In the midst of issuing a pair of new EP's (Feather on Wood and Oil on Glass) and also in the midst of a full-on tour, instrumental electronic band Lotus - have found themselves part of an interesting remix project. Lotus member Jesse Miller has remixed a track of Big Gigantic (an alias for Motet saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken), "Thinking Out Loud," off of the album 'Fire It Up,' while Lalli returns the favor, remixing the Lotus track, "Simian," off 'Oil on Glass.'
"Dom's compositions always feature strong melodies, so I wanted to keep that element mostly in tact for this remix while using a different tempo and beat than the original," explains Miller. "I spent a day bouncing tracks to an old 4-track tape machine to get some analog grit and manual EQing on the mix, hence the Cassette moniker in the title."
These two exclusive remixes can be streamed online or download at lotusvibes.bandcamp.com/album/lotus-big-gigantic-remixes. Downloads can be in MP3 format or other formats - including full quality .wav files - and fans will set their own price for the downloads. All proceeds will be donated to Musicopia (www.musicopia.net). Musicopia is a non-profit organization that brings educational music enrichment programs to schools and communities throughout the Delaware Valley.
In addition to this Lotus/Big Gigantic cross-pollination on these two aforementioned remix tracks, both bands will be touring together in November for several shows - see the list of dates below. What better way to get prepared for these upcoming shows than to check out these beat-heavy remixes.
For their epic fall tour, Lotus broke new ground in a way that no other rock band has done prior, it allowed their legion of fans to pay-what-they-want for tickets. The Pay-What-You-Want-Tour featuring Lotus was an eight night run of shows in western U.S. states, sponsored by Ticketweb, that let the fans decide how much their show ticket would cost. At the $15.00 Pay-What-You-Want level or higher, fans received free digital downloads of Feather on Wood and Oil on Glass. The Pay-What-You-Want-Tour was part of a larger fall tour that still finds Lotus crisscrossing the United States. In addition, Lotus recently announced a New Year's eve run in Pennsylvania that will culminate with an epic New Year's Eve Show with MSTRKRFT at Philadelphia's Electric Factory. Leading up to the big night, the band will stop at Mr. Smalls Theatre (Pittsburgh, PA) on 12/29 and The Note (West Chester, PA) on 12/30, both with support act Tigersapien.
November 5-6 Paradise Rock Club Boston MA w/The Egg
November 7 Revolution Hall Troy NY w/Tigerspapien.
November 10 Is Venue Charlottesville VA w/Big Gigantic
November 11 Cat's Cradle Carrboro NC w/Big Gigantic
November 12 Variety Playhouse Atlanta GA w/Big Gigantic
November 13 Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park Live Oak FL
November 14 Orange Peel Asheville NC w/Big Gigantic
November 27 Vic Theatre Chicago IL w/ The Hood Internet
November 28 Terminal 5 New York NY w/RJD2, Junior Boys (DJ Set)
December 29 Mr. Small's Theatre Millvale PA w/ Tigersapien.
December 30 The Note West Chester PA w/ Tigersapien.
December 31 Electric Factory Philadelphia PA w/MSTRKRFT
January 3-8 Jam Cruise