Diplo

Rusko

Concert Photos: Rusko @ Congress Theater (Chicago, IL)

UK-based dubstep producer Rusko (real name: Chris Mercer) released his latest album, OMG, on Mad Decent one year ago Wednesday. Since then, he’s been working with some of the biggest names in the music business, including Rihanna and T.I.

Collaboration is turning out to be one of his calling cards; he’s worked with Switch, Diplo, Yo Majesty, and Wiley, and has remixed artists like Adele and A-Trak. In addition, Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors is featured on “Hold On,” a single from OMG. Despite his myriad connections, Rusko needed only his equipment (and some snazzy stage decoration) to wow the crowd in a recent jam-packed show at the Congress Theater in Chicago. ALARM staff member Kyle Gilkeson snapped these shots of the thousands-strong dance party.

Rusko

Pretty Lights & Major Lazer

Concert Photos: Pretty Lights & Major Lazer @ Congress Theater (Chicago, IL)

The palatial Congress Theater in Chicago knows how to throw a New Year’s Eve celebration. Last year, Girl Talk rang in 2010 to a packed house. This year, electronic heavyweights Pretty Lights and the Diplo / DJ Switch collaboration Major Lazer were called upon to soundtrack one of the night’s biggest parties. The DJs (and Lazer’s hype-man Skerrit Bwoy) kept things uptempo, blasting another sold-out crowd with deep bass, hip-hop beats, and turntable theatrics. Photographer Tracy Graham attended the show and captured these great photos.

Pretty Lights & Major Lazer

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010

Among the thousands of under-appreciated or under-publicized albums that were released in 2010, hundreds became our favorites and were presented in ALARM and on AlarmPress.com. Of those, we pared down to 100 outstanding releases, leaving no genre unexplored in our list of this year’s overlooked gems.