No doubt the game has changed lyric wise. An overwhelming percentage of artists focus on denigrating others over limitable expenditures on materialistic desires via the internet. “The Last Kiss” will make rappers put their webcams aside and work on their lyrical linguistics.

Lonely Hearts Dub Band follows Easy Star Allstars 2 earlier chart-topping dub albums: 2003’s Dub Side of the Moon (a dub reggae tribute to Pink Floyd’s psychadelic rock concept album Dark Side of the Moon) and 2006’s Radiodread (a dub version of Radiohead’s OK Computer, another concept album).

For those in North America (and perhaps unaware), Southport Weekender is Europe’s most unique and best loved indoor soulful music festival. In fact, the Southport Weekender is celebrating 21 glorious years of festival madness with two events every year! Attracting 5000+ party folks to the indoor Pontins Holiday Complex in Southport, it’s dubbed as the “UK’s friendliest party.”

Queens-born lyrical shapeshifter, Pharaohe Monch, has been composing so called “conscious” music since he teamed up with Prince Poetry to form Organized Konfusion in the early 90′s.

“I think the band is without a fucking doubt a million times the best it’s ever been. As long as people get off on coming to the concerts, I’ll forgive them for not buying the records.” Liam’s cheeky arrogance may seem disproportionate to the band’s success stateside, but to the 500 thousand people who immediately bought tickets for their concerts the day they went on sale, Oasis is still the dog’s bollocks.

“In the end, it’s about taking the listener on a ride,” says Jason. “That speechless, awestruck thrill ride that you go on when a piece of music seems to hone in on that point in your chest and just plays right into it—you know, when you feel connected to it. When it speaks to you. That’s when it’s most fun, for us and for the listener.”

Forming less then three years ago, The Fire and Reason features Brazil’s Bella Saona and Ecuador’s Steve Narvaez who joined forces to create some of the dirtiest rock, baille-funk-electro-pop dance music blasting out of New York City.

From start to finish Magnetic is a rollercoaster of liquefied intensity. If you were to put a lump of coal inside one of Xzibit’s pimped out cars and let all 74 bone crushing minutes of this album ride in the sound system, you would end up with a diamond as big as your head.

All the photos in this gallery are of The Yoshida Brothers at Highline Ballroom, NYC in late May 2008. No pictures or material may be reproduced without written consent from the owner, all pictures and video are copyrighted. Thank you.