Identity Festival: A Retrospective

Well where do I begin....?
The beginning perhaps...

August 19, 2011 Identity Festival Camden, NJ

My DPC partner and I got chance to check out this stop of the tour. Unfortunately, a few delays prevented us from catching a few of the acts we very much wanted see. Not to mention, set times and act locations were shuffled throughout the day. But I’m going to do my best to stray away from some of the less positive aspects of the fest. I think Becca pretty much nailed it in her post. No worries though; there was still plenty of day and music left for us to get down to.

We weren’t exactly sure what to expect from the festival overall. We quickly got the gist of it though:

Oh yes, people came here to RAGE! And with the hormone-powered, angst-driven energy of thousands of glow stick toting teenagers...RAGE was had in this place.

What about the music you say? There was some of that too...
My first stop was to check out:

Still early in the day, the crowd was a bit thin but the energy was definitely rising. Admittedly, I am not too familiar with their material. But it was just what I needed to distract me from picture taking long enough to get my first dance on of the day. That’s what we came here for, right? Yeah, that....and the people watching!

Next...Booka Shade!...who, for whatever reason, got moved from the mainstage to a smaller one. No comment on that. What I will comment on is how they absolutely tore it down with a crowd of just a few hundred of us who could: 1. Find it. 2. Tear ourselves away from whatever generic electro that was happening at the other stages. (Sorry, that wasn’t too positive was it?).

These guys bring so much energy and creativity. No pressing “Play” then screaming and running around on stage while the track rides. They touched on a large portion of their catalogue and not only played their songs well, but played them differently from their studio counterparts. The live improvisation was an exciting relief from the non-stop untz happening at the other stages

There was downtime after Booka, and some rain-time for a while. This quickly became "exorbitantly overpriced beer" time. Then I heard it:

“WAKE THE FUCK UP!”

Hey, don’t tell me what to do Rusko.

I enjoyed a good portion of his set. He screamed; a lot. But brought a metric shit-ton of energy (see what I did there?..”metric”...he’s British...ok sorry). He womped it out, threw it back to some early stuff, some housey stuff, and even dropped an "unreleased" Rhianna track he produced (which he told us not to tell anyone about...sorry Rusko!).

Next up..: Avicci

This was probably one of the more exciting acts of day as far as production value.

I’m into House music as a whole, and he hit the spectrum of it. There were some cheesy moments, but there was enough quality stuff that even a snob like myself could find enjoyment in a good amount of the set. The crowd as a whole absolutely loved it!

There's a lot more that could be said (and shown) about my experience at Identity Festival, but for sake of highlighting what I actually enjoyed and keeping with focus of this blog, I’ll wrap it up. In all honesty it was a great time overall. The range of music was enough grab the attention of anyone who likes current electronic dance music. It just didn't quite hit the nail on the head as far as my taste go...

We like dirty disco dance parties....

:)

An Identity Festival Review - In Numbers

I am really sorry. This is a day or two late, it will probably be a snoozefest for you guys to read, but I felt like I needed to address Identity Festival in one way. We did hype it up so much last week.

I don't want to go into the details because I don't have too many great things to say about the overall festival. But I hate lying. Mainly because I'm really awful at it, but you'd also see right through my 'glowing review'.



The timing never seemed right. DJ Shadow was completely canceled cause storms/downpour of rain, and the outdoors stages ended up getting shut down for the duration of the festival.

I was also asked a few times to buy beer by underage girls. I was probably the wrong person to ask because I'm a girl - that was your first mistake.You always ask boys first, duh. Your second mistake was wearing (insert any highlighter color that could blind you) tank top and orange hats that said, "RAGE".


**taken by Rashad**

I can't say much for myself though; I was running around the festival in an "I Love You But I've Chosen Disco" shirt, and people probably were actively judging me too.

Please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt because everyone should have their own opinion about music. I'm certainly not judging anyone (but really I am), so don't take my review and think it's the end all, be all. Cause it's not. Even though I wish it was because then disco dance parties would reign supreme and cupcakes would be considered a meal.



I had a great time overall (despite what you're about to read below), and I can't leave this post without also thanking our gracious hosts. You guys rule and you took us to the best places in Philly!!

Our asses were late to the party (Identity Festival being the party, and our asses were late cause we missed these two acts - womp womp), so here's a good rundown of our experience at Identity Festival.... in numbers.

