No, not REALLY. Jack is too awesome to be dead.

Need proof? Look no further than "I'm Dead Now," the bitchin' new track that recently appeared like an apparition onto his soundcloud page. Jack Topht raps hard with his signature nasal voice over a sick beat made by his cousin Chris. The song is 'in the style of Ghostface Killah,' and Jack kills it faster than a speeding bullet. "I'm Dead Now" is chock full of off the wall randomness and sexual references to make you moist. The infamous air horn kindly provides the outro. Turn your speakers up and prepare to get excited.

The latest in The Good Neighborhood’s bimonthly Tributaries series supporting Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper offers an unusual twist – the second annual Neil Young tribute concert at Nietzsche’s (248 Allen St, doors @9/show@10, $8) will feature not only five local acts performing all Young songs all night with no repeats, but the return to Buffalo and The Good Hood of Neil’s sister, Astrid, who has performed on five of her brother’s albums and will sing with multiple local acts as well as perform a set of her own takes on Neil’s tunes.
In bringing back one of the biggest nights at Nietzsche’s in 2011, the second annual Young tribute will again take up two stages – beginning on the back stage and alternating with front room performances are the male/female vocals of Americana quintet Flatbed; an acoustic set from Tom Maynor & Friends; Astrid Young’s own acoustic set and her addition to the folk-rockin’ heavenly harmonies of Ten Cent Howl; groove-folk quartet the Bad Growlers; An Astrid-infused rust-rockin’ finale from a beefed-up version of Bearhunter and a last minute addition featuring Folkfaces.
Who: Bad Growlers, Bearhunter, Flatbed, Folk Faces, Ten Cent Howl, Tom Maynor, and special guest Astrid Young
What: 2nd annual Neil Young tribute, part of Tributaries series supporting Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
When: Friday, December 7th, doors@9/showtime 10pm
Where: Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, Buffalo ($8 cover)
Why: Supporting Riverkeeper’s work to promote and protect our waterways
How: Portion of door proceeds and special raffle donated to Riverkeeper

A very special treat will be taking place this evening at Broadway Joe's. Igloo music presents: Technocracy. Headlining this dark beat event will be none other than Buffalo's own, Mike Parker.

Parker both an educator in the visual arts, in which he lectures fine art at the University at Buffalo, makes delicious beats for your listening pleasure. He has years of fine tuning his craft and countless EP's (18 to be exact), including an album and a compilation disc with electronic avant-pop artist, Matthew Dear. Releasing his efforts on both his own label, Geophone, and popular German label, Prologue, Mike Parker has become an artistic specimen. Parker, has played gigs all over the world including a recent mini tour hitting the likes of Berlin, Budapest and London.

German DJ, musician and producer ATB comes to Buffalo for a very special "Trancegiving Night" extravaganza. ATB, who has been producing trance music since the 80's, has climbed up the DJ ladder right to the very top. He has ranked as high as #11 on DJ Magazine top 100 in 2010 and continues to pump out new music.

Tonight's show takes place at one of Buffalo's premier nightclubs, Rendezvous, underneath the beautiful Statler Building. Things will be kicking off around 10pm with help from local act DJ Angelo Petrucii and national act Rudee warming up the stage for ATB. Tickets are $20 presale and will be a bit more at the door. Enjoy some good food, drinks, family and friends and then head on over to Rendezvous for a delightful dessert.

Electronic music innovators and world-leading DJs RICHIE HAWTIN and LOCO DICE are launching a music and technology tour of Canadian and U.S. colleges, taking the history and the future of the platform to the very people who could well be the next generation of producers, DJs, technology
innovators or simply advocates of the sound that is sweeping the continent after 20 years of trying.

The tour, entitled CNTRL: BEYOND EDM - ELECTRONIC & TECHNO(LOGY) BASED MUSIC, will be a groundbreaking North American college tour combining educational daytime lectures on music technology presented by DUPSPOT in some of the leading universities and colleges, followed by an evening of electronic music with RICHIE HAWTIN, LOCO DICE, EAN GOLDEN from DJ TechTools and their touring guest DJ's.

Continuing on the incredible lineup of their EDM Dj series(Cosmic Gate, Oakenfold, Halliwell and Carl Cox), Rendezvous the Niteclub, welcomes Dutch EDM producer Ferry Corsten back to Buffalo. Corsten is a twenty plus year veteran to the dance music scene and can often be found at the top of the world's most premier bills. As a pioneer in creating dance music, Ferry Corsten has helped shaped the EDM scene we now see today. Corsten hosts his own weekly radio show entitled "Corsten's Countdown" and was ranked #7 on DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 DJ Poll. Corsten also just released his fourth studio effort, W.K.N.D., in February of this year. Tonight's gig begins at 10pm with special guests Jesse Aaron and DJ 3 getting things rolling. Tickets are $25 pre-sale which ends in just under a couple hours at 5pm with tickets costing a bit more at the door.

