Lushlife, a.k.a. Raj Haldar, is back with a new opus that was recorded for Weathervane’s Shaking Through called “Toynbee Suite,” a track that spans four movements, clocking in at ten and a half minutes, and features contributions from rjd2, Nightlands, YIKES the ZERO and Joshua Stamper. He’ll be unveiling it at an episode launch party on Thursday, November 7 at Art in the Age (116 N. 3rd St.). There will be DJ sets by Bailiff, Tim Meskers (ex-Brown Recluse) and Lush as well as complimentary refreshments provided by Narragansett Brewery.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to any of our more dedicated readers that we have much love for über-talented emcee/producer Lushlife, a.k.a. Raj Haldar. We were already fans of his mixtapes, and when he entered HotBox Studios and threw down for our first Choice/Cuts session, everyone in the place knew that we had just witness some real genius shit. And the fact that he was so nice and humble about his skills made us love him even more. So while we wait for the rest of the world to catch up to what we and hopefully most of you already know (which we think will happen when he finally releases his collaboration with one of our favorite local electronic outfits), we’ll gladly take advantage of watching Lush perform for free this evening at Race Street Pier as part of the new Philebrity-curated free concert series, Third Thursday Live and Local. (Ugh…this is a pretty unimaginative name, but we get the point.) He’ll also be joined on the bill by Roots affiliate Dice Raw, Jade Alston, D’Vina and DJ Benz. The inaugural event is in conjunction with Black Music Month Week Philadelphia. (“Month Week” - who named this too?) The series will feature a different genre each month as well as established performers alongside up-and-coming acts. Race Street Pier, Race St. & N. Columbus Blvd., 6pm, Free - Q.D. Tran

It’s Philly Tech Week, and this Sunday, you have the opportunity to attend an interesting free event at Underground Arts. The evening will kick off with an hour-long Q&A with ?uestlove, which will be hosted by XPN’s Bruce Warren. There will be performances by Lushlife, Man Man’s Pow Pow (a.k.a. Christopher Sean Powell), and Khari Mateen as well as tunes being spun by DJs Dave P and PHSH. Come out and learn a few things while shakin’ your ass to some dope sounds! Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., 5pm, Free All Ages - H.M. Kauffman

Year in review for Lushlife (a.k.a. Raj Haldar): skilled, innovative and making waves. In 2012, this “bedroom composer” made some serious moves with his adventuresome beats and cerebral content. Lushlife was featured on YouTube’s music page for the debut session of The Deli Philly & HotBox Studio’s Choice/Cuts. Plateau Vision was released via Western Vinyl (which became our May Album of the Month). He is certainly on the radar of a number of big-name publications and critics, ranging from Pitchfork to The New York Times, and has collaborated and received the remix treatment from hip-hop stars like Das Racist’s Heems, Styles P and Shabazz Palaces. Basically, it’s not stopping in 2012 for the wildly creative yet extremely humble Deli fave. Lushlife is already on board for the Roots Picnic this summer, and we happen to know that he has a release in the works with a rad mysterious electronic outfit (which really can’t come soon enough for us). This past year was simply a coming out party for Lush, and we look forward to seeing the rest of the world getting exposed to him! - Brandi Lukas