NPR Music Opens SXSW with Spoon, Broken Bells, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Walkmen and Visqueen
Wednesday, March 17 at 8PM (CT)

Day Party Features Sleigh Bells, Surfer Blood, G-Side, Local Natives, Smith Westerns and Brooklyn Rider
Thursday, March 18 at 12:30PM (CT)

NPR Music and Five Member Stations to Cover Festival March 17-20 With Artist Interviews, Performances, Social Media

For the third straight year, NPR Music is opening the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference and presenting a daytime concert the following afternoon - featuring two of the most dynamic lineups of the festival.

Both shows are accessible to audiences everywhere through free live webcasts and live streaming via the NPR iPhone App, as well as broadcasts on NPR Member stations across the country.

All SXSW coverage, and archives of the past two years of music, can be found at NPR Music.

Joining NPR Music in festival coverage are five NPR Member station partners - KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio.

Throughout the week, find artist interviews, reports and live performance sessions at www.npr.org/sxsw and at the stations' websites. The stations are also hosting many of their own concerts and events (see the events calendar for complete details).

All Songs Considered is reporting on the local scene via Twitter (@allsongs) and with a daily podcast wrap-up featuring roundtable commentary on the best discoveries from Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson and Carrie Brownstein. Now at the site: The Austin 100, a streaming music sampler of 100 must-hear artists of SXSW (producers listened to 1000 acts to create this list), and a free 11-song NPR Music Sampler of showcasing bands for download at iTunes.

Listen to the SXSW 2010 discussion:

Austin's own Spoon headlines NPR Music's SXSW showcase at Stubb's on Wednesday, March 17 beginning at 8:00PM (CT).

The concert kicks off Spoon's U.S. tour in support of its new album, Transference, and is the first stateside performance of this new material.

Sharing the stellar NPR Music lineup are Broken Bells, a collaboration between Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and Shins frontman James Mercer. This barnburner also presents the body moving retro-soul of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, known for their intense live performances; The Walkmen, whose urgent and artful songs have made the band a perennial on critics' best-of lists; and Seattle power-pop band Visqueen. A SXSW badge is required to attend this official showcase.

On Thursday, March 18 at 12:30PM (CT), NPR Music brings together must-hear bands during its daytime concert at the Parish.

Headlining the show is Brooklyn-based Sleigh Bells, the breakout duo of powerhouse vocalist Alexis Krauss and programmer-guitarist-drummer Derek Miller.

The lineup includes five groups on the rise: Palm Beach indie pop band Surfer Blood, who earned quick praise for its hook-filled debut album Astro Coast; G-Side, a rap duo out of Huntsville, Ala.; Local Natives, a young L.A. quintet creating percussive rock; frenetic Chicago garage-rock group Smith Westerns; and the charismatic string quartet Brooklyn Rider, which alternates between the classics (Debussy, Brahms) and its own fiery compositions. Line up early - this show is free and open to the public (21+).

Both concerts will be anchored by Bob Boilen, host and creator of All Songs Considered and its Live in Concert series; NPR Music "Monitor Mix" blogger Carrie Brownstein; and David Brown, host of Texas Music Matters on KUT.

This is the third straight year that NPR Music is presenting the opening night of SXSW at Stubb's, and introducing a new record from a major band in the process. Last year, the Decemberists played all 17 songs of its album, The Hazards of Love, in sequence, and in 2008, R.E.M. (in its SXSW debut) performed songs from the March 2008 release Accelerate. In 2008 and 2009 at Stubbs and its dayparty, NPR Music also webcast and broadcast live performances by Vampire Weekend, The Avett Brothers, My Morning Jacket, K'Naan, Heartless Bastards, Bon Iver, The Dirty Projectors, Blind Pilot, Blizten Trapper and many others. All past concerts, along with artist interviews and live audio and video performance sessions, are archived at www.npr.org/sxsw.

For more information, go to:

NPR - SXSW Official Website

All Songs Considered on Twitter

NPR Music on Twitter

WHO: Adrian Grenier (Entourage); acclaimed filmmaker, Ondi Timoner; visionary internet pioneer, Josh Harris and IndiePix Films.

