Tag: Bestival

Ghostpoet and Mike Skinner collaborate for RizLab

RizLab today announced its third project of 2011 with Ghostpoet and The D.O.T., the new band formed by Rob Harvey and Mike Skinner.

This is very exciting- as you may know, I might just be one of The Streets/ Mike Skinner’s biggest fans, and this sounds awesome.

Over the course of the last year, Ghostpoet has quietly and quickly become recognised as one of the most exciting new artists in the UK. His laconic flow, razor-sharp lyrical observations and a raw yet melodic approach to beat-making led to a Mercury nomination for his debut album (‘Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam’) on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings and an army of fans, including Mike Skinner.

Mike Skinner’s admiration for Ghostpoet’s work had brought them into the studio together to work on some demos. Following RizLab’s approach, Ghostpoet and The D.O.T. went back into the studio and created the track ‘Trouble’ – a synth-heavy, up-tempo beat from Mike that features Ghostpoet’s trademark lethargic rhymes and Rob Harvey’s distinctive vocals on the chorus.

With the track complete, the next step is the video. Ghostpoet has already created spectacular videos for ‘Liiines’ and ‘Survive It’, while Mike Skinner has long been known for his self-directed videos. Given both their history, RizLab is expecting something truly off the wall.

Click here to watch the first in a series of trailers from Ghostpoet and The D.O.T.; the first being an 80s-style science film shot in Mike’s studio. Learn about the track, the collaboration and the project, and stay tuned for further details over the next few weeks.

Rizlab announce Bestival line-up

RizLab have announced their full Bestival line-up which includes Frankie Knuckles, SBTRKT, Mylo, Erol Alkan, Greg Wilson and Black Devil Disco Club amongst many others across the three days.

Additionally, further details of Friendly Fires’ RizLab project have been revealed including full details of the collaborations between Friendly Fires and SBTRKT, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and LONE, plus the release of a video of the artists at work in the studio and in discussion about the project. Find out more here.

Friendly Fires headline Rizlab 2 at Bestival!

Friendly Fires will be the next artists to work with RizLab – curating a one-off exploration of “The Past, Present and Future of Dance Music” in the RizLab arena on the opening day of Bestival.

Moshi Moshi founder Stephen Bass is one of the creative curators for RizLab. He’s a renowned talent spotter and was one of the first people in the industry to spot Friendly Fires’ unique ability to anthemic songwriting with dance floor fillers.

Stephen commented: “I’ve known Friendly Fires for a while so, when we first started doing RizLab, they were the first band that I went to speak to. As soon as we started talking about what we could do they were immediately attracted to the idea of exploring their love of dance music in a live environment.”

Friendly Fires commented: “Our goal was to have a line-up that acted as a timeline to show where electronic music started and where it is now. The idea was to create a bill of legendary yet varied names from the genre to create something perfect for Bestival. As a band we’re always been keen to show off our genuine love and passion for dance music. It’s great to have this opportunity to select our own line-up as it’s not something we’d normally have the opportunity to do.”

The line-up will include:

PAST: Frankie Knuckles and A Guy Called Gerald

PRESENT: Friendly Fires sets and collaborations

FUTURE: SBTRKT, LONE and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs