I can’t say I’ve ever heard of these guys before, but I’m a serious fan. Fresh New Tracks pushed this EP this week the day after 420, and I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. I’ve not heard quality grunge in years, and the combination of indie vibes, hip hop lyrics, a dash of blues and some competent/inventive beat work really got my attention. Check it out, and make sure to hit The Blancos up, because any band claiming to rock out from Gotham City will get infinite props from me.
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Mix Of The Weekend: Full On Fluoro By Paul Oakenfold! (Three Years!)
I remember the first Full On Fluoro posting when this started in 2011. I was actually on a random Oakenfold binge, having been obsessed with Gamemaster by Lost Tribe off tranceport for a few weeks. The idea that Oakenfold was showing back up, on Soundcloud (which was relatively tiny compared to its size now) of all places, made me so happy. I’ve listened to most, and I’ll probably go back and listen to the rest of them over the coming months. This is proper trance. It’s a super important counter-weight to the ASOT podcasts. While Armin is the shimmering, euphoric & glittery end of Trance at times, Oakenfold’s sound bleeds psychedelic, while maintaining the driving, spectral, global feel that has been lost on some of our more recent trancelectro DJ offerings at festivals independent of Mr. Van Buuren’s amazing work (I’m looking at you W&W). This sound is no joke and I’m so glad it continues to exist to this day. Rock out your weekend & dance in the sun if you can.
Mix Of The Weekend: Kygo – Diplo & Friends [Shimmering Bass]
I’ve decided to add mixes into my music yammering, so we’ll see how long I can stay consistent with this. Every weekend I’m going to be choosing a live/produced mix to help you glide through the weekend with. Chill, Uptempo, Dancey, Brutal, gonna mix it up and keep focusing on stuff you probably haven’t seen posted on blergs or Facebook. This week I’m bringing you the Norway shooting star, Kygo. This kid is going to be huge this summer, you heard it here first (well, no, you probably heard it from Diplo, EDMTunes or Twitter first if you’ve been paying attention.) Put this on and dance in the sun. There’s a lush, full sound to the beats & remixes he’s putting down, and his eagerly anticipated remix for Coldplay should ignite this guy’s career. The 100bpm smooth sexiness is exactly what you need to round out the Sunday. Enjoy and check back every weekend to see what I come up with.
Party of the Month: Verboten Presents Lee Burridge
This month, I’m happy to report that Verboten has settled into its new 10,000 sq. ft. space in BK and they’ve been able to bring the raw awesome I remember from their events all over the city back home for us. The space has all the bells and whistles you’d expect, no VIP area, and is one of the first venues in the city to sport a no-tolerance policy on harassment. From their site:
Verboten is a pro-woman company, run by strong women and the men & women who love them. Harassment in any form will not be tolerated. If you are the victim of any unwanted speech, treatment, or physical abuse, please speak with any staff member and that person will be removed.
I really could not be pleased with language like that coming out of Verboten. I’ve been watching clubs & bars throw up their hands and say “boys will be boys” for years here in NYC, and I’m hoping Verboten is first in a long line of clubs that add this type of policy. Headlining next Friday is Lee Burridge, one of the top deep/tech house DJs in the world right now. Check out his Lightning In A Bottle Mix below if you don’t believe me. Keep reading 85 minutes from now, after he takes you on a magical journey.
The Kids Are Alright: 5 Tracks From Under 18 Producers That Rock
While the elders will always command the most respect, every year the producers get younger and younger. Porter Robinson, Madeon and Mr. Garrix all got their start before they could drink in the USA, but the kids I’ve got for you today haven’t even graduated high school. Just in case you were feeling like you’d accomplished a lot with your life.
First up, on a tip from EDMTunes, Tronxslyde drops some serious multi-barrel electro. There’s some chip, there’s some euphoric (I didn’t know there could be euphoric electro) and a heavy dose of “when did Madeon release a new track?” There’s so much quality here, and he’s 14. Fourteen. Like, I don’t even think I knew what music was at 14, and this kid’s dropping bompin’ electro. Amazing, and it’s a Free Download.
Just A Gent has been making major waves down under over the last few months, churning out remix after quality remix. This tune has seen daily rotation on my commute and it makes the subway less dismal. Which is a feat, as us Gothamites know. The upbeat remix of the American Authors track is not to be missed, especially as this 16 year old is going to start getting a lot of attention.
Zaxx’s new tune “Annihilate” is about as brutal as the title implies. There’s a big room anthem sound here that can’t be ignored. This is the sound most people try and get by red-lining their shit and failing hard. Never heard of this 16year old but I won’t soon forget the name I don’t think. Drop this on your friends during fist-pump sets.
Another 16 year old, this time a classically trained pianist & cellist, White Raver Rafting tipped me off to this remix of M83’s offering to the Divergent soundtrack. The soundtrack is surprisingly electronic, and Miller Guth does the original & M83 proud. The progressive build is fantastic & the break is exactly what you’re going to hear at every festival this summer, except a little more pretty and a little less Animals’y. There’s a sparkly nature to it that I can
The elder in the group clocks in at 17, and has an astonishing command of a DAW. The production value on this ambient chillwave/future garage is staggering. The talent is serious and there’s a competence with syncopation that we don’t see from producers of any age, much someone who should by all rights still be goofing off in band class. Someone needs to snatch this kid up and make sure he doesn’t turn into the UK Garage version of Bieber.
