W♥M (Archive)

Christmas 2015: Hanukkah!

Read More Kosha Dillz The hardest working Jewish rapper I know, Kosha Dillz is on Vans Warped Tour! This is quite an odd choice, as traditionally Warped Tour has always been about punk, emo, and alternative bands. …

Like previous years, I will be compiling some 2015 Christmas songs and Xmas-related news for you to enjoy!

Read more Christmas.

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillzworld.com

Our favorite Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz recently joined Matisyahu for his Festival of Lights show in New Brunswick. We just saw Matisyahu at the Pantages Theatre and I noted that it was the best sounding show I've seen from him!

If you live in the NJ/NY area, please consider bringing and donating your hoodies for Kosha Dillz' "Hoodies For Hannukah" shows (see show listing below).

ALSO, check out the 8 Minute Mixtape by Dillz and Diwon on soundcloud.com. According to Kosha Dillz, "It is the World's Shortest Mixtape to date (about Hannukah)."

Tour dates:

Dec 12 The Stony Pony Asbury Park, NJ
Dec 13 Mercury Lounge Manhattan NYC
Dec 14 The Mint Los Angeles CA 11 pm
Dec 16 Oracle Orena - Golden State Warriors Jewish
Dec 24 Latke Ball @ Ruby Skye San Francisco, CA

Read More Diwon Speaking of tapes, Shemspeed has a free download of Diwon's "I Heart Mixtape," a mixed tape made of "love" with artists like Cat Power, Finley Quaye, and Blur, among others. Details below …

THE SEPHARDIC MUSIC FESTIVAL
sephardicmusicfestival.com

After 10 years in NYC, The Sephardic Music Festival will be making its way to Los Angeles for its second year. The annual festival, created by Erez Safar (a.k.a. Diwon) is a music and arts celebration showcasing musicians from around world that mix traditional, dance, electro, hip hop, and folk songs. If you were wondering, "Sephardic" is derived from the Hebrew word for "Spanish", so the music festival is described as focusing on Jewish communities of Spain/Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Some highlights of the festival include:

December 9th, 2015: The Sephardic Music Festival partners up with 30 Years After, JIMENA, and the Israeli Consulate for an intimate acoustic evening dubbed “Shedding Light on Mizrahi Remembrance Day.” Festival goers are invited to light the night’s candle at this multi-media event, as people from all over come together to remember & celebrate Mizrahi history and culture through art and music, with a one-time-only “City of Refuge” acoustic set by Automatic Toys. This will be the second annual Mizrahi Remembrance Month and the official day of commemoration of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. Event info:
Location: Voila! 518 N La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036
Time: 7pm
Cost: Free

December 10th, 2015: "Sephardic Remix Night" is a special East meets West celebration of Jewish diversity with live music, DJs and Celebrity food blogger and chef, Nina Safar of Kosher in the Kitch fame. Diwon will fuse Yemenite music with electro hip-hop and cinematic psychedelia, drawing inspiration from the Middle Eastern musical canon, while a live bands (Electrik Sabra Sefarad & Sababa Sali) blends musical styles from varied traditions. In addition to all the music, Nina Safar will be giving latkes a Sephardic remix as she fuses together traditional potato latkes with Sephardic flavors such as zaatar and cumin to create dishes like shakshuka latkes, sabich latkes, falafel latkes, and more.
Event info:
Location: Social Dashboard, 8631 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035
Time: 8pm
Cost: $12

December 12th, 2015: "An Evening With Moshav." Join the festival for an evening with everyone’s favorite Middle Eastern, Jewish rock, Reggae, roots band, internationally-acclaimed American/Israeli rock group, Moshav. The band began when childhood friends Yehuda (vocals, percussion) and Duvid (vocals, guitar) made music together on Moshav Mevo Modiin in Israel. The group was initially discovered by a group of American students traveling in Israel who heard the band play and raised money to bring them to the States for a college tour in the late 1990s. Soon after, Moshav relocated to Los Angeles where they continued to grow their fan base and began recording with some of the Industry’s best.
Event info:
Location: Social Dashboard, 8631 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035
Time: 8pm
Cost: TBA

December 14th, 2015: "SMF takes over HUNNYPOT LIVE #331". Join the Hunnypot crew as Kosha Dillz & Diwon take over with a special holiday and SMF rendition of some of their tracks. They will also debut their 8 minute mixtape for Chanukah. The evening will also include performances by Hot Tub Johnnie (DJ set), Cameron Parkins (Superhumanoids DJ set), Barrie and The Stars, The Milky Way, Tropical Nasty and more.
Event info:
Location: The Mint, 6010 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035
Time: 8pm
Cost: Free

US COMMONERS
facebook.com/uscommoners

Kingston-based singer-songwriter Wayne Nuessle's music project Us Commoners (as in you and I, not short for "United States") recently launched their holiday song "Christmas and Hanukkah." The song was recorded at Raw Recording Studio in Patterson, NJ and engineered by JC Santalis (engineered American Authors hit single, "Best Day of My Life"). The song also features Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, John Sebastian, on guitar and harmonica.

Additional details:

Harkening back to a time before the Internet when people regularly got together on the weekends to discuss “old movie scenes and our wildest dreams,” the Us Commoners holiday track promotes a message of harmony and togetherness with loved ones. Nuessle began the project in Woodstock, NY in 2013 when he met Bernadette Marnell-Palumbo, a lifetime church performer and backing vocalist on many Woodstock area-based projects. Nuessle recruited a number of veteran musicians for the project, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, John Sebastian, who was best known as founder of popular 1960s rock band, The Lovin' Spoonful, and for his 1976 hit song, “Welcome Back.” Sebastian plays the harmonica and the guitar on “Christmas and Hannukah.”

