LIGHTS + MUSIC 001: BAG RAIDERS

Uh oh y'all, there's a new club night in town. Introducing: Lights + Music, a new monthly rave brought to you by Popshop, The Knocks and The Wilkes Agency, coming at you live and in color every month from Tammany Hall. Popshop's been killing it this year, so we figured it was as good a time as any to launch a spinoff, so here's Lights + Music - your monthly destination for the biggest DJs and electronic acts the world has to offer. And who's up first? Motherfucking Bag Raiders, that's who. With their only NYC headline play of the summer (and support from DJ Equal and Luka Son of Wolf), they'll be headlining our Lights + Music launch party Thursday, July 28th before opening up for our homegirl Ellie Goulding the next night at Terminal 5.

What's Lights + Music all about, you ask? Late nights, loud music and bright lights. And pizza. That's right, we've got a pizza sponsor on board for this, with world champion pizzamakers 900 Degrees serving up free pizza from 11pm-12am or until supplies run out. So bring your dancing shoes and a healthy appetite, because this is gonna be one for the ages. It all kicks off Thursday, July 28th at 11pm, $14 advance tickets are now on sale HERE - with $16 tix at the door day of show - and if we were you we'd lock them down early as these will go fasssst. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Bag Raiders // STREAM: "Shooting Stars"

Bag Raiders // STREAM: "Way Back Home"

Bag Raiders // STREAM: "Sunlight" (ft. Dan Black)

NIGHT HAS FALLEN LIKE A STONE.

Way back in late 2008, Bag Raiders changed our lives with their amazing "Shooting Stars", which remains to this day one of the most magical - and in our opinion most underrated - singles of the past few years. Now at long last their debut album is visible on the horizon, preceded by what their press release calls the official sequel to "Shooting Stars", the absolutely immense "Way Back Home". Featuring WIM's Martin Soloman on the vocal, the track utilizes the same formula that made "Shooting Stars" so special, it's brooding gloom-pop gradually giving way to anthemic majesty on the chorus before ultimately climaxing in an epic breakdown of tribal percussion in the song's final act. It's one of the best tracks we've heard in a long minute and has us beyond excited to experience the fruits of the Aussie duo's labor when their self-titled debut album drops October 1st on Modular.

MP3: "Way Back Home" - Bag Raiders

BLINDED BY THE SKY.

We first posted the amazing Bag Raiders triumph "Shooting Stars" last autumn, and twelve months on it remains one of our favorite tracks of the past few years. This week our new friends over at Handsome Clothing Co. turned us onto a blissed-out cover of the song from ethereal North Carolina dreamweaver Hidden Cat, and we must say, it's mighty brilliant. If we bought into the whole "chillwave" thing we'd probably label it as such, but instead we'll just give it our seal of approval and urge you to download it below.

MP3: "Shooting Stars" - Hidden Cat

FOLLOWING THE SOUND.

History was witnessed around the world yesterday and this morning brings the dawn of a bright new era in American history. Glued to the TV last night, few words can describe the feeling felt as the battleground states gradually fell under Democratic control, and the eruption of euphoria that engulfed New York City when the presidency was awarded to Obama will not soon be forgotten.

Gracelessly shifting the focus to music - this is not, and never will be a politics blog after all - Bag Raiders' "Shooting Stars" contains a similarly euphoric burst of emotion, its climactic moment unleashing a flood of uplifting energy above and beyond anything you've heard in music this year (and remember, we're the kids who brought you "Sleepyhead" not so long ago). Here the Bang Gang luminaries take the focus off the dancefloor for the first time and with the Australian duo gunning straight for the heartstrings the results are nothing short of brilliant. Featuring a perfect vocal courtesy of Rhys from Ted & Francis, the track is a lesson in delayed gratification, slowly building to the triumphant climax at 2:41 when the finest chorus of 2008 (seriously) finally bursts forth in all its technicolor glory and "Shooting Stars" establishes itself as one of the year's elite singles.

MP3: "Shooting Stars" - Bag Raiders