GDD™ Morning Update: Skrillex, Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Nero, Brainfeeder, Orbital, Get Lost Miami, The Last Resort Miami, Marquee, Crystal Castles, L.A. Coliseum, Minnesota
02 01 2012
Happy Wednesday! I have a wealth of great news for you today including articles, videos, and music. Please read on after the jump to see what’s happening in the electronic music world.
Skrillex, Caspa, 12th Planet Perform At CYP2 Party In L.A.
Deadmau5, Rihanna to perform at Grammy-week benefit gig
Deadmau5, Rihanna, Calvin Harris and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia have teamed for a special one-off benefit show at the House of Blues on Grammy night.
Roc Nation and the Three Six Zero Group are partnering for the Feb. 12 charity show, which also includes Scottish House music DJ-producer Chris Lake and electronic producer Michael Woods. Rihanna is also slated to hit the Grammy stage with Coldplay earlier that night.
Proceeds for the show will go to the Children’s Orthopaedic Center and the Mark Taper–Johnny Mercer Artists Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Tickets will set you back $1,000 (it’s for a good cause!) and go on sale Tuesday at 5 p.m. via Live Nation.
(via LA Times)
Swedish House Mafia join the pop ranks on will.i.am’s album
While for many he’ll always be dance music’s super-villain, chart menace will.i.am isn’t about to fade away. Instead, the Black Eyed Peas producer is readying his fourth solo album – the excruciatingly-titled #willpower – and you can bet it’ll be more I Gotta Feeling than Bridging the Gap.
As you might expect, #willpower is coming overstuffed with guests – surprisingly, Boys Noize isn’t one of them – including the likes of Britney Spears, Swizz Beats, Busta Rhymes, Shakira and Mick Jagger. There’s also set to be a collaboration with LMFAO and Eva Simons, who had her big moment in 2010 as the voice of Afrojack’s Take Over Control.
In a recent interview with Capital FM, will.i.am also mentioned that he’s recruited the 2012 Future Music Festival headliners for an appearance: “”I have a song with Alicia Keys,” he told the station, “me, Alicia, and Swedish House Mafia.” We wouldn’t be surprised if Wolfgang Gartner also shows up somewhere, following his 2011 collab with will.i.am, Forever.
(via inthemix)
Britain’s Premiere Dubstep Duo Nero Launches Headlining “Second Reality” U.S. Tour in March, Plus Appearances at Coachella
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Having already introduced their special brand of melodic dance mayhem to North American electronic music fans with roof-raising DJ sets at nightclubs in December, London’s premiere dubstep duo Nero is gearing up for a triumphant return to the U.S. in March for their headlining “Second Reality” live tour, as well as eagerly awaited appearances at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival in April. Nero will also launch their exclusive 2012 DJ residency at Surrender and XS Nightclubs, located at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, performing first at Surrender between the weeks at Coachella.
Tickets for the “Second Reality” tour will be available to Nero fan club members via a pre-sale happening now at http://us.thisisnero.com/tickets/ Those who purchase tickets will each receive an immediate digital download of Nero’s debut album Welcome Reality along with an exclusive laminate that unlocks additional digital content. The fan pre-sale runs now through February 3rd.
Nero is British-born producers, remixers, DJs, and artists Dan Stephens and Joe Ray, who are joined by dynamo singer Alana Watson for their live concerts, which find them performing high atop a custom-built booth consisting of ghetto blasters, retro TV’s, old amps, and an arcade machine centerpiece.
Nero is touring in support of Welcome Reality, which was released to rave reviews by Cherrytree/Interscope Records in December. With its thunderous bass, hail of house rhythms, lightning flashes of rave synths, and showers of guitar, the album “pulls dubstep toward the arena-pop spotlight without leaving its shadows behind,” as the New York Times put it in its review, while Billboard noted that Nero “comes off like a dubstep-powered pop band.”
Released in the U.K. in August, Welcome Reality debuted at No. 1 and rapidly earned Gold status, fueled by its singles “Innocence,” Guilt,” “Promises” (which also stormed straight to the top of the UK charts) and “Me and You,” which was the most played record on Radio 1 for three weeks in a row and is now the first U.S. single from the album. Nero’s indie/dubstep hybrid smash Me and You Remix EP is also currently available digitally, and features a brand-new remix of ”Me And You” by Steve Angello of Swedish House Mafia, and a Skrillex remix of ”Promises” (previously unavailable in the U.S.) that has racked up more than 10 million plays on YouTube.
Check out the video trailer for HARD Summer 2012 here featuring “Promises” (Skrillex & Nero Remix) and Nero’s Dan Stephens.
With nominations from BBC’s Sound of 2011, XFM’s Sound of 2011, and Music Week’s Top 15, Nero also won 2010′s Beatport Award for Best Dubstep Act and Best Dubstep Track for ”Act Like You Know.” The duo have performed at all the major UK music festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival, Reading, and Wireless, and still found the time to produce remixes for The Streets, La Roux, deadmau5, N*E*R*D and Daft Punk.
| NERO’S UPCOMING U.S. TOUR DATES | ||
| 03/29 | Washington, DC | 9:30 Club |
| 03/30 | Philadelphia, PA | Electric Factory |
| 03/31 | New York, NY | Roseland Ballroom |
| 04/03 | Boston, MA | House of Blues |
| 04/04 | Montreal, QC | Metropolis |
| 04/05 | Guelph, ON | Guelph Concert Theatre (DJ set) |
| 04/06 | Toronto, ON | Sound Academy |
| 04/07 | Chicago, IL | Congress Theater |
| 04/08 | Milwaukee, WI | Riverside Theater |
| 04/09 | Minneapolis, MN | Minute Myth |
| 04/13 | San Francisco, CA | Warfield Theater |
| 04/15 | Indio, CA | Coachella |
| 04/18 | Las Vegas, NV | Surrender Nightclub (DJ set) |
| 04/20 | El Paso, TX | Buchanan’s Event Center (DJ set) |
| 04/22 | Indio, CA | Coachella |
| 04/24 | Denver, CO | Ogden Theatre |
| 04/26 | Dallas, TX | House of Blues |
| 04/27 | Houston, TX | Verizon Wireless Theater |
(via PRNewswire)
Brainfeeder Drops Free Compilation
After claiming the top slot of the Label category in Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards, Los Angeles beat guru Flying Lotus and his Brainfeeder imprint have shared a sampler of free tunes from its growing roster of artists. The 12-track compilation includes music from Lapalux, Martyn, Samiyam, Tokimonsta, The Gaslamp Killer, Teebs, Matthewdavid, Mono/Poly, and more, and can be downloaded at no cost, here.
(via XLR8R)
Orbital Announces UK Festivals
After announcing their first album after eight years, ‘Wonky’, Orbital have now announced their UK festival appearances this summer.
Orbital will be hitting Bestival, Secret Garden Party, Bloc and The Beat-Herder from June through to September.
We’ve also got some very exciting Orbital-based news up our sleeve. Watch this space. Orbital fans, you are probably going to combust.
(via Mixmag)
Electric Pickle gears up for Get Lost 2012
The lineup has been revealed for the seventh edition of Get Lost, Crosstown Rebels’ annual party during Miami Winter Music Conference.
As usual, the party will bring together a good chunk of the Crosstown Rebels family for an extended session at Electric Pickle, one of Miami’s most intimate and underground clubs. In addition to mysteriously noted “special guests,” the lineup includes label staples like Subb-an, Maceo Plex, Art Department, jozif and label boss Damian Lazarus. Hot Creations artists Clive Henry and Richy Ahmed will DJ as well, along with Shaun Reeves of Visionquest and fabric resident Craig Richards. Live performances come from Dan Berkson & James What and Amirali. Breakthrough UK act Eats Everything is also confirmed. The party kicks off early in the morning and runs until midnight, engulfing all three of the downtown club’s dance floors.
