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!

Hey all,

Auralogic.org is up and running!!! There you can check out the full mixes featured on the sample CD that was put out, also there is contact information for me, links to friend’s websites (thedtowncrew.com woot!), and soon bios and other goodies. Check it out, more music very soon.

Also I may be running a monthly featuring local DJs, maybe some national acts if I feel adventurous. It is looking to be last Saturday of every month at Staples in Allentown in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo ain’t that far away for you Detroit kids so come on out you won’t be disappointed

Drew

Nestled in the heart of downtown San Pedro, the San Pedro Brewery sits in between shops, restaurants and small clubs. Having the average selection of micro brews, the Brewery presents a small stage in the heart of the bar for local bands in the area to perform. On Friday, June 13th, the Brewery hosted Sean Lane & the Hellhounds & Somehow Still Alive to keep the bar rocking until the early morning hours.

Starting off the evening, the Hell Hounds brought a blues infused, rockabilly style sound to open it for my
local friends, Somehow Still Alive. The Hellhounds started out soulful and bluesy, getting the bar crowd bobbing their heads and tapping their feet to some of their soulful original tunes.

After about an hour, the Hellhounds ended their set after getting the bar warmed up for the main event! Around 11:45PM Somehow Still Alive started off their set with a bang, playing Frontline, my favorite track of their’s, early off in the set. The crowd was really responsive and you could feel the energy in the room. The guys played quite a few tracks off of their freshman release, Afterall as well as playing at least one new track I hadn’t heard throughout their set. By the end of their set the bar was up and arms and having a great time. All in all a great show although the bar’s stage was tiny in comparison to other hot spots for local talent in the area. Either way Somehow Still Alive put on a great performance and I am definitely looking to go see them again (maybe at a little bit bigger spot next time…).

Justin

*Pics to come soon.

First, there was the big bang. Next came our planet and the life present on it. Shortly after that, Sasha creates yet another 2 CD set that rocks people’s socks off, even those that were barefoot at the time!

I received an email from one of the many promotional companies that seem to posses my email address. This one came from AMG and gave details to the release of Sasha’s own emFire Collection, a 2x CD set sold both digitally and physically. Rather than trying to tell you all about it, here is the press release directly from the email:

Now, although this may not be the latest piece of news out, I still wanted to make sure that I posted this. Main reason being is that Sasha is still a huge force in the EDM scene. His releases touch millions and everyone in the industry takes notice when a release is made. Sasha is leading the digital revolution and has, and hopefully always will be, a major player that pushes the limits of technology. This is definitely some music that is worth checking out.

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

Every once in a while you get a piece of mail in your inbox that is, for lack of another creative adjective, awesome! Today I opened a piece of mail from Urb, a magazine dedicated to all things… well Urb-an. A majority of the topics pertain to Electronic Music or the culture, Hip Hop specifically. Although not to into the Hip Hop “scene,” I do appreciate quite a bit that Urb has to offer. That being said… I found this article in their blog today…

Hendrix: Rock Star turned Porn Star

Today, April 29th, Vivid Entertainment is launching the online release of the “Jimi Hendrix Sex Tape” for the our viewing pleasure.

Vivid Entertainment is selling the tape as a “sexual documentary”, aka PORN, to give the public some insight into the sex and rock ‘n roll scene of the uninhibited sixties. Founded in 1984, The Vivid Entertainment Group is the world’s leading adult film company - with high emphasis on high quality erotic film entertainment for the couples market. It has created wide brand-name awareness through its films and through licensing and marketing programs that extend to advertising, book publishing, and other consumer products.

Apparently, Vivid obtained this 40 year old footage from a rock ‘n roll memorabilia “collector” (how this person “collected” this tape is yet to be public). The film showcases the icon enjoying some double action brunette loving and reveals Hendrix as more of a “giving” than “receiving” individual - a little too much info for me, but I’ll give you as much info as you need to get you interested in this tape. The company sought several experts to authenticate the footage and the movie features commentary from Pamela Des Barres, author of “I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie” and Cynthia Plaster Caster, famous for creating plaster molds of the penises of rock stars, including Hendrix, who said, “That’s Jimi Hendrix’ d*ck and I should know”.

Let’s face it, comments are better from the pros who’ve “been there and done that”.

Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch states, “This new movie shows that Jimi Hendrix could have been as great a porn star as he was a rock star.”

I guess he was a great porn star, we just didn’t have the proof until now.

Those who want to get their hands on it will have to wait until May 6th, but I have a feeling those hard copies will come sooner rather than later - can anyone say “bootleg”?

For more info, go to www.hendrixsextape.com.

Posted Tuesday, April 29, 2008 @ 11:46 in Music by Joanna Munoz

Joe Geffen is a friend of mine and local DJ currently living in the Los Angeles area. He performs weekly on Faderwave.net at Midnight - 1:30AM every Sunday and writes regularly for both djforums.com and redplasticup.com. Here is Joe’s review of Daedelus’ “The Axe Murderation LP.”

