Winding down from what has been an interesting birthday week I must say I was pleased to find this gem in my inbox Monday morning.  I recently saw Alex and Drew at for a brunch party @ The Highline Ballroom in the Meatpacking district and they made me eat a tequila worm….Ok ok, they didn’t make me, I of course being a fun crazy little vixen did it willingly, but man I forgot how much of a riot being around them and their energy is.  I love seeing people after you haven’t seen them in a year or two, and nothing has changed, still beautiful fun loving people.  There are always people in our lives who are going to judge us, make us feel like we can’t be ourselves, give you a hard time.  And then there are the people that will lift you up, show you loyalty and allow you to be exactly who you want to be at all times, happy, sad, it don’t matter!

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” -William Shakespeare 

It’s important to remember that we are all crazy, lovely, unique human beings all bound up in our own special packages.  Summer is here and you can definitely feel it in the air.  Summer is not the time to take judgement on people, especially your friends, you should never live in fear to be yourself around the people you work with and play with and I am certainly not.  This remix gave me that feeling and a happy energy that I so badly needed, so with further ado here is a word from my crazy dudes:

So, we would like to take a moment to explain why we think this is our best song to date, but the answer is fairly simple…. We always preach about trying to make music that is a beautiful blend of Pop, Indie and Progressive, which isn’t always possible, but we feel like this time, we did it…. So we wrote up a little math equation to make sense of what we did…

 

So Play it at a nice level, cause it’ll make you feel like doing something, maybe not dancing, but something special… In our eyes not to sound cheesy, it doesnt matter if you like Mumford, or W&W this song creates a feeling that hopefully in some way connects everyone and summer is here, and this drop is that summer feelings…”

Say Lou Lou – Julian (The Chainsmokers Remix)

Free Download @ Soundcloud

They say that illusions and delusions are not real, yet our minds conjure both of these “unreal” things up.  They say that things imagined only exist in our minds, yet, the mind is the only “real” thing we have.  Do you understand this Neo?

We are weird if we don’t do what everyone else is doing, at least that’s how our cultures make us think and feel at times.  We are rebels if we question the rules and limitations of the systems we are inserted into, yet the powers that be can constantly change these rules and limitations at will.

Alive, the newest creation from our friends Empire of the Sun comes at a time where the rebels are gearing up for battle, the powers that be are blatantly stealing every inch of the modern world in front of the faces of society, and the rest of the sheep have no real inkling of what’s happening, and even about to happen to the world as they know it.

Alive is the simple breath of fresh air that we normally take for granted as we get so involved with our own personal missions and within our very own personal agendas.  It is simply a dance tune to make us feel Alive, and to remind us that in between all of the hard work and studying we need to do, we also need to live and appreciate the very freedoms we are so desperately fighting for.

The song boasts huge synths splashed all over it that rock hard with the overpowering, and still welcoming falsettos in the upper regions.  They add more magic to the transient sounds that our bodies naturally respond to and which all too much get lost in the midst of modern day compression within mixes.  The beats on this Empire of the Sun track are as big as the vocals and as familiar as the sound in their debut album.

With a consistent level of quirky creativity and equally quirky sound, it’s hard not to continue the party which was paused at the end of their debut album, with Alive.

Hello to our ṗeople
Say hello to the future.”

Empire Of The Sun — Alive

A whirlwind of a week is ending with a whirlwind of a weekend. My 9-5 has me covering the New York City leg of Electric Daisy Carnival and last night’s stages were fire, and tonight’s lineup is even more impressive. Calvin Harris, Thomas Gold, and Afrojack are capping off the festival and I feel so honored that it’s apart of my job to experience this.

Today’s track is a lil’ bit out of the EMPT norm, but it’s so appropriate for this weekend. Think what you want about EDM, but it’s not going anywhere. The electronic festivals are filled with some crazies, but the DJ’s get it. They know a good drop goes down best with lights and pyrotechnics  I talk a lot about soundscapes and the worlds music takes you to, and the DJ’s at these kinds of events make those dreams realities. Walking through the Day-Glo masses and neon rides, you know you’re in New York City but you’re not at the same time. You’ve left the city behind for a day and entered a musical Oz that’s just as colorful with just as many oddities only there’s no yellow brick road. The spirit of the space is alive. It’s throbbing, and it doesn’t discriminate. Bros mix with uptown girls; Texans dance alongside kids from Vermont; democrats and republicans cheers their glowing drinks. Okay, so maybe the latter is hopeful thinking but you get what I’m going for.

