[Watch] Jay-Z Performs at BBC Radio One's Hackney Weekend feat. Rihanna, M.I.A. and Kanye West (FULL SET)

Every now and again you see a live performance that simply knocks your socks off. This was one of those sets. On Saturday evening I sat at home watching Jack White perform prior to Jay-Z's performance being broadcast. Apparently Jay's set was delayed so much because he too was watching Jack White and thoroughly enjoying the set. When the time came, Hova took to the stage with a surprise guest of Rihanna before the crowd seemed to well and truly loose their minds. 

As the set progressed, it was hit after hit and for such a large stage he managed to make it look like he was performing in a bedroom. Seriously, how can he do it so effortlessly? A surprise guest in the shape of M.I.A. took to the stage mid-set to perform "Paper Planes" and "Bad Girls" but mic problems meant no-one heard a word of "PP" and "Bad Girls" was pretty lackluster in all honesty. Everything was building up to something. Everybody hoped Kanye would make an appearance but he wasn't announced. The set finished, the stage went black and then "Otis" drops. From here on in it was pure madness. During the second run through of "Niggas In Paris" Jay stopped the set to ask people to open up a "Circle", by which I think he meant a pit but the crowd didn't seem to understand how to do this so well! Still, a great set that can be enjoyed, in full at the top. Look out for Beyonce loosing her mind to "Niggas In Paris" right at the end. Priceless.

[SKOA Presents] Top Artists of 2012 So Far... Part 2

Tomorrow BBC 6 Music and The Hype Machine will join forces to announce their top 25 artists of the year so far in the 2012 Music Blog Zeitgeist. 6Music has reached out to  number of blogs and asked them to cast their opinions in the build up and we were happy to oblige, after all this year is half way done already. Crazy, huh! Yesterday we dropped some honorable mentions and today we'll present our top three artists prior to the full show tomorrow. We'd love you guys to get involved too so to be part of it all head on over to the official 6Music show Facebook page and hit us up on Twitter @SKoABlog not forgetting to use the hashtag #Blog6Music. Make the jump to see our top three. You might be surprised. Then again, you might not!

3. Teen Daze

Here at SKOA we like to champion artists we really love. Heck, that's why you start out writing about music to cast your opinion and hopefully turn some other people onto an artist you truly admire. Sometimes we don't all feel the same way here in the SKOA family but this artist was one that we all had a mutual appreciation for. Vancouver native Jamison's musical project goes by the moniker Teen Daze and back at the start of the year we featured the young talent in what would be our first in the series of monthly SKOA Mixtapes. We simply couldn't get enough. Lucky for us at the start of June he released the LP, All Of Us, Together and we've had it on heavy repeat ever since. The album is the result of years of experimentation and is a great step towards whatever the future holds. We look forward to that future very much indeed and for that reason we've stuck Teen Daze in our top 3 for the year so far. Check out the video for "Treton" below.

2. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Every artist would like to say they have a USP but many miss the mark. 26 year old Orlando Higginbottom not only has a pretty awesome name for his musical outlet, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, but he has the goods and this year has been offering up some of the best uk electronic dance music around. TEED was part of Damon Albarn's DRC Music project earlier in the year and we've long awaited a full length release from the talent. He's stated that in making a to make a record that "felt free from the frequent short-lived trends in dance music" and the result came out earlier this month in the shape of Trouble. Did he succeed? Time will tell, but as a package right here and right now, the record plays like a project that's been in the making for years and ha been carefully put together. Each piece of synth carefully placed to complement one another. The project also sees TEED tell a story of heartfelt loss and the woes of life yet the way it's delivered makes you want to go dance away your troubles. For that we are placing TEED at number two for shaping our listening, and our dance moves this year. Thanks, Orlando.

1. El-P

Well, well, well, look what we have here. A drum roll isn't necessary for this artist but got-damn has this man shaped our year's listening. Back in 2010, El-P announced that Def Jux would be put on hiatus and that he'd be stepping down as artistic director to focus on producing and being a full time artist. This year, we've seen this move result in El-P becoming our front-runner for artist of the year. In our honourable mentioned yesterday we slipped in Killer Mike, who's R.A.P. Music is up there in the front running for the best rap album of the year. Seriously, it's that good. That album was the joint effort of Mike and the man we are onto now, El-P. The clean cut production and big beats that pushed and pulled with Mike's word play made for one of the best packaged album this year. That was until last month when EL-P unleashed his first solo record since 2007's I'll Sleep When You're Dead. A re-invention that sees the Brooklyn native come at us all guns blazing and ready to take on the world and take on the world he is.

We saw him run through a rip-roaring rendition of "Stay Down" on Letterman last month and now that the LP has had some time to soak in its production, delivery and just crazy slick futuristic sound will keep us going back for more month after month. The usual suspects don't make guest spots on the release and instead we see Killer Mike, Danny Brown and Mr. Muthafukin' eXquire drop fierce bars. Comical lines from Brown on "Oh Hail No" will stick with you while Mike delivers an angry few in "Tougher Colder Killer". 

