The Audiofiles: We Go Deep

May 20, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

For what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend, in true Amanda fashion – never a dull moment. Not like I need one – nor am I complaining – just saying, I’m exhausted and need some tunage to match my mood! Thank goodness I’ve been collective some stellar deep house tracks over the last few weeks to keep me in a state of trance; hope y’all dig them as much as I do!

Tracklist

Maya Jane Coles ft Karin Park – Everything
Mark Knight – Your Love
Hot Natured ft Anabel Englund – Reverse Skydiving
Disclosure ft Eliza Doolittle – You & Me
Hot Natured & Ali Love – Benediction
Ali Love ft Kali – Emperor
Steed Lord – Remember Me (Russ Chimes Remix)
Duke Dumont – Need You 100% (SKREAMix)
Pete Tong ft S.Y.F. – Dawn (Blond:ish Remix)
MANIK ft Jeremy Glenn – Parasol (Climbers Remix)
Russ Chimes – Back 2 You
Storm Queen – Look Right Through (MK Dub III)
HAIM – Don’t Save Me (Cyril Hahn Remix)
Nate Dogg – Gangster Walk (SION’s Hipster Lean Remix)
Disclosure vs MNEK – White Noise (Full Crate & FS Green Remix)
AlunaGeorge – You Know You Like It (Bondax Remix)
FKJ – So Much To Me
Solange – Losing You (Cyril Hahn Remix)
Hot Since 82 – Like You
Lee Foss & MK Ft Anabel Englund – Electricity
Russ Chimes – Turn Me Out
Betoko vs Mario Basanov vs Vidis – Control The Suspend

The Audiofiles: Lightning in a Bottle Preparation, Round 1

May 1, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

Lightning in a Bottle 2012 Timelapse by Aaron Rogosin presented by The Do LaB from The Do LaB on Vimeo.

Over the course of my time in Los Angeles, I’ve become a firm believer that if you don’t push the boundaries of your comfort zone – you’ll never truly understand how far it goes.

Retrospectively, this can all be traced back to my mystical, magical, eye opening experiences at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2006 and I’ve simply refused to look back ever since. Over the course of the last eight years, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the following epically amazing festivals – Monster Massive (back when it was still a collaboration between GoVentures and Insomniac, mind you), HARD Haunted, Together As One, The Love Festival, How Sweet It Is, Nocturnal Wonderland, HARD Summer, Beyond Wonderland, HARD 13 and Coachella. Suffice it to say, the folks over at The Do Lab, Insomniac Events and HARD Presents know what the hell they’re doing. But, after enough time the events, lineups and people watching blurs together until they’re more or less indecipherable – and that’s how I knew it was time for a change.

The Do LaB started throwing the event as a private birthday bash back in 2000 – it wasn’t until 2004 that they transitioned the evening from a private event into a festival open to the public. Though they’ve taken a few hiatuses, The Do LaB brought Lightning in a Bottle to the Live Oak Campgrounds in Santa Barbara in ’06 and ’08 while I was still in college. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I still wish I’d have known about this amazing community of tremendous artists and beautiful souls back then, but I know for a fact that my current appreciation for both runs deeper now that it possibly could have then.

In the strangest sense, LIB has always been my unicorn – my unattainable vision of the real life Venn Diagram where beauty, music and nature intersect. In 2010, I had a ticket but couldn’t go due to extenuating health issues; 2011 was my Best Friend’s bachelorette party and last year I’d simply given up on the notion that I wanted to go. In 2012, the EDM community watched as our brand exploded into the mainstream – at first, it was liberating: the masses were dancing to our beat! But after a few months, if you weren’t hit over the head with redundant, blase and boring festival lineups then I’d love to know what rock you were hiding under and if there’s space for me. No joke, you could essentially predict the Progressive House, Trap and Dubstep lineups at each and every festival. So we got to thinking, if you don’t like your scene – chance it and change it; so we slowly began looking into other opportunities to grow and thrive – low and behold, Lightning in a Bottle popped back onto our radar. By late February, Early Bird tickets were released at a price that my friends and I couldn’t refuse and without a lineup to catch us, we took a leap of faith.

