Audio By Carbonatix
 |
From the moment local hip hop crew ¡Mayday! got their first DSL hookup, the self-described “sound bombers” have proven themselves to cunning manipulators of modern internet technology. Like a half-feral band of dystopian techno-guerillas, they’ve managed to sidestep the bombed-out remains of the post-Napster music industry — YouTubing, MySpacing, and Twittering their way into the fame game.
Way back in 2006, when the interweb was still in its adolescence, ¡Mayday! launched their first online mega-hit with the video for their single “Groundhog Day,” featuring Cee-Lo of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley. The four-minute clip became an early YouTube blockbuster, generating two million views in one day. But this wasn’t just some random occurrence in the deep outer-regions of the internet.
As reported
by the New York Times, the overnight success of “Groundhog Day” was the
direct result of flashflood email marketing and a brilliant high-tech
ruse, masterminded by the band and its label SouthBeat Records, that covertly redirected traffic from dating and porn sites directly to the video.
Now after two albums and three years, ¡Mayday! are back to basics — YouTubing, MySpacing, and Twittering — all while confronting their blantant techno-fetishism on latest release, Technology. Show up for the album party this Friday at Transit
and cop the thing. It’s a six-song EP laced with enough spiraling,
spaced-out beats and hardcore sci-fi funk to entertain E.T. for
eternity. The first ten people in the door will score a free CD while
latecomers can get a copy for five bucks. And, of course, there’ll be a
live show by the band’s recently refreshed lineup of MCs BernBiz and
Wrekonize, and backing crew Plex Luthor, Gianni Cash, L.T. Hopkins, and
Noms. In the meantime, peep the free track below or visit mayday.bandcamp.com to download other samples from the ¡Mayday! catalogue.
MP3: ¡Mayday! – “Junkyard Dog”
var so = new SWFObject(
“http://media.miaminewtimes.com/players/vvmMiniPlayer2.swf?k=aYp9.do9&autoPlay=yes”,
“theSWF”, “91”, “32”, “8”, “#FFFFFF”
);
so.write( “player_1245359625” );
Friday,
June 19. Transit, 729 SW First Ave., Miami. Doors open at 11 p.m., and
admission is free. Ages 21+ with ID. 305-377-4628; transitlounge.us.
