Hometown Fire: D.V.S.*

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Terry Gotham

So, remember that whole Amend the Rave Act thing? Yea, so that’s still happening (focus people), and because of that, I wanted to use the paltry internets soapbox (wow, that’s such an outdated description of methods of communication) to give shout outs to artists that are going out of their way to do so. This guy is one of a series of DJs part of the AMPLIFY Project, focusing on harm reduction and treating ravers better. These DJs & producers are taking risks doing so. If you don’t think so, you’ve never seen bar managers argue with event producers about water. But, more importantly, he’s freaking talented & technically skilled as fuck. He walks this fine line between psy & indie with his production sounds/vibe, but he applies it across the spectrum.

It’s impressive to hear someone be able to produce competently both in a live mix/house environment & in the wacky realm of psy-dub that Space Jesus calls home. This guy knows what he’s doing & deserves your attention. The album below is a soothing, melodic journey into synthy sounds & organic instrumentation, mastered exquisitely. He splits his time between Brooklyn & Austin, and if the Gods are willing, I am hoping to convince him to help in our little harm reduction struggle. Judging from the picture below, I’m hoping he agrees. Remember to go support Amending The Rave Act if you haven’t already.

Hometown Fire: Miss Sabado

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Terry Gotham

Miss Sabado is incredible. That’s as simple as I can put it. I’ve never really experienced someone like her, whether behind the decks, in casual conversation, or when she’s feeding a room full of people she cares about. A model by day & DJ by night, this best coast transplant is one of those success stories NYC is known for throughout the world. She threw her own series of parties a little while back, a relaxed affair at a few of the more obscure bars & basements in the city. There were a couple of really good nights there, with fashion forward people dancing to exotic & skillfully arranged beats, while sipping on good wine until late in the evening. I’ve been at a party of hers that was standing room only, and when I was one of a dozen on the floor early in the night. Much respect for this lady DJ, and Resident Advisor agrees with me.

I’ve highlighted two of her most recent mixes to give you over 2hrs of ear time with Miss Sabado. Her global yet understated take on deep & tech house is something that we’re only just starting to hear more of in Brooklyn over the last 6 months. Guess who has been on that tip for longer than tropical house has been a genre? I highly encourage signing up for her newsletter as well because if you do, then when you get the new mixes & gig information, it also comes with what’s below. You’re welcome. Check her out and you’ll be as captivated by her work as I was.

Hometown Fire: Wavewhore – Breaks Wizard

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Terry Gotham

Wavewhore put this in my face, and I really couldn’t be happier he did. This is exactly what I needed my breaks to sound like. While people think the genre can’t keep up, I know Vitamin B proves that incorrectly multiple times a year. Wavewhore’s set at VitB proved that this guy knew what he was doing, so when I got this EP in my inbox, I couldn’t be more pleased. The EP is out as of yesterday, and is a duo of dope breaks tracks. You Got It is super well produced, yet quietly all about what makes the genre classically great. Powerful uses a supremely powerful sample and never oversteps its boundaries. Wavewhore makes for a nice little build and break keeping the energy up the entire way through. Get it on Beatport here if you need this for your sets. If you need him in a little longer format, here’s a mix he did for Birmingham Mountain Radio. Besides that being one of the best names for a radio station I’ve ever heard, the mix is exactly what you need in your life. Here’s to hoping once people get bored of tropical, breaks gets its time in the sun.
He’s got one more surprise for us, a free DL that dropped last week. A heavy rework of Feel That Ammunition by Farace, so now, you’ve got a new EP, a free DL & a mix to keep you satisfied. If you want more, you’ll have to show his social medias some love. Them’s the breaks!

Hometown Fire: The Adversary

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Terry Gotham

Since this came on at the exact time I needed it during Gratitude, I’ve been meaning to update everyone on The Adversary. I first covered this sound almost a year ago, and he’s been fighting the good fight. The combination between live sounds & electronic elements is perfect for what people are looking for in Brooklyn these days, and the video is a whole lot of fire & attitude. The video work is well done and the bass is fun as hell to groove to. Ritual Dream is one of the tracks off a new EP that’s pretty quality, so I’ll be discussing my ambient thoughts about it below of course 😉

Surprisingly funky & rock filled, with a voice that needs to get more attention. The combination of strong driving chords & the sly lyrical work create a memorable sound that I’d probably expect at a bar where people cooler than me hung out.

Top Of The World pushes in a little deeper into the realm of Indie, but remains a stompy, soulful tune. The synth, reverb & delay are used appropriately here, and it gives me hope for how he’s progressing, as this is definitely more technically complicated than the EP he released last year. The vocal work is more daring, while the ideas are getting bigger and bigger. Kudos to this guy for dreaming big and swinging hard.

We Need makes me wistful thinking about a group called InnerPartySystem. The more artists that try to straddle this “live vocal + garage house bass” style, the happier I will be. This is what I assume my night will sound like if I ever have to chase a quirky exotic photographer through a crowded series of bars & parties. Or at least, what the cut montage of it would be of course.

