Frequency New York

Experience the Sound of the Underground

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:42:00 GMT

It is highly unlikely that artists of opposing major record labels will tour on the same billet, but when you have two of the most dynamic rap duos of underground hip-hop touring together, their respective labels can only benefit from the additional interest. Therefore, the dates for the upcoming tour combination of Eyedea and Abilities from Rhymesayers Entertainment with Themselves from Anticon Records should be marked on the calendars of any fan of underground hip-hop.

Along with fellow Rhymesayer alums Atmosphere, the partnership of Eyedea and DJ Abilities has set the bar for underground hip-hop since their earliest singles in the first years of the new millennium. Their latest album, By the Throat, pushes the lyrical and musical boundaries that they have set through years of DJ/MC tournaments, constant solicitations for exterior collaboration, and years of critical acclaim.

Themselves, the duo of Jeffrey “Jel” Logan and Adam “Doseone” Drucker, have been a staple of the Anticon label since it started recruiting little-known artists to expand its musical library. After several albums, numerous collaborations, and a six-year hiatus, the duo returned to their throne as the epitome of the Anticon sound with a recent mixtape release, theFREEhoudini, and a new album, CrownsDown, due to hit record stores on November 20.

Nov19 – Austin, TX @ Highball

Nov 20 – Denton, TX @ Hailey’s

Nov 21 – Baton Rough, LA @ Spanish Moon

Nov 22 – New Orleans, LA @ The Parish Room

Nov 23 – Atlanta, GA @ 529

Nov 24 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506

Nov 25 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Nov 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory

Nov 28 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East Downstairs

Nov 29 – Providence, RI @ Jerky’s Live Music Hall

Dec 1 – Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo

Dec 2 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig

Dec 3 – Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Live

Dec 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ MN Varsity Theater

Dec 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club

Dec 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court (Themselves only)

Dec 12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge (Themselves only)

I'm Dreaming of a Hardcore Christmas

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:43:00 GMT

After winning Canada’s esteemed Polaris Music Prize, the hardcore band Fucked Up have kept their word on using the $20,000 award to fund a Christmas benefit album for missing aborigine women in Canada. The band’s label, Matador records, has confirmed that the group will be collaborating with some of the biggest names in the music industry for a re-recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, originally released in 1984 as a charity single for an Ethiopian famine.

In the ongoing tradition of including popular musicians to contribute to the project(s), band frontman Pink Eyes revealed to Vulture, New York Magazine's entertainment blog,

"David Cross, members of Vampire Weekend, TV On The Radio, Broken Social Scene, the GZA, Bob Mould [of Husker Du], No Age, and Yo La Tengo [have] all confirmed. I'm still waiting on confirmation from Feist, Jarvis Cocker and MIA. We wanted the biggest people we could get. If we could get a Jonas Brother on this, I would get a Jonas Brother.”

Previous experiments with the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” projects have churned out collabs with members of U2, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and Culture Club in 1984, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Lisa Stanfield and Bananarama (again) in 1989, and a twentieth anniversary version in 2004, initiated by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, featured a rap segment by U.K. hip-hop artist Dizzee Rascal. In every year that the project was attempted, it reached number 1 on the U.K. pop charts.

While the previous versions hold a humble, albeit boring, aura of social awareness, one look at the list of contributors will assure that this new version will bring much needed excitement and energy to the charity laden project.

Put that in your stocking!

Steven Tyler Quits Aerosmith

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Joe Perry, guitarist for Aerosmith, said that he found out singer, Steven Tyler, had quit the band via the Internet.

Tyler’s last concert with the band was in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

Perry told the Las Vegas Sun that “Steven quit as far as I can tell.” He said, "I don’t know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.” Perry was unable to personally verify the story because Tyler notoriously doesn’t answer his phone calls.

This announcement comes on the heels of several cancelled shows after Tyler fell from the stage and broke his shoulder at a Sturgis, South Dakota concert.

The band may try to replace Tyler to continue touring in the future. Perry said in the interview, “we’ll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer.”

Tyler’s lack of enthusiasm and disrespect for his bandmates seems to have caused a rift between the legends. Perry said, “to disregard his brothers to the point where we have to find out about it on the Internet – it’s like, 'See you later, Bud.’”

