Cultivora shares with us what went on this week in the world of music festivals.

• Cultivora’s Catalpa NYC photos are now on Facebook! Read Laura Baker-Finch’s Catalpa recap then check out the Catalpa Facebook album, which includes Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Girl Talk, Matt & Kim, TV On The Radio, The Black Keys, and more.
• NYC’s Afro-Punk Festival completed its lineup. The free Brooklyn event taking place August 25-26 will now feature TV On The Radio, Alice Smith, Sinkane, and more.
• New artists were also added to Jay-Z’s Made in America Festival. The lineup now includes Drake, Run DMC, The Hives, DJ Shadow, Gary Clark Jr., and more.
• While at the Portland stop of Mumford & Sons’ touring festival, Gentlemen of the Road, Katie Curran sent Cultivora a digital postcard.
• Marjana Jaidi is in San Francisco for Outside Lands this weekend. She documented her journey there with a three-part Road to Outside Lands series.
• Check out what was newly released this Tuesday, stream the new albums and singles, and watch select videos in the August 7 edition of Laura Baker-Finch’s New Music Tuesday.
• Global Citizen just launched a free, advocacy festival to take place September 29- Global Festival. The event aims to end global poverty with The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Neil Young with Crazy Horse, and K’naan in Central Park.
• Last weekend, Jason Rezvan was in Chicago for Lollapalooza. When he returned to New York, he shared his Lolla tale with us.
• Beck was added to the Outside Lands Night Show schedule, which already included after-festival events with Of Monsters and Men, Sharon Van Etten, Andrew Bird, and more.
• If you still haven’t purchased your Electric Zoo tickets, you better get on it! $135 single day passes end tonight at midnight.
• If you are attending Outside Lands this weekend, make sure to check out all the events taking place in San Francisco for the festival. Also make sure you brush up on all the activities available within the festival to keep you engaged during set breaks.
• Yesterday, Laura Baker-Finch took the effort out of planning the perfect music filled week by sharing her curated list of the best NYC music events taking place this week, August 9-15.

Coming Up: Outside Lands takes place in San Francisco this weekend, check back with us early next week for Marjana Jaidi’s coverage and photos.

We at HiFi Cartel are excited to announce our upcoming event at Brooklyn’s Glasslands, featuring the likes of some proper badmen…and a badgyal. Stopping off in NYC as part of their Surefire Sound Spring Tour, we bring you the likes of Addison Groove (LIVE) and Doc Daneeka on April 28th. Opening up the night will be bass sweetheart and Miami-based producer/DJ Jubilee. Check out more info on the artists at the jump.

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BALANCE 020, a two-disc compilation mixed by Sweden’s Deetron, will be out Tuesday, November 8. Featuring a selection of classics and lesser-known tracks, this mix seeks to prove that vinyl and digital mixing can coexist. As Deetron puts it, “This compilation is a celebration of the gorgeous format that is vinyl and a praise for the endless possibilities the digital world has to offer.” The track selection and structure of each of these two sublime mixes lovingly and carefully reflects that inherent choice of medium, while at all times reminding the listener why his highly accessible, humanistic sound is so widely cherished and embraced.

Balance 020 is an easy contender for the finest compilation of 2011. North American customers can head over to Balance Music’s online store to purchase BALANCE 020 on Tuesday.

Not familiar with Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross? You will be after hearing his remix of “Original Don,” the latest single from Major Lazer. The original was nothing to spit at, but given how complex the track is, it was begging to be remixed.

The Mad Decent labelmate responsible for this gem is Dexter Tortoriello, a producer out of Chicago. His take on the track highlights the synth, ups the bass, and peaks with an epic guitar solo. It’s somehow darker, and yet it feels perfectly suited to the club.

A digital EP, featuring this remix and other versions of “Original Don,” will be released November 1. Until then, you can stream the remix HERE.

The latest single from Duck Sauce (a.k.a. A-Trak and Armand Van Helden), “Big Bad Wolf,” was released this week. North and South American fans can purchase the track on Beatport and iTunes, with all other international versions slated for release by the end of the month. Keep your eyes out for the video, which should be out in the next few days.

Thom Yorke and Modeselektor are long time collaborators, so it’s no surprise that the Radiohead frontman appears not once but twice on Modeselektor’s third LP, Monkeytown, due at the end of September. Click through to hear both Thom Yorke tracks, ‘Shipwreak’ and ‘This’, in their entirety plus preview bits of the full LP.

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M83′s new album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is due out mid-October. The band will be gracing NYC with their presence shortly thereafter on November 22 at Webster Hall. (Tickets are already sold out! We suggest consulting Craigslist.) Danish mastermind, Trentemoller, released his own take on the electro-pop track. What was once a minor four chord ear-worm has morphed into an eerie story infused with chromatic and pitch-bending dissonances. The delicacy of the haunting intro makes you want to loop the first 18 seconds. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.

Midnight City (Trentemøller Remix) by M83

Midnight City by M83

A-Trak’s given us all something to “go dance in front of the mirror” for. He says the mirror, I say on your roof top while the September sun sets over New York City. Anyways, this mix is loaded with goodies such as a new Duck Sauce track The Big Bad Wolf and 1984′s Arabesque put out by Discobelle. Give this one a listen and let us know what you think.

