Free the Robots & Nosaj Thing

Nosaj Thing UK AV debut with Free The Robots from Shane McNamara on Vimeo.

The Luyas & The Antlers Thursday @ Paradise

The Luyas | Live @ The Rialto | Montreal, QC from A Story Told Well on Vimeo.

The Antlers @ Bowery Ballroom from Patrick Duffy on Vimeo.

Videos Galore!

Warpaint "Undertow" from maudegone on Vimeo.

LA Vampires feat. Matrix Metals - How Would U Know from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.

Star slinger, Braids, and Bath tour

Braids, Starslinger, and Baths are going on tour together at the start of the year! This should be an absolutely fantastic show. Starslinger and Baths are two of my favorite emerging beat makers, so this show has unbelievable potential to me!

HeRobust - Grief Case (Star Slinger's WWHRD Remix) by Star Slinger

Baths - Maximalist by ericstein

2/4 The Nightmare, Dallas, TX
2/5 The Mohawk, Austin, TX
2/7 The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
2/8 Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
2/9 New Brookland Tavern, Columbia, SC
2/10 Duke University Duke Coffeehouse, Durham, NC
2/11 Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
2/12 Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
2/13 Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
2/16 Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
2/17 Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
2/18 Il Motore, Montreal, QC
2/21 Skully’s Music Diner, Columbus, OH
2/22 The Canopy, Urbana, IL
2/23 Gabe’s, Iowa City, IA
2/24 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN
2/25 Der Rathskellar at the University of Wisconsin Union Directorate, Madison, WI
2/26 Subterranean, Chicago, IL
3/1 Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
3/2 Hollocene, Portland, OR
3/4 Rickshaw Shop, San Francisco, CA
3/5 Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA

While I am away...

Washed Out - "Hold Out" from John Lipari on Vimeo.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

heRobust

heRobust is a young producer out of Atlanta, Ga and he is ridiculously talented. His beats combine the best of electronic, hip hop, and various strains of bass music. I really can not praise his music enough, check the interview below and tracks at the end.

What are your inspirations and goals for your beats? Do you hope people will rhyme over them, are they just little stories that come out in your head, is just something you do cause you love making beats?

Everybody gets that feeling when they discover a new artist with some crazy unheard-of style. Like your just completely dilated, taking it in. I love that... Its what keeps me growing as a producer. So I guess the goal is to help others grow like that. I want to give other people that feeling.

As for inspiration, its mainly music itself. I used to produce hip hop growing up, and got sucked into electronica via Prefuse73, Squarepusher, Chris Clark (now known as Clark), etc... If I go too long without hearing some new, groundbreaking stuff, I start to get kind of deflated. But as soon as I find that next level-up stuff, its on! I didnt realize it until I wrote it out, but that sounds like an addiction.

Do I hope people rhyme on it? I guess. Whatever people do to enjoy music, I hope they do that. And yeah, I do it because I love it. When Im excited about some track I got in the works, Im just happier in general. Im certain I'l continue to produce for the rest of my life.

How would you classify your music? I know that no artists wants to be confined by a genre, but I have trouble describing your tunes. There is serious funk, some wonky-dubstep-y stuff, hip-hop all blended into one big mix.

My beats are definitely rooted in hip hop, but its a little more bugged out that that. I throw in enough glitches and bleeps to fit in with the electronica beats crowd. The most consistent aspects of my current tracks are the slow tempos and soulful chord progressions I use. The resulting sound is like a dense sludge bleep soul.

Who are your inspirations? I can hear similarities between you and guys like Flying Lotus, Gold Panda, even the neptunes, but you still maintain your own unique flair.

The artists that inspire me the most are the pioneers. The ones who go out on a limb and show people something new. Like I said before, I owe a lot to Prefuse73. His album, One Word Extinguisher, got me into electronica single handedly. More recent artists include James Blake, Paul White, and Leonard Dstroy. Dstroy actually reached out to me after hearing some heRobust tracks on 92bpm and we've been collaborating ever since. I listen to a wide variety of music though, and there are some serious lo fi dudes out there who will expand your mind. Try C Powers, Jar Moff, or Dem Hunger. Its a grimier, more obscure sound, but its all about charting new territories to me.