Tracks like "Drones Over BKLYN" which we actually first heard last year as part of Adult Swim Singles Series feel as fresh as they did back then. New single "The Full Retard" delivers changes of pace and a bassline paired up with laser noises to have your senses tingling like Spiderman. El-P is having a year to conquer all and we for one at SKOA wish it to continue. Check out the video for the aforementioned single below and doff your cap to our top artist of 2012 so far. We will certainly continue to pump this shit like they do in the future.

[Listen] The Flaming Lips and Ghostland Observatory - "Tasered and Maced"

The Flaming Lips will be re-issuing their Record Store Day release The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends on June 26th via Warner Bros. Records, and this time around the release will differ just a little bit from its RSD counterpart. In the rerelease, the Chris Martin-aided track "I Don't Want You to Die" has been replaced by an unreleased track featuring Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory. The song, titled "Tasered and Maced," sees Behrens unloading a series of stories about cops, tasering and macing, monsters, and kicking his friends in the testicles. Listen to it below (via TheFutureHeart).

[Watch & Download] Poolside - "Slow Down"

From their upcoming album Pacific Standard Time, enjoy "Slow Down" from LA duo Poolside. If you've been looking for a laid back summer album, I'm pretty sure that this one will be right up your alley. Producers Jeff and Filip have previously released tracks like "Do You Believe" and "Take Me Home" that you may have stumbled across in the past year if you were in the hunt for what the guys refer to their musical style as, "daytime disco". Should you find yourself in need of "Slow Down", the guys are currently offering it as a free download, which you can grab in the player below.

Pacific Standard Time drops worldwide on July 9th courtesy of Different Recordings / [PIAS].

[Download] jj's 'High Summer' EP

Despite the weather being muggy and rainy here in Vancouver, things are surely better elsewhere, and Swedish pop duo jj wanted to embrace that warm, summery goodness with a free EP for fans to indulge in. Head over to Sincerely Yours to download the appropriately titled High Summer EP, and check out the full tracklisting for the release after the jump.

High Summer Tracklist:
01. High Summer
02. 10
03. My Name
04. Big Hearts, Big Dreams
05. Times

[Watch] Beirut - "The Rip Tide" (Official Video)

Beirut have unveiled the video for the title track of last year's release, The Rip Tide. The video was directed by Houmam Abdallah and starts off a little on the slow side, but if you can stick around to about 2:46 you see everything change around the beautiful but desolate setting. From that point to the very end of the video you are nothing short of mesmerized.

The band recently added more dates to their already lengthy tour. You can have a look to see if they're playing near you below.

Beirut tour dates:
6/22 Full Hit Of Summer Festival - Arena Vienna, AT
6/23 Southside Neuhausen - ob Eck, DE
6/24 Hurricane - Sheessel, DE
6/26 Hove Festival - Arendal, NO
6/27 Train - Aarhus, DK
6/29 Rock Werchter - Werchter, BE
6/30 Open Source Festival - Dusseldorf, DE
7/13 Quebec City Intl Summer Festival - Quebec City, QC
7/16 Metropolis Theatre - Montreal, QC
7/17 Metropolis Theatre - Montreal, QC
7/19 The Sound Academy - Toronto, ON
7/21 The Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
7/23 The Burton Cummings Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
7/25 Edmonton Event Centre - Edmonton, AB
7/26 Calgary Folk Music Festival -- Calgary, AB
7/28 Orpheum Theatre -- Vancouver, BC
8/28 House of Blues Boston - Boston, MA 
8/29 Rumsey Playfield - New York, NY
9/01-9/02 FYF Festival - Los Angeles, CA
9/03 Fox Theater - Oakland CA 
9/05 Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA
9/06 McDonald Theatre - Eugene OR 
9/07 MusicfestNW - Portland, OR 
9/11 Barrlowlands - Glasgow, UK
9/12 Academy - Leeds UK
9/14 Hammersmith HMV Apollo - London, UK
9/15 We Love Green Festival - Paris, FR
9/16 Leffinge Lauren - Leffinge, BE
9/18 TonHalle - Munich, DE
9/19 Columbiahalle - Berlin, DE
9/21 Turkcell Kurcesme - Area Istanbul, TR
11/11 Harvest Festival - Werribbe Park, Melbourne, AU
11/17 Harvest Festival - Parramatta Park, Sydney AU
11/18 Harvest Festival - Botanical Gardens, Brisbane, AU

[Listen] James Blake Releases Two Songs Under the Moniker Harmonimix

While many might not appreciate the ecclectic and often strange stylings of James Blake, you can't help but praise the man for his undeniable drive and consistent hard work. After an incredible year last year which saw the release of his debut LP, as well as two fantastic EPs, Blake is back and releasing new content under the moniker Harmonimix.

Under this new alias, Blake is once again experimenting in the realm of hip-hop, and he will be releasing a new single through R&S Records. The single, which will see release in September, will include two songs, the first being a-side "Confidence Boost," a reimagining of the Trim song, and the second being a Blake and Trim track titled "On The Road." You can listen to both songs after the jump (via FactMag).

[Watch] Metric Perform "Youth Without Youth" and "Breathing Underwater" on Kimmel

On last night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Canadian indie rock outfit Metric stopped by to perform two tracks off of their brand new fifth LP Synthetica, which was released just last week. During the show, the band performed both "Youth Without Youth," the album's lead single, and "Breathing Underwater." Check out the replays after the jump.