It's the Supersound

Bugger. Almost forgot to post these blazing tunes from NAPT. This is what happens when we receive over 100 submissions a day. This is the price of success. ha. Kidding.

NAPT doesn’t need much of an intro to these pages. They’re the creators and purveyors of n-funk which by my calculations is a mashing of a number of styles, most importantly though, breakbeat. Their latest for RED SUGAR RECORDS is a double single that slams basslines sideways. “King Jitter” is a grinding monster while “Treatise” pounds a battling b-boy break. You should grab both – they’re available on iTunes and beatport.

NAPT “King Jitter” – Red Sugar Records by NAPT

NAPT “Treatise” – Red Sugar Records by NAPT

Free tunes…

DJ Falcon & Thomas Bangalter – Together – NAPT Bootleg Mix [Free download] by NAPT
Free download

David Guetta Afrojack – Lunar – NAPT Bootleg Remix by NAPT
Free download

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Links:
NAPT-music.com
NAPT on SoundCloud
NAPT on twitter
NAPT on facebook

I hope you all had amazing weekend! Rather than the regular morning update today, we have an evening update of the top stories in the world of Electronic music. On this rainy day in Los Angeles we are catching up on news from Underworld, HARD X MOUTH TAPED SHUT, the Occupy Movement, MTV’s Top DJ’s, and DEADMAU5′s death hoax.

Underworld Announced As Music Directors For The Opening Ceremony Of The London 2012 Olympic Games

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today announced that British electronic music pioneers Underworld have been appointed Music Directors for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The appointment completes the team of senior creatives that will lead the direction of the London 2012 Ceremonies.

Underworld duo Rick Smith and Karl Hyde will work alongside Oscar winning British filmmaker and producer Danny Boyle, Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony and will be responsible for all the music in the three-hour ceremony taking place on 27 July next summer.

Underworld and Danny Boyle have enjoyed a long and diverse collaboration since Underworld’s track ‘Born Slippy’ featured in Boyle’s film ‘Trainspotting’. Over the following fifteen years the three developed a close relationship, with Smith and Hyde supplying specially created music for ‘A Life Less Ordinary’, ‘The Beach’ and co-scoring the 2007 sci-fi film ‘Sunshine’. In 2010 they came together again to work on the critically acclaimed National Theatre production of ‘Frankenstein’.

Danny Boyle said: ‘Appointing Underworld to direct the music in the Olympic Opening Ceremony is the final piece of the jigsaw for the team of leading British creatives who will deliver the ceremonies.

‘What’s interesting about working with them is how much broader their taste is than you might imagine. With ‘Frankenstein’ we really saw how far we could take a broader approach than we’d used together on the films.’

Rick Smith said: ‘The ‘Frankenstein’ project at the National Theatre was our opportunity to test ourselves as writers and music directors in a completely new environment – Danny asked us to take responsibility for every aspect of the sound and music and encouraged us to draw on a wide musical palette. It was a challenging piece of work with its roots in classic literature, that turned out to be the most fun I’ve ever had.’

Karl Hyde said: ‘We want to leave people with a musical memory of the show rather than a purely visual one. It’s a great honour to be asked to do this and one we’re taking very seriously – it’s certainly not something we’ll get the chance to do again.’

LOCOG has put in place a talented team of leading British creatives to lead the direction of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.

In May 2010 Stephen Daldry, Mark Fisher, Hamish Hamilton, and Catherine Ugwu, were appointed as Executive Producers across all four Ceremonies, and Danny Boyle, was appointed as Artistic Director for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

In February 2011 Take That’s creative director Kim Gavin was appointed Artistic Director for the Closing Ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was joined by multi-award-winning stage and costume designer Es Devlin and Bond film composer and record producer David Arnold as part of the Closing Ceremonies team.

In June 2011 Jenny Sealey MBE and Bradley Hemmings were appointed as Artistic Directors of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
(via MI2N)

Hard X Mouth Taped Shut is accepting reservations for SECRET Los Angeles & SF shows

Hard is teaming up with Mouth-Taped-Shut bringing the exclusive and highly secretive Dance party to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The December 11 show in Chicago featured Swedish DJ Sebastian Ingrosso and an opening lineup including James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.

If the Chicago show is any tell tale sign HARD X MOUTH TAPED SHUT are not messing around with this one.

*TICKETS FOR THE LA SHOW ARE ALREADY GONE
San Francisco RSVP
(photo via HARD)

Thom Yorke and Massive Attack’s 3D Discuss the Occupy Movement

The Occupy London website has posted a new video interview with Thom Yorke and Massive Attack’s Robert ’3D’ Del Naja, in which both artists voice support for the Occupy movement. The interview was filmed at a holiday party for Occupy London where, as previously reported, both artists performed DJ sets.

According to the Occupy London site, “The performances have been recorded for an album and HD video, to be made available to help raise money for Occupy London and the wider Occupy movement. Both will soon be available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis from the Occupation Records label.”

Yorke explained that the film Inside Job helped him understand the financial crisis. “The banking system, it’s like the law of God, it’s like beyond us, we’re not allowed to think about it,” he said. “Most politicians don’t understand the banking system at all. They’re told they’ve got to mop up, they just mop up.”

When discussing the Occupy movement, he said, “You don’t need to be an anarchist, you don’t need to be someone who smashes the state to have sympathy with that viewpoint.” He added, “I think if the British government is not prepared to really make amends to the British people for this, by penalizing the banks the way they should, then I think we should do it ourselves.”

Del Naja said, “[In America] Congress are trying to back a few people, to protect the wealth of a very few,” he said. “That, on any level is ridiculous and sad.” He added, “It’s organized crime on a global scale.”

(via Pitchfork)

Best EDM Artists Of 2011 – MTV counts down the top 10 electronic dance music artists of the year

We’ve been covering the movement, but this year we tapped some of our EDM pros to commemorate a seminal year for the genre. MTV News’ Akshay Bhansali and Adam Stewart, MTV Coordinator of Music & Talent Rawley Bornstein and MTV World Music Director Micah McKinney sat down for a roundtable discussion — moderated by MTV News’ Sway Calloway — about the biggest players this year and crowned our top 10.

10. Martin Solveig
When Irv Gotti stopped by MTV News’ “RapFix Live” in October, he joked, “We’re just one record away from Kanye or Jay [being like]: [sings hook to Solveig's 'Hello'] ‘I just came to say hello — Hov!’ ” Gotti was kidding, but it’s true. Rap dudes beware: Songs like “Hello” and guys like Martin have seen such widespread success that the hip-hop industry, which has long enjoyed club and radio dominance, is shook. In addition to being a technically superior producer and DJ, Solveig has also proven to the world that he has a sense of humor. His “Smash” video series — including “Hello,” “Initial S.H.E,” “Ready 2 Go” and “Big in Japan” — are some of the funniest and most well-produced clips of any genre. Kudos to Martin and his “manager” Lafaille for making us laugh and dance in 2011.

9. Tiësto
Veteran DJ/producer Tiësto might not be trance anymore, but judging by his popularity, fans don’t seem to care. How else do you set a record for the largest single DJ event — 26,000 fans attended his Carson, California, show — in U.S. history? T had hit collabos this year with Mark Knight, Hardwell, Diplo and, oh, Kanye West (sure, the Yeezy track hasn’t been released yet, but everyone’s heard it!). And if you can’t produce like Tiësto, at least now you can look like him: The EDM titan’s Club Life clothing line just hit select stores in New York and L.A.

8. Kaskade
Coming off a massive 2010 highlighted by Dynasty, Kaskade watched as his 2011 studio album, Fire & Ice, quickly became a staple in a healthy EDM diet. With features from Skrillex and Dada Life, and even vocals from rising star Skylar Grey, you’d be hard-pressed to find music lovers who couldn’t identify with or enjoy his breezy music in one way or another. The Illinois native pioneered the Identity Festival, which brought real-deal dance to America’s small cities. He also conquered Las Vegas’ day and nightlife and was named America’s Top DJ of 2011. Not a bad year for Mr. Ryan Raddon, not a bad year at all.

7. Calvin Harris
2011 was a marquee year for this Scotsman. Riding high on the success of Ready for the Weekend, Harris “Bounce”-ed and “Awooga”-ed with his adoring EDM fans the world over. He also infiltrated the mainstream by teaming up with Rihanna for a pair of hit collabos: the chart-topping “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been.” As he gears up for his third studio album, Harris’ presence in EDM and pop culture is undeniable, and at this pace, he’ll be unstoppable in 2012.

6. Avicii
This year, Avicii underscored his place as dance music’s “Piano Man” (sorry, Bill Joel fans!). It started with “Blessed” (featuring Shermanology), continued with “Fade Into Darkness” (and Leona Lewis’ “Collide,” let’s be real) and capped off with the eagerly awaited release of “Levels.” Yes, Avicii’s keys and vocals went pop in ’11, and Flo Rida would certainly back us up on this as his Etta James vocal is sampled on Flo’s “Good Feeling.” To close out the year, Sweden’s Tim Bergling (stage names: Avicii, Tim Berg, Tom Hangs) is nominated for the Best Dance Recording Grammy with David Guetta for DG’s “Sunshine.” But before that Big Apple ball drops, Avicii will rock New York with a sold-out New Year’s Eve show.

5. Afrojack
Holland’s towering bleep-bender put on a spectacle of versatility in the past 12 months. Afro-beats scored monster mainstream U.S. radio singles for Beyoncé, Chris Brown and Pitbull. And then there’s his EDM game: Nearly a dozen collabos bearing his name charted in Beatport.com’s top 10, with Nervo, Steve Aoki, R3hab and Quintino onboard for a few. He wrapped up the year with a Grammy nom and the earth-shaking single “Lionheart,” and we can only pray he’ll deliver a video for it in ’12 … with a Jean-Claude Van Damme cameo.

4. Swedish House Mafia
Dubbed by MTV News as the “holy trinity of house music,” the rock stars of dance were everywhere this year, from “Miami 2 Ibiza,” Las Vegas to Brazil and all points in between. Not only did they succeed as a unified front, but Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso also soared as individual brands. And thanks to their Size, Axtone and Refune record labels, stellar acts like Thomas Gold, Swanky Tunes, Junior Sanchez, Third Party, Max Vangeli, AN21 and buzzworthy young rookie Alesso are on the verge of becoming household names. On the heels of a historic show at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden this week, and a 2012 Grammy nod for “Save the World,” the Swedish Flag has been firmly planted in the American EDM soil.

3. deadmau5
“4×4=12″ cranked out hit after hit after hit. He nailed well over 100 live tour dates on the Meowingtons Hax Tour, earned RIAA gold with “Ghosts N Stuff” and headlined the traditionally all-rock Lollapalooza fest. Did we mention the wonder born Joel Zimmerman turned a skyscraper into a 4-D experience in London and bid farewell to a Playmate? I mean, who else can say they did that? The dude has balls N stuff.

2. David Guetta
David Guetta’s career has definitely gone pop this year — including the radio hits “Where Them Girls At” (featuring Nicki Minaj and Flo Rida) and “Without You” (featuring Usher) — but for EDM purists, his Nothing but the Beat had plenty to offer too, like stellar co-productions with Afrojack (“Lunar” and “The Future”) and Avicii (on the Grammy-nominated “Sunshine”). DJ Mag crowned Guetta the #1 DJ on the planet, and he headlined the world’s biggest festival’s, including Belgium’s Tomorrowland, Miami’s Ultra Music Festival and Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival. Guetta’s American Music Awards performance with Minaj seems to indicate that “Turn Me On” will be the next single from Nothing but the Beat, and fans can expect a shocking new video (and much more, we’re sure) early next year.

