Lightning In A Bottle Music Line-up A-Z: Eprom, Eskmo, François K

Eprom is a San Francisco producer respected by his fellow artists.  He collaborated with Boreta from Glitch Mob.  He has recorded and released tracks on numerous labels around the world.  

Reading Eprom's bio in his press kit I was really curious if it was just creative wordsmithing or if there was something to it.  Crunchy? Mutated? Neurocrunk? Well the first word that was proved out was experimental.  This is definitely the music of the new generation.  It sounds like nothing from the past or from the current mainstream.  So many different elements piled on top of each other.  There was on track that did have the twisted flavor of something from centuries past but the emphasis is on twisted.  I'll be honest, this is not my steez at all but I have to give this artist cred for true creativity, ingenuity and innovation.  Eprom thinks way outside the box and does not allow himself to be boxed in by traditional definitions of music.  This is what art is about and so I hope there is a lot more to come.  I imagine attendees of LIB who are into electronic soundscapes or looking for something really new will be hanging out for this producer's set.

Eskmo could not have worked out better in my alphabetical run-down as Brendan Angelides has collaborated with Eprom.  Eskmo is a very prolific Los Angeles producer who has released numerous EPs, singles and LPs.  

The first tracks I listened to were the one done with Eprom.  Their styles are very complimentary.  Continuing to Brendan's solo creations, I feel his more grand, yet smooth sounds balance out Eprom's more compact and staccato ones.  I find Eskmo is more "dancey" and include some traditional instrument sounds that I like.   If we're going to talk overall creative eye and being able to pick great fine art to grace the covers of his recordings, Eskmo's choice of working with Trek Matthews art for "Languages" and "Earth and Words" is brilliant.  Thank you Brenda for adding another new fine artist to my list of favorites.   

François K according to his Wiki is a Frenchman who migrated to New York City in 1975.  He has some pretty impressive roots in the NYC scene having his name associated with Studio 54, the disco icon that will go down in history for the very, very good and worst of the worst but still iconic.  He is a bit of a patriarch in electronica.  He has been inducted into the Dance Music Hall Of Fame and remains a prolific studio recording engineer and live performer.

Francois K's top tracks on Spotify are all over 7 minutes long so you have time to really immerse yourself in them.  I definitely heard and felt the earliest elements of electronic music in these recordings.  This producer is leaving a legacy for the up and comers.  He is teaching them about their history.  Francois' also takes classic modern genres such as hip-hop, reggae and pop and intergrates them flawlessly with digital elements. Where Eprom is where 21st Century music is going, Francois K is where it came from.  For nostalgia sake I will surely drop by his performance at LIB to reclaim my own history.

Of course I'm going to remind you all to check out these artists' official websites, social network presences including places like SoundCloud.  I found all three this time on Spotify.  Drop in and woogie with the Do-ers at Coachella this weekend.  Visit LIB's site to order your tickets and buy some merch.  Let's have fun.

LIB music - Andreilien, Black 22s, Blackbird Blackbird

Andreilien (Heyoka) is the first U.S. artist in the A-Z listing for LIB. Andrei Olenev comes from the San Francisco underground first using the moniker HEYOKA.  Andrei was using 'traditional' bass as his jump-off but was distinguishing himself from the production pack by doing a great deal of sonic exploration. His extensive tour schedule involves most of the well known electronica fests along with arts festivals such as Burning Man.

Andreilien will be bringing his magical mixture of digital sounds to LIB where they should induce a lot of movement of the bodies that participate in his sets.  I think I might swing by if I can just to pick out all the great mash-ups of everything from Eastern Indian influences to Reggae to just totally futuristic elements.

Black 22s are L.A. homeboys  J*Labs and Lou E. Bagels.  These guys mix up some seriously fun shit.  Break, electro, NuReggae and NeFunk and with a few pinches of dubstep. Each DJ has their own aesthetic which they combine into dance music infectious and innovative.  They are always striving for the latest and greatest so no two sets are the same.

The second track I listened to, "Strictly Savage" samples Queen in the best way possible.  Black 22s definitely rocked me and rolled me and had me moving.  I really had to fight to move on to listening to other artists I need to be writing about today. I highly recommend following the directions at the beginning this track-"turn it up really loud.  Preferably in a residential area".  By the way, you have to either go to their Facebook or Soundcloud as their tracks are not on Spotify.

