Need more house cleaning music? Well I hope you have on comfortable shoes! Toro Y Moi’s Still Sound is exactly what you’re looking for. The groovy bass line and guitar riffs are sure to bring out your inner dance machine
When I first heard Cassy back in my Miami days in the outdoor area of the Electric Pickle, a downtown staple of house and techno in the city I wasn’t expecting much. The name was very familiar to me as I had heard of her before during my early love affair with Germany’s booming electronic music scene. Having actually never heard her DJ before I had very low expectations as I wasn’t the hugest fan of house music at the time.
I was a techno purist in the beginning of my electronic music journey and house music was the last thing on my mind. However I truly became a fan of Cassy that day. She absolutely blew my mind rocking a solid two-hour all vinyl set that ended up not being strictly house music. Cassy had a few techno tricks up her sleeve and after that day Cassy became one of my all time favorite DJs.
Every DJ has an artist who inspires them to do what they do and for me that artist is Ellen Allien. The Berlin based queen of techno has been on the scene since the early 90s and there is not one person in the techno scene that doesn’t know her name. Ellen’s music spoke to me as a young boy growing up in a city where techno wasn’t popular and I just happened to stumble onto her by accident at the time. She became the driving force behind the beginning stages of my passion for underground electronic music.
This week I’ve featured my dear friend Julie Maghilano on the Music To Clean House To playlist. Another Las Vegas kid Julie and I met through a mutual friend from our hometown. The friend in question kept telling me about her friend Julie and showing me her music. I was certainly surprised to hear she was making music that I was into. Eventually we would meet in Las Vegas during a shared gig on New Year’s Eve. From that point on we became close friends and she was my support system when I first moved to the other side of the world from San Francisco to Berlin.
When I first visited Berlin from San Francisco I had a very different idea of the underground sound of electronic music that completely changed after my visit. I was hearing for the first time a sound that I can only explain as a fusion of minimal and deep house that really got me excited for the first time in a while. When I returned home I began spending hours finding more and more of this kind of music. It was during this search and through a DJ mix from a DJ named Anthea that I would discover Oshana.
During my weekly hunt for new music to play in my upcoming sets I stumbled across a new artist that I never had heard of before. Justin Cudmore’s track “Moment” is a track that is meant to be used in those special moments in the club where as a DJ you know you have the audience at your finger tips and it bring you nothing but joy to keep building it up to the delight of the audience.
I first heard this song yesterday as I was running through Hasenheide, a huge park by my house. I had already been running (ok, you got me, jogging) for a solid 15 minutes and therefore reaching my tap out point. And then, like a gift from the gods, this magical song started pumping into my ears like a seductive siren, causing me to tap into a dormant energy source I wasn’t even aware existed
Last night, after a few glasses of wine, my roommate and I were laughing about our individual dancing styles when we are at a club and completely immersed in the music. My roommate tends to hang out in front of the DJ. She’s usually swinging her arms, but in a very controlled way as if she’s marching (that or fending off a bevy of zombies.) Oh and she’s usually smiling really big at other people, wanting to make sure that those around her are having just as much fun as she is.
As a woman who loves techno, I feel it is my personal duty to draw attention to all the incredible techno DJs out there who also happen to be ladies. That’s why occasionally I’ll use this playlist as my platform (hey, everyone needs a soapbox, ok?)
How perfect that this track is named “Dishes & Wishes”. If I had to rank all my household chores from best to worst, washing dishes would always be at the top of my list. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my legs are free to dance to whatever Deep House track is currently bumping out of my laptop speakers.
On Saturday night I arrived to Griessmühle; formerly a pasta factory, and presently one of my favorite clubs in Berlin. Not only is it just a few U-bahn stops from my house, but it’s a bit off the beaten path (and a bit gritty), which means it doesn’t attract a lot of tourists.
Since today is International Women’s Day I thought it would be most appropriate to feature one of my favorite DJs, Lady Blacktronika. She was one of the first friends I made when I arrived to Berlin and also the first person to ever tell me not to refer to “Techno” as “Electro.” When I asked her why, she said, “just don’t.” Duly noted Lady Black.