Anyway, Ciara. Yes, Ciara. She’s been gone for a minute, but she’s coming back (fingers crossed — I’m a major CC fan). Way back in 2004, C dropped “Goodies” and brought her raspy soprano and killer dance moves to the music scene then suddenly disappeared. “Ride” and “Like A Boy” were fantastic, but never received the praise they deserved. “Goodies,” is her gem, though and BORGEOUS straight kills it with this remix. Turn this mix WAY up. The bass will floor you, and the whistle will get into your body and have you doing moves you never thought you had. This is a jam. It’s a filthy sexed-up Diplo-esque beat that will leave you fiending for more when it’s over.

It’s Sunday after all, and you probably have things to do, but let go today. Tomorrow you’ll be productive, but today you’re going to live. Press play and thank us later.

Ciara – Goodies (BORGEOUS Remix)

Classixx fondles the inner ears with a pumped up tune that breathes the summer that is slowly creeping down our necks. That’s right fellas, Brooklyn is a whole different place right now as shorts make guest appearances for a day, and skirts appear by the plenty. This song breathes a whole new life to the Classixx that I know. Yes, it’s got the edgy ’80s styled electronic pop(!) but these bass lines…I don’t know, it might just be me, but I feel like there’s more happening here.

Hey wait a minute, just a minute I was ready for the flight
Got my bags packed waiting on the driver curve
So just a minute, take a minute for the change-up
I’m all set to go, set to go.”

I think it’s that feeling of lifting off that this song is on the edge of, lyrically, as it tells its story, but also in its tone. I feel like I’m just about to fly, but something keeps bringing me back to the ground. That’s cool with me, I’m okay with not flying today. I know, everyone says flying is like, the ideal thing to graduate to. We all want to fly I guess, and that’s fun but what about just staying put for a minute? Is life on the ground that hard to deal with? It can’t be. I’m sitting in a cafe working on my last paper of my undergraduate career, and you know what? The last thing I feel like doing is flying. I think that’s why I’m into this song, because I realized that I don’t have to take off.

We can just stay put and enjoy.

Classixx – All You’re Waiting For feat. Nancy Whang

You all require programming.  You are used to it.  You are told what classes to take, what foods you should eat, what clothes you should wear, what songs you should listen to, what colors you should like, what professions you should seek, what salaries you should want, what boyfriends you should date, what books you should read, what artists you should love, and what rules you should follow.  And, for the most part, many of you adhere.

“Sleeping Ute” by Grizzly Bear is simply about a mountain in Utah that guitarist, and lead vocalist on this song, Daniel Rossen has visited only in his mind and dreams. But, the song feels like it carries so much more to it.  When left to the interpretation of others we read a wide range of ideas: from living in nature, to a failed relationship, to a dream that Daniel does not want to awaken from because it seems to be the only place on earth where he can wander freely.  These ideas are fresh and make us think about our very own true meanings, and with the help of Nicolas Jaar and his savvy remix of sounds and instrumentation, we are taken to a place where we can actually reflect and meditate to this tune with.

Yesterday, at the Google I/O conference, tech geek Larry Page discussed creating a whole new country where creators and people could live freely, simply to create.  For now, this is as much of a dream as Sleeping Ute is to Daniel, but if it were to be created, I have a feeling that we would all be there, in a truly free space where no one could ever dictate to you what you “should” and “shouldn’t” be doing.

Escape with Grizzly Bear for the next 8 minutes and let your mind free to whatever corners it wants to go to.

Dreamed a long day
Just wandering free.”

Grizzly Bear — Sleeping Ute (Nicolas Jaar Remix)

Music has the ability to takes us places.  It has the power to transport us to dreamscapes and imaginary worlds that we could only imagine.  In that same manner, a dance can do the same, just with a lot more intensity.  Of course to dance, we must have music most of the time, but sometimes the dance has very little to do with music, and everything to do with those places in your mind, and heart, that you want to escape to.