What is Atlanta's scene like? Obviously Atlanta is a mecca for Hip-hop, but less has been made about its beat scene. When I think about US music like yours I instantly think of LA (I am originally from southern california) and then about NY, does Atlanta have a pretty strong scene?

Honestly, beats haven't quite caught on yet in Atlanta GA. Its pretty lonely out here for producers like myself. That being said, Im pretty optimistic about the future. Groups like pnuma trio and STS9 have exposed a lot of people to electronica, and fans have slowly made the transition to glitch and dubstep. Im hoping beat beats will be next.

shawty swing my way (BUSTED) by heRobust


Boss frog by heRobust

Correction: the back track is Moka Only

Roa's Big Bird on Hanbury Street, Brick Lane, London from Shafiur Rahman on Vimeo.

Insects vs Robots - redux

Insects vs Robots are a stellar psychedelic band from Los Angeles, that I learned about this summer. These guys unleash awe inspiring jams at their concerts and are super cool. By buddy Tom turned me on to them, one of the best recommendations I have gotten in a while.

San Fran Shake Down

Liquid Crane by DNAEBEATS


No Panties (Comin Off) by Kozee


Automatic by DJG


The Spit Brothers - Violet Dub (preview) 11/15/10 Release (DAV007) by The Spit Brothers

SAN FRANCISCO - WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

In honor of San Fran winning the World Series, here are some of the best new San Francisco bands.

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES Land Of The Freak by handsometours.com


Thee Oh Sees - Enemy Destruct by musicmule


The Fresh & Onlys - Impending Doom by Forte Distro


Caesar - Ty Segall by musicismyhappiness


Moon Duo - Motorcycle, I Love You by user287479

Check em

AKV by Sprutbass


snail gate by heRobust

Spaced out

Space Dimension Controller - The Love Quadrant by futuresoundstemporary


Lindstrom - I Feel Space by Anders Bersten


Matias Aguayo - Menta Latte (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) [Kompakt] by alchemyremixmanagement

The New Breed of Bangers

Everyone knows the scene leaders at this point - FlyLo, HudMo, Nosaj, Free The Robots. So here are the Noise Verse Noise the new gunslingers

The Award by jonwayne


Hot Boxing the Cockpit by shlohmo


Take - Horizontal Figuration Tokimonsta Remix by TOKiMONSTA



Teebs - 'Why Like This' by BRAINFEEDER

Heaviness

Torche - Songs For Singles by Hydra Head Records


ISIS // 20 Minutes-40 Years by influxmusic

Malko by Russian Circles

Jamming Out

Some Tunes that I am Digging that are Just Jams

Free Moral Agents -North Is Red by WETPAPER

At the drive in - One Armed Scissor by Yuri Scocuglia

Moon Duo - Motorcycle, I Love You by user287479


Os Mutantes - Baby by carolfraj

Chicago Footwork/Juke

I am currently in Chicago. Here are some beastin juke tracks

Dj Nate - Make Em Run by subraw

DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn - Space Juke by Ghettophiles

DJ Hilti - Pimp Sooo G!!!! (demo) by DJ HILTI

Flying Lotus - Kill Your Coworkers

The Thermals/Cymbals Eat Guitars: Live

On Thursday I saw The Thermals and Cymbals Eat Guitars, an absolutely fantastic show. Both bands are touring pros and know how to put on a great show.

Cymbals Eat Guitars create the kind of loud, relaxed college rock that is sorely missing at the moment. They just jam with out being tedious or boring. Plus frontman Joseph D'Agostino might be the hardest working/sweatiest performer I have ever seen. He absolutely shreds his guitar as well. They played a mix of their excellent debut - Why There Are Mountains, plus a bunch of new songs. The new material sounds like Cymbals are taking their game to another level. I am excited to hear it.

