[News] XL Releases Official Statement Regarding Jai Paul's Leaked Album

XL Recordings has issued a formal statement regarding the leaked Jai Paul album that hit Bandcamp this past Sunday:

As widely reported, on Sunday 14th April, music by XL Recordings artist Jai Paul was illegally made available via a fake Bandcamp account. This music was not uploaded by Jai and it’s not his debut album – it is a collection of various unfinished recordings from Jai’s past.

Neither XL or Jai will take any money from the sale of this music. We have been working with Bandcamp and PayPal to resolve this situation and they have told us all purchases will be refunded within the next 7 days."

For now, you can stream a legitimate Jai Paul release with "Jasmine."

[News] Thundercat Announces New Album Titled 'Apocalypse'

Thundercat, the alias of talented bassist Stephen Bruner, has announced a new album titled Apocalypse. The LP is the follow-up to 2010's excellent The Golden Age of Apocalypse, and is being executive produced by Flying Lotus. The two buddies even co-wrote Thundercat's new cut "Heartbreaks + Setbacks," which you can stream below.

Apocalypse is out on July 9th on Brainfeeder.

Apocalypse Tracklist:

01 Tenfold
02 Heartbreaks + Setbacks
03 The Life Aquatic
04 Special Stage
05 Tron Song
06 Seven      
07 Oh Sheit It's X
08 Without You
09 Lotus and the Jondy
10 Evangelion
11 We'll Die
12 A Message for Austin / Praise the Lord / Enter the Void

[News] Disclosure Announce Debut LP, 'Settle'

Back in February we took part in BBC Radio 6's Music Blog Awards where we chose Disclosure's "White Noise" as "The EP or Single That Has (Had) You Most Excited About A Full Release." Today that full release was announced. Titled Settle, it is the UK brother duo's full-length debut and will be released on June 3rd. The lead single for the album is called "You & Me" and features vocals from Eliza Doolittle. The song drops on April 28th.

In the meantime, you can catch Disclosure on the road. They've got a slew of festival appearances planned as well as a few intimate concerts over the next few days. Check out their full schedule after the jump.

Disclosure 2013 Tour Dates:
04/16 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
04/17 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
04/18 – Portland, OR @ Branx
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
05/02 – Sheffield, UK @ Octagon Centre
05/23-26 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
05/24-27 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
05/25 – London, UK @ Field Day
06/08-09 – Manchester, UK @ Parklife Weekender
06/26-30 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Music Festival
07/03-07 – Gdynia, PL @ Open’er Festival
07/04-07 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/04-07 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/12-14 – Lisbon, PT @ Optimus Alive! Festival
07/12-14 – Kinross, UK @ T in the Park
07/18-21 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
08/01 – Morrison, CO @ Hard Red Rocks
08/02 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/03-04 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
08/06-10 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
08/08-10 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
08/09-11 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
08/15-17 – Saint Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock
08/16-18 – Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands Festival
08/23-25 – Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
08/23-25 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
09/05-08 – Isle of Wight, UK @ Bestival
09/10-12 – Rovinj, HR @ Unknown Festival

[News] Outside Lands 2013 Announces Lineup

The official lineup for Outside Lands Festival 2013 is here, and it looks to be pretty good. Topping off the bill are Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The National, Vampire Weekend, D’Angelo, Kaskade, Pretty Lights, Jurassic 5, Willie Nelson, Hall and Oates, and Grizzly Bear.

Rounding out the eclectic lineup are Wavves, Young The Giant, Band of Horses, A-Trak, Yeasayer, Matt & Kim, The Tallest Man on Earth, Foals, Youth Lagoon, Gary Clark Jr., Jessie Ware, Dillon Francis, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Surfer Blood, Chromatics and Smith Westerns. While not as good as last year's lineup, which was headlined by Metallica, Neil Young, The Kills, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Beck, Sigur Ros, this year seems promising. Check out the full lineup here or below in a ridiculously charming announcement video.

Tickets go on sale this Thursday, April 18th, at 12 noon PDT at the festival's official website. Outside Lands takes place August 9-11 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

[Listen] Gold Panda Announces New Album, Streams Lead Single "Brazil"

Gold Panda wowed me back in 2010 when he released his debut album Lucky Shiner. He wowed me again earlier this year with the Trust EP. I'm ready to be wowed again. Gold Panda will release his sophomore album Half of Where You Live on June 11th, and "Brazil" is our first taste.

