deadmau5 – album title goes here

Ok, so I passed up a chance to meet, greet and interview the grammatically defiant mau5 at VELD last week because I was just a wee bit preoccupied with Justice  and HARDFest TO, but maybe I’ll have a second chance thanks to this great big new album announcment. WOOHOOOO!

Here’s a bit about it, straight from the mouths of PR babes:

All the tracks on > album title goes here < are deadmau5 original productions.  They include collaborations with“Animal Rights” co-producer Wolfgang Gartner (“Channel 42”); vocalists Imogen Heap (“Telemiscommunications”) and Chris James (“The Veldt,” the critically acclaimed track inspired by the Ray Bradbury short story); and legendary hip-hop outfit Cypress Hill (“Failbait”).   There are also new pieces like the Close Encounters of the Third Kind classic film-inspired “Closer,” the dance floor burner “There might be coffee”and electronica piece “Sleepless.”  Like “Fn Pig” and “October,” many of these tracks have been available on deadmau5’sSoundCloud as rough edits. For > album title goes here < they come together as finished songs in the format the way he intends them to be heardby his fans.

The complete track listing for deadmau5’s > album title goes here < is:

Superliminal

  1. deadmau5 & Wolfgang Gartner – Channel 42
  2. The Veldt (featuring Chris James)
  3. Fn Pig 
  4. Professional Griefers (featuring Gerard Way)
  5. maths
  6. There might be coffee
  7. Take care of the proper paperwork
  8. Closer
  9. October
  10. Sleepless
  11. Failbait (featuring Cypress Hill)
  12. Telemiscommunications (featuring Imogen Heap) 
> album title goes here < is available on August 14 for pre-order at http://itunes.com/deadmau5.

J Devil: Jonathan Davis of Korn Tells EDM Audiences to ‘Go F— Themselves,’ Says They Love It

 

Posted on Aug 7th 2012 3:30PM by Jesse Ship

 Hot on the steel-reinforced heels of his dubstep-influenced Path of Totality album,Jonathan Davis of Korn has ditched his black clad hordes for neon-slathered partiers with his current alter-ego, the cartoonish black-lensed, black-toothed, J Devil.
EDM purists might see it as a case of another rock star not wanting to be left in the dust of a current fad, but it actually all makes sense.

“When I was 16, before I started Korn, I used to DJ New York freestyle, Miami bass, old school hip-hop, goth and industrial, along with playing high school dances for a production company,” Davis told Spinner. “A few years ago, my buddy DJ C-Minuscame to me and was like, ‘You used to do DJ shows. You were great in high school!’ So I took out my turntables and started playing again. I did my first gig about three years ago and haven’t stopped since.”

Continue reading J Devil: Jonathan Davis of Korn Tells EDM Audiences to ‘Go F— Themselves,’ Says They Love It

VELD – Day 2 – Bassnectar, Avicii, Nicky Romero

Veld seemed aptly named, as the sprawling Downsview park does somewhat resemble the type of vast South African fields of the festivals’ namesake.  It’s also the name of Deadmau5’s most recent single, and he just happened to be headlining the festival, so it made even more sense.
Since I was at HardFest on Saturday, I was only able to make it to Veld for Day 2 to catch house heads like Nicky Romero and Avicii ,along with North America’s recently anointed ambassador of dubstep, Lorin Ashton aka Bassnectar in the main stage.  Trancey space lords Cosmic Gate and Gareth Emory took over a covered tent that brought out the old school rave vibe that should accompany any Trance show.
Here’s a bit of what you missed. If you don’t care for neon, feel free to skip out on this one ;)

HARDFest Feat. Justice, Buraka Som Sistema, Austra, M83 and MORE!

I woke up Saturday noon to a simple one line email from my editor at Spinner, “Can you interview Justice at 330 pm?”  Obviously, the answer was yes, I would say yes even if I was in a quadriplegic full body cast. There was no reason to miss out on this opportunity, especially since our initial interview request was oddly denied.

Buraka Som Sistema – Candonga from Jesse Ship on Vimeo. Don’t miss Blaya with the bootyquake on the 3 min mark!

Despite being held at Fort York on what passes for festival ground, Hard Fest TO was not a fest per se, but more of a long extended arm of the LA-based 2-day multi-staged event. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a good time.  Most exciting for me was crossing off three bands from my must-see bucket list, Austra, Buraka Som Sistema and M-83.