No matter if you are Jewish or Christian, get into the holiday spirit with “Christmas and Hanukkah,” the new song by Us Commoners, set to release in early December 2015 on iTunes and Spotify.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Vans Warped Tour 2015: Rappers

Read More Vans Warped Tour The annual Vans Warped Tour returns on July 26 at Canterbury Park, with Blessthefall, Splitbreed, and Family Force 5 among the dozens of bands performing. …

Heading out to Van's Warped Tour 2015 at Shakopee, Minnesota, this Sunday (July 26th)?

Here are just some of the bands listed to appear:

Kosha Dillz, Splitbreed, Blessthefall, Hundredth, Lee Corey Oswald, Trophy Eyes, Family Force 5, Born Cages, American Opera, Pup, Silverstein, Carousel Kings, Sirens And Sailors, Slaves, Koo Koo Kanga Roo, '68, Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties, Alvarez Kings, As It Is, Baby Baby, Beautiful Bodies, Bebe Rexha, Being As An Ocean, Black Boots, Black Veil Brides, BoyMeetsWorld, Brian Marquis, Buttons, Candy Hearts, ChrisB, Citizen, Crossfaith, Escape The Fate, Fit For A King, Handguns, Hands Like Houses, Have Mercy, HO99O9, I Killed The Prom Queen, Icon For Hire, Jule Vera, Juliet Simms, Koji, Le Castle Vania, Major League, Mallory Knox, Man Overboard, MC Lars, Meghann Wright, Metro Station, Mod Sun, Moose Blood, Neck Deep, New Beat Fund, New Years Day, Night Riots, Our Last Night, Palisades, Pvris, Riff Raff, Rotting Out, SayWeCanFly, Seaway, Set It Off, The Amity Affliction, The Dirty Nil, The Karma Killers, The Wonder Years, This Wild Life, Transit, While She Sleeps, Youth In Revolt, Pierce The Veil, Knuckle Puck, Senses Fail, Miss May I, Kaya Stewart, The Bunny The Bear, The Kenneths, Never Shout Never, August Burns Red

Since there are way too many bands to see, but we suggest these two rappers:

Read More Kosha Dillz Kosha Dillz (real name: Rami Even-Esh) was next. Although he was allocated a thirty-minute set (as were all the openers) …

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillzworld.com

The hardest working Jewish rapper I know, Kosha Dillz is on Vans Warped Tour! This is quite an odd choice, as traditionally Warped Tour has always been about punk, emo, and alternative bands. Personally, we think it's refreshing that Warped Tour is opening up music genre... and hope to see more diversity.

Recently, Kosha Dillz was behind the stage where Riff Raff (also on Vans Warped Tour) was performing - but the star rapper was nowhere to be found. Everyone was freaking out, and with only one minute to go before show time... Kosha said, "throw me to the wolves!" and the next thing he knew he was on stage in front of 5000 people! Half way into his set, Flex Mathews joined Kosha... then MC Lars stepped in for a freestyle.

Check out Capital Cities's "Safe And Sound" (Kosha Dillz x Sam Barsh Remix) via Soundcloud.

BONUS: Hear Vu interview Kosha Dillz from 2013.

W♥M172: Kosha Dillz (9 mins)

See Kosha on tour:

JUL 21 Scranton, PA The Pavilion
JUL 23 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music
JUL 24 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
JUL 25 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank
JUL 26 Shakopee, MN Canterbury Park
JUL 27 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino
JUL 28 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
JUL 29 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center
JUL 30 Bonner Springs, KS Cricket Wireless
AUG 01 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fairpark
AUG 02 Denver, CO Pepsi Center Parking Lot
AUG 05 San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Parking Lot
AUG 07 Portland, OR Portland Expo Center
AUG 08 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheater
AUG 22 Southern Vermont Festival
AUG 29 New Hampshire Hemp Festival
SEP 12 Belgium Festival
OCT 18 London, UK Alexandra Palace

Read More Nerdcore Finally, at around the same time, MC Frontalot emerged on the scene, and actually gave the genre its name. Frontalot's is reminiscent of 80's acts like The Fat Boys, Fresh Prince, and Young MC …

MC LARS
mclars.com

MC Lars, the nerdcore rapper... who freestyled with Kosha Dillz out on Vans Warped Tour to promote his upcoming album The Zombie Dinosaur LP (available October 6, 2015, via Horris Records).

Although you can't get the album just yet, we are pretty sure he will be previewing some of these new songs. According to the press release, expect plenty of nerd-name-dropping like Legend of Zelda, Comic-Con, Bushwick, Roger Rabbit, etc.

The title The Dinosaur Zombie LP might seem a bit random at a cursory glance, combining the obvious touchstones of Jurassic Park with The Walking Dead, but the meaning goes deeper. "The zombie dinosaur is a metaphor for the unstoppable person who just keeps going - at any cost," he explains. "It's crazy to think that I've been putting out albums since 1998, touring internationally since 2003, and playing the Warped Tour every other summer since 2011. I feel like a dinosaur because I've been doing this so long, but I also feel like I've gotten better and better each year. You could also say that I'm a zombie in the sense that my rhymes and beats are more infectious with every release, and if you are there when you hear my spit, you'll forever be converted and changed (much like the result of being bitten by a zombie). #metaphors"

See MC Lars on the 2015 Vans Warped Tour.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

The Final SXSW 2014

Read More SXSW This is PART TWO of SXSW 2014 Preview for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, starting next week. I believe this may be the last of the SXSW previews... …

South by Southwest (SXSW) Music is next week: March 11-16th. Since March 1st, I've received about 200 emails with the subject header of "SXSW", and I have to say (and you'll agree with me), that I'm already I'm sick sick sick of hearing about it! So this is the final SXSW article. What a relief.

