The Key » Diplo

Just Announced: Mad Decent Block Party happening on 7/27

Julie Miller — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:13:18 +0000

The first wave of announcements for Mad Decent’s annual Block Party have begun rolling in from Diplo’s camp, and the touring event will hit its hometown of Philly on July 27th. No line-up has been made public yet but based on previous years it’s sure to be a colorful mix of hip hop, electronica and experimental genre mash-ups. Check out the announcement video below and then stream Diplo’s “Express Yourself” featuring Nicky Da B and remixed by DJ Mustard.

Download Major Lazer’s “Lazer Strikes Back Vol. 3″

Bruce Warren — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:26:37 +0000

DJ and producer Diplo’s Major Lazer releases its new album Free The Universe on April 15th on Secretly Canadian Records. Major Lazer tweeted a download link to the latest in their Lazer Strikes Back remix EP’s. Download volume three here.

Download volume 2 here.
Download volume 1 here.

Volume 3 tracklist:
1. Major Lazer & Flux Pavilion – Jah No Partial (Vato Gonzalez Remix)
2. Major Lazer – Get Free feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors (Avicii Edit)
3. Major Lazer – Get Free feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors (CAMO UFOs Remix)
4. No Doubt – Settle Down (Major Lazer Remix)

LAZER STRIKES BACK Vol. 3 t.opsp.in/e0rPV

— MAJOR LAZER (@majorlazer) March 23, 2013

Listen to a new Major Lazer song featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend playing WXPN’s SXSW broadcast this Friday)

Bruce Warren — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:03:57 +0000

Pitchfork has reported that BBC’s Radio One debuted a new song, “Jessica”, by Major Lazer from Diplo and company’s forthcoming album, Free The Universe, our April 15th on Secretly Canadian. It featured Ezra Koenig, the lead singer of Vampire Weekend. VW’s new album, Modern Vampires Of The City, is out on May 6th. Listen to it the breezy reggae jam below. Vampire Weekend are playing WXPN’s South By Southwest live broadcast this Friday on a bill that includes Divine Fits, Iron & Wine, Dawes, Charles Bradley, Artist To Watch Pickwick, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. The broadcast starts at 1PM ET.

Watch the new Major Lazer video, “Jah No Partial ft. Flux Pavilion” (partially filmed in Philly)

Bruce Warren — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:01:25 +0000

Major Lazer has a new video for “Jah No Partial” (featuring Flux Pavillion) that was partially filmed in Philly during the Mad Decent block party. We all know that Diplo and his colleagues know how to throw a party and this video captures the Major Lazer crew in full effect. “Jah No Partial” is from the band’s forthcoming album Major Lazer Frees The Universe coming out on February 19th on Mad Decent/Downtown Records. You can buy the single here. Last week Diplo received two Grammy nominations; one for Producer of The Year and one for Best R&B Performance for co-writing Usher’s “Climax.” Take a listen to Diplo’s production work from the last year here. Below, watch the video for “Jah No Partial.”

Grab free Katy B EP with tracks featuring Diplo, Jessie Ware (playing Union Transfer on 1/18) and Iggy Azalea (playing The Troc 12/20)

Skye Leppo — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:47:26 +0000

Budding UK pop darling Katy B has plans to follow up her 2011 debut, On a Mission, with a second full-length record sometime in 2013. But in the meantime, the singer released Danger, an EP with four brand new tracks partially produced by Philly mixmaster Diplo. It also features vocals from Jessie Ware (playing at Union Transfer January 18th) and Iggy Azalea (playing at The Trocadero December 20th); go here for more information. You can hear the EP below and download it for free here.

Free Download: Happy Halloween from Diplo & Friends

John Vettese — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:01:02 +0000

In addition to our own Halloween playlist you might want to puruse today, Philly-bred and internationally-acclaimed DJ Diplo released 3+ hour mix for the holiday, in collaboration with videographer System D-128. We’re pretty positive there’s zero crossover, which makes it all the awesomer. Listen and download it below.

Listen to a new Major Lazer song, “Jah No Partial” featuring Flux Pavillion

Bruce Warren — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:56:25 +0000

Diplo’s electro-reggae-dubstep-party collective Major Lazer releases its new album, Major Lazer Frees The Universe, on February 19 on Mad Decent/Downtown Records. Listen to a new song, “Jah No Partial” featuring Flux Pavillion. Along with Diplo, the Major Lazer crew now includes DJ/Producer Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. Below the song, listen to the original sample that the song was based on, “Mr. Marshall” by reggae legend Johnny Osbourne.

The Disco Biscuits release their sets from City Bisco to download

Skye Leppo — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:30:45 +0000

The Disco Biscuits are probably still recovering from last weekend’s massive City Bisco jam festival at The Mann Center. The multi-stage event included guests Diplo and The Manhattan Project, among others, and this week the Biscuits made their three sets of the weekend available as downloads here. Below, you can watch an overview of the crazy jam sesh before buying the tracks.