Fool’s Gold Radio – July 2011 Mix by A-Trak

Tracklist after the jump.

1. Kid Gloves – Music Power (A-Trak Intro Edit) – Fool’s Gold
2. Rogerseventytwo – You Take Me Higher – Fool’s Gold
3. Marble Players – Let You Go – Marble
4. Alexander Technique & Junior Sanchez – One Day They Love You – InHouse
5. Kid Gloves – Below The Belt – Fool’s Gold
6. Carte Blanche feat. Alexis Taylor – With You – Ed Banger
7. Deadboy – Wish You Were Here – Numbers
8. Tripmastas – Roll Dat – Magnetic
9. Duck Sauce – Big Bad Wolf
10. Santiago & Bushido – Rhythm For Me – Relief
11. Kry Wolf – Lost In Tremé
12. Roska – Abrupt – Hotflush
13. Dexter – Fat Skinny People – Clone Crown Ltd.
14. The Count & Sinden – Future (Canblaster Remix) – Domino
15. Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team – Bassface – Sound Pellegrino
16. Dr. Gonzo – Dushi – Southern Fried
17. 1984 – Arabesque (NT89 Remix) – Discobelle
18. Arnaud Rebotini – All You Need Is Techno (Gesaffelstein Remix) – Blackstrobe
19. Bart B More & Tommy Sunshine – Body Work – Secure
20. Felix Cartal – The Joker – Dimmak
21. Bassjackers – Mush Mush – Musical Freedom
22. D.I.M & TAI – Ion – Boys Noize Records
23. Clouds – Numbers – Turbo
24. Jaymo & Andy George – Tension – Moda
25. Siriusmo – Feromonikon – Monkeytown
26. Icona Pop – Manners (Style Of Eye Remix) – Kitsuné
27. Para One & Tacteel – Always – Fool’s Gold

David “Dave 1″ Macklovitch and Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel (better known as Chromeo) have just released their newest video for When The Night Falls featuring Solange Knowles. The video is filled of your typical 80′s music references as well as a synth line that almost identically matches Madonna’s Lucky Star. The mildly disturbing video seems to suggest Dave 1 can immediately impregnate women with just a look- oh baby baby. Overall, this track should give a fun upbeat kick to your mundane Wednesday.

Just the other day, I found myself remarking to a friend that Canadian house revivalists Azari & III seemed to be keeping relatively quiet recently, and how it was unfortunate considering their infectious energy and sound. Lo and behold, I only needed to check my ever overflowing inbox to see that they are in fact set to release their debut LP on August 12, 2011, and for the time being the entire album can be streamed through Soundcloud below.
Azari & III

At first listen, the album is much what you would expect it to me: soaring diva vocals and energizing peaks lift the listener into ecstasy-like highs that can only be expressed adequately on a strobing dancefloor. However, their is a darker side to this album as well; a layer beneath the pure hedonism that in many ways is symbolic of what we as a culture have learned since the 1990s. The lightly masked wisdom seems to warn of what our generation already knows: that relationships built in nightclubs do not last, that beauty fades, that drugs wear off, and that eventually, the lights do turn back on.

Perhaps because of this, the tracks that most stand out on this album are the ones that express this duality in both their sound and lyrical content. Ironically, these tracks that could almost be more apt referred to as “songs” are also the ones that set themselves apart as dancefloor anthems. That is not to say that the instrumental tracks are less interesting, but they are interesting in a more strictly musical sense and seem to be more suited for personal listening.

Notable tracks include “Into the Night”, which is groovy and full of live, recalling the early stages of a blossoming love affair, where everything sparkles and every breath is intoxicating. I do not think it is accidental that this track opens the album, as this feeling of giddy new romance is representative of the inception of every person’s affair with nightlife.

If “Into the Night” is the naive beginning of a love affair with the night, “Reckless (With Your Love)” then represents the next level of developing maturity, delving into deeper house and calling forth a distinct taint of irony. It tells a story of someone figuratively hiding in the party, wearing a mask of freedom and fun that truly stems from an attempt to fill the void within. This irony is then magnified by the musicality of the track, as at first glance it seems made for the dancefloor, yet on a deeper level contains a beat that could almost be interpreted as melancholy. It is furthermore interesting that the infamous Tensnake remix of this track has been the more popular version, as it glosses over the darker underbelly turning it into true pop. This almost adds a third layer of irony – that the remix that focuses on danceability and lightheartedness, thereby ignoring the true meaning, represents, if you will, the mask worn by the subject of the track itself.

“Change of Heart” also stands out, with its echoed female vocals that sound almost ethereal when laid over needling synths. Conversely, “Manhooker” seems to be the most honesty dark track of the album, with elements that are almost industrial and stark infused with an overlay of sex, recalling a low-point in hedonistic revelry. “Hungry for the Power” is given depth by its subject matter, which is all about control, turning this track which might otherwise come off as cheesy into something much, much more.

You can purchase the album HERE, and check out the full tracklist below.

01. Into the Night
02. Reckless (With Your Love)
03. Tunnel Vision
04. Indigo
05. Lost In Time
06. Infiniti
07. Change of Heart
08. Manhooker
09. Undecided
10. Hungry for Power
11. Manic