Angel Olsen recently released this beautifully epic video for her new single, Lark. Alicia Keys new video for Show Me Love feat. Miguel caught my attention, and I’m glad it did - it’s gorgeous. Milky Chance continues to put out some quirky, bright reggae-influenced singles like The Game.
Bonus: A couple weeks ago I posted a couple bonus videos from Alex Ebert, and will to do so again because this “home video” for Her Love is stunning.
Big Freedia’s come a long way since her last time here back in 2013. Now on the third season of her reality TV show, I’ve really gotten to learn much more about her whole team, including the dancers. So watching this show was more about engaging with her burgeoning brand, than it was about going for the music. It was great to see everyone on stage, though I can’t imagine how tiring it must be to put on a high energy show like this night after night.
I am waaaaay behind on videos. I hope you’re ready to get caught up. Starting with one of my most favorite new albums, here is Gardens & Villa with their groovy new song for Colony Glen. Glass Animals is up next with a captivating video for Gooey. Finally, Major Lazer lose themselves in Lose Yourself.
Bonus: I’m not a huge Beyonce fan, but whoa.
This is quite the upbeat mix. CHVRCHES shows us their travel video (yay!). Next up is a smooth groove from Chromeo (feat. Toro y Moi!). Then is POLIÇA with I Need $” // “So Leave” who I believe will be performing at the Grog Shop (in June?).
This bonus is a true one… new Diplo with Biggie Bounce. I would *love* to hang out on a Wild Wednesday with Diplo.
I’ve been crushing on Blood Orange (Dev Hynes) for a while now, since discovering him on the Pitchfork Lineup earlier this year. I’ve since fallen in love with everything he touches (just about). His new Cupid Deluxe album is out now and he got some ink in the New York Times!
Dev Hynes Releases ‘Cupid Deluxe’ - NYTimes.com
"The latest, ‘Cupid Deluxe,’ is out on Tuesday from Domino Records. It was four years in the making, as Mr. Hynes compiled material without thinking much about where it would end up. ‘Usually, I just write songs and think, ‘This will be a cool song for someone to sing,’ and then either it gets rejected, or everyone forgets about it,’ he said. ‘I get my own leftovers.’
An electronica-tinged hybrid that moves seamlessly from R&B to jazz, hip-hop and new wave, it includes collaborations with vocalists like David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, and the rapper Clams Casino, all taped within two months. ‘It was a very different album in my mind before I recorded Caroline’s song,’ the lead single ‘Chamakay,’ Mr. Hynes said. ‘I’d always wanted to do some kind of weird album that’s more in the vein of a Massive Attack kind of feel. It gave me the confidence to actually execute that. I wrote a little bit more and dug deeper into my hard drive.’"
(Continued... Dev Hynes Releases ‘Cupid Deluxe’ - NYTimes.com)
I thought it appropriate to post this Total Crush today, as we're seeing Major Lazer tonight at the House of Blues, with Dragonette opening! Should be a great show. Anyway, Diplo (who runs Mad Decent, which Major Lazer is on)… swoon. I know he's hittin' it big, but I think it's legitimate. I think he's doing what he loves and is helping people along the way. Good for him. Good for us. Read below for more.
This song & video are stunning.
Why Diplo Matters ~ Oh So Fresh! Music
"Yet, his founding label Mad Decent has become one of the purveyors of good music in the coming years as well, which has its own repertoire growing. Just like his own influences and music styles, he created a place for artists doing something unique and cool. With his label and amazing roster, he has thrown free concerts in major cities like Philadelphia where he has roots, New York City, and more. These 'Block Parties' as they are called have been known for their intense fun, and only added to the labels resume. Mad Decent's roster includes a hell of selection of artists including trap sensation Baauer, Dillion Francis, Flosstradamus, Snoop Lion, Zedds Dead, Major Lazer, and tons more. So as he not only continues to experiment and create new sounds to the mainstream, his label as well pushes artists to recognition.