WHAT: Headquartered in Chicago, Ondi Timoner (the only director to win two Sundance Grand Jury prizes; her first was for DIG!) and IndiePix Films will be creating a worldwide launch event for her film WE LIVE IN PUBLIC - a film about the internet's impact on human interaction. The event will be taking place simultaneously in seven major U.S. cities, Canada and Europe. The film will be screened simultaneously in theaters worldwide (U.S. markets include NYC, LA, Chicago, D.C. and Denver), to be followed by a participatory in-theater Q&A with Timoner and film's subject, Josh Harris (based in Chicago) and Adrian Grenier (Entourage ), who will be based in New York - joining live, on screen.

WHEN: March 1, 2010 / 7:00 pm

WHERE: COBRA LOUNGE
235 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60607-1401

MORE INFO: Chicago's Cobra Lounge will host a screening and recreation of Josh Harris' infamous and ground-breaking "Quiet" bunker - he curated and funded an underground bunker in NYC where over 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days at the turn of the millennium. The Chicago bunker will feature live performance pods and celebrity DJs. The Q&A with Ondi, Adrian Grenier and Josh will take place via skype and will also invite participation online.

Buy DVDs, more:

We Live In Public on amazon.com

We Live In Public on amazon.co.uk

Watch the trailer:

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC SYNOPSIS:

As the social networks - YouTube, Facebook and Twitter - explode, questions of personal privacy continue to be an issue. But in the '90s, Internet guru, artist, futurist and visionary Josh Harris was experimenting with that very subject. Ten years in the making and culled from 5,000 hours of footage, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, from award-winning director OndiTimoner (DIG!), documents his tumultuous life for more than a decade to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives. Called "remarkable [and] mesmerizing[1]", the 2009 Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner for Best Documentary reveals the effect the web is having on our society, as seen through the eyes of Harris, "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of". On March 2, 2010 IndiePix® will release the highly acclaimed film, a favorite at prestigious festivals such as Full Frame, Hot Docs, New Directors/New Films, AFI'sSilverdocs and SXSW, in an extras-laden version for $24.95srp, available wherever DVDs are sold, online and at indiepixfilms.com.

Harris, often called the "Warhol of the Web", founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network during the infamous dot-com boom of the 1990s. With his "Quiet" bunker project, Harris proved how we willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire, but with every technological advancement, those objects of desire become that much more elusive. Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living with his girlfriend under 24-hour electronic surveillance which led to his mental collapse, Harris demonstrated the price we pay for living in public.

We Live In Public Official Website

Previously, SPIN selected the Ohio rockers as one of their "10 to Watch in 2010," saying "their songs glitter like diamonds and kick like mules."

Party-goers can get a taste of Foxy Shazam's notoriously rambunctious live show, and hear a preview of their upcoming major label debut.

The self-titled release, due out on Sire Records April 13th, pulls from influences as varied as Marvin Gaye, Elton John and "Born To Run"-era Bruce Springsteen and is an amalgam of blues, soul, and brash pop bound by a no holds barred punk-rock aesthetic.

Buy Music:

Foxy Shazam on amazon.com

Here's a teaser, featuring the first single "Unstoppable" - Foxy Shazam:

You can hear more at:

Foxy Shazam MySpace
Foxy Shazam Facebook
Foxy Shazam on Twitter

Punk Rock Bowling, the biggest punk rock party of the year, is once again taking over Sin City.

This year's stellar lineup includes Flogging Molly, NOFX, F***ed Up, Swinging Utters, The Revival Tour, Youth Brigade, Cobra Skulls, and Teenage Bottlerocket with many more bands to be announced soon.

Featuring an all ages outdoor amphitheatre as well as a 21+ indoor lounge for late night shows, you won't have to work to have a good time.

Celebrating the independent music community, this year 850 bowlers are expected to be among 210 participating teams. Made up of industry insiders (bands, agents, managers, fanzines, radio stations, labels, punk rock clothing and merchandise companies), and now, for the first time in the 12 year history, open to the general public, Punk Rock Bowling is one of the largest and most recognized indie music events of the year.

The hugely popular Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament is back to kick off the weekend as well as an expanded music program over a 3-day span in Las Vegas.

The entire hotel has been blocked out for event attendees along with additional rooms at surrounding hotels.

Book your hotel, register your bowling team and more at:

Punk Rock Bowling Official Website

Honouring the past, while keeping a scalpel-sharp sight on the future, the five-week series of cultural collisions will bring something for anyone who ever was or ever will be interested in keeping the pulse of the latest sounds sweeping the globe.

