New Hotness: Treetops ft. The ScumFrog, Mat.Joe, PONY & More!

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Terry Gotham

(While my Attend feature is still your best place for the events you just can’t miss, I wanted to take a moment to showcase people starting something new. Starting a new party or dropping a new concept on Gotham is always difficult. So, a new column focused on the events taking their first steps. Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, the New Hotness.)Treetops is good for NYC. In a wholesome, quenching kind of way. The kind of relaxed vibe that these producers are going for is exact opposite of the mega-plumage that litters NYC scene. Run by two savvy luminaries, they’re bringing some whimsy & relaxed appreciation to the dance music scene here in NYC. To that end, they’re bringing a pile of talent, and telling you to wear your comfy shoes. Comfy everything in fact, as it’s about enjoying yourself with cool people & not popping bottlez while Instagramming your clubbe, bro. The Scumfrog has earned a reputation for excellence in the NYC House music community. I think I’ve seen him at 4, maybe 5 different venues? Each time it’s dope. This guy is a master at work, and I’ve listened to sets of his in Brooklyn, Baltimore, and flying over Bratislava. His April mix is a fantastic example of the smooth perfection of The Scumfrog. The dirtybird BBQ is a legend in its own right, and we were blessed to have one last summer. Christian Martin‘s posse showed up properly and the tech house, techno, dirty bass & minimal, almost acid vibe kicked off like you’d expect for a day party in Brooklyn with this level of talent. Listen to that set if you need a little more persuasion. You know the tech house, deep house & techno is serious when there’s talent in from Berlin. They’re bringing Mat.Joe out from Deutcheland to add their soulful stylings to the roster. I’m a big fan of the sound Mat.Joe works in, a fusion of techno & hip hop essentially. There’s a lot of hit or miss work involving progressive & future bass melding with hip hop. This stuff definitely hits the mark. There’s a nice groove to the dance floor that I can’t wait to see when these two take control. PONY, what more can I say about the man. The Caliph of Crushing It is making this thing happen so I have a feeling his set is going to be quite interesting. If you’re a fan of his sets at I Feel or Evolve Thursdays @ Macao, definitely show up and compare. I bet he’ll save a couple of musical inside jokes just for you. I am really digging this progressive tech house & hip hop vibe that Treetops is bringing to Brooklyn and showcasing Duane Harriott is a great choice. Dirty Decibels provides additional deep house related support, with some catchy, butt-shaking that still manages to stay surprisingly synthy at times. Bryan Cosgrove‘s grooves were a touch tough to find, but I found an eclectic set from a couple of years ago that I’m throwing in for free because I love you people.

With visuals by Levitation Theory and a Paper Box location, I think this event has all ticked all the right boxes. #Treetops has wings & you’re gonna want in on the ground floor. Get tickets here and show up on Facebook here. This is going to be a good night, and you’ll see me on the dance floor. Maybe I’ll see you.

Mix Of The Week: Deuce Returns. Rejoice & Be Glad.

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Terry Gotham

Like a crazy masked avenger, The Deuce Cake himself has reappeared on the scene. A new mix of significance has been dropped for us, so all you tech house & garage heads take note. My boy Deuce is one of the most talented sleeper agents in NYC. He was my first Hometown Fire for a reason. The first 10 minutes are some of the most crucial tech house I’ve heard in months. But the hits keep coming with clutch remixes and some stupendous transitions. I’ve watched this guy spin and even I don’t know when he starts some of these. He’s one of those DJs that will give you a taste of something and forget about it for 5 minutes. Making you think you lost your damn mind placing that sample incorrectly, then bam, it’s in your face, re-worked and grooving. I need the names of the tracks 36min in & just over an hour, as those are some of the high watermarks for me when it comes to the vibe that the combo between house & garage can be. By the time I was done with this mix I was even more sad I didn’t have Disclosure’s home phone number. This sound needs to get way bigger.

Attend: Disorient presents: BIOLUMINESCENCE – Lux Aeterna

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Terry Gotham

It’s finally returned, bigger, longer & with better views of the city! The not-quite-annual, yet much-anticipated BiOLUMiNESCENCE winter boat party is back! This time the boat has been severely upgraded, from the Queen of Hearts (old & busted), to the Hornblower Infinity (new hotness). While the name of the party is best known for being the title of the theme to Requiem For A Dream (yes, that one), it also refers to the Latin idea of “eternal light,” that, especially by late February, we’re all gonna need reminders of. The last time I was on this boat, I was reviewing a DJ Chuckie/Dirty Dutch party. I can safely say that the party will be qualitatively different, on every discernible level. The costumes, the deco, the people, the music, will all be totally different. Hooo boy will the music be different. Continue reading →

Mix Of The Weekend: Karmakanik – Live @ Sequence [Tech/Electro/Prog House]

