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…
Thank goodness the Martinez Brothers in question here are not the same-named Austin taxidermist siblings who come up eventually on a Google search. Really, who wants to concern themselves with the “Deer Season Special”? But just because our brothers hail from the Bronx rather than Texas, and spin for a…
For the past decade, the lively Danny Howells has been at the forefront of the progressive house and later tech-house scenes in his native England. He’s offered singles and mixed collections for notable labels such as Jackpot, Obsessive, Renaissance, and Global Underground. He’s also a fearless remixer, unafraid to take…
Cuculand, the solo debut by Yerba Buena frontwoman CuCu Diamantes, is at once a breath of fresh air and a nostalgic whiff of a more glamorous time. The Cuban-born singer/composer’s disc shimmers with the glitz and glamour of an era when catching a show meant dinner jackets and hair tonic,…
K.C. Toimil sits on the sidewalk in front of PS14 on a recent weekend night. She’s trying to stay awake, and her band, Melted Sunglasses, is still patiently waiting to get onstage. It’s 3 a.m. I drove to this show, to see K.C. and her melty band. She told me…
MARCH 24 Aero Bar. Toronto Meets Miami: Markus Schulz, Glenn Morrison, and more!: Markus Schulz (Global DJ Broadcast, ColdHarbor), Glenn Morrison, Noel Sanger, Manzone & Strong, Joee Cons, DJ Ampz, Kaeno, Marcie, David Akermanis, Lucho, Richard Guerra, Jose Mata, Relik. Tue., March 24, 10 p.m. $20 advance, $25 before midnight,…
There are plenty of big-room beats this week, if that’s your thing. Still, one of the best parts of WMC is getting to scope out the fringe sounds making the rounds. Whether you are into dark Euro-electro or left-field breakbeats, there’s something unusual for you. Below are some of the…
Five hundred people. That’s how many bodies it takes to get Miami’s massive Ultra Music Festival off the ground and running. Five hundred people. From promoters in nearly every major city in the country, to a production staff that ranks among the world’s finest. Five hundred people. All on the…
A 14-year veteran of promoting techno events in Miami, Nelson Fernandez, AKA DJ Nova, has observed that folks tend to arrive in town early for WMC. “They’re always ready to start partying as soon as they get here,” he says, “or, for the locals, as soon as there’s an excuse!”…
The English quartet Late of the Pier is among its homeland’s best, brightest young hopes, boasting all the high cheekbones and music press praise that usually entails. But don’t mistake them for one of the dour, fedora-topped Brit indie groups of recent years. This band makes fun music for the…
It wasn’t too long ago that we were renaming French fries to freedom fries, but Franco-American relations have come a long way. Featuring touches of R&B, soul, disco, hip-hop, and rock ‘n’ roll, the new wave of French dance music is heavily influenced by American sounds. Labels such as Ed…
Trash” might not be the first title that springs to mind when you consider a great pop song. But believe it or not, it happens to be the title of four of the greatest pop songs in history. Really. The first “Trash” came way back in 1973, on the New…
In 1906, an American inventor named Lee De Forest was tinkering in his Council Bluffs, Iowa workshop when he accidentally created an electronic amplification device that could detect radio signals. De Forest wasn’t exactly sure what he had come up with; in fact, he had to have others explain to…
For three years, the folks at NYC’s Made Event have brought to Miami their all-star amalgam of underground overlords. And for each of those three years, their closing party, Sunday School for Degenerates, has proven the ultimate way to close WMC. In 2009, year four promises to be an even…
Trance remains one of those peculiar genres with as many admirers as detractors. For years, even as it climbed international pop charts, some electronic music circles persistently criticized it for being too simplistic and formulaic. Yet trance has not only endured but also thrived, outselling most styles of dance music…
During WMC, there are plenty of poolside rendezvous, eardrum-splitting techno sets, and VIP meet-and-greets, but there is only one Jump n Funk extravaganza. Almost a ripple in time during the seven-day digital festival, JNF is the open-air, twilight party where your two-step gives way to a bowlegged grind as you…
Fedde Le Grande is a busy man. When he’s not collaborating with international music icons or wrapping up his latest record, he’s touring the world, jetting from his home in the Netherlands to remote locales. To say his 2006 single — the homage to the mecca of techno called “Put…
San Francisco duo CyberSutra is fairly new to the dance music scene, but producers Scott Binder and Nathan Heal have wasted no time in making their presence known. Blending the hard edge of electro with the melodic expanses of trance, they incorporate unique vocals by some of the top vocalists…
With great power comes great responsibility, or so the superhero saying goes. And when it comes to the power to rock the dance floor right, and rock it all night, call the Bloody Beetroots. With their Marvel Comics-style masks, the Italian twosome can be seen bobbing in the booth, gleefully…
Andy Butler, the cunning mind behind Hercules and Love Affair, is a champion of saucy, sweaty disco and house, and his DJ sets reflect this focused style. The group’s self-titled record was easily one of the biggest exclamation points in dance music’s lexicon last year. Alongside singers Nomi and Kim…
Two years ago, during Winter Music Conference, the now-defunct Snatch almost burned to the ground. Oh, there wasn’t a fire. But there was a hell of a lot of heat. And it all sprang from a gang of ragtag head spinners that ride sunder the name Crooklyn Clan. The core…
Hailing originally from Indiana, Troy Pierce got hooked at an early age by the classic techno sounds of nearby Detroit. However, when he decamped to New York, he found that not nearly as many people in the big city were similarly smitten. A move overseas to Berlin, the minimal techno…