The line-ups feature legends in their own right, ranging from Soul ll Soul, Goldie, Carl Craig, A Guy Called Gerald, to the Heritage Orchestra, Moodymann, The Scientist, Roots Manuva, Red Bull Music Academy alumnus Flying Lotus, and many more.

They'll share studios and stages with the Academy class of 2010, 60 of the hottest young tune slingers from all around the world. The sparking frictions, where different fractions meet, the very moments when people from the most diverse backgrounds come together and creativity materializes: This is the very essence of the Red Bull Music Academy.

Red Bull Reporter is giving wannabe reporters the chance to experience some of Red Bull Music Academy's amazing events.

Check out the 2010 assignments on offer below:

The Red Bull Music Academy Presents 3-D Soundclash
Thursday 18th February (evening) at The Royal Albert Hall

REPORTERS WANTED: 1 x writer

Take an iconic location, add Martyn Ware's 3D Audioscape and you have some kind of audio version of Avatar. We're all aware of music's power to transport us to another place and Red Bull Reporter are searching for a budding young music journalist to take us and our readers on this journey.

The historic and beautiful Royal Albert Hall sets the scene for this assignment so if you have a passion for music and truly new experiences this could be for you.

Check out the assignment listing and apply here

Red Bull Music Academy x A Taste of Sónar
Fri 5th March & Sat 6th March (evenings) at The Roundhouse

REPORTERS WANTED: 1 x writer and 1 x photographer (over 18yrs old)

Sonar is back and Red Bull Reporter needs a writer and a photographer to head to the taster event in London!!!

Since its inception in 1998, the Red Bull Music Academy has built an unparalleled reputation for unearthing those studio wizards who shape our musical future. Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, J-Wow of Buraka Som Sistema, Aloe Blacc and Mr Hudson have all been students at the Red Bull Music Academy at some stage of their remarkable careers.

This is why, for the very first time in its longstanding partnership with the Barcelona-based festival, the Academy has been commissioned to curate the emerging talent stage at Sónar's taster event in London.

Check out the assignment listing and apply here

The Red Bull Music Academy presents 12x12"
Thursday 11th March (evening) at Scala

REPORTERS WANTED: 1 X photographer (over 18yrs old)

The Academy pays tribute to London's thriving scenes, hardcore and beyond, by inviting twelve landmark producers to the stage who all present their biggest anthem that helped shape a new generation in sound.

Red Bull Reporter are looking for a photographer to capture the strong visual element of this event.

Check out the assignment listing and apply here

For more information, go to:

Red Bull Reporter
Red Bull Music Academy
Red Bull Music Academy Radio

Spotify, under the leadership of Daniel Ek is the innovative new music technology and service that has taken Europe by storm and is now poised to enter the US market with equal force.

"New Music Seminar has a reputation for bringing together artists, industry executives and entrepreneurs and discussing how the music business can be revolutionized. I'm looking forward to talking directly with artists and labels about how they can use services such as Spotify to help redefine how music is marketed and distributed." - Daniel Ek.

Leaders from across the front edges of music, technology and beyond will speak and share ideas during this one day music, networking and educational extravaganza. NMS is the must attend one day for the industry (artists, managers, labels, etc...) who are seeking to learn and understand how to help artists "rise above the noise floor" in a shifting musical landscape.

Other featured players (panelists) include: uber producer, Rodney Jerkins; Kevin Lyman, President/founder Warped Tour; Alexandra Patsavas of Chop Shop Music; Justin Tranter, lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons; Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby and Jason Bentley, Program Director of KCRW. **Full panel listing is below.

The full day conference will include a symphony of four "movements" (focused discussion groups), live performances, the New Music Seminar "Artist on The Verge" contest winner performance and a ton of schmoozing both before, during and after the event.

"Whether you want to be an Artist, promoter, manager, or entrepreneur, here are the new rules to make it in the music business." The Huffington Post

Then New Music Seminar will also host the exclusive After Grammy Jammy Opening Night Party at The Viper Room, located at 8852 West Sunset Blvd, on Monday evening February 1st, 2010.