Brewing storms held off until the very end of the night, and broke just prior to Justice’s set, delaying them by 20 minutes or so. Maybe they were scared that the rain would screw up their new hydraulic dj stage / organ contraption which no EDM act these days can be without!

Scion Sessions – Nosaj Thing, Doldrums, Jesse Futerman & More

The last time I saw Alphapup’s Nosaj Thing was about a year ago at a packed show at the Drake Underground.  You’d think that a free show would have even more packed-er results?  Oddly no, but good for us who had lots of comfortable dance space on the floor.  The tunes were a lot more upbeat and tech-inpsired from his last set which I remember being more on the groovy, downtempo funk side of things.  I also got a chance to see the much hyped Toronto Doldrums, and my favourite RL Steiner, Mr. Jesse Futerman.   And, it wouldn’t have been a real party with friends like Raymi The Minx, Michael Kim and the gang.

 

There are still a number of other Scion Sessions events left in the week with a free post-hardcore band show from Young Widows at Parts & Labour as well as HardFest, headlined by Austra, M-83, Justice, Buraka Som Sistema, and more!

Buraka Som Sistema Just Discover EDM Scene is Real: ‘I Thought it Was a Joke’

 

Posted on Aug 1st 2012 3:00PM by Jesse Ship

Buraka Som Sistema thrive on a melting pot of cultures and sounds that emerged from Portugal’s colonialist domination of countries like Angola. Pulling rhythms from African and Latin music, you would never think that world music could be so cool. In fact vocalist, Kalaf doesn’t think it is either.
“Well, for a 20 year old kid, it’s not cool,” Kalaf tells Spinner. “World music is the kind of thing you see on Starbucks compilations, it’s not something you kick on your iPod. However, because the playlist shuffle phenomenon, it’s easy to jump from Lil Wayne toFela Kuti. That’s normal now, we grew up with that.
“Indeed, where America used to be called the great melting pot, now that designation falls to the pop music of the world, where picking out an ethic music flourish — a flamenco guitar here, a tabla there, a didgeridoo somewhere else — can elevate a song above “sounds like everything else.”

Continue reading Buraka Som Sistema Just Discover EDM Scene is Real: ‘I Thought it Was a Joke’

Scion’s automotive facilitation of cutting edge music culture gets its own week in Toronto, and will be kicking off with Mansion’s already well known Happy Endings party series at the dim sum restaurant by day, formerly known as the Bright Pearl Restaurant, that now actually goes by Golden Diamond.
This edition features post-dubstep turned house heavyweight DJ Scuba of Hot Flush Records, Juno-nominee Egyptrixx and Toronto’s rising sun Exeter. To promote the event, RBMA’s Exeter is releasing a track in it’s honour, with a remix by Ryan Hemsworth.  According to the label, the song “coasts from the gentle detail of its intro, through soulful synthesizers, sensible melodies and hip-hop textures that inflect it with an implicit funk.”

 

Scion Sessions Week is actually launching a slew of musical events, you can sign up for chances to win VIP passes on their site, and follow directions below:

How to get into Happy Endings w/ Scuba, Egyptrixx & Exeter: 

1. Win your way in for free via Scion Sessions: 

http://scionsessions.ca/happy-ending-scuba-7-27.html. Click the link. Sign up for the site. Enter to win your way in, while you’re there, sign up for your chance to win guest list spots, VIP access and more for other Sessions Week events.

2. Buy a ticket for $15. Tickets available at the door or in advance via Ticketweb.

Win a trip for 2 to Toronto for Sessions Week & TIX/VIP to any and all shows on the calendar: http://scionsessions.ca/sessions-week.html

 

Evening Hymns Spectral Dusk and Downpour

 

 

I’m breaking the silence of my inner peace by sneaking notes, and it reminds me of the time I spent 10 days in silence at Suan Mokh, a Buddhist Vipassana retreat at a temple in Southern Thailand.  But I’m not in Thailand; I’m in the courtyard of an upscale condo on Queen St W., across from Trinity Bellwoods park. All around me, music journalists sit pensively with their headphones on. The sullen voice.of Jonas Bonnetta, of Evening Hymns, and his autumnal Spectral Dusk album, (supported by members of The Wooden Sky, City and Colour and Timber Timbre) surrounds us communally through our synchronized ipods and mp3 players. Like the old marmalade cat poised on the upper balcony to us, my mind ought to wander with the droning country soundscape. Attached, yet detached, we sit as one.

