Nasty deadmau5 Remix: Animal Rights (Birdee Retweet)

I found this on hypemachine, and it instantly ranked amongst my favorite remixes of all time.
Rusko's Alejandro remix, i'ma let you finish, but this remix from a dude named Birdee out of London is one of the best remixes of all time.

He calls his style Ghetto House and it is honestly one of the sickest new sounds I've heard. Hopefully he can produce a catalogue of songs like this, but for now this sizzling remix of the previously blogged Wolfmau5 banger "Animal Rights" will hold down the Ghetto House fort. Definitely a producer/genre to keep an eye on.

Animal Rights (Birdee Retweet)

and for good measure, here's ya boy Rusko's masterful Gaga rework
Alejandro (Rusko's Papuseria Remix)

HARD Summer Tour @ The Congress, Chicago

Wow. What a weekend. I am finally home from the Phishing trip, which Vito will hopefully describe at some point. This post, however, is concerning one event on that trip, namely the concert I witnessed last Friday night, August 13th. (Sorry for the delay. DJ Hero/school planning HARD is a series of parties and concerts promoting electronic music and was created in LA by one of the featured DJ's at the event. He played under the name Destructo and along with the HARD Summer Tour organizes some of the biggest electronic music events of the year in New York, LA, and other major cities. You can view the full list of events and the lineup for the upcoming HARD shows here. Over the years events like HARD Haunted Mansion have housed the hottest and most talented electronic acts for some truly amazing performances, like this video of deadmau5 that represented one of his finest moments. 

(IMO the crowd did not react the way they would if that show happened only yesterday, but just for the setting it was a special event for sure.)

When I realized I had the chance to sneak in a stop in Chicago and see some great dance music, I jumped at the opportunity. Only later did I realize that this was one of the handful of appearances in the United States for the Brazilian disco-house geniuses known as The Twelves. To see their influence on the current indie dance scene, look no further than their abundance on the hype machine. While popularity on the hype machine search engine does not always equate to quality, in this case it definitely does. The Twelves are one of the most talked about groups to emerge on the scene due to their unrivaled skill in turning many already-good songs into truly euphoric funky disco jams. For instance, check out this remix of the song "Seven" by Fever Ray >> 

For a song that was originally dark and haunting, The Twelves somehow managed to make the vocals seem more like they were created solely for a house clubbing experience, along with bouncing snares and cymbals and a bass/synth/strings combination straight out of Saturday Night Fever. (At least, I think it would be. Never seen it.)

The full line-up at the Congress for the evening, as well as the set times, was tweeted by Rusko before the show:
 

Seeing that The Twelves grabbed a 9 PM slot and that Rusko was closing the night was one of the most beautiful sights that day, (aside from the people I went to the show with.)
By the time I arrived, Midnight Conspiracy was already halfway through their set of mostly average-sounding electro, with the high points being some Proxy tracks that always get the crowd going (Raven, his Home Zone remix) For a small Chicago act they did a serviceable job of warming up the crowd for Destructo, which is not an enviable job when most of the audience is truly the most excited to see Crystal Castles over all of the other acts. More on that later.


Destructo proceeded to play a mostly fun and forgettable set but clearly had the stage presence and respect of the audience to get the crowd moving and the energy level up for The Twelves.

They proceeded to play the best set of the night overall by having superior track selection, mixing ability, and overall energy and smoothness. The crowd may not have been jumping the entire time but that is not the purpose of house music. The purpose is to shake your ass, and I did that like my life depended on it to a set that included their versions of songs by Ratatat ("Wildcat"), Phoenix ("Lizstomania", "Fences"), The Virgins ("Rich Girls"), Empire of the Sun ("We are the People", "Walking on a Dream"), Two Door Cinema Club ("Something Good Can Work"), a Justice and Michael Jackson mash-up of "Stress" and "Thriller" (AMAZING), "Funky Town", and their classic remixes of Fever Ray ("Seven"), Black Kids ("Not Gonna Teach"), and a truly magical rendition of "Reckoner" off of Radiohead's In Rainbows. Go find all of those remixes and their BBC Radio 1 Essential mix to get a better grip on why these guys are the most exciting thing in indie house music in a while.


After The Twelves blew my mind, Sinden hopped on the decks for at the time was my most unanticipated set simply because I was not familiar with him before this event. Destructo repeatedly called him "London's Best" and while he was not even the best DJ from London on the bill that night (Rusko), he still managed to put down a set of mostly electro-house with a dark and heavy sound that bled with the London imprint. It was refreshing and had the crowd hyped for nearly the entire set, with countless big drops and beats with more of a hip-hop influence than any of the previous DJs. A high point of the set was the inclusion of the sure-fire banger from Swedish House Mafia called "One." This track has been making the round in clubs around the world and will continue to be stuck in my head just the way "Satisfaction" is permanently embedded. 

Alas, the night was still raging after I had danced my way through about 3 1/2 hours of material. Next up was Crystal Castles. I enjoy their albums and think they are one of the unique acts in electro these days, bringing in a punk/thrash element. However, they have taken that aspect way too far for me to enjoy their live shows anymore. As soon as Alice Glass came on stage to "sing" the first song, I knew I was not truly a Crystal Castles fan. The strobe lights, screaming, moshing and thrash metal riffs were things I never want to see involved with house music again. I can imagine this is also what the new Bloody Beetroots live tour is like. Most of the crowd, and I mean literally about 80 to 90 percent, loved all of these things I just described, and put up with Alice's exorcism screaming to hear the entire show, which still boasted many of the catchy beats Crystal Castles possess on their albums. And they didn't even play "Vanished", their most mellow/uncharacteristic/catchy song from their first album. Probably because it is only a remix of another band's song. Those youtube comments can be really educational!


Finally, after an hour of having to sit in the hallway to avoid bleeding ears, Crystal Castles finished their set and it was Rusko time. Most of the crowd exited the theater, apparently being there purely for Crystal Castles and having no interest in one of the hottest dubstep acts in the world. More room for me! I nabbed a spot 5 feet from the railing and proceeded to have my nerve endings wobbled into submission for an hour. Rusko's set was heavy on material from his new album O.M.G.! which is a good thing considering he played bangers like "Woo Boost" and the Subskrpt remix of that track. He also played some of his previous popular singles like "Mr. Chips" and the more recent "Da Cali Anthem", which samples Tupac's "California Love."
The thing that made Rusko's set so amazing was his incomparable energy while spinning. He jumped nearly the entire set, got the crowd to do so at will, and dropped huge beats continuously. One of the other fun parts was that he mixed in his favorite remixes of his tracks after playing the drops of the original versions. Even when told he had three minutes left before the 1:30 AM curfew, he managed to sneak in the drops from about four more tracks.



Overall, the highlights of the night were Rusko's unparalleled energy in DJing dubstep and The Twelves' incomparable skill in producing their sound. Honorable mention goes to Sinden. Here are some of the songs worth checking out.

HNW's Picks: HARD Summer Tour '10

Reckoner (The Twelves Remix) - Radiohead 

Not Gonna Teach (The Twevles Remix) - Black Kids

Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix) - The Virgins

Seven (The Twelves Remix) - Fever Ray

Swagga - Excision & Datsik

Bruk Out (Buraka Som Sistema Remix) - Major Lazer 

Hold On ft. Amber Coffman (12th Planet Remix) - Rusko 

Raven (Live Edit) - Proxy 

Home Zone (Proxy Remix) - Digitalism

Babylon - Congorock

LOLLA 10

Hello again everyone. Judging by the uproar I received on my phone received this weekend, everyone missed our blog update(s?). The absence was for a worthy cause, as HNW was on a 'professional journalistic assignment' at Lollapalooza. Right.

To put things bluntly, Lolla is the best festival in the midwest. Period. Say what you will about 'mainstream influence' but the fact of the matter is that Perry Farrell has created one of the greatest annual American music experiences. This year's edition represented some of his finest recruiting yet by managing to wrangle in The Strokes, Arcade Fire, and the lovely Lady Gaga.

Each of these were significant wins for the festival for different reasons. The Strokes made their first appearance in four years at Lolla, and it was their first as a headliner at a major American festival. Lady Gaga is undeniably the hottest pop star in music and continues to produce hit after hit at an astounding pace. Her crossover appeal brought more mainstream attention to the festival than the typical headliner, which in the end is a win for music fans in general. Gaga bringing more fans (and putting on a spectacle of a show) = more money made by Lolla = more money to consistently book great acts in the future.

Also, the mainstream attention draws in fans to see the other smaller yet still vastly talented acts that otherwise would have a hard time getting the exposure they deserve. This type of exposure is what keeps these artists afloat and able to continue touring and producing the passionate music we all love.

That blurb on The Strokes does not even begin to analyze their performance. Do not fret, I will come back to them. But before that, there needs to be something said about Arcade Fire. For those who do not listen to them yet, now is a perfect time to start. If you do, you can witness a band that is truly skyrocketing to musical royalty. They recently released their third studio album The Suburbs, which is undoubtedly one of the finest albums released in 2010, sold out two nights at Madison Square Garden in New York, and streamed a live show from the MSG concerts on Youtube to millions of people around the world. They have carried a lot of hype in the past both for their albums as well as their live performances, and having seen them on Sunday, I can confidently say that it is all more than justified.

Arcade Fire

They took the stage to an ecstatic crowd and managed to enthrall the crowd song after song in a manner not many bands could hope to achieve. Every song became an anthemic singalong, with even the new songs from an album merely a week old sounding as if they were old favorites. One thing about Arcade Fire that makes them unique is their versatility. They make music that is by all accounts beautiful to listen to, with lush string arrangements combining with traditional guitar and piano rock in the vein of Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen for a sound that is truly their own. Part of the beauty of these sounds, especially live, is they way they are played.