So this comes down to why Diplo matters. Although he does plenty of songs and production outside of mainstream notice, it's the songs that do make the radio or become big that are major influences. Most songs that are extremely popular use the same mudane formula, but Diplo shook the industry with production that was completely different and was stilll accepted. If anyone deserves the respect, it is him. Oh yeah, and he get's hot girls to twerk it on the daily. RESPECT."
(Continued... Why Diplo Matters ~ Oh So Fresh! Music)
I think I would have traveled to see Big Freedia. After discovering her through Diplo, I couldn't imagine a more interesting live show to see, particularly here in the Midwest. Imagine my glee when I heard she'd be here at the Grog Shop, here in Cleveland Heights, here in Ohio. A long way from New Orleans. Could we handle "Sissy Bounce"? Would there be anyone there? What kind of people would be there?? So many questions. I rounded up a couple peeps to tag along and bear witness.
I didn't even bother checking out the openers, which turned out OK because it was essentially a DJ and a couple Drag Queens (no advance music to listen to there). I can't say I ever imagined seeing a drag show at the Grog Shop.
It was quite good actually. Better than the typical, profane drag that I've typically seen in the area. But this was only a warm up to the Queen herself, Big Freedia. She definitely commanded the stage, and her 3 dancers, who worked their asses off (practically) over the next couple hours. I can't say that Bounce music is necessarily pleasing to the ears, but I can say it creates quite a fun, party vibe. This was one of the more fun shows I've been to in a while (but then I didn't need to stay for the *whole* show either). Let's roll the tape:
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I mean, these ladies were WORKIN'. All night.
And what about the crowd you ask… just look for yourself.
I don't know how Cleveland is gonna handle "The Queen Diva" Big Freedia. She's coming to the Grog Shop on Wednesday… will there be some ass shakin'?? I can't wait. Tix purchased!
You can even listen to her on All Things on Considered (link below).
Big Freedia Lays Out The Basics Of Bounce : NPR
"Born out of New Orleans club culture, bounce music isn't just best experienced in person — it's almost impossible to understand in the abstract. But Big Freedia (pronounced 'free-duh'), one of the style's biggest stars, says the music does have a few defining features.
Bounce is based in hip-hop. It favors punchy tempos, heavy bass and call-and-response vocals. Many of the songs are structured around a handful of samples, most notably a snippet from 'Drag Rap,' a 1986 track by the New York rap group The Showboys."
(Continued... Big Freedia Lays Out The Basics Of Bounce : NPR)
"An in-depth look at Big Freedia, bounce music, New Orleans, and ass-shaking"
You may remember: I first posted about Big Freedia via Diplo / Sissy Bounce: Big Freedia (4/8/11)
One of Cleveland's awesome, seasonal parties for the year kicks off this weekend! (in great company with the likes of the CMA's Summer Solistice party and the BriteWinter Festival! …is there a Spring one?)
Anyway, this year mixes things up by leaving their stunning location under the Detroit-Superior Bridge and moving on up to the lake front. I have no idea how this will look or operate, but it should still be a blast - thess guys have earned the benefit of the doubt. Musically, there's a great lineup of local artists (Freeze-Tag, Megachurch, Jack & the Bear, Shivering Timbers, Wild Orphans and the Very Knees). They also scored Dragonnette as their festival closer (Sunday afternoon!). These guys offer slick pop/electronic mix, check out their soon-to-be-released album Bodyparts. This will be a dance party.
Further details from Ingenuity…
IngenuityFest is one of America’s largest festivals of art and technology, bringing a weekend-long celebration of groundbreaking innovation to Cleveland. The free event, which draws over 40,000 attendees annually, taps into and celebrates Cleveland’s rich engineering, bio-medical, and high tech resources along with its creative energy in design, music, theater and dance.
As the Midwest’s premier showcase of groundbreaking art, music, and technology, IngenuityFest 2012 will feature headlining musical guests Dragonette, Two Fresh, R. Ring (Kelley Deal of The Breeders and Mike Montgomery of Ampline), and Helado Negro among a full roster of local and national acts. Featured stages will also be presented by The Coventry Kids and returning experimental noise collective Rubber City Noise. Throughout the weekend of September 14-16, IngenuityFest will present more than 50 musicians on both an indoor and outdoor stage at Docks 32 and 30, which sit on the lakefront north of Browns Stadium and the Great Lakes Science Center.
Complete lineup of musical artists (can also be found at http://ingenuitycleveland.com/2012-list-of-bands-by-day):
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Additional information on headlining artists:
Dragonette
Best known for their infectious smash hit “Hello” in collaboration with French DJ Martin Solveig, Dragonette’s high-energy synth-pop is backed by the glamour-drenched vocals of Martina Sorbara.
The Toronto band is set to release their highly anticipated third album, Bodyparts, this September. The group has toured with Duran Duran, New Order, and the Sugababes, and collaborated on hits with Basement Jaxx, Cyndi Lauper, and Kaskade.
Their music has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, Gossip Girl, and The Vampire Diaries and ads for Toyota, Macy’s, Trident and Sony Playstation. Look for Dragonette to infuse their live performances with punk rock sensibility and fashion-forward style.
Two Fresh
Combining an array of influences and a diverse musical background, Two Fresh’s sound is difficult to describe but impossible to ignore. Built on a foundation of instrumental hip hop, twin brothers Kendrick and Sherwyn Nicholls’ music seamlessly incorporates elements of sampling, a tight low end and catchy synth lines, with a strong beat always at the cornerstone.
R. Ring
R. Ring is Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery. It is voices, guitars and keys. It is sparse, chaotic, abrasive and lulling, often within the same song. It is new. It is, at the very least, a stark departure from the music they make in their other bands (Kelley with The Breeders and Mike with Ampline.)
Helado Negro
Under the name Helado Negro, Roberto Carlos Lange crafts moody, experimental electro-folk heavily influenced by the ambiance and lush aesthetics of his native South Florida’s Latin culture. Lange is a frequent collaborator with Guillermo Scott Herren, better known as Prefuse 73, and is also a member of music group Savath y Savalas.
The Knocks (Live)
Everyone can now make music. The increasing access to music related technology and the liquid flow of music and information is a blessing to aspiring musicians, but a curse to those who have to sift through the terrible mash-ups and tunes in order to find quality music. Based out of New York City’s Lower East Side, The Knocks are taking a stand and reclaiming good music for all. The Knocks – Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner and James “Jpatt” Patterson – have produced original material and remixes for Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Marina & the Diamonds, M83 and now their own music, including “Make It Better” and “Dancing with the DJ” and are known for their explosive live performances.
Secret Panda Society
This production duo brings a relentless assault of bass that keeps the dance floor hyped until the set is over. The talent and creativity of Rob Stern and Joe Benny, aka the Secret Panda Society, ensures that no song is safe from being morphed into a dance floor destroying bass drop. So load up on bamboo, put your panda mask on, and get ready to make a jailbreak from the EDM Zoo. Don’t say we didn’t warn you
Matuto
Imagine the sound of a Brazilian Carnaval in the Appalachian Mountains. An official selection of Womex 2011, Matuto (“bumpkin” in Brazilian slang) moves with two-stepping grace between bluegrass and forro, between swamp rock and maracatu, between surf guitar shimmies and the wah-wah of the berimbau.
1,2,3
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently described Pittsburgh break-out band 1,2,3 like this: “The group — composed of vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Nic Snyder and percussionist/everything else performer Josh Sickels — … incorporates an arcing range of influences and styles … pulling from the classic psychedelia of The Beatles to the more recent ambient confusion of Animal Collective, and mixing washed over, surfy walls of sound with Mr. Snyder’s dreamy but sincere lyrics.”
