RIP: Rammellzee, rap pioneer, graffiti artist, gothic futurist
By Shane Mack on Jun 30 2010
From Pitchfork:
Yesterday, Fab 5 Freddy revealed on his Twitter that art-rap pioneer Rammellzee had died. Today, Stuart Argabright, Rammellzee’s collaborator in Death Comet Crew, confirms that sad news. He was 50 years old.
A legendary graffitti artist, fashion designer, and rapper, Rammellzee remains best known for “Beat Bop”, his 1983 single with K-Rob, which was produced by famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. But his long, varied career encompassed much, much more than that.
• Rammellzee: http://www.gothicfuturism.com
Jagjaguwar transitions into cave-only label, signs The Cave Singers to prove it
By E. Nagurney on Jun 30 2010
Home recording projects have been a big deal for the past few years, but they’re a done deal now, kid. The new thing? Cave recording! Lo-fi bedroom recordings start looking pretty fancy (and, you know, really corporate) in comparison to those recorded in a dark and dusty and bat-ridden cave. Yes, sir, the new crop of buzz bands are all going to be teenage cavemen rocking with skin and bones. The biggest, baddest label in this new cave order? Jagjaguwar and their newly-signed flagship artists The Cave Singers.
For their first act with new brothers-in-arms at Jagjaguwar (after two albums on Matador, including last year’s Welcome Joy [TMT Review]), The Cave Singers are working on a new record with Randall Dunn, famed producer behind works by sunn 0))), Boris, and new labelmates Black Mountain. No idea how seasoned Dunn is at working inside a cave (though the press release does mention a studio… surely a typo), but the group hopes he’ll help give their sound “some added weight and a soaring ferocity more akin to [their] incredible live show.” The sessions between the band and Dunn should lead to a record due early next year.
The Cave Singers will venture from their shadowy dwelling next month for a couple of festival appearances. Then in September, they’ll venture all the way to China for their first time, though they have yet to announce dates for that specific jaunt.
Cave Singers tourdates:
08.06.10 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Festival
08.07.10 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Festival
08.08.10 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Festival
08.21.10 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Park (No Depression Festival)
• Cave Singers: http://www.myspace.com/thecavesingers
• Jagjaguwar: http://www.jagjaguwar.com
Fool’s Gold announce summer tour for all, pyrite for some
By Erika H on Jun 30 2010
One of the first things anyone writes about Fool’s Gold is that they’re one of many pop bands today that are deceptively easy to categorize. An Afropop jam-band-that’s-not-a-jam-band, the group centers around Lewis Pesacov and Luke Top, and consists of an oft-fluctuating lineup (which does little to belie the jam band accusation). With tropical sounds and a host of African regional influences, Luke Top pulls a fast one on us by singing in Hebrew. But all of this is old news. Fool’s Gold clichés, even, like that one about glittering.
The second thing that we’ll write about Fool’s Gold is that they are about to embark on a big summer tour of North America, followed by European festival dates. Now go and see for yourself that Fool’s Gold is not Vampire Weekend, and that you should’ve realized that after last year’s self-titled album (or, more recently, the “Nadine” 7-inch, out in April on IAMSOUND Records).
06.20.10 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Bowl *
07.13.10 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Showcase Lounge
07.14.10 - Quebec City, QC - Quebec City International Summer Festival
07.16.10 - Halifax, NW - Halifax Jazz Festival
07.18.10 - Camden, NJ - XPoNential Music Festival
07.19.10 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
07.20.10 - Montreal, QC - The Belmont
07.21.10 - Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
07.23.10 - Columbus, OH - The Summit
07.24.10 - Washington, DC - DC9
07.25.10 - New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage
08.06.10 - Dranouter, Belgium - Dranouter Festival
08.07.10 - Crozen, France - Festival du Bout du Monde
08.08.10 - Hertfordshire, UK - Standon Calling Festival
08.12.10 - Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08.14.10 - Leicester, UK - Leicester Summer Sundae Festival
* Baaba Maal, Yeasayer, Tinariwen
• Fool’s Gold: http://www.myspace.com/foolsgold
• IAMSOUND: http://www.iamsoundrecords.com
Pygmalion Festival announces 2010 lineup; you wish your college was this cool
By Annapocalypse on Jun 30 2010
I don’t know about the rest of you, but the coolest bands that my college booked to perform on campus were Death Cab for Cutie, Gym Class Heroes, and, uh, Ben Harper. I’m using the word “cool” loosely, of course. If you’re lucky enough to attend the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, then you’ll be happy to know that the lineup for this year’s Pygmalion Festival has been announced. To celebrate its sixth year, the festival will feature the likes of Roky Erickson with Okkervil River, Caribou, Built to Spill, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Cap’n Jazz, Surfer Blood, Holy Fuck, Fang Island, Cults, +/-, and many more to be announced on July 7.
Festival passes are $65 and single-show tickets will go on sale July 10. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Pygmalion’s website.
• Pygmalion Festival: http://2010.pygmalionmusicfestival.com
Does this really qualify as news? Madlib maybe sorta contributes passively to new Kanye West album, possibly
By Nobodaddy on Jun 30 2010
I realize it’s shocking to hear of a beat maker/producer and a rapper collaborating on hip-hop music, but I guess you’ll just have to cram your cartoonishly bugged-out eyes back into your head and read on, because according to a recent piece on Madlib in LA Weekly, dude just might end up with a few tracks on Kanye West’s forthcoming fifth album, which is allegedly hitting the streets on September 14. The fantastically unbelievable legend has it that West put “five Madlib beats on hold for his new album.” OMG!!! Beats! On hold! For him to rap and sing over! This album is going to be absolutely ground-breaking, folks. Back me up here, Samuel L. Jackson!
Other producers rumored to have contributed in some way to Kanye’s hopefully-better-than-the-last-one album include Q-Tip, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and the RZA. But wait, I guess there’s no word yet as to whether any of the Madlib tracks will actually make the final cut? Hmm. Why are we all reporting on this, again?
(Okay okay, so I guess it would be at least a little crazy for Kanye West and Madlib to hook up, just because of the different circles they run in. I get it. But still, this is one of those pieces of news that makes you feel like you should probably be reading a book or something instead, you know? Back me up here, uh, guy who played John Hammond!)
• Kanye West: http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com
• Madlib: http://www.stonesthrow.com/madlib
