On a recent Friday night in Miami Beach, the wind slices across Ocean Drive and the waves from the Atlantic pound in a deafening crescendo. Three perfectly bronzed girls, bikini lines exposed, walk briskly across the street to huddle under a palm tree, in search of a little warmth. Seconds…
Among the major themes of this year’s 23rd installment of Winter Music Conference are better and bigger. Much bigger. Just check the numbers: 40,000 people are expected to attend various events; 20,000 area hotel rooms are booked; more than 1,780 artists and DJs will perform; over 85 venues will throw…
Autechre’s MO over the past decade has been to usher you through a labyrinth of thorny textures both alien and alienating while spouting complex algorithmic theorems and punching you about the head and torso in 17/8 (or maybe 13/4) time. But on Autechre’s ninth album, Quaristice, the band members occasionally…
On this document of its 2007 world tour, the Barcelona-based, self-styled “hip-hop flamenco” band plays music from its latest studio recording of the same name while also going through some material from its back catalogue, delivering a high-energy performance that can be felt from the first moment. “Sultanas de Merkaillo”…
If Supernature was Goldfrapp’s ode to stylish disco saturnalia, Seventh Tree is the elegy for the inevitable “Suicide Tuesdays”: when clubbers ache to dispel that raisin-y, dried-out feeling and the Roland TB-303 drumbeats still pound in their heads. Once galvanized by the opiated synergy that exists between beats and body,…
Downer duo Beach House first made waves with its 2006 single “Apple Orchard,” which copped the breathy vocals and slide guitar of Mazzy Star and buried them under layers of cavernous reverb and buzzing organ. Two years later, the band’s bewitching formula hasn’t really changed. Upon first listen, Devotion floats…
Spinna is one of the busiest working producers and DJs on the planet. Not many can keep their hands on the pulse of the next shit when it comes to both hip-hop and dance music, but Spinna has stayed in the forefront of more genres than a United Nations summit…
Long Island’s DJ Theo is one of the few in the trade with enough versatility to love the club and — gasp! — the radio. In fact he’s passionate about both. Fiery, even. “I always thought dance music didn’t get the kind of respect where people could talk about it…
Long before dance music was divided into a million subgenres, Héctor Romero was mixing things up at his legendary block parties in the Bronx. During those anything-goes days, Romero — then known as Baby Hec — developed a love for early house music through residencies at legendary NYC clubs such…
This DJ from New York has the talent to venture from rap to rock to house to electro to whatever without losing the audience or sounding strained. He was formerly an editor at knowledgeable and adventurous music mag Fader, where he was known as Nick Barat. Now he — along…
Remember those strange techno-ambient sounds on the Wachowski brothers’ Matrix prequel, The Animatrix? They belong to Satoshi Tomiie, one of Japan’s most successful DJs. Tomiie should be a familiar name to anyone with the slightest interest in house music, for he’s marking almost two decades in the biz, after honing…
L.A. is full of starlets, celebutantes, and wannabe Playboy bunnies who are only too happy to besmirch the name and good reputation of female DJs such as Colette Marino, who actually knows what she’s doing. And don’t let the pretty looks fool you into thinking otherwise. She’s currently residing in…
Los Angeles resident Zach Sciacca always remembers to take listeners on a true journey — a real Z-Trip. And since so many DJs have forgotten (or never learned) how to mix, Z’s local appearances should easily be highlights in a crowded party itinerary. As a teenager in Phoenix, he formed…
As if it wasn’t apparent by his moniker, Chuck Love reveals himself as something of a smooth dude when he sings. The Minneapolis-based artist, who is also a DJ and producer, found a natural home at San Francisco’s Om Records for last year’s debut double-disc Bring Enough to Spill Some…
It developed from a rather small thing by the beach into one of the biggest festivals you have in the U.S. And it represents nearly everything electronic music has to offer, and so therefore it’s one of the most important festivals not just in the States, but in the world.”…
Rane and Serato revolutionized the DJ game — and lowered chiropractor bills — with the introduction of their Scratch Live software. The new club standard, it allows DJs to play a hard drive full of MP3s in real time on a pair of turntables through a piece of hardware and…
All the WMC activity can be incredibly fun. But there can be an incessant air about it too: There are countless singles, albums, DVDs, and DJs to promote, and often it’s crap that might not even be available to the public for quite some time. For those who are just…
Every Friday night, Baltimore’s Club 1722 sizzles with Sugar, an after-hours party that’s been pumping the finest in old and new house music for nearly five years. And at the helm is the Sugar Girl Squad, consisting of DJs Lisa Moody and Ultra Naté. “There’s still those few people out…
Describing Hank Shocklee will run you into trouble. Only grandiose analogies such as mystical musical prophet and electro-galactic freedom fighter do him justice. A founding member of legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy, he — along with his brother Keith — created the Bomb Squad, a production team that’s greatly influenced…
A heavy sound system; progressive, up-tempo black music; vibe-building MCs; and an atmosphere akin to a Friday-night house party — these are a few of the ingredients you can expect at a Co-Op jam. Based in West London, England, the party has been going strong for close to a decade…
The cyberlife of Dutchman Armin van Buuren, one of the biggest DJs in the world, began in the early Eighties with a Grundy NewBrain computer his mom won in a contest. “I loved it. You could program your own games in BASIC,” he says wistfully. “I made a bowling game…
On a recent afternoon, DJ Aero is sitting at home in L.A. cheerfully describing the set of 14 propulsive, four-to-the-floor tracks he recently helped create. Then his partner chimes in about one that’s still in the works. “We were in Costa Rica, and we recorded these girls chanting this thing…
