the Global Fresh Collective (pic ©Jen Maler)

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend Vision, the first meeting of the Global Fresh Collective (GFC), a group of creatives from the realms of music, design, art, and fashion from all over the world (full list below).

Over the course of Friday, June 26th, members of the GFC gathered in the amazing Angel Orensanz Foundation on Manhattan's Lower Eastside to discuss, explore, and debate various issues surrounding the future of creative collaboration and both global and local issues affecting music. The discussion was broken up into multiple sessions each of which addressed a different topic. One session included the GFC members' ideal formulas for successful collaborations, which given the range of the members' areas of expertise, I expected to be the high point of the discussions. While the session did yield the GFC members' preferred elements for the perfect collaboration (which you can see in the video below), it was dwarfed in comparison to the first session of the day, entitled "After the Revolution, is Free the Future?".

Led by Matt Mason (author of bestseller The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Reinvented Capitalism), the discussion focused on the future of the music industry after piracy and the digital age. After giving a brief explanation and examples of how piracy has manifested itself through finding gaps outside of the market, creating vehicles, and harnessing the power of its audience, Matt explained how piracy could be responded to in ways which could in fact benefit industries and companies initially harmed by these illegal acts. By competing with pirates, rather than fighting them, Matt argued that companies had better chances at survival.

After citing a few examples, the stage was set for discussion of how piracy had affected GFC members and their respective industries. While the GFC was made up of a individuals in different fields, discussion seemed to inevitably center on music. Despite the GFC members' different experiences and responses (which you can get a feel for in the video below), as the discussion went on, the one thing that became increasingly clear was that a change from the traditional business model in place in the music industry is most definitely needed.

At the end of the long day, to me, and I think to many of those involved, GFC Vision overall was a success. It brought together individuals across different industries (whose paths quite possibly would not have crossed otherwise) and prompted them to think about and discuss some crucial issues facing creatives, that will only become more pressing as time goes by.

As piracy is one of these issues, I took the opportunity to talk to GFC curator, Pedro Winter, about how his label, Ed Banger Records, has been affected by it, as well as how he has been responding to changes in the music industry. You can check out the entire interview over at Showtrotta.

Last week was dance-free for me yet again, until Sunday at which point I did my new favorite summer activity of going to Sunday Best followed by Été d'Amour. Both I:Cube and the Plant Music crew were great, but before I get into that let's get into some of this week. It's a bit slow to start, but by the time Saturday rolls around you won't know what dancefloor to hit first. Here's what's going on, starting with Thursday (7/23):

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1) "

DOWNLOAD: Ursula 1000 - Spring Mix (MP3)

Louis La Roche @ Studio B - May 16, 2009

Last week in dance was pretty busy. The Plant Music party was fun Thursday night. Little Boots played a set full of potential summer jams at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday and Saturday night Studio B was full of all sorts of Frenchness with Justin Faust, Louis La Roche, and Danger.

The relatively sparse crowd at the B close to 12:30 was a bit alarming...it got better, but still was a bit disappointing for a Saturday night and given the line-up. That didn't stop everyone there from having a great time though. The crowd seemed well into Justin Faust's set which he bouncily delivered from behind the booth. I was playing catch up with some friends and can't paint the best picture of his set because of it, but by the time Louis La Roche went on close to 2 I was fully focused on the dancefloor and enjoyed getting down to an extremely well-mixed, super danceable set from the young UK dj. For the hour+ that he was on, Louis managed to mix a lot of classic French house, along with some next generation French house jams (which thankfully included some of his own), keeping everything sounding fresh despite the genre similarities.

Once Louis finished attention shifted over to the stage for Danger's live set. After missing him perform in New York multiple times, I was really looking forward to finally catching a set from Danger...I just wasn't in prime condition to do so after 3 in the morning. I really enjoyed what I heard in the beginning of his set - he kind of reminds me of a more melodic version of Justice, with lots of layers of sounds...but after a while my body & mind weren't computing anything other than "go home & get some rest". So I did...and hopefully you did too because we are on the heels of yet another dance-filled weekend in New York. Here's what's going on starting with Thursday (5/21)...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1)"

DOWNLOAD: Treasure Fingers - Winter 2008 Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Alexander Technique feat. Van Scott - Nightlovers (Nick Catchdubs Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ursula 1000 - Winter 2008 Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Justin Carter - Mister Saturday Night: the Jazz Hands Mix (MP3)

Trevor Jackson @ Studio B

Last week in dance was a lot of fun despite only going to one event - Primetime meets Fixed at Studio B. I caught most of Eamon Harkin's set in which he masterfully mixed up some disco, house, and techno. House of House, who I hadn't seen before, truly lived up to their name in terms of their selections. The Studio B crowd was feeding off of the duo's enthusiasm as House of House animatedly delivered track after track. As much as I enjoyed their set I was extremely excited and anxious for Trevor Jackson to begin. The set Trevor finally delivered at nearly 2:30 was well worth the wait. For the next hour an a half he played an excellent set that was heavy on house and disco, with some modern subtleties. Despite only being able to identify "Heaven's In the Backseat of My Cadillac" by Hot Chocolate, "Situation" by Yaz, and "Use Me" by Runaway out of the entire set, it was easily one of the better dj sets I've witnessed in '09 thus far.

I have to admit I'm more excited about seeing David Byrne than getting down this weekend, but here are some options if you'd rather not leave the dancing to the man in the big suit:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

DOWNLOAD: Russ Chimes - She's Got the Heat (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: 33Hz - Sentinel of Love (OrtzRoka Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Anoraak - Endless Summer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Flashing Lights Mix #2 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ursula 1000 - Zombies (Dj Ayres Remix) (MP3)

I was really, really looking forward to last week in dance, but it wound up being just alright (part of which was my fault). Friday night I went to Trusme's new monthly at APT, Disco3000. While there was good disco thanks to Kon & Amir, Trusme (who I was most looking forward to) was nowhere to be seen. I arrived at APT around 12:30, so theoretically I could have missed him. I would think even if that were the case he would have been hanging around though. Who knows...

A couple of notable things: APT was finally fittingly packed with people dancing (the past few times I'd been there recently it was dead). 2. There was someone "deejaying" who I didn't recognize, who wasn't mixing the songs. There were a couple of failed attempts...and then complete pauses in between each song. Really broke the momentum and my disco heart as the songs probably would have made for a good set if they had been mixed together.

Saturday night was a total debacle on my part. I was running around doing a bunch of things during the day...and by the time I would have left to see Romanthony at Love I was completely out of energy. Epic fail followed by immediate regret. Did any of you go?

Despite just having an OK time last week, I am still very optimistic about this week. There are lots of potentially awesome dancefloor scenarios that could unfold - here's what's up for Thursday (1/22) & Friday (1/23)...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Thursday & Friday)"

DOWNLOAD: Ewan Pearson - Buzzin' Fly, August 22, 2008 (MP3)

XLR8R Issue 123 - Best of 2008

This past weekend, which I was really looking forward to, wound up being pretty lame dance-wise. Things started off okay at Webster Hall Friday night. D.I.M. began his set with some oldies but goodies from last year: Boys Noize - "Lava Lava", and the Chemical Brothers - "Salmon Dance" (Crookers Wow remix), then immediately launched into a three song burst of new stuff - MGMT - "Kids" (Soulwax remix), Tiga - "Mind Dimension", and Mr. Oizo - "Positif", which was entirely too short-lived as D.I.M.'s set quickly devolved into what could have unfortunately been a playlist titled "Best Electro of '07". Mostly good songs, just a year old. This can be fine, but nothing D.I.M. was doing was really grabbing my attention.

I started hoping Switch's set would blow me away and save the evening. Unfortunately that was not the case. Switch, apparently nowhere to be found, did not go on, and AC Slater who was scheduled to close out the night, filled in his place. At that point I was frustrated, cold (Webster wasn't too full at that point and was drafty), and having my ear talked off by some drunk a-hole about how great Switch was (after I informed him that it was D.I.M., NOT SWITCH), so I left.

Saturday I was so looking forward to seeing Green Velvet at Sullivan Room (after missing him the past 2 times he was here), but I got a cold and decided to stay in. Apparently he had the packed floor moving all night...

video of that and many upcoming events below....

Continue reading "the Thanksgiving week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Drop The Lime - Best of 2008, Ewan Pearson, FIXED, 19+ @ Studio B)"

DOWNLOAD: DJ Craze - September '08 mix (Yousendit MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dave Nada - Oz promo mix 2008 (zSHARE MP3)
DOWNLOAD: NROTB - Mixtape#2 (zSHARE MP3)

Last night was only the beginning of a great week in dance. Check out the wild Friday night (9/26) that's ahead plus the rest of the weekend, leading us into the absolute dance madness that is going to be the month of October.

Continue reading "the Friday night in dance w/ Showtrotta"

by Showtrotta

Cut Copy @ Webster Hall - September 21, 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Thursday I hit Santos for one of the Ete d'Amour parties I'd been looking forward to since the initial schedule was announced - Busy P & DJ Mehdi. Having seen Busy P and DJ Mehdi spin on multiple occasions, plus months of anticipation, still did not prepare me for Thursday night. Their sets crushed my expectations, going far beyond what I imagined. From the super fresh, to 'oldies but goodies', their individual sets had it all, but the real magic happened when the pair shared deejay duties - trading off every other track for one of the most unique, highly danceable, fun sets I've experienced this year. You can read more about the night here.

I really didn't want to do it (especially with Sinden deejaying at Love on Saturday - anyone go? how was it?), but I took the next two nights off from dancing. Then Sunday night I ventured out earlier than I've gotten used to, to see the Presets and Cut Copy at Webster Hall. The Presets took the stage around 9, beginning their set with "Talk Like That" with Kim's thunderous drumming reminding me of Soulwax's show at Irving Plaza last month for just a fleeting second. Much to the crowd's delight, he and Julian delivered about an hour of pounding (in a good way) dance music, most of which even I (not the biggest Presets fan) was able to enjoy.

Around 10:30 Cut Copy began what was to be an hour long, electrifying set with "Visions" followed by "Nobody Lost, Nobody Found" - the two songs that begin their most recent album In Ghost Colours. From there they played plenty of material from both that album as well as Bright Like Neon Love, whipping the crowd into a frenzy that resulted in happy faces and a bouncy Webster Hall floor as everyone jumped with glee to the Australian trio's upbeat tracks. You can check out the rest of what they played as well as some more great photos here.

As great as I always feel after dancing around at a Cut Copy show, there is something really beautiful and poignant about some of their lyrics that always seem to make the experience more emotionally involving than a straight-up, banging deejay set. One very poignant moment during the show, probably lost to those unaware of her passing, was the band's dedication of their last song, "Hearts on Fire" to Nagi (Noda), the young Japanese director responsible for the music video (the last she worked on) for that song. While I only recently became familiar with her work, it's always sad to see someone so young and creative leave our world so quickly...

As is basically the norm at this point, we're in for another very eventful weekend dance-wise in New York. Things get started tonight (Thursday, Sept 25th), with quite a bit going on from which to choose:

Continue reading "a Cut Copy/Presets review & the Thursday night in Dance"