Blogs

By ANDY VIHSTADT

D.C. Cab

Death Cab for Cutie returns with Narrow Stairs on May 13. Listen to the first single “I Will Possess Your Heart” at the group’s MySpace page, and check out a live acoustic version of another new one below.

Death Cab for Cutie: “Cath…(acoustic live)” MP3 courtesy of Pretty Much Amazing

On the Side

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Handsome Furs, Violens
Thursday, March 27, 2008
PS14

Better Than: Fighting the WMC crowds for a taste of something electronic.

While the majority of Miami pulsed to the sounds of big name DJs at Winter Music Conference, a select group of indie-minded hipsters enjoyed the electronic-infused rock show by Montreal duo Handsome Furs and the New York scenesters Violens.

Well, the crowd had a fine time, that is, once the doors finally opened. Apparently the venue experienced some setbacks -- a personal issue with the sound guy, and another with a bartender -- that left a handful of patient fans standing on the sidewalk outside like assholes for nearly an hour after 10 p.m., when doors were set to open. I’m not sure what was worse -- the waiting itself, or having to watch the smug hipster door girl smoke cigarettes and read a book while everyone in line wondered what the hell was going on. At least PS14’s street front wall is made up entirely of clear windows, so while the bands conducted sound check everyone outside could be entertained.

By midnight the venue was beginning to get totally packed with an audience ranging from college kids to 30-somethings wearing tight pants, hoodies, vintage dresses and accessorizing with lots of bright colorful plastic and other expected indie scene gear. Breaking this fashion mold, however, was a new hybrid of bro-meets-hipster. Think Newbalance kicks paired with white belts -- although I’m certainly not recommending it.

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Michelle F. Solomon

DJ Bob Sinclar livened up the party remixing the party's name sake song.

Madonna "Four Minutes" WMC Release Party
Friday, March 28
Penthouse At The Raleigh Hotel, South Beach

We knew Madonna wouldn't show, but there was just a faint glimmer of hope as they dragged in the 3,000 pounds of hard candy up the elevator of the Raleigh to celebrate Madge's new release "Four Minutes" with Justin Timberlake from the "Hard Candy" album.

It was one of the happeningest VIP parties at the Winter Music Conference in the Raleigh Hotel Penthouse. And even though the Material Girl herself never materialized, and a rumor about Justin Timberlake showing up with Timbaland remained merely a rumor, you couldn't get any up front or closer to some great grooves.

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Fool's Gold Records showcase
The White Room, Miami
March 28, 2008

Better Than: All the sleep you’re missing from WMC, times 10
Although most of the brouhaha was supposedly occurring Friday night over at Ultra, one seemingly underground party emerged from the woodworks of Downtown Miami. Dubbed by LA Riots as “THE party of the conference,” the Fool's Gold joint was fresher than an economy-sized hand sanitizer – which everyone in the house could have used after the decks were violated dirty-style. Treasure Fingers got shit started earlier in the night, and although club attendance was scarce at that point, homeboy from A-town did a tight job warming things up. Dueling it up on the tables, LA Riots and MSTRKRFT escalated sounds to an uproar, representing a raging indie blend of electro and house scratches to cut it up to.

When Fool's Gold cofounder A-Trak came up to bat, bouncers closed off the room, leaving stragglers out in the foyer, but at least they still got a taste of the double-decker-mega-stacked value meal of a set. It’s a great thing the White Room's inner room is windowless.

Big ups to Boys Noize for flooring the spot producing techno-infused hella straight remixed beats, Nacho Lovers for a few parts house, and Jokers of the Scene for sprinkling a sexy dash of thrash into the pit of musical mayhem. There’s no way I’d be able to produce a track list as much as I can remember the name of the dude mackin’ it to me while I was tryin’ to get my groove on. When all is said and finis, these so-called Fools had it goin’ on for a party that’ll have lovers chasing and haters praising for one long-ass minute. -- Tracy Block

Inside Scoop: A-Trak must have had one sick birthday celebration that night... Oh yeah -- the birth of this spin prodigy just so happened to fall on this same night... Coincidence or just plain insanity?

Justice at Ultra Music Festival
Bicentennial Park
Friday, March 28, 2008

Better Than: Whatever X those chicks next to me were rolling face on

I obviously wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see the typical ravers, rollers and ridiculous public behavior at Ultra, a fest known for its array of diverse DJs and fans from all over the globe. After a couple two-steps over at The Crystal Method’ set – decent at best until they busted out with the Bee Gees' “Stayin’ Alive,” which obviously woke up everybody’s feet – I headed with a crew over to the main stage for the finale of Eric Prydz’s show. It was pretty much a cluster of house-heavy spinning to pump up the herd, prep time for the ultimate showdown by Justice.

Crushin’ the tables straight into the first five minutes, the Parisian duo mashed up a list of personal classics and super-sexy remixes which confirmed why Justice has a serious cult following. They held it down with tracks from their 2007 debut album, like “D.A.N.C.E.,” (personal fave), then “Phantom” transitioning into “Phantom Pt. 2”, to a tight taste of an oldie, their remix of Simian's “We Are Your Friends” and a loose sample of “One Minute To Midnight." The grass of Bicentennial Park got worked, and hard. Justice’s original jams were wicked, but their raw cut of Ginuwine’s “Pony” was by far my cherry on top. The sea went crazy for their stir-up of Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up” and sensually grooved to Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight.” From start to finish, these Frenchies were for sure the one-night-stand I would call all my friends about. -- Tracy Block

Personal Tidbit: I definitely had to stop and kill it on the pavement for a few minutes at the side stage on the way out. After all, MSTRKRFT was reprising “D.A.N.C.E.,” baby!

Tracy Block

A-Trak confirmed his incomparable spinning skills Thursday night at Suite, showing serious candidacy for best WMC set thus far.

Last Night: “Wish You Were Here” at Suite and Snatch

Better Than: A hot and fresh box of Krispy Kremes after blazing up a fatty.

Although the snooty door keepers denied existence of guest lists and turned away numbers outside Snatch and Suite Thursday night, a lucky sea of beat heads made it in to the clubs. Luckily enough, yours truly milked it and headed over to Snatch for the earlier part of the evening where Klever busted out jams for about an hour. Though the mix was ill, the company Snatch kept was nothing to brag about. I counted only a handful of people actually bobbing their heads, and the rest of the club-hoppers seemed like they didn’t necessarily get the memo about the WMC event. Ladies were dressed to the nines like it was any other Thursday night, not so much in true dance-till-you-can’t-stand-no-more attire. Little did they know Klever was making sweet love to the turntables with a mix of hip-hop, break beats, booty and a few house jams that rocked me and my boys’ socks off. Holding it down with a samples of Lil Jon and Ying Yang Twins remixes pleased the handful of appreciators, but when the clock struck 2 a.m., it was time to head back over to Suite for probably what I would predict as the tastiest treat of WMC.

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Tracy Block

Craze ripped a sick never-ending set at Nocturnal Wednesday, March 26 which had beat lovers gettin’ their groove on from the window to the wall.

Last Night: Bass Sessions at Nocturnal

Better Than: The best ‘90s booty mix you ever bought

Downtown Miami’s Nocturnal night club certainly had it going on last night. Appealing to the booty music, heavy bass enthusiasts, dope beats were crankin’ out from 10 p.m. until 5 in the morn. Scenesters were clad in grungy attire, sure to sport some hot kicks so they could keep up on the dance floor all night long. DJ of the night, Craze, ripped it up with what seemed like a two-hour set, but we were all jammin’ so hardcore, nobody really kept track. Bringing the mostly twentysomething crowd way back to the middle school days, Craze let loose with a tribute to 2 Live Crew, Uncle Luke and 95 South and the floor was packed with pimps and hoes doing their thing better than those Daisy Duke-wearing skanks who graced all the old school music videos all those years ago.

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Just got an email from overseas about champion British soundclash veteran David Rodigan's time in the studio with our own Walshy Fire from Black Chiney. A week and a half ago, Roddy was in town doing a show at Studio A and before he hit the club, he and Walshy chopped it up Mixx 96 style.
Rodigan played a slew of brand new dubplates, some that are just bananas. We're talking exclusives on top of exclusives on top of exclusives. To listen to the show, click this link and enjoy.

And if you want to check Rodigan in action, check the video below.

-- Jonathan Cunningham

Today: The Armani Exchange Music Lounge at the Hotel Raleigh Penthouse

Better than: Last night’s hangover from WMC kickoff gigs and jet lag combined

VIP constitutes access to a slew of stellar events, but during WMC, being “Very Important” grants you access to one of the choicest chill spots on SoBe. Enter the Raleigh Hotel’s penthouse's Armani Exchange Music Lounge, boasting a plethora of sponsors to cater to DJs and WMC badge holders during their downtime.

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If Scottish singing sensation Calvin Harris is not the hardest working man in electro-land, by the end of this weekend he will be, because the cat’s got three – count ‘em – shows coming up in two days. New Times took a quick phoner from the man before he crossed the pond; here’s some of what he had to say. (And click here to read this issue's article about the man.) – John Hood

Ever been to Miami?

No, never ever. But I’m ready.

You’ve got three dates scheduled (The Raleigh, Ultra, and The White Room) – how long are you gonna be in town?

Just two days.

Oh, so you won’t have a lot of time to see one of the millions of DJs while you’re here?

I’m hoping to catch Tommie Sunshine at some point. We have a lot of history, so it’d be nice to meet him.

