On June 19, New York Times columnist Daniel Altman offered up a stellar column on one aspect of DJ culture rarely making the mainstream press. In the Travel section of NYTimes.com, under the heading Music, Altman's Never Mind the Concierge, Where's the D.J.? spotlights thriving lounge culture driven by talented DJs spinning a wide variety of electronic, dance, hip hop and international beats at some of the world's coolest hotels. In the days of relentless paparazzi shoving their way into the paths of jet setting young trendsetters, high profile celebrities and well heeled, respected businessmen and women, instead of partying outside the hotel at a city's super hot nightspot, the party is now happening AT the hotel! The paparazzi's camera's shielded from view.
kay...have you had enough Kaskade yet? Not me...I went to hear him last Thursday night at Cielo Club in New York City. And I wasn't disappointed.
Cielo continues their commitement to the music by bringing breaking wunderkid from San Francisco (See last week's post for more on Kaskade's origins in the biz). A very cosmopolitan, sexy crowd filled the dancefloor all night as Kaskade layed down a blend of vocal vibes and deep tech house. From jazzy vocals and remixes of classic dance tracks with a darker flavor, Kaskade held the floor like a champ from when I arrived to when I left. I was definitely impressed. I think this kid's going to be around for a long time to come.
Last week, my friend and editor of Raves.com, Jennifer Warner and I had an impromtu IM session over AIM. We haven't spoken in what seems like forever (really a year or so...has it been that long?). The conversation turned to MySpace.com the music-driven online social networking community. We didn't realize we'd both signed up to the site but hadn't connected yet.
Linking into her MySpace page, an .mp3 file of a house music track she'd embedded in her bio section began to play automatically. It was super hot! I had no idea who it was but it one of the best house music tracks I'd heard in a while. I furiously typed, "YO! What is that track playing on your page?" Jen quickly replied, "Kaskade! " She explained, Kaskade, one of her favorite house music producers is on Om Records out of San Francisco. Of course he is! I should have known.