1. Skrillex
MTV’s EDM Artist of 2011 scored a whopping five Grammy nominations this year, including being the first DJ to land a Best New Artist nod. Indeed, Skrill’s musical background — both on his own and as a member of his former group, From First to Last — has carried over into his brand of fiery electronica. Skrillex has garnered an audience the world over that includes ravers, house heads and rockers alike. In today’s laptop generation of music, Skrillex is the new “rock.” From his remix of Benny Benassi and Gary Go’s “Cinema” to the recent Avicii pop song “Le7els” (not officially released yet), Skrillex dropped massive re-workings in ’11, in addition to his More Monsters and Sprites EP. He scored video games, produced records for Korn, launched his own OWSLA label and hit almost every major festival in the States, including Coachella and Lollapalooza. An exceptional catalog of releases coupled with an incessant touring schedule has made Skrillex the biggest EDM star of the year, and in 2012, he plans to tour 322 of the 365 days.

(via MTV)

Deadmau5 Mocks Latest Death Hoax: ‘Thought We Had All Agreed on Acid…’

(photo via Rukes)

Deadmau5 is not dead. Again. He is dead funny, though.

The superstar DJ also known as Joel Zimmerman woke up Monday morning to yet another death hoax making its way through the twittersphere (and one gullible Australian music news site) after pranksters altered his Wikipedia page to read: “On December 11, 2011, a day after performing at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards Joel collapsed in his hotel room in Los Angeles due to exhaustion and apparent Alcohol intoxication.”

Whomever edited this wiki got pretty darn detailed, considering it allegedly happened only hours earlier, writing: “After friends attempted to enter his room but were unable to get a response, they reportedly called his phone, then asked management to open the door after he didn’t answer. They found him on the floor, not breathing. He was subsequently rushed to the emergency room and pronounced dead on arrival.”

In reality, Deadmau5 did perform at the VGA awards and, according to his later tweet, “did get pretty wasted last night.” But mostly Zimmerman just seemed disappointed at how boring his supposed death was.

“Once again, extremely disappointed by the insanely uncreative death rumor,” he posted on Facebook. “i thought we had all agreed on acid spitting koala’s skydiving and volcano? oh well… still glad to see some ‘press’ taking this s— seriously.”

This follows CNN allegedly reporting that Skrillex had snuffed it in a plane crash on Dec. 9. While the dubstep producer tweeted his disappointment (“Third death rumor about me this year…wtf?”) we’re sure Deadmau5 was totes jealous that his DJ peer got a more interesting death hoax than, y’know, getting drunk.

(via Spinner)

I hope you all had a great weekend! We’re catching up on this Monday with Steve Aoki & Datsik’s tour, David Guetta’s handprint ceremony, Pretty Lights teaming up with BitTorrent, a Plastikman video trilogy, and the BBC Sound 2012 nominees.

Steve Aoki & Datsik: Winter North American Tour

To support his debut studio album Wonderland, due out January 17, 2012 via New York-based Ultra Music in conjunction with his own label Dim Mak Records, DJ/producer and electronic dance music entrepreneur Steve Aokiwill launch his biggest tour ever: Deadmeat, presented by Dim Mak.

For the Deadmeat Tour, AOKI will partner with dubstep’s hottest new producer and Dim Mak label mate Datsik. The pair will travel across North America throughout winter 2012 and perform at some of the most renowned theaters and concert arenas, including the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, the Fillmore in Denver, Boston’s House of Blues, Montreal’s Metropolis and New York City’s legendary Roseland Ballroom (Los Angeles details are forthcoming).

The Deadmeat Tour will showcase the debut of new live visual productions from both Aoki and Datsik alongside an all-star supporting lineup of some of the most sought-after, up-and-coming producers in electronic music today, including Alvin Risk, Mustard Pimp, Autoerotique, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Terravita, who will perform throughout the trek on alternating dates. More supporting acts and dates will be announced soon. Tickets for the DEADMEAT Tour will go on sale starting Saturday, December 3 at 10 a.m. atwww.deadmeattour.com.

“Deadmeat” Tour Dates

• 01/19/12 Thu Comerica Theatre (formerly Dodge Theatre) Phoenix, AZ
• 01/20/12 Fri Warren Hall @ Earl Warren Showgrounds Santa Barbara, CA
• 01/21/12 Sat Bill Graham Civic Auditorium San Francisco, CA
• 01/22/12 Sun Senator Theatre Chico, CA
• 01/23/12 Mon Knitting Factory Reno, NV
• 01/26/12 Thu The Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
• 01/27/12 Fri Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM
• 01/28/12 Sat El Paso County Coliseum El Paso, TX
• 01/29/12 Sun Club Rio San Antonio, TX
• 01/30/12 Mon Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, OK
• 01/31/12 Tue Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
• 02/01/12 Wed The Pageant St. Louis, MO
• 02/02/12 Thu Verizon Wireless Theater Houston, TX
• 02/03/12 Fri Palladium Ballroom Dallas, TX
• 02/04/12 Sat The Sugar Mill New Orleans, LA
• 02/06/12 Mon Brooklyn Arts Center Wilmington, NC
• 02/07/12 Tue The Music Farm Charleston, SC
• 02/08/12 Wed The Bad Manor Athens , GA
• 02/09/12 Thu The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
• 02/11/12 Sat The Fillmore Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD
• 02/13/12 Mon Hat Factory Richmond, VA
• 02/14/12 Tue The Dome at Oakdale Wallingford, CT
• 02/16/12 Thu House of Blues Boston, MA
• 02/17/12 Fri Roseland Ballroom New York, NY
• 02/18/12 Sat The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Atlantic City, NJ
• 02/19/12 Sun Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
• 02/21/12 Tue Egyptian Room at Old National Centre Indianapolis, IN
• 02/22/12 Wed Orpheum Theatre Madison, WI
• 02/23/12 Thu Epic Event Center Minneapolis, MN
• 02/24/12 Fri Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL
• 02/25/12 Sat The Fillmore Detroit (State Theatre) Detroit, MI
• 02/26/12 Sun Orbit Room Grand Rapids, MI
• 02/29/12 Wed Northern Lights Clifton Park, NY
• 03/01/12 Thu Ottawa Civic Centre Ottawa, ON
• 03/03/12 Sat Metropolis Montreal, QC
• 03/09/12 Fri Paramount Theatre Seattle, WA
• 03/10/12 Sat PNE Forum Vancouver, BC
• 03/11/12 Sun McDonald Theatre Eugene, OR
• 03/13/12 Tue Roseland Theater Portland, OR
• 03/14/12 Wed Estrellita Ballroom Galt, CA

David Guetta honored with a handprint ceremony at the Grauman’s

David Guetta has been djaying since he was a teenage and now has become the number world class dj, producer and collaborator in the music industry. To illustrate that achievement, Guetta was honored at a handprint ceremony held at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre this past Saturday, December 3, 2011. David was surrounded by his wife, friends and music industry folks as he immortalized his hands in wet cement.

The honor is the first for a dj and in a series of planned events at the Grauman’s for its new handprint display at the Chinese 6 Theatres adjacent from the main Chinese Theatre. David addressed the press and crowd saying, “I’m very honored to be the very first dj to do this.” He added, “America is going to take this (dj) culture to the next level.”

After the ceremony, everyone was treated to cake and champagne sponsored by Belvedere. The festivities didn’t stop there as David Guetta performed for a sold out crowd at the new “Grauman’s Ballroom” inside the Chinese Theatre. Spotted in the crowd was Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas who is prominently spotlighted along with his bandmates in David Guetta’s autobiographical documentary “Nothing But The Beat.” Apl.de.ap jokingly said to this reporter’s affiallite Celeste Arevalo of Pacific Rim Video, “What up David Guetta? I see you, rockin’ it.”

(via Examiner)

Pretty Lights And BitTorrent Release Music To The World

BitTorrent, Inc., a globally-recognized creator of software and protocols to help people find, share and move digital media, partnered with the ultra-hot electronic dance music act Pretty Lights to release a special media bundle of music to a worldwide audience.

The bundle, created especially to introduce the massive BitTorrent community to the Pretty Lights sound, includes three Pretty Lights releases from 2010 and a single/video from 2011: Glowing In The Darkest Night (EP – 8 eight tracks), Making Up A Changing Mind (EP – six tracks), Spilling Over Every Side (EP – six tracks), Pretty Lights Live @Bonnaroo (video), and the bonus hit single “I Know The Truth.” The bundle is available to download free here, or within the µTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline software. A torrent is available here.

Derek Vincent Smith, aka Pretty Lights, has toured extensively around the globe and spread his music online through unorthodox distribution methods. But many electronic dance and hip-hop music fans haven’t heard Pretty Lights and don’t have easy access to live events and music festivals.

“I began offering my music as a free download with the release of my first album because I’ve always supported the sharing of digital media, including my own creations,” said Smith from his current Australian tour. “I’ve experienced the benefits firsthand of letting anyone and everyone download my music at no charge, which is, primarily, a momentous growth in the attendance of my live shows. I believe that the recipe for my success has been three fold. One, producing fresh and original soulful music. Two, continuing to always invest back in the production of my live show/experience. And three, pushing the envelope in the way that I distribute my music online to new listeners. The third is why I’m so excited to be partnering with BitTorrent.”

Unlike traditional distribution and many online music services, BitTorrent already has users in every corner of the globe. The company can reach new audiences in areas that Pretty Lights may not be touring anytime soon. Combine that reach with BitTorrent’s legendary super-fast downloading technology and it’s a perfect fit.

Pretty Lights has a large dedicated fan base, made clear through his sold out US tours in venues ranging from 2-12 thousand persons in capacity. He’s also played shows to massive crowds at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Wireless Music Festival, Ultra Music Festival and more.

“These live experiences are at the core of Pretty Light’s success,” said Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist at BitTorrent. “As the Pretty Lights phenomenon continues to win over the world, we are very happy to offer a platform to directly distribute his music.”

Pretty Lights will perform at Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney, Australia tonight (tickets), at the Stereosonic festival in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane Australia on Dec. 2-4 (tickets), and then will play two massive sold-out New Years Eve shows in his home state of Colorado on Dec. 30-31.

(via mi2N)

Ali Demirel: Plastikman Video Trilogy

The video artist Ali Demirel is a longtime collaborator of Richie Hawtin, having masterminded the visuals for many of Minus’ projects. Taken from the PlastikmanArkives (1993-2010) box set, the “Plastikman Video Trilogy” compiles Demirel’s mind-bending videos for three classic Plastikman tracks, “Mind Encode,” “Lost,” and “Disconnect.”

Arkives, released earlier this year and now available from Beatport, is the definitive history of Hawtin’s Plastikman project, comprising not only lovingly remastered versions of all the original albums (Sheet One, Recycled Plastik, Musik, Artifakts (BC), Consumed, and Closer) but also a number of bonus discs including rare and unreleased Plastikman singles, Plastikman’s remixes for the likes of Depeche Mode and Winx, and a bounty of new remixes by artists like Dubfire, Carl Craig, Severed Heads, and more.

With the exception of the “Optiks” DVD and the “Sessions” disc of unedited recording sessions, virtually all of it is available for download on Beatport in a massive bundle. Alternately, all of the set’s individual discs (save “Rekonstruktions,” the double-disc set of Plastikman’s remixes of other artists) are also available as individually bundled albums; the four core Plastikman albums all include a single-track mixed version, new to the Arkives project. Of particular note are ”Extrakts,” featuring unreleased cuts, ”Nostalgic,” featuring Guideo Schneider and Dubfire remixes along with still more unreleased plastik, and a disc’s worth of Burn Studios remix contest winners.

