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As the mid-point to 2013 draws in and summer (hopefully) gets into full swing, we always look forward to Field Day as the sort of pre-drinks to the festival season. Always with a strong, varied line up, Victoria Park’s annual jolly is a must for all of our great city’s citizens, but who are we, the tastemakers, the blog-types, looking forward to catching? Well, we’ll tell you…

TNGHT

Lunice and Hudson Mohawke’s joint side project is always a heady promise of fist-in-the-air uber-bombast and total fun. Playing tracks from their self titled EP, released last year, and various productions from them individually, expect speedy snares, hammy hi hats and horns that’ll blow your straw fedora off you LOSER.

VONDELPARK

Souf London trio dropped their debut LP Seabed a lil while back, and we were very impressed indeed. We’re excited to see if their brand of highly melodic and gloomy music translates to a sunny day out, our money’s on a strong ‘yes’.

BOK BOK & GIRL UNIT (LIVE)

Night Slugs has long been one of our favourite labels, with it and sister label Fade To Mind, releasing some of the best dance music of the last 5+ years. Two of the main dons, Girl Unit and honcho Bok Bok will be performing tracks live, like Bok’s creepy grime Silo Pass and G-U’s tearful Wut.

CHARANJIT SINGH

Acton...

by Andrew Sacher

Julio Bashmore

Bristol, UK house producer Julio Bashmore has released some singles and EPs over the past few years, like "Au Seve," the first release on his own Boardwalk label, and earlier this year he provided the dancefloor-ready beat to Jessie Ware's "Imagine It Was Us" single (and some of her Devotion LP). He also released a collaborative single with Kowton called "Mirror Song" this month via Boardwalk, which was backed by Kowton's new track, "And What?." You can check out the video for "Mirror Song" and a stream of "And What?" below.

Julio is set to come to North America for a tour here this August. That tour includes his opening slot at the previously discussed Disclosure/TNGHT co-headlining show at Central Park Summerstage on August 6 (tickets), and his appearance at the just-announced Warm Up summer series at MoMA PS1. Julio plays Warm Up on August 10 with Detroit techno vets Octave One (live), Hyetal, and DJ Dodger Stadium (aka Jerome LOL and Samo Sound Boy). Tickets for all Warm Up shows go on sale June 5 at noon.

Hyetal, who also hails from Bristol, makes UK-style dubstep under his own name, and is also part of the duo Velour with Julio Bashmore. Earlier this year, Velour released the dancey single "Speedway" b/w "Dial," which you can stream both tracks from below. Hyetal's new solo album, Mod...

I’m not entirely sure this week’s pick for best video even qualifies as a music video; it certainly stretches the definition. But in its impeccable planning and its flawless execution, it captured imaginations over the weekend and dominated the conversation come Monday. It felt like an actual honest-to-god event, and how many of those do we get anymore? I’m talking, of course, about the Miguel legdrop gif. Just kidding. Our picks are below.

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Free Agents is a new feature series where we shine the spotlight on an up-and-coming act who’s yet to have a proper release – at least, not one that we’re aware of, and yes, we know that the phrase “proper release” is a bit of a cloudy one these days – but that we think is onto something special regardless. 

Artist: Sublo
Origin: San Francisco
Style: Grime

Soundscapes is such a naff word, but when it comes to Sublo it seems an appropriate one. Jerel Bromley makes vivid grime music, but it’s not for MCs and we’re not even sure it’s for the club: although his tunes sound good in the mix, they’re more likely to startle dancefloors than than are make them dance. On ‘Snow Blind’, drums tumble back over themselves like they’re climbing a hill, frosty arpeggios obscuring their vision, while ‘Miasma’ blends Black Sun-esque detuned synths with rhythms that are mangled to the point of barely being in time. Our pick, though, has to be ‘Realm Freeze’ – when those strings come in, it’s game over. You can stream all three tracks below.

(via @robotsvsghosts Instagram)

Tickets for the Scout Niblett and Dope Body show at Saint Vitus are on sale now.

Sky Ferreira is playing Maxwell's on June 17. Tickets to that show go on sale today at noon.

Iggy Azalea sold out her previously mentioned Bowery Ballroom show (6/17), and added another one happening a day earlier (6/16) at the same venue. Tickets for the newly-added show are on sale now.

Mike Birbiglia's final performance of his one-man-show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, happens at Carnegie Hall on June 2. Tickets are still available

Wale, who also plays Summer Jam, is playing Best Buy Theater on June 24. Tickets to that show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Trail of Dead and Ume show at Maxwell's go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Kisses at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Week of Wonders, Chalk And Numbers, and Pale Lights at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation and Natalia Clavier are playing S.O.B.'s on June 4. Tickets to that show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Drowners and Skaters show at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Continue reading "tix ...

(via @robotsvsghosts Instagram)

Tickets for the Scout Niblett and Dope Body show at Saint Vitus are on sale now.

Sky Ferreira is playing Maxwell's on June 17. Tickets to that show go on sale today at noon.

Mike Birbiglia's final performance of his one-man-show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, happens at Carnegie Hall on June 2. Tickets are still available

Wale, who also plays Summer Jam, is playing Best Buy Theater on June 24. Tickets to that show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Trail of Dead and Ume show at Maxwell's go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Kisses at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Week of Wonders, Chalk And Numbers, and Pale Lights at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation and Natalia Clavier are playing S.O.B.'s on June 4. Tickets to that show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Drowners and Skaters show at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Continue reading "tix on sale: Scout Niblett, Mike Birbiglia, Sky Ferreira, Wale, Kisses, Rob Garza & more" at brooklynvegan

Ghost at Webster Hall earlier this month (more by Greg Cristman)

Sweden's favorite Satan-loving rockers Ghost B.C., who recently toured North America in support of their new album, Infestissumam, released one of that album's Japan-only bonus tracks onto the internet this week. The bonus track is a very Ghost-ian cover of Depeche Mode's "Waiting For The Night" from their Violator album. It's not the first time Ghost covered an entirely non-metal song.

Check it out below...

Continue reading "listen to Ghost cover Depeche Mode's "Waiting for the Night"" at brooklynvegan

Rap game Spanish inquisition?

Influential New York radio station Hot97 today grilled polarizing rapper RiFF RAFF and asked him the questions many have been wanting to throw his way since he burst onto the scene. Station veteran Ebro, clearly not a fan of the Houston-born rapper’s chosen path, told RiFF RAFF that to him the rapper’s persona was a big problem, saying ”It looks to me like a stereotype of a certain type of black person”.

RiFF RAFF defended himself at length, and without giving too much away about his background (he’s been notably mysterious for some time now) he seemed to eventually get the trio of interviewers at least partially on-side, noting that he represented a desire to “have fun and not have nothing negative around me at all times”.

To be fair the grilling is a little insistant and definitely pushes into mean spirited territory at times, with Ebro basically throwing the same accusation at RiFF RAFF for the interview’s twenty-odd minute duration, but it makes for interesting viewing, and offers discussion on a question many of us have no doubt pondered.

We’ll leave you with this choice quote from RiFF RAFF: “I don’t like being around humans.” – make of that what you will.