Diplo previews new track, announces "Revolution" EP
While putting in work and rocking crowds at each stop he makes while on tour for Mad Decent Block Party, Diplo announces that his new EP, Revolution, will be set to release on October 8th. Diplo has already given the people a taste of what is to come when he dropped the track "Crown" featuring Riff Raff and Mike Posner as Boaz Van De Beatz. This time he gives us a one minute snippet of a track titled "Biggie Bounce," which features Angger Dimas and Travis Porter. Rappers Action Bronson and Mr MFN eXquire are both featured on the EP as well. Take listen to the track below and get a taste of what you'll be in store for come October 8th.
[RH Photos] North Coast Music Festival 2013 Day 2
Photography by Geoff Henao
Day Two of North Coast Music Festival in Union Park went off much smoother than the 2013 debut a day earlier. With the sun finally shining down and the heat pounding festival-goers, things got off to a fast start. Chicago's own Porn and Chicken got things going with their 2:30 set at the Last Stand Stage, picking up where frat-dance kings Milk n' Cookies warmed up the stage earlier.
After floating through the following sets and checking out a truly inspired set from Conspirator, I found myself torn between the silky smooth tones of Aloe Blacc, the rough-edged hip hop of Flatbush Zombies and the endearing DJ sounds of Thibault. I ended up making the rounds to each briefly, unfortunately missing most of Flatbush due to simply not being able to navigate the festival properly. Between Bondax, Gramatik, Future Rock and the smattering of EDM/Dance acts on the Tent Stage, the Saturday afternoon air was soon completely inundated with the glitchy sound of digital music. Being a big fan of both Gramatik and Bondax, it was disappointing that organizers pushed so many similar acts together and brought about memories of monotonous EDM festivals of earlier months.
Emerging from the dense electronic jungle, Nas took the North Stage to close it out for the day. The New York MC showed precisely why he is one of the most decorated hip-hop acts in the history of the genre, filling his hour-long set with tracks from his entire discography. Dipping back to Illmatic for timeless hit ("The World is Yours", "Life's a Bitch", "Memory Lane") and peppering more recent work from several albums (God's Son, Stillmatic, Life is Good), Nasir Jones put on a show that won't soon be forgotten at North Coast.
EDM made it's way back to the stage in two forms to close out Saturday, with Big Gigantic and Afrojack bringing up the rear as the day's headliners. Jeremy Salken and Dominic Lalli continued their string of impressive Chicago shows by performing their instrumental take on the genre that includes live drums and saxophone, drawing one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. A meet and greet organized through Thissongissick.com kept the pair standing stage-side for hours. For his part, Afrojack held things down, giving fans a grittier dance experience from the other side of the festival grounds and closing out what was easily the biggest day at North Coast for anyone trying to dance.
[RH First Glance] Will Sparks
There is seemingly no minimum age requirement in EDM music these days. As the festivals grow larger and more grandiose, many of the artists manning the decks, keeping the party going and travelling the world are becoming increasingly young. Enter Will Sparks, the 20-year-old Australian DJ who headlines at Studio Paris tonight as part of his "Melbourne Meets America Tour". His arrival in Chicago was prefaced by an inclusion on the Beatport Chart, an online EDM barometer of who's got next.
Beatport operates as a sort of Billboard Hot 100 for the burgeoning electric dance music that has exploded from underground raves and one-off festivals to traveling circuses and a full-fledged business, complete with trade expos and conventions. It is in this Gatsby-like atmosphere that a literal kid from anywhere in the world can vault himself into an international from his bedroom in the matter of a week.
Sparks made the enormous jump from playing Aussie clubs to traversing the globe after his remix of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" topped out in the top five and garnered over 250,000 Soundcloud listens which earned him a release on Pharrell's Star Trak Entertainment.
"The whole thing has been a bit of a surprise and a shock, but I'm kind of just embracing it and working really hard," said Sparks, Australia's Breathrough Artist for 2013. "It's grown a lot over the past year. When it happens, everyone's different and I try to keep my head, I'm still the same person."
The EDM world today is similar to a hyper-active Disney channel in a sense-rushing young adults through a wringer that makes them famous, preparation be damned. It is in this vein that the increasingly young have found fame and, in many cases fortune.
23-year-old Avicii came in at No. 2 on Forbes' list of top-paid DJs in the world, taking in right around $40 million.
For his part, Sparks is simply trying to continue to ride the positive trajectory his production skills have put in motion for his career, focusing on the music itself and continually progressing the sound.
