Quick News

Action Bronson has confirmed that Blue Chips 2 will arrive in November. An exact date has not been determined thanks to Bronsolino tweeting that it will come "The first day it rains in Queens," that month.

Spreading love may soon comes Biggie's way. A petition has been established to name the intersection of Brooklyn's St. James Place and Fulton Street -- Christopher Wallace Way, to honor the late Notorious BIG in his native Brooklyn.

Lily Allen took to Twitter to confirm her return to music after a four year absence. Allen is currently working on new music, no release has been given.

Pearl Jam confirmed the tracklisting to their forthcoming album, Lightning Bolt, via Instagram. Take a look at the tracklisting below:
'Getaway'
'Mind Your Manners'
'My Father's Son'
'Sirens'
'Lightning Bolt'
'Infallible'
'Pendulum'
'Swallowed Whole'
'Let The Records Play'
'Sleeping By Myself'
'Yellow Moon'
'Future Days'

Cults New Album Info!

In October, Cults will release their new album, Static, via Columbia Records. The band has released the awesome GIF cover art to the record, which you can see above. In a press statement about the album, they said, "There’s a feeling our generation has. The feeling there’s always something better around the corner, that everyone is born to be a star. The feeling that life is waiting for you, and yet it’s not happening. All of that is static."

The record is also said to be a "Break-up" album. Take a look at the tracklisting below:

01 I Know
02 I Can Hardly Make You Mine
03 Always Forever
04 High Road
05 Were Before
06 So Far
07 Keep Your Head Up
08 TV Dream
09 We’ve Got It
10 Shine A Light
11 No Hope

Quick News

Jack White's Third Man Records has confirmed that The Dead Weather are working on new material at the Third Man headquarters in Nashville.

Death Cab for Cutie will re-release their superb 2003 album, Transatlanticism on vinyl and digital formats. The reissue will feature outtakes and b-sides from the recording sessions.

Stone Temple Pilots featuring Chester Benington on vocals will release a five-song EP in October called High Rise.

Paul McCartney will release his new studio album, New, in October. Take a look at the albums cover below:

Los Campesinos! New Album Info!

In October, explosive UK rockers Los Campesinos! will release their new album, No Blues. Take a look at the cover above and the tracklisting below and hear the first single, "What Death Leaves Behind." 

01 For Flotsam
02 What Death Leaves Behind
03 A Portrait of the Trequartista as a Young Man
04 Cemetery Gaits
05 Glue Me
06 As Lucerne/The Low
07 Avocado, Baby
08 Let It Spill
09 The Time Before the Last Time
10 Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary)

Live Pix: DJ Premier Vs. Pete Rock

On Tuesday night in East River Park, a spectacle of classic hip-hop proportions went down as DJ Premier and Pete Rock battled it out with a SLEW of special and surprise guests. Our very own RICH D SMOOV was on hand to capture the action. Take a look at some of his pix. 

Brand Nubian 

Camp Lo 

Nice and Smooth

The Beatnuts 

Pete Rock 

For more pictures of the event, LIKE us on FACEBOOK
With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie

Promote Your Page Too

Quick News

The upcoming blockbuster video game, Grand Theft Auto V will feature a special radio station in the game called FlyLo FM, which will feature exclusive DJing from Flying Lotus. His station, which is one of 17, will feature music from himself, his alter-ego Captain Murphy, Clams Casino, Hudson Mohawke, Aphex Twin, Thundercat, Outkast, Tyler, the Creator and more.

Nine Inch Nails will make their new album, Hesitation Marks, available as an "Audiophile Mastered Version," which will contain different mixes of the new LP. Trent Reznor said on Tumblr, "The standard version is “loud” and more aggressive and has more of a bite or edge to the sound with a tighter low end. The Audiophile Mastered Version highlights the mixes as they are without compromising the dynamics and low end, and not being concerned about how “loud” the album would be. The goal was to simply allow the mixes to retain the spatial relationship between instruments and the robust, grandiose sound."

The late J. Dilla, the brilliant hip-hop producer known for his classic album, Donuts, will now be getting a donut shop named in his honor. Dilla's uncle Herman Hayes will open a donut shop in Detroit Dilla's Delights. The store will open this fall.