The gray skies that threaten to burst only add to the delicate tension of the album that deals with the death of Jonas’s father. Songs of sorrow and fat wet raindrops fall like tears on my arms. Another few splatter my screen. It’s not fair to compare but I’d liken him to a mournful Leonard Cohen, with less cryptic lyrics and a focus on life lessons and longings like, the line from Spectral Dusk the title closing track, “I need you if I’m to be a man.” Followed by two minutes of field recordings taken from a country spot known as The Burn, where his dad’s ashes were a scattered. The blowing wind and rushing water do their best to sweep away the spectral catharsis that has set in.

“It’s terrible to put yourself thru the wringer every time you get on stage,” Jonas tells us after during an intimate Q&A. “I’ll be in front of a thousand people in some beautiful hall in Europe and then when I hit the first note, it strikes me ”Oh ya… I don’t have a dad.”  Jonas actually can’t wait to release his next album, (he’s got two in the bag even), so he won’t have to keep pouring salt over old wounds. I imagine he’s gone through a whole shaker by now.

When was the last time I actually listened to an album from start to finish with headphones and no distractions? My last conscious memory brings me to high school, maybe TOOL’s Aenema album, but my pride insists it was more recently.  Regardless, this exercise made me realize how much a lost past time it has become and how age and time are wearing away at our focus. As Jonas said earlier during his talk, “living out in the forest makes SO much sense.” I only wish I could return to that place inside myself as well.

PUMA® PRESENTS TORONTO’S MAD DECENT BLOCK PART – SET TIMES NOW POSTED

Waiting to speak to Simian Mobile Disco backstage at the Hoxton, I got to meet Chris, Diplo‘s tour manager who gave me this pithy hair advice. “Dude, it’s like a mushroom cloud on the sides but I wanna see it more nuclear on the top! You need MORE volume!”

What a perfect way to lead into this huge announcement!! This summer marks the fifth installment of the incredibly successful cross-country phenomenon that is the MAD DECENT BLOCK PARTY, this year presented by Puma®. Tearing through the USA with stops in PhiladelphiaNew YorkChicagoLos Angeles and new addition Toronto Mad Decent is joining forces with PumaRed BullHeineken and SPIN to provide a day of musical performances with FREE admission, delicious food, carnival games and a party for families and club kids alike! Every block party will have a completely different lineup with surprise guests popping up in each city. The block party tour kicks off in Toronto on July 28, 2012 and concludes in Los Angeles on August 25, 2012.

MAD DECENT BLOCK PARTY TORONTO: 


Check out the full list of artists that will be performing at the various stops as well as the details for Toronto including location, time and featured artists. 

TORONTO INFO: 

7/28/12

Yonge Dundas Square, Toronto

1pm-11pm

Lineup:

Zeds Dead                           9:30-11:00

Claude VonStroke                 8:00-9:30

Nadastrom                           7:00-8:00

Jacques Greene                   6:00-7:00

BADBADNOTGOOD             4:45-5:45

Riton                                   4:00-4:45

A Tribe Called Red               3:00-4:00

Smalltown DJs                     2:00-3:00

Grandtheft                            1:00-2:00

 

**NOTE: Despite earlier announcements, Bosco Delrey will unfortunately not be making it to the Toronto show. Calgary’s favorite sons Smalltown DJs have been added in his place.**

Flying Lotus @ Red Bull Music Academy – Lecture Series [2009]

[Apparently a lot of people have been asking for this one.  The file links didn’t transfer properly when I changed the name of the site, but that’s now been fixed. Here we go again. Enjoy – Cap’n Ship]

I was fortunate enough to attend this intimate Q&A with dubstep/bass music/glitch-hop-what-have-you producer Flying Lotus, at the Toronto Red Bull office.  In case you are wondering the interviewer was his opening tour dj, My Man Henri.

Below is most of the recording.  It’s about 80 minutes in length, divided in to three parts.  What its missing is mainly the plug for the Red Bull Academy, which is a two week long retreat sponsored by, you guessed it, Red Bull, where artists get to cultivate their musical talent amongst other worthy, up and coming artists, at no expense to the artist.  Sounds dope?  Apply yourself.  Be warned, the application is a good 50 pages long and is as arduous and wacky as a Scientology intake form, but with way better benefits…trust me!  So go apply now!  You have until July 27th.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3