Last night, Simian Mobile Disco’s Jas Shaw took over the decks at Santos Party House for one of the best Fixed parties of the year. The party drew a sizable crowd that included Armand van Helden, Telli Federline of Ninjasonik, Alex English, and more. As always, Fixed residents JDH and Dave P held it down with solid opening and closing sets.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM

Everyone in New York looks for big things; from big DJs, big clubs and big buzz, it’s all about the size of it all. Enter Dark Disco, MeanRed’s seminal event dedicated to all things massive. Originating from their Central Park event last year with Drop The Lime and Boys Noize, the MeanRed crew go darker and deeper in this installment; housing a multimedia extravaganza in the L.E.S. establishment Element. The fun starts with an atmosphere that will include ice sculpture art, textual imagery and much, much more, but the spotlight is on the group of artists who are coming together to provide the audio goodness for the 7-hour bash.

The artists taking the trans-Atlantic trip over are nothing short of epic; with Werk Discs head honcho Actress (off the heels of his amazing sophomore album, Splazsh), Hyperdub heroine Ikonika and UK Garage don MJ Cole providing the forward-thinking vibes of what’s across the pond with a spread of funky, dubstep and anything in between. Joining them will be NYC heroes Nick Hook (of Cubic Zirconia), Ghostly-based bass crooner Michna, and mythical house master Kenny Dope. In addition to all this, Canadian bass bomber Egyptrixx comes to round out a night full of amazing tunes.

Click through for a chance to win a pair of tickets. Advance tickets HERE.

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In a surprising union, Major Lazer (Diplo + Switch) has teamed up with La Roux to create Lazerproof, a mixtape that combines Major Lazer’s electro-dancehall bangers with tracks from La Roux’s eponymous debut album. No stranger to the realm of mixtapes, Diplo has collaborated with M.I.A. on Piracy Funds Terrorism and Santigold on Top Ranking, creating mixtapes that fuse the respective artists’ debut albums with a selection of hip hop, dubstep and reggae beats. La Roux’s songs have seen their share of dubstep remixes, making her collaboration with Major Lazer a little less surprising (bonus: check out tradehooks compilation of the best La Roux remixes HERE).

Lazerproof balances the familiar with the unfamiliar, while delivering surprise after surprise. Some songs are close derrivatives of their respective archetypes  - the Costra Nostra Edit of “Cover My Eyes” adds a ska beat while keeping the melody and vocals intact. “In For The Kill” gets reworked twice, first in “Independent Kill”, where Candi Redd raps over the original melody, then again in ”In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream”, which takes Skream’s pervasive remix  and laces it with a stripped-down beat from “Pon de Floor” for a curiously subtle result.

“Magic (Falling Soldiers Dub)”, a less obvious interpretation of “As If By Magic”, takes the vocals from its poppy predecessor and lays it over a reggae dub. Stripped of its synth undertones, the song takes on a completely different mood. The two closing tracks – “I Said It (Major Lazer Dubplate)” featuring Opal and “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)” featuring Gyptian – left us mystified. Although there are two La Roux songs that didn’t get the mixtape treatment (“Saviour” and “Reflections Are Protection”), neither resembles the tracks in question.

CLICK HERE to download Lazerproof from the Mad Decent blog, a free download if you get it today (Wednesday, May 26). Last we checked, the server was having some issues, so if you need it right this second (as we did), head over to the Stockholm Beat Connection for an alternate download link.

We leave you with two samples from Lazerproof: “In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream” and the mysterious “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)”. If you can figure out its origins, by all means, enlighten us in the comments section below.

Major Lazer & La Roux – “In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream”

Major Lazer & La Roux featuring Gyptian – “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)”

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Rock the Bells 2010 has landed, bringing a slew of hip hop greats to four cities across the nation. Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, KRS-One and Slick Rick, the line-up also includes Street Sweeper Social Club (led by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello), Clipse, Jedi Mind Tricks and more. Lauryn Hill is also slated to appear.

Though the line-up is stacked with hip hop veterans, we initially disappointed with the scarcity of current and up-and-coming artists. However, Rock the Bells is shaking things up this year with a new twist: the four headliners will perform their debut albums from start to finish – Slick Rick’s The Great Adventures Of (1989), KRS-One’s Criminal Minded (1987), Rakim’s Paid in Full (1987) and the Wu-Tang Clan’s groundbreaking Enter the 36 Chambers (1993) – a move that may have been inspired by Public Enemy’s outstanding performance of It Takes A Nation of Millions at last year’s Root’s Picnic in Philadelphia.

Rock the Bells hits New York City’s Governor’s Island on August 28. For updates on the line-up, set times and tickets, visit the official Rock the Bells website.

BPitch Control label boss, fashion designer, international DJ and recording artist Ellen Allien will be dropping by New York City this Saturday for Fixed at Santos Party House. She just released her fifth solo full-length, Dust, and continues to push the envelope of electronica as pop. This Saturday will be a special one as she takes us on a journey through outer space beats and minimalistic vocal buzzs. Fixed’s JDH & Dave P will be the supporting cast on May 29th.

We’re giving away two pairs of tickets to this once in lifetime occasion, one pair through Twitter, and one pair through our site. Enter the contest after the jump…

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This summer, Chromeo will embark on a 23-stop tour in support of their upcoming album, Business Casual, slated for release on August 17. Mixed by longtime Chromeo collaborator Phillipe Zdar, their third studio album will carry on their trademark funky synth-pop jams with “sentimental-yet-electronic pop music”. The album’s ten tracks include “Night by Night”, which was released through Green Label Sound last fall.

The “Business Casual Tour”, presented by Green Label Sound, will also feature New York’s own Holy Ghost!, fresh off a four-night stint at Terminal 5 with LCD Soundsystem. The tour starts on July 26 in Washington DC and will hit NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on July 29 - tickets go on sale this Wednesday, May 26. Check out Chromeo’s video for “Night by Night” after the jump, then head to the Green Label Sound website for a free download of the song, along with remixes by Skream and Siriusmo.

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With good weather comes outdoor concerts, barbecues and cruises. The Rocks Off Concert Cruise is back in full effect, bringing Chicago-based duo Flosstradamus on June 16. Autobot and J2K (Kid Sister’s brother) will bring their unique mix of club, hip-hop, house and juke aboard the Temptress as she sails around New York City for a three-hour tour.

The cruise boards at 7 PM and departs at 8 PM from West 41st Street. CLICK HERE for tickets and more info, and check out the Flosstradamus remix of Matt & Kim’s “Yeah Yeah” below.

Matt & Kim – “Yeah Yeah” (Flosstradamus Remix)

After a five-year absence, Robyn is set to release Body Talk Pt. 1 – her fifth studio album – on June 14. In anticipation, she has already released three tracks – “Femebot”, “None of Dem” (produced by Royksopp) and “Dancehall Queen” (produced by Diplo) – through digital outlets; today sees the video release for her first single, “Dancing On My Own”. The video, directed by Max Vitali, is about “being sad on a dance floor”, Robyn said in a behind-the-scenes video,”there’s a lot of dancing in the video, both by me and other people.” Decida, the video’s choreographer, adds: “It’s about her being kind of pissed off… and dancing and bringing out some kind of energy.” Indeed, the video showcases Robyn’s signature dance style that first charmed us on her 2007 tour.

The behind-the-scenes video also gives us a sneak peek of what her upcoming tour will look like. “It’s going to be looking a little bit like what I’m going to bring on tour,” Robyn said of the video set, “So it’s going to be a performance video but it’s also going to be in something like a rave or like a club or somewhere where people are dancing.” In a creative marketing move, Robyn and Kelis engaged in a Twitter conversation yesterday, which served to announce their joint US Tour, tentatively called the “All Hearts Tour”.

Watch the video for “Dancing On My Own” after the jump, and CLICK HERE for a behind-the-scenes look. We’ll be catching Robyn this summer when she headlines the Øya Festival in Oslo, and will bring you more details on her stateside jaunt as they emerge. Stay tuned…

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This Thursday, UK duo Simian Mobile Disco will return to New York City for their quarterly residency with Fixed’s JDH and Dave P. Last February’s kick-off at Le Poisson Rouge was nothing short of a rager, and we expect the same when the party moves to Santos Party House on May 27.

We’re giving away two pairs of tickets to this massive event, one pair through Twitter, and one pair through our site. Enter the contest after the jump…

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Our local DJ hero, Nick Catchdubs, squeezed together a sublime selection of tunes for Asian Dan to create Pink Lemonade, and this mix is a gem. One half of Fool’s Gold Records and curator of our favorite Flashing Lights party, Nick continues to enlighten our sonic palate. We look forward to hearing his upcoming release on FG and beyond. Check him spin this Friday, May 21st with Treasure Fingers and Maluca at Webster Hall.

Nick Catchdubs “Pink Lemonade” Mix [CLICK HERE to download via Asian Dan]

Hit the jump for the tracklist and make sure to visit  Asian Dan’s quick Q&A as he discusses future Fool’s Gold projects and gives us some insightful advice.

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