a romantic scenario, this is standard Tuesday night stodge, however if she’s hungry, always oblige. And really when it comes down to it, pick a man that’s down to fight. I missed the boxing at the weekend. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, Teacher!!!!! RUN! Check the (cheese flavoured, like this dish) orig of Chromeo’s old-man-love-ballad. and lyrics here: Chromeo Bonafide Lovin
2. Cheese on, chopped mushrooms on. Awwww…the little wee, white chopped mushrooms, all cute, like wee Christmas decorations, aw I’m all full of the Christmas cheer. Seriously. Except it got me into a moral dilemma, I was in Tesco’s (Which I already feel bad about but I’m a weak willed lazybones), and I bought some totally pointless Christmas lights, they were cheap, I don’t know what got into me, I think I may have been still a bit full of the weekend cheer or something but I bought them, and took them home and put them on some trees I have in my house, but they are not a festive tree, more like a, um…I don’t know, a Yukka? Did I just make that up? Anyway, I then started to freak out about the pretty glowing lights thinking that’s 1. A waste of money, 2. It’s bad for the environment 3. Damn, Look at this packaging 4. This is pointless, 5. Awwwhhhhh, they are pretty. and shit and bad, I said it, I’m a weak willed lazybones AND feeling festive. I am thinking about wearing the Christmas tree lights to a gig. Or would that make me a tree? Or worse. No.
3. In the Oven/Grill combo, full power, preheated, take your eyebrows off. I like to find when I’m putting tasty yet obviously unromantic snacks in a furnace I like to be accompanied by the sounds of the new Burial album “Untrue”. Aye, I know, everyone’s bangin’ on about it. All the tunes sound the same, you’ve heard it all before, but as ANOTHER PERSON, now you can’t fail to fall into this deep, warm vortex of soul, it’s atmospherically and kinetically very tasty, like…..
4. these delicious tea-time treats. Ideal with a cold imported wee lager. See, I told you it wasn’t romantic. Depends on what romance is I suppose, can be many different things to many different people. and why I’m doing this; I suppose I could use this flimsy scapegoat for a barely believable laugh: BBC One tonight - 7:00 pm The One Show, 7:30 pm EastEnders, 8:00 pm Holby City. Don’t pay anyway. Eat up.
When Jahcoozi popped into my inbox last week, I couldn’t contain my excitement. BUT! The file was so massively delicious, it was too big to D/L! WHAT A TEASE. Well, we worked out the kinks, and here we have it!
After the Kitty Yo Album, tireless touring and successful club 12″s, Jahcoozi are back with their sophomore LP, Blitz ‘n’ Ass. Raising the bar on intelligent booty, they represent BLN as a stronghold for innovative club music. Blitz ‘n’ Ass is a low-end monster, produced both R&B thick and to technoid perfection, with front woman Sasha Perera’s social commentary as personal and satirical as ever.
With “BLN” already appearing on the latest Bpitch compilation, a new EP on Tigerbeat and a collaboration with Spank Rock (Big Dada) documented on DVD coming up, Jahcoozi are on their way - also to your city, on their world tour supporting the album.
Collaborations include - M. Sayyid (Anti-PopConsortium / BigDada), Knifehandchop (Tigerbeat), Modeselektor (Bpitch), Stereotyp (G-stoned), Virus Syndicate (Planet Mu), New Flesh (BigDada), Soom-T (Novamute), Kano (The Beats), Lethal B, JME (BoyBetterKnow), Ata (Playhouse), Cassy (Perlon), Highfish (Whitest Boy Alive) and Lexie Lee (Parlophone), Chris Duckenfield, Fat Boy Slim’s Cagedbaby and the legendary Asian Dub Foundation.
1. Jahcoozi- Style
2. Dizee Rascal - Pussyole
3. Klaxons- Golden Skans (sebastian rmx)/Jahcoozi - taking your street
4. Jahcoozi- Get your shit out
5. 50 Weapons - a lil bit/game over
6. Snoop Dogg feat. Jamie Foxx - Psst!
7. Elle P - Tricks
8. Amanda Blank- Get it now (Robot Koch rmx)
9. Jahcoozi - Double Barrell Name (Bald & Beautiful rmx)
10. The Tape vs.RQM - Luvley (Chris de Luca rmx)
11. Jahcoozi feat. RQM - Flatline
12 Jahcoozi - BLN/Yo Majesty - Club Action
13. Jahcoozi BLN (stereotyp rmx)
14. Chromeo- fancy footwork (guns n bombs rmx)
15. NIYI - 808 clap
16. Jahcoozi vs. VEx`d - Shake the doom (robot koch mashup)
17. Santogold - You`ll find a way
18. Jahcoozi feat. M.Sayyid - High-Tech
Sasha Perera, Oren Gerlitz and Robot Koch first met in Berlin in 2002. Through a friend of a friend, Sasha heard Robot’s beats and Robot heard Sasha’s voice. The two started meeting up sporadically in a smokey home-studio in Neu Kölln. They recorded Black Barbie ……………. and the rest is history.
SASHA PERERA, is the London-born Sri Lankan (half tamil-half sinhalese for those who know the deal) who moved from London to Berlin in 2000. It was only in Berlin, that she started messing about with vocals and electronic beats and slowly made a name in the city for herself as the freakiest frontwoman with the freshest beats! Apart from writing the songs, playing her trumpet and shakin’ her booty, Sasha is also known for GRIMETIME and BOOMBOX, the parties she started organizing back in 2004, bringing some of the UK’s hottest urban talent over to Berlin for the first time ever.
ROBOT KOCH is the insomniac German beat producer. After hanging out in New York for a couple of years, he moved to Berlin in 1999 and founded his label Hamton Recordings. He has two side projects The Tape (Kyo) and Autodrive (Tonkind) and he is a workaholic coz he just CAN’T stop making them beats baby.Long Live the Koch!!
OREN GERLITZ, aka Baba Massive, moved from Tel Avivto Berlin in 2001. Oren is the only member of the band who is a trained musician. Oren is the sound nerd of the band, plays bass and guitar, co-produces the tracks with Robot and mixes them down giving them the creaminess and TLC they deserve.
