Read The Lastest Music News/Reviews

by Klaus Kinski

Gang, I've been sitting on this news since May and feel like a real dildo about this world-class stupidity on my part. It's now mid-June. I hate myself for this. Anyhow, better late than never, right? Right. Beginning way back on May 15, 2013, South African comedian and monologist Trevor Noah brought his one man show, Born A Crime, to the off-Broadway confines of 45 Bleecker in Manhattan. The show, in which Trevor discusses the trials and tribulations of being born of mixed race in Apartheid South Africa, has enjoyed a ridiculously successful run of sold-out performances in theaters in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Originally called The Racist, Trevor performed the show at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe in a month long, sold-out run which basically made him comedy royalty. Then he did a whopping three month run across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa to still even more acclaim and more sell-outs. He then ran his show for a pants-shittingly astounding 6-week, sold-out run at London's famed Soho Theater.

Trevor is one of the most brilliant storytellers in the business and the greatness of Born A Crime is sure to propel him into the upper-stratosphere of world-famous comediandom. His material is extremely dense and fast-paced and comes from a place that hardly any of us could even fathom. Truly, h...

by Klaus Kinski

Gang, I've been sitting on this news since May and feel like a real dildo about this world-class stupidity on my part. It's now mid-June. I hate myself for this. Anyhow, better late than never, right? Right. Beginning way back on May 15, 2013, South African comedian and monologist Trevor Noah brought his one man show, Born A Crime, to the off-Broadway confines of 45 Bleecker in Manhattan. The show, in which Trevor discusses the trials and tribulations of being born of mixed race in Apartheid South Africa, has enjoyed a ridiculously successful run of sold-out performances in theaters in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Originally called The Racist, Trevor performed the show at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe in a month long, sold-out run which basically made him comedy royalty. Then he did a whopping three month run across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa to still even more acclaim and more sell-outs. He then ran his show for a pants-shittingly astounding 6-week, sold-out run at London's famed Soho Theater.

Trevor is one of the most brilliant storytellers in the business and the greatness of Born A Crime is sure to propel him into the upper-stratosphere of world-famous comediandom. His material is extremely dense and fast-paced and comes from a place that hardly any of us could even fathom. Truly, h...

Dream pop conductor Mauro Remiddi, a.k.a. Porcelain Raft, will drop his sophomore album, Permanent Signal, on August 20th via Secretly Canadian. While he’s previously teased us with an album trailer, we now have the first official single with the weepy decadence of “Think of the Ocean”.

As expected, it’s a staggering block of depression, though this time around, Remiddi’s work feels extracted from a post-modern foreign film, thanks to the stirring strings and the droning tones. As the songwriter writes in a press release, 

Mauro Remiddi, bka Porcelain Raft, returns this year with his sophomore full-length Permanent Signal. Our first taste of the album is “Think Of The Ocean,” a sprawling track covered in a sheen of hazy sweetness. Check it out below.

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Dominick Fernow massively reconfigures the Order of Noise standout.

The propulsive ‘Court Of Lions’ appears on Vessel’s debut solo album for Tri Angle Records, Order of Noise. On his remix of the track, Hospital Productions’ Dominick Fernow (under his Prurient alias) strips away the layers of clattering percussion to reveal something ambient and

One of the strongest rap mixtapes of the year thus far is Sunday School: When Church Lets Out, the latest from the tough and gnarled Chicago rapper/producer Tree. Tree just shared his video for the honking, soul-thundering mixtape track “Busters” this morning, but he must’ve taped it months ago, when Chicago was still frozen tundra. There are not too many things that look cooler than one guy rapping his heart out in the snow. Watch it below.

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Atlanta’s brightest hope is back.

Rome Fortune‘s Beautiful Pimp mixtape is still one of our favourite drops this year, so much so that FACT featured the Atlanta rapper in our recent

The Coathangers at DBA, June 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

Atlanta's first ladies of garage punk, The Coathangers, have released a new video for "Derek's Song," culled from a Suicide Squeeze split 7" with Nu Sensae (who recently played NYC) for Northside. The video for the track is below, and you can order your copy via the label.

The announcement of the video comes coupled with a batch of new East Coast dates that include a stop in NYC at Paper Box on August 23. Ticketing info is on the way. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "The Coathangers made a new video, announce tour dates" at brooklynvegan

It’s been two long years since Arctic Monkeys’ 2011 LP, Suck It And See, and now the band has come back with a new single “Do I Wanna Know?”. While on a string of U.S. tour dates, the Sheffield band have been playing the new track live with it first surfacing online from a show at California’s Ventura Theater, creating quite the stir, and this morning they’ve released the studio recording and music video for the song.