It seems like a slap in the face to the rest of the band. We’ll just have to wait and hear Tyler’s response in the coming days. Perry also left the band for several years and started a solo career, the Joe Perry Project. Perhaps Tyler is just following suit.

[Photos by Leila Navidi]

A Sad Exit in Brooklyn

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:25:00 GMT

New York City and followers of the indie-music scene are mourning the tragic death of drummer Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs, who died on Sunday from a five-story fall down an elevator shaft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While riding in a manual freight elevator during a benefit party, the elevator got stuck between the fourth and fifth floors. A passenger riding with Fuchs had managed to jump to the fourth floor, but on one of Fuchs’ attempts to jump to the fifth floor, his clothing caught on something in the passageway and he fell to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Alex Frankel, Fuchs’ roommate and singer of the band Holy Ghost!, of which Fuchs was the drummer, arrived at the party shortly before 1AM to find the distressing news that someone had fallen down the elevator shaft.

“We flipped him over and it was Jerry,” he said. “When we found him he was not able to talk.”

Although authorities are continuing to investigate the exact details involved in this tragic event, police have ruled that there is no “suspected criminality” and that the death is the result of accidental circumstances.

Fuchs has long been a staple of the indie-music scene since he moved from Georgia to New York in 1995 and began making music with the band Vineland. His career expanded to such endeavors as a key member of Turing Machine, The Juan MacLean, !!! (pronounced “chk-chk-chk”), Holy Ghost!, and Maserati. More recently, he performed with the electronic band MSTRKRFT during live performance on Late Night with David Letterman.

James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem, claimed that Fuchs was one of the greatest drummers he had ever heard.

“He was one of the only people we all knew who was literally great at what he did… And he was incredibly generous with his talent.”

Tuesday, Novermber 10 CD Releases

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:26:00 GMT

Tori Amos Midwinter Graces

Bobby Birdman New Moods

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Live [live CD/DVD]

Bon Jovi The Circle

Dashboard Confessional Alter The Ending

Flyleaf Memento Mori

Robyn Hitchcock I Often Dream Of Trains In New York

Hurricane Bells Tonight Is the Ghost

Wyclef Jean From The Hut To The Projects To The Mansion [EP]

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Xenophanes

Mr. Gnome Heave Yer Skeleton

Puscifer C Is For (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE)

Switchfoot Hello Hurricane

Latin Grammy Awards Come to Mandalay Bay

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:02:00 GMT

With the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 came hope of exposing diverse music genres and increasing the visibility of its artists to mainstream audiences. Today the ceremony, which honors the top Latin acts in the world at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas this evening, remains a hit among the Spanish-speaking masses, despite falling short of its original goal.

Outspoken reggaeton act Calle 13 (leading the way with five nominations including Album of the Year with Los De Atras Vienen Conimgo) Puerto Rican dual Wisin Y Yandel and Alejandro Sanz are on tonight's menu.

Long gone is the desire of cross promoting an event considered by most of the artists involved to be the most important in the industry. Debuted on CBS to eye-opening ratings (over 7 million viewers) the awards show quickly lost appeal in Anglo households, tumbling to 3.3 million viewers overall in 2004.

The idea of expanding its appeal - while giving all Latin artists involved a larger platform - by broadcasting the show in English and pairing Latin acts with American pop stars turned off many of those involved, including Puerto Rican salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa. "Well, the idea and concept of capturing a new audience was marvelous but sometimes its wiser to appeal to those who you already have in your corner," said Santa Rosa, nominated for three awards.

The show, which carries weight in the industry namely because the awards are voted on by the Latin Recording Academy, returns for the fifth consecutive telecast tonight on Spanish-language Univision. Last year's show drew 11 million viewers as the network continues to distance itself from the original concept by targeting mainly to a Hispanic audience and going heavy on pop and regional Mexican acts. While the event continues to appeal (the 11,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center has been sold out for weeks) organizers are holding out hope it will one day sound off all over the world.