The evening will begin with a cocktail reception where delegates can network and schmooze between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

This will be followed by a private show attended exclusively by NMS delegates, the media and our partners, which includes NARAS, LA Weekly, Music Connection, Billboard, Digital Music News, Yahoo Music, MySpace Music, Hypebot, Filter Magazine, OurStage, RevebNation, Mozes, A2IM Indie Label Members and a host of new technology companies. It will be a great opportunity to meet and schmooze with all the top media and players in the music industry.

For the NMS Conference, badges can be picked up anytime after 7:30 am on February 2nd at The Henry Fonda Theater, located at 6126 Hollywood Blvd. The conference begins at 9:00 am sharp and will last until 6:45 pm. At this time, there will be a networking cocktail reception after to schmooze with other artists and Industry Leaders.

Says NMS founder Silverman, "The New Music Seminar is the epicenter of a new movement. The NMS is the creative crucible where new ideas are hatched and new collaborations formed. The New Music Seminar is a meeting of the architects of the next music business; the creators, the investors, the technological visionaries, those for whom music is a passion that they cannot do without."

The conference will feature Keynote address and four Movements:

1st Movement Success & FRM: Conductor Tom Silverman

Tom Silverman - Tommy Boy/NMS - Founder
Mike Doernberg - ReverbNation - Founder
Bryan Calhoun - SoundExchange - VP, New Media / External Affairs
Ian Rogers - Topspin - President
Bruce Houghton - Hypebot - President
Frank Cooper - Pepsi - Chief Marketing Officer

Keynote: Daniel Ek: Founder Spotify

2nd Movement Marketing: Conductor Jon Healy

Jon Healy - LA Times - Editorial Writer
Greg Estes - Mozes - VP Marketing / Client Services
Alexandra Patsavas - Chop Shop - Music Supervisor
Derek Sivers - CD Baby - Founder
Corey Denis - Not Shocking - Founder

3rd Movement Creative: Conductor Jason Bentley

Jason Bentley - KCRW - Program Director
Justin Tranter - Semi-Precious Weapons - Lead Singer
Elliot Wilson - Rap Radar - Founder/Owner
Rodney Jerkins - Darkchild Productions/Records - Producer
Tom Jackson - OnStageSuccess.com - President

4th Movement Touring: Conductor Dave Lory

Dave Lory - DJL Live Music Productions - Chairman / CEO
Martin Atkins - Tour:Smart / Invisible Records - Author
Kevin Lyman - Warp Tour/4fini Productions - President
Eliott Lefko - Golden Voice/AEG - VP
Martin Winsch - Mountain Ent./ Mgr Corey Smith

About The New Music Seminar

From the co-founder and director of the original legendary New Music Seminar comes a conference for the Next Music Business. Artists have never had so much power to control their own careers and build their success. This affordable, one-day event gives artists and their representatives the knowledge, tools and connections to step into the tomorrow's music business today. Delegates get an intense program including a keynote speech and four Movements with an incisive curriculum redefining the music business from the artists’ perspective. Delegates all receive the New Music Business Guidebook filled with important do's and don'ts by the experts, tips, information, forms and essential websites and blogs. The NMS Schmoozatorium will have important exhibits by companies to help artists with their careers and amazing networking opportunities

New Music Seminar Official Website

Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Madonna and Sting Will Appear in New York City

Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Matt Morris, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, and a Group Performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles

Coldplay, Chris Martin, Beyonce and a Group Performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London

All Performances to be Available for Purchase from Apple iTunes Store with Proceeds Benefiting Select Haiti Relief Funds

More than One Hundred of the Biggest Names in Film, Television, and Music to Appear on Hope for Haiti Now, Along with Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper in Haiti

Additional Television, Online, and Mobile Partners Make "Hope for Haiti Now" the Most Widely Distributed Global Telethon in History

Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief, has announced its lineup of superstar musical performances.

The global telethon will feature performances by Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Madonna and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Matt Morris, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, Chris Martin, Beyonce, a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in a newly added London location.

All musical performances will be available for purchase for $.99 per song through the Apple iTunes Store beginning Saturday, January 23, with all proceeds benefiting Haiti relief funds managed by Hope for Haiti Now charities.

In addition to musical performances, Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti, "Hope for Haiti Now" will feature more than one hundred of the biggest names in film, television, and music supporting the cause with testimonials and by answering phones during the telethon.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and United Nations World Food Programme have joined the list of relief organizations that will benefit from "Hope for Haiti Now," which also includes Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Yele Haiti Foundation.

