Burial get his DJ-Kicks

According to Beatport, Burial, will be putting together the next installment of K7 Records' infamous DJ-Kicks series, joining the ranks of Hot Chip, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation, Carl Craig, Kemistry and Storm, Erlend Øye and Booka Shade to name a few.

Set for a release of June 23, 2008, the compilation will feature at least one new track from the top UK dubstep producer.

In other news, anyone out there want to build me a time machine? Please?

Read More......

She and Him

A few months ago, I was leafing through my weekly issue of Time Out. As I reached the back cover, I noticed that The Hot Seat featured ubiquitous girl crush, Zooey Deschanel, promoting her Sci-Fi channel Tinman project. In the short interview, Deschanel briefly mentioned her new musical side project, She and Him. I thought to myself, Interesting, and tossed the magazine aside.

Fast forward a few weeks and I'm making my way through Nylon, which did a full on feature of She and Him. What caught my eye this time around was that the "Him," M. Ward, also worked with indie darling Jenny Lewis on her country album, Rabbit Fur Coat, easily my favorite record of 2006.

So when I heard that She and Him were playing NYU's Skirball Center the night after their sold out Bowery show last week and B offered to get tickets, I knew I wanted to check it out (having not even heard their record.)

Soft-spoken and giggly, Zooey was, of course, adorable. Her voice is beautiful and she even plays the piano. Musically, it was somewhat reminiscent of the Jenny Lewis record but more folk than country.

The band was joined onstage by Yo La Tengo for the encore, like they were the night before on the Conan O'Brien show (and most likely the Bowery show).

She and Him's first record, Volume 1, is out now on Merge Records and well worth checking out. Volume 2 is apparently in the works.

This begs the question, can we except similar results when the ScarJo Tom Waits covers album drops?

Somehow, I have my doubts.

Read More......

Genius!

Apparently we slept on Sunday Brooklyn's robot parade this past weekend in Park Slope :( I know we're totes losers! But these guys, these guys are geniuses!

Read More......

Vintage Hot Chip

A couple of weeks ago, I ventured out to Terminal 5 for Hot Chip’s sold out show. It was a stellar night, much needed considering the fact that I’d lost my wallet with all my important forms of identification in it the night before at a dangerous, dangerous place in my hood called Deity Cellar.

I was particularly pleased that they threw an older number into the mix, “Crap Kraft Dinner,” from their first album Coming On Strong. I shared that sentiment with a couple of friends that night who I consider to be up on their tunes and Hot Chip fans and was shocked to find out that they didn’t even know that first album existed!

I’m sure “Over and Over” was probably the first bit of Hot Chip exposure for many folks but for those of you out there who haven’t heard it, I’d recommend picking up Coming On Strong and checking out the older tunes. It’s more of a chill vibe than the direction they’ve taken as of late. If you’re not interested in seeking out the whole album, at least check out “Crap Kraft Dinner.” It’s my favorite song on there.

Read More......

Tenori-on

First and foremost, allow me to apologize for my severe absence from the blogosphere as of late. But to quote my BFF, Jeffrey, "Blogging is the new E. Nobody's doing it anymore."

(Take a moment to ponder the irony of using that quote in a blog post.)

All kidding aside, I've been busy making big decisions and losing important things but the pieces finally seem to be falling back into place so I think I can do better this month than the one sad lonely post of last month.

And along the lines of good old E, I recently discovered a new toy that would've easily held my attention for hours on end back in those hazy, crazy raver days.

Last Wednesday night, we walked into SouthPaw (to check out German experimental dub innovator Pole) in time to catch the end of a demo featuring footage of robots building music making machines. From the fine Japanese folks over at Yamaha, I bring you the Tenori-on.

Ever play with Simon, Lite-Brite and 4-track? If those three devices somehow spawned an offspring, that would be the Tenori-on. It's a square, hand-touch light and sound midi musical interface that can be loaded with samples for live improvisational performances by dj's and electronic music producers.

The downstairs at SouthPaw had a number of these available for people to play with and we got the chance to do so once the crowd had dwindled down but it was a little hard to grasp exactly what we were supposed to do with it.

Pole, Sutekh and Safety Scissors all used the Tenori-on in their performances and Yamaha even raffled one off. Sadly, I did not win it. Even more sad, the girl who did seemed less than enthused.

The Tenori-on will be available in the States starting May 1st but Yamaha's only shipping a limited installment of 100 units. So to all the big children out there who got at least $1200 back on their taxes, get on it!

Read More......

Jeff Koons on the Roof

One of my favorite spots during the spring/summer season in New York is the Metropolitan Museum of Art's roof top. This year, Neo-pop artist Jeff Koons is gracing the roof with his enlarged, glossy, playful sculptures. Named "Balloon dog," "Sacred heart" and "Coloring book," NY Times describes them as "mischievously meaningful works." The experience on the roof with Koons is like being at children's birthday party, with the added bonus of a great view and roof top cocktails.

Read More......

Murakami @ Brooklyn Museum

I remember strolling through Hyde park in London when I was doing my study abroad there and happening upon a Japanese/manga-inspired/carnivalisque art installation by Takashi Murakami at the Serpentine Gallery. It was a mixture of child-like imagery and acid visions, all cutely packaged for universal consummation. Mostly though, I recall images of disturbing, yet adorable mushrooms and eyeballs but some of my favorite pieces include the large-scale installations infiltrating my dreams and nightmares for the next few nights. Crossing back over the pond, I'm excited to read last week that Murakami is finally in Brooklyn! Maybe we'll get some inspiration for our new Lazyrobots logo!?

The Brooklyn Museum exhibit offers one of the "most comprehensive retrospective to date," including 90+ pieces, focusing specifically on earlier works from 1992-2000. The show is on view tomorrow till June 13.

For a historical glimpse at Japanse art also at the Museum, don't forget to drop in on Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770–1990!

(Photos courtesy of Gothamist)

Read More......