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The Moody Blues
Tuesday, March 25
Hard Rock Live

The Moody Blues created an indelible imprint in the annals of classic rock, having gained a generation’s eternal affection. After their initial incarnation as a blues band – and an early hit called “Go Now”– they morphed into the leading purveyors of late ‘60s psychedelia, drawing on subjects spanning intergalactic exploration to the search for spirituality. No wonder then that they found a liberated, free-spirited adolescent following, one that absorbed their sound with the pungent smell of herbal ingestion filling many a dorm room and eagerly turned the Moodies’ music into a late night soundtrack for lysergic adventure and substance-induced exploration.

Even now, their albums – Days of Future Passed, In Search of the Lost Chord and On the Threshold of a Dream -- and more specifically, classic rock staples such as “Tuesday Afternoon,” “Nights In White Satin,” and “Ride My Seesaw” remain mainstays on classic rock radio and vivid reminders of that more innocent era.

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M.A.N.D.Y., hailing from Berlin, isn't female -- nor is it even one person. Rather, it's the purposefully ambiguous moniker of the DJ/producer duo of Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung. Longtime pals since boyhood, over the years they moved from throwing warehouse parties for the sheer love of the music, to fiddling with their own compositions. Helping to create the new sound journalists would tag "electrohouse," M.A.N.D.Y. hit big-room gold in 2005 with their single "Body Language," created with fellow duo Booka Shade. It's a rolling, deceptively simple trip over tweaked-out bass that landed itself on no less than a BBC 1 Essential Mix that year.

But what Bodmer and Jung are also revered for in today's dance music circles is their cofounding of Get Physical Records, along with friends Walter Merziger and Arno Kammeier (Booka Shade). The label's become known for its slinky, sexy sound of old-school, body-jackin funk that bubbles over with futuristic machine melodies. There's enough of a cold, techy wallop for dance floor purists, and enough warmth and swing to lure over former rock kids who are ready to move beyond the neon-flashy hype.

I recently caught up with Philipp by phone at the Get Physical offices, and we chatted about the limitations of festival appearances, this year's Get Physical party at WMC, and why David Bowie is cool, but Mick Jagger isn't. --Arielle Castillo

M.A.N.D.Y. appears Thursday night at the Get Physical Miami 2 party at Studio A; Friday at the Beatport pool party at the Remix Hotel at the National; and Friday at the Ultra Music Festival. Scroll to the end for full party details.

M.A.N.D.Y.'s Fabric 38 mix is available now on Fabric's label. And check the duo's Myspace page, at http://www.myspace.com/getmandy for details of their upcoming international tour.

Full interview after the jump.

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By ANDY VIHSTADT

Friends of P

Portishead returns after a decade for its Third on April 29. Click here to order the special edition before eBay scavengers deplete the supply. The box set includes a P-shaped USB card with the album and five films, as well as a double LP and an etched 12” of the first single, “Machine Gun.” Check out the video here.

Paid in Full

The annual Paid Dues hip-hop festival took place in San Bernardino, CA, over the weekend. Sage Francis, who took second billing, and a few guest MCs from his Strange Famous Records roster put together a posse cut to commemorate the occasion. Grab it below.

Sage Francis, Prolyphic and B. Dolan: “SFR Pays Dues” MP3

Click More for more hot tunez.

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You know, I do agree with some of the readers who have been writing in saying that Jay-Z could have played a bunch of different tracks during his two night stint here in Miami that would have made the concerts better. I've got personal favorites that never game out but that's the way it goes. He's gotta satisfy all of his fans...and we all know a lot of his "fans" didn't come on board till well after Reasonable Doubt dropped.
But no "Dead Presidents." I dont' know how he missed that one.
So we're bringing it to you Throwback Tuesday style

-- Jonathan Cunningham

In this week’s Winter Music Conference guide, we summarized why you should check out the white-hot techno DJ, and now label impresario, Anja Schneider. Click here to read the article. Of course, there were a bunch of interview outtakes, so here’s the full Q&A for the super fans. Scroll to the end of the interview for full details about her appearances during conference.– Arielle Castillo

When and how did you wind up in Berlin?

I'm originally from Cologne, and actually it was for music. I came for one weekend to have a visit at the famous Planet club — this was '93 or '94. After this visit, I decided I had to move there. This was my city, with my music.

How did you end up in radio first?

When I moved to Berlin I had just finished my studies in marketing and communications, and I worked first in an advertising agency for a few months. At home, I had heard always pirate radio -- Kiss FM, it was all DJs.

I was so into this music and I loved it, so I went there and I said, Hello, my name is Anja, I’ve just come to Berlin, do you need help. Because I always had in mind since I was a child that radio was something that I loved.

It was really, really small; it was a pirate station -- it was only four people. So I worked there as a program manager, because I came there from a marketing background. I tried to build things up and always tried to bring more electronic music into the programming.

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