Miles driven to Philadelphia - 136 miles


View Larger Map

Cups of coffee consumed by yours truly in the 3 hour car ride - 4

Minutes it took to crack open our first beer when we got to Philadelphia - 2

Whiskeys taken before we left for Camden - 4

Set time changes that occurred before we left to head to Camden - 3

Employees at Festival who had no idea where Booka Shade was playing - all of them



Employees at Festival who had no idea what the different stages were - all of them

Shirts that made me confused and slightly offended - 1


*taken by Rashad*

Beers consumed while Steve Aoki was playing - not enough

Beers consumed before realizing no matter how drunk we got Steve Aoki would still suck - too many

Times I was actively judging people in the crowd - too many

Times Rashad had to tell me to stop actively judging people in the crowd - three; once during Rusko, once during Aviici, and once when we were taking pictures in front of the main stage.

Neon hats I saw with the word 'RAGE' on it - too many

Times I heard Rashad ask people (the ladies) "Who Wanted to be Internet Famous" - too many (haha sorry!)

Creepy cars we saw in Philly - 1



People we fit in a cab ride from Camden to Philly after the show - 6

Crabs we ate at the crab and beer festival on Saturday - take a wild guess



Showers taken by yours truly while in Philly - 1 (gross, right?)

**And I'm sorry about the crappy photographs by me - clearly I was more interested in other things** And by interested in other things I mean I liked beer too much.

IDfest...you so crazy! (preview post)

Identity Fest Spotlight!: Hercules and Love Affair

I don't want to blow my own whistle (that's what she said?), but I am feeling really good about the wealth of musical knowledge that is being thrown around at DPC.

I usually like to put in some research into a post, especially if I'm not familiar with a band/DJ, because I don't want to look like an asshole in front of my invisible Internet friends. I also like to listen to the music, try and given an honest opinion, and sound like I know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, I am not so musically-versed, and don't know the proper terms for things. So you get words like shiny. Or happy. Or awesome. I'm sorry I'm not sorry my reviews sometimes suck. I swear I graduated from college. Besides, it's the thought that counts. Or is that what people really say when they don't want to hurt someone's feelings? Am I talking to myself?

Please bear with me as I try to decipher Hercules and Love Affair for you.

I spent a good 10 minutes sitting in bed trying to figure out what to write about Hercules and Love Affair. And then I realized I don't really know anything about them, besides the fact Moonlight Matters does an awesome remix of their song, "Painted Eyes", that's featured in Magic Tape 7 by The Magician. I also love their song "Falling" that's featured on my favorite Drop Out Orchestra mix ever! Cupcakes to whoever can name the month!

Hercules & The Love Affair - Painted Eyes (Moonlight Matters Remix) by Moonlight Matters

Hercules and Love Affair initially was a musical project of DJ Andy Butler. He has been featured on Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space show numerous times as well. The band didn't actually make its debut until 2008, and features four other members, including Andy Butler. They are signed by DFA Records and Moshi Moshi records. Their latest album, Blue Songs, was released by Moshi Moshi in January 2011. There have been a number of past members as well. (source)

And honestly, I knew they were a live band, but never really delved further than what I had already heard before. After listening to their album, "Blue Songs" I am really excited to catch them in Camden this Friday. I love music that has some vocals in it, and some of the songs, like "Blue Boy", were really well composed, in my opinion. It's my understanding the vocalists are different than their last album release, so the sound is a little different. I suggest you listen to the album, it flows. It works. And I love it. I'm officially obsessed. It contains the right amount of DDP's (disco dance parties!!!!), with some downtempo sprinkled in.

Hercules & Love Affair - Blue Songs by moshi moshi music

What are you waiting for? Catch Hercules and Love Affair at Identity Festival. While I said that I was more receptive to Holy Ghost! as DJs, I can't wait to see Hercules and Love Affair as a band. Something tells me I'll be having lots of DDPs with smile pasted on my face like an idiot.

Identity Fest Spotlight!: Booka Shade

Personally, these guys were one of the few deal sealers for me to attend Identity Festival. From Berlin, Arno Kammermeirer and Walter Merziger, have been delighting ears and moving bodies for just under a decade. Booka Shade’s music is difficult fit into a specific genre, but at its core it is dance music plain and simple. It’s minimal with hints of Techno, but straddles the line into House (often deep/progressive) at times.