Proceeds from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be split evenly among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief.

Watch video with Sway interviewing George Clooney:

"Hope for Haiti Now" will be the most widely distributed telethon in history, both internationally and across media platforms.

The two hour telethon will air on  ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, and CMT on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 p.m. CT.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will also air on newly added networks including PBS, TNT, Showtime, COMEDY CENTRAL, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, and Canadian networks including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, and MuchMusic.

The event will be live streamed online globally across sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV. "Hope for Haiti Now" will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, National Geographic, and MTV Networks International, which is available in 640 million homes worldwide.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will be the first U.S. based telethon airing on MTV in China.

Facebook and Twitter have signed on as official social media partners to help drive donations and tune-in to the telethon.

Please donate!

Hope For Haiti Now Website

First Announcement: Busy P, SebastiAn, Breakbot, So-Me with guests Fake Blood & Riton

Coronet Theatre, Friday 5th March, 9pm - 5am

The Ed Banger 6 (1/2) Birthday party in July was one of the biggest and craziest club events of 2009. Completely sold out, the crowd went wild for 8 hours straight to cracking sets from the whole Ed Banger family (including secret guest Justice's only UK show of the year).

"The London Ed Banger 6 1/2 Birthday Party was the best party we played in 2009" - DJ Mehdi

So, due to popular demand, we're bringing it back!

On Friday 5th March, 2010 Ed Banger's figurehead Busy P will be returning to London to celebrate 7 huge years in the business with the Ed Banger gang, Fake Blood, Riton and more.

All taking place at The Coronet Theatre in Elephant & Castle, a venue which boasts the best sound system in the country for its size. Imagine a festival sized PA crammed into a room the size of a cinema and youre halfway there!

VENUE

The Coronet Theatre
28 New Kent Road, London SE1 6TJ
+44 20 7701 1500
Nearest Tube: Elephant & Castle
Over 18s only. ID may be required

Advance tickets available now at just 15 from Ticketweb & eTickets

Deadly People is based in London with partners worldwide. Created by Phil Hutcheon at the start of 2008, Deadly put on events that range in size from 250 to 2,500 people and always include a headline performance from a world class artist.

Deadly Management represents AC Slater, Buraka Som Sistema, Drop The Lime, Sinden & Zombie Nation and Deadly People Recordings have released music by O. Children, Violens, Cartridge, Subway and The Megaphonic Thrift. They are also responsible for Lovebox Friday in 2010.

Ed Banger Records:

Busy P (aka Pedro Winter aka ex-manager of Daft Punk) starts the most influential underground dance music label of recent times. From this fantastic movement, Justice appears and pretty much influence a whole generation of dance kids.

They win MTV Best Video Award for "We Are Your Friends", piss off Kanye West, make up with Kanye, direct Kanye's video and have Jay Z, Britney Spears and U2 desperate for some Ed Banger love. Meanwhile, back in Paris, So_Me becomes one of the most influential artists in France, DJ Mehdi releases a critically acclaimed album that even Thomas from Daft Punk gets involved with and BANG, Ed Banger are the hottest thing since, well... yeah... Daft Punk.

Ed Banger Records

Deadly People website

The Coronet Theatre Official Website

With the continued success of its event promotions arm, 2010 sees The Playground go from strength to strength with future explosive line ups set to be better than ever before including acts of the moment, Crystal Fighters, Robot Disaster and Lyrebirds to name but a few.

Photo: Crystal Fighters

Having established a name for producing solid yet eclectic alternative, indie and dance events for breaking bands over the years at highly regarded London venues including Proud, Koko and 93 Feet East among others over the past few years, 2010 is looking even stronger for The Playground brand.

The company has stamped its approval on the best emerging bands by hosting acts including The Joy Formidable, The Horrors, Bombay Bicycle Club, Hadouken!, Ipso Facto and Punks Jump Up who all now regularly feature in renowned music titles NME, There Goes the Fear, Clash, Drowned in Sound, The Guardian and on BBC Radio 1 and MTV.

Last year also saw The Playground outsource their knowledge of revelries when promoting successful afterparties for Franz Ferdinand and White Lies' Brixton Academy shows with said bands performing exclusive DJ sets.

