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Find Me at Giant Step!
As of August 17, 2011, I am the new Director of Public Relations at Giant Step. Read all about it here.
Head on over to GiantStep.net to find the greatest new music and events. I can be reached at bdfenwick [at] giantstep.net.
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Nikka Costa drops Pro*Whoa! EP On June 21st
Nikka Costa is set to release the first in a series of EPs, Pro*Whoa!, on June 21st via her own label, Gofunkyourself Records. With her new material, Costa delves into a stoney, indie pop realm while keeping her lauded, soulful vocals intact. Her unfettered approach stems from this being her first independent release free from major label directives.
Nikka states, “I’m finally in a place where being completely independent makes the most sense to me creatively. I’ve always been a little outside of the box, so this time around I just decided to remove the box completely. It has been so liberating as an artist. Making music has become exciting to me again!”
The rock infused first single, “Nylons in a Rip”, is now available for free download via www.nikkacosta.com. “Head First” kicks things off with a vocal style we’ve never heard from Ms. Costa before. High, breathy & soft, it’s reminiscent of her friend and frequent collaborator Prince while capturing something all her own. The title track sounds as if she was inspired by early Beastie Boys and then put in a blender with Peaches & Amanda Blank. The EP concludes with “Chase the Thrill”, a track worthy of being the next James Bond theme.
She has also recently launched her very own YouTube channel, cheekily named Nikka’s Box (www.youtube.com/nikkasbox), featuring intimate performances and special guests ranging from Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite) to Adam Lambert to Jesus.
Nikka’s career began at a very young age under the wing of her father, acclaimed producer/arranger Don Costa. Surrounded by music legends such as Quincy Jones, Sly Stone and her godfather, Frank Sinatra, she was destined to make her mark in the music industry no matter the age. In 1981, she released her self-titled debut album featuring the single “Out Here On My Own” from the musical Fame. The record was a huge hit on the European charts, and her performance in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans in Italy is a must see.
With international success as a child star and high school behind her, Nikka started writing music leading her to develop her own voice and branching out to the world of soul, funk & rock. While residing in Australia with her husband, producer/songwriter Justin Stanley, she released her adult debut album Butterfly Rocket garnering an ARIA Award nomination for Best New Artist.
US labels were soon knocking on her door and three additional albums were released. Everybody Got Their Something (2001), produced by Justin Stanley & Mark Ronson, unleashed her talents on the global stage and earned her another Best New Artist nomination this time from MTV. She followed up with Can’t Never Did Nothin’ (2005) and Pebble to a Pearl (2008) all the while touring across the globe with acts such as Coldplay, Erykah Badu, Lenny Kravitz and Beck and collaborating with the likes of such diverse artists as Ben Harper & Prince.
Costa sets out on the road this summer for a headline tour appearing at clubs and festivals across the US. Her infamous live performances are a must see and as the New York Times put it, “before an audience she goes deep and sexy and ugly, singing hard and on pitch, screaming hard and on pitch, hips like a boomerang, knees on the floor… there’s something happening there, something physical and wrigglingly alive.”
Confirmed dates are listed below with more to be announced soon.
June
15- Las Vegas, NV- Book & Stage at The Cosmopolitan
16- Las Vegas, NV- Book & Stage at The Cosmopolitan
17- Las Vegas, NV- Book & Stage at The Cosmopolitan
18- Las Vegas, NV- Book & Stage at The Cosmopolitan
22- San Francisco, CA- The Independent
23- West Hollywood- The Roxy
24- San Diego, CA- Anthology
25- Hermosa Beach, CA- Saint Rocke
July
13- Philadelphia, PA- World Café Live
14- New York, NY- Highline Ballroom
15- Cambridge, MA- Middle East Upstairs
16- Baltimore, MD- Artscape Festival
17- Vienna, VA- Jammin Java
Track listing:
Head First
Never Wanna C U Again
Nylons in a Rip
Pro*Whoa!
Stuff
Chase the Thrill
Les Nubians Premiere Video for “Afrodance”
Les Nubians – Afrodance from Nice Dissolve on Vimeo.