This is PART THREE of SXSW 2014 Preview. Read more SXSW 2014 Showcases and SXSW 2014 Preview. As usual, many of these items below were already posted on news.weheartmusic.com.

GRANDSTAND
grandstandhq.com

This is a free show, no RSVP required. There's food trucks, free tattoos and Third Man Rolling Record Store will be featured outside the Sailor Jerry House (1504 E. 6th ST) on March 12th.

Lineup:

12:00PM Thus Owls
12:30PM Quiet Life
1:15PM GreyLag
2:00PM Soft White Sixties
3:00PM Public Service Broadcasting
3:45PM Promised Land Sound
4:30PM Creative Adult
5:30PM Bleeding Rainbow
6:15PM The Coathangers

I'm really keen on these Grandstand bands (particularly The Coathangers). We've previously written about Thus Owls, Quiet Life, Public Service Broadcasting, Bleeding Rainbow, and The Coathangers.

CMJ Showcases

CMJ 2013 just officially kick off today in New York!!! Here are some last minute showcases if you are planning on attending this year. CMJ ends on October 19th, so make the most of it now!

KANINE RECORDS
kaninerecords.com

Here's the details of the Kanine showcase, co-presented with SESAC:

6:30 Eternal Summers
5:45 Eagulls
5:00 Bleeding Rainbow
4:15 Beach Day
3:30 Joanna Gruesome
2:45 Valleys
2:00 History of Apple Pie
1:00 Mood Rings

We've covered many of the above bands and we generally like artists on Kanine Records - so this is a great bill if you love Kanine too!

FORCE FIELD PR
forcefieldpr.com

Force Field PR's annual CMJ party starts at 8pm on October 15th (today) at Baby's All Right.

Showcase this year will be Joanna Gruesome, The History of Apple Pie, Free Time, Celestial Shore, Body Parts, Weaves, Geoffrey O'Connor, and a VERY super special guest! (It's a secret).

Body Parts
Celestial Shore
Free Time
Geoffrey O'Connor
The History of Apple Pie
Joanna Gruesome
Weaves

Again, we generally like artists on Force Field, as we've previously covered many of the above bands.

BIG PICTURE MEDIA
bigpicturemediaonline.com

Big Picture Media is hosting their fifth annual official CMJ showcase this year over two nights: October 16 and October 18th.

Details below:

Day 1 on Wednesday, October 16th will kick off at Noon with performances by Love Crushed Velvet, Jodi Good, Viv and the Revival, Lily & the Parlour Tricks, Chevonne & the Fuzz, Ashley Allen, and The Lawsuits.

Day 2 on Friday, October 18th will kick off at 6pm and feature Nghbrs, Sol Cat, Maria Taylor, Sheppard, and Quiet Company. Admission on Day 1 is free/all ages and admission on Day 2 is $10/21+ or $15/18+.

OCTOBER 16th at 12PM - TAMMANY HALL NYC
12:00 - 12:30pm - Love Crushed Velvet
12:45pm – 1:15pm – Jodi Good
1:30pm – 2:00pm – Viv & The Revival
2:15pm – 2:45pm – Lily & The Parlour Tricks
3:00pm – 3:30pm – Chevonne & The Fuzz
3:45pm – 4:15pm – Ashley Allen
4:30pm – 5pm – The Lawsuits

OCTOBER 18th at 6PM - SULLIVAN HALL NYC
7:00pm – 7:30pm – NGHBRS
7:45pm – 8:15pm – Sol Cat
8:30pm – 9:00pm – Maria Taylor
9:15pm – 9:45pm – Sheppard
10:00pm – 10:30pm – Quiet Company

PAPER GARDEN
papergardenrecords.com

Paper Garden is promoting something called ARMS. Turns out, this is a duo consisting of Todd Goldstein and Tlacael Esparza. Which one is the left and which one is on the right, who knows?

The Paper Garden show:

Tuesday, October 15
Bands:
Gold Lake
Stone Cold Fox
Swimming
City and Horses
Arms
Vadionmessico

If you want to catch more Arms, they're also playing:

Wednesday, October 16
10pm @The Living Room (Beats Per Minute / We All Want Someone to Shout For)

Friday, October 18
Noon @Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 [TG Solo] (EarCandy)

SUPERCRUSH STUDIO
supercrushstudio.com

Supercrush Studio, once again is presenting their CMJ showcases… but this year, they are doing THREE shows!

