Mad Decent Block Party made it’s final stop at the city of angels yesterday, and everything went better than expected! I don’t know if I had low expectations because of it being free, all ages, in LA, or the whole ‘DJ’ Kaskade thing that happened the other week, but it ended up being one of the coolest free events I’ve been to! Parking was a bitch and so were the lines..usual pains. I was able to look past that with Dillon Francis throwing down an absolutely killer set, all the sponsors hooking everyone up with free gear, and the dodgeball area was the best. I hadn’t played dodgeball since my preteen years so that was a bit of a throwback. My only qualm of the day was the guy who went out of his way to write on a shirt “If you shuffle you are a faggot.” I know I’m just feeding the beast by acknowledging him…….but fuck that guy. Fuck anyone who tries to be extra controversial especially at other peoples’ expense. I really hate that stuff. But yeah just wanted to get that off my chest haha enjoy the list! YOLO
Mad Decent Block Party made it’s final stop at the city of angels yesterday, and everything went better than expected! I don’t know if I had low expectations because of it being free, all ages, in LA, or the whole ‘DJ’ Kaskade thing that happened the other week, but it ended up being one of the coolest free events I’ve been to! Parking was a bitch and so were the lines..usual pains. I was able to look past that with Dillon Francis throwing down an absolutely killer set, all the sponsors hooking everyone up with free gear, and the dodgeball area was the best. I hadn’t played dodgeball since my preteen years so that was a bit of a throwback. My only qualm of the day was the guy who went out of his way to write on a shirt “If you shuffle you are a faggot.” I know I’m just feeding the beast by acknowledging him…….but fuck that guy. Fuck anyone who tries to be extra controversial especially at other peoples’ expense. I really hate that stuff. But yeah just wanted to get that off my chest haha enjoy the list! YOLO
Some straight up French techno has made it’s way into the depths of the states in the form of a James Bond-esque dude named Mike Levy, or more commonly Gesaffelstein (guh-se-fuhl-steen). You all have probably seen the name here and there, but it’s not one to be overlooked as I had previously done. The Zzafrika remix left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth when I first heard him. Heard good things about him, but wasn’t really feelin’ it to say the least. Kinda like when you’re thirsty and you grab the nearest water bottle, take a swig and it’s flavored vodka. I wanted to wait for his dj set to change my mind… At HARD he exceeded any and all expectations I had, throwing banger after banger and putting on a hell of a show. He proved to be one of the best sets of the night, in fact. His original works are very eery, bass filled wonders that seem straight out of a Mike Meyers movie. I blast these jams through the “are you a serial killer?” looks because they’re that good. Definitely going to strike some new chords, but every bit of it is something worth listening.
Oh and here’s the video I got from HARD Summer that Gesaffelstein reposted:
FULL POST
YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!
Some straight up French techno has made it’s way into the depths of the states in the form of a James Bond-esque dude named Mike Levy, or more commonly Gesaffelstein (guh-se-fuhl-steen). You all have probably seen the name here and there, but it’s not one to be overlooked as I had previously done. The Zzafrika remix left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth when I first heard him. Heard good things about him, but wasn’t really feelin’ it to say the least. Kinda like when you’re thirsty and you grab the nearest water bottle, take a swig and it’s flavored vodka. I wanted to wait for his dj set to change my mind… At HARD he exceeded any and all expectations I had, throwing banger after banger and putting on a hell of a show. He proved to be one of the best sets of the night, in fact. His original works are very eery, bass filled wonders that seem straight out of a Mike Meyers movie. I blast these jams through the “are you a serial killer?” looks because they’re that good. Definitely going to strike some new chords, but every bit of it is something worth listening.
Finally my fellow ducks. Time to gather in the flying V to the disco hall, because we got another Duck Sauce edit to tease us until its release. If you’ve been with us at all the past year, this is the track I’ve been drooling over while everyone was suckin’ at the teet of the big bad wolf. Los Angeles based producers Bastille were lucky enough to slam some funk on this one with a lot of their own flare, as this isn’t much like what I remember of the original. It doesn’t pack as much of the punch that had me lost in dance mode at HARD Summer. I’ve been humming this tune since Coachella so I’ll definitely sit tight on this for now.
Finally my fellow ducks. Time to gather in the flying V to the disco hall, because we got another Duck Sauce edit to tease us until its release. If you’ve been with us at all the past year, this is the track I’ve been drooling over while everyone was suckin’ at the teet of the big bad wolf. Los Angeles based producers Bastille were lucky enough to slam some funk on this one with a lot of their own flare, as this isn’t much like what I remember of the original. It doesn’t pack as much of the punch that had me lost in dance mode at HARD Summer. I’ve been humming this tune since Coachella so I’ll definitely sit tight on this for now.
Little did I know when I got home I was going to get swallowed in a tidal wave of bass to the face that wasn’t labeled from Bassnectar. John Gourley of Portugal the Man‘s voice was delicately mixed with some pretty haunting and unexpected synths. Bassex took this psychedelic gem off of PTM’s latest album and dubbed it up to hit harder than the curb stomp in American History X…aaand there was my attempt at not making a domestic violence joke. HA! But yeah, “Sleep Forever” was among my favorites off the album, and I love how Bassex was able to make it as filthy as he did without losing the original floating vibes. Give them both a listen and see if you feel the same way.
Goood morning friends. Day 3 in San Francisco for Outside Lands, and I’m kinda bummed it’s coming to a close. Another successful weekend, for sure. I got a lot to share! Make sure you check out the videos we got on our youtube page in the mean time. Deadmau5 or Arcade Fire tonight?
And before I forget, the winner of this week’s IDentity Ticket Giveaway, is Keith Piazza! Little man, big bass. Congratulations! We’ll send your tix over asap. See you there!!
Goood morning friends. Day 3 in San Francisco for Outside Lands, and I’m kinda bummed it’s coming to a close. Another successful weekend, for sure. I got a lot to share! Make sure you check out the videos we got on our youtube page in the mean time. Deadmau5 or Arcade Fire tonight?
And before I forget, the winner of this week’s IDentity Ticket Giveaway, is Keith Piazza! Little man, big bass. Congratulations! We’ll send your tix over asap. See you there!!
I’ve been infected! The moombahton bite is the most contagious, and it’s spreading faster than a fire in a field of Fergie vinyls. Dillon Francis should be a household name at this point, especially in the spect of this blog. As moombahton makes its way into the libraries of those eager for what’s next, Dillon sits comfortably at the throne. Setting the bar for anything and everything that is and will be moombah. His bass lines are rumbling. So easy to get up and bounce to. A nonstop combo of dutch house, snares and bass kicks with a Latin spice that leaves you refusing an antidote. He’s remixed the likes of Calvin Harris, CSS, Chase & Status, DJ Fresh and more. Supported by Diplo and is pretty much all Mad Decent has going for them right now (judging by their first compilation), so you know this guy is here to play.
The best part is this dudes consistency. He releases remixes and original pieces almost weekly. You’d bet with a heap of tracks, a few of them would seem rushed or incomplete, but nay! Dillon continues to surprise me. His talents extend past moombahton and begin with his dubstep origins, where he thought he found his niche. He has this keen ability to use his sounds so effectively with everything and doesn’t seem to repeat himself. I’ve never followed a DJ that puts out remixes and originals across genres at the level that he has. He has some serious talent that needs to be acknowledged AND a live show to match! I’ve seen him twice the past couple weeks, and I’m here to confirm that Dillon Francis throws down in all realms. Pick this ish up before the bro down the street has this bumping out of his portable Budweiser stereo system. The future of electronic music is here everyone!
Here are some of my favorite tracks from him. Most are songs that I’ve showed to people to try to get them into moombahton. Let me just say that I have a very high success rate haha Peep his soundcloud for the rest.
This EP was released for free because Dillon couldn’t get all the samples they used approved. He made it with Cory Enemy, his mentor and part of the reason Dillon is who he is. All.Fo.Free
FULL POST
I’ve been infected! The moombahton bite is the most contagious, and it’s spreading faster than a fire in a field of Fergie vinyls. Dillon Francis should be a household name at this point, especially in the spect of this blog. As moombahton makes its way into the libraries of those eager for what’s next, Dillon sits comfortably at the throne. Setting the bar for anything and everything that is and will be moombah. His bass lines are rumbling. So easy to get up and bounce to. A nonstop combo of dutch house, snares and bass kicks with a Latin spice that leaves you refusing an antidote. He’s remixed the likes of Calvin Harris, CSS, Chase & Status, DJ Fresh and more. Supported by Diplo and is pretty much all Mad Decent has going for them right now (judging by their first compilation), so you know this guy is here to play.
The best part is this dudes consistency. He releases remixes and original pieces almost weekly. You’d bet with a heap of tracks, a few of them would seem rushed or incomplete, but nay! Dillon continues to surprise me. His talents extend past moombahton and begin with his dubstep origins, where he thought he found his niche. He has this keen ability to use his sounds so effectively with everything and doesn’t seem to repeat himself. I’ve never followed a DJ that puts out remixes and originals across genres at the level that he has. He has some serious talent that needs to be acknowledged AND a live show to match! I’ve seen him twice the past couple weeks, and I’m here to confirm that Dillon Francis throws down in all realms. Pick this ish up before the bro down the street has this bumping out of his portable Budweiser stereo system. The future of electronic music is here everyone!
Here are some of my favorite tracks from him. Most are songs that I’ve showed to people to try to get them into moombahton. Let me just say that I have a very high success rate haha Peep his soundcloud for the rest.
This EP was released for free because Dillon couldn’t get all the samples they used approved. He made it with Cory Enemy, his mentor and part of the reason Dillon is who he is. All.Fo.Free
August 6th 2011 marked the fourth annual HARD Summer Music Festival to be held, and the third to go down successfully. (people don’t forget!) If you were with me in 2009, I share the pain. All in good fun though! Gary Richards has long since redeemed himself. With the help of stacked lineup after stacked lineup in Los Angeles, and now through the rest of the country, HARD has established its superiority in the realm of memorable concerts. HARD Summer went off without a hitch, and I was fortunate enough to be there through the whole thing! I had my FlipCam handy and got to see all the future talent, while everyone else was at the already established names. Although it breaks my heart that I had to miss Jack Beats, Skrillex, and all of Boys Noize/Duck Sauce’s sets, I was happily tucked in the relatively crowd free stages. Here are the highlights from start to finish:
Dillon Francis 6:20-7:20
The first of the day. I actually got to the venue late and went through the line saying “Dillon Francis is on right now! If you know who he is, come with me. If you don’t, let me go!” After getting through the line way faster than expected and with a crew of Dillon Francis fans, the party had begun. Straight into the bassy moombah beats that I rushed through the crowd for. Dillon had everyone bouncing and definitely made it clear that he deserved a better slot.
Gesaffelstein 7:15-8:15Delightful Mention!
Biggest surprise of the day. I hadn’t been able to get into his recordings before seeing him live, as it all made sense afterwards. True European techno with a musky feel that was new to me, but kept the crowd and me intrigued from start to finish. I wanted to record his whole set, because track after track was like nothing I had ever heard dropped before. This guy’s got some serious talent.
RATATAT 8:50-9:20 Runner Up!
Ratatat…..we finally meet. 10 feet back and center, I was ready to see the act I had been fawning over since I was in high school. One of the most creative sets I’ve bared witness. They had these huge screens that they had holographic images synced to the beat of the music. All the while, they were thrashing on their guitars or slamming the drum kits which added up to what I thought was going to be the best set of the night, til I saw Digitalism.
Siriusmo 9:20-10:20
All the hype surrounding Siriusmo had my expectations set high. He very rarely plays live shows, so this was supposed to be a treat. It also didn’t help that his full length Mosaik slaps, and I had it on repeat through the week. His set was kind of a let down overall. Although he had pretty solid song selection, his persona matched that of dude on his 6th straight hour of World of Warcraft. Focused. Poised. Ready to kill. But not that fun to watch.
Digitalism (Live) 10:20-11:30 Best Set!
I heard myths and legends about how these guys were live and I was ready to get down in support of their latest album I Love You, Dude. Right off the bat: live drummer. NOTHING compares to a live drummer for electronic sets. The drummer was an addition to their live show but was my favorite part. Through the drum machine slamming, singing, and synth tweaking, these guys delivered the highest energy set of the night. Great stuff.
James Murphy & Pat Mahoney 11:30-12
Another hyped set I had to get my groove on to was this 2 hour disco special inside the DFA tent. Coolest most unique vibes I’ve ever felt at any concert. This tent was lined with disco balls and lights that had me in a time machine to the 70s. So cool! Glad they did this.
Busy Pictionary 12-12:30
After not having this set in my initial plan, I thought I’d leave the DFA tent early to pay my respects to the one and only BUSY P. So Me was on side of the decks, doodling away while Pedro threw down tracks of the future. Got there just in time to see the unreleased Justice track live! (video)
Carte Blanche 12:30-1:15
After a hefty intro from Busy P, DJ Mehdi and Riton brought the funk. I made it front and center as pretty much everyone else was at Skrillex or Boys Noize, so the setting was pretty intimate. I was expecting more in comparison to some of their mixes I had heard before, but I still had fun. Mehdi seems like a real cool dude. He was dancing the whole time, getting the crowd involved, and that’s the shit that makes a difference in the end.
I wish I could have seen more of Boys Noize and Duck Sauce, but I managed to sneak off to see my main squeezes throwing down just as I thought they would. Los Angeles, this is how a concert is done right. You got your headliners. You got your surprises. You got your low key, future of music hopefuls. And you got the LA skyline as your back drop. Get ready for Haunted Mansion people. Probably my favorite party of the year, and this year’s may take the cake.
FULL POST
August 6th 2011 marked the fourth annual HARD Summer Music Festival to be held, and the third to go down successfully. (people don’t forget!) If you were with me in 2009, I share the pain. All in good fun though! Gary Richards has long since redeemed himself. With the help of stacked lineup after stacked lineup in Los Angeles, and now through the rest of the country, HARD has established its superiority in the realm of memorable concerts. HARD Summer went off without a hitch, and I was fortunate enough to be there through the whole thing! I had my FlipCam handy and got to see all the future talent, while everyone else was at the already established names. Although it breaks my heart that I had to miss Jack Beats, Skrillex, and all of Boys Noize/Duck Sauce’s sets, I was happily tucked in the relatively crowd free stages. Here are the highlights from start to finish:
Dillon Francis 6:20-7:20
The first of the day. I actually got to the venue late and went through the line saying “Dillon Francis is on right now! If you know who he is, come with me. If you don’t, let me go!” After getting through the line way faster than expected and with a crew of Dillon Francis fans, the party had begun. Straight into the bassy moombah beats that I rushed through the crowd for. Dillon had everyone bouncing and definitely made it clear that he deserved a better slot.
Gesaffelstein 7:15-8:15Delightful Mention!
Biggest surprise of the day. I hadn’t been able to get into his recordings before seeing him live, as it all made sense afterwards. True European techno with a musky feel that was new to me, but kept the crowd and me intrigued from start to finish. I wanted to record his whole set, because track after track was like nothing I had ever heard dropped before. This guy’s got some serious talent.
RATATAT 8:50-9:20 Runner Up!
Ratatat…..we finally meet. 10 feet back and center, I was ready to see the act I had been fawning over since I was in high school. One of the most creative sets I’ve bared witness. They had these huge screens that they had holographic images synced to the beat of the music. All the while, they were thrashing on their guitars or slamming the drum kits which added up to what I thought was going to be the best set of the night, til I saw Digitalism.
Siriusmo 9:20-10:20
All the hype surrounding Siriusmo had my expectations set high. He very rarely plays live shows, so this was supposed to be a treat. It also didn’t help that his full length Mosaik slaps, and I had it on repeat through the week. His set was kind of a let down overall. Although he had pretty solid song selection, his persona matched that of dude on his 6th straight hour of World of Warcraft. Focused. Poised. Ready to kill. But not that fun to watch.
Digitalism (Live) 10:20-11:30 Best Set!
I heard myths and legends about how these guys were live and I was ready to get down in support of their latest album I Love You, Dude. Right off the bat: live drummer. NOTHING compares to a live drummer for electronic sets. The drummer was an addition to their live show but was my favorite part. Through the drum machine slamming, singing, and synth tweaking, these guys delivered the highest energy set of the night. Great stuff.
James Murphy & Pat Mahoney 11:30-12
Another hyped set I had to get my groove on to was this 2 hour disco special inside the DFA tent. Coolest most unique vibes I’ve ever felt at any concert. This tent was lined with disco balls and lights that had me in a time machine to the 70s. So cool! Glad they did this.
Busy Pictionary 12-12:30
After not having this set in my initial plan, I thought I’d leave the DFA tent early to pay my respects to the one and only BUSY P. So Me was on side of the decks, doodling away while Pedro threw down tracks of the future. Got there just in time to see the unreleased Justice track live! (video)
Carte Blanche 12:30-1:15
After a hefty intro from Busy P, DJ Mehdi and Riton brought the funk. I made it front and center as pretty much everyone else was at Skrillex or Boys Noize, so the setting was pretty intimate. I was expecting more in comparison to some of their mixes I had heard before, but I still had fun. Mehdi seems like a real cool dude. He was dancing the whole time, getting the crowd involved, and that’s the shit that makes a difference in the end.
I wish I could have seen more of Boys Noize and Duck Sauce, but I managed to sneak off to see my main squeezes throwing down just as I thought they would. Los Angeles, this is how a concert is done right. You got your headliners. You got your surprises. You got your low key, future of music hopefuls. And you got the LA skyline as your back drop. Get ready for Haunted Mansion people. Probably my favorite party of the year, and this year’s may take the cake.
