Tag: EDM

Wednesday Watercooler

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Time is seemingly just skipping on by this year.  I swear just a few weeks ago I was lamenting how it was already summer and now – all of a sudden, fall is upon us. If you take the time and think about it, the older you get the faster time respectively seems to fly -when we’re younger, we have a lot of ‘novel‘ first experiences that stick their roots in us as monumental; as we get older, there are less and less of those unique milestones in our lives.  Think about the first long drive you took – I bet it took forever, but on the way back didn’t it seem like a breeze?  But if you’re one of those people that’s dragging their cute butt through the week, keep reading and maybe this will kick things into a higher gear.

Science

Amidst a considerable amount of controversy, UK based Channel 4 made a daring (and entertaining) move by observing participants under the effect of the recreational club drug MDMA.  The study was designed by David Nutt and Valerie Curran – respectively professors of neuropsychopharmacology (say that five times fast) at Imperial College London and psychology at University College London.  This study, much like a previous study on psilocybin, was conducted both in hopes of observing brain changes via fMRI and in the treatment of mental illnesses like depression and PTSD.  Though not all volunteers will be shown on television, amongst the 26 were Evan Harris, a former member of Parliament, Lionel Shriver, a writer, and actor Keith Allen.  If you’re like me, you won’t want to miss this – watch live this today (9/26) and Thursday (9/27) here.

Football

I can’t say that I’m a huge football fan,  actually it’s one of my least favorite sports – next to the nonsports of professional golf and cheerleading. How-to-the-ever, I know enough football fanatics – including my best friends and parents, that I  definitely can empathize with the current referee situation.   On Monday, the Green Bay Packers faced off with the Seattle Seahawks in what ended up being an unfortunate loss by the CheeseHeads due to some Bone Headed officiating by replacement referees.

The NFL Officials are currently on strike – asking the league to provide thousands of dollars a year toward their pension plan.  Per usual, the owners are being obstinate – hiring abysmal replacement referees and doing the best they can to keep the 2012-13 season in play.  Also to note, the less clothed and talented Lingerie Football League had apparently fired some of the same replacement referees from their own league.

Entertainment

Following in the stellar footsteps of Daft Punk, Skrillex is venturing out of his dubstepbox and doing huge things for himself.  Currently on his plate is the score for the upcoming James Franco movie the Spring Breakers as well as the upcoming Disney movie, Wreck It Ralph.  He’s catching some considerable flack from parts of the EDM world but I think it’s actually pretty neat.  I can’t think of many DJs, beyond Feed Me and potentially the ‘Mau5, that would excel at doing the score for the movie so major Kudos to Skrillex.  And to boot, he gets his own cameo alongside John C Reilly and Sarah Silverman; the cameo isn’t in the trailer below but no matter -it still gets me excited!

Technology

Google Maps is at it again; no, this isn’t an anti-iPhone post – rather, it’s me getting excited about an innovative look at geography. They’ve paired up with the Catlin Seaview Survey to provide amazing underwater maps like the one below.  We all could use a vacation, and now you don’t have to leave your desk to take one – head on over right now to take a gander at sea turtles, coral, schools of fish and sunsets from exotic locations like Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii.

Sunday Soundcheck

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I’ve spent some quality time with my cats and my music this weekend; it’s been both nice and necessary. If you have air conditioning in your apartment (and it works) consider yourself very lucky right now! This weather has been ridiculous lately – maybe upper 90s for the past few weeks at the very least. Which is fine and dandy during the weekends, but during the week it’s just cruel and unusual punishment to have the beach so close yet so far.

Basically every day I dream about sitting near some calming body of water with some great friends and good music. Well, I’ve accomplished half the battle; enjoy this hour long playlist of some of my favorite mid-summer, sunny Sunday sounds!