Tickets to Get Lost Miami 7th Session are available here on RA.
Visionquest headline the Last Resort in Miami
Liaison Artists, Embrace, Safe and Beatsme have teamed up for an all day party in Miami called The Last Resort.
The event should fill at least part of the Sunday School-shaped hole in this year’s schedule. Taking place on the final Sunday of WMC, it will host DJs and live acts all day and night at Villa 221, a multi-purpose venue in downtown Miami. More than a dozen names have been confirmed, including Maya Jane Coles, Soul Clap, Magda, Maceo Plex and DJ Three. Visionquest and Wolf + Lamb are on the bill as well, along with some of the newer artists that have appeared on their labels: PillowTalk, Footprintz and Aquarius Heaven, all playing live. Lee Curtiss will play live too. The whole things runs from 7:00 AM until well past sundown.
Tickets to The Last Resort are available here on RA.
Kaskade + Skylar Grey at Marquee This Saturday
Skylar Grey will be joining Kaskade this Saturday at Marquee to celebrate the release of their new single “Room for Happiness”!!! http://bitly.com/
(via Facebook)
Crystal Castles: Third Album (Finally) In The Works
Good news, fellow Crystal Castles fans—the gloomy electronic duo are reportedly preparing to begin work on their next studio album, their first since 2010′s fantastic self-titled album. (Not to be confused with, you know, their 2008 eponymous debut. I’m not a betting man by nature, but I’d say it’s safe to presume that their next album could potentially be titled Crystal Castles… possibly maybe.)
In a new interview with the NME, producer/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath reveals that he and singer Alice Glass are headed to Croatia this next month to begin work on the next batch of songs. “We never do meaningless,” he boasts. “Every song we write is bleak. We don’t want anything else.” (via Pitchfork)
Sounds like the Crystal Castles I remember, all right.
Kath promises the untitled (it’s definitely gonna be called Crystal Castles though, you wait and see) album will drop “sometime” this summer. Start smearing mascara all over your face now.
(via Ology)
Rave Promoters’ Alleged Under-the-Table Cash Payments to Union Hands at L.A. Coliseum Probed by FBI — Source
The FBI is looking into allegations that millions of dollars in under-the-table cash payments were made by rave promoters and other exhibitors to union hands working events at the troubled L.A. Coliseumand its sister venue, the Sports Arena.
FBI agents in recent weeks have contacted rave organizers as part of its investigation, the Weekly learned today.
This comes as the Los Angeles Times reported that …
… U.S. Department of Labor was investigating the alleged cash payoffs.
The Weekly broke the story that as much as $2.5 million in cash — sans taxes and benefits — had been paid to International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) stagehands at the L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena in recent years. We filed California Public Information Act requests regarding the matter last year.
The under-the-table remittance reports inspired the publicly run Coliseum to pile on new accusations to a civil lawsuit against its former top managers and the rave promoters, who allegedly engaged in a conspiracy of side payments and benefits that enriched them at the taxpayers’ expense.
One source, however, alleged to us that the alleged cash payments to union hands, which the Times says was done via $100 bills in suitcases, was a shakedown of exhibitors by a union boss.
Others, however, have painted the union as a victim, noting that benefits and tax liabilities have been lost if these allegations are true. City Controller Wendy Greuel told us previously that “IATSE clearly followed the rules on so many levels.”
Deanne Amaden, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Labor, told the Weekly that …
… this is one of these situations where we can neither confirm nor deny we’re doing an investigation.
The Times says the payments were for stagehands who worked …
… rave concerts, Cinco de Mayo performances, a mixed martial arts production and a Lakers NBA championship celebration, among other Coliseum bookings.
(via LA Weekly)
Fenech-Soler – Demons (Minnesota Remix)
Minnesota has been one of my favorite dubstep producers for some time now and it’s to no surprise that he’s killing it, as always. Check out this new remix he put out for free last night.