Can you believe it has been two whole years since Staples turned in to what might be the most happening place(do people still say happening?) on Allen? 253 Allen has served as my favorite place for fun and questionable debauchery for the last two years, from Queen City Cartel and Frosty Tone shows, countless acts rolling in and even the best cover from start to finish of Weezer's Blue Album that Buffalo has ever witnessed. So, to celebrate their birthday, Duke's has got a present for you. Join Duke's this evening for a complimentary grand buffet and help welcome the new residency of the Night Owls. The Night Owls are Duke's new resident DJ crew consisting of BearSkinRug, Dante Velour, Drop D, Medison, Owski, Sunglasses Mike.  Come on down and celebrate, eat for free and drink to your hearts desire.  Things will be kicking off around 7pm. Be there!

This last week, the electronic music scene learned they would be saying goodbye to two very heavy hitters in the scene. First off drum and bass legends Pendulum have decided to call it quits but thankfully members Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen will turn 100% of their focus to their side project, Knife Party, which should cause fans to rejoice. Secondly, the Swedish House Mafia, informed fans via their website that the upcoming tour will be their last as a group.  Sad news for fans of the genre but we must move forward. So, in honor of the Swedish House Mafia's departure, this weeks track is from Mafia member Sebastian Ingrosso and friend Alesso remixed by NYC/Miami producer Bailey Smalls. Another kid bursting on to the scene with an amazing remix and gives this track his own styling of trap.

Continuing with our Camp Bisco Eleven artist spotlights, today we focus on The Manhattan Project.

The Manhattan Project is listed as a live band that plays "intelligent dance music" using analogue/Digital, Organic/Electronic and armed with an arsenal of keyboards, synths, electronic and acoustic percussion. The bands influences stem from dance hall, house, dub, drum n bass, techno and lounge to bring a whole new experience to the stage with incredible live visuals as well.

The Manhattan Project has opened for the likes of Lotus, Conspirator, Future Rock, BioDiesel, Ozric Tentacles, Ludachrist, Communist Party and more. Their Debut EP "Atomic Bomb Party Vol. 1" was released in late November 2009 as a free download and Vol. 2 was released in April of last year, also as a free download. The Manhattan Project is scheduled to perform Saturday at this years Camp Bisco, full schedule and times should be coming shortly.

Indie rock band Tokyo Police Club makes another triumphant return to Buffalo this evening. After introducing themselves to the scene in 2005, these Canadian rockers quickly rose to fame and have never left Buffalo shy of a tour date. Since their first EP in 2005, the band has not slowed down and with countless festivals (Bonnaroo,Coachella,Lollapalooza,Glastonbury) under their belts as well as two full length albums.  It is safe to say TPC has what it takes to make it big.

Tonight, the boys have a gig at Lewiston's Artpark apart of the Coors Light Wednesday concert series.  This is a free show which means it is at the outdoor stage and not in the amphitheater.  Buffalo's own The Tins will be getting things rolling.  Showtime is at 6:30 and again is free, so no ticket is required. Fans, get there early and show both of these bands the love that Buffalo can really deliver.

It is amazing the lengths that some bands go to make a music video, especially when they make it interactive for fans. Many bands(Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, C-mon & Kypski) have had their fans submit pictures, smiles, body parts etc. to help build an amazing music video. Canadian rockers Young Empires, have brought their own take on interactive music videos in their new short film for the track "White Doves" off their EP Wake All My Youth. Simply by connecting with Facebook, users can then choose a friend to interact with and are then treated to a short film with both your pictures neatly inserted in to the movie. Click this link and you will be on your way! The non-interactive video can be seen below.

In the overly crowded sea of male DJ's that exist in the EDM scene, it is always nice to see a female DJ emerge and make some waves. Star Eyes, known as the queen of Brooklyn bass and a 15-year veteran of the decks, was one of first female drum & bass DJs in the US, and a member of the B.A.S.S. Crew, Eklektic, and genre-bending DJ duo Syrup Girls (once called “New York’s best-kept secret” by New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones).

Since 2006, Star Eyes has been a founding member of the world famous Trouble & Bass crew. In June, Trouble & Bass released her first EP, Disappear, featuring original vocals, songwriting, and a mix of goth and rave influences combined in to a style she calls “haunted house.” Star Eyes has opened for such acts as Diplo, Moby, The XX, The Streets, and Girl Talk. She is currently writing songs for her next EP, working on remixes, and traveling the world with her hard-hitting DJ sets.  Star Eyes will be performing on Thursday at 6:30pm at Camp Bisco Eleven.

