[Track of the Week] The Polish Ambassador – Girl Control

March 6, 2014March 6, 2014Leave a comment

“I keep it playin’ while some choose to play it safe…”

As I cruised through the lineup for Lightning in a Bottle, a wave of confusion washed over my body – I recognized about two thirds of the entire line-up but the closer I got to the bottom of the bill, the more questions I had: who are you, how did you get here and can you move my head, heart and / or feet? Moby, Phantogram and Little Dragon grace the topline and rightfully so – they’re household names that you actually have the chance of hearing on mainstream radio. Then you work downwards: Amon Tobin, Gold Panda, Simian Mobile Disco, Beats Antique, Gramatik, Chet Faker, Thomas Jack, Random Rab, Desert Dwellers; those names might cause some to scratch their heads, but if you’ve been on the outskirts of indie electro or in the electronic underground – they’re just as familiar, if not more so than the latest work from the ‘headliners’.

Slowly but surely, I’ve been chronicling the artists starting from the bottom right corner and heading up that bright headline of familiar faces. Over the past few years, this process has become more of a tradition – starting with my first Coachella and leading me here – to my second Lightning in a Bottle experience. And now that I’ve gotten aquanited with some of the lesser known acts, let me just ooze with excitement for a second: between the world music out of Natasha Kmeto, the delightful deep house grooves of Marley Carroll and the groovy, jam-band Plantrae – the bottom of the lineup has just as much, if not more talent than the top. And of course, I already have a steady list of favorite artists that I’m delighted to be sharing with the world. The cherry on top of my ice cream sundae is that two artists that I’ve featured in my Rising Star Spotlight series made the line-up – Thomas Jack and Flume, who’ll be performing as half of the duo What So Not.

The original plan was to meander through the artists repository on Soundcloud and throw a few tracks into my LIB Prep Playlist; but then, I put on The Polish Ambassador – and somewhere between the one woman dance party that started in my living room, rocking out in the car and then sharing my favorite jams with my friends, I’d realized that I’d been on a 2 hour kick and wasn’t planning on coming out of it anytime soon. From the funky soul grooves to the ambient, ethereal soundscapes, The Polish Ambassador has effortlessly and successfully crafted music for any occasion. My current favorite called ‘Girl Control’; it’s an oldie, but a goodie – and I’ll bet your bottom dollar you won’t stop booty shakin’ til its over.

As the festival gets closer, I’ll be shining the spotlight on the artists, entertainment, live talks and music that will be filling the hills of the San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, CA. I can’t wait to share what makes this festival so amazing with everyone, and hopefully I’ll be seeing your beautiful faces in the mountains!

[The Audiofiles] Lightning in a Bottle Brings the Noise with Official Lineup

March 4, 2014March 4, 2014Leave a comment

Fresh off the heals of their epic lineup celebrating a decade of live entertainment at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, The Do Lab – the seminal and ever evolving production team out of Los Angeles California, just keeps the hits coming with yet another epic festival announcement: the lineup for Lightning in a Bottle (aka, my favorite festival ever). From Amon Tobin to Kraak & Smaak, Thomas Jack to Desert Dwellers, Kaytranaa to What So Not – the weekend offers a little bit of something for everyone, especially those who distance themselves from the monotony of mainstream EDM. In a page from the book of Sea of Dreams, you’ll still find various remenants of mainstream indie acts like Moby, Little Dragon, Phantogram – but that just leaves more dancing room for the rest of us at the other stages! The majority of the lineup is, and has always been, creative and cultured underground music scene – and that’s precisely what the Do Lab is known for. Take a gander at the playlist they threw together and feast your ears on these delightful beats:

When it comes to music festivals, seeing is believing – and if you’re never been to Lightning in a Bottle before, each and every one of your senses is in for a delectable treat. These videos chronicle last year’s festival out at Lake Skinner in Temecula, California. This year’s festival promises to be bolder and brighter as the event migrates from its home in Southern California to the hills of Bradley, a location equidistant from the overflowing West Coast Music communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco (and you, too, San Diego; don’t think we’ve forgotten about you). The new location boasts more land, and swim-able water; a perk for those of us last year that spent too much time seeking shade in that hot, Summer sun.

[Weekly Dose of Wisdom]

March 3, 2014Leave a comment

Rabbit, rabbit and happy March!

2014 is cruising right along and already there are so many exciting changes in the air – once they’re finally underway, I’ll be spilling all the beans; until then, I wanted to share some quotes and inspiration that are helping me get through the week =)

[Make Your Own] Soy Wax Candles

February 27, 2014February 27, 2014Leave a comment

Final Product: Lavender Pearberry Soy Wax Candle

“A thousand candles can be lighted from the flame of one candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness can be spread without diminishing that of yourself.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Somewhere between the warm, inviting aromas and the twinkles of light that haphazardly stretch across the room – I’ve fallen in love with candles of all sizes, shapes, colors and scents. Being a natural pack-rat, I kept most of the empty glassware and converted them into useful, household items like storage for makeup brushes or loose granola or rice from the market. A few months ago when the Holiday Season was hot on our tails, I got my D-I-Y on and turned some of the empty mason jars into sparkling candles to use with tea lights and I absolutely loved the effect it had on the ambiance of my apartment. The other week as I was deep in the throws of another internet binge I had another ah-ha! moment for the mason jars. Instead of using them to house candles, I could literally reuse old glass containers for new candles with handpicked aromas and unique colors; genius!