Arcade Fire

The band members are constantly switching instruments, with the lead singers switching throughout from guitar to bass to piano to drums and back again. The fact that six of the band members possess this kind of virtuosic talent, and that they all sing gorgeous harmonies, makes for a special live experience that no other band can deliver. Every song is delivered with intensity, whether slow or fast paced, with no regard to where the song is in the set list or whether the song is a single or a new, obscure deep cut from the newest album. That kind of prowess is awe-inspiring live, and separates Arcade Fire as one of the truly great bands of the next generation. All those things aside, they wrote the song "Wake Up", which for most bands would be enough of an accomplishment in a musical lifetime. Check out any of these videos for proof. This moment will live on forever in Lolla history, and in the lives of anyone who was a part of it that night.

The beauty of Lollapalooza, and the 3-day music festival setup, is that this was just one act from the entire weekend. Memorable performances were found throughout Grant Park all weekend. My personal favorites, aside from Arcade Fire and The Strokes, included Rusko (KILLED IT), Grizzly Bear, Wavves, and The Soft Pack. Honorable mentions go to the partial sets I saw from the xx, Nervo, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Chiddy Bang, Yeasayer, the boys from MGMT, and Andrew Stockdale and the Wolfmother crew. Future posts will undoubtedly profile these bands, but for now I leave you all to explore their music.

Another aspect of Lolla that was excellent this year was the setup. The stages were moved around this year, and since the festival managed to acquire another street/block of space to use, logistics were drastically improved. Having nearly 90,000 people in Grant Park in previous years was clustered to say the least, especially in 2009. The festival organizers did a great job recognizing changes needed to be made, and moved stages to more strategic locations to give better sight lines for popular smaller acts as well as more space to watch the bands and to walk from act to act. The ease of getting from act to act was something previously enjoyed more at festivals like Coachella, but this year Lolla did the best job of any of the major festivals with crowd flow. The ability to move quickly from act to act truly enabled festival attendees to make the most of their time and see as much great music as they desired.

Lolla organizers also threw a bone to their fans by making concessions very reasonably priced, especially for essentials like water going for only 2 dollars. The waters were even sold in entirely recyclable cartons, and offering free refills to these waters made this Lolla one of the greenest ever.

Back to The Strokes. The FUCKING STROKES CAME BACK THIS WEEKEND! This is truly important for music, because they are one of the finest bands of the digital music age and opened the door for so many of the genres and bands that are popular now. How many garage rock/lo-fi/indie bands in general would be able to command the attention they do today without Is This It ever being released? Even the beloved/maligned chillwave movement surely would not be feasible if The Strokes did not change the game with their music. I could go on about this for days on end, and will at some point, but for now let's focus on Lolla. 

The Strokes

The Strokes

To cut to the chase, The Strokes played a set that all bands aspire to deliver. They came out, after a hiatus, with no frills, no gimmicks, no new music, and kicked the ass of everyone at the Budweiser Stage. They opened with "New York City Cops" and the crowd basically went apeshit for the subsequent hour and fifteen minutes. Every song had the crowd jumping and dancing and singing their lungs out (this guy). They reminded everyone what real rock n' roll is all about, and it was so damn beautiful. To produce those levels of pure euphoria for the entire set, without even playing "12:51", was astounding to watch. They sounded as musically tight and efficient as they do on their records, and their gift of catchy songwriting shone through all night as it was difficult to tell what songs were singles and what songs were B-sides, much in the same way Arcade Fire performed. The music world can rejoice to see a powerhouse live band like The Strokes back in action, as the digital generation gains another headliner that deserves their place in music history.

This Lolla recap may have heavily focused on The Strokes and Arcade Fire, but the quality performances put in by these two bands distanced them from everyone else that weekend by a large margin (unless you are a Gaga fan). Check out the playlist below for my picks for the best tracks of the weekend. Another Lollapalooza is sadly in the bag, but because of the great bands once again, and the continued push in making the fan experience easy and comfortable, I am already counting down the days to Lolla 11. Shout out to Giordano's Pizza, the guys I ate it with, and my dancing friends for making this weekend unforgettable.

HNW's Favorite Songs of Lolla 10

Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) / Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire

Heart In A Cage - The Strokes

New York City Cops - The Strokes

Da Cali Anthem - Rusko

Woo Boost (Subskrpt Remix) - Rusko

While You Wait For The Others - Grizzly Bear

King of the Beach - Wavves

Answer to Yourself - The Soft Pack

Ambling Alp - Yeasayer

Lolla Freestyle / All Things Go - Chiddy Bang

Congratulations - MGMT

One Life Stand - Hot Chip

Pilgrim - Wolfmother