Les Nubians, consisting of Paris-born sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart, return to the world stage today with the release of their third album, Nü Revolution, via Shanachie Entertainment. The Grammy nominated duo delivers a relentlessly enchanting and energized mix of R&B, hip-hop, African music and other world elements that can be streamed in full at AOL Music and MSN Music.
Les Nubians also premiered a video for the funky dance track “Afrodance” today. The song celebrates hairstyles as an expression of personal style and cultural identity.
Giant Step presents Dirty Vegas Soundsystem in Brooklyn
On Friday, April 29th, Giant Step presents Dirty Vegas Soundsystem in a very rare Brooklyn appearance at Public Assembly. This unique set up will feature Dirty Vegas in a full DJ set with live electronic percussion. This gig will bring the trio back to their roots with an exclusive Soundsystem show as they continue to celebrate the release of their new album Electric Love.
After touring the world on the strength of two albums, two film scores, and an international dance hit that snagged a Grammy, Dirty Vegas parted ways in 2005 to work on individual projects and just to take a breather. Today with a brand new sound and a new album ready to drop at the end of April, the trio is poised to capture the international dance floor once again.
Without the pressures of a recording contract or label executives issuing directives, the trio found a fresh kind of positivity when they reformed. What started as a single experiment in the studio soon blossomed into something more profound and special than a second wind: A brand-new beginning, and a first taste of true musical freedom, the hard-to-articulate, but easy-to-feel sound that pulses throughout Electric Love.
More Info
Age Limit – 21+ || $12 advance tickets
Buy Tickets
Sade to Release The Ultimate Collection on May 3rd
Three Unreleased Tracks Now Available for Stream:
The Moon And The Sky (Remix Featuring JAY Z) by SadeOfficial
As a follow up to the platinum-selling Soldier Of Love, which spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard album chart and garnered a well-deserved Grammy, Sade is back with The Ultimate Collection to be released on May 3rd. In addition to classic Sade songs, the must-have, two-disc album will include four new, never-before heard songs including “The Moon And The Sky” (Remix Featuring Jay-Z).
Sade will be joined on tour this summer by fellow Grammy winner John Legend, performing in top arenas across North America, in an effort to reach their vast and loyal fans. Sade’s classic sound set to haunting, unmistakable vocals creates the most intimate of concert experiences in a way that only an unforgettable Sade performance can. Sade performed for more than a million fans during their last tour in 2001.
Les Nubians Release Stream of “Les Gens” (People) feat. Blitz the Ambassador
Grammy nominated sister duo Les Nubians premiere a new track today from the forthcoming album Nü Revolution. “Les Gens” (People) features Brooklyn-based Ghanaian MC Blitz the Ambassador, a perfect fit for the group’s relentlessly enchanting and energized mix of R&B, hip-hop, African music and other world elements.
Les Nubians – Les Gens (People) ft. Blitz the Ambassador by Giant Step NYC
With this song, Paris-born sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart tackle the subject of gossip and soussou (rumors), as the rastas say. “Gossips and are little mundane poisons. What people say about you is deformed from a mouth to an ear, to a mouth to another mouth! With Blitz the Ambassador, we don’t believe the hype and remember that a new breed of African is born to tell the people the truth,” states Hélène. “Don’t listen to people, they lie,” adds Célia.
Les Nubians previously released a stream of the infectious track “Afrodance” and a video for “Veuillez Veiller Sur Vos Rêves” (J.Period Remix) feat. John Banzaï.
Les Nubians’ third album, Nü Revolution, drops April 19th via Shanachie Entertainment. It is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.
Kutiman releases new Thru-You video “My Favorite Color”
“[Kutiman’s] latest video is further proof of how much beauty can be found in seemingly-ordinary YouTube clips… It’s a piece that is wholly from the Internet and pure art.”
-CBS News
“The meticulousness (and curiosity) alone needed to create a song strictly from found YouTube videos is unbelievable. To have it sound so strong is basically beyond.”
-The Fader
It has been almost two years since the release of video artist/musician/producer Kutiman’s breakthrough YouTube series, Thru-You, and he is ready to share a new creation titled “My Favorite Color”. The project blends together a deeper, Jazz oriented sound that has already gained numerous views and praise from outlets such as Wired, CBS News and TechCrunch. The video maintains the Thru-You style of taking footage from various YouTube videos, but this time the sound is more complex and dreamlike. Whether it is an organ playing mother, a young female vocalist singing in her London bedroom or an Omaha-based saxophonist doing a free improvisation, Kutiman unites their talent forming one big online music collective.
