Usher performed his latest song ‘Scream’ at the Xbox 360 press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The star demonstrated the moves that players and his fans will be able to learn and perform in the new forthcoming game, Dance Central 3, exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360.
Usher has choreographed two of his songs for the best-selling dancing game, out later this year.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/48912493″ iframe=”true” /]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug5tPc5MZas&w=560&h=315]
Kent’s Tom Williams & The Boat have unveiled the animated video for new single ‘Too Young’, which is out now. The video is made up of over 1500 drawings, all hand drawn by chief protagonist, Tom Williams. The single is taken from the band’s album, ‘Teenage Blood’, which is out now.
Catch the band on tour and at various festivals over the summer:
June 16th
Green Man Boat Party!
W/Field Music/Three Trapped Tigers
June 30th
Leefest
July 6th
Lounge On The Farm
July 19th
Secret Garden Party
September 2nd
Smugglers Festival
September 6-9th
Bestival
September 15th
Southsea Fest
Animal Collective have announced a world tour, including 4 UK & Irish shows. Dates are as follows:
Sunday 4th November – London, Roundhouse
Tuesday 6th November – Dublin, Vicar Street
Wednesday 7th November – Glasgow, ABC1
Thursday 8th November – Manchester, The Warehouse Project
Full dates and more info: myanimalhome.net
Fránçois & The Atlas Mountains have announced that ‘Edge Of Town’ will be released as the next single from their debut album ‘E Volo Love’. The single will be released on Monday the 23rd July 2012. It’s a beautiful song that provokes a guaranteed hip-shaking swagger in the body of any listener. The key elements; swirling layers of percussive conga drums, chilled-out vocals, heavenly synth washes and perfectly clean guitar chimes all effortlessly coalesce into a perfect warm-weather listening experience.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RlOXJsFjpU&w=560&h=315]
Fránçois and his band will be performing live over the summer as follows:
Following the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Ways To Forget’, Clock Opera are re-releasing single ‘Belongings’ on July 30. Watch the video here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnDqI_F6pnQ&w=560&h=315]
Following their sold out album release partyat the Scala in April the band have announced their next headline London show and UK tour on the back of a busy summer of festivals including Blissfields, Winterwell, Roskilde, Latitude, Summer Sundae, Beacons, Bestival and Festival Number #06 to name a few.
The full list of Autumn UK dates are as follows:
20/10 – Gathering Festival – Oxford
22/10 – Sugarmill – Stoke
24/10 – Cyprus Avenue – Cork
25/10 – Roisin Dub – Galway
26/10 – Academy 2 – Dublin
27/10 – Limelight – Belfast
29/10 – The Kazimier – Liverpool
30/10 – Bodega – Nottingham
31/10 – Deaf Institute – Manchester
01/11 – Doghouse – Dundee
02/11 – King Tut’s – Glasgow
03/11 – The Harley – Sheffield
05/11 – The Haunt – Brighton
06/11 – Thekla – Bristol
07/11 – Waterfront – Norwich
08/11 – Heaven – London
Tickets on sale at www.clockopera.com/tour-dates/
New album ‘RETURN TO PARADISE’ released 18th June
Sam Sparro will release his sophomore album, ‘Return To Paradise’, on Virgin records 18th June 2012. Also just confirmed are two very special UK shows in Birmingham and Manchester to celebrate the release.
Part soul crooner, part pop star with an ever-morphing, chameleon-like quality, Sam coasts a fine line between disarmingly earnest and a chic, credible cool. He has become known not only for his distinct, scale-defying vocals and epic live shows, but also as a visual artist and style icon.
Signed to EMI Australia in December 2011 Sam has spent the last couple of years working on the follow up to 2008’s eponymous debut release. With a Platinum single (‘Black & Gold’), a Gold album, a Grammy nomination and 5 Arias under his belt, Sam has also been busy collaborating with the likes of Mark Ronson and Basement Jaxx as well as writing for other artists such as Natasha Beddingfield. His fans include Katy Perry, Beyonce, Cee-Lo Green and Adele who covered ‘Black & Gold’ in the Radio 1 Live Lounge.
Sam’s new album, ‘Return To Paradise’, is a play on nostalgia and “paradise garage” – a genre derived from the hedonistic discotheque scene in New York in the late 70s that began in a parking lot giving rise to the term “garage” famous for its unique and eclectic style of disco and dance music. It has been co-produced with long time collaborator Jesse Rogg.
It took a considerable amount of time as Sam was determined to get it right. “It is the product of a lot of experimenting and songwriting – I changed direction at least 2-3 times, completely. I started doing more rock oriented stuff, then I went in a pop direction and then through the process of scrap booking stuff that was inspiring me I ended up with an album that was influenced by music from 1978 to 1984”.
The central themes are love and loss and the quest for inner joy and happiness. “A lot of the songs are about me trying to find my sense of innocence and peace of mind and things that I felt had escaped me for a while”.
Whilst drawing on influences from the 70s and 80s the album is very contemporary with a modern take on these themes.
Working between the USA and UK – Sam is conscious of the sense of disillusion and struggle many people are facing. “I know things in Australia are still pretty good but things in America – especially with the economy, people are struggling and disillusioned and looking for escapism and when times are tough people resort to nostalgia”.
During the process of making this album Sam says he tapped into a new found confidence to become a more prolific song-writer and generally more self assured. “I’m more comfortable now and I’ve left things a little bit raw and not completely polished – so much modern pop music is so polished that you lose the soulfulness and essence and human touch”.
‘Return To Paradise’ challenges this and triumphs!
Sam will head out on two UK tour dates in next month:
Thu 14th June Birmingham O2 Academy 2 0844 477 2000
Sat 16th June Manchester Deaf Institute 0161 832 1111
Tickets are £10 adv and go onsale Wednesday 9th May at 9am – www.gigsandtours.com / 0844 811 0051
Artist: Solace and Stable
Album: The Systematic Erosion Of Integrity
Country: USA (Kansas City, MO)
Format: MP3 320 44.1
Song titles “Satisfiction” “Culture Of Corruption” “Design and Deceit”
Bio: Founded in fall 2008, Solace and Stable are a 5 piece melodic progressive metal band from Kansas City, MO. S&S create a sound that is both unique, and progressively complimentary. One moment Solace will have you captured ain the beauty of a lead, and the next in the hospital with high blood pressure from chaotic breakdowns. “Kudos to Solace and Stable for producing brutal, extreme metal, with an unexpected edge of poetry and guitar work that sparkles against dark musical undertones and gutteral vocals.
-Leslie, Zimms Music and Entertainment
Sounds like: Between The Buried and Me, Misery Signals, The Red Chord, Necrophagist, Into The Moat