First off, many apologies for not having a stream associated with this post. I’ve spent nearly my entire day trying to upload to Imeem and Fail Whaled.  But trust me, this is a mix you will want on your hard drive and eventually your ipod.  Too Much Love is a weekly Saturday indie dance party held at Minneapolis’s own First Avenue Night Club.  The below list of tracks contains many of the tracks in this mix executed by DJ Soviet Panda.  Unmentioned are releases by The Presets, Holy Ghost!, Rub N Tug, Beyonce, Jesse Rose, Gino Soccio, Serge Santiago, Depeche Mode, Heartbreak and Hot Chip.  Now the real question is how I found my way  to Soviet Panda?

Download the April mix here.

1. The Juan Maclean – One Day – DFA
2. Sebastien Tellier – Kilometer (Aeroplane “Italo 84″ Remix) – Record Makers
3. Simian Mobile Disco – Synthesise (No Voodoo Version) – Wichita
4. Jackpot – Ragazza – Permanent Vacation
5. Den Haan – Release The Beast – Optimo Music
6. Morten Sorenson – Start Something – Tirk
7. Beyonce – Diva (WhateverWhatever Remix) – MP3
8. Depeche Mode – Wrong (D.I.M. vs. Boys Noize Remix) – Mute
9. Tiga – Shoes (Djedjotronic Remix) – PIAS
10. Junior Boys – Hazel (Ewan Pearson’s House Mix) – Domino

Image Source: Too Much Love

After a year’s hiatus, I decided to head back down to sunny South Beach for WMC 2009.  As the days close in, the folks that run the Winter Music Conference publishes a master list of events.  First thing I noticed at a local bodega was this year’s publication was a pamphlet in comparison to previous years Frank151 mini mag style guides.  Although, having a game plan is to your advantage, you can wing it and still have a fun time.   Just watch out for the tourist-ready alcoholic beverages averaging in at 16 dollars, half priced lunches and breakfast but with a caveat of ridiculously expensive coffee, oj and iced tea.  This is to be expected as a trade off for the hotel poolside cabanas, people watching seats on Ocean Drive and of course the clear blue water/white sand combo in Miami.

As far as music goes, this was my outlet for lots and lots of deep house, broken beat and of course electro pop.  My friends and I planned on hitting up several parties throughout the day until we couldn’t stand anymore.  One piece of advice, if your hotel is in SOBE, stay in SOBE.  The taxis have no issue taking you on the “tourist” route to cross the MacArthur Causeway.  Some parties were a bust aka Tuesday Night at Laundry Bar and Friday Night at White Room.  However, there were some events that stood out and made WMC 09 memorable.

One such event was the Sander Kleinenberg yacht party.  Thoughts of waiting in long lines at Epcot or Universal Studios came to mind and gave me a chuckle.  First, my friends and I walked from 9th and Collins to the Shelborne Resort to redeem our tickets.  One line at the hotel lobby takes you upstairs to the Wanttickets.com suite.  From there, another line gets in contact with a customer service rep.  Next step, much like a reality tv show challenge was to hail a $40 dollar cab ride to the docks before 3:30.  Arrival yielded two more lines to get onto the Biscayne Lady.  But the wait was worthwhile as the food appeased my palate.  The all you can drink bar also came in handy to enjoy progressive house by Sander.  My group and I were definitely loving every aspect of the yacht party.  The rest of Thursday night was a mix between a blur and being woken up to head down to Heathrow Lounge for an event called Sonic Boom.

Friday was a free for all.  I had no game plan other than to hit the Scion Party at the Gansevoort South Resort featuring Annie Mac, A-Trak, Dj Medhi, Riton, Toddla T and Rusko.  However, during the daytime, I did notice Sephora had a line ready for j-pop songstress, Utada Hikaru.  Thanks to Japanator, this info was confirmed.  Half of me wishes I camped out like the nerd I am.

After a long day of exploring, I was able to catch the last leg of the Scion party with A-Trak ending his set and Dj Medhi beginning his.  Had we read the flyer, we would’ve avoided the dude playing top 40’s “hip pop” on the rooftop pool.  Thankfully, the friendliest security at the elevator guided us to the beach club where the Scion party was held. Guestlist, bah who needs it. Friendly foreign girl wanting photo op with me? Why the fuck not, all in good fun. $20 dollars for two Amstel lights gave a slight hiccup to the fun.

The rest of the night involved trying to hail a cab back down to 9th and Collins from 23rd ended in failure.  We walked roughly 16 blocks down only to return back to the Lincoln Road for Sushi Samba.  One hour wait stated the hostess.  Final destination: Sushi Siam where our eyes were hungrier than our bellies.  Afterwards, we made it out to The Shore Club where we finally caught Rusko’s set.  A cab ride to the White Room lead to a mediocre night.  Despite wanting to see Alan Braxe, Roy Davis Jr., and the Juan Maclean, I was just not feeling the venue.

Saturday – When I am looking for you, I call your number, but I can’t get through…
Spent most of the day at a nearby friend’s pool at the Marriott on 2nd and Ocean.  Then made it out to Taverna Opa for excellent Greek dining and entertainment.  This is where our nerd juices were overflowing with joy.  We actually asked the cab to get us to Rokbar right when doors opened at 10.  Who does that?  A fan of MODULAR mothafuckin Records does, thats who.  Our zealousness yielded a mini camp out as doors opened at 11, not 10.  But the venue is beautiful, Knightlife, Kim’s and Dan’s set was amazing.  Nothing could’ve gone wrong with this evening.  Well except overdoing it with jager shots.

The trip concluded with a super early shuttle ride to the airport Sunday Morning.  Lethargic days and affordable eating, here I come.  See below for some highlight photos taken collectively by my friends and myself.  On a side note, Dan Whitford of Cut Copy was nice enough to take a photo with my friend, SK.

Avid readers of Killahbeez knows now much Dave, AJK and myself absolutely loooooooooove Modular Recordings.  Cut Copy, Presets, Phillippa Brown aka Ladyhawke, MSTKRFT, Van She and the list could go on.  Although this week’s Throwback Thursday may not be a band from pre-21st century, we’d like to give them props for being the band that started it all.  A big up to Steve Pavlovic for taking a risk and signing on The Avalanches.  The below video is their hit single, Since I Left You.  Enjoy.

MSTRKRFT (read as “Master-Kraft”) is an electronic group out of Toronto. Actually this year at the Toronto Virgin Music Fest they replaced SebastiAn, when he missed his flight and they didn’t disappoint. The group came together in 2005 and consists of JFK (Jesse F. Keeler) and Al-P (Alex Puodziukas). The group has remixed over 30 songs of various genres including the latest remix of John Legend’s song “Green Light”.

On Friday I attended Fist Of God, which is the official name for the MSTRKRFT tour as well as their upcoming album, which is expected to drop in January of 2009. The stop I was at had Felix Cartal opening up, but there will be various openers throughout the tour such as DJ A-Trak, DJ Aoki, LA Riots, Congorock, DJ Assault and the aforementioned Felix Cartal. Blueprint Events, which is known as one of Vancouver’s best electronic promoters for a minute now, was hosting the event as well as the after party.

The event took place at Celebrities Night club and was fully packed, in fact this show could have easily taken place at Commodore Ballroom to accommodate more folks, but nonetheless the vibes were good as people were ready to dance their fuckin’ asses off. The duo came on at around 1am and they immediately had the crowd going crazy, as their sound is fairly distinct with that 4/4 beat and heavy heavy synths.

Like usual they played a range of stuff including their own remixes, from the Presets to Dem Franchise Boyz to Cupid to Daft Punk to Usher to Kylie Minogue and throwing in stuff from their first album as well. The set was filled with energy throughout and both MSTRKRFT and the crowd seemed to be feeding off of one another and it was non-stop. The set ended at about 2:30am, but an encore had JFK continue to rock the house til well past 3am. If you left this party not soaked from head to toe in sweat, then you my friend were not partying hard enough. Overall one word can describe this set. EPIC!

Thanks to Alvaro from Blueprint Events for hooking me up with the opportunity to attend the show. For more of their upcoming events check out www.blueprintevents.ca. For those out in New York on October 10th, MSTRKRFT will be playing at Webster Hall, but they’ll also be at the New Era Flagship store as they have a New Era collaboration that’s dropping.

If you like the review please vote for me here.

David Thai
www.killahbeez.com

MSTRKRFT “Easy Love”

Kylie Minogue “Wow” (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Justice “D.A.N.C.E.” (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Here are the rest of their tour stops:

Fist of God tour:

09-26 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre (with A-Trak, Felix Cartal, LA Riots, Congorock)
09-27 San Diego, CA – House of Blues (with Steve Aoki, Felix Cartal, LA Riots, Congorock)
09-28 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre (with Aoki, Felix Cartal, Congorock)
09-30 Pomona, CA – Glass House (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-01 San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-02 Seattle, WA – Showbox (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-03 Vancouver, British Columbia – Celebrities (with Felix Cartal)
10-04 Winnipeg, Manitoba – Exchange Event Center (with Felix Cartal)
10-06 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-07 Chicago, IL – Metro (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-08 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-09 Columbus, OH 0 Boma (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-10 New York, NY – Webster Hall (with Felix Cartal, Congorock, DJ Assault
10-11 Poughkeepsie, NY – Vassar College (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-12 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts (with Felix Cartal, Congorock)
10-13 Boston, MA – The Estate (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots, Congorock)
10-15 Baltimore, MD – Redrock (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-16 Charlotte, NC – Forum (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-17 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-18 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Music Park (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-19 Memphis, TN – Hard Rock Café Memphis (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-22 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-23 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-24 Dallas, TX – House of Blues (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-25 New Orleans, LA – Voodoo Music Experience: The Tenth Ritual
10-27 Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-28 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre (with Felix Cartal, LA Riots)
10-31 Salt Lake City, UT – Salt Palace Convention Center (with Felix Cartal)
11-01 Las Vegas, NV – Fabulous Festival