XL Recordings

i can now tell you with virtual certainty that this will happen. its very near to completion. once all the business is sorted, i should have an idea of exactly when in 2009; i will eat my hat and buy ...

wow. im still stunned. last night was of course a monumental event for anyone who lives in america, regardless of political leanings. i had decided that i wanted to be on the streeets of philly asap i...

today is the last day to register to vote for you. if you have not done so, PLEASE do it at the links below, very easy:http://www.declareyourself.com/orhttp://www.chooseorlose.comorhttp://...com/3r82z...

ahhh.....finally cracked the nut. i got a song done!!!! for the first time in my life as a guy who pays the bills with music, i took a little time off the merry-go-round this summer-(c)john lennon. iv...

so i may be doing a series of food blogs here, since im a bit of a fan of cooking and eating. if you are from the "food is just fuel" school of thought, do yourself a favor and tune out now. however, ...

With Yeasayer, the Killers, Atmosphere and Brother Ali, Blitzen Trapper, Mates of State

The lineup for the fourth annual Stateside edition of the multi-day, multi-city Download Festival is upon us, and like a cluttered desktop folder saving the finest of the web's offerings for later, it's a little bit all over the place. But by design, of course: the Download Fest comes to San Francisco's Shoreline Amphitheatre July 19, hits L.A.'s Gibson Amphitheatre the following day, July 20, and heads to Camden, New Jersey's Susquehanna Bank Center on August 2.

Not everybody's making the long haul from the Bay all the way to New Jersey, so we've broken it down this way. The San Francisco show on July 19 features, among others, M83, Cut Copy, Yeasayer, Atmosphere and Brother Ali, Blitzen Trapper, RJD2, Mates of State, Flosstradamus, Tapes 'n Tapes, the Duke Spirit, and Datarock, among others.

They'll lose Cut Copy somewhere outside of Bakersfield, picking up Caribou, Kaki King, the Night Marchers, and, er, Ghostland Observatory just in time for the L.A. show. (M83, Yeasayer, Atmosphere and Brother Ali, Blitzen Trapper, RJD2, Mates of State, Flosstradamus, Tapes 'n Tapes, the Duke Spirit, and Datarock will all play in L.A.)

Though there's certainly some overlap, this nifty game of addition and subtraction doesn't work too well for the Camden showcase, so we'll just lay that one on you straight: Iggy and the Stooges, the Killers, Man Man, Mates of State, the Stills, the Duke Spirit, the Enemy,...

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Tero Smith, aka Columbus, Ohio MC and producer Camu Tao, died May 25 at the age of 30. His passing put an end to a year-and-a-half-long battle with lung cancer.

A member of the Definitive Jux family, Camu Tao worked with RJD2 and Copywrite in MHz, with Cage in Nighthawks, and Metro in S.A. Smash. He collaborated frequently with El-P, both on solo projects and in their groups Central Services and the Weathermen (which also included Cage and Copywrite).

El-P eulogized Smith on his Okay Player blog:

"Today, at around 2 p.m., our dear friend, family member, and musical collaborator Tero 'Camu Tao' Smith passed away in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Tero had been quietly fighting for his life for the last year and a half after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

To those who knew Tero, he was an almost uncategorizable force of nature. Wild, hilarious, proud, loving, tough, outspoken, spontaneous and brilliant. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and he dripped creativity, leaving inspiration and awe in the hearts and minds of anyone who was fortunate enough to see him work.

We, his friends and family, have truly had our collective hearts broken by his passing. Not only because of the loss of our friend, but because of the loss of his contribution to those who never knew what we knew about his talent and his potential. He was the secret that no one...

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So probably only a small handful of the folks out there who are aware of myself are also aware of a group called the MHz. This was my first rap group; we did a few singles on Bobbito's Fondle 'em reco...

On June 14 at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theater, Wu-Tang Clan wordsmith GZA and Philly producer RJD2 will take the stage at an event to honor two area high schoolers who have been killed in the last two years.

The Dill "N" Eddie Show will benefit Dillon's List, founded in memory of Dillon Henry, who died in a car crash in 2007 at the age of 17, and the Resilient Youth Foundation, an organization created and run by high school students to help other young people succeed in school. One of their initiatives is the Eddie Lopez Scholarship, in memory of Eddie Lopez, a 15-year-old who was killed in 2006 by a gang shooting.

There's also a third act on the bill who apparently we aren't allowed to reveal, but, uh, it should be easy to figure it out if you look around the interweb.

GZA and RJD2 all have a number of other dates scheduled for the summer as well. [MORE...]

Video: GZA & Son: Daytripping With GZA & Son
Video: RJD2: Work It Out [from the Third Hand LP]

Hey everyone-Thanks for coming out to the latest round of shows. Had an incredible time and am eternally grateful for your love and support.After much, much demand, we've got TWO shows in Philly on Ma...