“Listen to them, children of the night, what music they make!”

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. The costumes, the candy (yes, admittedly I'm still a child at heart,) the movies, and, most importantly, the spirit of the holiday itself. In the Underground, fall marks a time when music is started to get a little less light hearted, and a little deeper and darker.  Halloween itself usually takes it to a whole other level.  Club goers and party throwers live for Halloween. I ask anyone to go out to any Underground event the weekend or on Halloween and you will see what I mean. A sea of costumes, decorations, and eerie beats that would make your inner creep grin with sinister pleasure. Going along with this idea, I have here some tracks that will surely chill you to the bone and will surely get you excited for this Halloween.

Eerie, deep house. Haunting, repetitive vocals. Some kind of creepy child's laugh in the background. Sure to please even the pickiest house music elitist. This track is bewitching to say the least, and deserving of a spot on the list.  

This one comes from the young, yet super talented producer Rich Gior. This song is not new, no, but is Halloween material through and through and certainly does not disappoint. Gior takes a disturbing classic house vocal, "Rippin Kittin," and elevates it through simple, yet sophisticated and spotless production. The strong foundation allows the creepy vocals shine in this song. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.




Getting away from vocals for a bit, but still holding true to the spirit of Halloween, David G Tronic hits us with a  dope groove that will make your skin crawl. No, the track doesn't have any vocals, but the production alone shows us that it can stand alone on it's own, no problem.  This track would put anyone in a very danceable, groovy mood, and yet also would freak anyone who heard it before their bedtime (exactly what I'm doing now… uh oh.) All in all, thumbs up! 

BPM lineup is here!

I have never been here myself, but from what I am told it is quite the destination. Playa del Carmen, Mexico in January, the ultimate escape from a brutal NYC winter. Here, the industry and clubbers come together in perfect harmony to enjoy the ultimate musical vacation.  The event boasts 250+ artists, day and night parties from January 3rd up to the 12th. It also doesn't hurt that it's in Playa del Carmen, so making it into one's ultimate dream winter vacation would be a no-brainer (e.g. pairing partying with sun, sand, and some sight-seeing.)  I have some money saved up, so hopefully this year I'll be able to make it!  Here's the official line-up: 

Way Back Wednesday

Here's some underrated classics GOLD from 1998. One of my favorite vocals of all time for sure.  If you feel like being nostalgic for the next 9 minutes, you should most definitely press play.

It's Not A Popularity Contest: Why Quantity Over Quality Won't Work In The Long Run

It's rantin' time. The Underground, like any other music scene, has it's pitfalls. We know this. Nothing is perfect, as we've seen in my last post about "Pet Peeves." With that being said, there are some larger problems in the NYC Underground that aren't any laughing matter.

Some of the DJs in New York City (not pointing any fingers and naming names, you can use your imagination on this one,) who are chosen to play at parties don't hold up to my standards of what I would consider "talented." The room they're playing in may be packed to the brim, but that usually is the extent of it all. The vibe isn't all the way there, their mixing is sub par, if not sloppy, and their track choices are the same Beatport Top 100 that I've heard over time and time again.

Why is lackluster talent a reality in NYC? Yes, NYC of all places, a city that is chock full of 100s of talented local hopefuls. Well, let me break it down for you.

Who do you think throws these parties? Clubs and other sorts of venues, obviously. How do these places make their money? Entrance/ ticket fees and drinks. Usually, venue owners are too busy with their own business to worry about how to entice people to come in for parties. This is where promoters come in. Promoters, as we all know, are dudes and gals who are hired by venues so they can pack them out, fill them up with people. That's a promoter's job. The more people promoters get to come in, the more money they make.

How do DJs for these events get chosen? Is the hiring mostly talent-based? That would generally make sense, am I right? Not exactly. As of late, some promoters have gotten lazy. And on top of that, have become taken with the green-eyed monster: greed. They want to make the most amount of money they can with the least amount of effort. How can they do this? Well, it's simple. Promoters usually leave it up to the DJ and/ or his team and manager do some work for the promoter. By putting in the DJ that guarantees to bring the most amount of people, the promoters will be able to make the most money possible by doing the least amount of work possbile. It doesn't matter if the DJ is talented, mediocre, or just plain sucks. The more people a DJ is able to bring, the more eligible they are to play.

