This summer, Hard is going bigger than ever, with not one, but TWO New York City visits from the LA-based party machine.

On July 24, Hard will carry on one of NYC’s favorite summer pastimes with an outdoor concert at Governor’s Island. Headliner M.I.A. will be joined by fellow Creators Project alums Die Antwoord and Sleigh Bells, along with Skream, Benga, Rye Rye, Theophilus London, Borgore, Destructo, 12th Planet, Nguzunguze and Ninjasonik, all coming together for an evening of music you won’t want to miss. [tickets + info]

This August, Hard will also hit the road for their first tour, stopping in 12 cities across the US and Canada. Crystal Castles, Sinden and Destructo will take over NYC’s Terminal 5 on August 21, with more performers to be announced at a later date. [tickets + info]

To prepare you for the madness, the good folks at Hard released a promotional mix featuring artists that will perform at Hard this summer. Though the mix is geared towards the L.A. events, the mix is not only free, but also good, so who are we to complain? Listen to the mix below, or CLICK HERE download. Peep the tracklist after the jump…

Hard Promo Mix (Produced by Nitrus)

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As the warm weather settles, a certain hoopla and madness goes along with it, and the film “A Million in the Morning” puts the icing on the cake of madness. The documentary follows Gavin McInnes, co-founder of Vice magazine, as he provides commentary and interviews while 8 contenders attempt to break the Guinness World Record for non-stop movie watching. To beat the record, contestants had to stay up for five days straight – a whopping 123 hours – which breaks down to 57 films with 10-minute breaks in between. The winner would receive a $10,000 grand prize from Netflix.

We made our way earlier this week for a screening of the film and found it surprisingly entertaining. With so much going on in New York City, we often wish we could forgo sleep to take it all in. Seeing the side effects of sleep deprivation and dementia unfold in front of a camera makes “A Million in the Morning” an interesting watch. For a measure of the insanity in the film, check out this piece by Jason Goldwatch on Hypebeast.

Following the screening at The Red Bull space, the Decon Records event moved from the screens to decks helmed by DJ Teenwolf and DJ Parler. Performances by Cerebral Ballzy and Ninjasonik’s Telli and Jah Jah kept the revelry going. It was a big night for Ninjasonik, who were featured on the film’s soundtrack and released their debut album, Art School Girls, on the same day. After their performance, they jumped on their skateboards (crew in tow), and headed to Pianos for their album release party. Ninjasonik’s tour with The Clipse will hit Highline Ballroom on May 6. They will also perform at Hard NYC at Governor’s Island on July 24 with M.I.A., Theophilus London, Sleigh Bells 12th Planet, Benga, Destructo and more. Tickets and info HERE.

Check out a photo montage of the evening courtesy of Peter Ruprecht and  Ruprecht Studios below, and click through to watch the video for Jay Electronica’s theme song for “A Million in the Morning” with a download of the track.

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Tomorrow night (Wednesday), Trouble & Bass will celebrate the release of “Take You” by AC Slater at their monthly party, No Escape from New York at the Studio at Webster Hall. RCRDLBL recently posted the Tete-A-Tete remix of the song, which features Ninjasonik (download it HERE). The original track, along with remixes by Drop the Lime, Nadastrom and more, is available on Beatport and iTunes.

AC Slater featuring Ninjasonik – “Take You” (Nadastrom Remix)

Making his first NYC appearance, Roska will join the Trouble & Bass Crew behind the decks, bringing us his trademark bass-driven underground London beats (check out his podcast for XLR8R HERE). Also from London, Tomb Crew will be on hand to unleash a mixed bag of dubstep, grime, fidget, drum n bass and bmore (listen to their No Love Lost Records mix HERE).

CLICK HERE to RSVP for reduced $7 admission. All RSVPs will be automatically entered to win a pair of tickets to the show. In preperation for the madness, be sure to check out Trouble & Bass’s latest Smashcast featuring AC Slater. Listen to it below or CLICK HERE to subscribe.

Trouble & Bass Smashcast 008: AC Slater

Full event details after the jump…

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This Friday, One Step Beyond, The Fader’s monthly party at the American Museum of Natural History, will return with live performances by The Very Best, Theophilus London and Ninjasonik. One Step Beyond, which is held in The Rose Center for Earth and Space, pairs the museum’s unique ambiance with top musical acts from around the world. Past performers include  Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Simian Mobile Disco, Switch, Matthew Dear, Jazzy Jeff, Amanda Blank and Kid Sister.

