[RH Interview] Conspirator
Conspirator is a band of chance, really. The project came together when The Disco Biscuits' Marc Brownstein and keyboardist Aron Magner as a way to explore the burgeoning and seemingly endless world that was electronic music, back in 2005 after Sam Altman left DB at that time. Allowing for a more free electronic experience, the pair established the side gig as a way to add and remove musicians at a whim to create a range of sounds. The duo has been playing regularly with Chris Michetti of RAQ, and KJ Sawka of Pendulum and last year released the head-thumping EP Unleashed before heading out on a slew of national headlining dates under the banner of "The Dynasty Tour." The crew rolls through Chicago's Concord Music Hall as they continue to roll through the polar vortex as the musical journey they started years ago takes them from coast to coast throughout this year. I recently got to catch up with Brownstein while the band was just getting out on tour, check out or conversation on the later pages.
Grading The 2014 Grammy Winners
So, back in December, around the time the Grammy nominations were officially announced, I wrote a post titled "Grading The Grammys" where I gave my two cents on what I thought of the nominees, who I thought should win and who I thought actually would win. The music industry equivalent to filling out an NCAA tournament bracket in March, I watched yesterday as my picks were scuttled fairly quickly. Using the mentality that it is better to recognize many rather than few and spread an award rather than smother one artist with them, my choices for Grammy winners was a bit different from what actually went down last night in LA. Read on to see who I thought would win, who actually did and how that makes me feel, here below.
Record of The Year
Nominees:
- "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
- "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
- "Royals" - Lorde
- "Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars
- "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell
Actual Winner: "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
My Prediction: “Royals” – Lorde
Breakdown: I read somewhere in the lead up to this year's Grammys that the award show could very quickly devolve into a sort of Lifetime Achievement Award for Daft Punk, who did have arguably the song of the year in "Get Lucky" which seemed to be on an endless loop throughout the Summer. "Royals" certainly had its own run, but looking back it was somewhat ridiculous to think she could overtake Daft Punk.
Paper Diamond Announces Wynn Residency with Diplo Remix
The EDM world is a fast-moving one, and few know that better than Colorado-based producer/DJ Paper Diamond who rode a successful 2012 into performance at last year's North Coast, TommorowWorld and his own headlining tour. It's enough to keep anyone's head spinning, but Paper Diamond just keeps it coming, today announcing a Las Vegas DJ residency at The Wynn which starts March 26 at Surrender. The announcement of the eight months residency came alongside the drop of PD's remix of Diplo's "Revolution" track, which comes as part of the fellow Wynn resident's Revolution Remixes EP out today on Mad Decent and streaming below. The residency comes on the heels of Paper Diamond's 2014 headlining tour which takes off tomorrow in Birmingham and runs through March 2. Check everything out below.
Tour Dates:
1/23 Birmingham, AL Workplay *
1/24 Knoxville, TN NV *
1/25 Nashville Anthem *
1/28 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle *
1/30 Asheville, NC Orange Peel *
1/31 Athens, GA GATH *
2/5 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theatre **
2/6 Philly TLA **
2/7 NYC Webster Hall **
2/8 Boston Paradise **
2/12 Washington DC 9:30 Club **
2/13 Syracuse, NY Westcott **
2/14 Burlington, VT Higher Ground **
2/15 Portland, ME PCMH **
2/16 Northampton, MA Pearl Street **
2/18 Pittsburgh Rex Theatre +
2/19 Columbus, Newport +
2/20 Cleveland, OH Beachland +
2/21 Detroit Magic Stick +
2/22 Grand Rapids Intersection +
2/23 Urbana Canopy Club +
2/26 Milwaukee Turner Hall +
2/27 Madison Majestic +
2/28 Chicago Concord +
3/1 Minneapolis Mill City +
3/2 Omaha, NE Slowdown +
Manic Focus *
Gent & Jawns **
Branchez+
[Video] Disclosure: "Grab Her"
Dance duo Disclosure followed up a successful 2013 that saw their major release, Settle gain immense critical acclaim across the board. Never one to follow the advice of their album title, Disclosure is currently in the midst of a marathon tour that began last September in France and runs through March 7 when the pair finish up the long string of shows in London. With all that going on, Disclosure managed to drop their latest video for the the song, "Grab Her," directed by Emile Sornin who poked some fun at the literal sense of trying to grab things. The video follows a boss with the ability to make anything he touches instantly zero gravity. Check out the full video below and upcoming tour dates after.