This way of doing things poses a big problem. Why? I'll tell you why. It's beyond the fact that it's unfair to talented, hardworking DJs who deserve a time slot. It's way more than that. It's the fact that this way of doing things is going to impact the scene for the worse. This business practice just doesn't affect the DJs, it affects the party-goers, promoters, club owners, and the entire music industry. It's dangerous, and I'm going to tell you why.

"DJ Popular" may be able to draw a crowd, but the clientele within the crowd is only so limited each week. The crowd that a "popular" DJ is going to be able to draw is going to comprised of the same people, namingly their friends and acquaintances. This is going to drive away new party-goers who have come to hear some quality music on the decks. New patrons who don't know the DJ won't care about how "chill" the DJ's personality may be… they just care about enjoying the music. If the music is average, they ain't coming back for more. A DJ's popularity may be able to draw people in, but it's going to be the same old 50-200 people each week. Mediocracy will drive away newcomers. It's that simple. New patrons won't care about how much of a cool dude the DJ is, or how good looking they are. If their music sucks, new business will not be coming in. They will steer clear, rolling their eyes in disgust. No mercy.

If popularity is placed before talent, the bar is going to be set a lot lower for DJs in New York. This is dangerous, because "friendly competition" is necessary in the the scene. Why? Without friendly competition, DJs won't work as hard. Instead of concentrating on their music (which should come first) they're going to be sending out Facebook invites to all their peeps, and partying all weekend for networking purposes. If they're guaranteed a spot already, why do they have to try to play any better in the first place? They will be concentrating more on the networking/ promoting side of things rather than on perfecting their talent. Improving their skills and preparing long and hard for a set isn't necessary if acquiring their set time isn't based on "friendly competition." No fair playing field will exist, and thus, DJs are going to stop trying hard. They're going to settle for their second best. They're going to focus on the less important things, like getting the most followers on Facebook or Sound Cloud, they will lose sight of what's important. They won't be on their A-Game.

Finally, and most importantly, it's this kind of thinking that is going to cause the death of musical creativity here in New York. Creativity absolutely necessary when it comes to the arts, especially when it comes to music. You need creativity to play and appreciate music. The more plentiful talent and new, fresh ideas that are out there, the more DJs will be able get inspired, and the higher the bar will be able to be set. Setting the creativity bar high will inspires these DJs to play better and think outside the box, thus performing to the best of their ability. If DJs are not being hired based on talent, and talent is placed second to popularity, this creativity that once existed here in NYC will surely stagnate. If mediocrity is the standard that DJs are held to, they're not going to aspire to play better and grow to their full potential. If we allow this subpar standard continues to stay in place for so long, it shall soon become the norm. Do we really want this to happen?

If this mediocrity continues to remain acceptable, everyone will lose out, not just the talented DJs who are pushed to the side because they couldn't bring in 50 of their friends. What the man behind the curtain doesn't know (aka club owners, promoters, etc.) is that they're going to ultimately hurt themeselves as well. The heart of the NYC Underground that we all have always loved so much is the music. As corny as it sounds, it's the heart and soul of the party. Turning away from this reality in favor of greed will destroy the true meaning of the scene as we know it. It will be cheapened. The magic will cease to exist. Everyone will lose in the end, but no one realizes it… yet.

Underground Pet Peeves

I think I'm not alone when I say I'd pick clubs like Cielo, Output, or even System After Hours over 1 Oak any day. Strict dress codes, judgmental bouncers, and overpriced drinks have never been my thing. When I go out, I'm going out for the music and because want to dance in a comfortable, judgement-free zone. On a more personal note, although I'm a girl, I despise wearing heels. I can't dance in them, and I am terrible at feigning comfort after three hours of being confined to the things. I will never be at home in the more upscale venues, and I'm OK with that. I'm hopelessly devoted to Underground Club Land. However, that doesn't mean that my favorite spots are perfect. Underground parties also have their fair share of the weird, the awkward, and the just plain annoying.

1. The Overcrowded Sweatbox of Death

It's Saturday night, and you're heading out to see your favorite house (or techno) DJ that you've been dying to see for months. You pay the fee to get in, then happily waltz into the venue. Oh. My. God. The amount of people is so nauseating that you're getting claustrophobic by just looking upon the crowd. You join your fellow club-goers anyway. This little setback won't prevent you from enjoying your night. Once you dive into the sea of people before you, you discover that the guy next to you is profusely sweating, and the girl in front of you keeps stepping on your shoes while doing the two step. You try to bust a move, but you barely have half an inch to do so. You just can't win. This, my friends, is the overcrowded sweatbox of death.

2. The Stage 4 Creeper

This one is for my ladies. There's always that one dude lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce. Homeboy is usually alone, about thirty-ish, and has a Jack Torrence-ish look in his eye (if you've familiar with the film The Shining, you catch my drift.) No matter how many times you politely try to get away from him, he will follow you around all night, staring. Perhaps he'll even stalk you all the way to After Hours. Stage 4 Creeper, ladies and gents. He never misses a party.

3. "House Hipsters"

Hipsters are known far and wide for thinking that they are too cool for anything and everything, claiming to be innovators and non-conformists. You don't only find Hipsters in Williamsburg, though. They can be found in all walks of life, especially in the Underground House Music Scene in New York. These are the people who pride themselves on being experts on the genre more so than anyone else. They think they're too cool for NYC, and constantly proclaim that clubbing is better in Europe (although they themselves have never actually been to Europe.) They hate "ravers," and the colorful costumes they wear ("House Hipsters" prefer black because it matches the color of the depths of their soul) and act like they weren't listening to David Guetta four years ago.

5. Techno Overload

The closing DJ is an hour into his set. Although techno is awesome, the DJ's sound is all starting to monotone. The set has no groove anymore, only pure, glorious repetition. You start to get bored. Your boredom slowly turns into annoyance. Instead of the music taking you on a journey, your head is about to explode instead. You my friend, are experiencing techno overload. Don't get me wrong, techno is a beautiful thing when it's done right. If a DJ is simply playing what sounds good, the "heavy stuff," aka pure UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ, rather than concentrating on the musical journey that that he or she is supposed to be taking the crowd on, it's going to be a recipe for disaster.

6. Track Thieves

This one is for the DJs. There's always that other DJ (whether he's playing that night or not) cozying up to you, either on your left or right side smiling keeping one eye on you and the other on your computer. Perhaps the thief is looking over your shoulder, writing down the name of the joint you're about to drop on his or her phone, plotting to download it in the morning. You wonder to yourself, "why they couldn't have just asked me for the song and be professional instead of acting like an 8 year old?" That would be impossible, my friend. Why? Because it would mean that the thief would be admitting to the fact that they admire their competition. Track thieves… there's always one in the booth.





That's my list so far. There are so many more annoyances out there, but these are just the ones that popped into my mind at the moment. Feel free to go ahead and post a comment sharing your own Underground Pet Peeves! I would love to add more to the list.

October Ear Porn

Young Spanish Producer/ DJ Cuartero gets it right with this one. This DJ chart is composed of soulful, deep, techy goodness through and through that would even make the grumpiest of old men tap their feet (secretly, of course.) The tracks range from "Deep House," to "Tech House," to just plain old "House," which are all a true reflection of Cuartero's affinity for groove and bass. Some of my personal favorites from this chart are Murder City by DJ W!LD, Talk About Jack by Sidney Charles, and Need This by Sante. Buy the package for $21.40, or buy individual tracks for $2.49 or under. And, on a final note, don't be a jerk and illegally download tracks. Remember these producers, although popular, ain't no Lady Gaga or Beyoncé. Support the artist!

It's Official

The British are officially coming on October 31, 2013 when the Ibiza nightclub frainchize Sankey's will officially be making it's long-awaited debut.  The club will be located on 29 West 36th Street, in the Midtown West section of Manhattan, the previous location of District 36   The two-room club will be fitted with a Void Incubus sound system. It also boasts "the world’s first hydraulic LED Grid Matrix system," according to a press release.  

Sankey's opening weekend will feature a Halloween party on Thursday night with a 2-hour set by multi-talented musical maestro, Reboot along with No Regular Play, My Favorite Robot, and Dave Rosario. Friday, the fun continues with Amarali, Slow Hands, Fur Coat, and Tanner Ross. These action-packed three days will round off with a Saturday party being headlined by the controversial, self-proclaimed "House Gangster," DJ Sneak along with Julian Perez and Deep and Disco presents JKRIV.

