To celebrate Resident Advisor’s 10th anniversary, they’ve cooked up something rather epic: a series of ten parties in ten cities around the world, each with a secret headliner.

The ten parties in ten cities thing is pretty easy to understand, so here’s the deal with the secret headliners: each event will feature one carefully selected artist who RA thinks has positively influenced the electronic music landscape over the past decade. Their identities will remain strictly under wraps until they take the stage. Up to that point, each one will be known simply as the X.

For the US stop, they’re taking over Le Poisson Rouge on August 20, the iconic live music venue in Greenwich Village. With the live dynamic firmly in mind, the X has curated a line-up that combines Montreal Jazz Festival stars King Sunshine, a nine-piece ensemble that’s worked with everyone from Robert Owens to DJ Sneak, with master of all things soulful deep house Peven Everett, plus Mala, half of pioneering dubstep duo Digital Mystikz, and Japan’s DJ Masashi Nakazawa. The night will close with a performance by the X, an esteemed headliner whose identity will remain unknown until he or she takes the stage.

The poster for this one is done by Zeke Clough, the man behind Shackleton’s vivid and occasionally disturbing sleeve designs. As usual, this one’s all organs, bones and things getting impaled. Only 75 will be available, all screen-printed and sold only on RA. It’s shipping internationally too for those of you who can’t be there but would still like a piece of the action.

Check out Mala’s XLR8R Podcast from the end of May for a taste of what to expect.

To help celebrate RA’s New York shindig, they’re giving away entry to the party for one person and three of their friends, as well as a $200 bar tab to help sweeten the deal. What’s more, they’ll also kick in one of the limited edition posters.

Grand Prize
One winner will receive:
- Entry to the event for themselves and three friends
- A limited edition screen-print poster by Zeke Clough
- A $200 bar tab

Runners up Prize
Four winners will receive:
- Entry to the event for themselves and three friends

Head HERE to enter the competition, or purchase your advanced tickets HERE.

Synthesizer music innovators Alan Howarth and Harald Grosskopf play with Emeralds as part of the Unsound Festival at Le Poisson Rouge on Friday night.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM

Last Tuesday, Jamie xx, Sepalcure and Creep each brought their own unique brand of electronic music to the newly rearranged Le Poisson Rouge. Creep started out the night right with their deeper and more sultry sound, coaxing the crowd onto the dance floor. Sepalcure took over afterwards and turned up the intensity with their set, which maintained a marked techno and acid vibe throughout. Finally, Jamie xx, who has been growing exponentially in reputation this past year, played a bass heavy set that spoke to an increased understanding, or wisdom if you will, concerning his foray into electronic music.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL PHOTO GALLERY

There’s nothing like the prospect of a truly awesome weekend to inspire a productive workweek. This week, Fixed has made it easy for you to sort out your after dark plans, as they’re offering up two killer parties with some outstanding house talent. Thursday, February 10, Norwegian DJ/producer and pioneer of the space-disco sound Lindstrøm will take Santos Party House on a voyage through the stars, and Saturday, February 12, rising stars Azari & III will take the stage at Le Poisson Rouge, supported by Teengirl Fanasy‘s synth heavy beats.

Raised on country and western music in the outskirts of the Norwegian oil town Stavanger, Lindstrøm now lives in Oslo where he is making contemporary disco and running his Feedelity label. Coming from gospel choirs, country and rock bands without any knowledge of dance music whatsoever, he entered the scene rather freed from any preconceived notions of style and trend parameters. He hung on to the habit of making music by playing melodies on real instruments, and the fact that he plays all the instruments on his recordings – guitars, bass, keyboards, drums and percussion- enables him to make music inspired by whatever his influences are at the moment. Lindstrøm today enjoys a cult-like status within dance music circles, although the humble guy himself is happy doing what he loves on an underground scale. He likes to have control over both his own music and publishing, which is why he releases all of his music on his own label Feedelity in collaboration with Oslo`s Smalltown Supersound.

Stream Lindstrøm’s “I Feel Space” below.

Advanced tickets for Lindstrøm can be purchased HERE.

