It's the Supersound

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

(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

 

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/KaskadeTix

(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.

 

Tōks

Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso are back with another club banging Swedish House Mafia times Knife Party track dubbed ‘Antidote’.

For your knowledge: The name “Swedish House Mafia” first appeared on forums and was used to encapsulate the group of producers that were working together in the future. Steve Angello was stated in an interview saying, “But we’ve been through everything together. I can always lean on one of their shoulders and they can lean on mine. I can always trust their opinions. When I have a track, they tell me straight away what they think. With Swedish House Mafia, you’re with friends….”

Antidote is about as European club bangor as you get. With a whole James Bond ‘time is running out’ feel to this one, Antidote is sure to be a live weapon for them at their live shows.

Download Swedish House Mafia & Knife Party – Antidote (Swedish House Mafia Dub) 192

Good morning! To start off the week, I have some news for you regarding Porter Robinson’s Essential Mix, Swedish House Mafia’s Miami 2012 plans, the Red Bull Music Academy, and Paris Hilton’s house album. Please read more after the jump.

Porter Robinson Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1

Radio 1 hosts some of the world’s most notorious parties, and their upcoming ‘Radio 1 Live in Hull’ event will be no exception. From Thursday 26^th to Saturday 28^th January, the commanders of UK national radio have picked Hull as their destination of choice, taking over various sites across the city. On Friday 27^thJanuary the Essential Mix goes LIVE from Hull City Hall as Porter Robinson joins Fedde Le Grand, Chuckie and Judge Jules for a very special night!

After 2011 Porter is a natural choice, having completed more in 12 months than some DJ’s have achieved in 12 years. Touring with Skrillex and Tiësto, releasing a Beatport-crashing EP on Skrillex’s OWSLA label, remixing Lady Gaga and Avicii and headlining his own North American tour, Porter proved beyond doubt that he is THE name to watch in 2012.

What’s more, this will be the FIRST UK appearance of his career! What greater way to make an entrance than with your first ever Essential Mix, in your first ever visit – all live on the country’s most influential channel.

Tune in live from 11PM GMT on Friday 27^th January to hear Porter Robinson live on Radio 1’s world famous Essential Mix, and listen again for 7 days after via BBC iPlayer. For full information on the entire event, click here.

 

Swedish House Mafia’s Miami 2012 plans

 

Red Bull Music Academy sets its sights on New York

 

Paris Hilton to Release House Album

First, there’s reports that Paris is trying to learn how to DJ. Then, last week we told you Paris Hilton had spent New Year’s Eve hanging off the arm of dance music giant, Afrojack. Now it looks like the hotel heiress is bedding down in the scene.

Recent reports suggest Hilton is in the process of making a house music album.

Speaking to FHM, the Simple Life star said, “I have a huge passion for house music. It always has been my passion. I just haven’t been able to focus on it, because I have been doing reality TV for so long now”.

Paris went on to claim that she had been working with lots of top DJ’s on the album and that it would be “perfect party music”.

It’s not the first time Paris has delved into the world of music. In 2006 she released an album ‘Paris’ which was preceded by a single, ‘Stars are Blind’ which went top ten in 17 countries.

The song was a simple reggae ditty, channeling the spirit of UB40, if UB40 had been fronted by an internet sex tape sensation rather than a chubby faced brummie.

Paris added that she had been to 100 raves in the past year, heard every type of music and hung out with a lot of top DJs. Lets hope one of them taught her to edit the vocal out of this.

(via Mixmag)

Good morning! I’m back with your consistent GDD™ Morning Update after a short break for finals. I have some great material for you today including Swedish House Mafia’s live stream from Madison Square Garden and the “Antidote” trailer, Knife Party’s free EP, Paul van Dyk discussing his new album and dance music trends, Tomorrowland 2012 dates, and a new live Faithless DVD. Read more after the jump.

 

Swedish House Mafia Madison Square Garden Live Stream + Antidote Trailer

FUSE is hooking you up this weekend with one of the hottest acts in music, Swedish House Mafia.  If you couldn’t score tickets to their show, you can still get in on the action with a live-stream from the concert.  And make sure to check out the latest single from SHM, “Antidote”, on iTunes (only available for download on 12/16). See the official trailer below!

Friday, 12/16 / Tweet: #SHMMSG
Live stream beginning at 10:45pm ET HERE

 

Knife Party’s Free EP

Knife Party are giving away their E.P, ‘No Modern Talking’ through their website.

The Pendulum offshoot originally posted the E.P on their Facebook page but it was removed from the site after receiving 50,000 downloads in less than 12 hours.

The E.P also hit the No.1 spot on Beatport and No.15 on iTunes despite being available as a free download.

The E.P has received huge support from the likes of Zane Lowe, Annie Mac and Pete Tong, with Zane Lowe making the track ‘Internet Friends’ his hottest record in the world.

You can download the E.P HERE.

(via Mixmag)

 

Paul van Dyk sets new album date; talks dance music trends

Thanks to his booking as the trance headliner for Future Music Festival 2012, Paul van Dyk has been around these pages quite a bit lately. Earlier this month we reported that the DJ is bringing his new Evolution show for the festival tour, after road-testing it across the Northern summer.

The Evolution concept ties in to PvD’s sixth studio album of the same name, which was originally set for a 2011 unveiling. However in a new interview with Billboard, the man himself has announced 20 March 2012 as the revised release date. The reason for the delay is PvD’s idea to shoot videos for all 16 tracks on the album, with himself as the lead player. The photo above, taken by Diana Levine for Billboard, shows one of the costumes he’s donning.

In the interview, the Vandit boss also mused on the current state of affairs within dance music. “There have been three different directions develop in recent years,” he told Billboard. “One is the strong core audience that is just as big as it always has been.

“Then there is this electro, rock-infused music like deadmau5 and Skrillex that came along. Skrillex is especially creative, but I am curious to see the longevity of his career as there was a lot of hype in Europe about dubstep around ten years ago, but it faded almost as quickly as it came.

“The final direction is one that a lot of people have mistaken for electronic music, and that is danceable pop music. The dance pop scene doesn’t have quite as much to do with how the core electronic scene feels, thinks, breathes, and lives.” Got any perpetrators in mind, Paul?

(via inthemix)

 

Tomorrowland 2012: lock in the dates

For a while now, Belgium’s colossal Tomorrowland has ranked high on the radar of ITMers. With glittering line-ups, first-class production, an immense (and immensely up-for-it) crowd and all-round epic-ness, it’s been coined the world’s ultimate dance music festival. A big claim, certainly, but Tomorrowland has built an army of acolytes around the world – among them a fair few inthemix regulars.

It might be easier to list the acts who didn’t play the festival in 2011 – and if you haven’t taken in the 13-minute after-movie, it’s time you did now. Next year’s weekender is sure to be even bigger, so for those of you planning a pilgrimage to the town of Boom, take note of some key dates.

Tomorrowland is set for 27, 28 and 29 July 2012, with the first line-up names revealed on 1 January 2012 (something to drag your sorry self out of bed for). So, who’s tipped for the monster bill? Pretty much everyone in dance music, we’d say, across a fleet of curated stages. Stay tuned.

(via inthemix)

 

Faithless Release Live DVD

Faithless bowed out at Brixton Academy earlier this year after over 15 years in the game.

The seminal dance act sold out their final show at London’s Brixton Academy and broadcast it live in cinemas across the globe.

Now their releasing their set from that night as a live DVD.

‘Passing the Baton’ is out on February 27 2012 and features a DVD of Faithless’ final ever live show in its entirety plus a bonus live CD, photo galleries and exclusive rare interview footage with the band.

(via Mixmag)

 

Have an excellent weekend,

Toks

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)

 

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