XL Recordings

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...

RJD2 doesn't exactly seem enthused about the prospect of heading out on a tour, but, as a musician, he recognizes he's duty-bound.

In a recent post to his MySpace blog, RJ announced his spring tour by saying that he'll be "peeling myself away from 'The Wire', 'Lost' and 'Prison Break' to go out with the band." Hey, it's awful cold out there these days, and the idea of vacating the couch to put the water on for mac'n'cheese-- let alone traverse the country-- is a fairly daunting one. Especially when there's the little matter of a prison break to attend to.

But as temps grow more temperate, RJD2 and the band will bring the heat to clubs across the nation. First up is a one-off at Sayreville, New Jersey's Starland Ballroom on March 1, with the proper tour kicking off April 1. Man, just think what these guys could do with a DVD player in the van! [MORE...]

Video: RJD2: Work It Out [from the Third Hand LP]

Check it, new tour dates on the page. Peeling myself away from The Wire, Lost and Prison Break to go out with the band...

greetings ladies and gents. hope you all had a good holiday season; youre probably now back to work. i'm back to work as well here in the studio recording, and have a few songs done that im really exc...

here's a link-help me win something-i haven't won shit in years! Vote now for RJD2 on Subterranean's best of 2007 countdown! See the results on 12/17 on MTV2 at 1AM EST....