(via Beatportal)

Skrillex + Others up for BBC Sound 2012

Last week he was nominated for a Grammy, now US dubstep megastar Skrillex has been nominated in the BBC Sound of 2012 poll alongside the likes of Flux Pavilion, Azealia Banks and Frank Ocean.

The annual poll, now in its tenth year, is voted for by over 160 music journalists, tastemakers and industry insiders and aims to predict who will make it big in the coming year.

As always the poll picks names from across a spread of musical genres with the wobble heavy dubstep of Skrillex and Flux Pavilion representing the more dance orientated side of things this year and hip hop being represented strongly by Azealia Banks, Dot Rotten and Frank Ocean.

The longlist will be narrowed down to a top five with a winner being announced in early January. See the longlist in full below and click here more details.

A$ap Rocky
Azealia Banks
Dot Rotten
Dry The River
Flux Pavillion
Frank Ocean
Friends
Jamie N Commons
Lianne La Havas
Michael Kiwanuka
Niki & The Dove
Ren Havrieu
Skrillex
Spector
Stooshe

(via Mixmag)

Toks

Photo by Alexander Jacob

Happy Friday! We’ve made through yet another week and I have another GDD™ Morning Update to close it out. Today’s news features Electronic Music Grammy nominations w/ Skrillex, the Future Music Festival lineup, Boys Noize & Mr. Oizo start Handbrakes, The Chemical Brothers’ live DVD, & LCD Soundsystem’s final show documentary. See it all after the jump.

Electronic Music Grammy Nominations w/ Skrillex For ‘Best New Artist’

Despite the chorus of disbelievers, there’s no doubt 2011 has been good to Skrillex. Now the bro-step/complextro/’insert name here’ superstar has bagged himself a Grammy nomination in the ‘Best New Artist’ category.

Skrillex is up against Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj, The Band Perry and J. Cole – a mixed bunch if ever there was one. Usually dance music is neatly confined to the Best Dance Recording category, so this is a significant moment if you count these kinds of moments as significant.

Skrillex does also appear in the Best Dance Recordings nominees, alongside fellow top-earners like David Guetta and Deadmau5. Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend is in there breaking up the boys’ club as well.

Arguably the standout of all the dance/electronic nominees is Australia’s own Cut Copy, whose very fine album Zonoscope has scored a nod. The accolade comes after a strong year for the band on the Stateside circuit. What a Grammys it would be if the boys from Melbourne muscled out the competition!

GRAMMYS DANCE NOMINEES

BEST DANCE RECORDING

Raise Your Weapon – Deadmau5 & Greta Svabo Bech
Barbra Streisand – Duck Sauce
Sunshine – David Guetta & Avicii
Call Your Girlfriend – Robyn
Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites – Skrillex
Save The World – Swedish House Mafia

BEST DANCE / ELECTRONICA ALBUM

Zonoscope – Cut Copy
4×4 = 12 – Deadmau5
Nothing But The Beat – David Guetta
Body Talk Pt. 3 – Robyn
Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites – Skrillex

BEST REMIXED RECORDING

Cinema – Benny Benassi (Skrillex Remix)
Collide – Leona Lewis (Afrojack Remix)
End of Line – Daft Punk (Photek Remix)
Only Girl (In The World) – Rihanna (Rosabel Club Mix)
Rope – Foo Fighters (Deadmau5 Mix)

(via inthemix)

Future Music Festival Lineup

Future Music Festival 2011 :: Highlights Reel from Future TV on Vimeo.

Future Music Festival returns in 2012 with an eclectic array of artists. Heading up with Australian festival will be Sven Vath, Swedish House Mafia, Paul van Dyk, Fatboy Slim, Chase & Status and Skrillex.

They will be joined by other electronic acts such The Rapture, Azari & Ill, LCD Soundsystem, Jamie Jones and Aphex Twin. There’s a little something to tickle every tastebud.

Tickets are on sale now, so to get yours visit www.futuremusicfestival.com.au. See below for the dates and locations.

Brisbane -Saturday March 3– Doomben Racecourse
Perth – Sunday March 4– Arena Joondalup
Sydney – Saturday March 10– Royal Randwick Racecourse
Melbourne – Sunday March 11– Flemington Racecourse
Adelaide – Monday March 12– Ellis Park

(via Mixmag)

Boys Noize and Mr. Oizo Start Handbrakes

Boys Noize and Mr Ozio have teamed up for a new project called Handbrakes. The pair will release their debut record together in January.

Talking to Mixmag during a recent interview, Boys Noize man Alex Ridha confirmed that he and Mr Ozio have a four track EP scheduled for early 2012.

Fans of the duo will be pleased about the pairing, which promises to throw up some interesting new tunes from two of the most exciting producers in electro.

Annie Mac dropped a Handbrakes tune on her Radio 1 show a couple of months back, but now full details of the link up between Boys Noize and Mr Ozio have been revealed.

The Handbrakes EP, titled ‘#1′, will include a handful of new tracks including ‘Callgirls’, ‘Riho’, ‘The Qat’ and ‘Milc’. It is scheduled to drop on January 23 via Boys Noize Records.
(via Mixmag)

The Chemical Brothers Announce Live DVD

The guessing is over. Pass the popcorn and prepare to dance in the aisles. The unstoppable Chemical Brothers have officially announced ‘Don’t Think’, their first ever concert film.

Directed by visual mastermind Adam Smith, ‘Don’t Think’ was shot at the duo’s performance at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, July 31, 2011. The film, which has been specially mixed in surround sound by the Chemical Brothers themselves, weaves together the stark psychedelic imagery of the groups legendary live shows with immersive forays into the crowd.

Advance screenings for ‘Don’t Think’ will take place in 20 cities worldwide on January 26, with a global release on February 1.

For more information on ‘Don’t Think’, including a list of cities where advanced screenings are happening visit www.dontthinkmovie.com.