Continuing with our artist spotlights for the upcoming Camp Bisco Eleven music festival, todays artist is The Knocks. 

After meeting at The New School in New York City, Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson both found themselves in need of a place to live. Deciding that living together just made sense, the two began to make loud music and pissing off the neighbors. "Our apartment is this small, shitty Avenue C apartment with paper thin walls. We both had studio set-ups in our rooms," explains B-Roc. "It would be loud as hell, and the neighbors hated it. They'd knock on the walls and bang on the ceiling. We would go into each other's rooms and say 'I just got the knocks.'"

Since making their neighbors despise them, the duo have been on the up and up and were labeled as one of the "20 hottest producers in music" by NME. The Knocks have remixed a wide of range of acts like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, M83, Chiddy Bang, Foster The People, Passion Pit, Marina and the Diamonds and Britney Spears.  Their debut EP Magic is currently available and are at work on a full album.

The second spotlight for our beach party focuses on AUTOPUNCH. AUTOPUNCH is a Buffalo, N.Y. rock-and-roll band whose sound has been described by The Buffalo News as "a disarmingly inventive hybrid of soul, psychedelia, funk, alt-rock and good ol’ jamming."  Their music is heavy and it can kick you right in the teeth.  Many influences can be heard in their tunes, Umphrey's McGee drunk on Tom Waits comes to mind when Ive been asked for a comparison(thats an awesome thing.) Earlier this year, the band released its first full length album entitled, Songs.  AUTOPUNCH will be performing at our totally awesome beach party for only $5 while the sunshine and high fives are free!

With just over a month left until Camp Bisco Eleven, we here at buffaBLOG, will be providing artist spotlights right up to the festival. This year, CBXI, has a really phenomenal lineup, with a mix of electronic and indie, to quench all tastes in music. The entire lineup can be found here, but today we will focus on Tycho.


Scott Hansen, better known as Tycho, is an artist/produceer out of San Francisco, California. After debuting in 2002 with a self-released four track EP, The Science of Patterns, it was very clear what type of music Hansen had set out to produce. Dream pop and electronic muses reign supreme in Tycho's tracks and if you were to close you eyes, you'd be sure you were listening to a whole band.


For his third release, Dive, Hansen emerged as a much more diverse and complete artist. Labeled as Chillwave and compared to the likes of M83 and Neon Indian, it appears Tycho has finally found his niche. The album received very positive reviews and left listeners waiting for more.  There is no doubt in my mind Tycho will be very well received at Camp Bisco Eleven.

Not exactly a remix, but I just can't get enough of these kids out of Montreal. Adventure Club have been pumping out remix after remix the last couple months and each one is as good as the last. This tune is their new track, entitled "Wait", and includes vocal samples from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps."  "Wait" is filled with electric bass lines keeping to true Adventure Club fashion and will have you begging for more.

It has been a while for us here at buffaBLOG to mention Daft Punk and really Daft Punk hasn't given us much to talk about.  A couple tour rumors, a TRON soundtrack and a Phoenix guest appearance is all we really have had to go on.   This week, I found it fitting to bring some Daft Punk to the blog with one of my favorite Daft Punk videos.  This week, I have chosen the video for "Around The World" off the band's 1997 release Homework.  Here is to the hopes of a new album and we could only be so lucky, a tour.

According to Factory Nightlifes Facebook page, the Dutch Dynamo himself, Laidback Luke is coming to Buffalo on June 14th!  These are the only details right now but more to so make sure to check buffaBLOG and Factory Nightlife for updates.

A last minute post to say the least but always worth mentioning.  Tonight, Mike Doughty, brings his "Book of Drugs" tour to Buffalo.  Doughty, a recovering drug user and recovering Soul Coughing member, has been through more ups and downs than most people can even begin to imagine.  For this tour, Doughty, reads from his book that tells the tales of his life through drugs, Soul Coughing and a solo career and will play songs from his catalogue throughout.  Tonights gig takes place at Babeville's Asbury Hall and should begin around 7pm with tickets going for $23 at the door.  If you are near the Walden Galleria, he is playing a few songs at the Apple Store starting around 5pm.

Katy Perry, meet teenage brothers James and Will Saulsky. At just seventeen(Will) and nineteen(James), this NJ duo going by the name Synchronice, is already making a great splash in the EDM world and here comes their latest remix.  The boys have added quite the spin to Katy Perry's smash hit, "Part of Me" by adding delicious electro and excellent use of the vocals.  I show no shame in my love for Katy Perry and I respect all others that do as well.