Yoshimi is an interesting track that I’d mentioned before, but it’s quite nice. It’s essentially a Boten Anna that doesn’t suck (for anyone into Basshunter). There’s a streak of alternative vocals here with some fun anthemic guitar work that are totally welcome here. Check the thing out & hit him up if he’s in town. It’s a fun show, trust that if he earned a slot at Gratitude 2x in a row, he’s doing something right. The Adversary is performing at the Museum of Sex for their “Sex on Fifth Avenue” series on Nov. 1 at 11pm. Get tickets here since you’ve obviously been won over by this feature 😉

www.theadversarymusic.com
www.facebook.com/TheAdversaryMusic
twitter.com/adversarymusic
www.youtube.com/theadversarymusic

Hometown Fire: REsy

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Terry Gotham

For this edition of Hometown Fire, I’m delighted to feature one of the hardest working ladies in the NYC underground & Burner community. While I’ve mentioned her before, she’s fought her way through the Gotham underground and earned a slot at Sankeys NYC, the UK super-club transplant that opened this fall (discussed here by me previously). This is a HUGE win for fans of the silky smooth & soulful signature sound that seeps from the speakers whenever she slips onto the decks. There’s a deep, almost tribal quality to some of the more intense moments of her mixes, something that you couldn’t ignore if you caught her set at GlamTech. There’s a bunch more on her Soundcloud before.

To reiterate, one of the shooting stars of the underground is spinning at one of the most underrated clubs in the city. She’s setting up for Reda Briki, a dance institution in his own right, but this post is not for him. It’s for Resy. Because she drops it like it is much warmer than it is outside my apartment right now. Get tickets for it here.

Hometown Fire: whiteowljaguar

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Terry Gotham

I’ve been a fan of whiteowljaguar for the last 6 months, and thankfully, they’ve kept pushing & rising, blazing a trail through the NYC burner & underground community as fast as their signature accessory, the Disco Fist can illuminate a path through the dance floor. There is a deep understanding of tech, minimal, house and bass that ushers forth from the duo that cannot be denied. I first discovered their sound at TechNoir several months back and I’ve tried to get out to support as often as my clusterfuck schedule allows. There’s a lot of talent here and check out what they did for Tech Noir if you don’t believe me. The yin & yang of the power couple/DJ duo can’t be ignored, as they snatch control of the decks away from each other mid-set, chasing some amazing groove down the aural rabbit hole it’s scampering into.

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Hometown Fire: tektite

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Terry Gotham

In this installment of Hometown Fire, I wanted to give a shout out to one of Brooklyn’s finest, tektite. This guy is one of the hardest working heads in the breaks business and is responsible for the longest running monthly breaks event in NYC. Vitamin B is a fantastic party that has been growing in size for years. He, Tim the Enchanter & Barney Iller bring in some of the quality talent from all around, with Tektite also spinning in parties all over the city. Check out this mix from over the summer that he did. There’s a smooth competency to match his ridiculously potent beats, transitions and fantastic track selection.

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Hometown Fire: DJ Dopeshoes

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Terry Gotham

This episode of Hometown Fire is dedicated to someone I only became aware of in the spring, at a party I reported on here. I’m kicking myself for not discovering her sooner, as Dopeshoes stuns both the eyes and the ears. I’ve heard her spin nu/freestyle disco, deep house, with two scoops of sophistication & some style frosting on top. Others agree that she rocks, so she’s gotten some bandwidth to push a few mixes into the auralsphere/series of tubes for signal amplification. The first comes to us from a Gotham-based spot called TheBeatMill, it’s a free download, and they do a nice, quality weekly podcast. Makes for quite a better train ride for those of us who can’t stream during our commutes all over the world.

The second comes from another music site called The Couch Sessions. They do some NYC-centric work on their site & soundcloud as well as a respectable away of coverage, that includes design & food/drink, events and live coverage. So, kind of like me, but with actual staff. This is a Free DL as well, plus the house is smooth as honey and delightful. I like the Crack House genre, but I think Dopeshoes is a bit more refined than she gives herself credit.

Check out all of her social medias below and if you like it, show the love it (and she) deserves:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dopeshoes
Blog: http://new-york-minutes.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dopeshoes
Twitter: https://twitter.com/djdopeshoes
Website: http://www.djdopeshoes.com/

Hometown Fire: Becka

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Terry Gotham

There is a lot of really good stuff going on when it comes to lady DJs finally getting their due when it comes to proper staging, kudos and of course, compensation. With HARD talking about an all lady-DJ event and more and more people noticing Krewella, Sydney Blu and MIA, I wanted to pick one of my favorite lady DJs here in Gotham City to focus on for my next segment of Hometown Fire. She’s got a global sense for what you’re looking for when it comes to techno & the deeper/techier sides of house. She’s spun all over the world, from Brussels to Ibiza, Caracas to Paris to crowds of people in the know. I’ve had the privilege of putting her on a DJ lineup for a party or two of mine and she’s never disappointed. Check out her mixcloud mix below and hit up the various social media-ness for more info on when you can catch her next. I hear if you’re lucky you might score a ticket to her birthday set here, but tickets for that are going to go fast, so don’t sleep on it.

Waking With The Sun Vol. 4 by Becka on Mixcloud

https://www.facebook.com/djbecka
https://twitter.com/djbecka
http://www.mixcloud.com/becka/
https://soundcloud.com/becka
http://djbecka.com/

Hometown Fire: Agent Orange

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Terry Gotham

Agent Orange has been one of the underground legends in NYC for years now. He was killing it at parties before I graduated college and continues to reside comfortably within the Techno & Tech House aristocracy here in Gotham. He’s played for me personally more than once, and every time it’s been wall-to-wall grooving, rocking people. Recently, TimeOut NY recognized the man of many talents and featured him here with his Soundcloud mix below (Props to Bruce Tantum for the nod).

But, unlike a lot of people in that space, he’s also a great producer, with his label Gotham Grooves (no relation, amazingly) putting out a consistent stream of quality tracks that reinforce the competence of Agent Orange and his team. His recent work has not failed to impress, with a particular favorite of mine being his energetic and tight rework of “2 turntables & a Mic. Check it out and don’t forget his most recent podcast, done for UMEK & 1605 Music Therapy!