[The Audiofiles] Countdown to 2016 with Insomniac’s Twelve.31

December 30, 2015December 30, 2015Leave a comment

Now that the slow crawl of the holidays has clamored back to a regular roar around Los Angeles, New Years Eve is approaching at lightning speed and I’ve had the itch to come out of my annual post-festival season hibernation and paint the town all sorts of technicolor. In a city equally basked by sunlight and spotlights, New Years Eve has become a choose your own adventure extravaganza, and Insomniac Events most certainly takes the lead in this respect with events in each and every corner of Southern California.

It’s hard to believe that almost a decade ago I was celebrating a decade of Electric Daisy Carnival, but in June 2006 that’s precisely where I was – diving headfirst down the rabbit hole at the good ol’ NOS Center in San Bernadino. Twirling under an electric sky with strangers that manifested into friends, I felt myself unfolding into self like a flower that blooms, blooms and blooms again in what’s become a semi-permanent state of self-evolution. Slowly but surely, I’ve drifted away from the large scale massives and events over the last few years and into the realm of boutique and transformational festivals; believe me when I say that my love for the former them hasn’t waned – it’s simply that I’ve been on a personal, perpetual hunt for something new, something different. Maybe it’s some new age form of chasing the evolved dragon, but I’m on the prowl for that perfect ‘je ne sais quoi’ of the musical experience – a special combination of musicianship, creativity, production value and community that sits delightfully smack dab in the center of their Venn Diagram, and this year – it’s called Twelve.31.

Tomorrow night, Insomniac Events is pulling out all the underground stops at the legendary Hollywood Palladium as Minimal, Tech and Deep House legends grace the decks for one unforgettable evening of dancing and decadence in the city of angels.

Start the night off right as the duo Divine Minds in Time grace the decks from 8 to 9pm. Recently transplanted to Downtown Los Angeles from upstate New York, the pair have already made quite the name for themselves playing popular local events around the city such as Clinic Wednesday and Sounds Like. Keep your eyes on them next year as they’ll be releasing their debut EP on their very own record imprint – Akashic Records.

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Then from 9 to 10:30, Washington DC transplant turned West Coast House phenom Jon Charnis takes the stage. Throughout the years, Charnis has produced under many different monikers but now that he’s found his true calling within the darker, deeper production – there’s no going back from this one; plus, since it’s his birthname he’s basically stuck with it – so why not rock it?! If you’re a tried and true Angelino, you’ve probably seen him at All Day I Dream or Capsulem.

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Say one final goodbye to 2015 the Dirtybird way as Shiba San’s French House flair and grooving tunes countdown the last drops of the year from 10:30 to Midnight. After a year of what felt like chasing him around from Lightning in a Bottle to Focus, to Shambhala – I’m excited to finally see him in LA – and I know a whole hell of a lot of other people are too.

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Kick 2016 off in an official capacity with London production duo Dusky as they hit the stage from midnight til 1:30AM. The pair recently released their latest work – a three track EP titled ‘Lydia’ – on the label 17 Steps this past November

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From 1:30 to 3am, bear witness to the epic back-to-back set from Canadian DJs Tiga and Kenny Glasgow and prepare to lose yourself to dance. Though Glasgow is best known for his influence in the sphere of dance music as half of the duo Art Department, this past spring the two split ways to further develop personal projects, including his latest ‘In Too Deep’

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Kenny Glasgow: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

End the night right with a proper dance party as Kidnap Kid closes out the bash from 4-5am.

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Who will we be seeing on the dance floor?!

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For more on Twelve.31, head to the event’s social media pages –

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Keep tabs on Insomniac Events for the best in dance music events –

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[The Audiofiles] 2013 – A Year In Musical Review

January 8, 2014January 8, 2014Leave a comment

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!

Live Shows: Concerts and Festivals

Best Trance Show:

Above & Beyond @ Avila Beach,

Cosmic Gate @ Palladium (Runner Up)

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 Dubstep show: Candyland, Krewella + Seven Lions @ the Hollywood Palladium

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]

Favorite Soundcloud Sets:

Show and Tell:

Best Hosted Web Show: BBC Radio 1 Diplo + Friends, Above & Beyond Group Therapy

Best Site for Discovering New Music: Hypem

Best Sites for Shows: MetroWize LA,Resident Advisor, The DJ List

XP Points:

Festivals Attended: Lightning in a Bottle, HARD Summer, Sea of Dreams

Shows Attended: All Day I Dream (/Lee Burridge), Donald Glaude, Richard Vission, Porter Robinson, Seven Lions(x2), Ferry Corsten, Krewella (x3), Modestep, Mimosa, Kill Paris, Crywolf, Markus Schulz, KhoMha, Jamie Jones, Jack Beats, Style of Eye, Gareth Emery, Kaskade, Skrillex, Bauuer, Eric Prydz (x2), Above & Beyond, Cosmic Gate, Candyland.

Parties Frequented: None (weird!)

♥

Oh, Snap: Concert Photography

February 21, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

There’s something to be said for combining two of my favorite pastimes and fueling my creative fire; I’m a sucker for live music, especially the electronic kind as I’ve more than displayed on my blog – and to boot, I have this new obsession with photography. Capturing a person in a moment is one thing; capturing a community in a moment is another thing entirely. In some situations, people might look at me like “Why is this girl standing still on the dance floor? Don’t you realize my legs want to stretch seven ways until Sunday on that spot you’re stuck in?” – but in our little EDM community. We were made out of PLUR, kandi, lasers, confetti and a shared appreciation of all things EDM. Being able to capture that moment, share it with friends and strangers alike and relive it together – that sums us all up in a nutshell. Besides, what good is a great time if you can’t share the wealth?

Here are some of my favorite concert snaps from the past few years; they still bring me back and give me goosebumps. Enjoy!