On September 11th,
the xx will release their highly anticipated second studio album,
Coexist, through Young Turks. This will be the follow-up to 2009’s self-titled debut, which launched the band and its members into global stardom. From their announcement: “After a long time on the road, we took a break, created our own studio and wrote these new songs that we’re so looking forward to playing to you.”
The xx 2012 Tour Dates:
06-08 Turin, Italy – Traffic Festival
06-09 Porto, Portugal – Optimus Primavera Sound
06-15 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside Festival
06-16 Hultsfred, Sweden – Hultsfred Festival
06-22 Scheessel, Germany – Hurricane Festival
06-23 Neuhausen, Germany – Southside Festival
06-27 Haervic, Norway – Hove Festival
06-29 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-04 Tokyo, Japan – Liquid Room
07-07 Gdynia, Poland – Heineken Open’er Festival
07-14 Joensuu, Finland – Ilosaarirock Festival
07-23 Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda
07-25 Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market
07-28 Toronto, Ontario – Phoenix Concert Theater
07-29 Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis
07-31 Boston, MA – Wilbur Theatre
08-02 New York, NY – Terminal 5
08-09 Sibinek, Croatia – Terraneo Festival
08-10 Budapest, Hungary – Sziget Festival
08-11 St Pere, France – La Route du Rock
08-18 St Polten, Austria – FM4 Frequency Festival
08-19 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Lowlands Festival
08-31 Laois, Ireland – Electric Picnic
09-07 Isle of Wight, England – Bestival
Ellie Goulding, best known for her hit single “Lights” which has been sampled and remixed more times than anyone can count, teamed up with her buddy
Xaphoon Jones of
Chiddy Bang for an insane cover of
The Weeknd‘s “High For This”. I realize that’s a lot to consider in one short sentence so I’ll try and sum it up more clearly: Ellie Goulding + Xaphoon Jones + The Weeknd. One track. Yes.
The pop starlet’s voice meshes perfectly with Xaphoon’s light, twinkling sound to create a cover that actually does justice to Abel’s original version, something that’s arguably very hard to do. You can check it out below or on Ellie’s Soundcloud page here.
MP3: Ellie Goulding – “High For This [Cover] (Prod. Xaphoon Jones)”
Okay, so this is just crazy dope. For his official remix of new single “Boyfriend”,
Justin Bieber enlisted the help of buddies
2 Chainz,
Mac Miller, and Schoolboy labelmate
Asher Roth. Still don’t believe me? Check out the all-star cast rap all over Bieber’s airy beat for yourself below. Oh and if you weren’t already familiar, the keys and production were contributed by none other than
Mike Posner.
MP3: Justin Bieber – “Boyfriend [Remix] (feat. 2 Chainz, Mac Miller & Asher Roth)”
Bieber’s new album Believe, which will be his third studio album, hits stores on June 19th through Island Records. Aside from this official remix, “Boyfriend” was also remixed by the Ying Yang Twins, who contributed two new verses on the song for Bieber. You can listen to that here.
[via Illroots]
The newest offering from
Metric is the extremely up-tempo and energetic “Speed The Collapse”, a brand new song from their forthcoming fifth studio album.
Synthetica, out on June 12th through their own Metric Music International alongside Mom + Pop, will contain 11 songs and an additional 5 “Reflections” if
pre-ordered on iTunes. Metric also recently worked with composer Howard Shore to score David Cronenberg’s
Cosmopolis and if all goes according to plan, that soundtrack will be released just a little before
Synthetica is. For now, at least, you can shorten the wait by jamming to “Speed The Collapse” below.
Right now, there’s still very little information about the upcoming
xx album, but we do know that the band will spend almost their entire summer on the road touring, most likely in anticipation for the album’s release. The xx will spend most of the summer playing at festivals around Europe before journeying to North America for a few quick shows. You can view the entire schedule below.
The xx 2012 Tour Dates:
05/29 – Bordeaux, FR @ Le Rocher de Palmer
05/30 – Toulouse, FR @ Le Phare
05/31 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/08 – Turin, IT @ Traffic Festival
06/09 – Porto, PT @ Optimus Primavera Sound
06/15 – Aarhus, DK @ Northside Festival
06/16 – Hultsfred, SE @ Hultsfred Festival
06/22 – Scheessel, DE @ Hurricane Festival
06/23 – Neuhausen, DE @ Southside Festival
06/27 – Arendal, NO @ Hove Festival
06/29 – Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival
06/30 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/07 – Gdynia, PL @ Open’er Festival
07/14 – Joensuu, FI @ Ilosaairock Festival
07/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda
07/25 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
07/28 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
07/29 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
07/31 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
08/02 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
08/09 – Sibinek, CR @ Terraneo Festival
08/10 – Budapest, HR @ Sziget Festival
08/11 – St Pere, FR @ La Route du Rock
08/18 – St. Polten, AT @ Frequency Festival
08/19 – Biddinhuizen, NL @ Lowlands Festival
08/31 – Laois, IE @ Electric Picnic
09/07 – Isle of Wight, UK @ Bestival
Not quite sure how this came about, but the new
Ghost Recon game will come with a brand new song by TDE’s
Kendrick Lamar. Titled “War Is My Love”, the song features a synth-heavy beat that reminds me of
Kid Cudi‘s “Mr. Rager”. As always, Kendrick kills his verses with his lyricism and haunting rhymes. The hook isn’t necessarily the greatest, but considering this was made for a game soundtrack, I guess it’s not too shabby. Give it a listen below.
MP3: Kendrick Lamar – “War Is My Love”
When it comes to
Blu, you know that whether or not his new music is mastered, mixed, or even finished, he’ll come hard with the rhymes. With his newest release though, there’s absolutely no need to be worried as it’s about as finished as can be. Released through Coalmine Records, new single “Kiss The Sky” features top-notch and not lo-fi verses from Blu, a fitting chorus from
Mela Machinko, and some vocal samples from
Lupe Fiasco‘s “Kick, Push”.
I’m still a fan of his glitchy, lo-fi style but I know a lot of you have been waiting for the Below The Heavens-style music to come back. If you’ve been a long-time fan of Blu, this is definitely a huge surprise and a great one at that. Blu hasn’t sounded this focused in quite a long time and it’s refreshing to see that he’s hopefully returning to the style of music that originally got him signed to Warner Bros. Give it a listen below and grab it on iTunes here.
Just in time for the summer season,
Asher Roth released a brand new song titled “Outside”, an ode to the warmth and greatness of the world that isn’t online and in front of a computer. The song features a highly-appropriate sample of
Cults‘s “Go Outside” on the chorus and fresh lines from the former “I Love College” rapper. Instant addition to your summer playlist right here. Asher’s Def Jam debut
Is This Too Orange? is currently on the way and there’s currently no word whether or not “Outside” will appear on it.
MP3: Asher Roth – “Outside”
LITS Mix is a weekly mix of five free songs curated by our ears with your ears in mind. With so much free music to listen to out there, we intend to showcase our favorite tunes in an easily digestible manner, guiding you through the riff-raff to find the music. This week, we present the second edition of our mix, a 20 minute set of songs that’ll have you nodding along whether it’s the chilled-out vibe of Tycho’s “A Walk” or the thumping bass on Y Luv’s “Earthquakes”. Kick back and get lost in the sound.
(0:00 to 5:14) The Weeknd – “The Morning”
(5:14 to 10:28) Tycho – “A Walk”
(10:28 to 14:03) Skizzy Mars – “Shangri-La”
(14:03 to 18:24) Y Luv – “Earthquakes”
(18:24 to 21:20) Ra Ra Riot – “Too Dramatic (The Morning Benders Remix)”
Ab-Soul‘s
Control System is now available for
purchase on iTunes via Top Dawg Entertainment, but you can stream the entire album below for free. For his new release, Ab-Soul teamed up with a slew of top-notch rappers including
Danny Brown,
BJ the Chicago Kid, and his fellow
Black Hippy members
Jay Rock,
Kendrick Lamar, and
ScHoolboy Q. Heavily recommended tracks include “Terrorist Threat”, “ILLuminate”, and “Double Standard”.
Control System was described by Kendrick as one of the most important releases in the entire Black Hippy momvement. “May 11th, Control System, Ab-Soul. Once you get that piece, you’ll really understand this TDE thing. Then, you might be fortunate to get the Black Hippy that everything’s talking about. That’s our prized possession, that’s our baby. We have fun with that, and I don’t know. Once you throw the music out, people start putting the numbers behind it. We want that to be organic… We got music, though. A lot of music.”
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