(via Mixmag)
 

LCD Soundsytem Final Show Documentary to Screen at Sundance

Photo by Alexander Stein

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is going to be heavy on James Murphy. As reported yesterday, the LCD Soundsystem frontman will appear in a feature film called The Comedy, which will screen at the fest. And now, the Arcade Fire fan Twitter Arcade Fire Tube points out that Sundance has announced that the festival will screen the documentary SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS, which chronicles the final LCD Soundsystem show at Madison Square Garden this April.

The Sundance site’s description of the film reads: “A documentary that follows LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy over a crucial 48-hour period, from the day of their final gig at Madison Square Garden to the morning after, the official end of one of the best live bands in the world.” It’s part of Sundance’s non-competition “Spotlight” category.

The documentary was directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace. As Arcade Fire Tube points out, the film’s title comes from Arcade Fire’s Win Butler.
(via Pitchfork)

Toks

Yes! Just the day we’ve been waiting for, Friday. We’re bringing in the weekend strong with the most packed GDD™ Morning Update ever. Rather than listing a more specific overview of the content, you need to go straight to the articles since there is so much great content. See it all after the jump…

David Guetta Headlining Creamfields 2012 & Opening the American Music Awards

Hot off the presses from Creamfields HQ is the news that world-conquering Frenchman David Guetta is at the top of the bill for the 2012 festival. This is how they’ve put it:

“Creamfields 2012 is proud to announce, that worldwide artist/producer/DJ, Grammy winning, platinum selling, superstar David Guetta, will be headlining the event next April 2012. Guetta is currently riding the wave of success following the release of his 5th studio album Nothing But The Beat. Undoubtedly one the world’s most famous producers, he has worked with the cream of the crop of hit making artists including: Madonna, Sebastian Ingrosso, Kelly Rowland, Dirty South, Usher, Will.I.Am, Rihanna, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and Kid Cudi.

The full Creamfields event line-up will be announced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.”

(via inthemix)

David Guetta along with Nicki Minaj will be opening the 2011 American Music Awards. The perks of becoming DJ Mag’s number 1 DJ in the world…

In the Studio with Benga

Vice’s series The Producers takes us inside London’s Red Bull Studios for a behind-the-scenes look at Benga‘s session with Youngman.

Tomfoolery aside, it looks like the dubstep pioneer is on schedule for his forthcoming LP. So far, details are pretty slim on a solid title and date but, as we’ve reported before, if you hop on over to Benga’s official website and sign up, you can stay on top of all the latest. Check out the video below for an extended clip to the Benga and Youngman project “Choose One.”

Get two new Benga tunes on Dub Police Records’ My Style 002, and go here for a free track from the album, D1’s “Keep on Lovin’.”

(via Beatportal)

Skrillex on Ableton Live, plug-ins, production and more

Amazing photo by: Alexander Jacob

You’re a big Ableton Live enthusiast. What’s it got that other DAWs don’t?

“I think, for laptop producers especially, it’s just so intuitive in the box. Everything is laid out and you don’t have to go searching for things like automation or plug-in parameters – in fact, all the things that are really hard to do in other DAWs. Ableton’s just very fluid and quick.”

Your editing skills are all self-taught. Do you think that helps you to do things that perhaps the manuals wouldn’t tell you to do?

“I wouldn’t call myself stubborn in an egotistical way but I do like the idea that in the past, what I do would not have been considered production – it would have been considered noise. I like doing things in a very minimal, unconventional way as a personal way of saying, ‘Look, I made a career out of carefully and craftfully, though unconventionally, making records on laptops and blown speakers.’”

What are your top soft synths?

“My two personal favourites are NI’s Massive and FM8. My best monster bass sounds have come from FM8. People think they all come from Massive, but most of the ones that kids online are trying to recreate in Massive are actually from FM8. I also really like Sylenth1, my Tone2 Gladiator and some other granular soft synths as well. That’s about it, man.

“I haven’t really expanded too far off FM8 and Massive because I know them so well and can pretty much make any sound I want with them – especially with FM synthesis, which is so basic.

“I also use Operator a lot, which is Live’s FM synthesiser. It’s a similar kind of thing, but the matrixes are different so you can make different kinds of sounds.”

What filters and distortion do you use to create the signature Skrillex sound?

“I really like iZotope Trash, which is a great plug-in for distortion, as is Ohmicide, which I love. It’s an absolutely crazy multiband distortion, compression, EQ and filter, which pretty much lets you do anything.”

Do you see programming as a joy or a necessary evil?

“It’s only evil when I work so fast that I haven’t properly labelled anything and my project files are all messy. To me it’s always a joy to create music no matter what it takes to actually get there. The real evils are always whatever stops you from doing that – like if your CPU is spiking and you have to sit there and bounce all your MIDI to audio. Now that’s annoying!

What type of pitch/formant processing do you use to create your amazing vocal sounds?

“I use Melodyne for formant stuff and basic pitch, but then I’ll print a whole line of audio. To be honest, for all my detailed cuts, chops and actual lines I’ll just basically take my vocal or someone else’s and process it through Melodyne in a certain way. All the stylistic treatments I do then all come from audio slicing and transposing in Live.

“Melodyne is crazy – with DNA you can actually take the individual sounds in a chord, isolate them and then change any of them.”

How do you get your beats to drop so damn hard?

“The easiest trick I use is basically to make sure that whatever sample you’re using, it’s hitting at 200Hz. Look through a spectrum analyser and you’ll see a little ‘dunk’, and it should sound like that. The beginning transient should look like a brick that kind of bubbles out into the notes, creating a big hit that dominates the whole spectral sphere of your music for that one second. The drum becomes the loudest element in your mix just for an instant.”

Any mastering secrets you can share?

“Maybe there are magic techniques out there that I don’t know about, but I think mastering is something that’s given too much credit. I always get people asking me about my mastering techniques and where I get my stuff mastered, but for me it’s more about getting the mix right.

“Mastering, for me, literally consists of an iZotope Maximizer, maybe with a little bit of EQ and harmonic excitement, but that’s it. It’s all about what makes you smile at the end of day.”

