I had to work at 9:30am on NYDay, which is too late to attempt an all-nighter, and too early to get any decent sleep after hitting the clubs unless one leaves early. With cover charges stupid expensive on NYEve, totally not worth my while then.

So I stayed home, watched a little hockey, and went to sleep at 10:30pm. Woke up feeling great and refreshed, plus with a smile on my face as the clock radio alarm played a charming, hilarious show called "Adults Read Their Childhood Writing".


Best New Year's in ages!

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Everyone has an opinion. Mine just happens to be a little more informed than most.
Electronic Music Critic: Near-Daily Ruminations Of Music I Own, In Alphabetical Order!
(~)

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I went to the Mono Cult NYD party last night (http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?643732). I was a bit apprehensive about going but my girlfriend has been working ridiculously hard over the last couple of weeks and we wanted to go out and let our hair down. Sadly, just about all my fears were confirmed. Firstly, and predictably, it was massively oversold. The main room was just a sardine tin pretty much all night, and the second room wasn't much better. Then in the main room, Floating Points and Four Tet B2B with Daphni were all fucking boring. They were playing a combination of deathly slow plodding deep house and re-edits. At one point Floating Points was playing what sounded like a re-edit of some old Northern Soul track. I love re-edits and slo-mo shit as much as anyone but it felt totally underwhelming in such a big space, and because the room was fucking packed nobody was dancing. It was just a sea of people milling around bobbing their heads absently. No vibe whatsoever. We didn't spend more than 20 minutes in there all night. The second room was smaller and the music was much more pumping, so we spent most of the night there. Move D was probably the best of a bad bunch. He was mostly playing the kind of '90s flashback house that's so popular at the moment. The music was pretty good but there was no real direction to his set at all - he'd go from a mellow groove to a diva vocal screamer to a faux-ravey breakbeat number. It did feel pretty random. Then Gerd Janson came on and started playing more techno, including lots of storming Detroit-ish material that would probably sound great in a dark bunker with a killer soundsystem. The problem was the sound system in the second room was a bit harsh and muddy, not very punchy or crisp at all, and so most of the techno he played just dissolved into a low end WRRRRUUURGH-WRRRRUUURGH-WRRRRUUURGH rumble. The third room was pretty much just playing cheesy party classics - the first thing we heard when we walked in was Madonna - Express Yourself, and it says a lot that I probably had the most fun dancing in that room. We ended up leaving at about 4.30 and the taxi driver told us that just about everyone he'd ferried home that night had agreed that the place was far too crowded and a big disappointment. This all just reinforces my general belief that these big warehouse parties stocked up with DJs on the RA Top 100 are a waste of time. The line-ups always look alluring with their all-star casts, and the venues are usually great, but it's always the same shit - no room to dance, pushy people, unfriendly security and staff, and just mediocre music.

Real bummer to hear but I can't say it's a big surprise. All I've been hearing is bad reports coming from the parties in the UK. Like the Elixir of Life party that was cancelled for what, the 3rd NYE in a row now?

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quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced any party from 2003 and back I only remember bits and pieces...i've combined those memories into one awesome party

quote:

Originally posted by SPANIARD Real bummer to hear but I can't say it's a big surprise. All I've been hearing is bad reports coming from the parties in the UK. Like the Elixir of Life party that was cancelled for what, the 3rd NYE in a row now?

Oh don't get me wrong, we have loads of great parties here - it's just the big events with sprawling line ups of hot names that tend to disappoint. It's why I mostly stick to small events. "Small clubs, extended sets" is my formula for a great night out.

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Mixes:
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]
> Rough & Ready [Modern Trance]
>A Different Energy [Good Modern Trance]
> The Edale Mix [Panoramic Beats]

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J The second room was smaller and the music was much more pumping, so we spent most of the night there. Move D was probably the best of a bad bunch. He was mostly playing the kind of '90s flashback house that's so popular at the moment. The music was pretty good but there was no real direction to his set at all - he'd go from a mellow groove to a diva vocal screamer to a faux-ravey breakbeat number. It did feel pretty random.

I love Move D, I've seen him a few times and yes.. he does play all sorts of records, I'd say his shorter sets do not have any direction.. he just plays killer records, and his ability to change direction is impressive to me. I also don't think he's playing 'that 90s flashback house', he's always played that kind of stuff and wont stop cuz its trendy now.

Great DJ.

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Corjay - Spring Funk '14 [Downtempo Funk / Jazz / Disco / Deep House]

He was on for two hours, which is enough time to build something. I don't personally see what's impressive about changing direction every second or third track. The energy levels were up and down, it just felt like he played whatever record he saw in the bag next. Of all the DJs on the line-up he's the one I'd heard the most hype about and the one I wanted to check out the most, and he was really nothing special.

___________________
Mixes:
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]
> Rough & Ready [Modern Trance]
>A Different Energy [Good Modern Trance]
> The Edale Mix [Panoramic Beats]

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J He was on for two hours, which is enough time to build something. I don't personally see what's impressive about changing direction every second or third track. The energy levels were up and down, it just felt like he played whatever record he saw in the bag next. Of all the DJs on the line-up he's the one I'd heard the most hype about and the one I wanted to check out the most, and he was really nothing special.

I think thats cuz you come from the world of prog where every transition has to be smooth the sets perfectly programmed, almost scripted. Move D just plays awesome records, whether its diva house, 90s warehouse techno or the new Julio Bashmore track. Leon Vynehall plays a very similar style, who I also really enjoyed.

I prefer the ups and downs of a DJ set as opposed to one slow build.. don't go watch Levon Vincent you'll absolutely hate his mixing style hahaha.

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Corjay - Spring Funk '14 [Downtempo Funk / Jazz / Disco / Deep House]

Sigh. Why is this argument always wheeled out against me whenever I don't like someone's favourite DJ? I can barely even remember the last time I heard any progressive house in a club. I go to house nights, techno nights, drum 'n bass nights, cosmic/nu disco nights, breaks nights, even the occasional psy event, and yet apparently I just live in "the world of prog".

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Mixes:
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]
> Rough & Ready [Modern Trance]
>A Different Energy [Good Modern Trance]
> The Edale Mix [Panoramic Beats]

You just don't UNDERSTAND it, don't worry.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Sigh. Why is this argument always wheeled out against me whenever I don't like someone's favourite DJ?

This.

Hah, Jack clearly doesn't get it. It's UP and DOWN, like the STOCK MARKET, man.

Wait, did I do it right?

Austin?

Austin ... ?

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Quarantine Classics Brunello di Montalcino (In Transit) Edition [Progressive Classics] (August 2020)
Quarantine Classics - Puligny-Montrachet Edition [Progressive Classics] (April 2020)
What Is Progressive Anyways? [Progressive House Classics] (November 2019)

... ?