Justin Young of The Vaccines spoke to Australian radio station, Triple J about the band's third album. Young said, "I don't think we're going to come out with a third record of three-chord pop punk. I think we just sort of felt like we didn't want to be churning out the same stuff album after album… We tried to take a turn on the second record, but it was perhaps slightly premature. I like surprises - not everyone does - but we felt like the EP was a good way to bridge the gap." No word yet as to when the album will get recorded.

According to reports, The Beatles are going to release a second volume of their legendary BBC recordings. No release date has been given.

Speaking to NME, Gary Jarman of The Cribs confirmed that the band will work on two new albums in early 2014. He said, "We're gonna try and do two new records, that's the plan. Not a double album – two separate records, two separate sides to the band. There's one that's going to be really noisy and visceral and immediate, and one that's gonna be more pop. We've been writing for the past month or so and there's definitely an idealistic concept of these two records, which has come from that.

LIVE PIX: Wild Style 30th Anniversary

On Monday night in East River Park, New York City celebrated the definitive and defining film about hip-hop-- Wild Style. The cult classic, which turns 30 this year brought out a slew of the films stars and hip-hop icons like Busy Bee, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Nation, DJ Kool Herc, Double Trouble and more. Our very own RICH D SMOOV was on hand to capture some of the action. Take a look!

Busy Bee

 Crazy Legs and the Rock Steady Crew

Fab Five Freddy 

Grandmaster Caz

DJ Kool Herc 

For more pictures of the event, LIKE us on FACEBOOK
With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie

Promote Your Page Too

Quick News

It has been confirmed that Danny Brown will release his long awaited new album, OLD, at the end of September.

In October Suede will release a vinyl box set featuring every album of the bands catalogue packaged together for the first time on wax. The band are only printing 1,500 copies of set.

Matt & Kim will release a remix album of their latest album, Lightning on October 1. 

Also being released in October will be the long awaited A$AP Mob collective LP. No title or further info has been given, but A$AP Yams confirmed the news this weekend at the VMAs.

The Men are set to release an acoustic EP called, Campfire Songs in October. The songs are tracks featured off their new album, New Moon and will feature two new tracks. The album was indeed recorded around a campfire. 

The Mick Jagger produced James Brown biopic has cast its lead. Chadwick Boseman who played Jackie Robinson in 42, will play the icon. The film will chart Brown's rise from a young boy born in extreme poverty to become the The Godfather Of Soul. No release date has been set. 

Passion Pit Documentary

 Watch a documentary on Passion Pit called, Hello Everywhere.

Live Pix - Afropunk 2013

While Brooklyn was the center of attention because of the VMA's this weekend, real music was happening in Biggie's borough. The 9th annual Afropunk Festival invaded Commodore Barry Park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. We were on hand to capture the action of the second day of the festival which featured Daryl Jennifer of Bad Brains and Murs new band -- White Mandingos, Ninja Sonik, Death, Danny Brown, Trash Talk, Living Colour, Chuck D and many more. Take a look at RICH D SMOOV's pix below:

White Mandingos 

Danny Brown

Death 

Ninja Sonik

Trash Talk 

Living Colour 

Chuck D 

For more pictures of the event, LIKE us on FACEBOOK
With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie

Promote Your Page Too

STREAM The Replacements FULL Riot Fest Gig

As we mentioned earlier, The Replacements played their first gig in 22 years at Riot Fest over the weekend. Now, you can stream the bands entire set via The Live Archive on Soundcloud. Take a listen!

Eminem New Album Trailer

Eminem teamed up with Beats Audio to announce his new album, The Marshall Mathers LP2 - MMLP2 during the MTV VMA's. Take a look at the album trailer and TV spot above.

Also, hear his new single, "Survival" below:

The Replacements Reunite at Riot Fest

 Watch highlights of The Replacements first show in 22 years at Riot Fest from over the weekend.

Editors FULL Reading Festival Set

 Watch Editors full set from Reading Festival from this weekend.

EXCLUSIVE! PETER HOOK INTV!

