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Top 12 Acts Of 2012 :: URB Readers Poll Winners

URB.com — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:22:11 +0000

The votes have been tallied and once again URB readers have made their voices heard. And how did 2012 flesh out in terms of your favorite artists? A rock solid mix of all-time favorites, current buzz-makers and a few veteran acts climbing their way to the top once again. Don’t call it a comeback — although it seems hip-hop dominated your world in 2012, while the rest of America was jocking EDM as the next big thing. Are MCs the new DJs, who are the new pop stars, already?

12. DOOMTREE

This seven-person collective from the Twin Cities has been on our radar for almost a decade, although it seemed like they’d forever be in the shadow of MPLS patriarchy Rhymesayers. Not that there’s anything but healthy competition between the two camps. And now, riding on win after win as a team, plus all-star performances from individual players Lazerbeak and Dessa, Doomtree has cracked our year end list for the first time. Looks like Minnesota is still the hip-hop capital of the Midwest.

Percussion Lab Announces “Cambio” Compilation – Available Now

Mitch Strashnov — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:37:58 +0000

The venerable New York institution Percussion Lab has grown significantly over the past seven years; from an eclectic radio show to a full-fledged web-streaming party bonanza; previous guests include the likes of Scuba, SBTRKT, Dorian Concept, Daedelus, Krystal Klear and way too much more to add to this list. Needless to say, the Percussion Lab family is a collection of past and present NYC locals, along with previous guests that residents Braille (Praveen Sharma of Sepalcure) and Nooka Jones have maintained close ties to throughout the years. Judging by the artists compilation, there are plenty of vibes to behold. Cambio is a compilation that features exclusive tracks from previous Percussion Lab favorites such as Machinedrum, Lando Kal, and XI as well as new cuts from bubbling acts like Archie Pelago, Contakt and Enoe. Here’s what the PLAB guys had to say about this compilation and their contributions on it.

“Over the years, the bedroom producers and shy novices we championed in years past have become some of the most influential names in the world of electronic music. We’re offering this compilation of exclusive tracks as a way of continuing our mission to provide a home for producers and DJs to host their original music and mixes free of charge, and to be able to continue supporting our local community by booking the most forward thinking artists possible for our events. We hope you can help us keep doing all of this, for free, by buying some this complication full of amazing music by some our closest, oldest, and most talented friends. “

They’ve been gracious enough to share the first cut of the compilation, “Friends and Lovers” from Ghostly staple Shigeto. Check out the link to the track as well as the compilation link, post-jump.

Percussion Lab Presents: Cambio – grab Shigeto’s “Friends and Lovers” HERE

For more info on Cambio – click HERE

URB teams up with The Treasure Island Music Festival! (2 Pairs of Tickets Up for Grabs!)

Phil Nacionales — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:28:40 +0000

Our SF Bay Area Team Captains @phil_enn and @nsnowhite managed to convince the awesome team behind the Treasure Island Music Festival to pony up TWO pairs of tickets!

The event which runs October 13-14, has fast matured into one a premier music festival for those seeking the a mixture of next wave artists and old school cool.

Saturday’s lineup presents the following: Girl Talk, The Presets, Porter Robinson, Public Enemy, SBTRKT, Tycho, Araabmusik, Matthew Dear, Toro Y Moi, Grimes, The Coup, K.Flay, and The Dirty Ghosts. Sunday’s lineup presents the following: The XX, M83, Gossip, Best Coast, Joanna Newsom, Divine Fits, Youth Lagoon, Los Campesinos!, The War on Drugs, Ty Segall, Wild Belle, Hospitality, and Imperial Teen. Moreover, the festival programmers went to great lengths to make sure that no two bands play over each other, so you could feasibly catch EVERY band playing…

The contest rules are simple. Either tweet or post to the URB FB page the following:

@phil_enn and @nsnowhite are crazy. Give me tickets to @timfsf!

Contest ends Thursday, October 11 at 12Noon PST.

Many will enter, Two will win. Contest is for tickets only, transportation is the responsibility of the winners.

URB’s 10 Must See Acts For Movement-Detroit 2012

URB.com — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:57:13 +0000

Before mega events like Ultra Fest, EDC and Electric Zoo turned EDM into big business (again), a little upstart festival called Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) denied all of the odds and brought the sounds of techno and house to the struggling metropolis for all to enjoy. Now in it’s 13th year, the gathering renamed Movement continues to buck the trends by offering a unique overview of global electronic music that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. Our performer picks for 2012 aren’t all of the biggest names on the line-up, but give yourself a chance to catch something you won’t find on every other event listing in the world.

MARK FARINA

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Perennial favorite Mark Farina has rocked many a dance floor, but for a generation of party kids, his contributions to the after party are just as significant. The DJs Mushroom Jazz series was the soundtrack to many the “morning after,” and virtually became it’s own genre of downtempo, acid jazz, trip-hop and other slow and soulful beats. Don’t miss this rare public performance of tunes the SF legend usually reserves for private playing. (Saturday, Main Stage, 3-5)

12 Must See Acts For Coachella 2012

URB.com — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:15:12 +0000

Coachella 2012 is almost here, with an unprecedented two duplicate weekends of the world’s best music performed in one of the world’s most beautiful venues. Picking the acts you must see is a full-time sport for Coachella attendees and the media alike. But considering that URB has been down with the desert spectacular since 1999, we figure we’ll throw our two cents into the ring.

12. Breakbot

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Though never achieving the notoriety of other French “electro” DJs, Breakbot has been a secret have, churning out house and techno tracks that just calmly state “quality.

2011 Wrap-Up (by URB Readers)

URB.com — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:20:36 +0000

As a part of this year’s Best of 2011 survey, we asked voters to tell us what they thought made 2011 special when it comes to music. And as we expected, URB readers told us what’s up. Some of you were disappointed, but most stayed positive about the past 12 months and are enthusiastic about the year to come. As one of you so aptly put, “I want the music of 2011 in my head for at least the month of January 2012.”

With only a few hours left in the year, we decided to share some of the best comments with you. Thanks for an awesome 2011 and looking forward to 2012! Have fun tonight and stay safe.

GENRE WARS

- Hip-hop is slowly coming back, Indie is dying, and new innovative music is rising in its place. People are starting to get creative.

- 2011 the year electronic beats officially replaced rock n’ roll riffs as the common denominator. I hope there’s a meeting of the minds in 2012, where genuine pop hooks and intelligent lyrics are less of an afterthought.

- Dubstep has taken it’s place in the long line of popular trends in music, and will most likely become a household name like electro has within pop music/culture as it continues to be refined for mass markets. Hip-hop and dance music have officially merged to form modern pop. Indie dance and it’s counterpart, Folk/Americana, have continued to stay solid and consistent as usual. Still working on the next thing but am appreciating the soundscapes as we move into 2012.

- It has been refreshing to see “Bass” music branch out into more interesting sound arenas! Would have never imagined someone like Sepalcure to emerge from the ranks of a pretty dreadfully dull menagerie.

- Too much brostep, but I’m glad that d&b is finally making its comeback.

- Electronic music seems to be getting bigger and better, with the glitchy sounds of garage and 2-Step seeping into all different styles of music, echoing old R&B classics along with good old hip-hop beats. I just can’t wait to hear what 2012 can bring us. No doubt, plenty of dancing.

- Though the “hip-hop is dead” argument continues and in the U.S., people are still hard-pressed to identify between trance, house, and techno (what’s in a genre anyway?) I think I saw an incredible amount of progress with music of all sorts enjoying center-stage attention at different times in the year. It’s exciting to see so much diversity in music, and while I don’t know that the mainstream is quite where I wish it was, it definitely is a lot closer than ever before.

- There was def some great music out there that was, as usual, ignored by the mainstream. Apathy and Talib Kweli had solid albums. As well as Lykke Li and Little Dragon. I wish really good music got exposure nowadays.

- Music in 2011 was a combination of all genres, and that is what made it so special.

URB Top 10 Ten Artists Of 2011 (Readers Poll Winners)

URB.com — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:52:09 +0000

Ranking the top artists of the past 365 days is a tricky proposition. What seemed like a simple enough question when we asked you to rate 100 top artists becomes a labyrinth of questions regarding the state of music in 2011. Is dance music really taking over the American landscape, or does hip-hop still rule the minds of music fans? Is it fair to nominate an act that didn’t release a proper record this year, when the internet has made the act of releasing albums virtually obsolete? Did some acts hustle hard for voters while others sat back and let the votes come in?

And can a sexually ambiguous sissie bounce act from New Orleans really come out of nowhere and reach the top 10 in almost no time at all? At least we know the answer to the last question…

10. BIG FREEDIA

How does an artist go from regional staple and hipster oddity to nationally recognized phenomenon in just a year? Repeat appearances on Treme and a strategic partnership with Scion A/V certainly helped Big Freedia becomes something of a household name in 2011. But the hype would mean nothing unless everyone from your baby brother to your grandma started bouncing dat azz to NOLA’s patented Sissie Bounce sound.