Accuse me of being an urban hippie all you’d like, but one of the reasons that I’ve been gravitating towards Lightning in a Bottle is that simply put: it’s much more than a festival. Lightning in a Bottle boasts a community of people that want to leave the world a better place and a group of artists willing to gather the collective unconscious and proudly put it on display. Beyond simply being about music, camping and the friendships you form – Lightning in a Bottle is a personal exploration into your psyche, ego and superego; you have to set aside your propensity to be focused on the material possessions at your finger tips for a desire to be connected to the metaphysical world around you. There are there are ways to better every aspect of your life with workshops on yoga, meditation, artistic expression, sustainability and more. My friends that have gone before say it’s like a miniature Burning Man, and if so – I’m sure I’m in for the ride of my lifetime.

There’s a little something to get off my chest about LIB – I haven’t been camping since I was 5. So when I realized that I’ll be camping for fives days in the middle of Temecula, I got a tad nervous…but when the lineup was finally released, my heart skipped at least three beats – so many amazing artists that I have the honor of seeing! I’ve gathered some of the best podcasts and mixes from around the web to get in the mood for the festival; for the next few months I’ll be posting, raving and getting myself mentally, physically and spiritually prepared for one of the most exciting journeys of my 20’s.

Music Monday: Mixin’ It Up

April 1, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

One of the unfortunately side effects of a stellar weekend – or in my case, past week – is something I like to call “Hot Mess Mondays”: your brain might be functioning, you might’ve had enough sleep; but chances are that it’s not, you didn’t and you’re currently paying for it handsomely. Though the weather wasn’t as stellar as we would like, we realize that living in LA beggars certainly can’t be choosers; and spoiled weather brats can’t expect it to be sunny all the time! There’s a great quote that says that you can’t get a rainbow without a little rain and I more than ascribe to that train of thought. This past weekend turned into a typical, friend fueled, debauchery filled weekend for me and just for y’all, I’ll let the kitten out of the bag – I’m definitely having one of those days!

On Tuesday night I cruised down to Orange County to hang with my good friends and Beatnet co-founders and hit up some Dusky action at Focus.

For a Tuesday night in the OC that little place can get pretty rockin’!

Apparently Dusky is two guys? The more you know! Lol.

Dusky’s Essential Mix:

The best thing about the Dusky show was that I took Wednesday off so I could enjoy the show in it’s entirety – and a week later found out that one of my closest and dearest friends and her home crew from Portland were flying into San Diego that same week and had a few days free; serendipity, indeed! Every time I kick it with these kids I have the absolute time of my life, and Wednesday was no different. We drank, frolicked, caught up and got weird: success!

My bitch =)

Breakfast of champions 😉

A-Team.

And that was just the mid-week festivities: over the weekend, there was definitely some bottomless brunching and boozing going down during the day, Blond:ish that night and Culrpit’s Season Opener at the Standard yesterday with Miguel Campbell. So yeah, I’m wiped out!

#SweatbandSaturday
We don’t fuck around.

The lovely Blond:ish

Blond:ish from Playa Del Carmen:

And yesterday, we braved some rain at the Standard to kick off the Culprit Pool Parties – the weather was beyond lame but we tried to make the best of it! Popped some bottles, caught up with some friendly and familiar faces and made some new cabana friends!

A little mix from the main man of the day, Miguel Campbell:

Making it rain > rain.

Even though my taste in music is pretty diverse, over the past month I’ve had more than my share of Deep, Tech and Minimal house shows – which are great for enjoying the atmosphere and breathing in the music, but going out to Exchange to see Ferry Corsten and Dim Mak studios for some Drum & Bass Hospital Records style I realized how much I miss the thumping bass, sick drops and the electric energy coming from the dance floor.

What do you get when you put three of the top Trance DJs and Producers in the world in one room? You get Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten, New World Punx at Armin van Buuren’s ASOT 600 in Madison Square Garden. Their name, which is a play on Schulz’s “New World” and Corsten’s “Punk’d” is like a 3 on the scale of 1 to awesome DJ names but that’s besides the point; I watched a bit of the live stream and was hooked immediately.