(via Music Radar)

Hot Chip and LCD Announce New Build

Members of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem have revealed their latest recording project, New Build.

Al Doyle (from Hot Chip and previously LCD) and Felix Martin (Hot Chip) have joined forces with studio engineer Tom Hopkins for the London based collaboration.

Conceived of as a collective, New Build’s early sessions, which have been described as a ‘drop in centre for friends’, have featured LCD drummer Pat Mahoney. Their debut single, ‘Misery Loves Company’, features a remix from Planningtorock.

The limited edition 12″, ‘Misery Loves Company’ is released on November 28 with artwork from Andy Martin. Check out track clips on the Soundcloud player below.

Misery Loves Company 12″ (audio snippets) by newbuild

(via Mixmag)

Pandora CTO: Half of Americans don’t pay for music

Today at GigaOm’s RoadMap conference in San Francisco, Pandora CTO Tom Conrad revealed that his company aims to monetize the vast majority of listeners who pay little or nothing per year for music. Conrad explained that “Over half of the U.S. doesn’t pay anything for music each year”. He continued that another 40% of the population only pay about $15 a year, the cost of an album or two. While there are opportunities to build businesses on the 10% who are willing to pay more, Pandora’s plans to focus on monetizing the majority via advertisements. Other music companies might be wise to target the non-paying segment as well.

Conrad was asked about whether the rapidly growing Spotify was a threat. That service now has 2.5 million daily active users and 7.5 million monthly active users. Conrad said “I see Spotify as largely complementary to what Pandora does. Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek says he thinks Spotify is the future of the record store, and that Pandora is the future of radio.”

Personally, if I was him I’d worry that Spotify could integrate a teachable radio feature similar to Pandora into its product. While it might not be as accurate, Spotify could significantly reduce the need for users to also visit Pandora by augmenting its listening on demand service with a satisfactory personalized radio. That certainly seems easier than Pandora trying to secure the licenses to offer on-demand listening.

In addition to monetization, Conrad says Pandora is working on “how we make the service as ubiquitous as radio — in the home, the television, the living room, the bedroom, even embedded above the ice maker on your refrigerator.” Its most recent push to accomplish this is its expansion into the automobile. Conrad says this is a natural fit because Pandora is designed to be simple and not require constant interaction, similar to radio. This means people can use Pandora safely while driving.

Pandora has had an eventful second half of 2011. It IPO’d, trading at over $16 a share on its first day, and has stabilized around the $14.44 it’s at today. It announced a record $67 million in revenue for Q2 of the 2012 fiscal year. Studies show the majority of Pandora’s listening is now through mobile. It also released its HTML5 app, and dropped its 40-hour free listening cap to make sure users can hear as many songs, and advertisements, as they want.

(via Techcrunch)

Watch The EDC Experience At Home!

Beginning Friday, November 11, 2011 (TODAY), the EDC Experience film will be available on Video on Demand from the cable outlets listed below!

Grab your friends, throw your own party and take a trip into the mind-blowing, sensory feast that is the Electric Daisy Carnival Experience. This documentary immerses viewers inside the world’s pre-eminent electronic music festival, featuring over one hundred A-list artists on five stages, plus 250 professional dancers, fire performers and world class acrobats.

If you were there, relive the experience. If you weren’t, don’t miss it this time.

Starring (in alphabetical order):
12th Planet, Above & Beyond, Afrojack, A-Trak, Benny Benassi, Boys Noize, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Fedde Le Grand, Kaskade, Laidback Luke, Lil Jon, Moby, MSTRKFRT, Simian Mobile Disco, Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Travis Barker, Will.I.Am <http://Will.I.Am> , With a special tribute to DJ AM, Featuring additional songs by Black Eyed Peas, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Alex Gaudino, Kid Cudi, N*E*R*D, Nero, Underworld, and many more.

PLAYING ON THESE CABLE OUTLETS
Comcast
Cox Communications
Time Warner
Verizon
Charter
Liberty Cablevision
MidContinent Media
RCN
Bluegrass Telephone Company
Bresnan Communications
Choice Cable
City of Wilson
Dalton Utilities
Eaton Video
Fidelity Cablevision
Frontier Communications
Metrocast Digital Cable TV
Phonoscope Cable
Service Electric
Wave Broadband
Windstream Lexcom Ent.

(via Insomniac)

Offices, home of concert promoter raided as part of Coliseum probe

Los Angeles County authorities have raided the offices and home of a concert promoter as part of a widening investigation into a financial scandal at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, The Times learned Thursday.

Armed with search warrants, the district attorney investigators seized computers and documents from Go Ventures Inc. in West Hills and the Malibu residence of its chief executive, Reza Gerami, said an official with knowledge of the probe who was not authorized to speak about the matter. The investigators have been examining the company’s payments to firms run by a former Coliseum manager who had helped oversee Go Venture’s rave concerts at the stadium complex.

District attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison confirmed that the searches took place but declined to provide more details.

The Times has reported that Go Ventures paid about $876,000 to the firms founded by Todd DeStefano, then the Coliseum’s events manager. The firms also received about $800,000 in payments last year from concert promoter Insomniac Inc., and tens of thousands in outlays from other companies that did business with the publicly owned Coliseum and companion Sports Arena.

Last week, the Coliseum’s governing commission and its nonprofit concession arm sued DeStefano, his three firms, Go Ventures and Insomniac, seeking recovery of the money the companies paid to DeStefano’s firms, as well as unspecified damages.

Gerami said Thursday that he and his company have done nothing wrong. In staging the concerts, Gerami said, he did everything that DeStefano, as a Coliseum manager, told him to do.

“The person who got ripped off was me,” he said. “If there was foul play on the expenses, it worked against me. I was the victim.”

The lawsuit also named DeStefano’s wife, who was listed in state records as an officer or manager in his firms, and former Coliseum general manager Patrick Lynch. It demands that Lynch return payments totaling nearly $395,000 that he received in regular installments from a Coliseum contractor. Lynch’s attorney has said the money involved a private boat transaction between his client and the contractor and had nothing to do with the Coliseum.