If Cymbals Eat Guitars were great for their ability to jam and let the song evolve, then The Thermals were fantastic for their ability to keep the songs energetic and compact. I have no idea how many songs they played, but they went by at Ted Leo pace. In fact the Thermals might be the best live act I have seen since Ted Leo. The new album sounded fantastic live and the classic songs got the audience pumped. Absolutely essential to see both bands live.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - ...And The Hazy Sea by Ragged Words
The Thermals - Personal Life by The Drift Record Shop

Bassweight

Bassweight from The SRK on Vimeo.

This looks pretty cool. I am excited to see it.

New Video Drop

Lucky 1 from Abby Portner on Vimeo.

Holy Other 'Yr Love' from FAMILY on Vimeo.

Tunes of the Day

Here are new tracks that I think you all need to hear!

My man Teebs has a released a banger of a new song and he has a new album out in eight days!
Teebs - 'Why Like This' by BRAINFEEDER

Lindstrom & Christabelle - Love Sick (Four Tet Remix): Just look at the title
Lovesick (Four Tet remix) by TimeOutNewYork

Caribou - Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix): Caribou's swim is one of the best albums of the year.

Caribou - Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix) by cityslang

The Comeback: LCD, Hold Steady, Bowery Boys

Sorry I have been away for a while, but I am back and prepared to get Noise Verse Noise back up. More updates and tracks to come.

Since being back in Boston I have seen LCD Soundsystem and the Hold Steady. Both shows are fantastic and everyone should check them out. LCD has its live performance nailed. I have seen them twice now and it always delivers. The set is perfect mix of old and new and features all your favorites.

The Hold Steady's live show has been legendary for a long time now and still lives up to the hype. It was some of the most fun I have ever had at a concert. The Wintersleep opened for them and they are fantastic. Good sound and college rock vibes, a solid choice for an opener.

Lastly, want to give a shout to my friends in the Bowery Boys. Great local Allston band. These guys are a ton of fun live and should not be missed. Their cover of Free Bird is always entertaining.

Below are photos from all shows.

LCD Soundsystem

WinterSleep

The Hold Steady

The Bowery Boys

Wiz Khalifa x Curren$y x Rick Ross

This would be pretty sick...

Look at that Lineup

No Justice

No Justice, No Peace

The Burnerz - No Justice ft. Kev Choice & Bambu

Profile: Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold are an LA collective that plays a combination of LA rock and Afro-pop. The band originally started as a loose collective of friends, "we would call each other and invite friends to come play when we had a show", said lead singer Luke Top. This loose sound of friends jamming together comes though on the record. The songs are have a joyous quality that sounds like everyone in the room is loving what they are doing. The band has been together for in various forms for several years, Luke Top describes the band as, "we are like brothers, we have played together for so long now". When I asked about any new recording, Top said that there was not any immediate plans, but that there would likely be new music coming soon. The band is currently embarking on a summer tour around the US, including a show at the Hollywood bowl with Yeasayer and Tinariwen.

Fool's Gold - "Surprise Hotel" from Paul Tao on Vimeo.

Freaking Coool: Ghostly Discovery

I love Ghostly International & Spectral Sound. I think they put out the best US Techno. This App is really cool.

Ghostly Discovery from Ghostly International on Vimeo.

MISIIKO AND KUHMOO

I just got new tunes from these guys and I highly suggest checking them out. They make some awesome music. Kinda chillwave, kind dilla, kinda synthpop, all kick ass. I really dig the tune "DTUJJ", got a real nice headphone bounce to it. At the moment they only have two songs to their name, but both are boppers. Check them out here.

I wish I could go to this...FREE KUTMAH!

FREE KUTMAH!

Cloud (Beats)

Cloud is a producer from New York who makes beats for bombing. The beats are reminiscent of early hip hop where tearing down whats around was a necessity. He keeps the sound and style at street level for the common people, he is not making big spacey synth style music. Check out below for a review of his Self Law beat tape.

Whats your goal for beats? Do you make them for artists to rap over? Are you trying to tell stories? I have read that Madlib makes beats for films in his head. I get the similar vibe from your tunes.

My goal is to destroy. I consider myself as more of a bomber than an "artist" or "producer". I am presently working with a Brooklyn emcee with whom, by the grace of the universe, I have discovered a genuine basis for collusion. But by and large I do not make beats for strangers to appropriate, although that is a freedom afforded to anyone that can access my music. For me, producing is not about money or notoriety or ambition; it's about an institution of the self, and it's about sending a message.

When did you start making beats? You have a bunch of beat tapes, all of which are solid. Do you find you make beats in fits and sprits or do you produce at a steady flow?

I started making beats six years ago. I made hundreds of tracks before really showing anyone anything, and hundreds more before I began to self-release material. Personally, I don't believe in composition, so an abstract style of production for me is an incessant channeling of my milieu. I am making beats all the time, even when I am not in the lab.

My favorite song is all city, its got some serious space vibes. Is space and futurism an inspiration for you? What serves as inspiration for you? Which artists do you vibe on?

I'm not really down with an academic or aesthetic idea of futurism, but I am interested in an idea of the future as a function of the past. I identify with Sun Ra in the film Space Is The Place; a messenger of the future sent to you by your ancestors. I am inspired mostly by the daily grind: taking the train to work, doing laundry, buying groceries. The artist I patronize most heavily as of late is Phonte.

Who does the art for your tapes? When making a tape are visuals a part of the process?

I've worked with a couple of artists, namely, Infamous Jean Claude, and this kid Eric Lopez from California. It's cool to be able to put trust in an artist to illustrate my music but ultimately that style of representation becomes arbitrary; the music produces its own images for every listener, and that can never be predetermined.

Part of what I like about music blogs are looks at local scenes. What part of New York City you from? Whats the scene like in your area? Are there any new artists that you are really stoked on?

I am originally from Long Island and then moved to Brooklyn where I plan on staying indefinitely. To be honest, I don't really connect to 99% of the musicians here. I don't really understand what they are trying to accomplish, nor am I even interested most of the time. The "scenes" I am most interested in are that of ordinary people and community; walking on the street, the faces of strangers, certain graffiti that catches my eye, etc.

*BONUS* - The Self Law - Cloud

This is my favorite beat tape from Cloud. These are beats for street level life. The occupy New York city streets and buildings, not the cosmic sounds of LA. The rhythems and sounds of modern life are inspiration for the tape. A personal favorite is the "All City" track with its spacey synths and serious groove. The tape features lots of classic soul samples and style. Self Law is reminiscent of early Pete Rock and J Dilla. A very good tape for beat fiends.

Dengue Fever

I like unique music. I listen to tons of all types of tunes, but every once and a while something is played that makes me stop and really listen. Dengue Fever is one of those bands. The band blends rock with 60's Cambodian garage music. It makes for a unique and pleasurable sound. Check out the interview below with Dengue Fever's Zac Holtzman.

What are the plans for this year? I know that you are on tour this summer, is there any plan for a new record this year?

There's more than plans. The last couple months we've been fixing up our studio was some amazing gear. We'll be laying down the drums and bass on to tape and we've got an arsenal of microphones to make Nimol sound like the angel she is. We've got about twenty tunes that we've been working on and actually need to whittle it down a bit.

I saw that you all released a compilation of Cambodian garage tracks, how were these selected? What is particularly unique about Cambodian garage rock?

Ethan and I picked most of the tunes from tapes, cds, that we collected in Long beach and Cambodia. We also found some of the songs on line. I think we we're first attracted to Cambodian music from the late 1960s and early 1970s because of the exotic vocal performances over familiar garage/surf/psychedelic elements. The singers do this "ghost voice" thing where they crack into a higher pitch. They also do a lot of snakey bends and quivers that I love.

Part of what I try to do for this blog is document regional scene. What is the current Cambodian scene like? I know that you all were the first western band to play the country since the fall of the khmer rouge, what was that like?

It was a trip. You should check out the documentary that we made while we we're there. As far as the current scene, I'll let you know in a week. We'll be back in Cambodia on the 10th of this month. I've heard there's also a few bands doing 1960s Cambodian revival type music.

Reading Rainbow

The awesomeness of Reading Rainbow should not be overstated. Besides for having a fantastic name, they put out great buzzsaw pop. They make the type of doo-wop fuzz punk that I love. Check out the interview below.

What is on the horizon for Reading Rainbow?

We just finished our 7" recordings for the second round of the HoZac Hookup Klub, and we are wrapping up recording for our full length album also coming out on HoZac this Fall. We pretty much just want to keep writing and recording more songs and play lots more shows.

Any plans for a tour anytime soon?

We are doing a mini-east coast tour with Woven Bones in July, and then we gotta tour this Fall to promote the album, which we are stooooked about!

You all about to release an album, how is that going? What can we expect from it?

We recorded 12 songs in a weekend last February, but since then we have changed our minds about the tracklist. So we are going to finish recording a few more songs at the end of this month and tweak some things. We are really looking forward to an upgrade in quality, since we are recording this album with The Magic Twig Community in Roanoke, VA. They have a super nice set up. It's still analog though! We used to (and still do) record ourselves on ree-to-reel.

Whats the philly scene like? Part of what I like about blogs is that you get to learn about regional scenes that you wouldn't get exposure to normally. Are there any bands that you are really stoked about? I know philly has a pretty cool beat/electronic scene, have you heard any of that?

We don't know anything about the beat/electronic scene, but there's tons of bands in Philly. We live in a part of Philly with a ton of venues and it rules. U.S. Girls, and The Spooks are our bros.

The band has a kinda lo-fi punk sound mixed with dual harmonies, how did you all come up with that? I really like how up tempo the songs are, do you find it easier to write faster songs? What bands do you look to for inspiration for the sound or style?

We arrived upon the whole "lo-fi" thing as a result of recording things ourselves. Rob was in a band years ago and they recorded on an 8 channel reel-to-reel and those songs were scuzzy as shit! (They sounded really tight though) He also recorded his solo project Sprained Ankles that way right before we started Reading Rainbow. Like we said above though, We are really looking forward to an upgrade in our sound. It's true that we like the aesthetic of things sounding muddy and fuzzy. But it's even more important to hear everything! So we're keeping some fuzz for the viiibe most definitely.

With a 2 person band, we try to be as full sounding as possible, so one way to achieve that is by singing in harmonies. As for the punk thing, thats just how we do. we punk as fuuuuuuck. haha! But we don't just have fast songs. There's a lot of variety on our full length album "Mystical Participation". (there's also a super chilled-out "Stephanie Says" " VU cover on the b-side to our Restless 7") We love bands like The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, DEVO, The Urinals, Sun Ra, The Beatles, Everly Brothers, Smokey Robinson, Nirvana, Wire...

Tokimonsta

Really solid interview

Teen Daze

Ultra Hazy Goodness

Live Music Extravaganza pt. 1

Okay so I have been meaning to get all of these up on here for over two weeks now. School got in the way. Anyway here are a combo of pics from Dan Deacon, Ted Leo, and Coachella. I saw all this in the span of about a week and half. It was pretty crazy. Here is the first part: Dan Deacon and Ted Leo

Dan Deacon

Dan Deacon was fun. The whole crowd was one giant mass of positive energy and sweat. I think it may have been the gin that Elliott and I had before we got there, but we didn't even mind the opening bands. Dan Deacon is kinda what happens when you allow hyper-active five year olds to play with synths on a sugar high. I mean that in the best possible way. Dan was nothing but manic positive energy.