“Working alongside the same team (Antonio Piacquadio, Paolo Angelo and Rob Toma) that helped me make Sankeys Ibiza become another world-respected nightclub, I am very much looking forward to creating a new nightclub for New York. I have always wanted to live and open a club in my favourite city in the world since I went to Vinyl to see Danny Tenaglia in the early 2000s… I really cannot wait to finally bring a lot of new music and artistes to the city that taught me about what house music really means. If we can achieve even half what the great clubs like Sound Factory, Paradise Garage and Tunnel did for the city then I will be more than happy.  We have waited three years for this project to finally become a reality. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.”

-Vincent, Sankey's Creative Visionary

First we had Marco Carola's residency at Marquee, now Sankey's is opening… and we can't forget that popular nightclub brand Space will be joining the party sometime in the near future.  New York City nightlife seems like it's finally making a comeback since the 1990s.  Will NYC live up to expectations set forth by the rich, club-culture heritage of it's past? Will it surpass it? Only time will tell, but one thing that's for sure is that it's going to be one hell of a ride. 

House music all night long

Say what?

Track Talking

Well, I hope that whoever is reading this is having/ has had a better Friday night than I'm having at this very moment. Normally, I'd be getting ready for a long night of musical fun with my friends, but no. Being that I have three midterms next week, I promised myself I'd behave.  You have to start acting like an adult sometime, right?  Currently, I'm posted up in my bed with a cold glass of Pinot Grigio (maybe not behaving so well) casually glossing over a mess of review sheets for each of my classes, trying to flirt with the idea of delving into the immense workload that lays before me.  Why am I being so lazy you ask? Well, it could be my intense senioritis that I've been coming down with in the past two weeks.  Or maybe this second glass of wine is going to my head. (Haha!) However, how the latter may be a part of the equation, neither are completely to blame for my current goldfish-like attention span.  I must confess that Beatport and Soundcloud have taken over both my mind and body. My head won't stop from moving side to side, and my foot bobbing up and down to the beat. My mind is five feet in the air above me. The music has taken over.  For me (and I'm sure for many others) your favorite music can the most distracting, yet most wonderful thing in this world.  Right now for me, it's all about the tech and deep house. About 30 minutes ago, I downloaded some musical therapy off of Beatport.  Actually, I can't take all the credit. I stole about ten tracks from my DJ boyfriend who, although I pride myself on being and Underground aficionado, is a lot more knowledgable than me when it comes to underground sound. So, just in case you're staying in on a Friday night (like me) or if you're reading this noontime on Saturday, here is what all my fussing around is about. This track right here, "Infinity" by Infinity Ink, is too GOOD! This is perfect for listeners who can't live without their vocals. It's even sweeter for the 90s kids, like me. Both the lyrics and the voice of the guy belting them out sounded like something that would have appeared on TRL in 1998. This joint is definitely what I like to dub "old school sound with a new school flair." Although the vocals are vintage-inspired, everything else about the song fits perfectly into today's scene. Give it a listen. Unlike the first one, I actually didn't steal this track from my boyfriend. If you're looking to "get deep," this baby will help you find your happy place. It's soothing, with a rap vocal snippet with an attitude that commands attention (I don't know if anyone listened to The Game's track "Dreams," before, but that is where the snippet is from.) It's smooth and bad ass all at the same time. Sidney Charles is by far one of my favorite producers right now. Most of the songs this dude churns out, in my opinion, are pure musical gold. This joint is no different from his other masterpieces. This track is techy, it's raw, and, to top it all off, features a nice NWA sample. Did you hear what he just did there? Heck yeah, gangster house music. Thank you, Mr. Charles.

"Bigger" Isn't Better

 At age 4, I decided upon two things: one, I was going to marry Ricky Martin.  Two, when I was old enough, I was going to go to New York Underground dance music clubs, dancing until the early hours of the morning just like I saw my older cousins do every weekend.  Obviously, I never met my first goal, but at least I made the other happen.

As a kid, practically every weekend, I would see my cousins would go about their regular ritual preparing to hit the New York Underground. Van Helden, Danny Tengalia, (my personal favorite was "Elements") and Hex Hector (not to mention others, admittedly I'm not really good with remembering the names of the producers and more so the tracks they produced) would boom throughout my my Aunt's house.  I would beg my cousins to take me with them, and they would crack a smile and say, "see ya later." Later, they would come home when it was time for breakfast, and stagger into their beds.  My Zia would shake their heads and sigh. Ever since then, I promised myself that I would be let in on this sacred tradition as soon as I was old enough to partake.  It just looked too fun to pass up.

