Thursday, September 16, 2010

[Concert Review] - Abstract Festival presented by Reset Events

We applaud everyone at Reset Events for throwing Abstract Festival, It was a great event! Every effort was made to present a stellar event to the dance music fans of San Diego. Venue was great. Production was visually stunning. Sound was an audiophile’s heaven. People were friendly. Staff was very helpful. All in all Reset Events is on it's way to becoming the premiere destination for San Diego massives.




During our stroll around the San Diego Sports Arena we met a handful of locals who spoke highly of Reset Events. They described the fun they had at the previous Reset SD event and expressed the joys of having their favorite artists come to their own town to perform.



After a brief round of the San Diego Sports Arena we settled at the Main Stage/Out of the Box area to check out Skrillex's set. This being the second time we've seen him perform live, we have to say he's really growing into his new role as a producer/DJ. For those not familiar with Skrillex he was the front man of the band From First To Last (Epitaph Records) and for the past couple years has been spinning around the Los Angeles area getting his name out. Even with technical audio difficulties he played a solid set that got the crowd going.



Up next was the former Brit now turned LA native, Rusko (Mad Decent Records). It didn't take long for the crowd to burst in energy as he dove straight into the depths of the lower frequencies. His set included all of our favorites from his latest release, O.M.G.! (Woo Boost, Kumon Kumon, Scarewear, Raver's Spesh, You're On My Mind Baby, My Mouth) along with older Dubsteper/Dubstepah flavors (Cockney Thug, Jahova, Skream's Dutch Flowers (Rusko Trial Inna Babylon Mix)). I've never seen such a diverse set of dance moves to any one artist's set. I swear I saw everything from Jersey Shore fist pumps, Melbourne shuffles, grooving, grinding, slow dancing, daggering, and a mosh pit.



Rusko definitely killed it and it was clear that at this moment the party had really begun. He was having such a blast of a time he decided to share a new track. We'll call this track "I'm Going Insane" for now and let me tell you the crowd went 4lokos to this track.



"Major, Lazer, Major, Lazer, Major, Lazer!!!" is what the crowd chanted as Diplo, Skerrit Bwoy, and the rest of the Major Lazer crew took the stage. It was clear to everyone in the arena that a dancehall party was about to go down. Using tracks like Barrington Levy - Murderer, Swedish House Mafia - One, Laidback Luke/Steve Angello - Be, Ace Of Base - All That She Wants, Diplo proves you don't need to stick to one genre to get the crowd moving. Everything expected from a Major Lazer party was present but there was something different that night. I suspect it was the energy from the crowd. Eccentric and I saw Major Lazer perform at Avalon the night before and the performances were like day and night. Major Lazer definitely brought the party to San Diego and they didn't let the line go slack for the whole hour and a half performance. Skerrit Bwoy was able to do his trademark ladder jump to dagger on the floor with female from the LAzer crew. Speaking of daggering, there was plenty of daggering going on between the LAzer crew and random audience members. We at Dank Radio love audience participation and were very pleased to see plenty of if going on during their set. Not only did the audience participate during the usual ladies get on the stage and party with us for a couple songs bit, but they were even receptive to when security cut the music and said they wouldn't allow them to continue unless they got off the stage. The energy dipped for a moment during this transition but it was quickly brought up and kept constant throughout the remainder of their performance. Diplo finished strong with a new Major Lazer track and shared his thanks by sprays of Champagne and throwing a handful of free Major Lazer T-shirts into the crowd.

We caught the beginning of the Designer Drugs set which started with my favorite DD track, Drop Down and stayed for a few songs until they played Riot. Unfortunately we had to leave early to make the trek back up north to Long Beach and couldn't stay for their whole performance.

As stated above we were very happy about Abstract Festival but there are no concert experiences that are free from error or dissatisfaction. One major gripe that we had that was shared by many in the Arena was when buying a $5.00 bottle of water we weren't allowed to keep the bottle caps. First off, paying $5.00 is pretty rough in this economy. Yes we know the Sports Arena only had two scheduled events for the month of September and you need to pay the bills but when the customer pays for water at that steep of a price we expect to keep the bottle cap. We figured the reason why they did this was to make sure the kids wouldn't run to the water fountains and refill their bottles but they still did. We also saw 3 different people slip and fall from the slippery concert floor at different areas of the arena. If that isn't a liability or a lawsuit waiting to happen I don't know what is. End of complaint.

Thank you Reset and thank you San Diego for being great hosts! We look forward to attending your future events and more specifically Radius, which is set to go off March of 2011.



<->Nativity<->

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Reset Events present Abstract Festival with Major Lazer, Rusko, Excision, Claude VonStroke, Designer Drugs, Skrillex, and more!

Official Site | Purchase tickets

For those of us based out of Long Beach, Los Angeles, or even Orange County our world is pretty much confined to the events happening in our respective regions. It's rare on occasion for any of us to take that trek out of the safety of our self imposed invisible borders. Sure there are those trips to Las Vegas, and maybe a drive to wine country, or even a brief weekend excursion to the Bay. But there exists an often overlooked option which could be the next best thing, San Diego.

Cue in Reset Events, which held their Reset SD Fest earlier this year and brought the likes of A-Trak, Bassnectar, 12th Planet, Flying Lotus, and more to the San Diego Sports Arena. They haven't been around for as long as Insomniac or HARD but they sure are working to bring the best talent down to San Diego.

We had the pleasure of conducting a brief but informative interview with Linzi Shook of Reset Events to give them a chance to speak to their supporters about their upcoming concert Abstract Fest.

