The 17th anniversary of one of Denver’s most storied music events, The Underground Music Showcase, is just around the corner. What began as a one-night performance featuring just four bands, The UMS has steadily exploded into to a four-day music and art festival featuring hundreds of performances. As the time draws nearer to what will no doubt be another incredible weekend pf performances, it’s time to get our readers familiar with this year’s crop of (mostly) burgeoning artists spanning a plethora of genres and sounds. While this recent slate of participating artists is the second wave, we can assuredly expect one more run of performers to be added to this year’s bill, so stay tuned!
This year’s bill features one of the more eclectic, varied lineups we’ve been privy to for a number of years, including a seemingly heavier focus on displaying the myriad talent spread across The Centennial State (that’s Colorado ya yokels). On the top end of things, The UMS features an incredible slate of headlining performances from the likes of Nika Roza Danilova’s influential avant-pop project Zola Jesus, New Orleans based Benjamin Booker‘s raw brand of blues/boogie/soul/rock, Red Fang‘s primal-yet-refined stoner-metal, John Jagos’ lofi pop alter-ego and TMN darling Brothertiger, and the smoothly subdued vocal stylings of Esmé Patterson. In addition to the already excellent pallet of headliners, The UMS also will be presenting countless sets from some of our absolute favorite Colorado artists including Flaural, Povi, RUMTUM, Slow Caves & Dragondeer. To get your ears tuned for next month’s festivities, check out our preview playlist below and get your learn on if you haven’t already. Tickets are still on presale, so hop to it and pick up a 4-day pass on the cheap here!
Fresh off of the release of genre-busting LP Electric Lines (from which you can stream “Lose Your Love” & “Music Is the Answer” below), Hot Chip founding member and all around production kingpin Joe Goddard has kicked off 2017 glowingly, finding himself in the midst of a lengthy run of North American and European performances. Over the next few weeks, Goddard’s schedule is littered with sets across the U.S. including nights in New York City (5/19), Chicago (5/26), and Miami (5/27); and we’re all kinds of perked up to catch the studio wizard in the flesh, especially on the heels of Electric Lines. Back in December we featured the music video for “Lose Your Love”, which is just one of the many bright spots on his latest long player. Goddard flexes his production muscle effortlessly throughout Electric Lines, tackling the structures and sounds of disco, house, pop, R&B & techno head on, and coming out on the other end largely unscathed. If we’re going off of Goddard’s latest release, we can expect an eclectically programmed set filled with many of his contributions to the worlds of dance and electronic music.
Tomorrow night Joe Goddard will man the decks at the intimate Bar Standard in Denver, CO on behalf of our friends at TheHundred Presents, for which you can still get tickets for here. Enjoy our mini preview playlist in anticipation of Goddard’s remaining U.S. tour dates, and for our Denver friends, we’ll see you on the floor.
Judging by the title, you’d think this is some “fire” mix with tons of “heaters” and “bangers”. Well think again – FFFELIX is about to prove you wrong.
The French producer, whose real name is indeed Felix, comes out with a 6-track mix consisting of all original flips of old and new R&B/hip-hop tracks. Faith Evans‘ “Love Like This”, Snoop Dogg‘s “Peaches N Cream”, Miguel‘s “Adorn” and Migos‘ “Get Right Witcha” all got the Felix treatment, just to name a few. It’s a great treat for those who digs great production and chill vibes all around.
Dank or not, we definitely recommend you to check out this mix. It is now out on Record Record, and is available for a free DL. Go grab before it’s too late!
Easily one of the most influential architects thriving around the edges of dance & electronic music today, Joe Goddard seems to carry a certain gravitas whenever his name is attached to anything. Known by most casuals as one of the chief patrons behind almighty indie-tronica troupe Hot Chip, and co-founder of Greco-Roman Records (the same label which helmed debut releases from the likes of Disclosure, Roosevelt & TEED), Goddard has also quietly carved out quite the tastemaking assemblage of admirers over the course of 20 years worth of high profile remix work as a solo artist. Goddard’s latest single to come from the aforementioned Greco-Roman camp, “Lose Your Love”, received its visual counterpart today, and quite honestly, it’s one of the more polished and funnier music videos we’ve seen over the year.
On its own, “Lose Yourself” is a soulfully lovely, throwback house ditty propped up by robotic synths, but through the execution of director Fred Rowson, it takes on even more personality. In line with Goddard & Hot Chip’s playful nature, Rowson crafts a quite honestly hilarious homage to modern-day, cultish ‘healing’. Pacing things off in what looks to be a rec-center based yoga class before delving into offbeat 80’s VHS tapes, a street recruitment of followers, and climaxing with a Shakers type religious group convulsion on the floor, Goddard’s created a cheeky accompaniment to a catchy tune, and done it well. Really, I don’t even know what I just watched but I laughed and loved pretty much every second of it. Have a play for yourself below.
It’s that time again Denver! The amazing Seattle/L.A. club night turned nationally touring dance party, Dance Yourself Clean, is touching down again this Saturday, October 1st at the Larimer Lounge, as part of their Fall ’16 tour,and we’re beyond prepped & stoked for yet another raucous night of depravity, beautiful people and plenty of amazing tunes. For our friends that were out for DYC’s first ever Denver stop earlier this Spring at the Marquis Theater, they can surely attest to the truly positive, palpably sweaty, and infectiously frenetic energy generated by the foggy, laser-filled indie-pop party. Bringing back the indie-dance-punk-pop days with a beautiful vengeance, DYC patrons are typically seen singing along on the dance floor, slow dancing to the latest Blood Orange or jumping up and down to their favorite LCD Soundsystem song. In their own words: “Anything goes at Dance Yourself Clean, all we ask is that you leave your expectations and inhibitions at the door, come in take a shot and get on the floor.” That sounds just about right, and we are chomping at the bit to be a part of the latest Dance Yourself Clean festivities.