If you’re like me and you’re a candle fanatic that’s willing to spend over $10 for a gloriously scented Yankee candle. From Cupcake to Pumpkin, Fresh Rain to Clean Laundry – I swear there’s a candle scent for literally everyone on this planet. But then I got to thinking, why keep spending an absorbatent amount of money when I could simply make them myself from the old glassware! The great thing about homemade candles is that they make excellent giftables – from stocking stuffers to birthday presents right on down to personalized bridal shower favors; you name it, there’s a great occasion for candles. And, to boot – it’s an incredibly fun, inexpensive hobby – especially if you have a healthy collection of reusable glassware that you don’t feel like drinking out of. If not, pop your head into a flea market or vintage store and hunt through their glassware – old glass comes in beautifully opaque colors and all shapes and sizes, perfect for custom candles!

Candle Making Starter Kit from Country Lane

There are many ways to compile a complete candle-making set; my preferred method for most things employs the GTS attitude. So, after some searching I found a few websites for the individual pieces that go into candle making (e.g. a wick, the metal clips that attach to the bottom of your container, soy wax, color chips and fragrances). Hands down, my favorite site to use is Candle Science – they have any and everything you need to DIY your own candles, including a vast array of delicious scents; finally, aromas like Pumpkin Spice and Candy Cane can be within reach even during Summer! Or, if you want to go down a little easier path for your first time to make sure you get the essentials, hunt for a great starter package like this one I found on Amazon from Country Lane.

Soundtrack

Because I’ll be repurposing old objects tonight, I thought getting some Do Lab into my life would be an excellent move; they always inspire me to achieve greater, do more and become the best version of myself – which, with a stellar soundtrack, is more than possible.

So necessary: Pearberry Fragrance Oil + Reusable Glassware I’ve Been Collecting

Purple, Brown, Yellow, Cinnamon Red, Blue, Christmas Green – you name it, you can color it!

Supplies

– 5 Lbs of Soy Wax Flakes (they go fast!)

-Metal Pouring Pot or Coffee Canister

–Wicks with metal bottom (individually or as a set)

–Mason Jars or Reusable Glassware

-30 ml Candle Fragrance

–Double Boiler System

–Stirring stick or spoon

–Color Dye Chips (Optional and Awesome)

–Wick Stickum to set the wicks to the bottom of the glassware (Optional and Awesome)

–Candle Thermometer (Optional and Awesome)

Pre-Tabbed Candle Wicks – uber recommend

My Ghetto-Rig Double Boiler; hey, it works!

Instructions

-Last night, I got to try something new as I set up the double boiler system in my kitchen – but it’s easy as pie and such a good trick: take your large saucepan and fill it with water and set it on the stove; fill your metal can or pouring pot with a few pounds of wax flakes and turn the dial to medium heat.

-A watched pot never boils, but watched soy wax melts pretty quick so make sure you have your stirring spoon handy. Before you move on, you’ll want to have all the wax melted and at about 185°

-To add color, wait until the wax has completely melted then add one or two dye chips depending on how rich you prefer your color

-When was is all melted and at the appropriate temperature, add 4mL of fragrance and take off of double boiler – the fragrance will burn off it you heat it!

Soy Wax as it melts and blends with the Lavender Dye Chip

– To ensure that the soy wax fills the glassware completely, submerge the glass for a minute or two in hot water and bring the temperature closer to that of the wax

– Get your wick out and attach it to the bottom of your glassware

– Once the wax has reached 125°, slowly pour into desired glass and let cool overnight

My first homemade candle!

[Tech Tuesday] 5 Tips and Tricks for the iPhone 5S

February 25, 2014February 25, 2014Leave a comment

Though I wouldn’t say I have a hard time with being wrong, I certainly enjoy being right a lot more frequently – and when it comes to technology, I’ve always felt that I’ve had a keen eye for the latest and greatest toys and gadgets. For the last five years in Los Angeles, I’ve bounced between LG and HTC Smart Phones – but have consistently run into problems with the OS restarting, and that’s in addition to my contacts being deleted (on multiple occasions). For the last two years, I’ve been a had an HTC Rezound and what I once found novel, amazing and innovative was suddenly slow, redundant and poorly integrated – especially when compared to my daily use on my former deactivated iPhone 4s that I was using as a Wirelessly enabled PDA.

