Lotus: Winter Tour 2012

Dallas fans CLICK HERE get your tickets to see 

Lotus Live at Trees Friday Feb. 24

More Winter Tour Dates

Lotus - Lotus (released 2011-09-13) by lotusvibes

Lights All Night: What A Weekend

Zed's Dead ringing in 2012

Photo by Josh Smith

       Well everyone knows that Lights All Night was everything everyone expected and more. The Dallas Convention Center came to life for two nights of top notch electronic music as old and new friends gathered to share a unique New Year's experience that will linger in our minds until we can get more next New Year's.
      At festivals I have found myself often drawn to follow the  massive crowds to watch the staple headlining main acts. This year having seen many of the headliners I tried to venture off to see other bands I have been listening to for months, but which I haven't had the opportunity to see live in Dallas. I'll be giving a thorough review of the Lights All Night festival in roughly a week or so because I'll be trekking to the funkiest city in the country to watch Alabama win a National Championship and I need some time to speak with some artists to include interviews in my coverage. Yes, please do check back because I will doing some lengthy interview work particularly with those artists hailing from the great state of Texas (hint... hint... The Nadis Warriors). 

      The interview coverage will be posted as a preview on this site and a full version will appear on TheOtherPerspective.net . This is the same site that featured my coverage of the Lights All Night Preview. For those wondering, yes I did check out those main headliners, but I spent a good deal of time listening to the artists who are just on the verge of really exploding such as Paper Diamond and Govinda.

I will also be posting other New Year's downloads and coverage from bands like Phish and Widespread Panic this afternoon.

More Lights All Night related material will be posted in several hours along with the regular free music downloads provided daily on the site. I'll start by throwing in some Big Gigantic, they killed it on the first night of LAN at the Groove Hall. First though, check out the Paper Diamond clip, he drew a great crowd before Big G.

Killer Big G Opening Jam

Big Gigantic kills this one, watch in 1080p

FREE Download "I Need A Dollar" (Remix) by Big Gigantic

The World Is Yours by BigGigantic

Download "The World Is Yours" by Big Gigantic 

Notorious Thugs (Big Gigantic Remix) by BigGigantic

Lights All Night Countdown: Nadis Warriors (Interview)

Lights All Night will finally be in full swing two nights from now, so I thought I'd take the time to highlight an act that has gained rapid popularity on the electronic music scene. The Nadis Warriors manage to incorporate their knowledge of electronic technology into their full blown live band. Yes, they are a full on band and they have struck fans in awe in recent years exploding onto the scene. Let me be clear this is not merely a band trying to imitate STS9, in fact they are one of the few electronic band outfits that isn't trying to imitate sound tribe's sound, something that has been long overdue in the scene. For this reason they thrive on fierce live energy performers that are coupled with the impressive visuals of Alex Grey. Not going to Lights All Night? You can still see them on the 30th at the Parish in Austin, TX. 

Oh yea and that tiny venue called the Fillmore in Denver, CO.... yea they just sold that one out. Simply put they are on the rise and they are constantly pushing to ensure that their live show is nothing shy of exceptional. Jason Hahn of the Nadis Warriors was kind enough to answer a few questions about the band. Please check theotherperspective.net (Click here for our Lights All Night Preview) for a Lights All Night review in the coming weeks, we will be speaking with Jason about his thoughts on the Lights All Nights festival. 

Jason Hahn on the Nadis Warriors

Q: At a festival with primarily DJ acts, what do you find to be the clear advantages of having a full band?

A: There are advantages and disadvantages to being a full band.
Some of the disadvantages is sound teams and promoters have seen how easy a DJ is to set up, sound check ect. When a band plays the sound teams have to sound check, not just plug in and go. On the other hand being a live band helps us bring the energy levels up by filling more space, the more space we fill the bigger the experience. It also enables us to improv more, meaning each show will be different, we wont ever sound "exactly" like the album version of the song. This makes it where if you miss one of our shows you could miss that connection the band makes, which in turn brings the peak of the song to the next level. It makes each show unique, each song different live.


Q: Having a live painter with the skill and reputation of Alex Grey is certainly a major asset to the live concert experience in several ways. As a musician how does his painting inspire you when you are playing?

A: Alex Grey's genius pushes us to take our sound, our vibe, our meaning to the next level. He is a great catalyst in our art, and for that we are forever grateful. He is also now a great friend and mentor, while on stage looking over and seeing Alex paint still sends chills through my body. His art can create that "moment" live. That "moment" is what people go to shows for, to experience something new, something pure, something special. Our goal as a band is to augment that while he is painting to make each and every show a special experience for the audience.

FREE DOWNLOAD Nadis Warriors: Allele Frequencies

Lights All Night Countdown: RJD2

        RJ Krohn is currently one of the most talented DJ's on the scene right now for a variety of reasons. To begin, RJD2 has managed to spread himself across genres in a way that many electronic DJs of our time have failed to do as they fall into a comfort zone of the norm in a particular niche of electronic merely recycling old ideas. This is true in any genre, but many have argued that Dubstep in particular has this problem. Not that the niche in of itself is bad, but because of an explosive growth a number of copy cat artists fans were left to sift through multiple tracks to find the masters of the genre. Again, I agree this is true with every genre, but nonetheless RJD2 has put himself on the map by doing the opposite. RJD2 has worked with hip-hop artists such as Aceyalone on the album Magnificant City Instrumentals. In addition, RJ has produced solo work using sampling. Seeking a way to really push his sound he got rid of using other's samples. This sparked the creative vision on his album titled "The Third Hand," which uses instrumental and vocals samples produced organically all by RJ Krohn himself. Not only a musician, RJ now releases his work through RJ's electrical connections allowing the harsh deadlines of recording and distribution to not hinder him from using as much time as necessary to produce quality work. Recently he has worked on a side project Icebird in order to create the effect of a full band, all while using certain techniques he has incorporated into his work for years. Maybe you think you haven't heard his music, but if you've watched "MadMen" then you will recognize his track “A Beautiful Mine” as the theme song.