Many musicians try and find success with one band or one outlet, it is very rare that a musician can find deep success and respect with two bands. For Peter Hook, who played bass in both Joy Division and New Order, he has managed to accomplish that task. After the suicide of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in 1980, the members of Joy Division didn't stop, they formed New Order and carried on and took the 1980's and most of the 1990's by storm. The bands on-again-off-again hiatus for much of the late 90's and early 00's lead to Hook announcing he and New Order singer Bernard Sumner were no longer working together and left the band. In 2011, around the time Hook was taking his new band, The Light on the road to tour Joy Division's acclaimed final record, Closer, New Order announced they were replacing Hook and would continue touring. While the fallout between Hook and the rest of his former band remains in the headlines, he is looking to still continue playing the music of the bands he was in and still loves. Next month, he and The Light will bring New Order's timeless albums, Movement and Power, Corruption, and Lies to the U.S. following a successful run in Europe earlier this year. We caught up with Hook to talk about the new tour, the feud, and one of his other passions - soccer, sorry, football. Take a look at our interview below:

Now that you have put Joy Division away with The Light, what is it like performing New Order’s earlier work without the band?

Well we haven't really put joy division away per se, we still have a few gigs lined up where we will be performing that material. But yes from September onwards there is a switch to the new order material as that tour officially starts in the States. I've been lucky in that the band have proved themselves to be very capable over the last 3 years so I had no issues when it came to start playing the New Order material as I knew that again they would all do a great job and work hard to ensure that they did the songs justice. I think that this band have a great chemistry which enables them and myself to combine and put a good show together.

How have the shows been in America as opposed to the rest of the world?

Well we have toured America twice now, in 2010 we toured Unknown Pleasures, then in 2011 we mainly toured closer, so to follow that with the Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies seemed like the next logical step in the plan. So this will be our third tour and there is a reason that we are starting the tour in the states because the last two tours have been wonderful, great crowds and so nice to go back. I enjoy playing to American audiences and am delighted to be coming back. Audiences are very different all over the world but Americans crowds have always been very welcoming to us which is nice.

Are American audiences different from those in Europe or South America?

Not too different in my opinion, we have been lucky in that we have had the opportunity to go round the world with this show and we have been well received everywhere. American audiences are very clued up on their music and they know their stuff, so we will be working hard to hopefully give them a great night!

With The Light, your son, Jack, is playing bass, in New Order’s current line-up Tom Chapman is playing your parts. How is it that the music of New Order is being played live around the world and you are not playing your signature bass hooks?

Yes it is certainly a very funny situation isn't it! The good thing about this set though is that I do get to play a lot more bass, the music allows me to play much more than it did for the Joy Division sets that we did, which is nice. I suppose I should be flattered really that my bass lines are getting such airplay at the moment even if it isn't me that's playing the majority of them.

Now that you have been on the road for nearly a year performing “Movement,” and “Power, Corruption, and Lies,” which, in your opinion is the better album and why?

Well actually we have only played this set four times, so it is still very new. We debuted the new set in January of this year with a tiny warm-up show in Cardiff followed by two big sold out shows in London and Manchester. We then switched back to playing the Joy Division set on tour until a couple of weeks ago when we played the new order set again for the first time in 6 months at a wonderful venue in Buxton in the UK called the opera house, as a preview to the full tour which starts properly in September. We'll be touring across the USA & Canada before going down into Mexico & South America, then coming back home for a tour of the UK & Ireland before Christmas. At the start of next year, we really want to get back to Australia & New Zealand as well as playing more shows in Asia. It will be great to finally tour this set as it will get better and better the more we play it.

After this tour, will you be playing some of new order’s other albums live down the line?

Yes, believe it or not we do have a plan! We will tour our Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies set around the world first but once we have done that we do plan to move onto the next two records, Low Life and Brotherhood, towards the end of 2014. I am really looking forward to that already as there are more great tracks which have not seen the light of day for a long time, songs like this time of night, murder, sunrise, way of life... That will be a great live set just like this one.

Last year you released you fantastic book, “Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division,” are you kicking around the idea of releasing an inside story on New Order?

My writing partner Andrew Holmes and myself have actually already started on the new order book, we are aiming to release that in 2014. I really enjoy the writing process. It will be a very different book to the joy division book.