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Terry Gotham

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. DJ Karmakanik is one of the first DJs who ever really just exploded my face. I’m talking like, that kind of night that takes you on a journey that you’re not the same afterwards. One of the mystical forces behind the fabled PSI events in the Pine Barrens forests, this guy knows exactly what he’s doing. I know times have changed because he is in my mind, a psytrance DJ of legendary proportions, and I just spent the last hour grooving to a dope selection of electro, progressive & tech house. The track selection is impressive & I am definitely hoping this kind of musical output becomes a regular thing. And he wants to drop some 6 am psytrance as well, I certainly won’t complain. Picture is from BM 2006, you know it’s a good party when Jesus spins psy-trance. Tracklist below the tunes because he’s a gentleman like that, and it’s a Free Download to boot. He literally couldn’t give you anymore, so show him some love.

dataworx – flight 1605 (manuel de le mare intro rmx)
mason – exceeder (umek and mike vale rmx)
andrea bertolini and motel connection – allegro
weekend heroes – killer bitch dj dealer
alter breed – panther
ido ophir and miki litvak – shnorkel (dousk rmx)
piatto and luigi rocca – higher feeling
umek – cvile mi jaja
phunk investigation – u know
shiloh – cafe del mariachi
perfect stranger and captain hook – perfect hook (riktam and bansi rmx)
easy riders – easy dubsteps (captain hook rmx)
sideform – personal jesus (rmx)

Broke On Holiday: Turkey Football Hate Family Weekend!

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Terry Gotham

That’s right, the holidays are upon us again, and hundreds of thousands of people will be coming home for the weekend. To spend time with family, get uncomfortably close to barfing up that 3rd helping of mashed potatoes and then hate the people they’re surrounded by so much, they need to get to a freaking party as quickly as possible. To that end, I’ve rounded up some of the fairer bargains that ensure you have a good night instead of playing the “argue with Uncle about immigration” game with your cousins.

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Mix Of The Weekend: Sounds from the Brooklyn Underground 012 with Agent Orange!

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Terry Gotham

Time to get out into the sun and enjoy the day. Agent Orange is coming at you with an hour of gorgeous, sophisticated techno for you to bomp while grilling or hiking or sitting on your ass with the AC blasting directly onto your sweaty, hungover body. You know, whichever. Agent Orange is one of the only people I know consistently pushing out new releases, mixes and compilations while living the Gotham life without getting a big head. Get at this guy and if you’re a producer, hire him. The Techno Master won’t disappoint you.

Call In Sick, Verboten Grabbed whiteowljaguar, Sabo & REsy On A Wednesday Night.

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Terry Gotham

Now that I’m old and whiny when it comes to going out, weeknight events are a supreme rarity for me. I’m not the spry youngling I once was, able to knock out 9hrs at the office after dancing all night. However, every once and a while, I make an exception. I may need to finally show up at Verboten and watch some old friends do Brooklyn proud before a New York selectro himself. The global, deep & soulful vibes that Sabo drops are going to hold that dance floor together well into the morning. He knocked it out of the park on playa with Robot Heart I hear, so I’d imagine this will be all of the fun, none of the need for co-signers. If they keep grabbing talent like this, Outre by Evolve and Talon & Claw

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Midnight Music: Kove – Way We Are (Dub Mix) [Deep House]

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Terry Gotham

Since I yammered about Kove a little while ago, I’m delighted to say that the track has been picked up, and EDM.com brings us a reworking of the tune that shimmers with quality. The deep, techy, but still perky envisioning of the original D&B is music to my ears. There’s the necessary competent build with some slicing & dicing of the vocals in just the way your rooftop party deep house should sound. This has some potential to get pushed into some sets, especially with the break into super old school styles halfway in. The sound is very now. While I feel like a catastrophic douche for writing that, I think it’s true in a lot of ways. The retro feel given some modern bounce, in addition to the proper usage of vocals pushing into a deeper, less anthem-y sound. Listen and you tell me if I’m right? (via EDM.com)

Ten Questions With Terry Gotham: DJ Dollpartz

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Terry Gotham

1. If you were forced to spin a genre/genres of music other than the genres you spin now as Dollpartz & as one half of WoJ, what would it be? Both my solo and collaborative sound projects definitely engage a huge range of musical genres, so I’d just have to go with what I have yet to explore! I’m a huge hip-hop fan, and because that genre necessitates a certain technique of mixing, it would be a great new skill to master. I’m also a huge Reggae fan, and can see myself grooving behind the decks to a nice mix of Reggae and older dub and dubstep. Maybe you’ll hear a set like that from me in the future!

2. How does Dollpartz differ than your half of the Talon/Claw pair? What makes you one or the other? The real difference is in the sound that’s created when I DJ solo versus the sound that Tyler and I collaborate to bring to audiences and listeners. For example you’ll find a lot more soulful house lyrics in my solo work, simply because I love them but they don’t make sense for whiteowljaguar’s sound. When I dig for tracks for whiteowljaguar, I’m not only listening through my ears. I’m always conscious of what we’ve created in the past and take into consideration whether this track works with or grows off of those sounds. If the track really doesn’t fit with woj but I still love it, it goes into my Dollpartz folder. That’s not to say I don’t dig just for Dollpartz, or that some tracks don’t carry over between projects. Dollpartz has a playful, teasing, naughty, and hearful sound… at least, so far. Whiteowljaguar is more deep, dark, and dirty.

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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!