Azari & II have been describes as hungry, reckless, and taking the world by storm with their relentless love beats and fanatical siren songs. They want to free your spirit through raw ass dance music all night long! The mysterious duo from the northern steppes of Canada started a fire burning with the brazen Hungry For The Power, a single released last fall that is continually blowing up with fans ranging from Annie Mac to Grizzly Bear, Boys Noize to Broken Social Scene. The follow up smash, Reckless (With Your Love), is currently serving up a dose of techno soul that’s highly addictively repeatable. With remixes for and by the likes of Health, Munk, Booka Shade, Le Le, Bot’ox, Ali Love, Sidwo? Nacho Lovers, Mano Le Tough, Runaway, Cosmo Vitelli and Mathias Aguayo, the electronic world is waited with bated breath to see what comes next.

Stream Azari & III’s “Reckless With Your Love (Tensnake Remix)” below.

Teengirl Fantasy is Logan and Nick, two friends at Oberlin College in Ohio. It’s tough to classify Teengirl Fantasy’s music within one genre – both Harmonia and CeCe Peniston serve as equal reference points. Teengirl Fantasy’s love of drone, 4/4, and warm gating synths force new classifications of electronic music. Their debut album, 7AM, was released in September 2010 through True Panther Sounds/Merok labels.

Advanced tickets for Azari & III and Teengirl Fantasy can be purchased HERE.

As someone who is constantly enveloped in music made with computers, I sometimes forget what a wide variety of actual musical instruments there are, and what incredible sound can be created with them. It is an interesting phenomenon that music and technology have become interwoven to a point where there is no separation in my thought process, and physical instruments and sheet music begin to appear archaic, like looking at an old photograph. Last Thursday I was quickly reminded of the rich and diverse history of music production and composition when I stepped into Le Poisson Rouge and caught my first glimpse of the Metropolis Ensemble’s full orchestral set up. Metropolis Ensemble is a nonprofit professional chamber orchestra and collective of emerging performing artists and composers. Led by Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr, Metropolis Ensemble is dedicated to launching the next generation of outstanding composers and performers and has quickly established a reputation for presenting new music played with the same kind of panache and bravura usually only experienced in performances of standard repertoire.

The event itself, Hallucinations, was self-described as a mind-bending concert featuring the world premiere electronic-acoustic remix by Ricardo Romaneiro of John Corigliano’s “Three Hallucinations”, based on his Academy Award-nominated film score to “Altered States,” paired with music by Enrico Chapela and newly commissioned electronic-acoustic works by Du Yun, Gity Razaz, and Ricardo Romaniero. Surrealistic instrumental and electronic effects were combined with frenetic orchestral textures and sparse, eerie melodies to create a surround-sound cinematic experience.

The most interesting aspect of the performance was not as much the execution of the pieces themselves, although each one was performed brilliantly by the array of talented musicians, but the underlying concept of fusing electronic and classical music in order to take the listener on a journey that became nearly timeless. While I must admit to the tiniest hint of doubt when I first glanced a set of turntables set up next to a full size harp, I was swiftly drawn in by the vision of the composers, whose thought processes behind each piece were progressive and in many ways, quite ground breaking. By taking elements from the more traditional understanding of musical composition and performance and combining it with modern sounds created with computers, Metropolis Ensemble managed to give a performance unlike anything I had ever heard.

Check out the full photo gallery from the evening’s experience HERE.

On Saturday night, Fixed continued their hot streak with a live set by Lindstrøm. Together with Fixed residents JDH and Dave P, the Norwegian DJ/producer provided an evening of feel-good tunes to a packed room at Le Poisson Rouge.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM

If you missed out on the action, well, that’s too bad since Saturday night was one of only three stops on Lindstrøm’s brief US tour… BUT on the bright side you have two chances to party with Fixed this week, first with Simian Mobile Disco on Thursday at Santos Party House (yes, they will be open) then on Saturday for 6ixed with Tensnake and Villa at Le Poisson Rouge, celebrating Fixed’s Six Year Anniversary. CLICK HERE for your chance to win a pair of tickets to each event.

