Apple and EMI Group both announced today that they will be offering Digital Rights Management (DRM) free downloads that are higher quality than those previously made available. Finally, music files you can copy, save, and backup as if they were your own. The upgrade in sound quality (from 128kbps to 256kbps AAC ) without restrictions can be done at the click of a button in the iTunes store versions to come. "We are going to give iTunes customers a choice...

Abstract beat-conductor from Los Angeles, Flying Lotus has just signed with Warp Records . Previously on the cutting edge experimental “hip hop” label, Plug Research where he released the junkie acclaimed and DJ-caned album, 1983 , Steven Ellison , nephew of Alice Coltrane (R.I.P.) will release a 4 track 12” EP (out June). Blissfully enthusiastic over his label transition, Ellison oozed, "Warp is the absolute best home for my work. They've...

The majority of established music businesses have only become embittered by internet downloading, fighting an uphill battle with technology, staring miserably at dwindling numbers and enumerating dollars lost in fewer and fewer transactions. Well, the executives at Rough Trade have decided to throw aside their shields of wood and fight fire with fire with a colossal 5,000 square ft. East London storefront bent on building fervor and excitement for music rather than selling plastic....

Giant Step concocted a raucous promotions campaign for the Kaiser Chiefs down in Austin, TX for SXSW , March 15th to the 17th. The title of the indie band's latest album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob sparked an idea to create an entertaining street spectacle of 11 kids in Kaiser Chief t-shirts, causing a commotion by marching hand in hand, breakdancing, screaming, hollering, pumping the Chief's jams out of a boombox. In every possible way resembling an angry mob,...

Indie electro group, Hot Chip are providing the 29th installment in !K7’s genre defying DJ-KiCKS series this coming May 22nd. The tracklist hints at what you might expect from this band of the moment: a tightly mixed batch of eclectic influences, providing artistic credibility, and new exclusive productions, showcasing their trademark sound. But with songs by Tom Zé, Etta James, Wookie, and Ray Charles interwoven with modern pieces by Dominick...

Sa-Ra Creative Partners are set to release their first ever album, The Hollywood Recordings, April 24th on Babygrande Records . The list of featuring artists includes Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, Bilal, Capone-N-Noreaga, Pharoahe Monch, Kurupt, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Lord Nes , and more. Since stepping out from behind the boards and carving a serious name for themselves as a group in 2004/05 with "Glorious," "Rosebuds," and "Double Dutch," the...

News of Jurassic 5’s breakup was confirmed on DJ Semtex’s BBC 1xtra show last Friday. The rumor began a few weeks back when the group’s spokesman, Soup conversed with the Golden Coast Bulletin on their tour to Australia and Japan, declaring, “after the tour, that's basically it. People see us as a harmonizing, loving group, but that's far from the truth. When it comes down to it, some people here want their own shine, their own thing.” Indeed, each...

Butterflies and giddiness ensue with news of Björk’s Volta tour beginning next month (just 12 days!). With her latest album of the same name coming out May 7th in Europe and May 8th in the US on One Little Indian/Atlantic , attendance of her early dates is essential. America will get its first crack at her album, which features a collaboration with Konono N°1 and three tracks co-produced with Timbaland and Mark Bell of LFO , at the...

On Monday (3/12), one of the warmer nights this week, LA's singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles graced Hiro Ballroom, NYC with a special opening performance for Aqualung . On a nationwide tour to promote her sophomore album Little Voice , which will be released this summer by Epic Records , Sara admitted her love for the Big Apple, openly regretting the length of her short stay in the city – and it wasn't hard to understand why either. For a relatively...

The French band Air will return to the US for the first time since 2004 with a pair of gigs in Canada and 11 in the US spread over late April and early May. Parting with the tradition held on previous tours where featured musicians like Beth Hirsch and Beck traveled along with the band to play their role in their respective collaborations, guest performers on their latest album Pocket Symphony will be noticeably absent in the upcoming tour - which means no...