Tracklist

  1. Eats Everything – Jagged Edge
  2. Flashmob – Need in Me
  3. Aaliyah – If Your Girl Only Knew (Finnebassen Remix)
  4. Martin Roth – Beautiful Life
  5. Finnebassen – Touching Me (Dj Christodoulos Remix)
  6. Jamie Woon – Lady Luck (Luciano Remix)
  7. Kameleon – Confetti
  8. Green Velvet – Preacher Man (2012 Edit)
  9. Umek vs Traumer – She Never Wants to Come Down (Tocadisco Remix)
  10. Funkagenda ft. Big Ed – Afterclub (Riva Starr Remix)

Music Monday: Choose Your Own Adventure

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Ah, yes – I’m one of those strange, strange people who actually enjoys that first day of the work week.

First, it only happens once a week which is so lovely – I think if we had more of them I might suddenly understand where the rest of you are coming from.

Secondly, that feeling 5 o’clock feeling when the day is done and under your belt; there’s no better day to appreciate that than a Monday.

I usually spend part of my day reminiscing about the good fun I’ve had over the weekend: editing and posting pictures, reaching out to new friends, and tracking down any tonal treasures that got stuck in my head over the weekend.

I’m not sure who came up with the idea that Monday‘s always had to be manic – or that a little mania on Monday was a bad thing;I had an incredibly relaxing weekend (all things considered, being me and all…) and I’m feeling pretty mellow at the moment. But regardless of where your weekend dropped you off, I have some jams, new and old, to pick you up and chill you out.  Each playlist is about half an hour, so why don’t you treat yourself to some fun on your lunch break and take a listen?  After all, it is a Monday – you deserve it!

This one is for the gogetters and anyone looking to pick it up a notch or rock it out:

Tracklist:

  1. Dog Blood – Next Order
  2. Adventure Club ft Kai – Need Your Heart (Candyland Remix)
  3. Sub Focus ft Kenzie May – Falling Down (xKore Remix)
  4. Bingo Players – L’Amour
  5. Zedd ft. Matthew Koma – Spectrum (A-Trak + Clockwork Remix)
  6. Gareth Emery – Tokyo (Pixel Cheese Remix)

And for everyone else – maybe your hangover is too loud today, or you and the snooze button just became best friends this morning; either way, I’m sure you’d love to pull a Grandma’s Boy and take a nap under your desk.  In lieu of doing that, and potentially getting fired – why not listen to this mix and try and make it through the day.

Tracklist:

  1. Finnebassen – Touching Me
  2. Jessie Ware – Running (Disclosure Remix)
  3. Blackmill – Miracle
  4. Sunlounger ft Zara Taylor – Found (Downtempo Edit)
  5. Frank Ocean – Pyramids

Doing it Right: HARD Summer 2012

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One of the best parts about living in Los Angeles (and trust me when I say there are a lot of great things about living here), is that there is never a shortage of fun to be had – especially in the summer months.  The sun is bouncing down on the city, and the city bounces back with some crazy fun parties located anywhere and everywhere: hotel rooftops, parking garage rooftops, warehouses in the depths of downtown, and sometimes even a Tiki Boat!

Just last weekend, HARD Fest hosted HARD Summer at LA State Historic Park in downtown Los Angeles.  What’s typically a relatively quiet sanctuary in the middle of a bustling city was transformed into a menagerie of colors, glowing objects, and kandi covered ravers.   The festival lit up the downtown skyline for two days from the early evening deep into the night and boasted top notch acts in multiple genres.  A definite perk of HARDsummer was that riding the Metro was free; no one had to worry about traffic, parking or who would be tasked with driving us home.

First, let’s get real for a second, and I love getting real: the lineup for the first night was less than impressive; however it was also a lot less packed.  The crowd was easier to navigate and even though I lost my phone, I didn’t lose my friends. Secondly, let me tell those of you that have yet to attend a multi day festival: it is aggressive!  Admittedly, my exhaustion after day one was mostly due to running from stage to stage in search of a danceable beat – but there were a few DJs that made my heart happy and made faces in the crowd melt.
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