Media Contact: Jon Campbell 416-973-4655 [email protected] media.harbourfrontcentre.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SoundClash Festival Lineup and SoundClash Music Award Shortlist Revealed! Music festival and award celebrates blurred and expanded boundaries July 13-15 2012 TORONTO, ON (June 13, 2012) – In 2011, Harbourfront Centre launched the SoundClash Music Award , a search for the cutting-edge musical talent bubbling just under Toronto’s surface. This year, from July 13-15 , the SoundClash Festival extends those principles into a weekend of genre-defying performances from a variety of exciting performers local and international. Like its namesake – the competitions between reggae-DJ crews in 1950s Kingston, Jamaica – The SoundClash Music Award recognizes artists who pit sounds, genres and cultures against each other, and perform diverse, contemporary and boundary-busting music. The 2012 SoundClash Music Award Short List has been decided: OPOPO, Rich Kidd, Chloe Charles, Progress and the Rebel Alliance, LAL and Gyles will perform at the festival and be judged by both our panel of musical tastemakers as well as audience members for cash and prizes worth $10,000. Meanwhile, an international assortment of artists who are pushing the envelopes of their respective fields will also appear. Highlights of the SoundClash Festival include: • Performances from artists including Benin funk ensemble Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou , Detroit rapper Elzhi, and short-listed SoundClash Music Award artists: OPOPO, Rich Kidd, Chloe Charles, Progress and the Rebel Alliance, LAL and Gyles ; • International dance crews and DJs face off for Braggin’ Rights ; • …And more! Listings info is below. For additional information and complete event listings, the public may visit harbourfrontcentre.com/summer/soundclash or call the Information Hotline at 416-973- 4000 . Harbourfront Centre is located at 235 Queens Quay West in the heart of downtown Toronto’s waterfront. ABOUT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE SUMMER FESTIVALS Harbourfront Centre is an innovative, non-profit cultural organization which provides internationally renowned programming in the arts, culture, education and recreation, in the heart of Toronto's downtown waterfront. Our summer festival season runs from Victoria Day weekend through Thanksgiving weekend, and features over 20 festivals and events that offer The World in One Place . For more information visit harbourfrontcentre.com/summer ABOUT THE SOUNDCLASH MUSIC AWARD The SoundClash Music Award is a Harbourfront Centre initiative designed to showcase Toronto’s talented, creative and forward-thinking independent musicians from across the musical spectrum. Acts performing a wide range of music have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some of Toronto’s top musicians and play on Harbourfront Centre’s WestJet Stage and compete for cash prizes totaling $10,000. harbourfrontcentre.com/soundclash/award.cfm -30- Media Contact: Jon Campbell | [email protected] | 416 973 4655 Media Contact: Jon Campbell 416-973-4655 [email protected] media.harbourfrontcentre.com For listings info, hi-res images and more media resources, visit our summer media page : harbourfrontcentre.com/summer/media To unsubscribe from Harbourfront Centre's media database, please email: [email protected] SOUNDCLASH FESTIVAL LISTINGS MUSIC Maylee Todd (Fri, July 13 at 8 p.m. ) Maylee Todd, a 2012 Redbull Soundstage supported artist is a dynamic and multi-faceted Toronto-based artist whose music includes elements of boogie, bossa, space funk, psychedelia and soul. Her 2010 debut record, Choose Your Own Adventure , received glowing reviews from the likes of NOW magazine and the Globe and Mail at home and J-Wave Tokyo, BBC Radio 1 London, and Radio Nova internationally. A Harbourfront Centre veteran performer, she has taken to high-profile stages around the world including Transmusicales (Rennes, France) MIDEM (Cannes, France), c/o pop (Cologne, Germany), Pop Montreal and more, sharing the stage with the likes of Janelle Monae, Lee Fields, Aloe Blacc, Esthero, Little Dragon, and The Budos Band. Her second full-length album is due out in the summer of 2012. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou ( Fri, July 13 at 9:30 p.m. ) The legendary Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou have, since 1968, been producing a powerful, home-made voodoo funk that, from their headquarters in tiny Benin, quickly conquered west Africa. Featuring psychedelic guitar riffs, unreal organ harmonies, funk and soul, the music mixes vibrant traditional rhythms, original Voodoo beats, a fascination for Latin grooves and the African-American funk left behind in the wake of James Brown’s African tours. La Maquina de la Salsa (with Tribute to Billy Bryans) (Sat, July 14 at 3:30 p.m. ) Marta Elena, a songstress from Havana, leads this group that features a 12-piece orchestra and backing vocalists playing primarily hardcore salsa and directed by pianist Larry Mesa Benitez. For this performance, the