This electro house anthem by Spanish artists Save the Rave and Michael White absolutely could not rage any harder. Even if it tried. Just couldn’t. I stumbled upon these guys in the depths of beatport last week and was just astonished I hadn’t heard of them before. Their sound is right at the cutting edge of the genre, featuring upbeat melodies typically characteristic of house music, but also incorporating chopped up vocal samples and glitched out bass more characteristic of modern dubstep. They sound kind of like Porter Robinson if he was on Skrillex’s label…oh wait. Impress your friends with one of the seemingly few hard hitting electro house tracks that are not on OWSLA!
YEAHHHHHHH! O Let’s Do It! Let’s Review It! First off, I’d like to inform everyone that I am currently eating a $1 Totino’s pizza, which as I look back on Altitude festival at CU’s Balch Fieldhouse, is about how much i would have liked to pay for this show. I mean no disrespect to the artists who graced us with their presence Saturday night April the 28th because they all THREW THE F**K DOWN! However, as is tradition (apparently) at CU sponsored music shows, the crowd was atrocious. I have never in my seasoned career as a concert-goer witnessed such an unhappy crowd of young individuals. Seriously buffaloes, cheer up and dance, quit fighting (there were 5 that i saw). But let’s jump into into the meat of the show.
I arrived at 8pm sharp with my herd of friends to the indoor track and field stadium that is the Balch Fieldhouse just as Robotic Pirate Monkey was beginning their attack on our ears. We immediately took over the front row, using the railing as our pivot for ultimate raging. The venue was relatively empty still, but we made sure RPM knew how hard we went for local talent. The trio threw down in traditional CU style tossing out classics like “Joleen” and catering to the weed capital of the US with the likes of “Sir Spliffton Doobinski”.
At this point 9 o’clock was rolling around and it was time for RPM to unfortunately depart and for the likes of 21 year-old Michigan producer Griz to begin his assault. I would also like to apologize if you’re reading this Griz, i know we wouldn’t stop shouting GK at you, but it’s all outta love (we know all about you!). Griz, formerly known as GK, really ignited the crowd at Altitude. The big man played a lot of new material off his upcoming album, but i distinctly remember (and by distinctly i mean, from what i think i remember) him playing the absolute sickest 3 track line-up consisting of remixes of Lil Wayne’s “6’7″” and “A Milli” followed by House of Pain’s classic “Jump Around” to close out his set. So Griz, you won the medal, awarded by me, for my favorite performance of the night!
The next artist to hit the stage was Bay-area rappers Zion I along with producer Amplive. At first i was tentative to hear a hip-hop artist sandwiched in between a line-up of all electronic music, not because i don’t like the group, but because one would think the flow would be…off. That was not the case though. Amplive must have turned up the base when the group stormed the stage because HOLY SHIT my inner organs were a-jumpin’. Due to a large quantity of California natives at CU along with a large quantity of weed-smokers, the crowd absolutely ate up all Zion I could dish out. For as far back as i could see from front-row, everyone had their hands up high and their mouths singing along to classics like “Coastin’”.
Now by this time in the night, the fieldhouse had pretty much filled up and goddam was that crowd rowdy. I had to remove myself from the front row due my knees being black and battered from being crushed up against the front fence. I slowly descended towards the back of the crowd, periodically stopping to test the waters. However, it would seem the only safe place to be was near the back of the angry mob. There was something about Gramatik’s set that really set the crowd on fire. No matter where i tried to stand in the audience, there were fights, moshes, and a tide-like eb and flow in the crowd. Therefore, Gramatik, i’m sorry man! I don’t really remember much of your set because i was honestly too busy trying to stay alive to pay much attention, but i know you threw down because you never let a crowd down. I would also like to take this time to sincerely thank you for letting me witness a fist-fight between a male and female person to the soundtrack of your new song “Solidified”. It was extremely special!
12:30. At this point i was pretty beat-up and pretty goddam exhausted from droppin’ it lower then all you ladies out there. But i needed to hang in there; i needed to see MSTRKFT play in their entirety. The Canadian beard-wielding duo comprised of JFK and Al-P followed through on their legendary hype and absolutely tore the house (fieldhouse) down! Playing heavy tracks like Nero’s “Doomsday” and their own “Heartbreaker” and “Bounce” (“Bounce” is also the soundtrack to the trailer for box-office hit 21 Jump Street), the crowd was just not on the same level as MSTRKRFT. Even though, they were only on stage for a mere hour and a half (i know that’s pretty long, but keep reading…), they still managed to get significantly drunker then every single person still left standing. And left standing there weren’t many. What’s wrong with you pussies, you can’t rage for 6 hours straight? COME AT ME BRO!
Anywho, pretty much a great night at the Altitude show. Also, i was pressured into this interview by my extremely threatening peers here at PressPlay. Do you know how stressful it is forcing yourself to remember that much which you previously have forgotten? Geez…
I’m gonna throw at you guys some samples of all these artists, and you better listen to them!
Happy Thursday everyone! I’ve got the freshest new Wick-it the Instigator track to supplement your Thursday night raging. This man produces some of the most clever music i’ve heard in quite some time; combining hilarious pop-culture references with hip-hop and heavy hitting bass samples. This newest track is a catchy drum and bass beat with some rap mixed cleverly overtop. So get your Big Shit Poppin’ and be sure follow Wick-it on twitter and soundcloud!
Savoy is back at it again with a new remix of the Chromeo hit, When the Night Falls. Every single person reading this right now should already know who Savoy is, seeing as the trio from right here in CU Boulder has been absolutely blazing a trail through the electronic music industry. Their hit single “I’m in Need” shot to the top of the Beatport charts within days of its release gaining them quite a lot of attention. Also, if you haven’t seen them live, it really is a special experience. These guys know how to party, and their laser set-up is a sight to behold too. Give some Boulder love by following them on twitter, @Savoy.
Bonus: This is one of the first tracks Savoy remixed, but it’s definitely one of my personal favorites.