James Murphy, the king of bringing back the underground punk dance scene circa Talking Heads Remain In Light’s release, is back with his newest album, This is Happening. This is Happening is now streaming on http://www.lcdsoundsystem.com/thisishappening/ and it is quite good, and it is progress (the music, not the interesting/regressive album cover that gives a shout-out to the 80’s) and progress is always good. Getting more in touch with his emotional side, and continuing to experiment with new, and outlandish beats Murphy’s This is Happening is highlighted by “I Can Change” and its atypical LCD emotional lyrics, “Never change, never change, never change/ This is why I fell in love… But I can change, I can change, I can change, I can change/ If it helps you fall in love” that Murphy sings more beautifully than we’ve heard him before. These lyrics are adorned by an enchanting beat that makes this magical song an album standout.

The album starts with lo-fi dance song “Dance Yrself Clean.” Which sounds like it was made in Murphy’s garage with Fruityloops and a couple of trash cans intermittent with his yelps before leading into album single, “Drunk Girls.” “Drunk Girls” is an anthemic song, and a polarizing song, containing the same tongue in cheek lyrics seen in LCD’s “Daft Punk is Playing At My House.” Featuring the shout-iest most sing along lyrics a LCD song ever has, something that is sure to please drunk boys and girls everywhere, but has split his hipster fan-base in half. For the record, I’m a fan.

For the record, I’m a fan of the whole album, which continues to build on LCD’s tried and tested formula of sonically powerful dance songs that build on one another and within the song itself, while also expanding the sounds of LCD fans have come to love. Almost anything Murphy touches nowadays turns to gold, his record label DFA [Death from Above] signs the best punk/dance/electronic bands in New York and is reenergizing the lost punk-dance scene, and This is Happening is no exception from this rule. On top of all this excitement LCD is took their live show to Coachella and played an amazing show that included old favorites and several new songs from This is Happening and my favorite LCD Soundsystem song, “All My Friends.”

Hopefully I’ll be interning at Murphy’s DFA next summer so please read this, James, and hire me!

KSCR is hitting the road this weekend with our very own DJ Ahmar who will be covering the desert splendor during the 2010 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. Accompanying the festival, events include Desert Gold @ the Ace Hotel, the annual Anthem Magazine Coachella party at the “LA GOON,” Coachella Oasis, Music Loves Fashion, Filter Magazine Party, IndiOasis @ Coachella, 944 + A|X first “Neon Carnival” and Lacoste at Coachella.

For now, why not enjoy a mixtape to celebrate the occasion?

“The View From Nowhere” - Spinning an eclectic mix of House Music & Electro, spanning the most soulful to the most distorted

Featured on KSCR Radio (http://kscr.org,1560AM)
Air Date: 04-13-2010 10pm-12:00am

Announcements:
2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feat. Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke….
Music Loves Fashion featuring the Chemical Brothers (DJ set)
Anthem Magazine LA GOON party
Coachella Oasis sponsored by DipDive & GJeans

Photography Courtesy of http://clubsoda.fm

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Track List
Air - So Light is Her Footfall (Breakbot Remix) (Pre-Show Track)
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous (Pre-Show Track)
WDPK/VFN Intro
Kish Mauvre - Lose Control (Fred Falke Remix)
Cassius - 1999 (remix)
Tiga - Move My Body (Only4Erol Mix)
LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yourself Clean
Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA remix)
Greg Wilson - Two Sides of Sympathy (Greg Wilson Edit)
Jay-Z feat. Beyonce - Crazy In Love
Gorillaz - 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)
Gorillaz vs. Daft Punk - 19-2000 (Re-Edit) (http://electrosound.eu)
Phoenix - Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix)
J Kwon - Tipsy
Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand (Tranter, Swick and Shan Cabana’s Premix)
Daft Punk - Rollin’ and Scratchin’
Deadmau5 - Reward is Cheese
Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff
Adam K & Soho - Long Distance
Daft Punk - Around the World (Kid Dub remix)
Mongoloids - Spark Da Meth
Daft Punk - Around the World 2009 (Alive Re-Edit)
Soul Vision - Don’t Stop

One week of the year, music lovers from all over the world descend upon Miami for the largest music industry gathering of its kind, the Winter Music Conference. Frequented by those in the dance & electronic community, the WMC is host to a myriad of artists, DJs, record label representatives (A&R), producers, promoters, radio and media professionals.

Beyond the conference, surrounding Miami is home to an array of events across the city, including the Ultra Music Festival. Whether you’re sitting down for some authentic Cuban food, or enjoying a nice cohiba poolside, it’s nearly impossible this week to avoid the infectious sound that is the house beat.

KSCR’s own DJ Ahmar aka VFN recently returned from “The Magic City” with a grab bag of promos and new music.