The Sky Report, Supercrush Studio, & Bushwick Daily Present: The Bushwick Unofficial CMJ Showcase
10.17 at Bizarre

With:
Psychic Twin (11:30pm)
André Obin (10:45pm)
Foxes in Fiction (10:00pm)
Orange gold red (9:15pm)
Public Speaking (8:30pm)
DJ-Sets:
DJ Sokolowski

CaraBella, Supercrush Studio and Greenpointers.com Present: Our CMJ Showcase
10.18 at Bar Matchless
With:
Shark Week (DC) 8:15PM
Invisible Days (NYC) 9:00PM
Shy Hunters (NYC) 9:45PM
Andre Obin (Boston) 10:30PM
Rarechild (NYC) 11:15PM
RA RA Rasputin (DC) 12:00AM

DJ-Sets:
DJ Dead_Beat_Dad
Spiritual Abuse
DJ Post-Paint Boy

Dreameave Radio + Supercrush Studio present Official CMJ Showcase
10.19 Spike Hill

With:
4pm Heavenly Beat (Captured Tracks)
3Pm Dead Leaf Echo
2Pm TBA
1Pm Black Books
12 United Ghosts

CMJ@ELLA
noisyghostpr.com

Co-presented by 24West, EAC, and Noisy Ghost PR, this event is taking place tonight, October 16th at 6pm with a Network Event and Charity Raffle, followed by the music showcase at 8pm:

Wednesday, October 16
6:00 - Networking Event and Charity Raffle
8:00 - Music Showcase

Music Showcase:
Canon Logic
Ace Reporter
Deidre & the Dark
The Deadmen
The Fleeting Ends
Challenger
Tattoo Money
DJ set from The Kickdrums

OY VEY!
bancsmedia.com

Presented by Kosha Dillz and Bancs:

Barney Bones 810- 825
Kyle Rapps 830 - 850
Deca 855- 910 W/ Dj Stan Solo
Illustrate 910-925
Oxymorrons 930 - 950
J. Natural 10-1020
Audra The Rapper 1025 - 1040
Kosha Dillz 1045 -1105
Dee Goodz - 1110 -1125
Mr Green- 1130 -1150
Gangsta Boo - 1150 - 1210

Dj J Ronin In Between Sets With Crosby! Hosting!

BALCONYTV
balconytv.com

BalconyTV, the wildly popular online music network is kicking off CMJ from their balcony:

6:00-6:25 // Lily & The Parlor Tricks
6:40-7:05 // ARMS
7:20-7:45 // The Ugly Club
8:00-8:30 // Seasick Mama
8:45-9:15 // Stone Cold Fox
9:30-10:15 // Sheppard
10:30-11:15 // Little Comets
11:30-12:15 // Computer Magic
12:30-1:15 // Bad Suns
1:30-2:20 // Cherub

ARTS & CRAFTS
arts-crafts.ca

Arts & Crafts, that wonderful Canadian record label and Crash Avenue will show off their showcase on October 16th (Wednesday):

12am: The Darcys [Toronto]
11pm: Zeus [Toronto]
10pm: Gold & Youth [Vancouver]
9pm: Still Life Still [Toronto]
8pm: Lowell [Toronto / London, Uk]

FRENCHKISS
frenchkissrecords.com

Frenchkiss, along with Tell All Your Friends, and Flowerbooking will be at the Passenger Bar on Wednesday October 16th from 6-8pm for happy hour. Did we mention Open Bar for PBR?????????

CMJ Happy Hour
Wednesday October 16th from 6-8pm
Passenger Bar
229 Roebling

With DJs Obits
Blake Schwartzenbach
Luke Rathborne
Cymbals Eat Guitar
PBR Open Bar

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Road to Paid Dues Tour at Fine Line Cafe, Minneapolis (03/02/13)

Paid Dues Tour 03/03 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre 03/05 - St. Louis, MO - The Gramophone 03/06 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre 03/07 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room 03/08 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theater 03/09 - Salt Lake City - Kilby Court Gallery 03/11 - Boise, ID - The Neurollux 03/12 - Missoula, MT - The Badlander 03/14 - Vancouver, BC - Fortune Sound Club 03/15 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo 03/16 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe 03/17 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre 03/20 - Reno, NV - 1Up Bar 03/21 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's 03/22 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's 03/23 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst 03/24 - Fresno, CA - Fulton 55 03/26 - Bakersfield, CA - B Ryders 03/27 - San Luis Obispo, CA - SLO Brewing Co 03/28 - Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones 03/29 - La Jolla, CA - Porter's Club 03/30 - San Bernardino, CA - NOS Events Listen Read More Paid Dues Festival Somehow, this Paid Dues Festival goes hand-in-hand with the Smokeout Festival (see next item). More artists to be announced later, but in the meantime legendary Wu-Tang Clan is headlining.…

Paid Dues is the annual independent hip hop festival that started in 2006. Last year, I mentioned the festival because they had one of the biggest and best lineup that year: Wu-Tang Clan and Odd Future. The problem with these festival is that you have to live within the San Bernardino area. So the good news is that Paid Dues is taking some of their acts on the road to a city near you.

Murs is the headliner, and he's brought together Fashawn, Black Cloud Music, and our friend Kosha Dillz to the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis last night, March 2nd.

BLACK CLOUD MUSIC

After DJ Kid Disko spun some tunes to a darkened Fine Line, Noa James and Curtiss King came on stage. They are two of seven members of Black Cloud Music - however, I could have sworn I saw David May on the sideline.

Anyway, the two seems like an unlikely pair as they traded singing duties. They ended their set with "OhMyGod".

KOSHA DILLZ

Kosha Dillz (real name: Rami Even-Esh) was next. Although he was allocated a thirty-minute set (as were all the openers), he did not jump straight into his set. Instead, he had a listening party and played two of his favorite songs to get us pumped up.

Set included: "Everything is Kosha", "Cellular Phone", "Garage Sale", "Hangin' Out", "They Don't Know", (freestyle), and "The Future".

My favorite was the freestyling portion. This is the part of the show where audience members were encouraged to put whatever they have in their pockets on stage and Kosha Dillz would just come up with raps off the top of his head based on those objects.

FOSHAWN

I've never heard of Fashawn, but I can tell he was a big deal. The audience was clearly there for Murs and Fashawn and loved all the songs about weed and how it never rains in "Sunny California."

