[Happy Birthday To Me!]

December 9, 2013Leave a comment

Over the last few days, I’ve been lucky enough to celebrate my 29th birthday with some of my absolute closest and dearest friends. Last year, my birthday was jam-packed with events, clubs and bars – but to be honest, it was absolutely exhausting and at the end of the weekend, I felt like I spent my birthday surrounded by a lot of people who actually barely new me. Not to say that my closest friends didn’t make the day uber special for me, but you can’t get into a meaningful conversation about your life trajectory when you’re pounding shots in the middle of a dance floor. This year, I went for a different – more mature – approach. For starters, I spent Friday night with my boyfriend, his mother and their extended family for some wholesome beer- drinking, cake-eating fun. From the second I walked into Bowery’s Brewery, the room was full of warmth and amazing vibes; the entire bar welcomed me with a ‘Happy Birthday, Amanda!’ and I was whisked away to our table, fully equipped with balloons and friendly faces.

For my actual birthday, we had a relaxing kickback with lots of wine and laughter – and not a whole lot of people. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered growing older, it’s that having one or two friends that you can depend on day in and day out is far better than having a group of ‘party friends’ that know absolutely nothing about your personal life; quality over quantity, right? We laughed and caught up for hours while we celebrated being part of each others’ lives, and two days later I’m still basking in that birthday afterglow, feeling absolutely blessed.

In the past year, I was able to both live and fulfill my dream of being a contributing editor and journalist for The DJ List, I spent hours and hours volunteering for the sake of adorable kitties; I’ve seen friends come home, leave and come home again and I let myself fall into a love so profound that I wake up giddy every morning. I’m so proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish as a 28 year old – and can’t wait to see what 29 will bring!

[Oh, Snap!] Adventures on the East Coast

December 3, 2013December 3, 2013Leave a comment

Rabbit, rabbit and happy December! I know I’m a few days behind, but considering the monumental amount of jetlag that I’m feeling right now – I’d say it’s quite alright. Our flights back home were both delayed which made for an entertaining, drunken sprint between gates C and A of the Philadelphia airport but let’s just say this: we’re glad we didn’t get stranded in the airport and test their theory of brotherly love. Now that I’ve had a day to unwind, process and fall back into my California state of mind: Pho, flip flops and cruising the streets with my windows down, I’ve had the chance to reminisce on my amazing stay on the East Coast and all the fun I had with my man. We went from Massachusetts, up into New Hampshire to explore, then up the Maine Coast and back to Salem to get some history before we bounced out of the airport. It was the most amazing week with three of the best families ever – my dad’s side, my stepmom’s side and then my boyfriend’s dad’s side of the family. There was lots of laughs, wine, cards against humanity and good old fashioned fun – I got to visit the Nubble Lighthouse, see a snow flurry and down some real New England Clam Chowder!

Fact: Smoked Salmon is SO much better on the East Coast!

First Sunset on the Atlantic

The Nubble Lighthouse

Ogunquit Beach

I swear, Street Art finds us sometimes!

First Unitarian Church of Salem

The Witch House in Salem Massachusetts!

[Track of the Week] Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home

November 11, 2013Leave a comment

It’s not frequently that I remember when artists came on the scene, but leave it to Drake to stand out. The storytelling intonation in his voice lands halfway between sultry and scruffy and when it’s paired with both simple yet deliberate bass lines and minor chords – it becomes thematic and has the ability to move people. Forget the fact he got his start on Degrassi – or don’t, we all have to start somewhere and truth be told, I’m sure his acting experience only enhances his music making abilities. Born and raised in Toronto, Drake spent a good amount of time creating mixtapes in hopes of being discovered by a major label. In 2007, he became the first unsigned Canadian rapper with a video on BET for the single “Replacement Girl”. Drake was signed to Lil Wayne’s label Young Money Entertainment in 2009; later that year, he released his first EP ‘So Far Gone‘ containing the smash single, “Best I Ever Had“. I only caught the song on my radar at the time because of a delightful remix by Indie-Electro DJ Matamatics, but it got me curious. His sophomore album ‘Thank Me Later’ was certified platinum by the RIAA and his third album ‘Take Care’ is behind the (unfortunately) popular and overused phrase, YOLO. I can forgive that little bit because the more I’ve listened to other tracks like “Find Your Love”, “Take Care” with Rihanna, “Headlines” and “Swimming Pools” – the more I appreciate the man’s musical genius as an artists and a lyricist.

