Girl About Town 4/8

April 8, 2008 6:31 PM
by chipi [email]

Miami's shining week has come and gone and some of you were left with that forlorn feeling that comes the day after a disappointing Christmas or birthday. Personally, this conference left much to be desired for me and the buzz around most shows generally gravitated towards "better last year". A few conference kings played to crickets and some underdogs walked away newly coronated and with building expectations for shows to come.

While I'm sure I'll make grand omissions, generalities and insults in this recount, forgive me my trespasses, I've only been awake for ten days straight.

My conference week began with a few exciting encounters. Giving Danny Howells a first glance at SET before his monumental Wednesday exclusive backed me into a corner of instant respect and love for whom I've concluded is by far the sweetest electronic music DJ on the face of the earth. After dropping this gentle brit back at the Mandarin, I dragged myself to Purdy for a brief rest with a few scenester pals and my CJ family from NY and LA. The experience was short-lived, as the sound in the back room caused my 212 CoolJunkie sibling to tear up from the inhumanity of it all. The sound at Automatic Slims however, was the last thing on anybodies mind Tuesday night. Every year Pop Tarts 4 delivers the best in nostalgic tunes of yester-yeardecade. It's something of an underground happening, lots of industry and conference veterans. That being said, the crowd was flush with Howells fans and Slims regulars who slammed the dance floor jamming to tracks like "AEIOU" and " Why can't I be you?". Across the street the Best in Electro and House were raging at Mansion with MSTRKRFT, Fischerspooner, Lazaro Casanova and more. While I couldn't tear myself away from the festivities at Slims, my CoolJunkie counterparts arrived late with tales of cramped quarters and a vibrant crowd of indie hipsters.

Calling it an early night turned out to be the best plan as I ended up manning the Wantickets store during the day on Wednesday. Talk about a clusterfuck. For the most part, people were contented to get their tickets all in one shot and shed the responsibility of staying sober enough to hand their IDs to Will Call all week. After a few hours I'd managed to escape and found my way down Ocean to Welcome to Miami at Nikki Beach. Apparently, certain benevolent VIPs made the party a little more difficult for the rest of us by being a bit too selfless with their free drink/free food wristbands. As a result, for as long as I had any desire to hydrate, refuel or intoxicate I had to resign myself to the artist bullpen until said indulgence was done away with. All restrictions aside, I found myself accompanied by the best in electronic music freeloaders. Audiofly, Dubfire, Paul Rich, Steve Lawler, M.A.N.D.Y and more were all in attendance, doing shots and downing mojitos before their landmark sets. In terms of memorable moments, aside for the official beginning of my love affair with Luca of Audiofly, Pier Bucci kicked some serious ass on the decks. His set was on the spell-binding side with several moments literally suspending the crowd in mid-air. The closing set by Audiofly was likewise enchanting, drawing the crowd from Flying Circus indoors.

Sprinting from Nikki to SET, I arrived in time to witness the room steadily fill with Howells fans and clueless SET regulars alike. The vibe was surprisingly appropriate. The lighting was kept on the dark side with flutters of pink and violet here and there for mood. Stryke tossed out one of his typically flawless performances upstairs to a crowd of receptive locals there to celebrate the release of his new album "The Narrowest of Paths".

After making nice with all the informed regulars and visiting industry players I made the long trek to Mokai for a night of Pure Behrouz. Far from my regular scene, Mokai was overflowing with the usual in self-important and over indulgent lotharios having a ball to the local regulars simple and easy to follow recipe for "party". By this point my body was full-fledged loathe mode and before I knew it I was up and on my way to the Shore Club to interview up and coming pop and R&B sensations Jamie Jo and Christian George. These two garnered a few turns of the head while at WMC, both poised to release their new singles and prepped for mainstream invasion.

Given that it had taken a saline drip to keep me fully functional that day, I slipped myself into the good hands of Futuremob at Studio A. Anyone who wandered into this venue last week should be talking your ear off about the Cobra system that shook you in your chest but didn't leave you buzzing in the ears. It's prompted me to suggest a change to the company motto to Dynacord: We're not fucking around.

Friday found me at the conference oasis that was the DJ Lounge at the Raleigh Hotel. I'd never been so happy to hear hip-hop in my entire life. The light mood in the penthouse made it easier to schmooze with MSTRKRFT as they strolled in to collect their Armani Exchange and Skullcandy gift bags. If you haven't checked out the luxury head gear these boys are sporting, I recommend you check your coolshit-dar and reevaluate those white apple earbuds you've been cavorting around town.

My own personal hell manifested itself in the form of the Ultra Music Festival and thirty minutes into it I was ready to retire myself for the evening. A great deal can be said for the variety of this massive musical gathering: the production was flawless and the crowd was gargantuan, but I suppose hanging out with 16 year old gits lost its appeal once my 20's strolled along. This coupled with the insistence of every jack-ass with glow sticks to trip-out my completely sober self rushed me back to the safety of Nic and James a few blocks down 11th street.

These boys exercised their usual musical tenacity and aggressive style. Zabiela rocked an Aqua Teen Hunger Force T-shirt and bobbed up and down with the thump of the system blowing back his glorious golden Pantene Pro-V locks. As the proverbial man-boy of the DJ world, it's always a breath of fresh air to catch his energetic sets, all smiles on the stage.

Saturday night defined conference for me. Fixed WMC Freakout was a slam in every sense. The crowd was thick with the local know-whats, clever tastemakers and overall good-looking weirdos of Miami and beyond. Boys Noize, Simian Mobile Disco and Erol Alkan were the triple threat of the week, annihilating the possibility of any other indie party that night. Simian's light show in particular made it feel like more of a concert than a party. These boys were up on stage darting around tweaking knobs and flipping switches. I'm not sure how much good it did, but they certainly put on quite a show.

Sunday found me revisiting the Shelborne for the Common hosted Old School Pool Party. A little out of character during conference week, but a sweet finish to five straight days of electronic music.

The week after conference is always a little rough on the industry. The economy being what it is, a lot of people blow their green on a week of rock star partying and spend the next few days recovering indoors. As such, I chose to keep things simple by checking out Money $hot and the new Sweat night at the Vagabond. Both nights were a little flat, but the potential is definitely there and worth revisiting once everyone has rested up right.

Bouncing from MAP magazines issue release party at the White Room Bar to Lazaro Casanova's premier night as Saturday resident at Mansion filled me up with bubbly Miami pride. The MAP party showcased local indie favorite Rachel Goodrich in the White Room at around 1am. She strummed through some of her shake-a-billy repertoire and layed down a few new tracks as well. The room was brimming with fans whose faces hardly ever stray from Churchill's or PS-14 who showed up to support what the 52nd street family has come to consider a definite local hope.

Laz did a likewise amazing job working the room at Mansion and kept things hype well beyond my 4am exit time. A local hero himself, it's obvious that he's spread his wings since his Revolver days and has a bright future ahead of him.

Hopefully hibernation is over for the Miami party people, its time to get those dance floors packed again.

Weekly Picks

Tuesday 4.08 - Favela Chic @ Mokai
If you're trying to get back into the swing of things, join the mob of drunk socialites flexing their debauch muscles at Mokai. The party gets pretty wild so save enough for cab fair.

Wednesday 4.09 - Wasted Wednesdays @ Automatic Slims
Have a good hump day at Automatic Slims with cheap drinks and old school Hip-Hop, 80's and indie rock to help it go down smooth.

Thursday 4.10 - Money $hot @ the Vagabond & Apt. 423 @ LoveHate
This week I'll be making the rounds to Money $hot again for a second go and then swinging by the re-born Apt. 423. After a premature extrication from Abraxas, the Midtown crowd is taking temporary (or perhaps permanent?) refuge at LoveHate. Jonathon, Josh and Ray are still manning the decks, so the vibe should be translating well. Come and pass judgment for yourself.

Friday 4.11 - Grand Reopening of Stereo Fridays @ Parkwest Nightclub & Friday Nights @ the Vagabond in Collusion with Sweat Records
Stereo is back in action this Friday after a few weeks of heavy speculation as to it's destiny. With Parkwest's doors opening up again, expect a thick crowd of eager Kendall mami's and papi's looking to get back into the swing of things. Once you're tired of pushing your way past them to make it to the bar, check out Sweat's party at the Vagabond for a little indie love.

Saturday 4.12 - Fresh Faces in Fashion @ the Gansevort (Afterparty at Plunge)
Fashion week is bringing a model invasion back to the beach and thank god for that. It's all kicking off with GenArt's Fresh Faces in Fashion, a tour de force of the best and brightest spring chickens of the fashion world. The after party will be on the Gansevort rooftop Plunge, model attendance enforced.

For Live Music Junkies - 4.08 The Underground Concert Series
Tonight A-Ha! and Spiderpussy are bringing some Miami favorites to PS with performances by Alukard, the 2am movement, Gatoe Xango and the Cornerstoners. Hip-Hop will be happening in the back with Bantu, the Benchwarmers Clique, Major League and Mr. Grim Reapa.

I can't stop spinning...

In my iPod: Boys Noize - My Moon My Man (Feist Remix)
After banging it out at Fixed with this one, I haven't been able to get "take it slow, take it easy on me" out of my head.

Don't let the monsoons keep you in doors. This weathers out of whack but your social life should never be. See you around Junkies.

peace love and music,

chipi

To be notified when G.A.T is updated please click here and send me an email.