/ —> The Daedelus Redox <—

Joe

I want to preface this review with a bit of an explanation. I really really enjoy the work of Daedelus; his work continues to defy the fringes of what most people consider music. That is, in fact, the quality about his work that I enjoy the most. You really have to open up one of his albums expecting a jolt to your musical tastes. And so, you can imagine my surprise to walk into a small Los Angeles “Club” on a lonely Tuesday night, to walk past a small table on which was placed all of the releases of this artist. This stopped me dead in my tracks; IDM being sold in a LA club?? And so I looked up to see what kind of person would sell this stuff in a location as juxtaposed as this only to see a very polite-looking man of his 20s smiling at me, dressed fancily in a rust-colored, winged tux jacket, complete with matching tie. “Wait,” I said. “Daedelus is playing tonight?” “Oh, I’m Daedelus, and yes, I’m playing tonight”, he says, and - suddenly - I start to encounter the gripping emotions of being star-struck. Situations like this - where one’s expectations keep getting defeated - lie at the very heart of this artist’s work. At first listen to Daedelus, many mainstream listeners hear nothing but metallic clamour - rightfully so, I might add, as that is essentially the bulk of the sound. But, whereas with other artists those words constitute a “death blow” with which I mean to send potential listeners away, the right people will know that this is, in this case, a major compliment. Because, out of the sounds of seemingly simple computer-gibberish, you’ll start to notice cohesion in the chaos. Behold, this is the artistry of a visionary. So, without much more introduction, this is the Redox of Daedelus, starting with some of his most abstract to his most crowd appealing. —> The Axe Murderation LP <— I got this particular release from Daedelus himself, and upon choosing it from the selection of discs layed out before me, he simply said, “Yeh, that one’s experimental.” And after saying that I can handle it and I’m into hearing new techniques in music production, he looked at me strangely and said that, no, seriously, it’s really experimental. I just dismissed the claim and didn’t think anything of it until I put the record on my turntable, and DAMN! In terms of pushing the limits of music, this MUST be the cutting edge. I feel like, for the most part, if computers could synthesize music themselves, this would be the result. And while several songs on here, are cacauphnous, there still exist several gems. Please note, before listening to these tracks, be sure you have areally good speaker system that can handle a lot of bass. Here are a few to check out: Phthalocyanine: shape axed from the backdrop of shape. Primarily a remix of rhythm and bass, expect to find the remnants of chopped breakbeats superimposed over a very eerie track. This is Aphex Twin on LSD… well, more LSD for that matter… Venetian Snares: girl/boy as performed by selkirk retard orchestra for the daughters of asexual lithium addicts. The title says it all. Personally, I would say it was performed by the children of Rubber Johnny. Check it out. Eight Frozen Modules: Cutes like an axe. This is one of the aforementioned tracks where you need a pretty good subwoofer to resolve the bass tones. The discordancy of the synthesizers in this track and effective use of a mixer’s pan functions really come together to make a cool track…. actually, does that make any sense? <— Live at the Low End Theory —> His newest album (released earlier this year [2008]) commemorates his performance at, you guessed it, the Low End Theory in L.A., and is possibly the best example of how IDM can be worked into the club scene. As with most of his other danceable tracks, these tracks are infested with 1/16 notes and so much energy that it makes my head want to explode. There are no particular tracks that really stick out in my mind because the overall performance was simply incredible. I can only imagine what it must have been like in the club with lots of subs pumping bass everywhere. A crowd pleaser and a must listen, for sure! <—Exquisite Corpse —> Published back in 2005, this was my introduction to Daedelus and is the probably the best way to delve into this guy’s work. Within the first few tracks, you get a really good idea of how this guy successfully transcends traditional music structure by overlaying multiple different time structues over each other. While you might at one point be listening to your usual 4×4 beat, other layers will be in 3×4. Be sure to listen to the track Impending Doom; it’s hip-hop over a beat that’s been cut-up into more pieces than the personality of Britney Spears. Following that is Just Briefly, which is an excellent conglomeration of a swinging, glitchy beat that has, once again, been fragmented. In typical Daedelus fashion, however, it comes together into a very quirky danceable track. Lastly, be sure to check out the collaborative track with Prefuse 73,Welcome Home.

04.24.08 Los Angeles, Music No Comments »

This article can originally be found on djforums.com & redplasticup.com.

I <3 Richie Hawtin and everything he has done and continues to do for electronic music! It looks as though he is really pulling something together here. With the lineup that is planned for this event, I really had to make sure and bold it so that you could understand the magnitude of just who is going to be there!!! If you or anyone you know is going to be in Berlin this weekend, I would seriously check this out! Here is the email that I got today being on the “Minus X List:“

MINUS & COSMOPOP present Berlin has become a destination point for clubbers from all around the world with hundreds of people migrating towards the city every weekend, enjoying its ever-evolving musical soundtrack. A soundtrack created by dozens of local and international DJ’s and artists, many of who call Berlin their home. You can always be sure to find a label night of Cadenza, Minus, Cocoon or Pokerflat. But there is something missing!! We are happy to announce an event to which we’ve invited as many of our favourite DJ’s, artists and labels to come together in celebration of the music that we all love: the “Sunday Adventure Club” Open Air … come and celebrate with us! Date: Sunday June 15th, 2008 Location: open air location near the Postbahnhof, Berlin large outside area with 1 stage, 2 inside floors in case of rain, the event will be indoors Opening hours: outside stage 10am-10pm, inside stages 6pm until open end Line up: richie hawtin, josh wink, luciano, matthew dear’s big hands, karotte, tobi neumann, zip, magda, marc houle live, paco osuna, troy pierce, matt john, guido schneider, steve bug, heartthrob live, konrad black, loco dice & marco carola back to back, rebekah aff, cassy Ticket prices: 15EUR pre-sale Tickets will be available after Friday 25.04. on www.sundayadventureclub.de or at your nearest CTS/Eventim box office. Limited capacity, get your ticket now!! www.sundayadventureclub.de

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.