I'll admit, I had my doubts. I thought he was only going to play trancey shit and a lot of original Tiesto productions. But I knew this was going to be a special show when he opened with "C'Mon" (his awesome collaboration with Diplo). Like, who opens a show with that song? The show went on to include Tiesto fan favorites such as "Century" and "Escape Me." He even threw in the Steve Aoki remix of Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" which made me go nuts. A lot of the stuff he played, however, was straight up deep bass and slammin house tracks...dirty dirty house.
I'll say that Tiesto's club shows definitely vary from his huge festival shows (ala Ultra 2011). Less of a light show, more of a crowd interaction, more bangers, etc. My ears are still ringing this morning but I know that if I have a chance to see him in a small venue again I will definitely do so.
The entire Reasonable Doubt CD is, hands down, one of the best hip hop CDs ever. Often overlooked when considering Jay-Z's best of his best, I always go back to RD when I need me some old school flavor. The beats are soulful, Jay's flow is as smooth as ever, and I'm always tempted to throw it on repeat. "Feelin' It" has a great piano line and catchy hook by Mecca, and according to Wikipedia this was the 4th and final single from the album.
With my fascination for music production and for watching the masters of beat making doing their thing in the studio, I was mesmerized by this vid of Ryan Leslie making "I Get Money." Easily the two highlights from the production are the fact that he takes a cup of spare change out of the closet and uses it as an instrument and also that he buys a bugle online, takes it out of the box, and throws it in the song immediately. This dude is solid solid solid. He has lots of other production videos online - check them out. Thanks to DJ Spiezio and Mike Mastrangelo for the viewing party.
One of the highlights from Ultra 2011 was Laidback Luke's entire set. More specifically, it was when he dropped Turbulence, which is a new song he made with Steve Aoki featuring Lil' Jon. During this part of his set, Steve Aoki came on stage, jumped onto the DJ stand, and hyped the crowd up by screaming at us. It was insane, and so fucking awesome. Great song to get you pumped up for the weekend.
Well, it's come and it's gone. An amazing 3 days just whipped right by me in a blaze of deep bass and screaming fans (and those fucking whistles I wanted to rip out of everyone's mouths). There were very few low points (Deadmau5 was a huge disappointment) and very many high points (Sub Focus, Skrillex, Rusko, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Wolfgang Gartner, Benny Benassi, Nero, Claude Vonstroke, Boys Noize, MSTRKRFT and many more). Now it looks like I'll have to look forward to Camp Bisco...
In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane, flying south to the fun and sun of Miami. I literally have been waiting for this since the beginning of September. And here I am sitting at work, anxiously awaiting the end of the work day so I can focus on the next 4 days of awesomeness.
Here's a little ditty that is getting me Ultra pumped up (pun intended): Carte Blanche ft. Kid Sister - Do! Do! Do! (Laidback Luke Remix)
Via Rusko's Facebook Page we find out that the up-and-coming Netsky made a ridiculous remix of "Everyday." And let me tell you my friends, this is worth checking out. This guy is from Belgium and just tearing up the Drum n' Bass scene. I'll have to check him out at Ultra, although he plays Saturday and the whole day is loaded with acts I need to see. TWO DAYS TIL MIAMI! Listen and download here:
