The long awaited Electronic Music Awards, originally slated for 2016, are finally just around the corner – and we couldn’t be more intrigued for what’s to come: the celebration of musical tastemakers, creatives, executives and entertainment visionaries across eleven awards. Taking place in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles at the Willow Studios, the fabled Electronic Music Awards are slated for Thursday, September 21st from 7:30 to 10:30 PST.
For your chance to join the fun, RSVP here.Simultaneously live streamed through SiriusXM and Twitter, the Electronic Music Awards is not your mother’s award show: like all things with dance music, it’s a party! There’s no sitting on the dancefloor – in fact, this a dancing room only affair featuring no long winded acceptance speeches, and no breaks – except for when they’re accompanied by some funky beats, that will emanate from various corners of the venue.
Paying homage to the industrial origins of techno music, the Electronic Music Awards will showcase the Detroit acts on the Detroit Dock, a unique outdoor space, with a DJ booth situated on a loading dock. Featuring multiple generations of Motor City’s artists, you’ll be able to catch genre godfather Juan Atkins, legendary DJ Delano Smith, Robert Hood performing as Floorplan (Live) and The Saunderson Brothers, are carrying the torch for their father Kevin Saunderson and a new generation of Detroit artists.Other notable performances for the evening include the first US performance from the UK based OG’s Orbital, Moby, Autograf, Kidnap Kid, Madeaux, Gold Fish and so many more.
However, a few formative questions still remain: with the amount of commercialism pumped into the industry in the last few years, exactly what facets of dance music will be hitting syndicated television, how much homage will the underground dance culture, community and artists behind it be paid and how will underrepresented demographics like women and minorities within dance music be displayed? one look at the artist list and you’ll realize that there aren’t any female performers slated for the evening, so, will there be any female award winners – or at least any females in the running?
Check back next week for a full event recap ❤
For more on the Electronic Music Awards Show, head to their social media channels:
Back in 2015 when Russ Liquid brought Andrew Block onto the stage at the Gem and Jam Festival to debut his side-project ‘Stupid Americans’, it was evident that their musical bond extended far past what had manifested in front of us on stage. Between our elated eardrums and happy, dancing feet – we were fully immersed in musical bliss, swimming sweetly through sonic waves. In a musical culture that more often than not rewards pre-programmed sound and demands levels of perfection that only pre-planned sets can deliver, it’s refreshing to experience the ever-evolving complexity of intelligent music that stems from live instrumentation and musical improvisation; the Russ Liquid continually dishes out just that. As we walked away from Gem and Jam, we couldn’t stop gushing about how their sound, and their inspired, live collaborative process could blossom into something bigger than either performer could have imagined. Fast forward into 2016 and a year and a half later, The Russ Liquid Test quartet is actively shaping the sound of the future.
The collaborative brainchild of Andrew Block, AJ Hall, Alvin Ford and none other than Russ Liquid himself – The Russ Liquid Test is in a genre all of its own: an avant-garde mix of Future Jazz and Livetronica, seamlessly pulling elements from Big Band, Funk and Soul. They made their festival debut at this past Lightning in a Bottle, winning over the dancefloor with a Special Sunday set. The Russ Liquid Test’s debut EP 1984 is set to drop on November 11th on Griz’s imprint All Good Records. Until then – we have a few salacious new singles to chew on and digitally digest.
Their debut track is the soulful, gritty ‘Honesty’, a single that both pays musical homage to the greats of the New Orleans Music Scene while manifesting their ethos for a new era of music. Moody and atmospheric, the vocals pull at the listener’s heartstrings with a slow, seductive quality that’s echoed by the Big Band sound of vibrant brass. Joining The Russ Liquid Test on the track are Alvin Ford Jr of Dumpstaphunk and Pretty Lights notoriety on drums, and a horn section fully equipped with New Orleans players like Eric Bloom of Lettuce and the Aaron Neville Band. “Honesty” is available for streaming and download.
