Posted by: Jay

If you haven’t heard, the man, the mouse, the legend: Deadmau5 is bringing his hot new show to San Francisco!  Unveiled at Coachella this year and incorporated into MTV’s 2010 Video Music Awards last month*, Deadmau5’s new live set-up is a Daft Punk rivaling semi-cube of visual wizardry, so fully automated and synced to the mau5’s pounding beats that not only will it blow your mind, but it will sear your eyes rite out their sockets before your head fully explodes.  At least that what my friend said happened to a guy when he saw the show…

* A great edited montage of all Deadmau5’s featured time on the VMAs can be found here (they disabled embedding).  There are some sick remixes he did of a few pop songs that I hope eventually they see the light of day.  But damn, Deamau5 “playing” the trashiest, most pop-ified award show there is?  How should we feel about this?  Hyped that he’s getting super huge and keeping Electro in the mainstream (he did drop a lot of his bangers) or dismayed that in his relentless quest to into the hearts, and wallets, of the masses he may loose the edge off his music?  Really, I want to know what you think.

5eriously though, by all accounts this new Deadmau5 live show is not to be missed (a little video tease after the jump); and for all of us here in the Bay area we have a golden opportunity to check it out first hand.  Deadmau5 will be performing live at the Treasure Island Music Festival THIS SATURDAY!

So to get us all in the mood, here’s some new mau5 track5:

Sofi Needs A Ladder - Deadmau5

A City In Florida - Deadmau5

Raise Your Weapon - Deadmau5

Moar Deadmau5

Treasure Island Music Festival Info (LCD Sound System, Miike Snow, Kruder & Dorfmister, Holy Fuck and others will be joining Deadmau5 this Saturday, 10/16/2010)

Bonus videos!

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Posted by: Cor

Being a huge Bonobo fan, I originally planned to post my thoughts on his new album Black Sands on the very day of its release, almost a month ago. His last three albums are among my favorites in the downtempo genre, and I think his knack for incorporating and arranging acoustic instruments among his electronic elements gives his music more depth than 98% of the downtempo artists out there.* So naturally I expected to give a listen to the album, find a few highlights, rattle off some superlative praise and the post would write itself.

However, after my first few listens to Black Sands, I was left disappointed. I just didn’t like it. The textures sounded muddy, the rhythms uncoordinated, the percussion sloppy. Bonobo had taken another step away from drum loops and sample-based grooves of his earlier albums, and ventured further in to the territory of loose, organic production. Less quantization, more live percussion. Less synth, more vocals. At what point does this become smooth jazz, or worse, adult contemporary?

As I might have expected (and did, but not without worry) after several weeks Black Sands eventually won me over. It’s a slow burn. Bonobo’s emphasis on live instrumentation and looser layering of parts reminds me of a relaxed, half-drunk jazz combo playing the music. All the complimentary melodic phrases, all the supporting harmonies that make up the pieces are indeed there, but they don’t announce themselves like a high synth-line cutting through at the perfect frequency and timbre to be heard above all else. This music isn’t immediately accessible, but it rewards repeats listening when you begin to anticipate the arrival of that one final part that really makes the song for you… the subtle one you didn’t notice it the first few times you heard the song.

Because of this, I’d suggest using the ‘play all’ button below and giving these songs a few listens in the background (maybe over a few days, while you work) before writing it off. Perhaps it won’t take as long to grow on you as it did for me. Perhaps it won’t grow on you at all. Just know that you’re not going to get what you came for by skipping through the tracks listening for highlights. **

Kiara

Kong

Eyesdown feat. Andreya Triana

The Keeper feat. Andreya Triana

PLAY ALL

Download the full Black Sands album on Amazon

Last thing, if you like what you’re hearing from Bonobo here, and you like what you’ve heard from Bonobo before, then why not come hear him play live? He’s going to be performing (yes, performing, not DJing) at the Mezzanine THIS FRIDAY. I’m going. Who wants to come with me? Get tickets here.

* Scientifically valid statistic, I swear.
** A habit I’m far more guilty of than anyone else I know.

Posted by: Matt

Welcome to another edition of Podcast Friday! Today we have a live set from DJ KidHack, a great local DJ, designer, promoter, and controllerist. He’s also the head of up-and-coming San Francisco musician collective Future Universal (whom this author has the pleasure of working with), and a resident at Club PartyLine. And hey, guess what? PartyLine is back tonight! What a funny coincidence.

To mark the return of Club PartyLine this week, KidHack has graciously provided us with his slammin’ 1am-close set from the previous one in March. As you will see from the track list below the jump, it is packed full of electrohouse, dirty bangers, and dancehall hotness (”Tropical Bass”? Love it).

DJ KidHack - Live @ PartyLine March 5th 2010

In addition to Club PartyLine tonight, KidHack can be found rocking beats all over this great city of ours, from Bootie to fashion shows, private parties at the most forward-thinking tech companies and beyond.

Hit the jump for the goodies:
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