New Order was a band that were so ahead of their time and still today the music from 20-30 years ago sounds as fresh as any new band out there. Did you think you were making such timeless music when it was happening?

I knew that what we were doing was good but I have to be honest and say that I really did not foresee the legacy that the music would leave and how good it would fare in terms of standing the test of time. I'm proud of the material as a whole and even more proud that it still sounds fresh all these years later.

Do you ever sit back and wonder and look at your musical career after being in Joy Division and New Order and say, ‘Wow?’ most artists struggle to make a success with one band, but you did it with two!

I am extremely proud, all of us should be proud of what we achieved together. It's a shame that there are rifts and divisions between us now but I hope that one day we can put all that rubbish aside and at least just sit down and go 'wow, we were good!' - if have no regrets and wouldn't change anything for the world.

Are you and The Light working on original material to play and record?

This is quite a difficult one, I get asked about it a lot. There are ideas kicking around that the lads in the band have recorded which I think is really very good, but it is hard to find the time to get in the studio and work on them all properly. We tour a great deal which doesn't really allow us the time to get together and do it at the moment. However in the future I would definitely like to release new material with these guys. They are all excellent players and I do have the itch again to get some new stuff on the go, absolutely.

With the love/hate situation going on between you and your former band, if Ian Curtis were alive today, what would he say about all of this?

If he were alive today I am sure that he would have banged our heads together by now! It is a shame and I am sick and tired of the fighting but my mother told me to stand up for what I believe in and that is what I am doing in relation to the others.

New Order recorded the theme for England for World Cup 1990, and of course the famous video and hook of the song was a patriotic anthem for the team and their players. With the world cup happening next year, what are England’s odds?

The England team unfortunately suffer a great deal from being over hyped... The pressure that the country puts on them to perform is unbelievable, however it is only natural to want them to do well. The problem with the England team is that at times it is hard to really get behind the cause because we have been so badly let down in the past! We are certainly capable of putting on a good showing at the next world cup if the players apply themselves fully but I would not consider us to be in that top bracket of teams. You look at teams like Spain, Germany, Argentina & Brazil and have to believe that they are the favorites, especially Brazil as they are playing at home.

While we are on the football talk, you are big United supporter. For the first time in 29 years united will be managed by a new man. How do you think they will waver this season?

Yes it is certainly a very interesting time to be a united fan... Not having Alex Ferguson in charge will certainly take some getting used to after him being in charge for so long and being so successful. However I reckon that the board have made a shrewd choice in David Moyes as his successor as he seems to be cut from the same cloth as Fergie. I think the fact that Fergie picked David Moyes himself speaks volumes. All United fans should now be getting behind Moyes & the team to help them carry on that high level of achievement. It is a mammoth task to replace a legend of the game like Ferguson but I have got faith in Moyes! As long as we finish above Manchester City I will be happy, local bragging rights are very important in my town!

Live Pix - John Legend at Ed Sullivan Theater

Earlier this week, the silky sounds of John Legend rocked the Ed Sullivan Theater for a special performance for Live On Letterman. Our very own Le-La Cloutier was on hand to capture some of the action. Take a look!

For more pictures of the event, LIKE us on FACEBOOK
With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie

Promote Your Page Too

MGMT on Letterman

Watch MGMT perform "Your Life Is A Lie" on Letterman.

Playlist

 Take a look at August's 27 track playlist and hear it on Spotify!

St. Lucia Debut Album Details

In October, St. Lucia will release his much anticipated debut album, When The Night. Take a look at the awesomely vibrant cover above and the tracklisting below:

01) The Night Comes Again
02) The Way You Remember Me
03) Elevate
04) Wait For Love
05) All Eyes On You
06) Closer Than This
07) Call Me Up
08) We Got It Wrong
09) September
10) Too Close
11) When The Night

Antlers' Darby Cicci Solo EP Details

Multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci of The Antlers will be releasing a solo EP under the name, School of Night in October. Cicci said in a press statement, “I would go to my studio, play synths in the dark, collect sounds that I love and try to build little worlds I could just dissolve into and explore. At first it was mostly playtime and I wasn’t planning on releasing it, but if I’ve learned anything from my experiences, it’s that the more you open up and share about yourself, the more you’ll learn.”