SubFocus rocking the stage at Ultra:

This new track from Boys Noise is hauntingly gorgeous:

Swedish House Mafia might be done for* but that doesn’t mean they’re done individually; Steve Angello graced the BBC Radio 1 decks this past week with an epic essential mix:

Duke Dumont is one of my favorite new Deep House producers (yeah, I tried being over the genre but some stuff it just stays with you…) and his last two hits “The Giver” and “Need U 100%” are phenomenally produced and expertly mastered. This remix is no different:

Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy Radio is a surefire way to get me through my Fridays, and this past week they had the House legend Sasha as their guest:

Happy Tunes-day: The Trickle Down Effect of Music Festivals

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013Leave a comment

There are so many great aspects of the Los Angeles EDM community that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one – or in my case, just a few. Not only are we home base for an epic amount of talent but artists, DJs and producers alike flock to our city of angels to pursue fame, fortune or in many cases: just a little bit of sunshine.

Insomniac Events – Beyond Wonderland

This past weekend, Insomniac Events – LA’s premiere EDM production and promotion company – threw their fourth annual event Beyond Wonderland. Back in the day, when I started out in the scene, the Spring fling event was ‘How Sweet It Is‘; I’m beyond pleased to report that the website still works and I can still think about how damn epic the lineup was. But, that’s neither here nor there: one of the best things about DJs and Producers swinging through my stomping grounds on the regular is that they typically play smaller, local shows around the dates of the festival.

If I had better knowledge of the new venue that was being used for Beyond, chances are I would’ve gone – it looked absolutely luscious, almost like a combination of Lighting in a Bottle and Coachella; I’m definitely keeping my eye out for more festivals there!

Anyhow, the lineup was good – but not good enough for me – almost all the artists I’ve seen within the past year and simply wasn’t impressed with the breadth of new talent; however, of the artists that I’d seen – half of them were playing at shows around LA before and after the festival. Maya Jane Coles and Maceo Plex gave us a dose of deep house Friday night at Exchange and Hospital Records brought their signature Drum & Bass sound to Dim Mak Studios for some Sunday Funday action.

Maya Jane Coles

Kicking off Friday right was Adam Auburn, one of our local house loves – I’m stoked that his set is already up, definitely a highlight of the evening!

One of my favorite new female DJs on the scene is Maya Jane Coles; I know she’s been around for a few years but I didn’t discover her until April of 2012 thanks to some amazing friends and their fabulous collection of music. Her Essential mix is definitely worth a listen:

The night rounded out with Maceo Plex, another deep house fav:

High Contrast

Sunday night’s Drum and Bass lineup from Hospital Records was unreal – and I was excited because I’d never seen any of the acts. As a huge fan of EP’s from D&B artists, I have to admit that there’s nothing quite like seeing a live set so if you get the chance, takeit.

Fred V & Grafix:

High Contrast:

Camo & Krooked:

Camo & Krooked

Wednesday Dance Break

January 23, 2013January 25, 2013Leave a comment

So, here we are – Wednesday of a fabulous, four day work week; half begun and half done at the same time, it doesn’t get much better than this. We’ve been blessed with phenomenal weather for the past week and my time has been consumed with great company and amazing food; believe you me, there are absolutely no complaints from this little kitten!

Since we had Monday off, I only need to be in the office one day this week – leave it to my coworkers to keep it interesting though: I got in this morning to a stripped down desk; rut roh! Apparently, five coworkers were playing ‘Musical Cubes’ right before the three day weekend and somewhere, someone had the bright idea to move all of my stuff too. Now that the dust has settled and I’m back on the computers grinding it out, I definitely need something to get my heart beating, feet moving and fingers tapping – so thank goodness I have a couple kickass mixes to keep me going today.

The first mix is from Mister Tommie Sunshine – who lately has caused quite a stir in the EDM world with his recent article on the growth of EDM in the music community, as well as the industry at large. Originally, the article was published in the Huffington Post but since then it’s made its way around the interwebs with lightning fast speed. Known for smashing basslines and eardrums, Tommie Sunshine pays homage to his Chicago House roots and lays down the funk; he even includes a few tracks from a local favorite in LA: the Hot Natured crew!