"I'm just going to keep on working my hardest," said Sparks. "There is a lot of pressure, you have to come up with new things all the time, create these newer things like this Melbourne sound people are talking about-I didn't exactly mean for it to blow up like this, I just did what I did."
Before his 21st birthday, the current king of Melbourne electronic music is Will Sparks. Carrying the torch for his hometown sound, Spark signed a joint venture with Lucky Entertainment and Interscope Management to set up this 24 city tour, effectively introducing himself and Melbourne to the world.
"We all want to be progressing the sound and doing something different," said Sparks. "It is nerve-wracking in different countries, man. When I'm on my home turf it's easy and I know what to expect but I'm enjoying the excitement of it.Read more
[Event] Krewella's Get Wet Live Tour at Aragon Ballroom 11/16
Chicago EDM trio Krewella will be returning back home this November. The "Alive" artists will be joined by Santa Barbara group Candyland for their tour. The tour's "Get Wet" title is the perfect name considering how sweaty the crowds will get fist pumping to their beats and breakdowns. The tour is also in support of their debut full-length album, also titled Get Wet. Even if you're not into the whole EDM scene, it's always great to see a Chicagoland area group find success, and if you're a fan of anything even remotely related to fun, you'll want to be at this show.
You can buy tickets to the show here. If you've never seen Krewella live, a recap video of their performance at this summer's Spring Awakening can be seen below.
http://youtu.be/i8pTfloe-ms
Party Supplies releases debut LP "Tough Love" via Fool's Gold
Party Supplies has been pumping out impressive production for a minute now, having completed solid projects with the likes of Action Bronson and Danny Brown. Together, Justin Nealis and Sean Mann create what they refer to as "classic rock from the future" as the pair out of Brooklyn combine "blue collar funk, school gym foot-stompers, and yearning city boy ballads over drum machine beats" on the Fool's Gold debut. Pitchfork premiered "Beautiful Girls," the lead single off the nine track album which comes out 8/27. For now, check out "Beautiful Girls" below.
[RH Photos] Spring Awakening Day 3
Sunday signaled the end of this year's Spring Awakening. Taking the stage to close out the weekend full of beats, babes, and booties were Krewella, Trentino, Porter Robinson, the Porn and Chicken crew, headliner Calvin Harris, and scores of others. Chicago Bulls guard/forward Jimmy Butler was also in attendance to introduce Krewella to the stage. Joining me on Sunday was also Chicago hip hop music video extraordinaire and my LOD compatriot, Bryan "FragDFilms" Lamb. It was sweaty, it was loud, and it was fun; thanks to everybody that allowed us to take their photos over the weekend, thanks to React Presents for putting together a great lineup of artists, and thanks to Chicago for not raining that much this weekend.
Some of my photos from Spring Awakening Day 3 are below, while the rest of the day's photos can be found here. Photos are © Geoff Henao (final four photos are © Alex Lapenia).
[RH Photos] Spring Awakening Day 2
Day 2 of this year's Spring Awakening showcased a lot of local love as noted Chicago groups and DJs PHNM, Team Bayside High, and Flosstradamus were joined by other big EDM acts like Bassnectar, Zeds Dead, Paul Oakenfold, Wolfgang Gartner, and others took to the four stages and got the EDM crowds sweaty. One thing I realized over the weekend is the very distinct anticipation in the air as everybody waited for the beat to drop. Once it happens, a sea of hands would erupt. The looks on everybody's face during that pause, the level of energy people keep up while they gyrate, fist bump, juke, twerk, and what have you is something to behold. It's not like anything I've seen during my years spent in mostly punk rock and hip hop shows. Kids these days and their bass-heavy music, right guys?
Some of my photos from Spring Awakening Day 2 are below, while the rest of the day's photos can be found here. Photos are © Geoff Henao (final three photos are © Alex Lapenia).
[RH Photos] Spring Awakening Day 1
Spring Awakening was this past weekend. and what an experience it was. Taking place this year at the legendary Soldier Field, Spring Awakening attracted the legions of EDM fans from all across the country to deliver a weekend full of sweat, bright lights, and dancing. Day 1 featured a litany of DJs, including Robbie Rivera, PANTyRAID, Dirty South, R3hab, Milk n Cookies, Nero, and Friday headliner Moby.
Some of my photos from Spring Awakening Day 1 are below, while the full catalog of photos can be found here. Photos are © Geoff Henao.