So, in great anticipation for DYC’s latest Denver iteration, we’ve teamed up with the DYC crew and put together quite the tasteful little playlist in anticipation of Saturday’s party. Not to mention! We will be giving away not one but TWO pairs of tickets, simply by clicking on the header of this post, and commenting with your favorite indie-pop track that you think should receive a rinse at Dance Yourself Clean. That’s it! And for those Ninjas who’d rather not try their luck and just want to have their tickets in hand, you can pick them up for just $12.00 here, and more event info can be found here as well.
There are a few rules, of course:
– The event is 21+ S, be of age, and be sure to tell all of your friends to increase chance of winning!
– You are responsible for your own transportation.
– You must bring a valid form of ID to pick up your tickets at the Larimer Lounge door.
Check out our preview playlist featuring selections from some of the artists listed, start commenting below, and best of luck ninjas!
Dance Yourself Clean, Featuring Music Inspired by: LCD Soundsystem | CHVRCHES | Miike Snow | Haim | Charli XCX | MØ | Empire of The Sun | Purity Ring | Twin Shadow | Icona Pop | Grimes | Bag Raiders | Kate Boy | Holy Ghost! | Cut Copy | Neon Indian | Capital Cities | The Knife | St. Lucia | French Horn Rebellion | Goldroom | Cherub | STRFKR | Is Tropical | RAC | Beat Connection | Sleigh Bells | Miami Horror | Tigertown | Blood Orange | Roosevelt | Penguin Prison | Chromeo | Holychild | and many, many more.
Baltimore’s Gabe Acheson, AKA Goldwash, is an artist who’s been catching fire recently for his avant-garde blend of existential funk music. Throughout 2016 this guy has been polishing his silky smooth jazz stylings and the result is nothing but quality. After making waves on BBCR1 with future funk tracks such as “But U Won’t” and “Need To Hear,” the 21 year old musician is back with another hit, “Honest.”
The track’s a slow jam that sports the sweet vocals we’ve come to expect from the artist, alongside a groove inducing bass line that promises to have you feeling the funk. Seeing as this guy’s been gaining a ton of momentum as of late, definitely check the tune out and keep an eye on Goldwash going forward!
Ever since first cropping up on our Ninja radar back in 2014 with the underground sweeping single “Thinking About It”, Just Kiddin’, the British House duo comprised of Lewis Thompson and Laurie Revel, have held down a tender place within many of our writers’ hearts. Formed in 2010 and originating from the small town of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, Just Kiddin’ have quickly become one of the hottest acts in all of Club-Land over the last few years, and for good reason. We had the chance to catch up with Lewis & Laurie not long after wrapping up their most recent North American tour & behind the release of their latest music video for “Fall For You” (see below to watch the entire piece); and as always the two brought a smile to our face while dropping some insight into what’s been going on with them as well. Read the transcript of our entire conversation below, and be on the lookout for more music from Just Kiddin’ very soon.
The Music Ninja: First off, thanks so much for taking the time to sit down and answer a few questions on behalf of TMN. We’ve been following you guys pretty closely since all the way back in August of 2014. So thanks again, we’re very excited to pick your brains. Let’s just get right after it! After a bit (read: a lot!) of background research on you guys, we came across some interesting arcs to the Just Kiddin’ saga. Lewis & Laurie, you both grew up in the same town of Kettering, and from what we understand, were near the same social circles, and both grew up with more traditional music backgrounds as well. With those rich musical histories, how did you both manage to fall in with each other in a musical capacity, and what led you both towards the world of club & electronic music; and also why did you decide to apply your talents in that direction?
Just Kiddin (Lewis): Good researching! Laurie & I have been friends since we were about 13, from a young age we got into electronic music together really, hence why our tastes are so similar. We tried to go down the band route originally, but got frustrated with organising band practise and how long things can take. I think this impatience made us grab copies of some music production software, and there’s been no looking back ever since!
The Music Ninja:You guys had early releases as Just Kiddin’ on Nurvous, HK & Exploited before becoming an Eton Messy staple. Obviously, Eton Messy has released and pushed some of your most notable tunes. How did you guys end up getting involved with the YouTube page turned club night, record label and electronic industry leaders? We assume you guys have a pretty solid relationship with the number of releases you’ve had under their banner.
Just Kiddin’: We love the guys at Eton Messy, they’re our good friends and we’ve had some wicked times together. We originally met them at a club night we played at in Bristol after they had been supporting our music on the channel, we hit it off and then decided to release “Thinking About It” with them.
The Music Ninja: Do you both consider Eton Messy to be a home of sorts for Just Kiddin’?
Just Kiddin’: Yes and no really. Like we said, we love the Eton Messy guys and really appreciate the help they’ve given us along the way. But we don’t want to state one place as our home and sounds & styles can change.
The Music Ninja:Your last release was the original record “Fall For You”, for which the official music video recently dropped as well (watch the whole thing above). It’s got quite the buoyant, summery feel to it. Do you think of Just Kiddin’ as maintaining a certain aesthetic and sound, or do you feel you both can go in any number of directions with the project?