Click Here to view the photos through our friends at Club Soda. Photos taken the weekend of March 26th at the Winter Music Conference, as well as Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida.

Big thanks to Paradax Records, Beatport, RVNG Intl, The Opium Group, X-MiX Productions and countless others that make Miami as legendary as its reputation has earned.

The View From Nowhere” airs Tuesday nights from 10PM to Midnight, right here on KSCR.

It’s almost here…

We’re just one a week away from the 11^th Annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which has brought together some of the most amazing performances (Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Daft Punk, Rage Against the Machine) in Indio, CA. To top it off, Coachella weekend will be accompanied by a number of other events:

1.

The 4th annual Music Loves Fashion ‘10 event at the Riviera hotel in Palm Springs, CA. For convenience, purchasing any of the room packages will grant you access to both the MLF pool party and ballroom event featuring performances by Joel Madden, the Crystal Method (DJ set), Shiny Toy Guns & Hybrid Digital.. Line-up For package details, click the link HERE or visit www.musiclovesfashion.com

2. Filter Magazine’s Coachella Kick-Off Party

Filter magazine presents its 7^th annual Coachella Kick off sponsored by Toyota Antics on Thursday, 4/15 featuring DJ sets by Jokers of the Scene, Micachu & The Shapes, Deluka, Afghan Raiders (We’re not DJ’s), Kid Color, Hesta Prynn, Kid Lightning vs. Them Jeans, and of course, a super-secret surprise guest who will not disappoint. We like surprises. More info available here:

http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/contests/entry/win_a_pair_of_passes_to_filters_exlusive_coachella_kick-off_party

3. Anthem Magazine party at the La Goon

Ahhh yes, the legendary (oh-so-secret) Anthem Magazine party will take place once again this year. Those in attendance will recall Anthem’s previous Coachella events over the years (Anthem Ranch 2009, Pool Party 2008) including appearances by the Ed Banger Crew, Surkin, Boys Noize and a flurry of other surprises. Lineup not announced yet for this year’s Anthem “LA GOON”, but probably a good thing since many of our readers will only grow more and more jealous. More info here:

http://www.anthemmagazine.com/story/1811

KSCR will be there all weekend covering the splendor in the desert, as well as our friends over at ClubSoda.FM

Stay tuned!

A couple weeks ago I had a post on albums, in the spirit of continuity look at these cool album related things:

The New Jersey based band, Titus Andronicus has a new CD out. But not just any CD, The Monitor is a concept album based loosely on the civil war, “about how the conflicts that led our nation into that great calamity remain unresolved, and the effect that this ongoing division has on our personal relationships and our behavior.” Featuring vivid lyrics and powerful guitars. It’s a cool album and a cool concept. How many bands are doing concept albums of historical warfare? Not many, by my count.

I finally purchased Beach House’s album, Teen Dream last week after only having the download on my computer since its release. While examining the physical product I saw that Beach House included not only an audio CD, but also a DVD to accompany it. The DVD has a visual representation of each song, each video is directed by a different director. That’s cool!

Lastly, the Gorillaz new album is good. Plastic Beach has the same theme as Avatar (just without the 3D), Plastic Beach brings up concerns about how we’re treating our planet. The difference: the songs on Plastic Beach have video companions that feature good acting! Bruce Willis makes a…cameo as the ultimate badass in their newest video for the song “Stlyo.” Which promises to not be the last video for Plastic Beach. The ending shows the main characters going into the ocean, the next song on the album is “SuperFast Jellyfish,” so I’m going to guess that the story that began in “Stylo” will receive a conclusion.

Something a bit different… we haven’t covered too much classical music on this blog, so here’s something to get into.  I’m only posting a few songs, but get a hold of the entire piece if you can.  Quite beautiful.

Infernal Dance of All Kastchei’s Subjects

Disappearance of Kastchei’s Palace and Magical Creations

go buy this

Stripped down folk music.  Really sad.  Really beautiful.  Really good.  Pretty much perfect.  Most people have probably heard this, but if you haven’t, be sure to check it out.

Pink Moon

Parasite

Or buy it.

Disclaimer: same as always

I just started getting into this rather prolific band.  If you haven’t heard of them, Melvins are a four-piece grunge/sludge act from Washington (no surprise there).  They’ve been jamming since the late 80s and are still releasing new material. They cite Black Flag, Black Sabbath, Swans, and Flipper as influences, but they really have a pretty unique sound that can’t really be fully defined.  Bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden worshiped them.  It’s safe to say that Melvins had a strong influence on the whole grunge scene.

For this particular album, Cobain helped produce several tracks and even played some instruments on some of them.  This is Melvins supposedly at their most accessible.  That being said, it’s still pretty strange.

Hooch

Night Goat

Buy it

Disclaimer: You know the deal.