Contest: Win a pair of tickets to this weekend’s City Bisco Festival (starring Disco Biscuits, Diplo, RJD2 and more!)

John Vettese — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:37:59 +0000

Photo by Dave Vann

This weekend, the always-adventurous Disco Biscuits are taking over The Mann Center for the Performing Arts for their first City Bisco festival. As we’ve reported already, the lineup is a slammin’ mix of nimble beatmakers and instrumentalists, from hit-maker Diplo and turntablist A-Trak to local electronic mainstay RJD2 and the Biscuits themselves. You can check out the full schedule here; tickets and more information are available here.

And today, readers of The Key, you’ve got your chance to win weekend passes to City Bisco. Just comment below and let us know who you’re most excited to see on the lineup. Leave your first and last name – we’ll choose a winner tomorrow at 10 a.m. and contact them via e-mail. Get in the mood for the show by checking out The Disco Biscuits’ City Bisco Spotify playlist here.

Vibe out to a City Bisco Spotify playlist put together by guest contributors The Disco Biscuits (festival at The Mann Center this weekend)

John Vettese — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:04:51 +0000

Photo by Dave Vann

The bright lights and electro-rock vibes of the extended Disco Biscuits family will set up camp at The Mann Center this weekend for the Biscuits’ inaugural City Bisco festival, happening on Friday October 5th and Saturday the 6th. It gathers together an eclectic array of artists – some have performed with these innovative Philly-based electronic jam rockers (the very like-minded Brothers Past), others are movers and shakers whose own beats and textures are perfect compliments to the Biscuit’ vibe (the funky RJD2, eclectic hitmaker Diplo). Tickets and information on the festival can be found here. This week, we enlisted the Disco Biscuits as guest contributors to The Key; check out their Spotify playlist to your left, and read a festival overview below.

Hey guys – it’s Aron Magner from the Disco Biscuits, bringing you our first guest post on The Key in honor of City Bisco! Our first-ever urban Bisco extravaganza goes down this weekend at the Mann Center, where we’ll be joined each day by an all-star lineup.

There’s a lot of thought that goes into picking artists for a festival that we’re curating. Our wish list is always large and there are a ton of moving parts, but at the end of the day we are consistently proud of the full lineup we present when these events come together, and CITY BISCO is no exception. These are all artists you should know about if you don’t already, so I’ve put together a little playlist with some favorites for you to check out. Hope you enjoy!

Diplo – Every project he touches turns to awesome. Major Lazer..MIA..Snoop Lion, don’t matter. Awesome. The video for “Express Yourself” has caused tens of thousands of girls to tweet pictures of themselves “twerking” to Diplo. He then retweets the best of the best – which, amazingly, amounts to dozens on a daily basis.

A-Trak – This cat was a child prodigy of turntablism. Won competitions all over the world when he was a teenager. Even Kanye fell in love with him and picked him up for his tours. Also, who knew he came from such a talented musical family? His brother is in Chromeo, who we had at Camp Bisco a few years back. Obviously, I respect them both a lot.

RJD2 – I love every performance I see of RJ’s. 4 turntables and an MPC, what could possibly go wrong? There’s also an incredible interview I heard a couple years ago on the World Cafe. Here’s the link, which includes a cool video feed.

Aeroplane – I had a blast in a VIP cabana at the Fontainebleau during my first ULTRA with these guys. Well, now it’s just one guy, but whatever, you don’t need 2 kidneys, right? Go right to Aeroplane’s SoundCloud page. A new hour-long mix is released each month that’s always perfect for any party.

Cinnamon Chasers – It’s always cool when an artist reinvents himself, but it’s even cooler when he doe it while simultaneously developing his original alter-ego, in this case: Abakus. Did you know he has yet another project collaborating with his dad, Dave Davies of the Kinks?

Ott & the All-Seeing I (live band) – Could not be a nicer man in all of show business. I have respected his songwriting and production techniques for years. This show will mark one of the first times ever he has adapted his one man show to a live band. He also loves apples. Seriously. He will be endeared to you for life if you offer him an apple.

The Manhattan Project – The Young Lions of the Jamtronica scene. This duo of pure musicians are a powerhouse. They are coming up fast…so you better go check ‘em out!

Paper Diamond – My Boy Alex B. Nuff Said. He’s tearing it up right now and all well deserved. Beatz with a Z.

Papadosio – Welcome to the next generation of Livetronica. Represent represent boys.

Tipper – British, which is always a plus…range of styles…fun to watch…killer trax.

Alpha Data – The sound of 2012. A young artist that has quickly risen to the top of the beatport glitch charts. The guy talks a lot, like a lot, so it was only fitting when my bandmate Marc Brownstein was among those taking note of him last year. They could probably talk to each other for days.

City Bisco is this weekend October 5-6 at the Mann, and features the Disco Biscuits plus 15 other cutting-edge electronic acts. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster.