Derek Vincent Smith’s new Pretty Lights album has been a long time in the making. So long, in fact, that fans (myself included) have become overbearingly curious as to what the glitch hop mastermind has been up to this whole time. Thankfully, VICE‘s new documentary on the making of A Color Map of the Sun has elucidated Derek’s rigorous process. Approaching his new album without the use of extraneous samples, Smith worked with countless musicians in New York and New Orleans to create and render his own vinyl. Watch VICE‘s new video for an extended insight into the inspiring process behind Pretty Lights’ new album.
Special note: early Monday morning on Renman Live, Derek announced that his upcoming album will be followed by both a remix album with harder, bassier VIPs, as well as a new Pretty Lights tour backed by a full band. Exciting times ahead for PLM fans.
Coming off day one of Bonnaroo with the likes of Araabmuzik and Paper Diamond, intensity looks to pick up in Tennessee with its Friday schedule. For electronic fans in particular, selections widen, but day two offers appeal even beyond a lengthy performance from Pretty Lights. By midnight, fans have already experimented and experienced opportunities to relax and enjoy Passion Pit, rap along with Wu-Tang clan, and witness a legend like Paul McCartney. By midnight, fans should be headed for an electronic after hours.
Michael Jackson, Madonna, Justin Bieber. Just about every artist — legend or popstar, dead or alive — have had songs their remixed by electronic artists. Next up is Bob Marley, whose greatest hits album Legend, will soon be released as a remix album with many of the popular reggae tracks taking on EDM twists. Pretty Lights leads the pack, taking lending his talents to “Exodus,” while RAC will deliver their version of the classic “Will You Be Loved.” Also featured is Jason Bentley for “Is This Love,” along with remixes from Photek, Z-Trip and Thievery Corporation.
While Eastern Canada boasts a wide array of festivals from Escapade to Sensation, Western Canada is quickly gaining traction and establishing itself as a premiere dance music location. After the monstrous success of Northern Lights Music Festival in EDMonton, Calgary is taking the reins by boasting the first ever Badlands: Stampede Music Festival taking place July 5th to July 8th at Canada Olympic Park. The impressive lineup includes Afrojack, Kaskade, Pretty Lights, Steve Aoki, Adventure Club and more, to be powered by 200,000 watts of PK Sound, and have mainstage display modeled after Europe’s biggest festivals. Only one question remains, will you rave in your Stampede gear or leave the boots behind?
Pre-Sale April 24th & 25th at 10am, and general on-sale April 26th at 10am here. All further information on event page here.
Sunday Morning Medicine is a feature from Dancing Astronaut dedicated to the mellower side of electronic music. We bring you our favorite therapeutic selections — old and new — in an attempt to alleviate the agonizing effects of a long weekend of partying.
Inspired by Flight Facilities’ decade mixes, this week’s Sunday Morning Meds is dedicated to classic rock reworks which commemorate generations past. It’s important to take a look back at musical evolution and pay tribute to the bands who revolutionized music into what we hear today. You’ll find Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Steve Miller Band and Aerosmith remixes below, each one using modern technology to revamp the classic tune without compromising the original sound.
If you missed any of last week’s more chilled out selections, check out Disclosure’s new single “You & Me,” the Hot Natured take of Phoenix’ “Entertainment,” the Adana remix of Larse’s “Hot,” Goldroom’s The Knock’s remix of “Modern Hearts,” Sepalcure’s “Make You,” Yousef’s “Think Twice” Catz N’ Dogz edit, Justin Jay’s “Static” EP, and Maceo Plex’s “Galactic Cinema.”
Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
It’s been a long time coming (about two and a half years to be precise), but Pretty Lights’ new album A Color Map of the Sun is finally on its way. In anticipation of the release, Derek has uploaded the album’s first single, “Around the Block,” as a free download from his website. In typical Derek Vincent Smith fashion, the track employs psychedelic live instrumentation and some stupefying sub-bass. Throw on the feel-good rhythmic vibes of Talib Kweli and you’ve got a tantalizing first official single. Check out the official video above, and look out for A Color Map of the Sun, dropping July 2nd.
After two days of scorching sun, the earlier part of our third day in Indio was spent much the same way – glued to the tents where Paul Kalkbrenner, Paul Oakenfold, Hardwell, Eric Prydz, Joris Voorn, James Blake, Pretty Lights, Maya Jane Coles, Loco Dice, Jamie Jones, and Richie Hawtin would deliver some of the days stand out performances. As the day wore on the wind picked up, transforming the polo grounds into a massive dust storm, tearing through the campsites with a vengeance.
Pretty Lights has been talking about his new studio album since Electric Zoo 2012, but pertinent details like its release date and title were noticeably missing from the conversation. The pieces have finally come together with the announcement that the 2-disc album — dubbed a A Color Map of the Sun — is set for release on July 2nd. In conjunction with the announcement, “Around The Block,” the first single featuring Talib Kweli has been released today and is available for free via PrettyLightsMusic.com.
The soulful genre-bending style fans have come to expect from him will be on display but with less sampling. He explains,
By putting together different groups of musicians on a daily basis, different bands were formed with the purpose of playing styles from funk, soul and jazz, to funk, rock and classical. All composition and design happened on the fly, in the moment, and with the single intention of creating amazing sounding music. I searched for vocalists that could take my lyrics and put their own incredible soul and emotion into them. I made beats for some of my favorite rappers in exchange for the ability to chop up the lyrics I wrote. It was a laborious yet immensely gratifying experiment that I could not be more proud of.”
Those familiar with Pretty Lights’ distribution method shouldn’t be shocked to learn that the album will be available for free via the Pretty Lights website. In addition to the album, a documentary chronicling its creation will be premiered this summer.
New Years Eve in New York City was full of solid and diverse bookings including a two-day Roseland Ballroom takeover by Pretty Lights. The sonic mastermind — who is in the midst of producing his highly anticipated album — has released a recap of the event set to the sounds of “The Day Is Gone,” a track he created specifically for NYE. With its intoxicating vocals and heavy bass, the glitchy track sets the stage for what is likely to be one of the most unique and enlightening albums of 2013. Few people have as strong a knack for genre bending as Pretty Lights so it’s safe to expect an unorthodox fusion of genres.
