Greetings earthlings. 2012 kicked off with a whirlwind of events for me but I’ve finally come down from the clouds and back to reality. For many, Valentine’s Day is the ultimate reality check. It’s a date (or not) in which all people have to face their relationship status head on, whether they like it or not. A day when guys either sack up and serenade, or tuck tail and run. A time when girls eat an absurd amount of chocolate, either out of heart shaped boxes or cartons of ice cream.
On the single side of the fence? Don’t despair. We still have music. And where there’s music, there’s dancing. And where there’s dancing, there’s nothing but positive energy in the air. Whether you’ve already found that special person to cuddle with, or if you’re just looking for some cuddy, having a little background music is never a bad thing.
So here are some of my all time favorite ballads. I hope you enjoy.
It’s the holidays, a time to be spent with family reminiscing about the year past. Work slows down. Finals are over. This week is the figurative calm before the storm. I know you’re just starting to get comfortable, but it’s time to snap out of it. New Years is here. Don’t have your plans figured out yet? We’ve got you covered. This is our New Years weekend round up for San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Get some.
San Francisco
SF may be the most Parisian of America’s cities, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to party. This year the city by the bay will host the 12th annual Sea of Dreams NYE party. The lineup is one of the best in the event’s history, with the likes of Santigold, Amon Tobin, and Detroit powerhouse Claude Von Stroke! So if you’re baydwellin’ this NYE, you best be there. Now I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t want to wait until Saturday to put on my rage face.” Luckily you don’t have to. House sensation, Avicii, will be playing to a capacity crowd at the Warfield this Thursday! Tickets are sold out, so you better start perusing craigslist if you want to partake in what promises to be one of the best EDM events of 2011. Now I realize a lot of you Nor Cal folks are in the mountains this week, but believe it or not in these crazy times raves and snow go together. Lake Tahoe will be the site of the first annual Snow Globe Music Festival. Brought to you by the same production team behind Vail Colorado’s Snowball, this three day event will go Thursday through New Year’s Eve with one of the most extensive lineups of any of the NYE parties. Some highlights include Porter, Pretty Lights, Dillon Francis, Bassnectar, Datsik, and Madeon. As they say in the bay, “Yee Yee!”
(Sea of Dreams)
Los Angeles
L.A., you always bring the rave, and this New Year’s Eve is no exception. At the top of our list is the fourteenth annual Together As One New Year’s Celebration. While this year’s festivities haven’t been without controversy (Go Ventures started selling tickets before they had secured a venue.), TAO should be just as epic as we’re accustomed to, with an impressive outdoor setting at Oak Canyon Park in Orange County. Now before you go and buy tickets for another year of your plain jane TAO event, you might want to consider what’s going on in Anaheim. If you heard about all the drama that went down between Go Ventures and Insomniac over the past couple of months, you’re probably aware that the two promoters are no longer “together as one,” and as a result, Insomniac is throwing their first independent New Year’s effort, White Wonderland. The two day festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend with a star studded lineup that might make even you top posters out there break from the TAO tradition.
(TAO 2011)
New York City
New Yorkers, big things poppin’, little things stoppin’. Friday night Feed Me and Savoy will be playing at Webster Hall for Boy’s and Girl’s Club. The next night (NYE) WH will be hosting Nero, but the big news is Avicii NYE. The Swedish House superstar will be at pier 94 playing alongside Swanky Tunes, Arty, Cazette, and Glenn Morrison. This is our pick for Saturday night. If you’re looking for a bigger name in EDM try heading a mile south. The mau5 will be playing at pier 36 for a cool two hundi. Now that ticket prices comes with a “4 hour premium open bar,” but it all seems a bit much to see mau5y do the same thing he’s been doing for the past 4 years.(Not to mention I used to see him for $20.00) I just doesn’t seem worth it. (Ultra seems to agree as he’s not on the lineup this year, at least as of yet…)
This year, I’ve decided to host a new years party on my roof. In doing so I had to give up my Avicii tickets. Needless to say I tossed and turned for many nights before making the choice. As the inner battle waged, the only way I could placate my concert loving half was to insure that I had the best playlist ever for the party. So after scouring the musical world for new gems and the best of 2011, I came across a new banger by Michael Woods called “Last Day On Earth.”
This guys awesome. UK based, he’s been in the game since the beginning of the millennium, steadily producing hit after hit. His songs have ridiculous buildups, always peaking at the right moments and leaving everyone in their blast radii dancing with both hands in the air. Put on some of his jams right around midnight NYE and you are guaranteed to start 2012 off on the right foot.
So here it is, along with a couple other favorites from Michael Woods. Happy holidays everyone and see you in 2012.
For all you New Yorkers, Dillon Francis and Skism are playing tonight at Webster Hall. However, if you want to avoid that whole shit show (and if you’ve been to Webster Hall before you know what I’m talking about…), be adventurous and make the trek out to Brooklyn to catch the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Heavy Trash, and a DJ set by Bear in Heaven at Brooklyn Bowl. Also worth mentioning, Fucked Up, DOM, Big Troubles, and Radical Dads are playing at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar. (DOM will blow your mind.) Saturday looks a bit more laid-back. The National is playing at the Beacon Theater and Atlas Sound, Carnivores, and Frank Broyles will be gracing the stage of the Bell House.
(Dillon Francis)
L.A. crew, tonight is one for all you club kids. Le Castle Vania and Spencer & Hill will be playing Avalon’s weekly party, Control, which never disappoints, but the big news is what’s going down tomorrow. HARD & Mouth Taped Shut are putting on a free show at the Palladium where Deadmau5, Proxy, James Murphy, and Eye will be tearing it up. Try to make this, it will be one for the books. EDM is walking the razor’s edge between what’s been a blogosphere perpetuated youth uprising and what will soon be the mainstream co-opting yet another subculture for profit. (Danstradamus, who’s French btw, says the end is near.) Now, if you didn’t come to rave, Oh My Rockness is presenting Baths, DNTEL, and Raleigh Moncrief at the El Rey Theatre that same night. All of them are solid artists with amazing live sets.
(Mau5)
Bay dwellers, our Hard & Mouth Taped Shut party is a day earlier than our SoCal siblings’. Major Lazer, Proxy, James Murphy, and Eye will all be there. Look, I know Major Lazer is all the rage, but just hear me out for one second. If you show up for just the headliner, you’ll see their show, and this is what will happen. People with bleached mohawks in strange clothes will jump off ladders onto one another’s erotically sprawled out bodies. They’ll proceed to have fake sex on stage, and you’ll think to yourself WTF is going on. All the while Switch and Diplo will be spinning. Then at some point Diplo will do some weird shout outs in a swanky white suit. You’ll leave wondering what you saw, and why everyone seems to think it was so great. Trust me. Go early. The highlight of your night will be Proxy. Only one word can describe this guy, raw. He always kills it. If you didn’t get tickets for tonight’s “Hardfest,” we’ve got a back up plan for you. Dada Life is playing across town at Ruby Skye. (Inflatable Bananas are guaranteed!) Also, tomorrow night Pinback and Ghettoblaster are playing at Bottom of the Hill.
(Proxy)
Now for some tunes. This week saw a lot of releases, leaks, and new discoveries. We’ve got some leaks off Steve Aoki’s upcoming full length, two amazing mash-ups from 5 & A Dime, a new Skream track, and regretably, even some Lady Gaga. Boom. Metric – Collect Call (Adventure Club Remix)
