If you live in New York, you know there’s no place like home. Well, no place like home OR Cielo, for that matter. We love Cielo for its intimate atmosphere, killer sound system, rockin DJs and–most of all–a great looking, quality crowd who love house music. Kind of hard to find around here at times.

Anyway, if you’re looking to shake your body, Cielo is certainly the place to do it. Especially this fall. They just released their September schedule below. We’ll see you there!

Cielo September Schedule

Bryn Christopher’s debut video landed in my inbox the other day, and it’s worth a watch. The British singer’s got a sick voice, for sure–he opened for Amy Winehouse on her last tour, and “The Quest” is already being used in promo spots for Grey’s Anatomy. Bryn’s debut album, My World, is due out on September 16th, and if you’re interested in catching him live stateside, he’s got two U.S. dates slated for September, hitting the Viper Room in Los Angeles on the 22nd and Joe’s Pub in New York on the 24th.

And, because I’m a sucker for any kind of insight into the production process, get a peek behind the scenes of The Quest after the jump (my favorite part is the PAs furiously puffing cigarette smoke around ).

-Melanie Donnelly

(more…)

If you hadn’t noticed, we kind of support the Democrats here on this blog. Sure, Netmix is supposed to be about a lot of things not necessarily politically connected. But, we just couldn’t resist the temptation to promote DNC speeches and help to spread Obama’s message that “8 is enough.”

I thought this speech was one of the most inspirational moments I have ever witnessed in American politics. Experience or not, Barack Obama is a thoughtful, intelligent man with a vision for where we need to go and how we need to do it. He represents the next generation of our country who will build and execute a different path than what we’ve seen in the past.

Having hope and criticizing those who have been a train-wreck these past few years certainly is NOT unpatriotic. It is patriotic to say that what we’ve seen is enough. Enough partisanship. Enough war in Iraq. Enough oil. Enough layoffs. Enough of the America worker being treated poorly.

Of course…now an ad from our sponsor…lol. Heck we’re a small business that needs that capital gains cut too!

– Tony Zeoli

Well, that was quick. A mere 73 days after basically announcing her retirement at Bonnaroo Music Festival, cult Brit/Sri Lankan M.I.A. told Entertainment Weekly that she’ll be working on a new record soon. What caused the change of heart? M.I.A.’s song “Paper Planes,” from her 2007 record Kala, has had a huge spike in popularity after being featured in the stoner flick Pineapple Express‘ trailer. Here’s what she had to say to EW:

When you performed at Bonnaroo this year, you said it was going to be your last ever show. Did you mean it?

Well, it was my last ever show. And it still is. I stopped touring after that and I didn’t want to make music again. I was quite happy to just leave it all behind. I was happy with what I had achieved. Now, with the success of “Paper Planes,” there’s pull for me to make another record. Even my mum believes in me more [laughs]. It’s a nice encouragement. But I was planning my life as a fishing woman on the outskirts of Cambodia. That’s a joke.

-Melanie Donnelly

M.I.A. - Paper Planes

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you know it’s serious when Diddy starts complaining about something. Anyone who keeps up-to-date with Diddy’s video blogs on YouTube knows what I am talking about. On his 12th video blog, Diddy begins to complain that gas prices are too high and he can no longer fly his private jet.

Aww, Diddy! I completely sympathize with your situation. If I couldn’t fly my private jet, I would get a camera, complain and put it on YouTube too. [lol]

But in all seriousness folks, you never know; maybe gas prices will start to decrease. I mean c’mon! What isn’t possible through the power of Diddy?

Didn’t you see the Burger King commercial?

-Jacklyn Mendoza | J.FRESH

R&B singer John Legend performed If You’re Out There with the Agape Choir on August 25th at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The song, produced by Trevor Horn and Devo Springsteen, will appear on Legend’s forthcoming album, Evolver, which is scheduled for release on October 28th.

– Tony Z

Geez, Kanye seems to have his music video cannon set to rapid fire. After releasing his Olympic-themed video just two weeks ago, he’s out with a new clip for Good Morning, which is a sweet little anime video featuring furry creatures and a hover Delorian. Good times.

-Melanie Donnelly

Kanye West - Good Morning [V]

Peter Kafka on Tech Ticker

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what ails the music industry. In this Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker video interview, Silicon Insider managing editor, Peter Kafka proposes that labels drop supporting new music and focus on their valuable catalogs. Doing so would leave the door open to independent labels to figure out how to sell music in a digital era.

Then again, if things continue the way they are, major labels will end up getting dropped from the stock exchanges anyway, once their stock drops below a buck for a few quarters. Once that happens, they could feasibly take themselves private and go back to the way things used to be. Cultivating artists instead of churning out pop crap to see if it sticks to the wall.

On the other side, Sony Music Entertainment, the new entity born out of BMG’s desire to extract itself from the music business, may know something we don’t. Or, they may be doing exactly what Kafka thinks is going to happen, control the masters of all those hits over the last 50 + years and/or simply control the music in a convergence strategy tied to their original video content.

We’ll keep watching and waiting for the music giants to figure it all out, while the digital era continues to chip away at their profits.

Netmix Global House Podcast

We’re back with a new podcast, Global House Sessions - August 2008. All tracks are available through Beatport.com. Subscribe to the podcast to download.

Download

Track Listing:

• Rock To The Beat - Kevin Saunderson - Christian Smith & John Selway Remix
• Reynosa - Emilio Fernandez - Original Mix
• Diablo - Oliver Huntemann & Dubfire - Original Mix
• Chime - The Shapeshifters - Martin Ten Velden Remix
• Born Slippy - DJ Joe K and Beto Dias Remix
• I Begin To Wonder 2008 - Jean Claude Ades - Jerome Isma-Ae Remix
• Solid - Sweno N - Original Mix
• Space Time - Deadmau5 Vocal Mix - Mike Di Scala, Colin Airey
• Get Wild - Sharam - Steve Agnello Remix
• Deep Down feat. Shirley Davis - J Nitti - Original Mix

Dear Jona from YACHT,

Just saw your new video, Summer Song, today. Well played, sir. Anyone riffing on Tapeheads gets a gold star in my book, though your striking resemblance to Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite is, on occasion, distracting.

Keep up the good work.

Sincerely,
Melanie Donnelly

P.S. Please rejoin The Blow immediately, kthxbai.

YACHT - Summer Song EP

You know what I love best about the music industry, post-Radiohead’s crazy In Rainbows stunt? The surprise album release. It only makes sense that it would take off, given the rampant, months-early album leaks that plague traditional releases, and as a fan, there’s nothing quite as thrilling as flicking on your computer and reading that your favorite band is dropping a record in two days.

That said, Bloc Party’s fans must have shat a proverbial brick this week when the band announced via web chat that they’ll release their new record, Intimacy, for download tomorrow (August 21st). $10 will get you high-quality digital files delivered tomorrow, and $20 will get you tomorrow’s digital copy, plus a physical disc on October 28th.

If you’re interested in a sneak peek (er, listen), head over to NME to hear the single, “Trojan Horse,” in full.

-Melanie Donnelly

Bloc Party

Xiu Xiu’s percussion master Ches Smith is about to go all new music on our asses. While manning the merch booth at each of Xiu Xiu’s upcoming tour stops, Smith will be recording sounds made by fans–bleeps, bloops, what have you–for a new project, entitled Y/OUR TOWN. Smith will incorporate each city’s audio snippets into percussion pieces written for each town, and at the end of the tour, free mp3s of those compositions will be posted on Xiu Xiu’s website for your downloading pleasure.

Want to get in on the project? Take a gander at Xiu Xiu’s remaining tour dates after the cut for your chance to contribute.

-Melanie Donnelly

(more…)