photo by Ford Fairchild

Cherub: This party has the proper dude-to-goat ratio.

Summer officially begins this week, which means it's time to take a vacation from partying only pretty hard. So load up the station wagon with ice, naked people, and flavored sonogram gel because Miami's not stopping until September.

And to kick off your road trip to oblivion, Nashville electro-pop duo Cherub will be playing Bardot on Saturday night. The pair's new 100 Bottles EP is the latest in a series of sweaty, sexy, party-starting jams that qualifies Jordan Kelly and Jason Huber to give even someone like you some party advice.

For starters, here are their must-have ingredients for any good party. Jason says you're going to need "loud speakers and a nice girl-to-guy ratio," which is about "three-to-one. I'm a guy. But a girl, too, when there are too many guys, they get weirded out."

See also:
-Cherub Will Slap You in the Face and/or Smack Your Butt Cheeks and Call You "Daddy"

Most of the club rats getting down to electro and booty bass these days are too young to remember the scene's old-school pioneers like Egyptian Lover, AKA Greg Broussard.

After all, most of us were still learning how to crawl (or hadn't even been born yet) when Broussard was already mastering the art of beat mixing and juggling breaks. This was right at the beginning of the '80s, when he helped kick-start the West Coast hip-hop scene as a DJ with L.A.'s legendary Uncle Jamm's Army collective.

See also:
-Egyptian Lover: Win an Autographed Poster and Free Tickets for The Vagabond Miami

Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of Hip-Hop

Three decades ago, Afrika Bambaataa found the perfect beat when he made the "Planet Rock." And it was that beat-breaking track that bridged the gap between hip-hop and electronic music.

But there's more to the Godfather of Hip-Hop than "Planet Rock:" Bam is credited for coining the term hip-hop because the rhymes were "hip and [made] you hippity-hop to the beat," he is the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation, and there's a petition going around to nominate the hip-hip revolutionist for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Last week, Crossfade caught up with Bambaataa, who was all the way in London, and spoke to him about how "Planet Rock" revolutionized hip-hop, the influential role of DJs, UZN, and his Miami gig at PAX on June 15 celebrating 20 years of UZN Miami.

See also:
-Afrika Bambaataa Celebrates 20 Years of Universal Zulu Nation Miami at PAX on June 15
-Who Wants Free Tickets for Afrika Bambaataa and the Universal Zulu Nation at PAX Miami?

Cedric Gervais was born in France, but he's been a local Miami DJ since he was 15 years old. More recently, he's become a worldwide superstar, thanks to an infectious brand of pop-dance and a girl named Molly.

He's celebrating a birthday this week, and he's more than stoked to come home and mark the occasion with a special performance at LIV. His success has been a long time coming, and this is his biggest year yet.

We spoke with Gervais about the best move of his life, his recent career highlights, and how a dude with more than 15 years of experience keeps himself ahead of the game.

See also:
-Cedric Gervais on Birthday Bash at LIV Miami: "It's My Hometown ... I Might Stagedive!"

The breadth of DJ-producer Uros Umek's achievements during the course of his two-decade career simply cannot be overstated. Not only did he help kick-start the local electronic dance music scene in his native Slovenia after the fall of the Iron Curtain but he went on to conquer the global techno scene as one of its biggest stars. He's a permanent fixture on DJ Mag's prestigious Top 100 DJs poll and even made the 2011 Beatport Staff Pick Artist of the Year.

But Umek is also a candidate for most humanitarian DJ in the world, having founded the annual Party for a Cause music festival in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, an event that draws as many as 30,000 festivalgoers each year, raising funds and support for both local and international charity organizations.

Ahead of a headlining performance for Kontrol Thursdays at Mansion this week, Crossfade caught up with the man himself to chat about Eastern Bloc EDM, Party for a Cause, and the life of a globetrotting DJ superstar.

See also:
-Sunshine Jones: "These Are Absolutely Inspirational Times for Electronic Music"

Just like rock 'n' roll, once used by the counterculture to liberate minds and stick it to The Man before selling out to MTV, electronic dance music was also once a music of spiritual liberation and transcendence. Then it became "EDM" and commercial Top 40 radio fodder.

This was back in the '90s rave era, when renegade parties gathered the grooving masses under motorway passes and in abandoned warehouses to experience collective musical elation.

Few acts epitomize the free spirit and PLUR philosophy of that era more than Dubtribe Sound System, the San Francisco production duo of Sunshine and Moonbeam Jones.

See also:
-Dubtribe Sound System on Raving: "That Renegade, Revolutionary Spirit Is Always Out There"

Flight School Preps know all about delays. They know the so-called "New Miami" hip-hop party started a few years ago. And their follow-up to last year's breakout Expensive Dreams mixtape was set to drop in March.

Now, two months after the planned street date, FSP's Jay, Sly, and Reese have finally arrived with BlackMarketED, just in time for the summer.

Better late than never.

See also:
-Phresh James: "I'm Retiring Phresh James ... My Name Is Kaleem Muhammad"

For a band that hails from Moscow, where winters are long and summer heat waves send citizens into daytime revelries of a life beyond their crowded, artificial riverbank beaches, Pompeya's sound is something like diving into a deep blue Caribbean lagoon, where lush green foliage dips into sparkling waters and gently pulsating beats echo from a yacht anchored somewhere nearby.

Maybe they've been dreaming it up all their lives, or perhaps Pompeya have just recently jumped aboard the synth-soaked nostalgia train back to the '80s. Either way, the high, cooing vocals, funky basslines, crisp electric riffs, and chilled-out tropical disco vibes give this Russian rock band an altogether fresh sound, perfect for melting into a new wave of summer heat.

See also:
-Six Best Parties on South Beach This Week
-Five Best Concerts in Miami This Week

Via facebook.com/LocosporJuanaMusic

They've gone crazy for Juana!

These guys may be un grupo de locos, but one thing's for sure: they are reggae/Latin/cumbia/fusion badasses.

Locos Por Juana was successful from the start. The release of their debut, self-titled album landed them a Premio lo Nuestro nomination in 2003 for Best Urban Artist.

The second album, Música P'al Pueblo, scored them a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album in 2005, and the third album, La Verdad, released under Universal Music, was nominated for a Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the Grammys in 2008.

The dudes recently released their fifth studio album, Somos de la Calle, and are prepping for an upcoming summer tour.

Crossfade caught up with guitarist Mark Kondrat just in time for Locos' June 8 show at Jazid where they will be celebrating the club's 17th anniversary. He revealed who Juana is, the challenges of the music biz, and the band's special bond with Jazid.

See also:
-Jazid's 17th Anniversary: "It's a Special Place, It's Like a Shrine"

One of the things that US electronic music fans have to envy the most about the UK scene is its diversity of sounds. For decades, it's been a creative hotbed for all sorts of experimental styles and hybrids, from jungle and drum 'n' bass to UK garage, grime, dubstep, and all the interesting new "post-dubstep" sonic variants.

Local UK DJs don't take this variety for granted either, often gravitating mid-career from one scene to another or blending influences from many. Take London DJ-producer and Rinse FM radio show host T. Williams.

See also:
-Charli XCX Talks Pop: "I Never Wanted to Write a Hipster Record"