The LP takes inspiration from experiences in Sao Paulo and London as well as Takashi Miike films. As for "Brazil," it's pretty impressive. Enticing, exotic instrumentation loops around the repeating words "Brazil," with the synthesized sounds building and fading effortlessly. I'm down for this. Check it out below.

[News] Take a Look at Daft Punk's New Saint Laurent-Designed Suits

Gone are the days of Daft Punk's Human After All-era biker-inspired illuminated suits, in are the days of disco-inspired glittery suits. French fashion house Saint Laurent designed the suits, led by photographer and creative director Hedi Slimane. They began working on a design with Daft Punk in October 2012 after the duo were asked to do the soundtrack for the inaugural Saint Laurent Fashion show.

Saint Laurent have put together a video showcasing the new Random Access Memory-era duds. Watch it below or check out some of the photos after the jump.

[News] Daft Punk Discuss New Album, Tour Plans and Collaborations with Rolling Stone

Daft Punk are quickly ramping up excitement for Random Access Memories, whether it's their ongoing collaborator-centric video series or the extended teaser they recently dropped. One lucky man, Jonah Weiner of Rolling Stone, had the chance to peer behind the veil of the enigmatic robot duo. Yesterday, he posted an extensive interview with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Much is discussed and it's the first time the band have talked about their new album. Here are some significant highlights:

—"They began working on Random Access Memories in 2008, in Paris, with no clear plan. "After three records, there was a sense of searching for a record we hadn’t done," Thomas says. The duo were dissatisfied with early demos that leaned heavily on electronic equipment, feeling like they were operating on "autopilot," Thomas says. Eventually, a new approach emerged: "We wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samplers," he explains, "but with people." Except for a snippet of "an Australian rock record" that opens the final track, "Contact," Daft Punk foreswore samples entirely, and they limited the role of drum machines to just two of the album’s thirteen tracks. The only electronics come in the form of a massive, custom-built modular synthesizer that Daft Punk played live on the album... and an arsenal of vintage vocoders on which they manually manipulated factors like pitch, vibrato and legato. "There’s this thing today where the recorded human voice is processed to try to feel robotic," Thomas says, referring to the undying AutoTune vogue. "Here, we were trying to make robotic voices sound the most human they’ve ever sounded, in terms of expressivity and emotion.""

—"The album’s move away from computerized sounds reflects Daft Punk’s "ambivalence" about the EDM craze they helped to inspire. "Electronic music right now is in its comfort zone and it’s not moving one inch," Thomas says. "That’s not what artists are supposed to do." He adds that the genre is suffering "an identity crisis: You hear a song, whose track is it? There’s no signature. Skrillex has been successful because he has a recognizable sound: You hear a dubstep song, even if it’s not him, you think it’s him.""

—"While recording, Daft Punk found time in their schedules to jam with Kanye West for his next album. At their Paris studio, they laid down a combination of live and programmed drums while Kanye worked out rough vocals on the fly. "It was very raw: he was rapping – kind of screaming primally, actually," Thomas says. "Kanye doesn’t give a fuck," Guy-Manuel adds. "He’s a good friend." Director (and longtime Daft Punk compatriot) Michel Gondry says that Kanye recently played him "two songs" that sprang from the session. "One of them, I told him it sounded solid and powerful – I envisioned a cube when I heard it," Gondry says. "He told me, Chris Cunningham’s already directing the video!"'

—"They say there are no current tour plans to promote the album. Their "Alive 2007" world tour, in which they played within a giant steel pyramid covered in screens, was a marvel of pop stagecraft, but Thomas says "we have no current plans" to tour the new record. "We want to focus everything on the act and excitement of listening to the album. We don’t see a tour as an accessory to an album." When they do finally hit the road, he added, it will be with a career-encompassing set list, not one overly focused on the new material."

Check out the full interview here. Random Access Memories is out on May 21st.

[News] Wu-Tang Clan Announce New Album 'A Better Tomorrow'

Wu-Tang Clan promised a reunion album in 2013, and the hip hop collective have stayed true to their promise. Slipped into a press release about the group's 20th anniversary shows in the UK was this:

Wu-Tang Clan are currently working on their upcoming album A Better Tomorrow, due for release in July 2013."

Seems like something they would want to devote a whole press release to, right? Either way, it's great news for Wu-Tang fans, and the collective will be debuting new music during their July 25th and 26th shows at the 02 Apollo in Manchester and the 02 Academy in Brixton. Here's looking forward to A Better Tomorrow.

(via Nah Right)