Basstown Turns 1!

Tonight, Basstown turns one!

It's been quite a year. So many friendships made. So many songs come and gone. When this started a year ago, it was really just one man, and now Basstown exists as a collective of five, with two hard-hitting drivers and 3 extremely talented and dedicated DJs.

Thank you for everything, and we're looking forward to next April.

Love,
Basstown

Robyn Ticket Giveaway* / Die Young + Baltimoroder To Open

We've said it before, and we'll say it again...we absolutely love Robyn. Now with Rakamonie being in the states, and watching her sweep SXSW by storm, Robyn is following up her intimate club tour from February with an official run across the country. Pop is better than ever, with the arrival of Robyn, the stellar new Kylie album, and, yes..the Madonna single does rule in a way that she is unavoidably magnetizing.

If you go through YouTube you can find a slew of Robyn videos, and they're all worth watching. One of our absolute favorites is on the acoustic version of "With Every Heartbeat" where - either heard or seen on video - is a bit of a tear-jerker.

The most incredible news about her upcoming performance at Paradise next Tuesday is that Basstown's DJ Die Young and Hearthrob's Baltimoroder will be the opening acts! What a match made in heaven...



Tuesday, April 29th
ROBYN
w/ DJ Die Young, Baltimoroder
967 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA
Doors open 7pm
$12 advance tickets
$15 day of show
18+
Purchase Tickets: here


*Basstown is giving away two pairs of tickets for this event.
Please e-mail info@basstown.net with the subject "Robyn Ticket Giveaway" in the subject line, and include your full name, phone number, and e-mail address at which you'd like to be notified if you are one of the lucky winners. Contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday night (April 28th) and the winners will be contacted on Tuesday, April 29th.

MySpace: Robyn

Body by Basstown

Well, look at that. Basstown has started up a t-shirt industry with the shirtshop Spreadshirt. There's a $9.99 white shirt, plus a $15.99 men's black lightweight cotton shirt that reads "TECHNO KILLS" on the back. There's also a ladies shirt that reads "SHMINIMAL" on the back and a fly "techno kills" black hoodie with the logo on the back.

Click on the shirt or here to go shopping.

It's all in good fun, but they are kinda cool looking, with their .eps vector style logo and all. We're hoping to do more in quantity if people find them interesting.

You can wear them to the Techno Kills show or this Thursday at Make It New. You could wear it Friday to Solid! at ZuZu with DJ Die Young. You could wear it Saturday to Meem Dreemz or Tuesday when you see Robyn -- Die Young and Baltimoroder just got added to that bill.

Meem Dreemz is the closing party for ROFLcon, a convention of all the biggest internet memes and meme-makers. The LOLcat people, the Stuff White People Like, Tron Guy, Leeroy Jenkins and every other meesage board master will be at the convention. And, maybe, at the party:

The event is reserved for ROFLcon attendees until 11pm. At that point, Great Scott will open the doors to the public at large.

The last Basstown monthly brought the house down. The Revolution Will Be Feminized brought out a huge crowd ready to get down. Our headliner, Lauren Flax, played a mind-blowing set of classic '90s house and had a message to the music in many ways. The mix cuts off because the whole block ran out of power. Literally.

All the Basstown residents and a few randoms get on the microphone. You can hear the chaos through the needles, the alcohol on the mic and the crowd shaking their troubles away.

Audible: Lauren Flax live at Basstown
MySpace: Basstown Presents
Hype Machine: Basstown

Baldur wins Best DJ in Boston Phoenix Reader's Poll!

Baldur a.k.a. DJezus - a Make It New resident DJ and admirable friend - has been named the Best DJ by the Boston Phoenix Reader's Picks! The bid has been up for quite some time, and we've been dying to know the collective favorite choice. It's obvious that Baldur's following is as great as we'd imagined. Pick up your copy of the Phoenix supplement, on stands today, and check out pages 10 and 14!



You also have a chance to celebrate tonight with the winner as he spins at Make It New. There's no cover for this event, and it's 21+ Down below you can find a few mixes by the man himself. Congratulations to Baldur!

Audible: DJezus - "Closer To God Mix" (A+++)
Website: DJezus mixes (includes I Can Be Black and First Coming)
MySpace: Baldur

Local Hero : Special Guest At Hearthrob Tonight!