In the coming week, New York is getting treated to not one, but two fantastic artist/producer sets, with MiM0SA at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday, and Bonobo at Webster Hall on Monday. We’re giving away a pair of tickets to each event, CLICK HERE to go directly to the contest, and check out more info about the amazing artists after the jump…

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As we walked down Bleecker towards Le Poisson Rouge Saturday night, there was no doubt that the event we were approaching was something epic, as torrents of fans itching to get high on bass music poured towards the doors and waited for their chance to gain access to the mecca of heavy bass awaiting below. A wall of heat and heavy sub-bass slammed into our senses as we walked down the stairs and into the darkened cave that Le Poisson Rouge had morphed into. Sweat dipped down every back as heaving bodies quite literally slammed into each other in a fit of Trouble & Bass ecstasy, with the whole crew reunited after their respective touring this summer.

The Trouble & Bass gang (Drop the Lime, AC Slater, Star Eyes, and The Captain) brought their usual stellar sets with an array of bass music, kicking it up to an even higher degree of excellence for the festive occassion. A plethora of classic dupstep tunes that we’re used to anticipating from a Trouble & Bass set, with the crowd completely losing their minds such tracks as Little Jinder’s “Youth Blood”. Even the now infamous saxephone player from Drop the Lime’s “Sex Sax” video made an appearance, trenchcoat, hat and all.

Special guests Bart B More and Plastician respectively took the reigns during the peak hours of the party, dropping massive sets brimming with some seriously wobbly basslines dropped at the precisely perfect moment. But then, we’ve some to expect nothing less than awesome from the incredible roster of talent that the Trouble & Bass crew always manages to bring to our fair city. We can’t wait to see what dubstep chaos they’ll surprise us with in the colder months to come, as there’s nothing like a little sub-bass to ward off the winter chill.

Check out the full gallery from the night of sweaty bass driven madness HERE.

A subculture is understood as a group of people with a culture, distinct or hidden, which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. Subcultures can be distinctive because of the age, ethnicity, class, location, and/or gender of the members. For The HiFi Cartel, our subculture is that of an unwavering and impassioned dedication to music – and to sub bass. We believe in music that you can feel in your very being, music that makes you forget all about the worries of the day and the pressures of responsibility, music that makes you move without caring that anyone else is watching. We do not care about the label on your jacket, where you went to school or how much money you have in your bank account, for we serve only the rhythm, the beat, and the sub-bass frequencies which do not discriminate or pass judgment. Every subculture needs its arena, every sub-bass its system, and with that in mind, we are delighted to announce that on Thursday, September 23, 2010, The HiFi Cartel will bring you the premiere edition of sub:culture, our own celebration of musical innovation and inspiration, at Le Poisson Rouge.

Click through to learn more about the amazing artists on the roster for the evening and to preview some of their music. Advanced tickets to the event can be purchased HERE, or you can RSVP HERE for reduced admission. All RSVPs will be automatically entered to win a free pair of tickets.

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On Saturday night, Le Poisson Rouge hosted France’s Deep Forest, who gave their New York City debut performance to a crowd of enamored fans, most of whom seemed nothing short of absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to experience the innovative electronic world music in a live setting. Many spectators had clearly been in tune with the sounds of Deep Forest for many years, recognizing almost every song and grooving enthusiastically at all the right moments, creating an infectious energy of joy and reunion akin to the feeling of visiting visiting a dear old friend.

Spirits were high amongst audience members, as frontman Eric Mouquet announced his intention to primarily cover old material, particularly from their self-titled debut album. They opened appropriately with the title track off Deep Forest, following with many other iconic tracks, including “Endangered Species”, “Madzulu”, and “Sweet Lullaby”, keeping their focus primarily on material based on African indigenous rhythms and samples, with a brief foray into Eastern European culture with “Cafe Europa”. Rather than continuously playing tracks back to back, transitions between songs were marked by an introduction on the part of Eric Mouquet, who provided a brief background and explanation for each coming track. This, along with significant alteration of the lighting scheme for each song, enabled the audience to truly appreciate each individual track as a work of art, and to focus on the complexities of the sound more actively.

Throughout the performance, a visual backdrop consisting of footage from life in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, focused the eye as well as the ear on the performance. The footage was taken from a film scored by Eric Mouquet, to be released this winter. Check out his website for more information.

Ultimately, the experience was made enjoyable not only by the quality of the musicianship, but by the sheer joy that the artists themselves expressed on stage. Their appreciation for their music, for one another, and for the support of the audience made it impossible to not be swept into the feeling of elation, leaving the crowd begging for just one more song after the end of the encore.