My 4th year going to this awesome festival. I wish I could say consecutive, but I did skip a year, dammit. I say awesome because it's just the right size, because I need to research most of the performers, and it's Chicago! This year we found a "quaint" bed & breakfast in Boys Town and stayed Thursday through Monday. Very casual with timing, which was really nice. We leisurely made our way to the festival each day, but there near the start for each of them.
Friday we started out with Olivia Tremor Control, A$AP Rocky, Big K.R.I.T.. The rain backed up the schedule by an hour, but stages seemed to vary, so it was hard to keep up with who was playing when. I was glad we caught Big K.R.I.T. because I'm enjoying his southern Rap style. Dirty Projectors weren't bad, but they had NO stage presence, and didn't quite make up for that in other ways. We swung by the Blue stage to see Purity Ring who sounded amazing, but only swung by to catch a tune of Feist before leaving.
Saturday was the big day. We made sure to be there in time for our own Cloud Nothings - which ended up being the show of the festival. The rain came down at the end of their set and killed power, to which they remained energized and performed acoustically to a crowd who never gave up. Moments like that make Festivals. Read a better account over at I Rock Cleveland. From there we caught some Atlas Sound (meh.) and then Cults - who Matt was quite excited for. Something fell flat with them. Only caught a bit more of Youth Lagoon (yet again) and just camped out at the Blue Stage for a while. We stayed through Nicholas Jaar, then back out for Wild Flag, back to blue for Schoolboy Q and back out for Sleigh Bells (HOB was better). Back to blue for the Chromatics (sounded great!) but only for a second because I didn't want to miss Hot Chip and was planning on the Chromatics after-party (which ended up being sold out) :-(. Hot chip was a PARTY. This night ended (oddly) with GRIMES back at the Blue stage, but wasn't compelling enough to stay to the end.
Sunday we started early with an excellent A Lull and then to Unknown Mortal Orchestra. We took a break for posters, then was back to catch Ty Segall on the same stage - with some excellent crowd surfing. We then bounced from Real Estate to Kendrick Lamar, but were in the back and missed the Gaga debacle. We then just hung out in the main area for AraabMuzik (fun), Beach House (good) but decided to bail on Vampire Weekend. Probably a mistake, but I've seen them before (at Pitchfork!), and it was a long weekend.
Overall - I already can't wait for next year.
Let's get right to it, starting of with a Mad Decent 1-2 punch. First is the always bootylicious Diplo w/ Nicky Da B for Express Yourself. Next up is a… weird… video from Major Lazer - the song is superb! Finally is a pretty haunting (& lengthy) video from Spiritualized. Stayed tuned for the bonus.
An alternative look at the current Detroit situation these days.
So in case you've been in a cave, the Rock Hall Induction happened this weekend. One of the major festivities leading up to the big night was this free show with George Clinton and Kid Cudi at Quicken Loans Arena. Sure, I'll go. I can dig George, and I've liked Kid. We got there early and got good nose-bleed seats (seriously). We watched Kids These Days open, which was a group of teens playing some crazy funk, rap, jazz fusion. George was up next, but I wouldn't recommend your first experience with him being at a place like the Q. So much of the party atmosphere is lost through bad sound and a video screen display. Next was Kid Cudi. I was a huge supporter of him early on, but he's since lost me with the WRZD release. Terrible. He opened with the two worse songs from that album, but we hung around and he ended up putting on a decent show.
Overall, I was thrilled to be part of this ceremony psych-up. Seeing Cleveland light up like this was a thrill. This night was more about that than being at a good concert (which is hard to have at the Q).
