Tag: Festival

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

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“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!

[Doing It Right] EDC Weekend in Vegas

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Sin City.

The City of Lights.

The City of Lost Wages.

Whatever you want to call it, Las Vegas definitely has a reputation that proceeds itself.

Funny fact about me and my relationship with Las Vegas: the only tables I’m there for are the type you can dance on.  I’ve never been much of a fan of gambling; Craps, Roulette, Poker, Blackjack, etc are wonderful games one can use as engaging mental tools – beat your friends, foes or simply learn to count the cards.  It’s pretty effing interesting – well, at least to me. As a Statistics major, we had to compute the odds for each Vegas game by hand  and let me tell you – Las Vegas wasn’t made on winners.  That said, I tend to stay away from those types of things – however, when it comes to getting down and enjoying myself, I can (and do) hang with the best of them and make some pretty fabulous memories.

From the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay to the Thunder Down Under at the Excalibur, Las Vegas bustles with literally thousands of daytime activities for each and every personality type .  People are constantly flocking in and leaving in just as much of a hurry – and the great thing about Las Vegas is it’s people from literally everywhere and every walk of life; to boot – Las Vegas is one giant celebration, and a mecca for people watching. There’s fireworks and people in costume, merry drunks parading the street with massive cups of booze and rowdy tables of gamblers.

Major Lazer Sunrise Set EDC Vegas 2011

Between the multitudes of Cirque de Soleil shows with residency in Vegas and the massive amounts of DJs with residencies, there’s always a hot show to see.  And do you know what’s better than just one or the other? Light at Mandalay Bay is the perfect synthesis of both ideals; the club is packed with the latest and greatest in speaker technology, performers straight from Cirque du Soleil and a whole host of DJs with residencies over the Summer months!  Not your thing? Just try one of the other dozens of clubs Vegas has to offer: swank people, sexy clothes and popping beats – they’re everywhere!

And this weekend, it’s going to be off the hook ridicu-crunk-ulous.  Insomniac’s famed Electric Daisy Carnival is entering (what I believe) is it’s 17th year as a festival and after some hiccups in Southern California, had been transitioned to the Motor Speedway in Las Vegas.  Though I’ve attended the festival in the past…six times to be exact…I don’t have any want or need to go anymore; it’s not that the events aren’t massive or amazing, but once you’ve been to a handful of festivals it’s only natural that you’d want to see what else is out there in the world of electronic music festivals.

So what am I doing instead? PARTYING (duh!) and sleeping, too….eventually. But first things first – it’s always smart to prep yourself.  Firstly, if you’re trying to ball on a budget try finding a Groupon or use a discount site to find last minute rooms and load up on your favorite drinks before you get to Vegas.

Second – putting together the fact that it’s summer-summer–summertime and Las Vegas sits in the middle of a desert – the smartest thing you can do for yourself is load up on water and electrolytes.  Sure, drinking is wonderful but save that mess for when the sun goes down.  Trust me when I say being drunk and dehydrated is not cute.   Another fact:   Las Vegas has an altitude of 1000 ft.   That might not mean anything to you right now, but if you’re from Los Angeles or New York – chances are you were born and bred at sea level.  Because of the altitude, be careful while getting crazy with your crew.  Try snagging a water at the bar every other trip and you’ll save yourself from a nasty hangover the next day. Chances are you want to be up in time to snag a lounge chair at any of the gorgeous pools.  Just remember, there really is such a thing as too much fun 😉

To prepare the earbuds for Vegas, I’ve gathered a few mixes from the DJs I’ll be shakin’ my money maker to!

We’ll mostly be hitting up the pool parties at Light – Saturday for a Sunset Set from Skrillex and Sunday for Krewella; then I’ll be heading to my first offical Nightswim at XS for Eric Prydz. I’ve heard a million phenomenal things about it and I’m stoked to finally give it a whirl.  Can’t wait to update everyone when I get back on Monday!

Xoxo

The Audiofiles: The Post-Miami/WMC/UMF Rx

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After being in the Electronic Dance scene for the better part of the last decade, I have one small confession to make: though we get epic onslaughts of DJs, Festivals and all night dance-a-thons in Los Angeles, there’s just something about going to Miami for Winter Music Conference and Ultra that I just have to do.  I’ve had friends go for the past three years and tell me that it was the time of their life – problem is, living in LA, the mecca of most things EDM in America it’s incredibly hard to justify spending all that money for a weekend in Miami.  But, One of my best friends went with her boyfriend and I had the pleasure of living vicariously through them and their friends all weekend; and I have to say, I’m insanely jealous!  Now that I’ve gone through the live streams, the sets, the Instagram feeds and through Facebook I feel the need to take part in this epic debauchery; thank goodness there’s always next year!

There are a few great blogs that capture the moment and the music of festivals in an A+ fashion – specifically, Dancing Astronaut – and they definitely didn’t disappoint when it came to Miami Music Week – here are some of my favorite sets from this past weekend; they’re doing a proper job of getting me through my day so hopefully they’ll do the same for y’all.

Enjoy! ♥

P.S. Looks like dates are already set for Ultra next year – March 28-30; you can bet your bottom bassline I’ll be thre!

Hot Since ’82 Pool Party:

SubFocus:

Umek:

Krewella:

Knife Party:

Bingo Players:

Adventure Club:

Porter Robinson:

Kaskade:

Deadmau5:

Ferry Corsten:

Armin van Buuren:

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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