 A trailer for an upcoming documentary on House Music culture in the 90s. 

The trailer does a beautiful job of capturing the flavor of the time.

                                        

So now I'm here. And, as you can see, I've fallen in love with the club scene in the past four years that I have been going out. However, in today's day and age, Dance Music (except for Tech House and Techno somewhat) is made up of all types of even more genres than before and has become bigger than it ever has been. It's not as exclusive as it once was anymore. The people who created the music and built it from the ground up--the blacks, Italian Americans, Latinos, gays, and other members from working class who were the initial participants and revelers--aren't the only people throughout the world who are enjoying the music anymore. House music is now in the most upscale of places (like Vegas,) bottle service and all. 10 or 20 years ago, this would have been unheard of.  Back in the day it wasn't about high heels and patron shots, but was rather a niche for the misfits. Now it's the "cool" thing to do. And boy, is American mainstream media is taking advantage of it. Everywhere you look, there's a new Festival or event taking place, and the public is more than willing to shell out half of their paycheck to experience it (EDC, Electric Zoo, Tommorow World, and even Coachella.) The exclusivity is gone.  It totally sucked when people would poke fun at dance music, (how could one forget Eminem's line in "Without Me," "Nobody listens to Techno!") but on the other end of the coin, it was exclusive and personal.  That felt good. In the past few years, that hasn't been the case. House music has now been heavily commercialized is now on Top 40 radio. 
 

                                 

Now I'm going to be a nerd and put my college education to use here.  Has anyone ever heard of Horkheimer and Adorno's theory about the mass-prodcution of culture?  "Horkheimer and Adorno argue that mass-produced entertainment aims, by its very nature, to appeal to vast audiences and therefore both the intellectual stimulation of high art and the basic release of low art. This is not suggesting that all products of this system are inherently inferior, only simply that they have replaced other forms of entertainment without properly fulfilling the important roles played by the now defunct sources of culture...  Horkheimer and Adorno draw attention to the problems associated with a system that ‘integrates its consumers from above’, arguing that in attempting to realise enlightenment values of reason and order, the holistic power of the individual is undermined."  In plain and simple English, the further removed people are from the culture that they are consuming due to the existence of mass production, the more artificial that culture becomes. This mass production is truly not defining of a culture, and rather marks the absence of it.  Let's think of it this way. DJs were never superstars.  DJs, promoters, partiers… they were all equals back in the day. Today, it's a popularity contest. I know I sound a little "hipster-esque," but it's true.  House Music, by getting bigger and more mainstream, it's integrity is suffering.

                              Swedish House Mafia EDC 2011, when house music officially started to 

                                          become a staple in mainstream music culture.

What does this have to do with the Underground Scene? Plenty.  It is a fact that Underground House Music constantly tries to separate itself as much as possible from what is mainstream. However, the mentality of mainstream culture has been trickling into the New York Scene lately.  It's very subtle, but, oh, it's there.  First of all, everyone wants to be a DJ. I see new DJs coming on the seen every week. Why? Well, some obviously for all the right reasons, like for the love of the music and for the love of making listeners happy.  Other "DJs" have other motives. For others, it's a popularity contest. It's for recognition and acceptance.  The worst part about this dichotomy is that at the end of the day, the DJs who get the most recognition aren't judged by their talent, but by the amount of people they are going to bring to the event, A.K.A. how popular they are. Next, More and more promo teams and parties are being thrown to make more money. Friendly competition is unheard of these days... some parties are thrown on the exact same day, competing. You even hear of other promoters calling cops on other parties that are going on so the party goers will flock over to that particular promoter's event. The greed factor is insane. Last but not least, photographers are now almost at every event that's thrown.  Being photographed with your friends are awesome, but it was never been a huge part of House Music Culture before this. Now, instead of worrying about dancing and enjoying yourself, people have to worry about how good they're going to look. Sweat isn't a good thing anymore… God forbid you get your hair messed up for a picture of yourself that's going to be on Facebook that EVERYONE will see. 

Some have taken steps to combat this new attitude within the scene. For example, Output in Williamsburg, Brooklyn does not allow photos to be taken inside the club. However, even with minor changes such as this one, the grassroots quality of Underground House Music Culture that once was is starting to fade out little by little… the question is, what are we going to do about it?