Here's what it looked like:
This is a treat I don't get very often - getting to see a great performance and then getting to see it again (in the same area) just two weeks later. Meshell Ndegeocello proved that her new stuff is not fluke at the Rock Hall two weeks ago, so I couldn't imagine a better follow-up than seeing her perform at Finney Chapel in Oberlin, OH. I've seen several shows there now and if there's one thing that stands out (even more than it being in a church) is how good the sound is. Meshell had a rock solid performance. Once again there was little banter with the audience, but with a sound like this, who cares.
Of course it was just a tame and dark crowd, I didn't get any good shots (just like last time).
If you haven't already heard me raving about the new Meshell Ndegeocello album in person, let me do so here. omg. I guess I've been keeping loose tabs on her career, picking up an occasional album here and there, but this by far has been as the strongest and most appealing - which it could hurt being produced by Joe Henry. Granted, I'm a little older and this sound is a little more mature - but the shit is tight!
Getting a chance to see her perform at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was a treat too - which I think this was actually my FIRST show *inside* the Rock Hall (guerrilla photography only). Meshell definitely presented a protective, exterior shell on stage, but from that came a sweet and smooth groove. She played primarily from her new release "Weather" (which I was thrilled about).
Do yourself a favor and pick it up for yourself.
Finally, getting into the new year. As I mentioned, I was late to the Thesophilus London game, so I didn't have a lot of context coming into this show. This was one of the situations that with the right crowd it could have been an amazing performance, but not nearly as many people were there as I would have expected. The overall performance was decent (sans crowd contribution) but not much to write about, though you can get a much more emphatic review of this show over at TVD Cleveland if you're interested. (btw, the crowd looks great in these photos, but directly behind me was sheer emptiness)
I can't explain it, but I held a little grudge against Theophilus London - for some reason… I once saw the album cover, which didn't do much for me, then I just started seeing his name everywhere. It became just an easy name to overlook (he was already getting a ton of press - he didn't need any more). But once I see someone is coming to town, they get a closer look - and boy I'm glad I did with Theophilus. I didn't realize how fun and original his sound is. As allmusic.com describes him: "genre-bending approach draws from a range of styles, from soul-pop and new wave to electro and contemporary R&B. Citing influences that include Michael Jackson and Prince as well as Kraftwerk and the Smiths" Whoa. Grog Shop here I come.
And if you need some help with his name...
The day had finally come! I have been giddy over this Starfucker show for months... Already making the top spot for my list of April shows, my expectations were pretty sky high, which is kinda odd since I had already saw a bit of them before. But having spent time with their entire catalog of music, I think I'm becoming a superfan.
We missed Hot Cha Cha, but made it in time for Champange Champagne. Listening to what little I could before the night of the show, my best description of them would be the rap-version of Starfucker. Some fun indie electronic beats behind some sweet raps - very similar to Starfucker's free mixtape (GET IT). What transpired on stage was just that, with some super-energy (and sweat) behind it. These guys really earned their keep on stage, working up the seemingly ill-prepared crowd of young white folk.
The only downside to Champagne Champagne was the length of their set. Starfucker didn't take the stage until after midnight, though you wouldn't have been able to tell that from the crowd. From almost the first song, the crowd went wild. I mean like, mosh-pit wild. I'm not quite sure where this came from, but the excitement was refreshing and fun - as was the continuous crowdsurfing.
My only non-positive comment on Starfucker was the vocal qualities (check the video), but this was overlooked by the wall of sound that came out of this band. It was pure pop / electronica goodness. Again, we didn't stay for the whole set (it *was* a Sunday night), but I left there a bigger fan than ever. The next show I am taking the next day off.
Well, I bet it was a party if you stayed long enough. The Biz didn't appear until around 12:15am... too late for me to hang around for something just starting. I did catch this however, showcasing his love for old-school rap (theme of the night:
I do have to say, it was fun to be in such a mixed crowd last night. An unfortunately rare occurrence in my live music circles.
Fresh off Yo Gabba Gabba!... Biz Markie is DJ'ing at the B Side Liquor Lounge tonight! Boy, he's definitely knows how to entertain a large age range.