Tracklisting:

Duke Dumont – The Giver
Debora & Hannah Holland – Fight [Citizen Remix]
Dan Beaumont & Terry Farley – Fire
Rudimental feat. John Newman & Alex Clare – Not Giving In [Huxley Remix]
Jamie Jones – Road To The Studio [Fly Mix]
Northbrook – Dance [Tommie Sunshine Dub]
Jamie Jones – No Rush
Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans [Omid 16B Remix]
Aphex Twin – Windowlicker [Tiger Stripes Remix]
Sidney Charles – House Lesson
Jesse Rose – Love The Feeling High feat. Ed Weathers
Deichkind – Leider Geil [Solomun Dub]
Deboa & Hannah Holland – Skentello [Donewrong Miami Mix]
Ts7 – Heartlight (Polygon)
Fake Blood – All In The Blink
Duke Dumont – Need U (100%) feat. A*M*E & MNEK
Chromatics – Ceremony feat. Ida No

This second mix is from Wolfgang Gartner and was released by good people of Dancing Astronaut earlier today; every once in a while, Wolfgang really surprises me. Granted, I’ve actually never enjoyed a show of his live – but I love the production value in all of his tracks, the liberties he takes in his unreleased material and the constant evolution of him as an artist. After listening to this lovely little 90’s throwback mix I’m a little more inclined than usual to give him another chance:

Up in the number three spot, is my main DJ crush of the past year: the man, the myth, the legend, the Lee Burridge! I’ve been to three separate All Day I Dream events and each was better than the last; I’m so excited to see what he does next – but in the meantime, check out this mix from the Robot Heart bus at Burning Man 2011.

Today’s 4pm, in the homestretch tunes, are brought to you by the letters W&W. They blew me away when I saw them close for Cosmic Gate last month, and their weekly podcast – Mainstage- is what gets me through my morning runs: you just can’t help but move!

Music Monday: BLOND:ISH – The Perfect Frequency

January 14, 2013January 15, 2013Leave a comment

By just browsing through my recent music postings on the blog, my Facebook and through Twitter – I can tell that this Deep House kick I’ve been on is much, much more than just a seasonal shift in the headphones. This new found…dare I say “relationship” with the deeper, darker side of House Music started at the beginning of 2012. I’ve toyed around with various DJs and Producers, trying to find where exactly in the genre I fit – and finally, after a lot of soul searching and bass pounding, I think I figured it out.

The great thing about being friends with so many people in the music industry is that they continually give me fresh new DJs and music to get into. Record Labels like Get Physical – which boasts phenomenal artists like Heidi, Catz n Dogz, Audiofly and Damian Lazarus, Noir and Kompakt; DJs like Climbers, Maya Jane Coles, Infinity Ink, Claude VonStroke, Russ Yallop, Maxxi Soundsystem. These guys are what gets my feet movin’ and groovin’; what moves my body, mind and soul as one. It’s like the perfect hat trick.

A few weeks ago I was on a huge Finnebassen and Climbers kick – as I searched through videos and soundcloud posts, I discovered a sexy little group called Blond:ish that I just can’t get enough of.

Originally hailing from Canada, the fiesty and fun duo of Vivie-Ann and Anstacia have made their mark on the industry with their delicious sounds, sultry vocals and A+ attitude on the decks. Just take a listen to their collaborations with the ever soulful Climbers, or their mixtapes from the Robot Heart bus at Burning Man and I bet you’ll love them just as much as I do.

http://youtu.be/bf5O9fklyBY

It’s just my luck that they’ll be playing down in Orange County on 1/22 at FOCUS, which is held at the adorable Tapas of Orange County every Tuesday. I’ll definitely be in attendance; y’all should as well!

Music Monday: We Go Deep

January 7, 2013Leave a comment

Could you imagine if your whole week was essentially made of out Mondays?! That sounds like one of Dante’s seven layers of hell to me! The one great about Mondays – when they’re over, they’re over! The unfortunate part of this is that it’s not quite over for us West Coast-Best Coast’ers. But conveniently – we have a few more hours to go until that 5 o’clock happy hour starts and I have a few hours of my favorite sultry and savory deep house tracks to share.

I hope they’re as good for y’all as they are for me; enjoy!