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Australian electro-pop duo Empire of the Sun already proved quite theatrical with their recent fantastical video for “Alive”. Well, it would appear their stage show in support of their sophomore effort, Ice on the Dune, remains just as invigorating. This week, the outfit performed their first show in two years at Dallas’ House of Blues as part of Yahoo!’s On the Road series. While Lord Littlemore was nowhere to be seen, Emperor Steele reigned over a fashionable medley of performers, from neurotic dancers to sweaty musicians. The costumes, the lights, and the beats — all golden opportunities for glam. Replay their performance of “Alive” below.

Ice on the Dune arrives in June 18th via Astralwerks. Pre-orders are ongoing.

Schoolboy Q at Best Buy Theater - 5/21/13 (via Kellen Dengler)

Thanks to TDE's recent success, Q found himself as the most established performer at the Freshman show. With no one to accompany him on stage, he fared better in the larger crowd as a solo artist, breezing through tracks from Habits & Contradictions and throwback collaborations with A$AP Rocky. At one point, he asked Kendrick Lamar to join him but laughed at the audience members who fell for his joke. Fittingly, he won the crowd back with his charisma by asking them the title of his upcoming album. "Oxymoron!" they screamed back. And this was done four times over. [XXL]

The 2013 XXL Freshman Class, including Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Angel Haze, and more, all came to NYC for a show at Best Buy Theater last night (5/21). You can check out a video of Schoolboy Q playing "My Hatin' Joint" at the show, below.

As mentioned in yesterday's What's Going On? post, Action Bronson made a video for his Harry Fraud-produced song, "Strictly 4 My Jeeps." If you missed it, you can watch that video below. Riff Raff stars in the video, and as discussed, he plays a Scion A/V show in Brooklyn at Coco 66 tonight (5/22) with Stalley and Smoke DZA. Entrance to that show had to be gained through Scion's contest which has since ended.

Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul are both members of the group <...

The Chicago rapper/producer Tree calls his style “soul-trap,” and that’s a better genre descriptor than a critic nerd like me could come up with. Seen from a certain angle, Tree is an inheritor to his city’s Common/early Kanye conscious-rap throne. His music can be placid and thoughtful, full of doomed narrative and poverty-contemplation and emotional catharsis. He does things with samples that could’ve made No I.D. or young Kanye proud; check the way he resurrects the old chipmunk-soul production trick to turn Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” into a disorienting banger on “The King.” And he’s structured his entire new mixtape Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out around the idea of a morning at church; it actually has firmly demarcated mini-suites, and it works toward a structural coherence that even the most ambitious mixtapes almost never try. But Tree isn’t a preacher or a striver or a struggle-rapper, and he damn sure isn’t an antidote to his city’s nihilistic drill scene. Rather, he comes off like a wizened older cousin to the kids in that scene. His drums punch almost as hard as Young Chop’s, his threats are just as vivid and bloodyminded as Chief Keef’s, and his voice is a demonic terror all its own.

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Maria Alyokhina was denied the right to attend her own parole hearing

It is yet another #WACKWEDNESDAY for the Lonely Island and today they’ve released an attempted-grammar lesson called “SEMICOLON” featuring guest vocals from Solange. Utilizing the Drake-popularized lyrical device of hashtag rap (example: “we run the game; umpire”), the four try to explain how the polarizing punctuation mark works. Except they do not at all and their teacher, voiced by Maya Rudolph, makes sure they know it. Come for the punchlines (there’s one about A.L.F.!), but, seriously, do not use this as grammar gospel. Get your laughs below.

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by Bill Pearis

As we've mentioned a few times, Total Control are visiting from Australia, playing two shows in NYC this week: tonight (5/22) at Mercury Lounge with Pop. 1280, Night Sins, and Sleepies (tickets); and 285 Kent on Thursday (5/23) with Raspberry Bulbs, Crazy Spirit, and Survival (tickets). If you haven't checked the band's music out yet -- motorik synth workouts, jittery post-punk and punk stormers -- you can stream both their fantastic 2011 album Henge Beat and their singles compilation below. Go to one (or both) of these shows!

Meanwhile, you may remember that Total Control's Mikey Young, David West and James Vinciguerra formed new electronic side project Lace Curtain. They dropped their debut EP back in March via DFA which I described as an EP that "would make a good soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi film or, in the case of "Good Intentions," someone's nightmare breakup or withdrawal. (In a good way, of course.)" A couple tracks from that EP are streamable below.

Lace Curtain have already announced their second EP, Falling/Running, which will be out June 11 on Mexican Summer. A little more straightforward than the DFA EP, the four new tracks would make for good late night driving music, or maybe just playing the old Atar...

London newcomer Scarper, debuts the first single, a lush, ambient mix of techno and 90s house off his forthcoming Unfurl EP.

Vintage synths create soft, fluffy melodies that sound like something a less moody Phil Collins or Paul Simon would have dreamed up. The first offering off labelhead, Scarper

The Glasgow partystarters announce another London warehouse party.

After last month’s massive Pleasure Principle weekender, the label/clubnight has announced a London warehouse party; they last hosted one in December.

On June 22 at Peckham’s Bussey Building, Jackmaster and Spencer will be on the decks all night, with a special live show by synth master Legowelt. Tickets are on sale now; the flyer is below.

Earlier this year, FACT spoke with Jackmaster and Spencer about Numbers and the label’s forthcoming releases.

The follow-up to 'Shaun Of The Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' opens in cinemas on July 19

photos by Keith Marlowe, Harriet Roberts

Night Birds @ Grand Victory last month

Night Birds are readying the release of Born to Die in Suburbia, the band's new LP due on July 9 via Grave Mistake. The record, which was recorded at Seaside Lounge this past winter, features guest appearances from Eric Davidson (New Bomb Turks, The Livids) and Miranda Taylor (Hunchback, Black Wine). Check out the album art and the tracklisting below.

The band has a bunch of tour dates to go with the release announcement, including dates toward Chaos in Tejas, Death By Audio on July 12 with Omegas and Chris Gethard, PLUS a weekend with Zero Boys that includes the previously discussed show at Europa on 8/29 (tickets). Full tour schedule is below.

Night Birds played with Tenement on April 11 at Grand Victory, and you can check out some belated pictures from the show below.

Continue reading "Night Birds announce new LP details, tour dates ++ belated pics from Grand Victory in April" at brooklynvegan

Sombear is the new musical project of Minneapolis