The Playground is looking at continuing these tastemaking events with its weekend residencies at Shoreditch hotspot 93 Feet East throughout 2010, starting with 'London's best kept secret' indie popsters, Cha Cha, who have their launch party on the 5th February, 2010. Alongside them are Lyrebirds who have already supported Neil Young, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Big Pink and Maccabees plus Artrocker-tipped Black Manilla Beach Parade providing a killer set of surf-rock-boogie lo-fi and guitar screamers Bang Bangs.

The Playground continues to show love for all things electro the day before Valentines Day on 13th February featuring an epic line up of Kitsune artists with a DJ set from electronic outfit Crystal Fighters, who have made it clear about their feelings for London with their recent smash "I Love London", whilst Inflagranti, My Tiger My Timing and The Seal Cub Clubbing Club offer the perfect ear candy. The love is definitely set to last all night with a 4am close.

Plans are also in the works for The Playground to team up again with XFM on the station's XFM In the City Festival in London as well as with The Great Escape Festival in Brighton for the second year running.

The usual alternative art and performances that The Playground have become known for with burlesque dancers, VJs, performance artists and much more can be expected at all of their events.

Director Warren Morris says: "This is an exciting time for The Playground with our events continuing to push boundaries but also for our other arms including our PR service, magazine and ambitious new website project. We're pleased to be teaming up with various artists, labels and media for what will undoubtedly be a great year."

Venues: KOKO, 93 Feet East, Scala. The Great Escape Festival, XFM In The City, The Brixton Jamm.

Recently booked: Punks Jump Up, Bombay Bicycle Club- DJ, White Lies-DJ, Paul Thompson (Franz Ferdinand)-DJ, KASMS, Post War Years, My Tiger My Timing, Man Like Me, Crystal Fighters, the Brute Chorus, Romance, Underground Railroad, Televised Crimewave, O'Children, Tommy Reilly, The Joy Formidable, Eddy Temple-Morris, Hadouken, Trash Fashion, Infadels, Selfish C*nt, Ulterior, Mica Paris, Imperial Leisure, Tom McRae, Doll and the Kicks.

What They Say:

MUSIC TOURIST BOARD
"The Playground has become rock's answer to Studio 54 within a year of existence, moving to Saturday night dress up and get down gatherings at 93 Feet East, Shoreditch. They book the hottest and coolest of the near future. Getting a gig at The Playground is a sure fire sign of an even brighter future"

DISORDER MAGAZINE
"The girls are beautiful and the boys are rotted... ink stained skin, ratted hair, tight denim and torn t-shirts, glitter and lashings of kohl, deep fast nights of excess and trash... the Playground brand of sleaze glam storms the Proud Gallery in a whirl of hairspray, rock 'n' roll and attitude"

THE GUARDIAN
"A hurricane of cool!"

REMOTE GOAT
"A playground for some of the names that will undoubtedly mark the next decade of British music."

The Playground Official Website
The Playground MySpace

Documenting the Latest Indigenous Musical Genre To Arise From the Streets of New Orleans

A Collaboration between Aubrey Edwards and Alison Fensterstock

February 11 - March 27, 2010 at Abrons Art Center

The Abrons Arts Center is proud to announce Where They At, an exhibition that portrays the founders, architects, and players in New Orleans hip-hop and the uniquely regional rap known as bounce music, a phenomenon that evolved from the communities based in the city's housing projects.

Photographs, oral histories, and video footage compiled by photographer Aubrey Edwards and journalist Alison Fensterstock document the passing of seminal beats from New Orleans music traditions to a new generation in the late 1980's, and the creation of this new voice in Southern roots music.

This multi-media archive draws a line to the present-day diaspora, as Hurricane Katrina has scattered a once tight-knit bounce and hip-hop community whose music only existed at home - a home that has been redefined physically and culturally.

Where They At will also be exhibited during SXSW in Austin, Texas and will launch during Jazz Fest in New Orleans at the Odgen Museum of Southern Art, where numerous events spanning several months have been planned.

New Orleans has midwifed every existing form of indigenous American music, including funk and the street music exemplified by 2nd Line bands and Mardi Gras Indians. Hip-hop is the newest manifestation of that Southern tradition. Mardi Gras Indian chants, brass band beats and call-and-response routines equally inform bounce music, which almost invariably samples the Showboys' "Drag Rap" (a.k.a. "Triggerman") and Derek B's "Rock the Beat" or Cameron Paul's "Brown Beats."