Lovelife Friday. Dreamers Saturday. Hearthrob Tuesday. It's been quite a looong weekend for Local Hero. Visiting from Chicago, where he runs the scene with the kind of power that Hearthrob over has over our fair city, he also manages the Trash Menagerie blog, which is up there with the likes of Discobelle, Missing Toof, and other select places to get the best new originals and remixes.

He's the special guest tonight at Hearthrob, and while we loved the Lauren Flax remix found on the HEARTSREVOLUTION 12" for C.Y.O.A. ("Choose Your Own Adventure"), his mix is incredibly different yet equally as good. It's available below, and we've included a subdued mix of a new Portishead track, "Nylon Smile," which is on P's latest, highly-anticipated LP, Third. The remix goes under the name of Scienticians, which is the collaboration between Local Hero and Angel Alanis from Chicago's Noise/Floor crew. An incredible Hearthrob...in the bag! When Morgan Louis threw out an original of theirs - Majik - everyone went apeshit. We were freaking out about it in early January.

Audible: HEARTSREVOLUTION - C.Y.O.A. (Angel Alanis and Local Hero Rmx)"
Audible: Portishead - Nylon Smile (Scienticians Subdued Rmx)"
MySpace: Local Hero
Blog: Trash Menagerie

Knights Of The Turntable

This issue of Stuff @ Night features the city's best DJs in a roundtable discussion about the scene and everything else surrounding it. With DJ Die Young on board, the other 7 DJs included the Soulclap duo, DJ Bruno, Ms. Thang, Baltimoroder, Melee, and DJ Knife. The article itself is lengthy and very insightful, but even better is the video footage found on the PHX blog...



Read: Stuff @ Night: From The Turntable To The Roundtable
Vote: Die Young for Boston's Best DJ (by April 18 - hurry!)

Hot Chip To Boston, Germany Purifies Their Thoughts

I just noticed that Hot Chip's MySpace is self-classified as "Melodramatic Popular Song." Maybe that's the theme of this year's greatest. So far, I am incredibly impressed by the likes of the new Hot Chip record, as well as the new LP by The Presets, which is a major step from their undeniably brilliant debut, Beams. I think, in Hot Chip's case, "Shake A Fist" was the real first winner, as "Ready For The Floor" was a little difficult to digest at first. Bringing in our eternal love for all things Kompakt, we've included a very interesting take on "One Pure Thought" by Cologne techno mastermind, Michael Mayer. (On a sidenote, I learned from Gui Boratto this week that his entire name is properly pronounced mee-KELL MAH-yur. Didn't have the first name down until then...)

While this Monday is a difficult decision for those going out - Autechre plays the MidEast Down and Hot Chip plays the Paradise - here are a few reasons for leaning towards the pop:

"On the pop side, none are as lovable as the tender-hearted electro of 'Ready for the Floor', in which the band once again finds comfortable middle ground between Alexis Taylor's balladesque vocal and vibrant, electro-pop dressing. Elsewhere, the feelgood 'Touch Too Much' cruises by on a big chorus and some characteristically clattering percussions, while the infectious 'One Pure Thought' opens against a backdrop of gnarled guitar chords and keening synths." - Pitchfork, 7.0 rating

"Everything on this album sounds diversely tremendous. Hot Chip has even attempted to write a few ballads that really work in the format of the album because they give it a depth and substance that truly add to Made in the Dark’s overall scheme." - Delusions Of Adequacy

"This album stands out because of its stadium-worthy aspirations." - Prefix Magazine, 8.0 rating

"It's tough not to admire a band that can work an affection for Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, R. Kelly and WWF icon Jerry "the King" Lawler into a hot club track " - Rolling Stone, 4 out of 5 stars


Audible: Hot Chip - "One Pure Thought"
Audible: Hot Chip - "One Pure Thought (Supermayer Mix)"
MySpace: Hot Chip

We Love Brazil: Gui Boratto & DJ DRI.K @ Great Scott tonight

Today marks an incredible day for Basstown. In the last few months, we've brought in some of our favorite DJs but tonight we bring the sonic architect that made one of our favorite records of last year. Gui Boratto's LP, Chromophobia, is gorgeous as a cohesive whole and with over a handful of select tracks. From our bedrooms to Baltimoroder breaking it out at Make It New all of last year, his popularity amongst Basstown has caught on.



Joining him on the bill is his friend DJ DRI.K from Rio de Janeiro, a talented Brazilian DJ who has opened for him in the past and just had her first US tour last year after premiering at WMC in 2006. One of the great feminine promises of the scene in Rio de Janeiro, DRI.K currently integrates casting of the Titattium in Portugal, UC Bookings in the United States and Agência Play, one of the biggest deejays agencies of Brazil. Dri.K never fails to suprise with eclectic and amazing sets, which include tech and electro house. By adding beauty and charisma to her wonderful sets, she is capable of setting the mood in any party.



Audible: Gui Boratto - "Terminal"
Audible: DRI.K opens for Gui Boratto (via Squar3 Productions)
MySpace: DJ DRI.K

A Zelig of Electronic Music

The (almost) weekly Resident Advisor podcast is the highlight of being signed up for their newletter. By far one of the best websites in global existence for authority on what is and what isn't in techno music, the latest podcasts have included the talents of Joris Voorn, Kevin Saunderson, Pole, and Sasse. The latest and possibly greatest (well, in Vicki's opinion) is Dinky, a Chile-based DJ who is really starting to break out on an international level.

Georgeous, melodic and feminine, there's a slant of emotion and catharsis that magnify the ability that women DJs often have to really communicate their intentions with their listener(s). Including an original unreleased track (DA 20s), the mix includes everything from friend Ricardo Villalobos and DJ Assault.

01. Indian Ocean - Tree House – Sleeping Bag
02. Baby Ford - Treatment Feel 1 - White Label
03. Ricardo Villalobos & Patrick Ense - M Bassy - Fabric
04. DBX - Bleep - Accelerate
05. Sascha Dive - Unknown - White
06. Mountain People - The Move to the Sun (Edit) - Mountain People
07. Minimalism - Was That That Beat (Edit) - Minimalism
08. Le Noir - Eleny (Radio Slave Panorama Garage Remix) - Fling
09. Dinky - Da 20s - Unreleased
10. Hector - La Raza - Horizontal
11. Matt John - Boeing Highfly (Let Me Hupe Mix) - Holographic Island
12. Matthew Styles - Eating You - Horizontal
13. Andres Bucci - Online - Horizontal
14. Sensitiva (Tobi Neumann & Onur Özur) - Mimosa – 100% Pure
15. Tobi Neumann and Matthew Styles - Extra Lunch - Unreleased
16. Luc Ringeisen - Lukoomatic (Matthew Styles Remix) - Vinylclub
17. DJ Assault - Dick by the Pound - Mo Wax
18. Luc Ringeisen - Lukoomatic (Matthew Styles Remix) - Vinylclub


Audible: Resident Advisor Podcast #96 with Dinky (94.18MB)
MySpace: Dinky

The Revolution [Is] Feminized

This past Saturday was magical. Treefingers, Sarah Joy, Pandai'a. Volvox premiered as a Basstown DJ and blew more than several people away with her set. And then, the epic Lauren Flax, who at the very end of her gig blew out not only Great Scott, but the entire area of Allston. Pictured above is Treefingers - who started off the night - and Lauren Flax from left to right. Be sure to head to the Enormous Room this Wednesday (which is also Volvox's birthday!) for Treefingers' residency at the venue.

Coming soon will be Lauren's set, but for now be sure to check out the Nicky Digital photos as well as Davida's always wonderful photobooth!

Visible: Nicky Digital
Visible: Davida's Photoboof

Hello? Catphone? Are you there Catphone?

Someone named DJ Dinosaur sent this to my inbox. It's called Catphone and its breakcore.

Audible: DJ Dinosaur - Catphone

DJ Die Young on XLR8R.com!

An old, but much loved photo of Pamela Martinez, founder of Teletextile

"Boston-based DJ Die Young tailors the remix of this track with some delay effects and a strong bass beat, making a nice fit for the dance floor." - XLR8r

Teletextile is an excellent band that came together in Boston, but have since moved to Brooklyn to expand into the full foursome that it is now. With the gorgeous debut of Care Package from last year, our very own DJ Die Young turned it into a breathtaking remix that even XLR8R loves.

Website: XLR8R <3's Heartquake
Audible: Teletextile - "Heartquake"
Audible: Teletextile - "Heartquake (DJ Die Young Remix)"
Website: Teletextile