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Aylin Zafar

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Another URB.COM Author.

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Nov10

Rusko On Fire, Literally and Figuratively (Video)

When word leaked earlier this year that UK dubstep king Rusko was producing tracks for the next Britney Spears album, there was a quiet but sweeping understanding that the growing underground movement in EDM would soon explode onto the mainstream in a way that would render it inescapable. Some were apprehensive about the union, while others trusted that if anyone could help resurrect Brit, a dose of legitimate dubstep from Rusko just might be the key. Either way, supporters and naysayers alike almost didn’t have a chance to find out after an unfortunate accident this week.

The DJ’s house caught fire Monday, apparently caused by an explosion from his car. His new Los Angeles home and studio reportedly suffered significant damages, though he did manage to save a few important items. Rusko informed fans of the accident yesterday, …

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Sep08

Summer Festival Wrap-Up: Rock the Bells DC (Photos)

With the god-awful summer temperatures finally cooling down and Electric Zoo officially wrapping up the summer music festival season, there’s no denying that fall and real life is back in full swing. We have some treats to help tide you over, though–pictures and a bit of a review (albeit a little late) from the last stop of the Rock the Bells 2010 tour in DC.

To call the final RTB show (8/29) at the Merriweather Post Pavillion an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. Up until the final hour were worries about the show being shut down due to the city’s 11 p.m. curfew, with festival-goers caught in a limbo of “will-she/won’t-he perform?” anxiety.

Hit “Read More” for photos and review.

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Feb20

Salvador Santana – Keyboard City (Review)

Salvador Santana

Keyboard City

Released by Various Music/Quannum


It goes without saying that a musical lineage like Salvador Santana’s doesn’t hurt in jumpstarting a career. The son of Grammy-winning (ten to be exact) Carlos Santana, the young musician also has a poet for a mother and a blues icon for a grandfather. Add his paternal grandfather (a legendary violinist and, apparently, a mariachi bandleader) to the mix, and it’s no surprise that Santana took to the family business. Staying true to the varied and diverse musical disciplines within his family, Santana opted to dedicate his talents to the keyboard, having studied piano from the age of five and attending music schools along the California coast. His San Francisco-based youth and college years spent in Valenica informs much of Keyboard City, which has a laid-back, beachy, hippie vibe that Santana himself best describes as the “Frisco mindset” in “Under the Sun.”

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Feb13

Buraka Som Sistema – Fabriclive 49 (Review)

Buraka Som Sistema

Fabriclive 49

Released by Fabric


2009 was a good year for Buraka Som Sistema. The Lisbon, Portugal-based crew put progressive kuduro on the map in 2007 with their M.I.A.-assisted track “Sound of Kuduro” and spent the past year promoting their acclaimed 2008 studio debut, Black Diamond, with electric live shows that can only be described as epic.  Their electro Afro-funk sound, soca rhythms, and—of course—kuduro-rave energy has swept the club scene around the world, so it’s no surprise that London’s legendary Fabric nightclub would call on BSS to head up FabricLive 49. “The bass keeps coming, and coming, and coming and coming... and going and going and going and drops,” we’re informed on “Hey.” And drop it, they do; BSS assembles a mix that wades through grimy dubstep, electro, dancehall, Peruvian funk and features artists from across the globe—Angola, Portugal, France, Jamaica, Peru and the UK, among others.

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Dec07

Comme Des Garçons x Barbie (?!)

Rei Kawakubo lends her fashion genius (and trademark fringe bangs) to the world’s most recognizable little lady with the Comme Des Garçons Barbie. The classic doll dons an asymmetrical, silk-lined dress featuring the CDG Christmas “Jingle Flowers” print. Part of the Barbie Collector Platinum Label collection, the limited edition doll debuted in Japan last week and is already sold out in Tokyo.

More info after the jump.

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