AURA Music & Arts Festival 2012- Official Pre-Parties

AURA Music Events and Brotherly Love Productions are thrilled to announce seven official AURA Music & Arts Festival 3 Pre-Parties in Miami, Boca Raton, Tampa, Dunedin Jacksonville Beach, and Athens, GA, leading up to the main event March 9th – 11th in St. Cloud, Florida. Each party will feature multiple AURA artists including: 10- piece reggae/funk/soul orchestra The Resolvers; downtown soul artists Ketchy Shuby; the internationally acclaimed b-boy funk of Fusik; aquaphonics liquid groove; the two Vote to AURA band winners – Boca’s The Funky Nuggets and Philly’s Psychedelphia; a solo set by The Heavy Pets’ Jeff Lloyd; one-man-music maker Nick Noyes; Delaware’s Spontaneous Underground throwing down their “jazz for the dance floor”; The Fritz’s hearty stew of funk, bluegrass, rock, reggae, jazz and soul; the eclectic sound of The Werks; and super group Kung Fu featuring members of Raq, The Breakfast and Deep Banana Blackout. Also performing at the Georgia show is Consider the Source with their Sci-Fi Middle Eastern fusion and Perpetual Groove’s Brock Butler.

For the full list… (more…)

Sounduo Releases “Departures” on Made In Glitch – 1/2012

Sounduo is pleased to announce the release of their debut album, Departures, on Made In Glitch – January 2012 – and will headline BLP/SFMO/JOLT Radio Present…Boca Shindig at the Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewey with Dusthead and Freq. on Saturday, February 18th and will perform on the BLP Campground Stage at AURA Music & Arts Festival in St. Cloud, FL on Friday, March 9th.

Equally melodic and heavy, this deep collection of eight tracks showcases their progression as producers and musicians, as well as the band’s unique take on electronic dub-hop in a studio production format. It’s everything you can expect from Sounduo – future dub to glitched funkiness with heavy beats and a healthy amount of bass that showcases the studio and programmed elements of the songs. These studio tracks form the basis for their improvised dub sets which are accompanied by live instrumentation and visual representations. Released under Made in Glitch alongside bass pioneers including Bass Science, Gladkill, NastyNasty and many more, Departures reflects Sounduo’s growing respect among bass communities across the country. While the album certainly features some huge bass drops, the band aims more for creating a futuristic glowing dub atmosphere in the tracks. From the heavy syncopated basslines of “Fever” to the dancehall-drum’n bass-lovestep vibe of “Shaka” to the jazz-fusion glitch dub of ‘”8 Degrees,” the album maintains the bass driven feel of dub music while staying relevant and consistent with the electronic sounds of the future.

“Sounduo Scores In South Florida” by Adam E. Smith for Melodyisiac.com
“I Would Do Anything” Exclusive for AfroMonk.com

Depatures Tour 2012
1/31 – Gainesville, FL @ Spank
2/2 – Athens, GA @ New Earth Music Hall
2/5 – Jacksonville, FL @ TSI
2/8 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar
2/16 – Miami, FL @ Vagabond
2/17 – Lake Worth, FL @ Speakeasy Lounge
2/18 – Boca Raton, FL @ Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewery
3/9-11 – St. Cloud, FL @ AURA Music & Art Festival

Exclusive Interview with Matt McDonald of Perpetual Groove

I’ve been privileged enough to have two recent conversations with Matthew McDonald, one by phone and another by email, amidst the whirlwind surrounding the announcement of his return to Perpetual Groove, a band he helped start a decade ago but left for personal reasons in June of 2008. Our last interaction being a loose night in an old synagogue, better known in BLP lore as the Art Temple, when Matt supported and joined Brother Bean for a long night of musical mayhem in October of that same year; we spent a few minutes catching up before digging in to what transpired to spark their current evolution, his return to the public realm and what us Perps can expect out of PGoove 2.012.

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ART BASEL MIAMI 2011 – PREVIEW

Absolutely the most hip happening of the year – anywhere – Art Basel Miami is a spectacle that can only be witnessed in person. The City of Miami turns into a living, breathing work of art. There is way more going on than we could possibly mention here, and the truth is no one knows exactly what’s gonna happen, but here’s our modest attempt at sharing some “inside” knowledge…and obviously it’s weighted toward the musical mayhem. Enjoy and hope to see you out! (more…)

BEAR CREEK MUSIC & ART FESTIVAL 2011 – PREVIEW

It is hard to believe that it’s already the 5^th year of the autumnal Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival, but time flies when you’re gettin’ funky. Seems like yesterday when the inaugural year was announced and then moved last minute to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, laying the ground work for what has become the funkiest way to close out festy season.

Of course, there are BC mainstays making their annual appearance(s) like Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, the boys from across the pond, The New Mastersounds, NOLA elite Galactic and Dumpstaphunk, Royal Family’s Soulive and Lettuce (RAGE!), Royal Potato’s Skerik and Mike D and the Bear himself, Zach Deputy; but the BIG buzz this year involves (more…)

Conspirator 2011.10.08 Culture Room Fort Laudedale, FL

Words and Photos by Adam E. Smith
Videos by Adam at Cheesehead Productions.

The rain was relentless in East Fort Lauderdale as the midnight hour approached. A line of lively youth wrapped around under a small overhang at the entrance of the Culture Room. Mostly an attempt to stay dry, but more importantly, a last minute move of haste to get inside before the band came on stage. Hours previous, the same venue played host to (more…)