Featuring lyrical patterns that focus mainly on sex, parties and dancing, it invites - even demands - audience participation by calling out dance steps or prompting replies.

This exhibition at the Abrons Arts Center features portraits culled from the larger archive of New Orleans hip-hop and bounce artists to focus on women and gay and transgendered men in early New Orleans hip-hop and bounce.

In the 90's heyday of New Orleans hip-hop, female rappers like Mia X, Ms Tee, Magnolia Shorty and Cheeky Blakk appeared in significant number with songs that were just as bawdy and aggressive as their male counterparts. Often, their tracks served as answer songs that challenged male MC's sexism in a way that created playfully ribald conversation, such as Silky Slimm's "Sista Sista" or Mia X's "Da Payback."

The prominence of queer members of the bounce community, such as such as Big Freedia, Sissy Nobby, and Vockah Redu, defies the myth of insurmountable homophobia within Hip-Hop, and speaks to a curious tradition in African-American entertainment in New Orleans, which has accepted and celebrated queer and cross-dressing entertainers for over half a century. Katey Red, a Sissy, was signed to the prominent bounce record label Take Fo'.

The full Where They At archive project will open at the Smithsonian-affiliated Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans in April 2010, on the eve of the first Jazz Fest weekend.

Audio-visual stations offer footage of live performances as well as oral history recordings by members and tradition bearers of the Bounce community. Collected ephemera, such as LPs, tapes and posters highlight the material culture and its adaptations over time. A full online cultural archive will be launched in conjunction with the exhibition, serving as the only resource of its kind in hip-hop research.

Where They At is the title of a song generally recognized as the first bounce release, recorded by DJ Jimi Payton in 1992 for producer Isaac Bolden's Avenue Records. (The song was recorded earlier the same year as a homemade cassette-only release by rapper T.T. Tucker, with the late DJ Irv.) To all accounts, these recordings marked the point in time at which New Orleans rap found its own voice in the raw, celebratory, infectious block-party sound that would go on to influence artists at the top of the game. The chants Jimi originated on that track, "Do it, baby, stick it" and "Shake that ass like a salt shaker" are still quoted by Bounce artists recording and DJing parties today. DJ Jimi famously used his mother and grandmother as backup dancers.

Alison Fensterstock is a New Orleans-based music journalist. From 2006-2009, she wrote an award-winning music column for the city's alt-weekly, The Gambit. Her writing on roots music and New Orleans rap has appeared in MOJO, Vibe, Q, Paste, Spin and the Oxford American Music Issue. Recently, she wrote the text for "Unsung Heroes: The Secret History of Louisiana Rock n' Roll," an exhibit currently on display at the Louisiana State Museum. She is the programming director for the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation. Her Gambit cover story on gay and transgendered bounce artists in New Orleans, "Sissy Strut," was selected for an honorable mention in Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2009.

Aubrey Edwards is a Brooklyn- and New Orleans-based music photographer and educator. Edwards was the primary music photographer for the alt-weekly Austin Chronicle from 2004-2008; her present client list includes the United Nations, Magnolia Pictures, Playboy, SPIN and Comedy Central. She teaches photography and videography in Brooklyn schools, as well as with continuing adult education. Her recent work in New Orleans includes guest lecturing with the University of New Orleans photo department and conducting workshops with the New Orleans Kid Camera Project.

UPCOMING "WHERE THEY AT" EVENTS

February 11, 2010, 6-9 pm: Opening at the Abrons Art Center/ Henry Street Settlement

466 Grand Street (on the Lower East Side), New York, NY
212.598.0400
Trains: J/M/Z or F to Delancey/Essex; B/D to Grand St.

March 16-21, 2010: South by Southwest events

Day Party/Closing party at the Birdhouse Gallery

1304 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin, TX

April 22, 2010: Full archive opening at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

900 Camp St., New Orleans LA

April 23, 2010: Partial exhibition opening on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the Grandstand.

Ongoing programming at the Ogden Museum, including performances, live interviews and screenings, will continue through July 2010 – dates TBD.

Aubrey Edwards Official Website

Abrons Art Center Official Website

SXSW Official Website