Author: Jim Allen

Pemberton Music Festival Unveils Its Own Beer, Campground Common

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pemberton festival beer

In retrospect, it was bound to happen. The Pemberton Music Festival now has its own official beer. The event, which brought out 115,000 fans last year and is Canada’s biggest music (and comedy) festival, will be taking place July 14-17 this year in Pemberton, BC. And besides sporting a stellar lineup that includes everybody from Kaskade and Bassnectar to Thievery Corporation and Girl Talk, the festival now boasts its very own brand of suds. Thanks to a partnership between the event’s parent company, New Orleans-based Huka Entertainment, and Canadian microbrewery Granville Island Brewing, getting a taste of the Pemberton Festival this year will mean something a little bit different.

Campground Common will not only be available at the festival, you can pick it up all over British Columbia as well as Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. The limited-run beer commemorating the festival’s third year contains Canadian pilsner plus crystal malts and hops straight from Chilliwack, BC. Granville brewmaster Kevin Emms has said, “I’m really trying to capture the spirit of Pemberton Music Festival in a beer.” And the festival seems set to respond in kind; Huka is planting hops on the Pemberton festival site this year, which will be used for further festival brews next time around. Now that’s how you start a tradition.

Paris Techno Auteur Marcelus Makes His Full-Length Debut With ‘Vibrations’

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marcelus Cedric Bros

When Parisian techno mastermind Marcelus decided to release his debut album on Tresor Records following a series of singles, he clearly wanted to make a major statement. Towards that end, Vibrations, which is due out on June 3, will arrive in the form of three slabs of 12″ vinyl. Marcelus, a.k.a. Cedric Bros, has spent plenty of time leading up to this, perfecting his blend of Berlin and Detroit techno influences with hard-hitting house flavors to come up with his singular style.

And for all the urgent, visceral beats that Vibrations may contain, Marcelus brings a cerebral side to bear on the album as well. For instance, in the making of the record, the mathematical datas of Pi and Phi were deliberately measured into some parts of the composition of each track.” And while we’re not entirely sure just what that means, it undoubtedly indicates that our man has been doing some serious thinking about how to put this thing together. And while we’re on the subject of numerical significance, Marcelus’s debut also happens to be entering the world during Tresor’s 25th anniversary. But you don’t have to do the math, just dig into the music.

Air Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Collection of Hits and Rarities

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air20

It’s official—if you had already reached adulthood by the time Air came on the scene, then you are a creaky old fossil. But don’t worry too much about it, you’re in good company. On June 10, Rhino Records is releasing TWENTYEARS, a double-length anthology celebrating the famed French duo’s 20-year anniversary. Sure, one might quibble with the count, seeing as how Air’s first EP arrived in ’97 and their first single came out in ’95, but what are we, mathematicians or music lovers? The point is, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel have been bringing their breezy brand of electronic pop to the world for a couple of decades now, and they deserve some serious props at this point.

Disc One of the anthology overflows with fan favorites like “Cherry Blossom Girl,” “Sexy Boy,” “Playground Love,” et al. But the second disc is the one that will turn the heads of the hardcore Air obsessives; it’s full of rare and/or previously unreleased material, including cuts from movie soundtracks, vinyl-only releases, album session outtakes, and more. If you’re into the collectible side of things, you can snap up a limited edition deluxe version of TWENTYEARS on July 22, replete with colored vinyl and a bonus CD of Air remixes of other artists (David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Beck, and more). And if you want to soak up some Air in person, the pair will be prowling around the globe starting on May 20, hitting the Outside Lands and FYF festivals in August along the way. Continue Reading →

ƱZ Introduces His New Label, Quality Goods

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ƱZ quality goods

ƱZ, the producer whose trap sounds and bass tracks have earned him international renown, has taken things to a new level with the announcement of his own imprint, Quality Goods Records. Releasing a mini-mix that includes tracks by Sophie, Alvin Risk feat. Hodgy Beats, and Protohype & Dabow, among others (not to mention some new music of his own) as a sample of the sound to come, ƱZ is taking what he’s learned about production and spreading the wealth around to other artists. His signature sound will inform everything Quality Goods puts out, but he’ll still be involved in something bigger than himself.

“I look for artists who define themselves with their art,” the perennially masked producer said in an interview with Billboard. “It allows me to see who’s paving the way as our generation’s next most forward-thinking artist.” And that’s not all the mysterious trap maven has cooking. This Friday, April 22, ƱZ will be appearing at Avalon Hollywood. But it’s not just an ordinary performance; it’s being advertised as a full-fledged takeover, during which he’ll be bringing out some surprise guests. Considering how closely he guards his very identity, who knows what ƱZ is likely to have up his sleeve for this event? (Hint: there’s only one way to find out for sure).