With new festival lineups flooding your news feed on what seems like a daily basis, it’s become increasingly difficult to figure out which ones to exclude from your calendar. Lightning in a Bottle is not one of those. For California residents, it should be a staple on your festival circuit alongside Coachella and Outside Lands. Read on for reasons why you should spend your hard earned money on this mind-expanding weekend of appreciating art and love in all of its forms.

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to check out the experience that is Sound Tribe Sector 9. I’d heard tales of its glory, but had never made too much of an effort to go out of my way to see what the fuss was about. My brief time spent with their soundcloud didn’t have that kind of impact. I suspected before, but now can confirm that laptop speakers or a song of theirs coming up on shuffle is a disservice. Hit the jump for more + a couple videos. (more…)

One thing I’ll miss about college is the consistent opportunities to experience great events put on by student groups for little to nothing out of the pocket. UC Irvine’s Hip Hop Congress is bringing Urban Arts Festival back for its fourth run this year and again have packed the bill with talent.

LA’s own Pac Div will be headlining the night. Last I saw them was in ’08 opening for The Cool Kids and their performance was live as fuck to say the least. Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung never waste a verse and are so good at combining humor and honest introspection. One of the best and most likeable rap groups out there (check out the series they did on Vimeo).

Another LA local, Blu, will be the main opener for the night. At this point the man can be considered underground royalty and his Below the Heavens almost a classic.

UCI alum Azad Right and Nyne-D will start the night off. Last year’s show brought out Dom Kennedy and Fashawn in the most intimate environment you’ll get to see them. Check a (kinda shitty) video of Dom from last year below. Tickets are $5 presale (on-campus), $7 online and $10 at the door.

Pac Div – Useless (ft. Asher Roth)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Pac%20Div%20-%20Useless%20%28ft.%20Asher%20Roth%29.mp3]

Pac Div – Take Me High
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Pac%20Div/Pac%20Div%20-%20Take%20Me%20High.mp3]

Blu & Exile – So(ul) Amazin’ (Steel Blazin’)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/03%20So%28ul%29%20Amazin%27%20%28Steel%20Blazin%27%29.mp3]

Blu & Exile – Blu Collar Workers
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/06%20Blu%20Colla%20Workers.mp3]

CoachellAltDelight brings attention to special artists that will be featured in Indio come April.
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All good stuff.
Click here for more from this series.
8 (15) Days

Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover aka Troy from Community is set to hit the stage Saturday at Coachella. His skill as a writer is the back bone of his music, producing some witty metaphors and stupid fun raps. I wonder if anyone who watches Community will see him on stage and trip. I can only stand so much of him at a time but that amount of time is about the length of a performance; plus he’s a natural entertainer, so his live performance will probably be solid. I wouldn’t be mad if he incorporates some of his standup material.

Childish Gambino – Backpackers
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Childish%20Gambino%20-%20%20Backpackers.mp3|titles=Childish Gambino – Backpackers]

Childish Gambino – Heartbeat
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Childish%20Gambino%20-%20%20Heartbeat.mp3]

Childish Gambino – Freaks and Geeks
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Childish%20Gambino%20-%20Freaks%20and%20Geeks.mp3]

Childish Gambino – Lights Turned On
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/Jangbar/Childish%20Gambino%20-%20Lights%20Turned%20On.mp3]

Rusko, the man who originally spiked the dubstep fruit punch bowl with fun, is back again with his second full length album, Songs. His first album, O.M.G! was a piece of work start to finish, introducing us to classics like “Woo Boost” and “Hold On,” during a period in which dubstep was being transformed from a purely headbanging affair to something that involved the whole body. That album was honestly tough to follow up. But in a sea of insanity with every other person throwing any combination of distorted w0bs and thunder together, I trusted cap’n Rusko to remind us what is great about bass music. And he pulled through again.

He sets it off with an intro that explains a little theory on how and why music should evolve. “Original come from the heart – whatever’s in your heart. You say you want to create a different sound, you create that different sound. Who is anyone to say there’s any boundaries? … Takin’ it from that school, and building it up to a different dimension.” True words. That jumps straight into the anthem that’s already been lighting up dance floors and faces, “Somebody to Love.” That track is 24k gold. “Skanker” is the first of 5 reggae influenced songs (“Love No More,” “Be Free,” “Roll Da Beats” and “Mek More Green”) that bring the sound back to its dub roots and simultaneously brings the album to the next level IMO. It just works too perfectly together. There’s a couple headbangers (“Opium,” “M357”), and a couple high energy tracks (“Pressure,” “Whistle Crew”) to round it out. If you had the attention span, I would go into detail on every track. But it’s time to just listen. Thrown together, it’s a complete, awesome album. This is meant to be enjoyed by some body of water, sippin’ on a beer with a slice of citrus and shmokin’ on a ground up gram of the finest.

Purchase

Catch him in SD @ 4th & B on 5/31 (Tickets), and LA @ The Palladium 6/1 (Tickets).

+jangbar

18 year old Belgian whiz kid Eptic released his Like a Boss EP on Monday. 4 tracks of upbeat, jump around and lose your head brand of dubstep that Rusko and others brought to the scene. His production is a nice mix of gritty sounds with plenty of rhythm. I’m hoping/expecting “Oh Snap” to be worked into a lot of sets this summer. If you’re into 12th Planet, Doctor P, Flux, etc. you’ll probably enjoy this. He also threw together a pretty fuckin awesome mix for Never Say Die Records that you should definitely grab. Who would you get in a fight, Eptic’s little robot or Feed Me?

Tracklist

1. Like a Boss
2. Fast Forward
3. Oh Snap
4. Death Ray

BUY

Eptic – Never Say Die Volume 20 (MIX)

Eptic: Facebook | Soundcloud | Twitter

I’ve found myself drawn to the calmer spectrum of dubstep lately, enjoying the beats side more than the liquidizing of jaw bones and other facial features. Maybe I’m maturing or something. Maybe the recent affinity for jameson on the rocks is artificially inflating the perception of my maturity. In any case, I haven’t been able to stop listening to Draper the past few weeks. His 4 track self-titled EP is filled with delightful synths, ambient sounds, and glitchy samples with solid drum work. He pretty accurately describes it as “liquidstep” and also posts up a lot of other good artists on his facebook on the reg. Pretty rad.

Draper: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud