NYC, Prepare to get Dirty with Claude VonStroke!
Claude VonStroke, the head honcho at Dirtybird Records should feel right at home when he rolls in to NYC this Friday to crush the decks at Marquee. After all, we’re home to some of the filthiest birds in the world (i’m talking about PIGEONS, you guys… no sexual connotations so get your heads out of the gutter!)
Sleepy & Boo, the DJ duo behind the legendary Basic NYC partieswill also be spinning so seriously, don’t miss out on this one. Tickets still available but going fast at Resident Advisor. (Yours truly is also selling one ticket so get at me via email if interested).
Throwback Thursday: DJ Mehdi at Bardot, Miami WMC 2011
Mehdi was not only one of the most talented DJs in the game but also one of the most well-respected. His unbridled enthusiasm and passion for his craft shines through in this clip from what remains one of the sickest parties I’ve ever been to: Ed Banger Records WMC 2011 throw-down at Bardot. Bonus points for Busy P’s shameless label plugs and self-conscious attempt to get the crowd riled up (it’s not like they needed any extra help with Mehdi’s contagious smile and killer beats!)
#MusicMonday #MixtapeMonday - LOUISAHHH!!!, Oliver, & Brodinski
I’d like to take this opportunity to gloat just a tiiiiny bit. Remember when I said that Daniel Avery’s career would blow up in our faces in no time? Well, it looks like that time has come, my friends! I’ve got not one, not two, but THREE incredible mixtapes that feature the Brit’s atmospheric tech-house tracks. (To view track-listings, click each player below to go the main Soundcloud page).
The first is a moody deep house set from Bromance Records’ femme fatale, LOUISAHHH!!! The first 15 minutes are low-tempo (think of it as deep house foreplay), then it builds to a sexy mid-tempo groove until climaxing (ahem) with a techier-house finish. Let’s just say, it’s hot!
Next up is an exclusive mix from LA-based DJ duo Oliver (aka U-Tern and Oligee) for Solé Bicycles. The guys from Solé said it best on their blog so I’ll just quote them here: “If Lionel Richie was fueled by propane, sported reebok pumps and night crawled the mean streets of Venice, you’d end up with something that sounded a little bit like, well… let’s just say we were lucky enough to capture the radness in this month’s Fixtape.”
Closing out Music/Mixtape Monday is the aptly titled “Late Night Alternative” mix from another Bromance Records veteran, Brodinski. The track that kicks in right after Daniel Avery’s “Naive Reception”, Low Jack’s “Free Pyjamas” is an absolute monster and will transport you straight to grimy warehouse ravelandia… if not in body, at least in mind/spirit!
#MusicMonday #NewRelease “The Scheme EP” - amtrac
I’ve already professed my undying love for Amtrac so I’ll keep this short and sweet. “The Scheme” EP was released today for FREE DOWNLOAD!I’ve already played “Preacher” & “So High” ad nauseum and still get can’t enough of ‘em. “All Night” is a classic nu-disco groove that would be a perfect set opener. But the title track, you GUYS… it is PERFECTION.”The Scheme” somehow manages to elevate Amtrac’s signature bassy tech-house sound to a whole new level of dirtiness. All I’m saying is, if it spawns a “Harlem Shake” meme of its own, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised!
#ThrowbackThursday “Golden Years (Tim Fuchs Edit)” - David Bowie
Tim Fuchs made this killer edit of David Bowie’s classic hit “Golden Years” as part of Flight Facilities’ project for ‘triple j Mixup Exclusives’ - an insanely awesome curation of classic songs mixed with contemporary remixes as well as speech samples from major events in history. Check it out… it’s PERFECT #throwbackthursday material!
#FestivalFitness - Pilates ProWorks “BarrePro”
If I was to draw a venn diagram of my life, it would be one massive circle labeled “BALLERINA”, another massive circle labeled “RAVER” and a cute little overlapping portion in the middle labeled “PPW BARRE PRO” (I tried to draw my own venn but at no point in my life has “ARTIST” been an apt self-descriptor so just use your imaginations).
NYC is slated to get between 3 and 30” of snow this weekend (shoot me in the face please) but that doesn’t mean I’m about to hole up in my apartment and eat my boredom/feelings (we all learned our lesson from Sandy, right? RIGHT?!). After all, Ultra is right around the corner, Electric Daisy Carnival NY tickets go on sale Friday and before you know it, it’ll be festival season and NOBODY wants to see your fat ass hanging out the back of a tutu (speaking from personal experience of some scarring things I witnessed at #EDCNY2012 and am still in recovery from).
If you’re even considering wearing a bikini or tutu with fishnets or body paint or glitter-and-ONLY-glitter at a music festival this year, I HIGHLY suggest you embrace that little portion in the middle of the “eleKtroMess-Venn” and get your asses to a Pilates ProWorks studio near you. I’m a newly minted worshipper of their Pilates and ballet-influenced classes, which are taught by just the coolest instructors you’ll ever meet, like you literally want to be BFF with all of these (insanely fit) chicks. And best of all? The classes are set to legitimately solid electronic and dance music. We’re not talking Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A” sped up to 30000 BPM (I’m looking at YOU trampoline class at NY Health & Racquet club that terrorizes my stretching sessions once a week). We’re talking music that makes you half forget you’ve been pulsing your triceps with weights for the last 10 minutes and might wake up the next morning feeling more Gumby than Rave-Barbie (but SO WORTH IT!)
Start off with a Pilates Essentials class on their exclusive FitFormer machines or give BarrePro a shot. The class replicates isolated movements you’d see at a ballet barre but don’t worry if you’ve never pirouetted your way around a dance studio - no dance experience is required. It’s a full-body workout that gets your heart racing, your body sweating and best of all your ass/abs/legs/arms/literally EVERYTHING tight like an Eric Prydz “Call on Me” dancer (video slightly NSFW).
WHO’S WITH ME, RAVE BABES?!
Artist to Watch: AMTRAC
It’s safe to say that my feelings for AMTRAC have grown from admiration in the wake of his Alex Metric “Rave Weapon” remix to a full-blown obsession. I’ve scoured every last track of his and am calling it early - this guy is going to be the producer to beat in 2013.
His sampling game is so on point it hurts - hear how effortlessly he tosses that iconic Daft Punk “work it” sample from “Technologic” into “Tracy”, a delightful departure from his usual funk/disco/house domain into trap territory. (Be sure to check out Amtrac’s versatile back-catalog of beats in his “Hey There Kiddo” mixtape, available for free download on Soundcloud!)
AMTRAC puts his signature stamp on every track he remixes or produces and it’s impossible not to get down and dance once that wobbly bass drops. His newest single, “Get High” literally gives you an aural contact high while the vocal hook of “Preacher” makes you feel like you’re sinning on a Sunday and never want to stop!
I’m ecstatic that AMTRAC will be gracing the decks of NYC’s Tammany Hall on March 9 alongside another eleKtroMess fave, Penguin Prison (Purchase advance $10 tix here). See ya out on the dance floor?