Incidentally, when I found out that he was from Fresno, I kept thinking about "Fashawn" Fair. That's a joke for any Fresnian.

Finally the man of the hour closed off the night. DJ Foundation introduced Murs as he came on asking "whatupdawg?"

While most people will probably list "I Used to Love H.E.R." or the Nate Dogg homage as their favorite of the night, I was more drawn to the funnier "67 Cutlass." According to Murs, this is based on a true story that happened to him. I did think he embellished the story a little, but the more factual aspect is that he had a pipe dream of making mad money by buying two pounds of pot in Mexico and driving back to Los Angeles with intent of selling and distributing. Of course, a sheriff pulls him over. The song takes it on a more comical point of view.

Road to Paid Dues is the tour. If you can't make it to the big music festival this year, catching the Road to Paid Dues is a pretty good indication of what you'll get at the stadium show - but on a smaller and more intimate scale.

BONUS: Be sure to listen to my interview with Rami, aka Kosha Dillz. He confirmed on the recording that his new project will be under Rami Rules name. The name has a double meaning, that he "rules"/awesome/in charge and that there are "rules" you follow.

Murs at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (03/02/13)

vu () ♥ blackcloudmusic.com ♥ koshadillzworld.com ♥ fashawn.ca ♥ mursworld.com ♥ paidduesfestival.com

Soundcloudz

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillz.com

See that picture? That's Kosha Dillz and Lupe Fiasco, just "hangin' out"... which incidentally is also the new song by Dillz (which you can hear on Soundcloud).

The Jewish rapper/hip hopper recently got his Kickstarter funded so, he will be doing some filming and editing the documentary for SXSW 2013.

At the moment, the Dillzionaire, himself, will be playing some Mid-West shows:

March 1 Reptile Palace Pounds Oshkosh,WI
March 2 Fine Line Café Minneapolis, MN
March 3 Central SAPC Santa Monica, CA
March 7 The Waiting Room Fashawn Omaha, NE
March 10 Hole in the Wall Austin TX
March 12 Spider House meet and greet Rap show
March 13 OY VEY SXSW* @ Spider House
March 13 SXSW SHOWCASE @ Townhouse
March 14 Austin Convention Center
March 15 hosting Whole Foods Rooftop Jam
March 16 Various Rapping Excursions

* free with RSVP

HOLLAGRAMZ hollagramz.com Denver's Hollagramz (real name Ron Cole) will be releasing a self-titled debut album on May 14th. The record label, Small Plates Records, "teased" us with his first single, "Sex Potion." Check out the song now (download for free via Soundcloud):

VATO GONZALEZ vato.nl No information given on Vato Gonzalez. Based on his website, I would suspect he's from the Netherlands. Apparently Gonzalez is a big deal in the UK, having scored a top 20 hit with "Not A Saint". He is following this up with a new song, "What?!", which you can download for free at Soundcloud.

ACTIVIA BENZ activiabenz.com Activia Benz is a small label out of England. For their third release, they've teamed up with a Danish "beat wizard", Eloq. The new C'mon EP will be out March 25th. Yes, of course, it's on Soundcloud:

MDNT facebook.com Pronounced "midnight", Brooklyn's mdnt just released his debut single, "Dreamcatcher", featuring Hip Hop artist Jez Dior and production from SmarterChild. What else? Soundcloud.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Touring around SXSW: Carrie Rodriguez, Darwin Deez, Kosha Dillz, and Whitehorse

Read More Carrie Rodriguez Chip Taylor has been writing and releasing music since 1970, so he's no stranger to country folk music fans. In 2001, after meeting a then-new musician Carrie Rodriguez .....

With SXSW 2013 to be in March, we're already starting to see announcements for showcases. For those that can't afford to travel to SXSW every year, the good news is that really good bands are doing mini-tours of or around the SXSW dates. Chances are your favorite bands will be playing live near you.

CARRIE RODRIGUEZ
carrierodriguez.com

You should know-- we love Carrie Rodriguez here. She's a singer/songwriter, that's more in tuned with country music, than the typical folksy musician. I believe she's still based out of Austin, Texas, and since 2001, she's been performing showcases at SXSW. So, if you're in the Texas area, you should definitely try and make it out to a show.

It's been two years since her mostly covers album, Love and Circumstance, but she's back with a fifth solo release, Give Me All You Got to be out on January 22nd via Ninth Street Opus. In support of the album, she'll be heading out on tour this year.

Her final stop on the three-month long tour will be in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Center. Expect her to perform "Lake Harriet", which I believe is about one of lakes in Minneapolis (great bike trail!). You can grab the song for free at her official website.

All current confirmed tour dates below:

01/23/13 - Dan’s Silverleaf - Denton, TX 01/24/13 - McGonigel’s Mucky Duck - Houston, TX 01/25/13 - Stateside at The Paramount - Austin, TX 01/26/13 - The Kessler Theater - Dallas, TX 01/27/13 - The Blue Door - Oklahoma City, OK 01/29/13 - Hi Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN 01/30/13 - 3rd & Lindsley - Nashville, TN 01/31/13 - Natasha’s Bistro - Lexington, KY 02/01/13 - Grey Eagle Music Hall - Asheville, NC 02/02/13 - The Evening Muse - Charlotte, NC 02/05/13 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA 02/06/13 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY 02/07/13 - Avalon Theatre - Easton, MD 02/08/13 - Artisphere/Dome Theatre - Arlington, VA 02/09/13 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA 02/10/13 - Club Cafe - Pittsburgh, PA 02/13/13 - Old Rock House - St. Louis, MO 02/14/13 - Knuckleheads - Kansas City, MO 02/16/13 - L2 Arts & Culture Center - Denver, CO 02/17/13 - Steve’s Guitars - Carbondale, CO 02/19/13 - The State Room - Salt Lake City, UT 02/21/13 - The Triple Door - Seattle, WA 02/23/13 - Green Frog Cafe - Bellingham, WA 02/24/13 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR 02/26/13 - Arcata Playhouse - Arcata, CA 02/28/13 - Freight & Salvage - Berkeley, CA