Disclosure Tour Dates:
01-17 New York, NY – Terminal Five *
01-18 New York, NY – Terminal Five *
01-24 Orlando, FL – House of Blues *
01-25 Miami, FL – The Fillmore *
01-26 Tampa, FL – The Ritz *
01-28 New Orleans, LA – Republic New Orleans *
01-29 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live *
01-31 Austin, TX – Stubb’s *
02-01 Dallas, TX – House of Blues *
02-06 Guadalajara, Mexico – Teatro Estudio Cavaret
02-07 Mexico City, Mexico – Vive Cuervo Salón
02-08 Monterrey, Mexico – Auditorio Banamex
03-05 Edinburgh, Scotland – Corn Exchange
03-06 Manchester, England – O2 Apollo Manchester
03-07 London, England – Alexandra Palace
* with Vic Mensa and Samo Sound Boy
[Video] Nardwuar Vs Diplo
Nardwuar has become a must-stop for any artist rolling through Vancouver on tour or for a show for awhile now, keeping a steady stream of Q+As coming from our neighbors to the north. Most recently, he linked up with Diplo, in town for Contact Festival back in late December, to discuss the ins and outs of strip clubs, take a trip down memory lane with an old photo of the two, and get into a spirited discussion over who really discovered a certain EDM DJ. Towards the end, Nardwuar gets a bit of a surprise before a fitting exit. Nardwuar interviews never disappoint, and this installment is no different. Check it out here below.
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Ultra Music Festival Announces Packed 2014 Lineup
Ultra Music Festival is the annual Electronic Dance Music super-festival that is easily the largest such event, outside of EDC Las Vegas and Tomorrowland/world. For the sixteenth installment of the neon-splattered mega-rave, organizers went a bit, H.A.M. The first phase of 2014's installment of Ultra Music Festival includes a who's who of artists in the EDM world, including the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Afrojack, Kaskade, Avicii, Krewella and MixMag's No. 1 DJ in the world, Hardwell, who top a packed list.
An interesting tweak at Ultra Music Festival is the split between a DJ and Live lineup. The live lineup has grown and this year includes M.I.A, MGMT, Cut/Copy, Empire of the Sun and Pusha T. I've written about a lot of festivals with over the top lineups, but Ultra may have pushed the envelope another step forward, it's hard to imagine there could be more phases of artist added. The full list of performers can be found below, it may take you a minute to digest the entire situation.
The festival will take place March 28-30 at Bayfront Park in Miami. While VIP tickets have sold out, you can still drop a cool $399.95 for General Admission tix here. Check out a recap video of last year's Ultra and the full list of performers, below.
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[Video] Gramatik Announces 2014 Winter Tour
Gramatik is one of the funkiest EDM producers in the game right now, and yesterday announced plans to head back out on the road in 2014. The Slovenian-born DJ made the announcement alongside a video from his recent sold-out show in Athens, Greece as part of his 2013 Age of Reason Tour. Gramatik will be in Chicago around New Year's Eve for a pair of dates at Concord Music Hall and The Auditorium Theatre on the 30 & 31 respectively before taking off to Canada to begin his tour in Drake's hometown of Toronto on January 16. Established one of the more gifted producers in EDM, Gramatik's compositions can get fans worked into a frenzy or set the mood for a perfect wavy, chill afternoon. Ringing in the new year with his music wouldn't be such a bad way to start 2014. Tickets went on sale for the general public earlier today, so make sure to pick yours up here, for the New Year's Eve shows put on by REACT Presents, kick it here. Scroll your way down for the Greece video, his latest track, "Obviously" with Cherub and ExMag and a full list of tour dates.
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12/30/13 @ Concord Music Hall, Chicago, IL
12/31/13 @ Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
1/16/14 @ The Hoxton, Toronto, ON
1/17/14 @ Imperial, Quebec City, QC
1/18/14 @ Telus, Montreal, QC
1/19/14 @ Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME
1/21/14 @ Output, Brooklyn, NY
1/22/12 @ Pearl Street Ballroom, Northampton, MA
1/23/14 @ Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
1/24/14 @ Lupo's, Providence, RI
1/25/14 @ Best Buy Theater, New York City, NY
[Video] Disclosure: "Apollo"
Disclosure has been on a run lately, dropping tracks that appeal to a wide swath of the public and continuing to garner praise for their recent release, Settle, which has been finding itself atop year-end lists and allegedly has a follow-up remix album, slated for a December 17 release and featuring Larry Heard and Kaytranada. Today, the duo dropped a visual for their song "Apollo", which is a bit different and interesting to say the least. The track is a dance music staple for sure, with snarling drums, well-placed vocal samples and a gritty, steady bass line that will keep the party moving. The visual complements the dim, hazy feel of the track perfectly. Check out the track below for now, and keep it locked to RH for the latest Disclosure news coming soon.