The unexpected success of the groundbreaking Thru-You project in 2009 has put Kutiman on the forefront of the Internet music world. An online music video project mixed from samples of unrelated amateur YouTube music videos, Thru-You was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2009.
In his creations, Tel Aviv native Kutiman samples footage posted by YouTube users playing various instruments (drums, piano, vocals, etc.) and mixed them together into musical jams. A project purely intended as a creative outlet is now close to 10 million views and counting.
Multi-talented and highly sought-after, Kutiman recently exhibited his work at the Guggenheim YouTube event (October 2010) and created a live production for the Israel Google Event (January 2011) among many other notable projects including making a Maroon 5 music video.
A Tribe Called Quest Breaks Silence on Documentary
On Monday, March 14th, A Tribe Called Quest members Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi (via phone) spoke with MTV’s Sway for an exclusive interview on their concerns with the ATCQ documentary, Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. The film, directed by Michael Rapaport, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and there has been controversy surrounding the group’s support. With this interview, A Tribe Called Quest clears up their point of view and discusses the actions that led them to finally speak out.
TRON: Legacy RECONFIGURED available April 5th
On April 5, Walt Disney Records will release TRON: Legacy RECONFIGURED, featuring remixes of selections from the original motion picture soundtrack. The 15-track album was produced by Mitchell Leib, President of Music and Soundtracks for the Walt Disney Studios and Jason Bentley, “TRON: Legacy” Music Supervisor.
TRON: Legacy RECONFIGURED is an eclectic mix of acclaimed DJs, remixers and producers from all points of the globe with their own fresh take on select tracks from the original film score, composed by Daft Punk. Highlights on the album include multi-platinum artist Moby with “The Son of Flynn”; “The Grid” by platinum-selling electronic music duo The Crystal Method (Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland); and “End of Line” by award-winning German electronic music producer and DJ, Boys Noize (Alexander Ridha). Another highlight on the album is “Fall” which features a collaboration between electronic/dream pop act M83 and Jonathan Bates’ Big Black Delta.
From the album’s liner notes, Bentley says: “RECONFIGURED now brings the music full circle, assembling some of the leading producers of Dance and Electronic music today to, in the words of Zuse, ‘Change the scheme, alter the mood…electrify the boys and girls.’ The results are a thrilling collection of biodigital jazz for disco denizens worldwide that pays homage to Daft Punk’s own legacy through the modern art of the remix.”
Leib adds: “This is the most natural and respectful extension of our TRON soundtrack legacy and one which embraces the electronica club roots of its artistic invention. Now the entire world can dance to the sounds of THE GRID. ”
The RECONFIGURED track list follows:
1. The Glitch Mob – “Derezzed”
2. M83 VS Big Black Delta – “Fall”
3. The Crystal Method – “The Grid”
4. Teddybears – “Adagio for TRON”
5. Ki:Theory – “The Son of Flynn”
6. Paul Oakenfold – “C.L.U.”
7. Moby – “The Son of Flynn”
8. Boys Noize – “End of Line” (Boys Noize Remix)
9. Kaskade – “Rinzler”
10. Com Truise – “Encom Part 2”
11. Photek – “End of Line”
12. The Japanese Popstars – “Arena”
13. Avicii – “Derezzed”
14. Pretty Lights – “Solar Sailer”
15. Sander Kleinenberg – “TRON Legacy (End Titles)”
TRON: Legacy RECONFIGURED will be available wherever music is sold on April 5, 2011. For additional information on the album, please visit tronlegacymusic.com. For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, please visit Disney.com/music, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic.
For the ultimate TRON experience, visit tronsoundtrack.com where fans can discover “Easter Eggs” of music and order the TRON: Legacy RECONFIGURED CD. The site offers a completely unique fanpack including the TRON: Legacy Blu-Ray or DVD, TRON Betrayal: An Original Graphic Novel Prequel To TRON: Legacy, an exclusive glow-in-the-dark TRON: Legacy/Daft Punk poster and an exclusive digital EP of previously unreleased alternate takes and score cues from the film.