The fuzzy rock track is the first single off their as of yet untitled fifth studio album due out later this year, as frontman Alex Turner told the BBC. “Do I Wanna Know?” features the band again exploring psychedelic territories as Turner ominously croons “Crawling back to you” over a slow burning guitar riff as the animated video swirls in and out of outlines of women. The Arctic Monkeys have also been playing “Mad Sounds” live, a second new track that plays more like a ballad, hinting that the forthcoming album may be filled with soundscapes other than just fuzzy psychedelic tracks. Watch the bodacious music video for their new single, “Do I Wanna Know?” below.

The post Listen: Arctic Monkeys Return With “Do I Wanna Know?” appeared first on CMJ.

M.I.A. is no stranger to controversy and criticism. But with the recent revelations about government surveillance, she has culled together a grip of remarks that called /\/\/\Y/\ opening track “The Message” paranoid and juvenile on her Tumblr, seemingly as a statement that she was right all along. Back in 2010, this site called for a re-evaluation of the album, citing its prescience in relation to the “over-connected Internet culture we inhabit.” You can read the full collection of quotes here, most of which take to task the lyrics: “headphones connected to the iPhone/iPhone connected to the Internet/connected to the Google/connected to the government.” Earlier this week, M.I.A. premiered new track “Bring The Noize” from her upcoming album Matangi, the release of which, as we reported, was allegedly delayed for being “too positive.” No word on whether she will revisit its production in light of the NSA and PRISM reports.

UK electro-pop singer Charli XCX has announced a North American headlining tour in continued support of her debut album, True Romance. This latest leg kicks off on August 30th in Vancouver and winds it way across the continent through October 26th, capping off with a gig at the Life Is Beautiful festival. Along the way, Ms. XCX will also make stops at the Bumbershoot and Laneway festivals. Consult her full schedule below.

For more XCX-tasy, be sure to read our recent interview with her.

Charli XCX 2013 Tour Dates:
06/19 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Islington
07/05 – Turku, FL @ Ruisrock Festival
07/20 – Salacgriva, LV @ Positivus Festival
08/15-17 – Kiewit, BE @ Pukkelpop
08/23 – Leeds, UK @ Reading and Leeds Festival
08/25 – Reading, UK @ Reading and Leeds Festival
08/30-09/01 – Stradbally, IE @ Electric Picnic
08/30 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue Nightclub *
08/31 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
09/01 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot 
09/03 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim

photos by David Andrako

Ludacris / Joey Bada$$

The music portion of Toronto's NXNE festival wrapped up on Sunday (6/16), and we concluded our stay up there at the big, free rap show in Yonge-Dundas Square with Ludacris, Joey Bada$$, Smif N' Wessun, Fat Tony, The Underachievers, Deniro Farrar, and MIckey Avalon. We already posted Deniro Farrar pictures, and pictures of the rest of the show are in this post.

If you haven't been keeping up with our NXNE coverage, check out pictures of day 1, day 2, more day 2, and day 3. More day 4 pictures from Yonge-Dundas Square below...

Continue reading "NXNE day 4 in pics: Ludacris, Joey Bada$$, Underachievers, Smif N' Wessun & Mickey Avalon in Yonge-Dundas Square" at brooklynvegan

We’re not sure where Die Antwoord gets their cookies from, but judging from the new video for their single, “Cookie Thumper,” we’re sure they’ve got some freakish ingredients. Highlights of the Ninja-directed video include masked rump shakers, a weak-bladdered Yo-Landi and a raunchy sex scene without much filter.

The story seems simple enough, but fans of the South African rap-rave clique know better. It features Yo-Landi Vi$$er decked out in a school girl outfit as she strolls through a gritty neighborhood to meet up with her gangsta-boo Anies, who was recently released from prison. Yo-Landi raps in a squeeky, quick-paced tempo about bad boys, O.P.P., and cookies, which we’re assuming is a euphemism for something. But oh, the lyrics don’t prepare you for the twisted visuals ahead. Check out the video below if you dare, and look out for their forthcoming release Donker Mag, to be released in February 2014 via ZEF Recordz.

The post Watch: Die Antwoord Be Weird In The Video For “Cookie Thumper” appeared first on CMJ.