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The pioneering Italo-disco genius Giorgio Moroder, currently going through a popular renaissance thanks in part to his appearance on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, is 73, and he came up in the era when producers weren’t also expected to serve as DJs. But last night at the Brooklyn club Output, Moroder played his first-ever DJ set. The set was part of the Red Bull Music Academy series, and Moroder had the younger DJ and “musical director” Chris Cox helping him out; he wasn’t doing it all himself. Together, they played many of Moroder’s greatest hits, like the Donna Summer songs “I Feel Love” and “Bad Girls” and his own music for Midnight Express. They also worked in newer tracks like “Racer” and the Daft Punk collab “Giorgio By Moroder.” Moroder introduced himself via vocoder and added bits and pieces, including one keyboard solo, to the music. And you can hear a pristine recording of the entire DJ set below.

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(via @liokanine)

Tickets to see Death Grips at Webster Hall go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Peter Hook & The Light performing New Order albums at Webster Hall go on sale today at noon.

RJD2 is playing a HARD NYC event at Terminal 5 on October 4 with Zeds Dead, Paper Diamond, Green Lantern and Branchez. Tickets to that show go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Ty Segall shows at MHOW and Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for The Flamin' Groovies shows at Bowery Ballroom and Maxwell's go on sale today at noon.

Iggy Azalea is playing The Bowery Ballroom on June 17. Tickets to that show go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Kisses show at Mercury Lounge go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Mike Birbiglia is playing Carnegie Hall on June 2. Tickets to that show are on sale now.

Week of Wonders, Chalk & Numbers, and Pale Lights are playing Mercury Lounge on July 8. Tickets to that show go on AmEx presale today at noon, with a general on-sale starting Friday (5/24) at noon.

Frenchkiss signees Drowners are opening for Skaters at The Bowery Ballroom on July 19. Tickets to that show go on AmEx presale today at noon, with a general on-sale starting Friday (5/24) at...

Here’s a new lick from Ikonika, featured on Girl Unit’s recent Night Slugs mix. It’s called Mr. Cake, and it’s quite beautiful in a strange way, sumptuously positive in its chords and relative simplicity (check the bassline as well, whoo!):

As mentioned, Minneapolis' BNLX were just in NYC for a couple shows. Now back in their home state, the band have left us a present in the form of a new video for "Vibrant," a song off last year's full-length debut. The clip was filmed on their recent visit to Amesterdam and it premieres in this post. Watch it below.

Meanwhile BNLX are prepping another of their "serial indoctrination campaigns," like the quarterly EPs that first introduced the band. They're also about to play their first-ever West Coast shows, including dates in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Those are listed below.

Continue reading "watch the video for BNLX's "Vibrant" ++ updated dates" at brooklynvegan

Trevor Bolder, former bassist of David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars and Uriah Heep, died Tuesday at the age of 62. According to The Guardian, Bolder had been suffering from cancer.

Bolder played alongside Bowie from 1970 to 1973, appearing on four albums: Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, and Pin Ups. Afterward, he joined UK rock band Uriah Heep, for which he remained a member through 2011.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Bowie said: “Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man.”

Trevor Bolder, former bassist of David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars and Uriah Heep, died Tuesday at the age of 62. According to The Guardian, Bolder had been suffering from cancer.

Bolder played alongside Bowie from 1970 to 1973, appearing on four albums: Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, and Pin Ups. Afterward, he joined UK rock band Uriah Heep, for which he remained a member through 2011.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Bowie said: “Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man.”

Ty Segall in Chicago in February (more by James Richards IV)

Ty Segall has been busy with his proto-metal-inspired band Fuzz (who play NYC soon), but not counting Ty's January reissues, it's been over 6 months since he released an album, which in the world of Ty Segall is like a century. Luckily, we can all breathe again, because last week he announced a new solo record, SLEEPER, will be out on August 20 via Drag City. No new music has been revealed from the album yet, but you can watch a trailer for the new album below.

Ty Segall was recently announced for LA's FYF Fest, which takes place this August, and he's since announced some other dates surrounding that fest. A full tour hasn't been revealed yet but we do know that he'll be coming to NYC on August 29 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and August 30 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for both NYC shows go on sale today (5/22) at noon.