Blackbird Blackbird complete today's "three" in A-Z and Mikey Maramag is also a Cali artist, another one from the City by the Bay.  His Facebook page describes the flavor of his music as "folktronica" and it really is.  Being a child of the 60's this has a 21st Century Woodstock sound especially the guitar lines.  It truly is a modern throwback to psychedelic pop.  I tend to classify my music by season and this is really great Summer music.  You could take it for a top-down cruise to the beach or the mountains or have it pumping out of speakers for a surf day followed by a bonfire.

I'd say I'd like to either do my afternoon writing sessions to this music or chilling out after sundown with friends at LIB.  This is such mellow music and without being meditation music, something to destress to.  Definitely something that will also be on my iPod before during and after Lightning In A Bottle.

As always-Google is your friend.  Look up these artists, visit their official sites, Facebooks, Soundclouds and Twitters.  And don't forget to bookmark Lightning In A Bottle for all the latest information on the festival.  For those of you venturing out to Coachella remember to find DoLab and Lucent Dossier.

Music line-up for Lightning In A Bottle announced

Today DoLab posted the powerhouse line-up of musical performers for this year's festival.  In its new home at Lake Skinner,  Lightning In A Bottle will welcome Nicolas Jaar, Rusko, Tycho, and Paper Diamond as headliners to this summer’s festival.

Over the past eight years, DoLab’s main event has taken place over the Memorial Day weekend in Oak Canyon Park.  Due to new land use regulations the festival has not only changed its location to Temecula but has also dates.  This year things get rocking on July 11^th and run thru the 14^th.

The music lineup for the the country's premier boutique music and arts festival also includes the sounds of Miguel Migs, Eskmo, Tim Green, Cari Lekebusch, Blockhead, and Kastle. Icon of house François K, indie artist Blackbird Blackbird, L.A.’s own Jason Bentley, Herbert Bail Orchestra plus many others.  Mixtures of performance, music and installation art will be presented by Lucent Dossier Experience and William Close with the Earth Harp.

DoLab co-founder and curator Jesse Fleming sums up the music elements of Lightning In A Bottle like this, "Our goal with the music is to create a positive and uplifting experience, with a good balance of beautiful melodic music and good old party music. After 4 months of in depth research and a lot of listening we tried to cover as many genres as possible that we feel fit the vibe that we're trying to create with Lightning in a Bottle.”

For more information about Lightning in a Bottle, and to purchase tickets, visit http://lightninginabottle.org. Follow LIB at  www.facebook.com/LightningInaBottle or The Do LaB at www.facebook.com/thedolab or www.twitter.com/thedolab.                    

ABOUT THE DO LAB / LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

Based in Los Angeles, The Do LaB’s mission is to craft experience as art and bring communities together. Aside from showcasing electronic music artists throughout Southern California, The Do LaB is well known for creating unique art installations/stages and curating cutting edge acts at the inner misting Oasis stage at Coachella in addition to producing Southern California’s Lightning in a Bottle and the game changing 2012 Winter Solstice event The Great Convergence which took place at the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The Do Lab’s work has also been showcased at Virgin Music Festival, Global Gathering, Portugal’s Boom Festival and many more.

Art of the New Age

This morning my friend John Park shared this on his Facebook.  I've seen many artistic creations using computers but this one turned on that big lightbulb in my brain.  This is the art of now and of the future.  We have this amazing tool called a computer.  It can be a large box that sits on a desk or table with a separate or integrated monitor.  It can be a portable unit that most people refer to as a laptop.  Most are just as powerful as a desktop at this point but allow two, three or a hundred users to congregate and collaborate.  Then came the evolution of cell phones and their big sisters, tablets.

In the cell phone world; social networks, photo apps, and media messaging have become art makers.  The art is then shared around the world in nana-seconds.  Tablets have become not only for traditional visual artists but for fashion designers, lighting designers and others.  Of course they are the handiest of gadgets for writers and musicians.

Yes, the combination of traditional live art and computers is the art of the New Age. It will be interesting to see where we go with it.

p.s. I also learned that all of these dancers auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance last year.  One of them, Cyrus, made it to the top two.  I also want to through in that I didn't used to appreciate urban art, especially dance and music.  Then my son went to middle and high school in New Haven.  I now love great street dance, hip-hop and even some rap.  I needed to experience it in context.

Below is another example of the combination of computers and live art from my friend Hans Haveron:



Video/ Projection mapping onto Hans Haveron art:Titled: "Dragon's Pearl" from Albertico Acosta on Vimeo.

Edit-addtion 3/3/13 Here is yet another technological art installment that utilizes computers in costuming, lighting and syncing the track to the lights.  Very impressive

Projection mapping by Dandy Punk