03/01/13 - Sebastopol Community - Sebastopol, CA 03/02/13 - SLO Brew - San Luis Obispo, CA 03/03/13 - Belly Up - Solana Beach, CA 03/05/13 - Largo @ The Coronet - Los Angeles, CA 03/07/13 - Historic Arts Theatre - Prescott, AZ 03/12/13 - SXSW 2013 - Austin, TX 03/13/13 - SXSW 2013 - Austin, TX 03/14/13 - SXSW 2013 - Austin, TX 03/15/13 - SXSW 2013 - Austin, TX 03/16/13 - SXSW 2013 - Austin, TX 03/27/13 - Uncle Slayton’s - Louisville, KY 03/28/13 - Southgate House Revival - Newport, KY 03/29/13 - Natalie’s - Columbus, OH 03/30/13 - Nighttown - Cleveland, OH 04/02/13 - The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI 04/04/13 - Severson Dells Nature Center - Rockford, IL 04/05/13 - SPACE - Evanston, IL 04/06/13 - Legion Arts - Cedar Rapids, IA 04/07/13 - Flying Mango - Des Moines, IA 04/08/13 - Flying Mango - Des Moines, IA 04/09/13 - Sunday Roadhouse - Omaha, NE 04/11/13 - Bloomington Center - Bloomington, IL 04/12/13 - Turner Hall Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI 04/13/13 - Shoulder to Shoulder - Wausau, WI 04/14/13 - Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN

DARWIN DEEZ
darwindeez.com

Darwin Deez's forthcoming sophomore album, Songs For Imaginative People will be out February 12th, 2013, on Lucky Number.

As you know, Deez was one of our must-see acts on Australia's Groovin' the Moo 2011 Music Festival.

Are you anxious to check out songs from the new album? You can get a Unicorn Kid's remix of "Free" for, er, free at Pitchfork.



OR, you can watch the "Groundhog Day"-inspired music video for "Free (The Editorial Me)" on YouTube.

Anyway, check out Deez's "idiosyncratic pop" live when he heads out on tour (stopping in Minneapolis on March 20th, just days after his SXSW appearances):

2/28 – Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO 3/01 – Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, UT 3/03 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR 3/04 – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver, BC 3/05 – The Vera Project, Seattle, WA 3/07 – Bottom of The Hill, San Francisco, CA 3/08 – Echo, Los Angeles, CA 3/09 – Casbah, San Diego, CA 3/13 – SXSW, TX 3/14 – SXSW, TX 3/15 – SXSW, TX 3/16 – Prophet Bar, Dallas, TX 3/18 – The Record Bar, Kansas City, MO 3/19 – Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines, IA

3/20 – 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN 3/21 – High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI 3/22 – Schubas Tavern, Chicago, IL 3/23 – Russian Recording, Bloomington, IN 3/25 – Ace of Cups, Columbus, OH 3/26 – Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA 3/27 – Beachland Tavern, Cleveland, OH 3/28 – Soundlab, Buffalo, NY 3/29 – Legendary Horeshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON 3/30 – Casa del Popolo, Montreal, Canada 4/01 – Pearl Street Nightclub, Northampton, MA 4/02 – Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 4/03 – Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY 4/04 – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA 4/05 – Black Cat, Washington DC

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillz.com

We love Kosha Dillz. Last year, Dillz played one million SXSW shows, and this year he promised to top it! If you want to help him finish his Kosha DIllz is Everywhere: The Hustle to Happiness documentary his Kickstarter just launched last night (January 3rd).

And uh-oh, looks like Dillz is coming to Minneapolis/St Paul! It is really far in advance, but I'm penciling those dates on my calendar. I think Dillz's music will go well with Minnesotans because there is a massive Atmosphere and Rhymesayers audience he can tap in.

Here are some dates that Dillz will appear at:

Jan 19-23 TBD Sundance Film Festival Park City, UT
Jan 24 TBD Los Angeles, CA
Feb 4 Kickstarter Close Off Celebration Street Performance
Feb 16-20 NACA National Convention Nashville, TN
Feb 21/22 Private Gig Atlanta, GA
March 1- 9 Booking midwest run
March 10- 17 SXSW Music Festival x OY VEY SXSW!
March 22-23 NACA Mid-Atlantic Festival
April 4-7 NACA Northwest Conference St. Paul, MN

WHITEHORSE
whitehorsemusic.ca

Just a reminder that Whitehorse's album The Fate Of The World Depends On This Kiss comes out January 15th, check out my review. At the time of that writing, they were mostly doing Canadian tour dates, but it looks like the band are finalizing on some USA dates. I am told that they "certainly will" be doing SXSW this year, so stay tune for more tour date announcements.