About five months ago, district attorney investigators searched DeStefano’s and Lynch’s homes; Insomniac’s offices and the residence of its top executive, Pasquale Rotella; and several banks. Rotella’s attorney has said his client is not a target of the investigation.

Based on records and interviews, The Times has reported that DeStefano’s firms collected at least $1.8 million from the rave promoters, film productions, stadium vendors and other enterprises that had business before the Coliseum Commission. Lynch approved DeStefano’s side dealings with Insomniac, and transferred title of a commission-bought Cadillac to himself, the records and interviews show.

Another former Coliseum manager, while employed by the commission, directed stadium business to a company he founded with a co-worker, according to material obtained under the California Public Records Act. In addition, Lynch, DeStefano, Coliseum finance director Ronald Lederkramer and other then-employees of the stadium billed the commission for thousands of dollars in luxury car expenses, gasoline purchases and other perks, including massages.

(via LA Times)

Have a great weekend and I’ll catch up with you on Monday!

Toks

Good morning! It’s freezing outside and I’m very comfortable sipping my cup of coffee as I write this. I have a lot of great news today to get you informed for the weekend. The stories include the SnowGlobe Music Festival, how David Guetta does Ibiza, a Joker album review, a Seth Troxler interview, and the Red Bull Elektropedia Awards 2011.

SnowGlobe Music Festival

Setting the tone for what is sure to be a monumental New Year’s Eve celebration, theSnowGlobe Music Festival is pleased to welcome headliners Bassnectar, Pretty Lights,Thievery Corporation and The Glitch Mob along with over 40 more world-class artists to South Lake Tahoe this December for a New Year’s Eve celebration you will never forget.

A limited amount of reduced-cost, Early Bird festival passes go on sale Friday, November 4, 2011. Advance three-day passes will go on sale Wednesday, November 9 (also in limited supply), and regular three-day passes will go on sale this winter. Click here for more information. Hotel space is limited, so start planning your trip soon.

The SnowGlobe Music Festival offers a unique concert experience by combining music and mountains to create an unstoppable force of fun this New Year’s Eve. The vibrant and unique landscape of South Lake Tahoe is the perfect setting for the adventure-driven festival. With almost 9,000 acres of skiing and snowboarding terrain, festival goers can hit the slopes by day and shows by night; and with the festival grounds located just three miles from Stateline, NV, gamers can take advantage of the five 24-hour casinos that Tahoe has to offer.

SnowGlobe will be offering a shuttle service all weekend to and from designated parking locations throughout South Lake Tahoe, to ensure everyone has a safe and environmentally sound New Year’s Eve weekend.

(via JamBase)

Villas, Private Jets and Paris Hilton: Rolling in Ibiza With David Guetta

The worst thing about flying to Ibiza on David Guetta’s private jet is that the ceiling is a little low, so when you need to use the facilities after two glasses of champagne, you have to duck your head a bit to keep from bumping it on the bathroom door.

The second-worst thing about flying to Ibiza on David Guetta’s private jet, or pretty much anything in his life, for that matter, is nothing.

Guetta’s plane – a twin-engine Cessna CJ3, piloted by two smiling Germans named Thomas and Manuel – is cruising six miles above the Mediterranean, on its way to deliver Guetta to Fuck Me I’m Famous, the weekly club night he hosts in Ibiza during the summer. It’s probably the most celebrated dance party in the world – attracting everyone from Dr. Dre to Jean Paul Gaultier. A couple of years ago, Will.i.am showed up, and Guetta invited him up to the booth to freestyle; it’s not much of an exaggeration to say those few minutes changed the sound of contemporary pop.

With a few notable exceptions (Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim), European dance music has always been one of those things that America just never got – like Roberto Benigni, or socialism. But ever since the Black Eyed Peas turned pulsing Eurohouse jams into U.S. chart gold with the insanely massive “I Gotta Feeling” (which Guetta produced) and “Boom Boom Pow” (which employed the same sample that Guetta played for Will.i.am that night), American pop has moved to a continental beat. These days, you can’t go five minutes on your local Top 40 station without hearing a song that sounds like a Guetta production (not a few actually are Guetta productions). The titles are intentionally generic and international-friendly – “When Love Takes Over,” “Little Bad Girl,” “Without You” – but their ubiquity is turning Guetta into a new entity: a bona fide pop-star DJ.

Growing up in Paris, Guetta always knew he wanted to spin records. “I remember this meeting with my parents and my math teacher when I was 14,” he says between bites of raspberry soufflé, the sunset glowing aubergine through the window of the plane. “They were saying, ‘You have a problem – you’re not studying.’ And I was like, ‘I want to be a DJ – I don’t need to be good at math!’”

Before long, he got a job spinning at a gay club – a skinny (straight) 17-year-old who wasn’t legally allowed inside – and from there it was a slow but steady journey to headlining dance festivals for 80,000 ecstatic fans. “I always had a good connection with people,” Guetta says. “That’s the most important thing when you’re a DJ. But what really made me explode is when I created that new sound – electro mixed with urban soul. That became the new standard of American pop music today.”

Guetta talks about his success in a matter-of-fact way that is just stoked enough to not sound boastful. (“A lot of people think the French are arrogant. But really, we’re just telling the truth.”) But he also expresses wide-eyed wonder at how the son of a Jewish-Moroccan sociology professor found himself powwowing with Bono and collaborating with Will.i.am on a project for NASA. And then there are things like his recent visit to Atlanta with Akon. “He took me to this black strip club called Magic City,” Guetta says. “I never knew what ‘Make it rain’ meant. He gave me this big pile of money” – he makes a gesture the size of a small safe – “and said, ‘OK, you have to throw the money to that girl.’ I said, ‘Throw money in the air? That goes against my whole education!’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah – that’s why we do it!’”

(via Rolling Stone)

Joker: The Vision Review