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National Music
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Beatport Floorfillers: Bassnectar – Timestretch
If you thought Bassnectar was some sort of ceviche recipe, consider yourself officially out of touch with the underground. Lorin Ashton, long eclipsed by his strikingly accurate moniker, is an extremely versatile DJ, capable of juggling a plethora of genres within a single, continuously-mixed set. His sublime sunrise sets at Burning Man have soundtracked some of the finest, most memorable moments of my entire life.
Aural Pleasure: Kraddy
Glitch Mob, a collective of California producers he has since parted ways with, was largely responsible for the popularization of a cutting-edge hybrid of electronica and hip hop called “glitch hopâ€. Glitch refers to the producers’ propensity for intentional glitches or “stutter editsâ€.
Aural Pleasure: Gorillaz Listening Party @ Lipgloss
Listening parties have become a Lipgloss staple over the course of its lifespan. This Friday, March 12, Trundle and company will engage in a little Gorillaz marketing when La Rumba plays host to the single most famous animated band on the planet.
Birthday Bash: Johnny Cash
MTV's program 120 Minutes facilitated my first visual exposure to The Man in Black. “Delia's Goneâ€, the debut single from Cash's Rick Rubin-masterminded comeback, was set to a black and white and sepia video clip featuring Kate Moss. My curiosity was certainly piqued, but I wasn't sold until he channeled Soundgarden's “Rusty Cage†(with a little from friends Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) on the American Recordings follow-up.
Aural Pleasure: MGMT’s Grammy Nods
Alex Khadiwala deserves credit for first turning me on to MGMT. These days, Khadiwala is one of Beta's Noise Friday resident DJs. At the time, though, he played “Poptronica†on Beta's patio for the Beatport “Pool Partiesâ€. One of his very first Poptronica mix CDs featured the MGMT track “Electric Feelâ€. I won't pretend that I was immediately blown away, but the tune definitely grew on me over time. Apparently, I wasn't alone.
Aural Pleasure: Mickey Avalon
Mickey Avalon started slinging herb for his mom at the tender, albeit superstitiously unlucky age of thirteen. Although it sounds eerily similar to a plot-line from the brilliantly twisted Showtime dramedy Weeds, art has since imitated life (and not vice versa). When Avalon took the dreaded gateway drug route, though, she cut him off. Translation: mommy fired his @$$ for graduating to smack. Mickey ended up turning tricks for dope in his most desperate years. These days, he turns phrases for dough. And now his old lady works for him…as one of his managers.
Jazz Hands: Erik Deutsch
If what's left of my memory serves me correctly, Erik Deutsch and I first met in the hallway of Hallet Hall during my freshman year at CU Boulder. Hallet was allegedly named “Biggest Party Dorm in the Nation†by Playboy Magazine around that time, and its residents were determined to retain the title. On an average night, one might encounter a full bar, more than one four-foot bong and even a nitrous tank.
Aural Pleasure: Eprom
Eprom, shorthand for erasable programmable read-only memory, is the moniker of Bay Area-based Sander Dennis, slated to slay Owsley's Golden Road (2151 Lawrence) this Friday, January 22. Picture Super Mario getting his freak on, a la Missy Elliot, and you'll have an inkling of what to expect from his set.
Aural Pleasure: Matt Morris
Immediately following his SNL cherry-popping featuring instant holiday classic “Dick in a Boxâ€, Justin Timberlake was feeling cocky. Pun intended. In the middle of dinner at a Middle Eastern joint in NYC, JT shared plans to launch his own label with longtime pal Matt Morris. That's not all. JT wanted Morris's Hancock on a recording contract.
Aural Pleasure: Ana Sia
DJs that don't dance to their own music should be suspect IMO. It's the same “Do as I say, not as I do,†attitude that smoking parents often wield. Talk about setting a pathetic example. Ana will never have that problem. She was a dancer long before being a dance-floor choreographer, and has never been shy about multi-tasking.
Aural Pleasure: Sydney Blu
Blu has come a long way in her day, gradually surpassing many of her female peers in both the production and performance departments. Inking a deal with Deadmau5 vanity imprint Mau5trap certainly didn't hurt, but Sydney has since launched her own label--Blu Music--and continued to perform well on Beatport.com's virtual stage sans Deadmau5 hand-holding in the studio.