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HEAR Burial, Zomby, Kode9 and More Deliver Tracks For Adult Swim

URB.com — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:30:37 +0000

UK dubstep and techno adventurers Burial, Kode9, Zomby, Ikonika and more have delivered tracks for a new compilation presented by Scion and Adult Swim, two brands that know how to promote excellent music in order to sell their own wares. The digital comp, titled Unclassified, offers up 18 rare and unreleased tunes by the elite of the UK’s adventurous electronic music scene, including Actress, SBTRKT, XXXY and 11 others. You can stream the Ikonika track, “World On Mute” here, or go the official site to play and download the full collection.

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Ikonika, 'World On Mute' by Mixmag']

New Radiohead Remixes (Jamie XX, Amstam, SBTRKT)

URB.com — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:03:19 +0000

OK, these have been actually floating around since late last week, but here’s the final packet of tunes from the TKOL RMX series Radiohead has been blessing us with the past few months. The final set pulls out two big guns with Jamie XX and SBTRKT, as well as a newcomer, Amstam, who seems to be even eluding our Google capabilities. If anyone knows something about the talented individual behind this remix, please let us know in the comments.

North Coast Music Festival Recap, Day One (2011)

Jorge Cruz — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 07:58:26 +0000

There was something in the air today. Something besides the humidity, the heat and the marijuana smoke that came from crowds. I think a lot of it was this feeling of fast moving time, probably because the festival started later, or maybe I was just so hazed from the heat that by the time I knew it I was looking at David Guetta slouched in the back of an SUV in front of my face while I tried to sway the mosquitoes away from my legs.

Starting off with watching James Zabiela set up his set on the backstage floor, I peeped over to the stage only to see dancing computers, and a laptop. It was actually The Hood Internet who delivered one of the most enjoyable sets that I experienced that day, besides the 5 minutes that I caught from Midnight Conspiracy, kinda. The Hood Internet, even for being in an early time slot, knew what they were doing as opposed to going up on stage and simply delivering a technical – or as I like to call them, “jerk-off sets.” They just played what got everyone in the mood to dance. Sure it wasn’t an obscure song or some mega technical performance but sometimes all a crowd wants to hear is an “Ignition” remix or some other familiar song mixed with something the act wants to experiment with.

After The Hood Internet got off stage, James Zabiela got up and played, as I had predicted in my picks, a really technical and tight set that included him scratching and elaborately mixing in beats. Looking into the crowd, and looking and the people who were dancing it seemed like a majority of people either got it, or they didn’t. I think that’s always the issue though when someone who is so technically proficient wants to show those skills off and then other people just want to dance. But overall I wouldn’t necessarily write off the set as a mere showcase for what he’s good at.

After James I headed over to catch SBTRKT, who I was SOOO excited to catch, especially after catching their set at the iTunes Festival in London. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a live set so my dreams were kinda crushed. When I got up to shoot, my friend Mariam pointed out that she hadn’t ever seen, I literally mean visually see, noise. And not only that, but when he started off with his remix of Radiohead’s, “Lotus Flower” it felt like I was inside a vibrator. But for a while the set got relaxed and picked up and came down and picked up and ended a bit limp—but Aaron did tell me he had just gotten off the plane. I honestly just wanna believe he wasn’t all there because I had, in my mind, raised the bar pretty high. When he played his own music in it kinda just sounded like I was listening to a CD….

While SBTRKT was playing, the stage people were setting up a large amount of ger, which was mainly used by David Guetta later on, but there was this large black stage/podium that literally covered Wolfgang Gartner up. I even joked that if he had wanted to not be seen that badly that maybe he should have worn a niquab.

I honestly had no opinions on his set, none. All I thought was how butch it was. He sprinkled in some canonical songs (Robin S., “Show Me Love”, that put yo hand up song, etc), and after playing the canonical song he would follow it back up with his gritty beats.

After Wolfgang came down, the anticipation was everywhere for David Guetta. In typical Guetta fashion I had predicted the intense light boxes, which also smartly advertised his new album, and the raising of his hands á la Jesus Cristo. The beginning of his set was so choreographed and ohesive it felt like a concert, not just a DJ set. It just didn’t last. By the middle, most of the crowd has dispersed to Wiz Khalifa and the local stage where Midnight Consiracy was playing, and where they gave David a run for his performance.

* I shoot with film so “high quality” photographs will not be available until after the festival.