The latest jam of Drake’s that I’ve been obsessed with is called ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ and it’s been remixed to the nine’s by DJ’s across the genres.

Kastle, one of my favorite acts at this year’s Lightning In A Bottle, gave the track a proper deep house mix:

TJR – a crowd favorite from HARD Summer in LA – put a little bounce in Drake’s step with this festival ready remix:

K-Theory gave it a spin and their signature Dubstep infused electro sound on it:

Holy Ghost! did it one better by entire thing themselves; their mix is slightly slower, focused on the vocals and has a Nu-Disco bounce:

DJ Panic City crafted a slightly more upbeat, progressive house mix, with an emphasis on the melody and a few added lines of harmony

ASTR, a duo out of NYC, covered it their way – slowing down the BPM and isolating the vocals; the result is a very sexy rendition of Drake:

[Rising Star Spotlight] Flume

November 8, 2013November 18, 2013Leave a comment

When it comes to discovering new music, I’ll get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere possible – if you’ve been tagging along on the Bouncy Kitty for a while, you’ve born witness to my effervescent prowl for the latest and greatest tunes. And here’s the thing, I can get into a lot of music. At it’s most basic level – music is catchy. I love rocking to the beat so if it moves me physically – I’ll find a way to mentally get into it. However, I can get over a song as easily as I can get into one; if I don’t find it to be musically complex, progressive or innovative – my interest dies exceptionally fast. I habitually surf social sites to get my jams; but, if there’s something I trust more than a socially verified banger, it’s a solid recommendation straight from the mouth of babes (and by babes, I mean my wonderful extended family in LA.) One of my closest friends just happens to be my boyfriend’s housemate, and believe you me – I spend a hefty amount of time over in their neck of the woods.

Morning, afternoon, evening – the man is always garnering musical inspiration from a whole host of sources and he’s always imparting his musical knowledge on us. One of his latest finds is Australian born and bred producer Flume, and needless to say – I’m hooked. The Deluxe Edition of his latest album hits worldwide today, but unfortunately for us kids in the states we have to wait until the 12th to snag our copy from iTunes.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to Flume’s on Soundcloud feed non-freaking-stop; each song is so uniquely complex and layered that you can’t possibly process it in one, two or even three listens. And then, after the tenth or twentieth – you’re left wondering how you never heard those top notes before, or how the bassline rumbles your soul. Forget about genres and fitting artists into neatly packaged little boxes, Flume is one of those artists that simply produces great music. He combines downtempo electronic music with powerful lyrics and a a diverse group of vocalists like Ghostface Killa, Isabella Manfredi, Stalley,Moon Holiday and Chet Faker. No two tracks on the album sound alike, and there are a handful that I’ve had in heavy rotation. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but right now I’d have to say it’s between the feel good rap ballad ‘On Top’ with lyrics from T-Shirt, ‘Left Alone’ with Chet Faker – an indie-electro artist from Australia ‘Holding On’ featuring the soulful voice of Freddie Gibbs, a rapper formerly on Young Jeezy’s label CTE. The best thing about Flume’s music is that it can speak for itself,so I’ll let it do the talking; enjoy!

Keep in touch with Flume across the web and make sure you take note of his tour dates; you do not want to miss out!

Beatport | Soundcloud | Twitter | Facebook | Youtube

[Weekly Dose of Wisdom]

November 7, 2013Leave a comment

[The Audiofiles] ‘Listn’ Up, Music Lovers – There’s A New App For You

November 6, 2013November 6, 20131 Comment

One of the many amazing benefits to growing up in an excessively digital age, is our constant accessibility to music. Whether it’s by our choice or not, it feels like our brains are being bombarded by beats on the daily: it’s the hold music on your company conference calls, the muzack playing in the elevators between the floors at the doctors office, your iPod at the gym, the SiriusXM radio in your car, the Spotify app you hooked up to your Facebook account or the occasional stop off on Soundcloud. Believe you me – I’m not complaining by any means; in fact, if possible I would have an ongoing soundtrack to my life and I would always be in charge of the volume.

