Lukas Ligeti represents a true change of musical pace. An Austrian born composer and percussionist, Legeti embodies an adventurous approach to music. Everything about the music comes from a place of personal discovery. He often performs on an invented electronic percussion instrument called a marimba lumina, which serves double duty as both a midi-controller and percussion instrument. By playing the percussion on the marimba, he calls upon prerecorded samples from his many journeys to Africa (and beyond) as well as prerecorded compositions of his own. [Photo by Chris Woltmann] Ever the experimenter, most recently Ligeti spent time in Uruguay making ...

By Zachary Swickey The head honcho of one of the world’s biggest music festivals – England's iconic Glastonbury Festival – has revealed that he offered the 2013 headlining to vocal powerhouse Adele, but the singer shockingly turned the dream gig down. While the festival is currently on its traditional break (it does so every five [...]

Nootropics - intelligence-enhancing chemicals - lend their name to Lower Dens’ recently-released second album, and it’s precisely within this mental sphere, rather than any emotional or physical one, that tonight’s performance does its best work. But first, Lower Dens band member Carter Tanton takes to the stage, equipped with a twelve-string acoustic guitar, some effects and a loop pedal. With these, and a later switch to an electric guitar, he constructs some fascinating sonic landscapes, accompanied by his voice, sometimes also electronically modified. As his set goes on these creations become increasingly experimental, and he crosses a fair amount of ...

Extra Life Dream Seeds [Northern Spy; 2012] by Jeff Roesgen Rating: Each of Extra Life’s three albums have come across as closely-guarded confessions. Not the kind a killer or an adulterer makes in exchange for a clear conscience, but those of the shamed victim, the one cursed to wonder whether they’d done something to provoke the mistreatment they’ve received. Secular Works , the band’s debut, explored such notions as they present to the outside world. It discussed with clear omniscience pathological and social maladies like bleeding and blackmail, allowing the listener to observe the pain and shame ...

In case you hadn't noticed, Jim 'Om Unit' Coles has been blazing quite a trail lately. Never afraid to take it really slow, or really fast - ever since his unprecedented and ahead-of-its-time 2010 release on Plastician's dubstep and grime label Terrorhythm - his productions seem to have a weird gravitational pull, dripping with bass weight and beautifully-wrought synths. Apparently defined by a love of sci fi atmospherics and stone cold grooves, and the guy has yet to produce a duff track, also embarking on collaborations with Baobinga (on the latter's recent album), and explorations in the jungle/juke ...

Continuing our series of monthly columns, John Fordham picks out his musical milestones from the past few weeks. Tell us in the comments section below if there's things we've missed, plus what you'd like to see John covering in next month's column 1) An anniversary: Herbie Hancock's Takin' Off Thanks to those who posted comments on last month's Take Five – including nilpferd's suggestion that Herbie Hancock's 1962 Blue Note debut Takin' Off would make a fitting 50th anniversary classic for May. I couldn't agree more. Chicago-raised Hancock was just 22 when ...

When it came time to shoot a visual for “Let’s Go”, Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo clearly took some notes from David Guetta‘s video for his Usher-featuring hit “Without You”. Both clips are ones that trot around the globe and feature people with a penchant for getting down in search of adventure in their lives. Naturally ... More »

Go-go didn't fly on record for a simple reason: it was made to be heard in a packed, sweaty club. Preferably in Washington DC Last week's news that Trouble Funk were to sue the Beastie Boys over unlicensed samples might have had a fair few Beasties fans thinking: who? Which would be a reasonable enough response, for a couple of years in the mid-80s apart – when Washington DC's go-go scene briefly became a media sensation – Trouble Funk have barely made a ripple outside their home city. Go-go is the US capital's own version of funk, a ...

Meanwhile, 'Dark Shadows' Casts None When a movie scores the biggest opening weekend of all time (by nearly $40 million, in this case), the expectation is that it should continue to smash records. So, at a glance, “The Avengers” scoring the largest second weekend in film history isn’t exactly newsworthy. Though most prognosticators pegged the film, following a stupefying opening act of $207 million, to level off in the vicinity of 70% or so. As it turns out, a lot of your friends missed out on the movie the first time around, and after losing a little more than ...

The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter crosses the Atlantic to play an intimate show at the Slaughtered Lamb in London, with support from Madam. Steve Asenjo sends these shots.

Mark Lanegan has been keeping himself busy over the last few years. He's released albums with Isobel Campbell, The Gutter Twins, Soulsavers, Queens Of The Stone Age, and even his old group Screaming Trees. With all of that going on, his own work got shunted to the side. Well, no longer. Lanegan has returned with Blues Funeral, the new album from Mark Lanegan Band. This is a bit of a tweener album for Lanegan. The songs don't form a cohesive whole. In fact, it sounds as though this is a collection of misfit tracks that didn't fit ...

Go Radio and This Providence are currently finishing up The Lucky Street Tour and we were lucky enough to have both bands put together a new PropertyOfZack Playlist feature. Check out the Playlists and listen to the songs on Spotify while reading everyone’s thoughts! (Click on image to listen in Spotify) Elephant">Cage The Elephant - Always Something This is the opening track from, “Thank You Happy Birthday”. Love the song’s lyrical concept and production. Great way to kick off what was my favorite record of last year. Tahiti 80 - 1000 Times Don’t know much about this band ...

Video interviews with seldom-seen international dance icons are great, especially when they typically hide behind beaming crosses and carry incredibly thick French accents.  As part of their 23-stop trip exploring the domestic musical scene, Dr Pepper's One Of A Kind Music Access  links up with Justice while in Austin, TX.  Brought by Brad Wete from the squad at Complex, the duo lend their thoughts on the TX capital and renown musical institution, their unique stage presence, and plenty more. Complex will continue to deliver the documented experiences from DP's cross-country product - keep track of   #alwaysoneofakind on the tweet ...

Many have said Chino Moreno is vying for the title of "new Mike Patton" and he's on his way (Deftones, Team Sleep, Crosses). Moreno has teamed up with ex-Isis member Aaron Harris, Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide to form Palms . Oddly enough, Patton's own Ipecac Recordings will release the debut album later this year. [ theprp.com ]

The inaugural Crossing Brooklyn Ferry music festival kicked off last night. A three-day music and film celebration, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the event is taking place across the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s various theater spaces through Saturday night. Natio...