All currently known dates are listed, along with the new album trailer and a video of Ty performing "You're The Doctor" from his last solo album, Twins, on 'Letterman' in 2012, below...

Continue reading "Ty Segall releasing new solo LP, announces summer shows" at brooklynvegan

The four-guitar Nashville punk monster Diarrhea Planet has lately cultivated a rep as one of the best, most fiery young live bands on the touring circuit. If their revolting band name is still (understandably) putting you off, their live cover of “Born To Run” with Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles might be enough to change your mind. And later this summer, they’ll release the sophomore album I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams. The first single is the ragged, anthemic “Separations,” and you can hear it below.

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The Berlin leg of The xx‘s Night + Day summer gig series took place over the weekend, with the likes of Chromatics, Mount Kimbie, Kindness and Mykki Blanco filling the bill.

Another of the supports was Jessie Ware, who returned as day swiftly became night to perform a collaborative rendition of Stardust‘s ‘The Music Sounds Better With You’ in front of a camera phone wielding crowd.

Watch the entirely unexpected performance below:

[via Gigwise]

House aficionados take note.

Chicago house pioneer Lil’ Louis changed dance music for good when he dropped ‘French Kiss’ back in 1989. It’s one of those rare tunes that still has traction to this day, and the producer is set to bring his sound to London’s Oval Space on Saturday June 13. Providing more than ample support will be Eglo’s Floating Points, whose intricate, compositional approach to house music has put him in a league of his own in recent years.

Rounding things out perfectly is NTS DJ Moxie, who will no doubt bring her unshakable, eclectic collection of funk, disco, house and more. Moxie put together a phenomenal FACT mix for us only last month, you can listen to it here.

For more information and tickets head over here.

If you’ve got a gift for metalworking and/or LED-light programming, you may be missing your calling; you could be raking in a ton of money by helping people realizing their dreams of transforming into Daft Punk robots. A new Wall Street Journal article explores the secondary market of artisans who are making facsimiles of Daft Punk’s robot helmets. According to the piece, there’s now a small but dedicated circle of fans willing to drop four figures on eBay for the privilege of looking like the two members of Daft Punk. From the article, it’s pretty clear that Daft Punk are leaving a ton of money on the table by not selling their own versions of those helmets. The entire piece is pretty fascinating, and you can read it here, though the above WSJ dot-drawing of Guy Bangalter is clearly the best thing about it.

Charli XCX isn’t ashamed of her pop sensibilities. Heck, she even proclaimed the Spice Girls and Britney to be her biggest influences recently.

It’s no surprise, then, that the goth-pop songstress chose to cover Backstreet Boys‘ classic (of sorts) ‘I Want It That Way’ at an in-store event in Chicago.

Watch that below, via Stereogum.

FunkinGreat.

Celebrating this year’s Dimensions Festival in Croatia, Detroit techno prodigy Kyle Hall and funky Londoner FunkinEven are due to re-kindle their Funkinevil collaborative project for a special back to back set at London’s XOYO on Friday June 12. This should already be enough to get yer pulse racing at four beats per bar, but the night doesn’t stop there – Mercury Prize nominees Portico Quartet are also due an appearance, and will no doubt be bringing their unique Hang drum-led sound to a set of fresh ears.

Rounding off the night in fine style will be legendary Worldwide DJ Gilles Peterson, who has been instrumental in bringing the more underground strain of sounds to the Dimensions Festival line-up.

For more information and tickets head here.

The Backstreet Boys’ luminous ballad “I Want It That Way” is almost indisputably the single greatest song to come out of the teenpop era, and if you’re still resisting its charms 15 years later, this is a pretty good morning to reconsider. Yesterday, during an in-store performance at Chicago’s Borderline Music, the British singer Charli XCX, who released her own album of pretty amazing pop songs just last month, busted out a charmingly low-key synthpop cover of the song. There’s nothing ironic about this particular cover; she’s radiating pure love the entire time. Also, I love how she handles the key change. Thanks to Stephanie for sending the cover in; check it out below.

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