Equalizer: Volume 1
Equalizer
An ongoing analysis of the state of EDM by Kontact Krew members Camo and Chris Huston.
You could be a tenured rave scene veteran who started spinning acid house records back when they were still pressed on vinyl, or perhaps you only just learned about electronic dance music when you watched Deadmau5 play the Grammys last year. Either way, it can be difficult to know what to think about goings on within the industry amid the mixed messages circulated by media outlets closest to the epicenter of the phenomenon. After all, the meteoric rise in popularity of our esteemed genre arrives at a fascinating era in pop culture - for every promoter decision, change in record label or full-on corporate buyout, social media inundates the average music fan with a veritable tidal wave of conflicting feedback. Before you decide where you ought to fall on the spectrum between critic and advocate regarding any given topic, though, it helps to know the facts.
A Green Velvet Performance by the Minute
Seriously, how many more house maniacs can Chicago give birth to? Curtis Alan Jones - or Cajmere, Geo Vogt, Half Pint, Curan Stone, or Gino Vittori, depending on what point in his music career you acquainted yourself with his music - didn’t start referring to himself as “Green Velvet” until he started DJing after his hits like “Preacher Man” and “Answering Machine” cascaded to the top of the dance music charts in the mid '90s.
From Norad to Coachella
Tomorrow night (Saturday, April 20th), London-born DJ/producer Maya Jane Coles is spinning at Norad Dance Bar in The Kontact Krew’s hometown of Denver, Colorado. Over the past few years, she’s climbed the ranks of the international dance music community; Rolling Stone recently included Coles in their list of '25 DJs That Rule the Earth,' although we're scratching our heads trying to imagine how the qualifiers for such might be judged.
Steve Aoki feat. Rob Roy – Ooh (Mustard Pimp Remix)
Here is a new Kontact favorite of a remixed Steve Aoki track done by Mustard Pimp, Not to much information on Mustard Pimp other than there a duo group from Los Angeles and being another group of bad ass upcoming electronic producer's that has startedA Tribute to Scott Hardkiss
On March 27th, house music lost a great "DJ, producer, remixer, composer, arranger, multi-media artist, designer, writer, inventor, label owner, radio host, mercenary shaman, agent provocateur, 21st-century renaissance cat & ill mothafucka," as Scott Hardkiss (born Scott Friedel) described himself on his Soundcloud page. He was 43 years old, and while the cause of death has not yet been determined, many speculate that it involved complications from Keratoconus, a disease responsible for his loss of vision in recent years.
Breaking Down the Bad Boy Bill Experience
What’s your biggest fear when it comes to going out to the clubs these days? Mine's that I'm older than I was yesterday; that the ‘cool kids of tomorrow’ look way younger than I remember. What about the DJs though? Specifically the old school ones? Did they give in yet to what they think the crowd wanted to sing along to or are they still rocking that unique sound out of their personal selection?