Santa Rosa, one of the remaining commercially visible salsa acts, hopes to be at the forefront of that effort. "I no doubt would love for all of our music not just mine to be heard all over the world," says Santa Rosa. "Hopefully the day will come when people watch the Grammys for more than just to see something or somebody they already know."

Featured Artist Profile: DJ P

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:54:00 GMT

DJ P
Genre: Turntablism/Blending/Mash-up
Website: www.djpmix.com

During his early years, Danny J. Phillips, or DJ P, has been either championed or run-out of clubs in Missouri and other parts of the bread-basket states due to his creativity and talent of “blending” unlikely musical styles. His notoriety as a turntablist grew into mass public appeal when he won the Midwest Regional DMC DJ Championships in 1999 and was invited to perform at the national tournament in San Francisco. Amidst the performances of expert scratchers, beat-jugglers, and cross-fader flickers, DJ P performed with his own unique style of mixing cross-genre tracks, such as dropping Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” over a hip-hop breakbeat while waving his finger at the other contestants. He followed with a rendition of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” leading into a mix of Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is” over the classic Newcleus track “Jam on It”, again, pointing to the other contestants when Hornsby sang, “get a job.” To top off his performance, P jumped in front of the turntables to show off his b-boy upbringing by break dancing during the remaining seconds of his performance. He was the only DJ out of the entire tournament to receive a standing ovation.

DJ P’s unique style of “blending,” which has recently come to be known as “mash-ups,” has resulted in a slew of musical combinations that are too numerous to mention. His mixing creativity caught the attention of famed mash-up specialist DJ Z-Trip, who worked with P on the critically acclaimed Uneasy Listening Vol. 1. The album mixed songs from Madonna, The Who, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Star Wars, and included one of DJ P’s most recognized mixes of Pharcyde’s “She Keeps on Passing Me By” with Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” instrumental track. The album was released in 2000 with only 1000 copies made, but it quickly found notoriety with rumors that it was featured on constant rotation on Kid Rock’s tour bus, numerous vinyl bootlegs in England, and the title as one of Rolling Stone’s “Top Musical Moments” of 2002, two years after it was released.

On top of releasing several subsequent mash-up albums, including several Halloween-themed Hell on Wheels volumes, DJ P has had the privilege of touring with alternative rock bands Garage and Lit during MTV’s College Invasion Tour of 1999 and performing with 311 during their 2003 summer tour. He has also shared the stage with Snoop Dogg, Beastie Boys, Rahzel, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Ice-T, Green Day, Sugar Hill Gang, Cher, and Cindy Lauper among many others.

Most recently, he has taken up to position of resident DJ at Club Moon in the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. He is also the feature of a documentary on his life, For Promotional Use Only: The DJ P Story, which documents his unique DJ styling, his struggles to find a place in the hip-hop community, and his dissatisfaction with Top 40 club goers’ fickle nature regarding music exploration.

Discography:

Manipulated Trax 1995

Out of Control 1998

The Story and Song of Hell on Wheels, Voume 1 1998

Uneasy Listening Volume 1 (With DJ Z-Trip) 2000

What’s for Dessert 2000

Azzholez and Elbowz Gangsta Mix Volume 1 2000

The Story and Song of Hell on Wheels, Voume 2 2003

Suck My Mixx 2005

Lost Mixtapes Vol. 1 2006

Moodswings 2006

Dee J Pee’s Big Adventure 2008

Avast Ye Illegal File-Sharers!

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Whether you boldly admit to illegally downloading content from the internet or hide under a blanket with the lights dimmed urging your laptop to hurry with its download of an Eminem torrent fearful that some bootjack thug from the FCC will kick in your door at any moment, there is no escaping the controversy surrounding the appeal/disgust of illegal file-sharing.

At the center of the debate lies the notorious Sweden based peer-to-peer, file-sharing website, the Pirate Bay. The website’s operators, Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, have seen their share of lawsuits, injunctions, blockages, police-style raids, and have even been convicted of copyright infringement resulting in a sentence of a year in prison and a fine of 30 million SEK (approximately $3.6 million USD). In spite of all the opposition, the site is still in operation, openly providing copyrighted content to users for free.