group and Harbourfront Centre will also honour the late Billy Bryans, a juror on the inaugural SoundClash Music Award in 2011, DJ and promoter whose work with both Harbourfront Centre and the local Cuban music scene will be deeply missed. Tasha Rozez (Sat, July 14 at 7:30 p.m.) DJ Tasha Rozez, better known as Gunz'n'Rozez, is no stranger to blazing trails. Armed with custom songs known as dubplates from world renowned artists, a warrior’s mentality and feminine mystique, Gunz N Rozez performances are as diverse as Tasha’s talents. A self- described "Conscious Rude Girl," she is a 2012 DJ Stylus Award winner and was crowned the first Female World Clash Champion in 2002 – and has yet to be dethroned. Freedom Writers with special guest JD Era (Sat, July 14 at 8 p.m. ) The Freedom Writers movement is a collective of Toronto-based artists – producer Big Sproxx and emcees Theology 3, Tona, Adam Bomb, Frankie Payne and Progress – united to create positive socially- and politically-conscious music. Hard-hitting production and concise, sharply worded lyrics that cut to the chase are the key elements that define this talented collective. With a long track record of successful releases under their belts each artist brings unique qualities, attributes and viewpoints to the table that collectively form the perfect Media Contact: Jon Campbell 416-973-4655 [email protected] media.harbourfrontcentre.com blend. JD Era is the first artists signed by hip hop legend Rawkwon’s (Wu Tang Clan) Ice H20 Canada imprint. Elzhi (Sat, July 14 at 9:30 p.m. ) As a member of Slum Village, a pioneering hip hop group from Detroit that worked with J Dilla to form Detroit’s underground hip hop scene, Elzhi’s (pronounced “el-zai”) unique sound has inspired countless groups outside the traditional hip hop genre. Known for his complicated rhyme schemes, he made his international debut on “Come and Get It,” a standout track from J Dilla’s album, Welcome 2 Detroit . His highly-anticipated 2011 mixtape, Elmatic , revisited Nas’ classic album Illmatic and won glowing reviews from across the spectrum. SoundClash Music Award Short List Harbourfront Centre’s annual SoundClash Music Award recognizes artists who are pushing the envelope on contemporary music and culture, particularly in the live context, and are contributing to Toronto’s already-hefty reputation as a hotbed of musical creation. More information is available online: harbourfrontcentre.com/soundclash . The shortlisted artists are: OPOPO Friday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. An affinity for pulsing guitar synths with hands-in-the-air intensity and Sabbath inspired riffs, OPOPO expels demonic moods through mind-expanding rock. Their quest to create the perfect live electronic setup that would still allow them to shred without restraint has resulted in appearances at Toronto’s NXNE, Virgin Fest, CMW, Pride, Rogers Picnic and at Denmark’s SPOT Festival. Their previous album, Light Work , reached #1 on !Earshot’s Electronic charts, and OPOPO was voted into the top 10 of AUX TV’s electronic bands of 2012. LAL Friday, July 13 at 9 p.m. LAL is a collaboration between poet, lyricist, activist, singer and Bengali-rooted tough- guy Rosina Kazi and her life partner, producer, sound designer, philosopher and Barbadian king of chill, Nicholas Murray. The duo is joined by the Ugandan-born bassist Ian De Souza to create an electronic music that they liken to a magical mushroom: the visible flowering part of a much larger organism, connected with very fine but infinitely resilient roots. Gyles Saturday, July 14 at 2 p.m. A former backing singer for Juno-winner Jully Black and Juno nominee Camille Doublas and frontwoman for neosoul band Jamesking, Gyles is a powerhouse vocalist and thoughtful lyricist whose music is a perfect mix of old-school danceability, playful imagery and silky strong singing. Her songwriting skills have been recognized by the Radio Star National Songwriting Competition, which awarded her second place in the 2008 and 2010 installments, and her live prowess has seen her headline the Montreal Funk Festival and open for Ivana Santilli during Canadian Music Week. Chloe Charles Saturday, July 14 at 3 p.m. An artist with the poise and beauty of a 1950s cocktail-sipping movie star, the depth and intellectual prowess of a beat poet and the sound of a modern-day folk-infused soul songstress. Comparisons range from Amy Winehouse, Feist and Cat Power to Etta James, Nina Media Contact: Jon Campbell 416-973-4655 [email protected] media.harbourfrontcentre.com Simone and others, but her influences range much further: Stan Getz, Joni Mitchell, Puccini and Lauryn Hill, to name a few. Charles’ performances feature violins, violas and cellos all underscored by the depth and warmth of her classical guitar and a strong rhythmic foundation that allows her voice to float above. Charles also performs with Toronto dubstep band Ninja Funk Orchestra, the Toronto-Montreal outfit Sacred Balance and with the Austin-NYC-Toronto collective The Sweetness. Progress and the Rebel Alliance Saturday, July 14 at 4:30 p.m.