     Love him or hate him this guy deserves some huge respect for his large incorporation of spinning actual vinyls with samples on them. "Work with limited resources ya know what I mean? It's four turntables and records, ya know I don't have a lot of fancy computer shit or whatever. But at least I hope, I hope that it's trying to make something from a point of view that people know understand, ya know, cause most the people they come they DJ or their friend DJs or some shit, hopefully they learn to understand the concept at least" (See first posted video). He has used samplers in the past, but he knows that his live show is enhanced because he doesn't have to struggle with making a controller sound different from the studio recording. I am not ripping on other artists here, but this guy deserves more attention as the whole electronic scene continues to gain massive recognition.

       We have quickly seen that many electronic artists have similar feelings. Though they may not have thrown away controllers they have added another DJ, live guitars, and more commonly, another drummer. We have seen this in the state of Texas with Austin native D.V.S. who is "The future of guitar in electronica". Big Gigantic has exploded on the scene in the past few years and anyone who has seen them knows that their fierce live drummer and saxophonist make the show, not the sick beats in of themselves (Big Gigantic Preview to be posted this week). I believe other artists will continue to follow suit as fans love seeing their favorite studio version of a song come to life with real instruments complementing electronic technology. In all, a perfect example of genuine organic music in the sampling DJ realm is RJD2. In the words of one fan, "RJD2 is the truth". 

 Catch him at Lights All Night on Friday Dec. 30th performing in the Bass Hall from 10:00-11:00.

RJD2 - Ghostwriter by MrAnonymas

Lights All Night Countdown

For all you Dallas music fans I'll be doing a countdown to Lights All Night featuring some of the artists that will be bringing in the New Year at this two night NYE Dance Festival. Here is a good preview of the upcoming events from The Other Perspective. net

TOP Lights All Night Preview

Buy Tickets

Gramatik & Break Science

Just a few weeks ago Gramatik & Break Science got together to collaborate on the track "Boogie Down". As if this collaboration wasn't good enough to begin with they brought one of the best drummers on the scene, Adam Deitch, to lay down some tight beats. Sometimes all-star collaborations fail to meet expectations, but that is not the case with "Boogie Down". This track was down in respect to EWF. Go ahead and give this one a listen. Due to a large workload at the end of the semester I was unable to post daily, but I will now be posting everyday again so check back.

Gramatik & Break Science - Boogie Down by Gramatik

DOWNLOAD "BOOGIE DOWN" by Gramatik & Break Science

Here is a video that was made for the Gramatik & Break Science Track

Also, I had to include a link to Gramatik's FREE album "Beatz and Pieces Vol.1". 

Download "Beatz and Pieces Vol.1" by Gramatik

Gramatik explains, "TheBeatz & Pieces series comes as a successor to the popular Street Bangerz series which was my first work as a producer. I never really considered these volumes to be albums.  I always looked at them as hip-hop beats on steroids. They are still raw, sample based beats, but with evolved arrangements and wrapped in a fine layer of live instrumentation.  And the reason I started adding live instruments is because I felt that classic hip-hop beats without vocals lose me after two minutes.  I want to keep the listener through the whole track!"

Nadis Warriors: Allele Frequencies

Download of the Day

With a sound that defies genre definition, the Nadis Warriors are taking the country by storm, showcasing their unique sound and scene changing message to the masses. Their eclectic mix of musical layers incorporates Tibetan singing bowls, tablas, live guitar and keys to create an electronic excursion through healing and dance. 

Free Download 

Official Website: http://www.NadisWarriors.com/

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Upcoming Dates

12/3                The Fillmore, Denver
                        W. Alex Grey, Allyson Grey, Beats Antique, Tipper, and Lynx

Click Here to Buy Tickets
                     
12/31              Lights All Night, New Years Eve
                        W. Girl Talk, Ghostland Observatory                  

Click Here to Buy Tickets

Lights All Night Preparty (Dallas): Paper Diamond

 

BANJOS TO BEATS, HIGHLAND ENTERTAINMENT, AND POLARIS PRESENT:

The OFFICIAL Lights All Night PreParty featuring:
PAPER DIAMOND
RUN DMT
JAY FRESH

Live at Trees Dallas
Saturday November 19th, 2011
Doors 7PM
All Ages Welcome

PAPER DIAMOND
Forward is not just a direction, it's a way of life for Colorado based producer Alex B who is rolling out big tunes under the new guise of Paper Diamond in 2011. The new project finds the trusted producer moving into previously untraveled musical territory.

The Paper Diamond sound has raw energy and the kind of dramatic anticipation only a seasoned producer can incite. Driving beats and bass grab on tight while deep, rich tones rumble under layers of spacey synthesizers, sweet melodies, and catchy vocals. One thing is for sure. The energy is high.

In keeping with the way of the future, Paper Diamond’s debut EP "Levitate" will be available for free download from PRETTY LIGHTS MUSIC and ELM&OAK RECORDS on January 25th 2011. 

Tickets On Sale Now at:

http://BanjostoBeats.eventbrite.com/

Paper Diamond

 

Alex B has well established himself on the electronic music scene and he is now performing as Paper Diamond. He will coming to Dallas on November 19th. Regular Presale tickets are still available you can Buy Tickets Here. I will be updating the page regularly from now on as Summer comes to an end. Check back daily for free downloads.

Can we go up by Paper Diamond
FREE DOWNLOAD "Can We Go Up"

Dallas Music Update: Vibesquad TONIGHT!

Doors at 9pm..Tickets $15 at the door..