​As you may have heard, M.I.A. has a new album out. She also performed a string of North American tour dates before jetting off to Europe for the summer festival circuit. Part of that schedule originally included a set at Hard Summer Festival in Los Angeles and New York.

Unfortunately, for M.I.A. the L.A. date got scrapped because of poor ticket sales, and the New York performance was supposedly plagued by sound problems. In the midst of it all, though, Hard organizers launched a remix contest around M.I.A.'s track "Steppin' Up," which was produced by Rusko and features a migraine-inducing backtrack.

Who came out on top? Local production duo Caligula, consisting of Obi Tawil (a.k.a. Damaged Goods) and Mike Larson (a.k.a. Grand Larceny). Together they turned "Steppin' Up" from an almost-dupstep track to a full-blown dubstep Roman orgy. Whaaa-waaa, whaaa-waaa sound? Check. Beats that take a quick nosedive? Check. Perfect tune for jerky head movements? Check.
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Me teleporting to shows everywhere

​So after weeks of very little excitement as far things that I would like to do, all of a sudden this weekend is chock full of some of my favorite things.

First off Lucas Leyva and a few names I associate with the Borscht Film Festival, as well as some of the people behind the admittedly dated Toners thing, have a really awesome book release party for Hialeah Haikus going down at Books and Books in Coral Gables Friday afternoon at 7:45 p.m. My only beef with this is the start time.  If these guys are so 305, why do they start their business at such an early hour?  Other than that, it should be awesome as long as the rafter jokes are kept to a minimum.  This is FREEEEE!!

Next, I would go to a house party at 8525 SW 126 Terrace where I hear Bearings from PA are playing as well as Sloane Peterson and Fireside Social.  House shows rule and Goo is closed.  Look for more of this all the time now, 'nuff said.

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 Forget about the Aqua Girl thing and that Just Add Water party. Don't think about the Standard and that rad view of the bay they have.This is the real Pool Party.  The last time Pool Party played was at Sweat Records' COLTOBERFEST 305, last October.

No one has seen or heard hide nor hair of them since. We were finally able to get hold of Guirdo who repeated some oft repeated rumours about the enigmatic geniuses.  Some say Hand Gloveless moved to Central Florida to work in a quarry, excavating cubic zirconia.  We know for a fact that the Lifeguard is usually always on duty performing CPR on willing subjects. Dick Dumb moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland in order to be in "the Holy Land," and Creep Guirdo is a world-renowned Deep House DJ in Munich and Rotterdam. This is a once in a lifetime chance to see this rather excellent band who returns to PS 14 for the first time on Friday July 31.

Pool Party happens with the Jacuzzi Boys on Friday, July 31 at PS 14.  Do your job for god's sake.
 

All Access Music Conference

Attention all unsigned hip-hop artists, producers, and songwriters: your big break is finally here. Maybe.More >>

To celebrate the upcoming release of their 12" three-way single, Miami Bass Warriors have released their newest track "Bro, That Chick's a Basser." If you saw their performance at this year's Calle Ocho, you might have already heard it, but this is the actual studio cut, free from the background noise of screaming chongas.

If you can get enough of the cut, make sure to pre-order the 12" directly from the Miami Bass Warriors, which will also feature two additional tracks plus the instrumentals and vocals for your remixing pleasure. The release is limited to 500 copies and costs $12 (that's including shipping).

After the jump, check out the track you'll be doing your booty ups-and-downs to for the rest of the year.
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As long as we're talkin about Charlie Pickett getting his due, here's one of the reasons why, this video for the song "Overtown" written by Dave Froshneider and performed by "Charlie Pickett and The Eggs" is some real pioneer shit. Now, I'll admit it, I hadn't ever heard of this dude before a couple months ago. But it's real Miami shit, and these punks were fuckin with video since before MTV was runnin' down the crack of its corporate mother's ass and ending up as a brown stain on the mattress. Plus it's a catchy song about scoring dope in the ghetto. 

Well, there's nothin positive or cool about heroin, but it's a damn good song and a damn good video. Enjoy. Click here for Charlie Pickett's Myspace. Here's the description blurb from Karsting, who posted the video...

Video by Chuck Azar, Instant Replay, New Hope, PA for Overtown off Charlie's 1984 EP Cowboy Junkie Au-Go-Go. Shot shortly after the Overtown riots, the video features Charlie Pickett, Dave Froshnider, Johnny Salton and John Galway. For more info, go to www.trashfever.com.

Ah, Uffie, the Ed Banger artist who claims she is from Miami originally but whose story doesn't exactly add up. What we know is true is that Uffie at one point attended Nova High School in Davie, but she has admitted to moving around a lot as a child, so her time spent in South Florida might be negligible.

Still, she name drops her "hometown" in several songs and was even drawn on the cover of her First Love/Brand New Car release wearing a Miami Dolphins pin. We'd like to ask her about the holes in her Miami story but last time she was in the Magic City was to perform during Winter Music Conference in 2006, avoiding the city ever since.

Not that it matters where she comes from; she already has proven she can drop awkward rhymes with a bratty attitude over electro beats courtesy of fellow Ed Banger artists Mr. Oizo and Feadz. So we are sure she was glad to return the favor to Mr. Oizo on the track "Steroids" off his upcoming November release Lambs Anger. The French DJ/producer isn't exactly known for his dancefloor friendly tracks, in fact, his work tends to be so avant-garde that plenty of people find it hard to swallow. So is "Steroids" a signature Uffie track? No. Is it good? Depends what your idea of good is.

Mr. Oizo featuring Uffie "Steroids"

-- Jose D. Duran