The fact of the matter is that I’m a heavy duty phone user with quick paws and a curious mind, and my Droid simply wasn’t cutting it anymore for my everyday inquiries. For all the reasons and times that I defended my Android in all of it’s customizable glory, the truth is that in the five years that I’ve owned a smart phone I’ve never once decided to root my Droid; in retrospect, I did jailbreak an iPhone or two. So, when I had the chance to upgrade my phone plan early with Verizon two weeks ago I more than jumped at the chance for something different. Since then, I’ve managed to migrate from an avid Android activist to a full on iPhone enthusiast – equipped with simple screen shots, emoticons and voice commands.

To make the transition as smooth as possible, I’ve been scavenging the internet in search of the latest, greatest and most amazing tips and tricks for the 5s and, admittedly, I’ve had a blast doing it. Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite hacks!

5 Tricks + Tips for the iPhone 5s

1. Camera: Burst Mode

There are 3 ways to enter ‘Burst Mode’ – press and hold the shutter key, or either of the volume keys on your phone for a succession of snaps,saved as a burst. The phone will pick the best of the group to display, but you have to option of browsing through all of them.

2. Slide iMessages Left for Time-Stamp

For a cleaner look, the time-stamp was eliminated from the standard text message view – however, if you want to reveal what time you sent your last message, simply slide the screen to the left.

3. Enable Airdrop for Easy File Sharing

When you get to your home screen, slide up for the ‘Toggle’ bar and second from bottom you’ll see a line for ‘Airdrop’ – you can enable this for your contacts, or anyone in the room with an Apple device. As a bonus, Airdrop works exceptionally well with the Apple TV device – presenting your iPhone screen on whatever device the ATV is plugged in to.

4. Customized Alert Vibrations

Not that this was in any way necessary (IMO, at least), but with iOS7 we now have the ability to set customized text, email and alert vibrations – that way, even if your phone’s on silent you’ll be aware of important calls, reminders and meetings. The phone comes with some standard ones – like ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘S.O.S.’, and below this you have the ability to create your own: SETTINGS > SOUNDS | Select the Alert | VIBRATION | CREATE NEW VIBRATION

5. Add an Emoji Keyboard

Okay, granted this isn’t anything novel for past iPhone users – but as an Android user, I was completely amped to finally use some emoticons on Twitter, Instagram and in my text messages. As with all things iPhone, additional keyboards are easy to add. Go to the App Store to download something that strikes your fancy, then head to: SETTINGS > GENERAL > KEYBOARD > KEYBOARDS > ADD NEW KEYBOARD

Last, but not least – I leave you with my new favorite late night habit: Fun with Siri. Back in the day, when Apple updated their Desktop OS – they’d embed bits of code for the heavy duty computer users to discover that came to be known as ‘Easter Eggs‘ In case you’re not aware, Apple Easter Eggs are to adults what Candy Easter Eggs are to little kids – fun, exciting, and hidden in the most amusing locations. Unfortunately for tried and true Apple computer fanatics like myself, Steve Jobs did away with the Easter Egg back with OS 9. Thankfully, there are still engineers out in Cupertino that held onto the creative, human aspect of the job and it shows in the most amusing of ways – for example, SIRI. When I was scavenging the interwebs in search of new and awesome things to do with my 5s, I stumbled upon an amazing Reddit thread with some amazing questions for the

[Track of the Week] Flume x Hermitude – Hyperparadise (GANZ Flip)

February 24, 2014Leave a comment

Hermitude - HyperParadise

One of my life mottoes is ‘Never a Dull Moment‘, and this definitely translates over to my taste in music. There’s nothing I detest more than the hum-drum boredom that comes hand in hand repetition, simplicity and redundancy across a song, album or a career and because of this – I’ve single-handedly ruined songs for myself by overplaying them in an incredibly short amount of time. I feel the pull of non-Western scales and non-Traditional forms of music like Tipper, Culprate and Shpongle; in moderation, I even find dissonance comforting. As with everything else in my world, layers of complexity compel me to discover about a person – and doubly so for an artist.

When I discovered Flume a few months back, the depths of his talent still escaped me – but now, I find myself impatiently waiting to see new tricks this 22 year old phenom from Australia has in store for the world. Between his bewitching, glitch infused electronic basslines, poignant lyricists and downtempo soundscapes, Flume continually pushes boundaries blurs the lines between musical genres to create what I think of as Future Music, and sits plush in the middle of a Venn Diagram with Griz and Gramatik on one side and Emancipator and Bonobo on the other. Last year, there were two huge releases from Flume – his self titled, debut album as well as the ‘Drop the Game’ EP with Chet Faker. And thanks to Hypem, I’m finding unreleased mixes hidden deep in the interwebs from back in 2012 that I’m simply falling head over heals with.

The original version of ‘Hyperparadise’ is from Hermitude, an Australian group with roots in both hip-hop and electronica, and came out back in ’12.

Between the tropical sound of the steel drums, a wobbling deep house bass line and seductive breakdown – it’s easy to see why Flume chose this track to chop up and break down in a way only he knows how.

Finally, GANZ got his little fingers on the single during a remix competition and crafted what I firmly believe is one of the best songs of the past year. His rework of Flume’s remix embellishes all the glitches I love, and infuses it with a trip-hop sound meant for bumping at loud volumes.