The Very Best and Theophilus London have crossed paths (so to speak) on London’s remixes of “Warm Heart of Africa” and “Julia”, and while we’ve witnessed stellar independent performances of “Julia” by both artists, we look forward to the prospect of a live collaboration. As for Ninjasonik, they’re the type of band you just have to see live.

Make sure you get your tickets in advance; the last installment of One Step Beyond - featuring Animal Collective and Fischerspooner - was completely sold out.

After the jump, catch a sneak peak of Theophilus London’s latest mixtape, I Want You, with a behind-the-scenes video from Va$htie, who is featured on the song “Flying Overseas”. The songs previewed on the video reveal a more laid-back side of London, who has clearly evolved since his last two projects, Jam! and This Charming Mixtape. Be on the lookout for I Want You when it drops this spring.

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This past Thursday, Dim Mak presented a showcase hosted by Roxy Cottontail that included Ninjasonik, Japanther, Team Facelift, The Auctioneers,  DJs Gina Turner, Jonathan Famous, Fashen and “(not so) secret European guests” DJ Mehdi, Justice, Uffie and others in town for Ed Banger Record’s seven year anniversary party. The roller-coaster-of-a-night fueled moments of beers in the air, crowd surfing and a party with enough noise and bass to render 96 Lafayette Street on the richter scale as a minuscule earthquake. Fat Jew of Team Facelift summed it up best when he remarked, “its time to make mistakes… let’s have some fun.” And indeed, they did – bringing along rapper Buckshot for the festivities.

Back from their European tour, Ninjasonik rocked the crowd…as usual. DJ Fasheen followed with a combination of mixes that added to the reverberation on the riveting and busy dance floor. The toast of the night, DJ Mehdi surprised the audience with a set that packed the dance floor well into the night. Displaying a great variety of talent and acts (mainly from New York), Cloak and Dagger vivified  a cold Winter night with fun indoors. The event seeks to “provide the best in electro” and “solidify dominance over the dance floor” as a part of a new monthly series at Santos Party House with Steve Aoki’s Dim  Mak label.

Check out photos from the revelry of Cloak and Dagger by Oliver Correa.

Next week, Dim Mak will return to the east coast with their bimonthly “Cloak and Dagger” party. Their last event in November was pure and utter mayhem (in the best possible way), and with repeat performances by Team Facelift and Ninjasonik, we are anticipating another crazy night. Japanther and The Auctioneers are also slated to perform live, with DJ sets by Fashen, DJ Jonny Famous and Gina Turner.

The real question is, who are the “(not so) secret European guests”? Since Ed Banger Records is celebrating their seven-year anniversary at Terminal 5 on the following night, we’re hoping that Justice, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, and/or Breakbot will pop in for a surprise set.

Win tickets after the jump by letting us know who you think the (not so) secret European guests will be… Or you can purchase tickets HERE. There are a limited number of $5 advance tickets available – get the access code by emailing partyline@dimmak.com.

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Meet Fool’s Gold’s latest signee, Telephoned, the brainchild of Maggie Horn and Fool’s Gold DJ/producer Sammy Bananas.  The 18-track “Off The Hook” Mixtape features a new spin on many songs that we already know and (in some cases) love.

The project’s tracks are neither remixes nor covers, rather a hybrid of both. Sammy Bananas expertly morphs the original beats into infectious tunes fit for the dance floor. Paired with Maggie Horn’s vocal stylings, each song on the mixtape brings a fresh take on the original track. The reggae-tinged “Dancin’ On Me” (Featuring Jahdan Blakkamoore) samples Enur’s Calabria and has a hint of dubstep, while “Million Dollar Bill” (originally by Whitney Houston) samples Major Lazer’s “Keep it Goin Louder”. The mixtape also features reimagined versions of “aNYway” by Duck Sauce, “Turn My Swag On” by Soulja Boy (featuring Telli Gramz from Ninjasonik), and “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

Cop a free download of the mixtape from RCRDLBL or stream it after the jump. The duo’s self-titled EP, released today, is available on iTunes and features full versions of “Dancin’ On Me”, “Turn My Swag On”, “Rockin’ That Thang”, “Pop Champagne”, and “Can’t Believe It”.

Telephoned will be celebrating the release of their EP tomorrow night at Ella. Check out our events page for more details and to RSVP. You can also catch the duo at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 30th with Cubic Zirconia and Cage. Click here for tickets.