Earworm of the Month: Birdy – Wings (Nu:Logic Remix)
I think there’s a lot of potential in the liquid drum & bass genre even with how old it is. Hospital Records continues to break new ground, using both seemingly identical & totally novel pieces together in radically different ways. Nu:Logic’s absolutely stunning remix of Wings by Birdy has been on daily rotation during my commute. It’s a perfect example of what can be done today to create something really special in a high BPM but low-impact way. The energy never drops, the amen break marches on, but the chorus & shimmering vocals glide above and are used respectfully & correctly. So glad I bought the physical copy of the We Are 18 compilation. Much love to Hospital from the other side of the pond.
A Minor Ode to Breaks/Breakbeat.
(After watching the UMF Live Stream this weekend, I was surprised at the severe homogeneity of music spun on the main stage. So in the spirit of underdog advocacy, I’m going to start writing about the less commercially popular genres of electronica that may never be classified as “EDM, bro.” I decided to start our journey with Breaks, or Breakbeat.)
I’ve listened to a tremendous amount of breaks in my life, but it’s not always on my daily rotation. I tend to listen to breaks in peaks and valleys, listening to only it for weeks, then going months without a single track. I was playing jazz trumpet at the time and the syncopation & irregular spacing of the beats instantly drew me in. I couldn’t find too much of it back in the Wild West days of Napster, Audiogalaxy & Kazaa, so the closest thing I could find to real breaks way back in the day was Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim.
The combination of the jumping bass, rambling beat, Walken being awesome and the broken sounds became an instant classic for me and a large portion of the US listening public if I recall correctly. This spiraled into a love affair with the DJ Icey.
I later got into Stanton Warriors, who recently took NYC by storm. But, the artist I’ve always gotten the most out of, is Krafty Kuts. Krafty kreates melodies that mash dozens of tracks a together over an hour, and is one of my undisputed masters of breaks. The vibe is undeniable, and check out his Summer 2013 mix in case you don’t agree with me (below).
It’s intensely difficult to find this kind of music in NYC, which is predominantly a House, Hip Hop & Electro town. Which brings me to some people I care about very much, Vitamin B.
These guys have been holding it down when it comes to breaks for years now, and there’s an authenticity here that can’t be matched anywhere else in the city. They’ve been in a few different spaces recently, but they’re settling in one of the premiere new spots in Brooklyn. That being The Paper Box. They’ve been nailing it with the talent coming in, with Mafia Kiss showing up on Friday. This guy did the very first Armory Podcast for my west coast readers, and is generally awesome breaks DJ. There’s a fluidity to his transitions that seem to maintain your energy & momentum as he flows through samples & tracks.
If you’re a long-time reader, you know I’ve sung the praises of these guys before, but now that I’ve gotten a slightly wider audience, I wanted to echo my sentiment again that THIS IS SOMETHING TO GO TO. Tektite, Tim & TAFCABI continue to be resident beat jedis, and this is a no muss, no fuss event. Show up in dancing shoes, go early for hoopy hour until 11:30 so you’re done with it by the time I get there, and enjoy yourself. This is Terry Gotham, see you on the dance floor this Friday.
Party of the Month: GlamTech (2nd Year In A Row!)
It’s that time again folks. After melting my face last year, DiSORIENT is back at it and they’ve moved out of the new hotness that is Brooklyn, to return to the possibly new-new hotness that is Manhattan (also, Not the Warsaw. This is huge). I’m going to get right into the meat of this, because there’s a gigantic amount of talent to tell you about and I know I’m racing your ADD/Facebook notifications. The best way to describe GlamTech is to imagine a tuxedo made out of a disco ball, with light Pornj (Pink + Orange, for the uninitiated) running lights. This event is where the stops are pulled out, and you just might see an el wire dragon-frame corset, if that’s even a thing. But enough about what you’ll see, which has been described this year as the Dichroic Delusions. The ancient Kykeon of Eleusis comes to mind, the colors between spectrum & spaces in between heart beats, if you can be mindful of them.
Three “Royals” Covers You Need To See.
First up, the African Tribal Masquerade cover by Alex Boye’, which was done after purchasing paint & a wreath from Wal-Mart. A wonderful take on the original and something authentic from someone authentic. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Next, Puddles Pity Party. No that’s not the name of an episode of Adventure Time, it’s a 7ft tall clown with the voice of a tragic angel. He swung by Sleep No More last week and I couldn’t be happier that the guy is slowly becoming a name on the internets. The performance is perfect & the Pagliacci invocations are wonderful.
Finally, Pentatonix have whipped up a lovely acapella version for your listening pleasure. This perky little group deserves as much exposure as they can get, especially considering how awesome their sweet Daft Punk medley was a while ago. Check these 3 out, then forward them to your friends who think they’ve seen everything 😉
Crowdfunding Project of Note – Rameses B
Every once and a while I try and collect a few different crowd funding projects that deserve a signal boost, and this time around we’ve got an album that I can’t wait to hear.
Rameses B is one of my favorite artists, and ever since discovering him in 2012, I’ve been struck by his inventive, symphonic & modern compositions, with production chops to match. I can’t wait to hear what this album sounds like and I know the $$ will go to a great cause. He always drops tracks & mixes on Soundcloud, YouTube and Bandcamp for free so I’m happy to support. You should too. Check out his Soundcloud below as well to get a better idea of who you’re supporting and why.
Terry Gotham 