Fool's Gold, Poplife, White Room

Every Winter Music Conference, every attendee and his brother claims to have been to the best party of the year. Some of them are close to correct; most of them have no clue. Unless, that is, they were at White Room in 2008 for the first Poplife-sponsored Fool's Gold annual throwdown.

All-star DJs lurking in the corner? Check. Cute little hotties gathered 'round the bar? Double check. Full-throttle, four-to-the-floor beats beneath a mad Miami skyline? Check and check and check again.

Yep, last year's Fool's Gold shebang was the be-all and end-all, all right, and it included surprise guest sets from Surkin, Boys Noize, and JFK of MSTRKRFT, as well as some wild mike hype from Chromeo. And if you weren't there, well, you weren't anywhere.

Okay, so we hyperbolize a bit. But it's kind of hard to do otherwise. You see, Fool's Gold is not just one of dance-dom's most dynamite indie labels. It also happens to be run by two of turntablism's best head spinners. And if having those two — A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs — at the helm doesn't spell bedlam, nothing does.

To list the number of Fool's Gold releases would take a week, so we won't even try. We will tell you it recently includes everybody from the breakbeat-thumping Congorock to the Kanye-soaked street sounds of everybody's favorite Kid Sister. And that should be enough to give you an idea of the imprint's boisterous breadth.

And if the spring series of releases is any indication, the respect Fool's Gold both engenders and enjoys is about to be multiplied exponentially. Kid Sister's full-length, like her "Pro Nails" debut, is coming out in cooperation with New York's Downtown Records, home of notables such as Justice and Santogold. And A-Trak is about to unleash two action-packed, co-branded collections, one with Thrive (Infinity +1) and another with Fabric (FabricLive 45). Add summer's steamy Fool's Gold compilation, along with a fall full of remix discographies from Treasure Fingers and Jokers on the Scene, and you've got the doings of one wild 2009.

And that's only part of the reason why you'd be wise to hit White Room on Saturday Night for Fool's Gold's Second Annual WMC Spectacular. The real reason is because you really do want to be able to say you were at the year's best party — and not be lying.