Dank Radio: First off, thank you Linzi for taking the time to do this for us... With Reset previously doing events with the likes of Wolfgang Gartner, Deadmau5, Bassnectar, and A-Trak how did you go about selecting the artists for the upcoming Abstract Fest?
Abstract: It's a matter of preference, we like to book what we listen to and we like a variety of electronic music. We take a lot of input from our friends and the Reset fans, they tell us what they feel is hot right now and who they want to see brought down to San Diego.

D: Who are you most excited to see at the event?
A: Tim Green. He's been a favorite of mine for a very long time, since he came out with the song "Kitch-in" I have been wanting to book him.


D: In the preparation and planning of Abstract Fest, were you influenced by any other festivals/events? How did you incorporate those elements?
A: I've been to a lot of festivals and within America I am heavily influenced by Electric Daisy Carnival of which I feel is the grand-daddy of American Music Festivals. Internationally, it’s the shows like Mysteryland and Tomorrowland that fuel my creativity, ambition and my inner child.

D: Voyeur has been bringing some notable acts down to San Diego (Kaskade, Laidback Luke, Felix Da Housecat, Aeroplane). Do you feel that San Diego is ready to become another prominent city for Electronic Dance Music?
A: San Diego isn't necessarily ready to become a prominent city for EDM, the scene has stayed the same, there's simply more people involved. We put as much focus into talent as we do the party, this includes investment in paramount production and creating an over all experience. Someone that's not into electronic music will still have a great time because they will enjoy the party that we've created.

D: What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing Abstract Fest?
A: A new understanding of music and the way it can be perceived, while at the same time experiencing a social networking event unlike any other in San Diego, mainly because it’s more personal. Not only are you seeing the artists live, in your hometown, but you also get to enjoy it with thousands of your closest friends.

D: Anything else you want to share with our readers? Future events?
A: Reset plans on being around as long as we can. Our next event, Radius, is set to go off in March, with talent that outlines a few of our favorite tunes. We feel it will help our fans to see what Reset is really about.

Once again thank you to Linzi & Reset/Abstract for doing the interview and for hooking us up with Media Passes for this Saturday. If you have yet to get your hands on tickets for this party you can purchase tickets here. Eccentric and I will be partying with all you San Diego heads so if you see one us please say "hello". And if you still aren't convinced on going to this event, check out the videos below.






<->Nativity<->

Sunday, September 5, 2010

LIVE BROADCAST - 9/4/10 - HIGH FIVE ANNIVERSARY


Dank Radio on KPFK
Live Broadcast: September 4, 2010
High Five Anniversary - Click to Download

Eccentric Picks:
SBTRKT - Laika
TOKiMONSTA - Bready Soul
Afta-1 - Become Still
J Dilla - Let's Take it Back
Daru and Rena - Spirit Dilla PT. 3
Mr. Dibiase - Lumberjack
Flying Lotus - Disco Balls
Madlib - Electronic Dimensions
Micro - Microman
Ocelot - Beating Hearts (Louis La Roche Remix)
J-Rocc - Play These (Bonus Beats)
Slightly Stoopid - Nobody Knows
Daft Punk - Aerodynamic
Earth Wind & Fire - September
The Bad Plus - Flim



Selecta Kram:
1. Vacano - Gifted B4 Breathen feat. Mo Smoove
2. House of Shem - Keep Rising
3. Kris Kelli - Kotch Around
4. Everton Blender - Lift Up Your Head
5. Vacano - Love I feat. Lasro
6. Blaze Mob - Kick Back
7. Aswad - Kool Noh
8. Steel Pulse - Roller Skates
9. Katchafire - Working
10. Doug E. Mack - Mental Slavery
11. AZ feat. Fiji - In Da Morn'n
12. Tarrus Riley - She's Royal
13. Ladi I - Freedom Time
14. Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
15. Dellue - Memory
16. Illa J - Showtime
17. Q Tip - Shaka
18. Visionaries - If You Can't Say Love
19. DJ Lord Ron - Akil The MC
20. Concrete Click - Naive To The Facts
21. Krs-One - A Friend
22. Jay Z - Dead Presidents
23. Nas - The World is Yours Inst

Glockz Block:
One Day as a Lion - Last Letter
The Roots - Stereolab
Yesterday's New Quintet - Bitches Brew
Low Limit - Turf Day

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Plan B - The Defamation Of Strickland Banks Remixes

Everyone loves FREE music, right? What's better than FREE music? FREE music that's given to you straight from the source. No, I'm not talking about the magazine, I'm talking about Plan B [679/Atlantic]. And no, I'm most definitely not talking about the Plan B you're thinking about. In short, Plan B is a soulful dude from the other side of the pond that has this Mayer Hawthorne vibe but he rhymes(See video below). Not only that but he was the featured artist on a track by Chase & Status. Check out the free tracks below and if you like what you hear you can pick up his latest release The Defamation Of Strickland Banks [iTunes/Amazon].

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Savage Skulls & Douster feat. Robyn - Bad Gal (Crookers Remix)

I've always wondered what the name of the track that was playing right underneath Florence + The Machine - Drumming Song (Jack Beats Remix) during the Jack Beats Essential Mix. I scoured the internet searching day and night. I mixed and matched different tracks in my library to see if I was just overlooking a break/loop/something. But to no avail, I always came up empty and figured it was just one of those tracks they all had because they're all buddies and it would never be released. Fortunately, for my extremely curious ears Mad Decent released Savage Skulls & Douster's new EP Get Rich Or High Tryin [Turntable Lab/Beatport US/Beatport UK/EU]. It contains the track that I've been looking for all this time. Check it out and see if you can recognize the part I'm talking about.

<->Nativity<->