In its most recent discontinuation of service, on August 24 the site complied with a court order to block access to the site from its users. The site’s service provider, Black Internet, shut down access to the site for nearly three hours before the staff announced that the site would be hosted through a different service provider and that regular operation of file-sharing would continue.

Prior to this brief period of the Pirate Bay’s inactivity, users relayed messages of the site’s disconnection and a number of different BitTorrent file-sharing sites emerged. In a third-quarter threat report by internet security company McAfee, the company stated that activity on other file-sharing sites rose 300 percent during the Pirate Bay’s disconnection. Furthermore, it was reported that the number of available sites rose from around 300 in June to nearly 1,400 in August during the time of the site’s temporary shut-down.

"This was a true 'cloud computing' effort, as the masses stepped up to make this database of torrents (legal, infringed and malicious) available to others," said the report.

In response to the controversy of illegal file-sharing, England’s Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills is urging for legislation of a “three-strike” policy that will disconnect habitual file-sharers from internet access. Surprisingly, the legislation is met with opposition by certain advocates of the music-industry due to a report by Virgin Media supported think tank, Demos. The report claims that admitted illegal file-sharers spend nearly twice as much on music per year than that of users who don’t support illegal downloads.

"The findings suggest that government plans to disconnect repeat illegal downloaders from the internet…could do the music industry more harm than good by punishing core consumers."

New Band Not Quite Sublime

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Fans of the widely successful ska-punk band, Sublime, will not be getting the anticipated reformation that they have desired since the 1996 death of Bradley Nowell, who died as a result of a drug overdose. Los Angeles judge Howard Matz has sided with the family of the Bradley Nowell estate to block the use of the surviving members from using the band name in upcoming performances.

The announcement of the reformulated Sublime came earlier this year when Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh recruited singer Rome Ramirez to front the group. However, three days before performing at the Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival on October 24, the Nowell estate filed a trademark infringement suit against the group citing that the name, “Sublime” had been trademarked by Nowell prior to his passing. On the band’s myspace page, the Nowell family posted,

“Both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime. It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him.”

The two surviving members of the band have continued to perform together as the Long Beach Dub Allstars in the years since Nowell’s passing. The recruitment of Ramirez was expected to bring the same spirit and energy then emanated from the band when they were in their heyday during the early nineties. It would certainly be a worthwhile alternative to the inescapable bastardizations by polo-shirt wearing, frat-boy douche-bags with poorly tuned acoustic guitars and no sense of musical tonality.

Find A Gig Near You

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:37:00 GMT

Having trouble treading through the tumultuous landscape of New York’s music scene? (Or any major city with throngs of young musicians playing shows weekly for that matter.) GigLocator, a new concert aggregator, is trying to build a community of concert lovers around their easily navigable sea of local concerts.

There are a few other sites that do what GigLocator is attempting, but none have created so seamless and intelligent an interface. The very new website (still in beta), was designed by 18-year-old James Proud, who won a web entrepreneur competition (Tomorrow’s Web) with the concept.

Packed with features that make organizing favorite bands and genres simple, once signed up with the website you can keep track of concerts attended, see who else went the same concerts as you –and eventually– view and upload pictures and videos of the shows.

The site draws upon major concert databases from the large ticket distributors (ticketmaster, livenation etc.) as well as independent venue listings and lesser-known artists that might otherwise be more difficult to find.

One part of the smart feature set is the site’s concert recommendation engine. Drawing upon your favorite bands listed in linked Last.fm and Pandora accounts, GigLocator will then suggest other artist’s shows in your area that would match your taste. This integration is made more useful by the fact that these sites do not offer concert-locating systems nearly as robust as this one.

Such a service is a welcome addition to the available concert searching options. Other concert aggregation options in New York are typically genre- or venue-based, and while magazines like Timeout and NYMag list many concerts, listings are not usually comprehensive and are more like suggestions for the most popular shows available.

The company plans on reaching profitability by tapping into one of the last remaining areas of income in the music scene (concerts are the primary money-maker for lesser-known, or unsigned artists). By charging a small commission on the ticket seller for linking to them through GigLocator, the price of tickets for patrons is not increased, making the site useful without being a burden.