For the second year in a row, HARD is bringing their night of electronic music mayhem to New York with Digitalism, Caspa, Switch, Designer Drugs and Destructo on Saturday, August 20th at Terminal 5. Each with their own brand of heavy bass drops and digital wobble, this will be an amazing way to hear what music some of the best dub-step and eletro DJs are currently producing.
Click here to purchase your tickets and check out videos from Digitalism and Destructo after the jump.
Two years have passed since Diplo and Switch put out the now infamous album, Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do. The compilation of Jamaican Dancehall tracks was named the 10th Best Album of 2009 by Rhapsody. I have been to parties and DJ sets in the past two weeks where the infectious, vibrant, energy of Pon De Floor has filled the room. Every time, the crowd responded with a unanimous roar of approval, sing-a-log voices, and chaotic dance moves. How do you follow that up? Hopefully we will know soon enough, since it is rumored that the new single ‘Original Don’ featuring Partysquad will be hitting the internet by the end of this week. Amber Coffman, Jahdan Blakkmoore, and Vybz Kartel are a few of the vocalists appearing on the new album. To hear a few clips of several new songs, check out the video below.
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)”
As usual, Diplo turned to Twitter to announce an April release for Lazers Never Die, the upcoming Major Lazer EP. “Sound of Siren”, which features M.I.A. and Busy Signal, is the first song off the EP and has already been making its way around the interwebs.
The EP will also feature collaborations with Buraka Som Sistema, Collie Buddz, Lindi Ortega, Kicks Like a Mule, Ms. Banks and Thom Yorke (which brings to mind another Diplo Tweet from a few weeks ago).
Major Lazer will embark on a “Lazers Never Die” tour this spring, which will include stops at Ultra (March 27), Hard NYC (April 3), and Coachella (April 17). Listen to “Sound of Siren” below, and click through for the full track listing.
Major Lazer featuring M.I.A. and Busy Signal – “Sound of Siren” (right click to download via Pitchfork)
Can’t say we disagree… After Beyonce won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo” at last night’s Grammy Awards, Diplo took to his Twitter account to leak a cover of the winning song by Major Lazer and Elephant Man. Ever the comedian, the track lists “Diplo shoulda won grammy” as the artist when opened in iTunes. Check it out for yourself:
Major Lazer featuring Elephant Man – “Halo” (click to download)
Last June, Major Lazer exploded on the international music scene with their debut album, Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do. 2009 was a big year for Major Lazer – they were nominated for two MTV awards, headlined multiple tours (including a star-studded performance at Hard NYC), and brought their reggae-tinged sound to dance floors around the world.
Their third single, “Pon de Floor” enjoyed quite a bit of club play at all of our favorite parties, and even crossed over to the mainstream when it was used on the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. Skerrit Bwoy’s graphic reenactment of the NSFW music video (directed by Eric Wareheim of the comedy duo Tim and Eric) at the Best Buy Club Beats event last November ruffled a few corporate feathers, resulting in an abrupt end to their set and a hasty exit. Considering that the Jamaican government instilled a nationwide ban on all music and videos relating to “daggering” last February, we’d say that Major Lazer got off easy here in the states.
After Dances With White Girls equated “Pon de Floor” to Reel 2 Reel’s 1994 hit “I Like to Move It” via Twitter, “Pon de Floor” secured its position as The HiFi Cartel’s song of the year.
We trust that as HiFi Cartel readers you’ve heard the original song, so we’ve included Laidback Luke’s remix below for your listening pleasure. Be sure to check out photos from Major Lazer’s NYC debut at S.O.B.’s, Hard NYC at Terminal 5, and Club Beats at Best Buy, and in case you’ve been sleeping, watch the video for “Pon de Floor” after the jump. Major Lazer will once again play Hard NYC when it returns to Terminal 5 on April 3. Get your tickets here.
Major Lazer – “Pon de Floor” (Laidback Luke Remix)
Last week, Kelis took to her Twitter account to leak “Acapella”, the lead single off her upcoming album. The album, which is “pretty much finished“, will include tracks produced by David Guetta (“Acapella”), Boys Noize and Major Lazer (aka Diplo and Switch).
The singer was recently featured on “Scars”, the title track from Bassment Jaxx’s latest album, and also collaborated with Crookers on the track “No Security” for their upcoming release, Tons of Friends. With that top-notch roster of producers, it’s safe to say that Kelis is going in a more electro-dance direction for her upcoming album. The record is set for a spring release through Geffen Records via Will.I.Am Music Group.
Check out “Acapella” below, click through to listen to Basement Jaxx’s “Scars” and the video for Crookers’ “No Security”.
Kelis – “Acapella”
This weekend’s Essential Mix features two of the world’s top producers, Diplo & Switch as Major Lazer. They just released their debut album Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do and have embraked on a global dancehall zombie war. Be prepared for 120 minutes of a dubby, dance rhythm infestation.
Major Lazer – Essential Mix
Major Lazer kicked off their North American tour last night at S.O.B.’s. Looking sharp in matching vests and ties, Diplo and Switch took the stage at around 2 AM, inciting a crazy dance party that ended with everyone on stage. Back from his tour of Asia, A-Trak was once again in the audience, taking in some good music before he hits the road for the Bacardi B-Live Tour (coming to NYC this Wednesday).
This collaboration between Diplo and Switch combines their signature electro sound with reggae-inspired beats. Their set had mild dubstep undertones, including a remix of their lead single, “Drop the Line”.
Major Lazer’s first LP, “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do” comes out on June 16th.
Check out photos from the event… and special thanks to Jeff from The Culture of Me for helping me out.