01/16/13 New York, NY: Hill Country Live
01/26/13 Vancouver, BC: Commodore Ballroom
01/27/13 Victoria, BC: Upstairs Cabaret
01/30/13 Lethbridge, AB: Geomatic Attic
01/31/13 Calgary, AB: Knox United Church
02/01/13 Edmonton, AB: Myer Horowitz Theatre
02/03/13 Red Deer, AB: The Hideout
02/06/13 Saskatoon, SK: Broadway Theatre
02/07/13 Regina, SK: The Exchange
02/08/13 Winnipeg, MB: Burton Cummings Theatre
02/13/13 Minneapolis, MN: 7th Street Entry
02/14/13 Milwaukee, WI: Shank Hall
02/16/13 Chicago, IL: Schuba's
02/17/13 East Lansing, MI: Lakehouse Music
02/23/13 South Burlington, VT: Higher Ground
02/24/13 Albany, NY: Valentine's
02/25/13 Buffalo, NY: Ninth Ward
02/27/13 London, ON: Aeolian Hall
02/28/13 Waterloo, ON: Starlight
03/02/13 Toronto, ON: Massey Hall
03/22/13 Montreal, PQ: La Sala Rosa
03/23/13 Ottawa, ON: Nac Theatre
03/24/13 Midland, ON: Midland Cultural Centre
03/26/13 Meaford, ON: Meaford Hall
03/27/13 St Catharine’s: Sean O Sullivan Theatre

BRIEFLY:

HEYERDAHL facebook.com Heyerdahl is a new Norwegian band, which MTV is calling "ambitious experimental electro-tinged pop", while The Line of Best Fit is comparing them to my favorite Japanese director, Takashi Miike. Obviously, they are getting a lot of attention, particularly when Øya Festival booked the band on the strength of their single "Mirage" (even before the band even played live). Their upcoming album, ØEN will be out 28th January 2013 - look for them to play at SXSW 2013.

WEST OF ALDINE facebook.com Minneapolis' groove/pop band West of Aldine will be performing songs from their debut album, Undivided, this February 1st at the Fine Line Café. Also on the bill: American Revival, Bigtree Bonsai, and Lake Avenue. West of Aldine are also quite excited to play SXSW this year - so excited that they'll be doing a warmup/sendoff show at The Kitty Kat Club just prior to Austin. I don't see a definite date on the KKC's calendar, but expect it to be free or marginally priced. If you want to support the band, know that they donate 20% of their merchandise to high school music departments through their "Keep The Music" program.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Kosha Dillz at SXSW

This was originally written last week, but there's been a mixup and was never published until now. Go see one of the hardest working man in showbiz!

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillzworld.com

Our favorite Jewish rapper, Kosha Dillz will play at every SXSW show as humanly possible, which is awesome! There is no excuse not to catch him this year.

He even threaten that he "might rap in line at the airport."

03/12- Formspring Party @ Empire Auto
03/13- Slacker Magazine Secret Show
03/14 -Suburban Noize @ 606
03/15- OY VEY SXSW @ Lipstick 24
03/15- DigSin & Songfreaks Live Music Invasion of Rusty’s
03/15- Secret Showcase (Afterhours)
03/16 - KXLU/ The Smell Showcase 12pm
03/16- Tel Aviv Beach Party @ 5th and Neches
03/17- OY VEY SXSW Party Deux! @ Lipstick 24
03/18- SXSW BYE BYE Boat Party @ Highland Lakes Marina
03/19- Let's Get the Hell Out of Here Party @ San Antonio Airport, TX

Please see his website for set times and locations.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Kosha, Kasha, and Ke$ha

Kosha Dillz: All These Years

Yeah, well sometime I just pick bands out of thin air. Keep sending me music!

KOSHA DILLZ
koshadillzworld.com

We've mentioned Kosha Dillz a few times, and, yes, we're confused at the Jewish hip-hop thing. I'm sure there are more odd crossovers, such as Irish rap (think House of Pain?). Anyway, I got a chance to listen to his new song, "All These Years", featuring Mojo Hanna. I like the laid back music and Hanna and Kosha's vocals mixture.

The email also mentioned that there will be a paid 9-track EP for Gina and The Garage Sale, which will cost $4.99, or for the cheapskates a free 5-track version will be made available. I couldn't find any details on the freebie download, but if someone send me information, I will update this and/or put it in our "freebies" page.

Below are details of his upcoming tour:

03/12 Cross Fit Central w / Gary Vaynerchuck and Zach Even-Esh (my bruddah)
03/12 Red 7 @ That internet Party March 15 Rusty Spurs w/ Shinobi Ninja
03/16 Lipstick w/ Eyes lips Eyes March 17 Lovers Label /Musebox Party @ The Dean Frederick
03/18 Official SXSW SHOWCASE w/ Homeboy Sandman + Sage Francis @ The Marq
03/19 Lipstick Super Good Music Party

Off topic, but isn't that Vaynerchuck guy some wine dude?

KASHA
www.kashamusic.co.uk

According to the press information, Kasha is "UK's Biggest Secret on the Hip Hop Underground" scene. I did manage to check out his youtube video for "The Realism (Can I Rock)", which is a typical guy rapping and people dancing sort of video.

The thing with British rap is that they often mention things that is out of place for American audience to understand. But I'll give him props for mentioning "Fist of the North Star", I don't think I've ever heard a song mention this.

Anyway, this song is the second single from his 2009 album, Oracle. A second album is coming out this year.

Recently, just officially released on March 6^th was "Blind Faith", a Chase and Status song, featuring Liam Bailey and Kasha.

KE$HA
keshasparty.com

It's hard to escape the clutches of Kesha, and although I've heard/seen her around, I never bothered to find out what she's all about. The last time I saw her, she was with Jarvis Cocker at the 2010 NME award and Jarvis actually mistakenly called her Keisha (which is understandable since I also thought she was Keisha as well). Anyroad, Kesha, boy was she upset! Like visibly WTF look.