Ted Leo/Screaming Females/Obits

The Screaming Females and Obits opened for Ted Leo at Paradise Rock club. Elliott said the show wasn't quite as good as the Ted Leo/Titus Andronicus show, but he did fall in love with the Screaming Females lead singer. The Screaming Females were awesome. Tons of energy, hooky songs, and a great mix of Sleater-Kinney girl rock with Superchunk slacker style. I highly recommend checking out the NVN interview with them.

Ted Leo's live show is famous for a reason: consistency. I have seen him twice this year, each time he has played at least 20 songs. At BU Central he even joked when we booed he had to leave, "What? I'm sorry is 22 songs not good enough for you all?" He again was funny at paradise, riffing on CVS, Old Women, and Boston. The material from the new album came alive this show. Songs like One Postcard Today sound much better live than on record. The all star jam at the end of the show to Since U Bee Gone was a perfect ending, even if Elliott and Tom were hoping for Dancin' in the Dark. The last photo proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the reason he can tour so hard for so long is that he is in fact a robot.

Good Video

Holy Ish

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Weekly Special: Delorean

Below is the first weekly special with Delorean. Weekly special will promote more established emerging artists. Delorean are a great band from Spain. They mix dance music, pop music, and sunshine together to put out some of the best music of the past year.

How does it feel to be a band on the rise? You have been write about extensively on by the online music blog scene, but the band is now being written about in New York Times and other mainstream press. That must feel pretty incredible. Hopefully, it will contribute to bigger venues. You are touring with Miike Snow right now, how are those shows going?

Well, I think is to early to mesure things, like the New York Times review. We kind of don't trust big rises because we've always grown step by step, slow but steady. It is very true that we never got this attention before so i guess we could say that there's been some sort of jump in the last year but still, we kind of feel there's tons of work to do and that we'll achieve our goals working day by day. It's nice to get attention though and we're very happy with that. I'd say we're in a very nice position, surrounded by friends with whom we can work and grow together. The tour with Miike Snow's being very positive. It's nice to get to so many people and to play in great venues, plus we have a very nice relationship with them.

How are shows in America different from shows in Spain? How are shows in Spain different from the rest of Europe? I am sure you have had to answer this a million times, but for me the dream was always to be in a band that could one day tour Europe. I imagine that kids in Europe have similar dreams to one day tour America.

In Spain we're kind of a settled band and shows are quite different. I like touring the US better than Europe actually. And yes we've grown up with the wish to tour US someday. Europe's cooler in terms of venues, nice PAs and some sort of order that makes things go easy. Shows it the US (excepting big venues) are more a "save yourself" kind of thing, sometimes you're like "who's in charge here?!", but it's fun and nice too, kind of charming.

What are your influences as a band? In your music you get traces of psychedelia, reggae, and certainly dance music, but there is also a lot of pop music. Delorean songs have a sound and style that make me think they could be played on the cool radio stations, unfortunately these are lacking and we get Justin Bieber instead.

I don't really know what the influences are for us. Well, actually i do and i could make a huge list too. Delorean started when we got rid off all the musical rules or genre expectations. What I think it's been a constant is dance music as some sort of background. Our music is not dance music but it's based on a lot of its criterions. On top of that we want to make nice pop songs that are both inmediate and uplifting. If playing our songs in a radio station means honestly reaching more people then it's perfect.

What can we expect from the new album? The first single/song I have heard from the album "Stay Close" has even more of a classic dance feel, the song is awesome - can we expect more of the same for the album? How did the album come together? Was it a difficult recording while touring?

Stay Close pretty much condenses the idea of the album. The songs are different from one another but the feeling's there, it's kind of the theme to the album. The album was written between January and June 2009. We wrote a lot of songs but we actually finished 9 songs that we recorded in July at the Montreal Studios with Hans Kruger and mixed it during the Summer/Autumm 2009 with Chris Coady. We would only do weekend shows while recording the album but we did a lot of remixes besides the album and we worked hard for 8 months. It was hardworking but not difficult, and in general terms i'd say we've loved working in the studio every single day for 8 months and having this intense working experience, it gives you a perspective of what the proces writing music can be like.