LITTLE DRAGON
The man who helped create modern deep tech-house as we know it is back with what’s arguably the most anticipated electronic music album release of the year.
Sasha, godfather of minimal sounds, will once again serve up a hearty helping of his music with the March 18 release of Involver 3.
An impressive combination of original tracks and traditional mix, Sasha has composed a beaming two-disco set that effortlessly transitions from entrancing techno, to deep-plunging house, to Balearic bliss. The Welsh DJ has added his signature touch to each track, blasting a new breath of life into his revamped renditions.
What a long strange trip it’s been.
After four days of battling the blistering heat, sleeping under the Tennessee stars, wandering about the 700-acre campground and singing along with musical legends, my body is begging for rest. My feet are worn, my eyes are slipping shut, my fingernails are buried under heaps of dirt. But I survived my first Bonnaroo, and live to tell the tales of an extraordinary weekend.
The eleventh annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival gathered more than 80,000 music lovers to the small town of Manchester, Tennessee for four days of peace, love, and music. While Woodstock may have pioneered the festival movement in America, Bonnaroo has taken over where the hippie extravaganza left off. Bustling with eco-friendly activism, throngs of naked bodies twirling around and mudslides forming across the farm, Bonnaroo successfully transformed technology-obsessed Americans into carefree and wild-spirited festi-lovers - if only for the weekend.
The small town of Manchester, Tennessee has welcomed the bulging crowds of Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for eleven years - opening its quiet roads and grassy knolls to infiltration by hippies, hipsters, burnouts, ravers, rockers and every other category of music lovers imaginable. Giant RVs, cars stuffed to the brim with supplies and hitchhiking hopefuls invade the nearby Walmart en route to the festival, gearing up for four days of foregoing electricity and showers in favor of nature exploration and musical madness. Excitement flairs during the hours-long wait to the entrance, everyone eager to set up camp and start boogying down!
After discovering house music in 2010, I dabbled in the different sects of electronica and found myself in love. In March of 2011, I made my official crossover from rap-enthusiast to househead when I attended Ultra Music Festival. Nearly a year later, I cannot wait to return to my stomping grounds and once again bask in the harmonious music and beating sunshine.
Last year’s festival was an incredible experience, but as a newbie, I had a lot to learn. The low-point of my weekend was when my ticket was ripped off of the lanyard strewn around my neck by a drunken fool. The maniac grabbed the ticket that was hanging above my chest, and ran. Luckily, my mother had always instilled within me the importance of self-defense, so I lunged at the crazy kid who attempted to steal the $275 ticket and returned the item to its rightful owner... me.
The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival gives 40,000-60,000 ear-eager music fans a yearly opportunity to experience both music and art in one place. Atop the scattered stages you can find an abnormal yet effective line-up of musical artistry. Seeing a neighborhood cafe act lead into Erykah Badu was normal. The purgatory that lies between mega stardom and small-town-nobody is suddenly erased. Nor are any rules of artist seniority enforced. Divas mix amongst us normal folk, all egos aside, in the attempt to give awaiting fans what they're spending the weekend in San Francisco for: pure, raw musical talent. It didn't matter how many albums the artist sold --it only mattered if they were good. And to my surprise there weren't any "not so good acts" at this year's festival, which was held at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
If you are starting to grow tired of the current dubstep fanatacism that has been sweeping the nation, you might be interested in listening to the man who many say is “pioneering the post-dubstep movement,” SBTRKT (pronounced sub-tract). A lot of the dubstep out there has a tendency to quickly become a little over aggressive, filled with heavy distortions and “waa-waa-waa waaaa” inspiring chants. SBTRKT’s creator, Aaron Jerome, on the other hand, takes a more subtle approach to the head nodding beats. SBTRKT has already been a hero on the U.K’s underground electro scene for a couple of years now, but his fame has recently spread across the Atlantic following his well received, self titled album, SBTRKT.
Ritual Union is the much anticipated follow up to Little Dragon's Machine Dream. Ritual Union will be released July 12 via Peacefrog/EMI.
Along with this announcement they have revealed the track listing and upcoming tour dates in Europe to help support their new material.
Ritual Union Track Listing:
01. Ritual Union
02. Little Man
03. Brush the Heat
04. Shuffle a Dream
05. Please Turn
06. Crystalfilm
What do you get when you merge a well known local venue with new well connected owners?
If you guessed Brighton Music Hall, then you get the prize. Okay, you do not get a prize but, yes, you are correct.
Brighton Music Hall, formally known as the Harper Ferry Rock Club in Allston, has opened it's doors. Harper Ferry was a local hot spot near Boston University and Boston College. It did it's best to show good music.
Due to the property owner's refusal to renew Harper's lease, the end of the venue's forty year history seemed likely. Fortunately it was saved by Joe Dunne and Declan Mehigan, who renamed the venue Brighton Music Hall.
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