Vice Records

If you're not buddies with Bloc Party by now, what're you waiting for? They just spent the last month winning hearts state by state. Tonight they're even trying to win your mom's heart on Letterman. Become a buddy and at around 5pm tomorrow all their special friends get some special news. Cryptic? Sure. We're making it a 007 year.

Not only are the Black Lips charming at 4am with the New York Times , but in the middle of the day that dubbed them the "Hardest Working Band at SXSW," they did an interview with iFilm and were all smiles and spitting beer. After they ran themselves ragged at SXSW, Black Lips hopped right on the road with Ponys. Check them out in dark clubs as they criss cross across the country or, if you live in Nashville, swing by Grimey's on April 4 at 1:30pm for Lunch with the Lips. Rock. With Pizza. Who could ask for more?

You know, VICE Records isn't all sex, drugs & rock & roll. Sometimes we're sex, drugs & dancing. While we in NY gear up for the Ed Banger tour to invade next week, bikini clad blondes and the glowstick weavers who love them will be doing it up in Miami for the Winter Music Conference. We've got Chromeo, Justice and DJ Mehdi funking up Florida this weekend. All your chances for checking out our dance inducers are here.

After teaching Miami how it's done in Paris, the Ed Banger tour goes from white beaches to white sidewalks as Justice, SebastiAn, Busy P and DJ Mehdi bring the tour, presented by Puma & The Fader, up north. Find a date near you and prepare yourself for Parisan Salvation.

If you haven't met the Ed Banger family, pick up Ed Rec Vol 1 and Ed Rec Vol 2 (for your computer now or for your stereo on April 10), kiss both cheeks and prepare to begin a sweaty love affair.

If hearing Ed Rec Vol 2 through your shitty computer speakers just isn't taking you "there" and you are stationed in NYC, we are throwing a listening/inevitable insane dance party for the new record with Tripnotica on Friday, March 30. All the info you could ever need about that ass shaker/arm flailer is here.

As excited as we were to see 120 Days in NYC, we were all sorts of proud when the Norwegians plowed through Austin. Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times went so far to say:

120 Days released its self-titled debut album on Vice Records last October, and it's a strong disc, but the group's sound is best appreciated live, where the driving drum-machine rhythms blend with live percussion and great, sweeping waves of heavily echoed keyboards and vocals to create an all-enveloping swirl. Their performance was as strong a set as I've seen at SXSW, and one of those is all you need to make your night.

While the boys were in Austin they played some songs and shot some shit with WOXY. "Keep on Smiling," "Sleepwalking" and that really long song along with some friendly chit chat can be found here.

We've heard a whole slew of people put their spin on "Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)" but were we surprised when our friends Secret Machines came back with less of a remix and more of a reconstruction of the tune. You can only pick up the brilliant new version on 7" at indie record stores in the towns the 120 Days tour is snaking through. If the high-impact musical circus of a 120 Days show is coming to your town, check in with one of the following record stores and get your hands on a copy of the tune when you throw down cash for 120 Days.

St. Louis - Vintage Vinyl
Chicago - Reckless Records
Denver - Twist and Shout
Salt Lake City - Graywhale
Portland, OR - Jackpot, Music Millennium
Seattle - Easy Street, Sonic Boom
Eugene - CD World
San Francisco - Aquarius, Mod Land
Los Angeles - Fingerprints, Sea Level
San Diego - M Theory
Austin - Waterloo
Nashville - Grimey's
Atlanta - Criminal

The photo is from Rolling Stone's SXSW wrap-up but that's not where the Black Lips SXSW accolades end. The New York Times have dubbed the Black Lips the "Hardest Working Band at SXSW." The Times followed the Black Lips through their Friday at SXSW, staying with the boys every step of the way from 1pm to 4:30am. Corporate party? Check. VICE Saves Texas stage? Check. Crowded House party? Of course. Meet Travis, their new tour manager, Ol' Pinkie, their old tour van, and learn all the ins and outs of ebay.

The Hardest Working Band at SXSW

We've been pumping A Weekend In the City in our Brooklyn HQ for so long, the songs from Bloc Party's new record have been a sound track to our winter. Few things could make us more giddy than the fact that we get to see them while rocking t-shirts and sunglasses next week at SXSW. Next Thursday, March 15 Urge presents Bloc Party's one and only SXSW show at Stubbs BBQ. We'll be the ones up front, faces covered in BBQ sauce and Schlitz in hand. If you won't be down in Texas, you'll still get a chance to hear what Bloc Party sound like playing somewhere warm in March when URGE releases a live fromSXSW digital EP. After we all stumble back home from Texas, we'll pick some of the choicest cuts from the show and have them available on URGE on April 3. Keep checking back, we'll give you all the details.

The first time we heard the Charlotte Gainsbourg record 5:55 our hearts went pitterpat, our eyes got hazy and we felt all warm and tingly. And on April 24, we get to share that feeling with you. With music by Air and lyrics from Jarvis Cocker, the lushness and general prettiness of the record make us feel...well, all grown up. Check out the video for "The Songs That We Sing" and le sigh with us.

Finally. They're back. Our favorite quartet of Norweigans landed yesterday and kick out some dates in Canada before heading to our hometurf next week. Check out all the tour dates and if they're within a 2 hour radius of where you live, you'd best be there. We were just reminded of how great 120 Days' songs are and how much of a blissed-out sweaty trance they are capable of creating by watching their noir video for "C-Musik." By the time Ådne kicks into the flailey dance he does so well, we couldn't wait to see them again.

120 Days are up with "C-Musik" in the running to become the ultimate Freshman over at mtvU. If you're down to help the Norweigan invasion, vote early and vote often.