Old Town, Portland, Oregon. Where the roofies out-number the women 3 to 1. However, if you can snake your way through the frat boys and greased up, gold chain adorned, half buttoned dress shirt with designer jeans wearing hoards; you might stumble upon a diamond in the rough.

Pala: Fashion Lounge

Saturday night, $4 cover
DJ: Luke Solomon (UK)

Music: Every night I’ve been to this place they were spinning hip, danceable house music. This night was definitely no exception. Vocal heavy and thick bass lines that kept me moving all night, even while in line for drinks. Pala truly is a breath of fresh air for just the simple fact that they are they only club in town (that I’m aware of) that is consistently bringing International DJs through my humble city without a production company: Please note that I emphasize club compared to most places that host a single night. There are certainly venues and promotions groups, such as RedCube, who are bringing in large EDM acts from around the world, but for the everyday party at your downtown local pub, Pala is where it’s at!

Genres: House, Breaks, Funky Breaks, Down-tempo

Drinks:
Microbrews ($4)
Mixed drinks ($6)
Poured heavy (Priceless)

Kat (our regular bartender) has been consistently awesome each time I’ve been here. There was a bartender I hadn’t seen before as well, and he was just as attentive, quick and accurate. The service is great!

Crowd: There was a heavy mix of all types of people, including lots of women who like to get dressed up and boogie. For the majority of the evening, at least half of the patrons at the bar were on the dance floor shakin’ it. With around 100 people in the bar, there was plenty of room for everyone to dance and mingle without pushing and shoving. I’m assuming that the masses just aren’t aware of how great the music and mood is in this place.

Atmosphere: The bar’s only downfall, in my opinion, is lighting. The dance floor is absent of lights except three small black lights hitting three gracefully hung white strips of fabric running from the ceiling to the adjacent wall. However, the lighting in the bar and at the tables gives a wonderful chill ambiance as do the antiquities from Bali that are scattered throughout the place. The bar had a copper finish and LCD TVs playing runway shows, fashion photography and the Korean break dancing championships accenting the scene making this place truly unique.
A couch near the back and a day bed beside the dance floor provide a comfy spot to relax and people watch.  Outside there is a private parking lot with canopies under which smokers lounge on benches, still able to hear the tunes bumping inside since the club is nice enough to bring out a speaker.

It’s easy to meet people and strike up interesting conversations, especially outside. When I asked a few what they liked about the place, most all say they enjoy the relaxed vibe and great music. I definitely have to agree!

I am a house head through and through. I seem to flow throughout all forms of house music but every once in a while I need a break and have to pick up the pace a bit. With that I have created this mix to kick off a small series of mixes that I am going to be doing, starting with this month’s release which is focused more on Trance. This compilation is on the speedier side of my musical taste and is great for those summer nights when you are just looking to party! Check it out!

CD1
More of a progressive feel with a bit of trance mixed in.

CD2
This disc really starts to pick up the pace and drenches the listener in trance of new and old!

l0ckd0wn
My Digital Life: May 08

This was also broadcast on Faderwave Radio, May 2 2008.

Artwork by Marc Stokes.

Enjoy!

-l0ckd0wn

I have been meaning to do this for a while now and I finaly got around to doing it this week. I have gone with a 2 disc set this time because I had too many tracks spanning too many genres of house to get it all onto 1 disc.

So any way here it is.*

DISC 1
Funky house and some mainstream club tracks, uplifting and non-serious, ideal for the beach partys.

DISC 2
Deeper vibe that you can dance to or just chill, the ideal way to bring home the sunset.

Both CD’s are 320kbps and fit perfectly onto a CD.

cd cover

back & track listings

So I see a billboard on the way to a friends place last Friday while on the freeway… It Reads…

What happened in Piedmont, Utah?

www.whathappenedinpiedmont.com

So as I continued my 35min drive to my buddy’s place, I contemplated what the hell this could mean for the remaining 25min that I was going to be in the car… Could it be something big that I missed in the news? Could it be a non-profit organazation trying to bring to light some conspiracy? Am I really wasting this much time wondering what is on a fucking billboard?

So I did what any person with a wee amount of curiosity could have done… I went to the site. This is the first post from www.whathappenedinpiedmont.com.

Will is a friend of mine who is also a DJ and one of the most level headed people I know, probably one of the coolest guys I have met since moving to Los Angeles. This party was at an old brewery on the North East side of LA that has been converted to apartments. The whole facility is an artist colony, housing many artists with many different talents and styles. There are also some small businesses that have store fronts as well.

That night I actually had an equipment failure, Traktor Scratch not wanting to recognize the control CDs in the CDJs, but after switching to internal mode I rocked it! I also had a confirmation that night that I will never be purchasing an Allen & Heath mixer. I just can not wait to get my tax return and get my Korg Zero4!

Will

The Brewery 2008 First of all, a big thank you to Andrew and all his pals for letting us all come and party at their building. I hope a good time was had by all. Matty, Joe and I made our way to the Brewery at 3:00 P.M. Saturday. Upon arrival I could feel a sort of tingle in my spine. This place was amazing! Andrew came out to greet us and guided us to the loft. The loft itself was decorated to look like some twisted lounge from hell. With movie props, upside down hanging crosses and dead bloody dolls all hanging from the walls, it was certainly a site to see. The layout however could not have been more perfect. With a balcony that allowed us to install the dj booth right up against the railing and space for a small vip area, the layout was easy to work with. The Setup: By 7:30 P.M. the loft boasted a professional club setup. Equipped with two CDJ-1000 MK3’s, Xone:92 and Technics 1200 were the tools used by The Brewery Dj’s. Thanks to our mobile guys we had many differet types of lighting and effects ranging from Chauvet lasers and fog machines to Martin Mania2’s and Scanners. On the main floor two JBL JRX125 dual 15? cab. speakers could be seen sitting on top of two JBL 18? woofers. Uptop were a pair of JBL Eons. Down tempo/Lounge music to progress into Hard House later on in the night. The Party: The party itself could not have been better. With lights and sound pounding the dance floor, people could also be spotted outside on the patio conversing and hanging out. There was also a moon bounce for people that felt like really jumping around. There were also cold beverages being served at no charge. It started at 9 P.M. and went on until about 5:30 A.M. There was a good time to be had by all with no disruptions of any kind except the sound of one flower pot breaking. All in all i have to say it had been the best time i had in a while and i was sad to see it come to an end so quickly. But there are more good times in the works at RPC so until then, keep coming back for your latest in music entertainment news and reviews.

This was originally posted at www.redplasticup.com.