Anyway, I did get a chance to finally hear her "Tik Tok" hit song, which I'll have to admit is very catchy. It's pretty much a party song, you don't really have to think about the lyrics too hard and you just have to accept the autotune/vocode thing (everybody in the pop music business uses autotune!)

The super popular Glee television show recently featured the "Tik Tok" song in the "Blame it on the Alcohol" episode of Season 2. Now, I don't watch Glee, I honestly try to get into the show, but it's just not a show that I can sit through. I love the music, but that's as far as it goes, I guess.

The Glee song (which is available on iTunes since February 22^nd), sounds surprisingly faithful to the original song, down to the P Diddy and the laugh at the end. In fact, if you play either song, I couldn't tell the difference. Maybe less glitter throwup in the non-Kesha version ?

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Hanukkah 2009

Kosha Dillz - Cellular Phone Kosha Dillz Tour Dates 12/01/09 Webster Theatre* Hartford, CT 12/02/09 House of Blues* Cleveland, OH 12/03/09 Bogart’s* Cincinnati, OH 12/07/09 St Andrews* Detroit, MI 12/08/09 The Armory* Rochester, NY with Matisyahu Discography [Oct 2008] Freestyle vs. Written  [Nov 2009] Beverly Dillz Read More Kosha Dillz http://weheartmus... Jewish hip-hop? Is that even possible? Of course it is, silly rabbit! I mean, I downloaded an ent...

This year Hannukkah is from December 11^th to 19^th, which is in about a few short weeks. I don't really know that much about the Jewish religion, other than that they get like 10 36 gifts for Hanukkah (edit: see updated message below)! So, to take care of two of your gifts idea, for the music lover in your life:

KOSHA DILLZ
official ♥ myspace

We've previously mentioned Kosha Dillz before, with his collaboration with C-Rayz Walz. Derek said that previous album had "classic hip-hop that rests firmly on a bed of oldskool beats", so missing from Beverly Dillz, Kosha Dillz's latest album (released November 10^th on Modular Moods Records), seems to be the "oldskool beats".

Although the album starts off with a surprisingly hip-hoppy "DooDoo" - the rest of Beverly Dillz seems pretty laid back to me. There are a few exceptions like "Jungle" and "Tastes Good" (the best rap song on the album).

Personally, I thought "Puddles" was one of the better song, it's probably because it had Yak Ballz as guest. The song feels really familiar to me, like its bass is from the 80s or something. Speaking of familiar, you'll get that on his single, "Cellular Phone", which features some classic Dilliefied version of "This Old Man" and "Word Up".

Kosha Dillz was recently in the news because he remixed fellow Jewish artist YACHT (aka Jona Bechtolt) for an EP called Swim Club. You can grab the free 8-track EP at Kosha Dillz's website. I didn't listen to the entire 8 tracks, but I can tell you that I spotted some Beastie Boys, New Jack City, and Hansons references!

PS, While there are a lot of "hhheh" Hebrew sounds in "Kol Ha Kavod Lirkod", I believe all the songs on Beverly Dillz are in English.

MOSHIACH OI!
myspace

With the baby picture and my generally association that Jewish musicians tend to be either traditional or modern hip-hop, Moshiach Oi!'s album, Better Get Ready, surprised me with their hardcore punk music. Like typical punk songs, these songs are fast, loud, and brief - like a punch in the face.

The band's singer and found, Yishai Romanoff, actually sings his songs (instead of shouting out loud that you find on hardcore bands). Unfortunately, as religious as some of the songs can be ("I Wanna Learn Torah", "I Wanna Learn Torah", "This Is My G-d", "Hashem S'fasai Tiftach"), I can't help but think that the message will be lost in a loud sea of drums and guitars. The one exception of "I Love Torah", where you can clearly hear the majority of lyrics are "I love Torah, yeah!"

To me, punk bands do not often translate their live energy and performance well on the recorded medium, so to really appreciate a band like this, you sort of have to see them live. They are playing one date - probably to celebrate Hanukkah at: Chabad of Bushwick Brooklyn, New York, on December 12^th.

You can pick up both of these albums from Shem Speed Store (the largest collection of Jewish music).

IN MORE JEWISH NEWS

"Hunter / The Bee Lays Her Honey" by Girls in Trouble

Jewish singer Girls In Trouble (I previously fell in love with her), has a cute live video of "Hunter/The Bee Lays Her Honey" on youtube, complete with torn stockings and all. The video was previously featured on YouTube's Music Spotlight for a few days. If you recall, that was my song of choice when I reviewed the album, citing it as "my favorite song" easily.

Also, Matisyahu, Yair Dalal & Deleon, among others, are playing the 5th Annual Sephardic Music Festival from December 12^th to 19th, throughout New York City.

For a full listing of events, head over to sephardicmusicfestival.com, what I can tell you is that Matisyahu is headlining on December 14^th, which incidentally is also the most expensive ($35) among all the dates. The rest of the dates are decently priced at $12 or so.

Update 11/29/2009 17:51:48:

jaklumen wrote: Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 4:23 PM

other than that they get like 10 gifts for Hanukkah

Eight. There are eight days of Hanukkah, and there's a gift for each day, or there's a number of gifts corresponding to the day (1 gift on the first, 2 on the second...) All I remember well was some Jewish friends of my family said they had to alter things so they wouldn't go broke giving gifts to the kids.

The observance is tied to the Maccabean uprising and references the miracle of the menorah remaining lit for eight days despite a lack of oil.

 11/29/2009 04:13:56 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com