Take a look at the cover above and the tracklisting below and hear the first single, "Lying":

01 Lying
02 Doktor
03 Fire Escape
04 Play Dead
05 Vacuum

Quick News

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has confirmed that the band will head into the studio to begin work on a new album in early 2014.

Injured Beady Eye guitarist Gem Archer is expected to make a full recovery after falling in his home and fracturing his skull. His wife has come out and said that it is unexpected he will return to the stage to perform anytime this year. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Speaking to The Observer, Franz Ferdinand front man Alex Kapranos said he almost dissolved the Brit band. He said, "I wanted to split the band up, because in my head it felt like one of those jobs... the ones I had to jack in. I didn't like the routine and the obligations. And whether those obligations lay with my contemporaries, my peers, my record label, the fans, the audiences - or maybe myself... I felt... It was time to... stop that." The band are set to release their new album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, next week.

The Walkmen's singer Hamilton Leithauser is working on a solo LP that will feature members of Vampire Weekend, The Shins, Fleet Foxes, and of course, The Walkmen. The album is slated to arrive next year.

The Weeknd has released the tracklisting to his much anticipated new album, Kiss Land, which arrives next month. Take a look at the tracklisting below:
'Professional'
'The Town'
'Adaptation'
'Love in the Sky'
'Belong to the World'
'Live For' [ft. Drake]
'Wanderlust'
'Kiss Land'
'Pretty'
'Tears in the Rain'
'Wanderlust' (Pharrell Remix)
'Odd Look' (Kavinsky ft. the Weeknd)

Los Campesinos! Album Trailer

Watch the album trailer for Los Campesinos! upcoming album, No Blues, which is slated to come later this year!

Nirvana Original Contract / Director Cut Video Released

Nirvana's original label, Sub Pop have released the bands original contract which paid the then unknown titans of grunge, $600 as a upfront. The band were signed to a three album deal, but only released one record, Bleach, with the label before going to DGC. Click on the image above to explore more of the contract which Sub Pop just posted on Tumblr.

Speaking of Nirvana, the band will release a massive 20th anniversary edition of their seminal 1993 album, In Utero. Part of the celebration is that rare videos and demos will be released leading up to the collectors edition of the album. Take a look a the director Anton Corbijn's cut for the album's biggest single and video, "Heart Shaped Box" below:

The National Conan Encore!

 The National were recently on Conan, and now Team Coco have released a web extra of the Brooklyn band's performance of their song, "I Need My Girl." Take a look!

John Legend on Letterman

Watch John Legend perform "All of Me" on Letterman!

Great Soundtracks: Boyz N the Hood

In 1991, no film shook America more than Boyz n the Hood. The film became a neo-realistic-esque look into life inside one of the country's most dangerous neighborhoods - Compton. While the film had people talking and getting a look at life inside the ghetto, the film's soundtrack fueled and furthered the testament of  what people living in that neighborhood were going through. With music from some of the biggest names in music at that time and of all time featuring one of the film's stars and former NWA member, Ice Cube, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Tevin Campbell, Kam, Too Short, 2 Live Crew, and Quincy Jones and many more. The music of Boyz n the Hood is just as explosive, violent, and truthful as the film itself, which was just a truthful display of how explosive and violent the hood was and still is.

Recommended Reading - What Would Keith Richards Do?

It is the age old question when put in a dynamic situation, where one would be confused, put in danger, or asked something they could not answer -- what would Keith Richards do? Those questions were finally answered in 2009 when writer and lifelong Rolling Stones fan, Jessica Pallington West released her book, What Would Keith Richards Do? It features quotes, memories, interviews and words of wisdom from rock and roll's greatest pirate. West poses a question and finds quotes, remarks, and conversations he has mentioned in the past as the answer. An example of this would be Richards remarking on being a legend, “I would rather be a legend than a dead legend," taking sides, "Whatever side I take, I know well that I will be blamed," and his drug addictions, “I’ve never had a problem with drugs, only with policemen.” It is part self-help book, part humorous lessons, and most of all a curious and clever way to look at how Keef has survived all these years.