Listn’s Dashboard

Throughout the years of being expertly plugged into the interwebs, I’ve developed a network of sites that I use to feed my thirst for tunage. Back in it’s inception, I dove right into Soundrop.fm – which is a great social resource for new music; slowly but surely, all that came from that was a reintegration into Spotify. I currently dabble in Hypem and Soundcloud when I’m on the prowl for something new, Spotify when I’m curious what my friends are groovin’ to and then the occasional YouTube video for some visual treats. The only downside to having multiple music platforms is that there hasn’t been a quick or easy way to streamline all of the sites into one. Thankfully, with the growing popularity of websites like Klout that aggregate your social media presence it only makes sense that some group of music loving techies thought to do the same with all of the streaming media around the web. So, world – meet your new best friend, Listn: a social way to aggregate your audio and find out about the latest and greatest in the music scene.

Trust me when I say – you don’t want to know how many tabs I have open in my browser right now and about a third of them are devoted to the pursuit of music. There are a host of stites that Listn uses to manifest user data, and right now that’s iTunes, Spotify, Hypem, Youtube and Soundcloud. The latest and greatest to addition is Rdio – a website that lets you stream high quality audio for a minimal fee: after 6 months of free listening, $4.99 a month or $9.99 for unlimited listening capabilities. If you’re like me, you’re thinking- WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER – and if you’re not, we might want to rethink the future of our relationship.

The brainchild of Montreal’s MFive Labs, Listn is currently being funded through Kickstarter – where creative endeavors (like Apps, Movies, etc) go for funding. As of right now, they have raised approximately $500,000 and have released the application for free! Right now the application is only available for the iPhone (le sigh) so if you’ve been eating your Apple a day, you’re in luck. As with most everything in life, good apps come in due time for Android. The iPhones have an essentially seamless interaction between their applications that Android simply doesn’t have yet, so hopefully there will be a a version that can work with the upcoming Android KitKat 4.4 OS installation in January (fingers crossed).

Listn’s Userpage

[Track of the Week] Rudimental ft Emeli Sandé – Free

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013Leave a comment

Usually, it starts with a melody that won’t migrate or a bassline I find myself rocking out to hours after the music is over. But, my love affair with Rudimental is different: it started with a Youtube video and a carefully woven story that was equal parts beautiful and tragic. Sure – I’d listened to the song before but it takes skill and intention to create something with a message as powerful as this.

Over the course of this past year UK based Drum & Bass quartet Rudimental has found a permanent place in my heart and if there’s one thing you should know about me by now it’s that I’ve set the bar incredibly high for anyone that dabbles in EDM. Rudimental has roots in Hackney, London and is comprised of DJ Locksmith with singer / songwriters songwriters and producers Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and Piers Agget. They’ve seen some hot rotation on esteemed radio shows like Annie Mac’s on BBC Radio 1 and have been remixed over, and over, and over by some of the most creative minds in the business.

Beyond the inspirational track ‘Not Giving In’, their entire debut album ‘Home’ is solid gold from start to finish. Even though their roots are firmly planted in ‘Drum and Bass’, these 4 hitmakers pull inspiration across the musical board and are on a self proclaimed mission to fuse modern Soul Music into their EDM. And let me tell you – it shows! They sample some Deep House with their liquid Drum and Bass hit ‘Waiting All Night’ with Ella Eyre and the sultry single ‘Baby’ featuring vocals from MNEK and Sinead Harnett. On the other hand, the Summer anthem ‘Feel the Love’ with John Newman has all the makings of a classic liquid drum and bass track.

For the past week, I’ve been on a new Rudimental kick – this time, with their single Free featuring one of my new favorite female vocalists Emile Sandé. Even though this track is incredibly fresh off the press it already has a smorgasbord of remixes and no – I’m not complaining! Hip-Hop heavy hitter Nas jumps in the mix and belts out a verse on a fresh version, Deep House maven Maya Jane Coles gives it her signature spin and Jack Beats creates a club worthy anthem. As this track gains remix steam, there’s no telling how big it’ll get but here’s a clue: huge.

For kicks, you can download the original and the Maya Jane Coles remix for free on iTunes – I’d call this an early birthday present for sure!.