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Trouble & Bass‘ first outing of the year proved to be a resounding success. Testing the waters with a new venue, The Studio at Webster Hall was a more fitting backdrop for the grimy bass that we’ve come to expect from the Trouble & Bass Crew, who kicked things off with a tag-team set. The Captain, Star Eyes, and AC Slater began on a lighter note, with some Jeff Mills-inspired electro-pop; it wasn’t until later that The Captain moved into dubstep after dropping a remix of Sisqo’s “Thong Song”. Other highlights included remixes of “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” by SOS Band and “Sound of Kuduro” by Buraka Som Sistema (featuring M.I.A.).

As they took the stage close to 1 AM, Ninjasonik frontman Telli Gramz appropriately declared, “we’re here to bring a little trouble to go along with this bass”. While there was considerably less crowd surfing this time around, Ninjasonik managed to keep the energy high with songs like “Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant”, and remixes of Major Lazer’s “Hold the Line” and “Pon de Floor”. They closed with their remix of “Daylight” by Matt and Kim.

Like the tropical song that he opened with, Uproot Andy blew in like a fresh breeze. His set was effortlessly diverse, moving seamlessly between reggae, soca, calypso, dubstep, hip-hop, electro and house with tracks like ”Sabali” by Amadou & Mariam and “Took the Night” by Chelley. 77Klash got on the mic to hype the crowd for a few songs, including a reggae edition of Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire”.

Click here to view photos of the night by Oliver Correa. No Escape From New York will return to the Studio at Webster Hall on February 10 with special guest Sinden… stay tuned for details.

And if you missed the action last week, catch Uproot Andy and Geko Jones this Thursday at Santos Party House for their monthly Que Bajo?! party. For more information and to see our recommended upcoming events, click here to check out our revamped events page.

Next Wednesday, Trouble & Bass is bringing us the first “No Escape From New York” of the new year. The celebrated monthly party is moving to The Studio at Webster Hall to accommodate No Escape’s growing audience and an impressive roster of hard-hitting acts.

Each month at No Escape, the Trouble & Bass crew, headed by The Captain, Drop the Lime, AC Slater and Star Eyes, will continue to spread their signature “heavy bass” style while bringing us noteworthy local and global acts.

The first event is staying true to its name with Brooklyn-based artists Uproot Andy and Ninjasonik. Originally from Columbia, Andy Gillis (aka Uproot Andy) blends his signature cumbia beats with electro-basslines, resulting in a global style that ranges from laid back tunes to dance floor thumpers. Uproot Andy puts a refreshing spin on the style we’ve come to expect from Trouble & Bass events; and while he might seem like an unusual choice, listen below for a subtle hint of wobble-wobble in his remix of “Manuelita”, a traditional-style Columbian bullerengue song:

Uproot Andy & Geko Jones – “Manuelita” (remix)

After seeing Ninjasonik at the Mercury Lounge last weekend, it would be difficult to capture their infectious energy in a written description. What we can tell you is that Ninjasonik is not for the faint-hearted. Led by Reverend McFly, Telli Gramz, and DJ Teenwolf, Ninjasonik storms the stage with a crew in tow, delivering a performance that includes both original songs and popular beats, not to mention constant crowd-surfing by band- and audience-members alike.

The HiFi Cartel is giving away two pairs of tickets to the show. Enter the contest after the jump or purchase advance tickets here.

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So much for a relaxing weekend. With everything that’s going on for New Year’s Eve, some of you might be planning to take the weekend off. For all you die-hards out there, here’s what’s on the menu for the first weekend in 2010:

On Friday, GBH and Girls & Boys are getting right back into the swing of things with a special New Year’s Day Party at Webster Hall. Andy Butler of Hercules and Love Affair will be spinning, and admission is only $1 before midnight if you RSVP.

This Saturday, The xx, one of 2009’s top breakout acts, are doing a special DJ set at Le Poisson Rouge. Given the laid-back nature of their music, we’re curious to hear what they’ll bring behind the decks. VHSorBETA will also be spinning, tickets are $5 in advance or $8 on the day of the show. Be sure to catch The xx when they tour with Hot Chip this spring. Click here for tickets and info.

Over at the Mercury Lounge, Brooklyn-based trio Ninjasonik will take the stage for one of their signature high-energy performances. DJ Cobra Krames will open. Click here to purchase tickets, which are $12.