KCRW's Jason Bentley Hosts
SUNDAY, JULY 17, AT 7 PM
Generously sponsored by 21st Century Insurance; media support provided by KCRW 89.9 FM
For the third year, the Hollywood Bowl celebrates the fusion of world music with electronica. Groove to a full live show featuring the peerless British dance-club innovation of Grammy award-winning Basement Jaxx, the Nordic downbeat of Röyksopp, and the electronic samba and bossa nova fusion of Bossacucanova on Sunday, July 17 at 7 PM.
Famous for their monumental 2001 hit "Where's Your Head At?," Basement Jaxx give their first U.S. performance since winning the first-ever Grammy award for the new category of Best Electronic/Dance Album. Basement Jaxx has recently celebrated a platinum number one album in the U.K. with their Singles collection. Before they arrive in the States, they embark on a sold-out tour of the UK.
Röyksopp come to the Bowl to celebrate the release of their stellar new album The Understanding, hitting stores the Tuesday before their Bowl appearance (on Astralwerks).
Chances are, if you've been anywhere near a dance floor in the last few years you've heard and adored Basement Jaxx. Their meteoric debut Remedy was hailed as one of the most important records of the '90s, winning props from press, fans and club luminaries Danny Tenaglia, Armand van Helden and Daft Punk. Now, after three #1 club hits and massive critical acclaim, the duo of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe return with their sophomore release, Rooty. Named after
the underground parties the pair have been throwing in a down-at-heel Irish pub in (where else) Brixton London, Rooty is a masterpiece of state-of-the-art dance music eclecticism. The album mixes classic house with generous lashings of punk, funk, R&B, jazz, hip hop, 2-step and pop songcraft in a mad genre crash that works like a charm.
After the inordinate success of their debut album, the electronic shot in the arm that was Melody A.M., Röyksopp could have easily rested on their laurels, be content to shine their halos and just knocked out Melody A.M. part deux. The riches that unfolded in the wake of that album's release in October 2001 include 1,000,000 copies sold worldwide; tours with Basement Jaxx and Moby, not to mention headline tours of their own, culminating in two ecstatic nights at London's Somerset House and an appearance at Glastonbury; a Brit nomination for Best International Group; an MTV Europe Award for Best Video and remixes for A-list artists as disparate as The Streets, Coldplay and Felix Da Housecat. The Nordic duo of Torbjorn Brundtland and Svein Berge formed Röyksopp in 1998, and the group's 'difficult second album' is The Understanding. Once more defying easy categorization - it lurches from delicate widescreen cinerama to haunting house by way of boisterous electro bug outs - it is resolutely different to their first opus, but reassuringly the same in excellence. This performance marks Röyksopp's Bowl debut.
Classic samba and smooth bossa nova meet breakbeats and electronica, Rio's Bossacucanova is Brazil for the new millennium. The 6-piece band recently released Uma Batida Diferente (A Different Beat) on Six Degrees Records, and showcases materials from this new record in their Hollywood Bowl debut.
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; it is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2005 at 7 PM
HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood
KCRW'S World Festival
Planet Electronica:
RÖYKSOPP
BOSSACUCANOVA
BASEMENT JAXX
Generously sponsored by 21st Century Insurance; media sponsor is KCRW 89.9 FM
Tickets ($4- $92) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.
For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.
# # #
Adam Crane, 213.972.3034; Libby Huebner, 562.799.6055; photos, 213.972.3034