Six albums deep, their most recent, “More!” gave us just that. A bit different than their previous approach, this album was “..built from the dance floor up” (Booka Shade). Their single, “Regeneration”, was a hit in clubs around the globe. Their live show is an audio-visual insight into the duo's music. While Arno takes control of percussion, Walter does his thing on synth and various midi controllers.



Booka Shade tours extensively and has shaken dance floors from hottest clubs in Europe to the renowned Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. You are in for a treat if you are able to catch them as they play a number of the Identity Festival tour dates. Look out for the DPC crew in Camden, NJ this weekend as we will be getting down to Booka Shade and a host of premier electronic dance music acts. Also, stay tuned for more IDfest Spotlights…

If you’re not completely convinced of Booka Shade’s dance inducing sound just yet, do yourself a favor and check out this fantastic DJ set from earlier this year.

(30 min Sample, Full set download below)


Booka Shade Global Dance Session 1/8/2011 (via mixing.dj)

Identity Fest Spotlight!: Holy Ghost!

I am currently experiencing a running coma. I've attempted writing two different blog entries for this specific post and failed. Not only did I fail, but my legs are sore, I'm tired, and I almost had a 13 year old boy beat me today.

So, let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

Identity Festival kicked off in Noblesville four days ago and hits up Charlotte, Bristow, and Camden this week.

We'll be in attendance at The Camden show on Friday and I can't freaking wait. More importantly though, we're visiting some friends (hint: one of their names rhymes with pagan) and spending some QT in Philadelphia - something that I have never really done. I can't wait for cooking dance parties, bbqs, great friends/company, and great music!

Rashad and I will be posting some acts we are excited to see, and acts you may want to check out if you happen to be hitting up any of the 20 cities Identity Festival is invading.

Holy Ghost! (DFA Records) consists of the duo, Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser. I have seen them twice live (band), and once when they did a DJ set. I will be honest (remember, I'm an honest person!) when I say I have been more receptive to their DJ sets, as opposed to their band. You know why? Because I hate hipsters*, and the Cut Copy and Holy Ghost! show at the 9:30 Club brought more bros and hipsters out than I have seen throughout the DC area - in one room. Gross.*

Their DJ sets are full of energy, variety, and they have this funky, disco-vibe that permeates throughout their mixes that makes me smile, which may or may not be alcohol induced as well. Holy Ghost! goes on at 7pm (so their website says) so be sure not to miss them. And if you 'spill' a beer on the hipster nodding their head in front of you at the concert, I won't tell anyone.

*Note: No hipsters were injured or harmed during said concerts.

The following is a mix from Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space show. The playlist has some classics, and favorites of mine (and probably yours!) and at the 10 minute mark, you may recognize a track that's from the Beat Broker mix that has been featured before.
BIS Radio Show #506 - Holy Ghost! Part II
13. The House Girl - Bessie Smith (Farley Jackmaster Funk) - Farley Music
14. Holy Ghost! - On Board (featuring The DFA Celestial Choir) - XL
15. Ray Mang - Tatoo Me - Mangled Records
16. Faux Love - Be With You - Faux Love
17. Tiger & Woods - Deflowered - Tain 2
18. Maserati - Inventions (Justin Van Der Volgen's "Enjoy Your Prog" Remix") - Temporary Residence Limited
19. Jackpot - Night Flight - RVNG
20. Lindstrom & Christabelle - Baby Can't Stop (Aeroplane Vocal Remix) - Smalltown Supersound
21. Robert Owens - Visions (MK Mix) - 4th & B'Way
22. Eleanore Mills - Mr. Right (The Right Mix) - CDJ Records
23. Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (Greg Wilson Edit) - Wichita
24. Eli Escobar - Glass House - Plant
25. Jacques Renault - Piano On The Beach - Unreleased
26. Jee Day - Like A Child - Unreleased
27. Rogue Cat - Magic Journey (Todd Terje Remix) - Tiny Sticks
28. - Rocket (Babytalk Remix) -
29. Jacques Renault - Can't Nobody Love Me - Hole In The Sky

The second mix is from the KCRW Radio Show (it's a shorter mix, about 33 minutes), and I'm partial to using it for a quickie at the gym.

And finally, this is their Australian Tour Sampler, that includes two of their songs, and some remixes that they have done for other artists.

Holy Ghost! - Australian Tour Sampler by future classic