“We wanted to create something that embodies both the modern sound of electronic music with the rich heritage of New Orleans music. so we mashed up electronic production with the sounds of New Orleans second line in a very unique way that is both future and vintage.” – Russ Liquid
The second single off of 1984 is the Hip Hop heavy ‘Land of the Free‘ with none other than Mr. Lif. Pairing poignant lyrics on our current social and economic climate against the wailing, rally cries of the guitar – ‘Land of the Free‘ capitalizes on a cross-pollination of genres, expertly fusing Rap, Jazz and Live Electronica into a musical masterpiece.
For more on Russ Liquid and All Good Records, head to their social media channels –
Last night, Hollywood went Hollyweird as Avalon Nightclub opened their doors to Shpongle, Desert Dwellers and San Diego’s Vokab Kompany; all thanks to the Do Lab, one of my all time favorite production companies – not to mention, the brainiacs behind my favorite festival, Lightning in a Bottle! At a show like last night’s – costume’s aren’t just welcome, they’re encouraged – and beyond being part of the Hippie Olympics, last night was full of friendly faces, new and old, all getting down to the psytrance sounds. It was absolutely beautiful and I’m so glad I could share the night with my friends! For the ‘Museum of Consciousness’ tour, Shpongle had visual team at Zebbler Studios create their second version of the ‘Shpongletron’, an ever changing, 3D, 3 story, projection mapped stage that evolves and manifests itself through amazing colors, flashing lights, sound reactive elements and all around trippy imagery throughout the evening; overall, this is the third version , dubbed Shpongletron 3.0. Today, Shpongle is cruising up the California coast to San Francisco and Arcata, then the tour will be making stops in Portland and Seattle before venturing off into the Mid-West. If you have a hankering for a good time, great people and fantastic music – check this tour our, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Looking back at my posts from the last year, one that stands out the most to be is my 2012 Year in Musical Review. Partially, because it’s catalyzed my writing career on multiple fronts – but mostly because music, especially kickass live music, is something I truly care about to my core. Music influences our moods, our personalities and even our daily interactions. Unless there’s something highly important and technical that I have a deadline for, I’m literally submersed in music 24/7 – from the time my alarm and I wake up, to my morning runs, to the drive to work, you get the picture: I more or less have provided myself with a soundtrack to my life. With my attention span as short as it is (…squirrel!…), I constantly refresh my collection of original jams, remixes and singles and try to take in as much live music as I can.
I’ve been leafing through the ticket stubs and reminiscing about the excellent year in music that I just had. From attempting to co-start a music forum site and to with The DJ List, my daily extra-curricular activities have always circled around new music, fresh artists and the latest and greatest they have to offer. Somehow, even though I’ve managed to be busier than I’ve ever been I’ve definitely managed to fit in some quality R&R (Rave & Relaxation) into the mix. So, without further ado – here are my musical musings for 2013; enjoy!
Truth be told, I’m sitting here trying my hardest to even place Cosmic Gate in second place because Above & Beyond’s sunset at Avila Beach was just so spectacular! It was a small crowd with unexpected surprises in store for everyone in my friend group – we each found someone at the event from out of town (LA, Riverside and SF) that we didn’t know was in attendance and were all simply wowed by the musical prowess the group possesses. But Cosmic Gate is not a team to be underestimated, during the live show they brought out my favorite pixie blonde vocalist, Emma Hewitt, and Jonathan Mendelson who gave a phenomenal first live vocal performance during Nic Chagall’s ‘This Moment’.
Best D&B show: Modestep at the Nokia Club, High Contrast w. Camo & Krooked at Dim Mak Studios
Best Deep / Tech House Show: Kaskade @ Focus OC’s 10 Year Anniversary
Best Progressive House Show:Eric Prydz / Pryda / Cirez D @ Create
Best Electro House Show: Gareth Emery @ XIV
Best Festival: Lightning in a Bottle
For the last six or seven years I’ve been a self-professed seasoned festival go-er and have a host of Insomniac, HARD and GoVentures events under my EDM belt (almost 40 if you want to get specific), but truth be told last year I only attended three festivals, one of them being Sea of Dreams on NYE. For as much as the lineup to HARD Summer thrilled my pants off, the event didn’t…however, Lightning in a Bottle and Sea of Dreams surely did. Each was musically right in their own right but on a more personal level, I truly felt bonded to the community that LIB and Burning Man cultivates and have actively been seeking out similar events ever since.
Best Festival Set:Keys n Krates, Dillon Francis, Alex Metric ((HARD Summer)) HeRObust, Pumpkin, Rusko, The Polish Ambassador, Odeza, Andreilien ((LIB)), LowRIDERz, A-Trak, Thievery Corporation ((Sea of Dreams))
Best Venue: Sea of Dreams @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium | NYE was one of the most amazing musical experiences I’ve ever had, everything about the night was golden and a lot of that is due to the venue and soundsystem that came with it; top notch.
Weird but Rad Venue: Lightning in a Bottle @ Lake Skinner, Temecula, CA | I was tempted to give LIB the gold star for ‘Best Venue’ but after the all of the shenanigans with the county and residents of Riverside, I’ll wait until next year to grant the festival that award. Basically, I want to see it shine in all of its glory; not just in my personal experiences but for the greater community in attendance as well.
Best Pool Party: Daylight
Best Party:Sea of Dreams
Best Up and Coming Venue:Sound in Hollywood
Favorite Reopened Venue: Create (previously, known as Vanguard)
Best Crowd: DoLab shows –Avalon | If you only remember one thing about the music scene in LA, let it be this: the Do Lab will always do you right. I always look forward to the art infused musical events they throw. Whether they’re at the Nokia Club, King King or out in the middle of nowhere Riverside – they make sure to cater to all of your senses and the people who show up are some of the nicest friends you hadn’t met you.
Douche-iest Crowd: XIV by Hyde, Greystone Manor, Sutra | I still hold by last year’s statement about Sutra, but now that I’ve finally attended events at Greystone and XIV I can easily bump those two to the top of the list. Maybe it goes hand-in-hand with my appetite for all things Do Lab and underground, but I can’t wrap my head around wearing 3″+ heals to a club and cozy-ing up to people just snag an extra drink (or five). I prefer the let-your-freak-flag-fly mentality of other events and prefer stomping around in flats to trying to maintain a proper demeanor in an outfit that’s definitely not meant for dancing.
Best Lasers:Create and Exchange have most definitely stepped their laser game up in the last year, far surpassing anything that Avalon has ever done (sorry guys – not knocking the place (it’s still rad!) but it’s true).
Ferry Corsten @ Exchange Hit us with those laser beams *pew pew pew*
Artists
Favorite Set/Act of 2013: Above & Beyond in Avila Beach
Best Surprise of 2013: Crywolf, Mitis, Kill Paris, Disclosure, Keys n Krates, Flume
So Glad I (Re-)Discovered: Bonobo, Emancipator, Shpongle, The Magician,
Remixes So Nicely: SubFocus, Flume
Best Remix-er: Boy Noize, Dillon Francis, Cazzette
Favorite Vocalists: Jonathan Mendelson, Alex Clare, Annabel Englund, MNEK, Chet Faker, Florence Welch, Emma Hewitt
Most Disappointing: Daft Punk everything; maybe because it was directly juxtaposed to Keys’n’Krates with their live instruments, but Duke Dumont was also pretty underwhelming live and looked like he was just pressing a button; last but not least, Cedric Gervais did absolutely nothing for me.
Vocalists Who Shouldn’t Perform Live with DJs: Danny Brown
People Who Should Be Reminded They’re Not DJs: Will.i.Am, Paris Hilton
Songs:
My Top 10 Songs of the Year
Depeche Mode – Soothe My Soul (Steve Angello + Jaques Lu Cont Remix)
Darkside – Papertrails
Oliver – Night is On My Mind (Dillon Francis Remix)
Disclosure – You & Me (Baauer Remix)
Seven Lions + Myon & Shane 54 – Strangers
Minnesota – Stardust Redux (Crywolf Remix)
Maya Jane Coles ft Karin Park – Everything
Thomas Jack – Booka Shake
Flume ft Freddie Gibbs – Holdin’ On (LKids Remix)
Lane 8 – Be Mine
Mat Zo – Lucid Dreams – (M Machine Remix) [runner up]
The Bouncy Kitty 