Category Archives: News/Lolz

House Of Yes Returns!

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Photo by Michael Levy: https://www.facebook.com/michaellevyphoto

After the fall of House of Yes last year, many of us wept for the loss of one of the last true performance spaces in Brooklyn & the greater city at large. The Brooklyn Paper, in an interview with Anya Sapozhnikova, one of the founders of the critical home to aerialism, fashion shows, live performance & general good times. The new space will have a larger stage & seating area, and they’re partnering with a restaurateur who will be running a smokehouse restaurant & bar out of the spot as well. This bodes really well for the Gotham Underground. I can’t wait to help make it become a reality. (via Brooklyn Paper)

DJs Can Dance! (Kinda)

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Mixmag runs this great little weekly called The Lab, that showcases varsity talent from all over the globe. This one ups the traditional weekly podcast in that it’s a live-stream fresh from the decks. This gives the viewer (you) a unique opportunity to watch DJs geek out on music up close and personal. Apparently Mixmag has taken this and run with it, such that they’ve been able to compile this quick and dirty 85 seconds of DJs shaking what their mama gave them. It’s a nice touch, and it’s very heartening to know that Carl Cox can move when he wants to. Peep it for the lulz and check The Lab for additional illness.

Hey Ticketmaster, Someone Wants To Make You Less Annoying. Listen To Them.

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So, a designer by the name of Matthew Lew decided to completely rework the idiotic & archaic design of tickets you get from TicketBastard. You’d think for the $30 “convenience fee” on a $60 ticket, they’d be a little more user-friendly and hip, but no. Until now (hopefully). Check out the open letter here where he gets into all the design geekery how-to’s and lots of different examples. C’mon Ticketmaster, get on the stick, it’s the future.

The #1 Billboard Hit From 100 Years Ago Was Performed By Bill Murray.

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A friend of mine wished me a Happy New Year by sending me the top hits of 1914. I was kind of stunned that kind of documentation existed, so I dug into it. It seems a guy named Bill Murray was all the rage, charting over and over with massive (ok, nowhere near massive) hits like “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary,” “He’d Have to Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile)” & “When You’re All Dressed Up & No Place to Go.” Two of three sound like they’d be bomping tracks with serious twerk potential. A stark reminder of the times, the #2 hit was a UK War hit (you know, because WWI was being fought at the time), “Are We Downhearted? No!” Which, I suppose makes sense. People needed some cheering up, while trying to not be killed by the millions of German soldiers advancing towards them in France. And sure it wasn’t the Bill Murray you were thinking of, but would you have clicked otherwise? 😀

Armin Van Buuren Partners With Heineken To Get You To Dance More & Drink Slow.

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While I can’t speak to the research methodology or rigor of the double-blind population, Heineken has given me a reason to pay attention to them for a moment or two. I saw this #DMDS hashtag pop up yesterday when Armada dropped Armin Van Buuren’s latest video (below). The Armin Van Buuren tune is solid, as always, and we’ll probably hear it a lot in the coming weeks as it filters through the trance podcast universe. What got my attention though, was the continued emphasis on #DMDS.

Apparently, people listening to non-shit music drink more slowly. This was proven by having some random DJ spin one evening at an unnamed Miami club, then have AvB spin the next night. Drink purchases dropped by 40%. This definitely goes into the  “needs a crapload of further research” bin, but it is true that dancing people drink less. If Heineken wants to get behind this kind of PSA-style promotion, with dance music being at the forefront of the campaign, getting people to cut it up instead of drink it down, sure, what the hell, I’m in. #DMDS

Beatport Reviews The Novation Launchpad Mini

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YunvvpddRP0

I hadn’t seen this kind of tech review from Beatport before, but I think it’s a really good move for them. The vid is under 3 minutes & led by a friendly looking and sounding guy who essentially geeks out over the new Novation Launchpad Mini. They run through the quick & dirty on the device super fast, but the video still seems laidback and paced very casually. I hope they branch out into this realm of review way more because it seems there’s a serious bifurcation between dance music culture & dance music production when you look for things on the internet. Connecting those two worlds is super important, so kudos to Beatport for giving it a shot.

Don Rickles At The Kraft Music Hall In Brooklyn In 1968.

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Frankly, I’m not sure whether I’m more impressed by what Don Rickles looked like as a young guy or the quality of the video recording from 1968. Considering it all needed to be done with long cables, analog signals & no internets/data/compression, if you’re into retro stuff like this, it’s a fun little look at Brooklyn way, way back.

The Track That Might’ve Changed Things For Good In 2013.

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This track was shared/favorited/retweeted the world over, with 350k plays in 1 week. For Skrillex or a Triple A artist, this is no sweat, but Daleri was a total unknown. They created a minute mashup of everything that was wrong with dance music last year, as illustrated by the Beatport Top 100. Listen to it if you don’t believe me. I tweeted about it whenever it came out, but one of the things I have to agree with Mixmag about now, the charts the tunes within the mashup came from on Beatport, are different now. The staccato beat/drop + wow so epic build pattern was repeated over and over, isn’t gone completely, but the diversity is growing, and the “let’s all do the same thing” has weakened a bit for the moment. Do you think we need more audio-based commentary like what Daleri did?

Outkast Headlining Coachella!

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Outkast at Coachella. Ostensibly confirmed by someone close to the duo in their interview with Stereogum two days ago, this definitely is going to be one of the most hotly-anticipated performances of the year. I’d talk about him more, but I’ll just remind everyone that Polaroid had to issue warnings about shaking pictures because of how popular that jam got. Should be real. (via FACT)

(Update: I was right! Check the full lineup below! It’s stacked! 

The Forum & Pop2Life Created A Record Made of 250,000 ft Of Vinyl for The Eagles

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Excessive is a great way to describe many aspects of partying in Los Angeles, and it seems a promo company named Pop2Life has decided to remind us all just how ridiculous it gets. To celebrate the re-opening of The Forum, a massive venue in LA, not only did they get The Eagles to break the place in with a spate of concerts, but they’re covering the roof with the largest record ever. 407ft wide & made of 250,000ft of plastic, requiring a team of 75 to build. The reprint of Hotel California will spin, but not produce music sadly. However, if you’re flying into LAX, you’ll see it. Someone grab a picture on the way in and post it will ya? (via Vinyl Factory)