Shins added to Outside Lands

Just recently, SF's Outside Lands Music Festival has added the Shins to their already stellar lineup. Hopefully more will be announced later!

-C

Girl Talk is BACK

Greg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, has just released his 3rd full album, All Day. And like usual, IT IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD. The only bad side is the demand for his album is so high it's shut his label's (Illegal Art) server. They posted a bunch of torrent links that aren't illegal, so don't worry about the FBI coming to your door.

For those of you who don't know Girl Talk, I promise you will find something you can appreciate in his music. If you can't, you must listen to some weird stuff, because he mashes up songs from across genres and decades of music. His music defines the word "accessible," and his albums are non-stop dance parties. Check. Him. Out.

And for those who do know Girl Talk, or at least know they're going to like him, he's got dates out for a ridiculous tour. Given that his crazy live shows take the place of album sales, Girl Talk has booked a ton of dates. I've embedded a documentary about his shows below split into 3 parts. He'll be visiting Oakland's Fox Theater on FRIDAY the 18th of March. Check below for the rest of his tour dates as well.

Side Note: The FBI thing is part exaggeration, part South Park reference, but my friend did get sent a $250 dollar check in the mail for two Limewire downloads, not to freak you out or anything.

PART 1:


PART 2:


PART 3:

11-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium, 11-19 Buenos Aires, Argentina - Hot Festival, 11-20 Sao Paulo, Brazil - Planeta Terra Festival, 12-03-04 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE, 12-31 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave, 01-05 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues, 01-06 Columbus, OH - LC Pavillion, 01-07 Covington, KY - Madison Theater, 01-08 Louisville, KY - Expo Five, 01-10 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues, 01-13 Houston, TX - House of Blues, 01-14 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall, 01-15 Dallas, TX - Palladium, 01-17 Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall, 01-18 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant, 01-20 Birmingham, AL - Workplay, 01-21 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle, 01-22 Charleston, SC - Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, 01-24 Knoxville, TN - Valarium, 01-25 Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore, 01-27 Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo, 01-28 Norfolk, VA - NorVa, 01-29 Richmond, VA - The National, 01-31 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head, 02-01 Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club, 02-04 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory, 02-05 Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre, 02-24 New York, NY - Terminal 5, 02-25 Providence, RI - Lupo's, 02-26 Boston, MA - House of Blues, 02-28 Portland, ME - State Theater, 03-01 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis, 03-03 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall, 03-04 Chicago, IL - Congress, 03-07 Madison, WI - Orpheum, 03-08 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave, 03-11 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre, 03-14 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater, 03-15 Seattle, WA - Showbox, 03-17 Portland, OR - Roseland, 03-18 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater, 03-19 Pomona, CA - Fox Theatre, 03-21 Los Angeles, CA - Palladium, 03-22 San Diego, CA - SOMA, 03-23 Tempe, AZ - Marquee


-C

Treasure Island Part 3: Deadmau5

DJs and assorted techno artists have traditionally kept secrecy about their talents. Vary few release all of their songs, and even less release full albums. You can only find some tracks on illegal softwares, so if you're dedicated to paying your artists and reserved to iTunes, you won't have much luck.

I walked into Deadmau5 with this understanding of techno. It was completely true. Frankly, I had only listened to a few songs by the notorious, Micky-Mouse-helmet-wearing DJ and I liked only two. However, I'd seen some online videos and I expected a good show.

But I got even better. Deadmau5 came on stage with his usual massive cube and mouse-helmet. When he popped up, the crowd went wild as it stretched from the stage all the way back to the food vendors. He maintained the basic format of some of his most popular songs like Ghosts N' Stuff, but like most DJs, mixed his music live.

The most interesting thing about Deadmau5's performance was his fluctuating of intensity. Sometimes he would blast out his techno sound at full volume, and then he'd slowly wind down, and then back up again. It wasn't traditional build up techno (which I hate) but rather a complicated rise and fall performance.

And of course, with the massive DJ cube and mouse-helmet equipped with fluctuating light patterns, the show was musically and visually pleasing.

Keeping with the tradition of techno, Deadmau5 saved his best for Treasure Island.

Check out some videos of the show here (remember to turn up the quality for the best sound/visual):




-C

Treasure Island Part 1: Die Antwoord

We all thought they were a joke, but they're a band. Die Antwoord kicked off Treasure Island Music Festival this year with their Zef Hip-Hop Techno beats, and it was so fokken next level. First their DJ came on, replacing DJ HI-Tek because he apparently doesn't like to fly. Clips of their music videos ran on the screen as Yo-Landi Visser jumped out on stage in a full body, pajama-like jumpsuit. She's even smaller in real life, but she's got all the same spunk as she does in their music videos. Then, Ninja joined her on stage to spit some next level rap and even free-style in between songs. Die Antwoord put on a goofy show, and it may have frightened a few people, but you can't deny that it was some fresh Zef.

Check out their video of Zef Side below.



-C