Rebecca & Fiona do an incredible job on their single Dance.  They capture us with a slow and sultry production that features beautiful chords, a steady and hard thumping bassline that provides the intensity of an exaggerated heartbeat supplemented so erotically with the kind of vocals anyone would love.  They have somehow figured out how to make us reflect upon the powers of Dance while simply making sweet love to our ears as we listen closely, and as “dancing”, could be the farthest thing from our minds.

Fearless we can talk 
Hopeless girl still walk.”

In the days to come, many of us will become more and more fearless.  We will turn our hopelessnesses into actions that will see them become realities.  We will turn our most beautiful fantasies and dreams into the everyday worlds we decide to live in.  And, we will learn to do these things through the most traditional forms of getting messages across in societies that surpress independent thoughts and ideas—through music, and, through Dance.

Get your feet back on the ground 
We can leave it all behind 
This dance will keep us cold 
This dance will let you know 

It’s all in your mind 
Take your chance and turn around.”

Dancing and music will become some of the only forms of communication for the intellectually elite.  They will show us the possibilities of escaping from the worlds we know today, in which nothing is what it seems, and, in which things are never really any good.  How else will we be able to spread ideas and messages in a world where our own thoughts are already barely private?

It’s all in your mind 
Take your chances 
Turn around.”

Rebecca & Fiona — Dance

Well well well, what a gift from the music gods this was.  Apparently I thought I was special yesterday when I received the new Daft Punk ”Random Access Memories” album in an email, but of course all you music heads were right there with me.  It’s amazing isn’t it, how we think and try so hard not to be wowed as though we have heard it all and there is nothing in this world that could be better then what we have convinced our minds is already the best of the best. Somehow our minds have a mind of their own, HA!  There is no denying how impressionable and nostalgic this album is.  I guess the best way to put it is that we are back at Studio 54, that’s the feeling you will get from this and the rest of the album!

You all know Studio 54 right?!  From what my Mom tells me there really has never been anything like it, the disco music, the drugs, the fashion, the people, hands down no insecurities or worries.  That’s what this music reminds me of (although I wasn’t there I can only imagine).  The disco/pop, electronic, funk fusion is nothing less than tastefully satisfying on many different levels.  Many years have gone into the thought process of the music for this album, and it definitely shows.

If you have caught on to this yet, your welcome!  As much as I would like to give every track on the album I am going to just give you one of my favorites. I have a lot going on today from work, meetings and celebrations but this is exactly the energy I need to let the day play out smoothly, enjoy!

Daft Punk – Get Lucky

You love to hear the story, how it all got started…”

Something about this verse hit me hard today. I grew up in Harlem during the 90′s, during Giuliani which means it wasn’t the prettiest of times but it wasn’t the 80s. NYC was tough if you were a sucker, but for most people in the hoods if you were familiar and minded your business it was fine. My adolescence however was a HUGE duality. It was all due to my freak of nature experience as a member of the Boys Choir of Harlem. An experience that provided layer upon layer of privelege to some very lucky kids from the hood. My father took care of the finances but the choir raised me, RIP to my second father, Walter J. Turnbull.

Our lives were crazy growing up man, one day we’re uptown drinking quarter waters, playing basketball in makeshift parks with broken backboards, opening up the fire hydrants in the summer, cars blasting the latest Big, Pac, Mob Deep, Jay & Nas record, getting into fights and the next day we we’re shaking hands with Nelson Mandela, in Holland 2 months later or singing Blackbird with Paul McCartny. That juxtaposition has left a severe impact in my life and till this day has offered me a unique vantage point and perspective that I wouldn’t change for the world. As I look back to the day when the choir came to P.S. 125 and auditioned my 1st grade class, how after not making the initial cut I was asked to re-audition before they left and then I got that letter to come to the choir that summer.

You love to hear the story, how it all got started…”

That moment could have sent my life in an entirely different direction but here I am – from the Choir to Skidmore to Roc-a-Fella, EMPT & The Playlist Generation with sooo much more to do, so much further to go. You love to hear the story…

The ill reminisce and think about the fly days
Nothing like them 80′s 90′s summer NY days
Hop on the MB5 M101 days
Mopeds, Pro Keds, city split five ways
How it all started, fifth twelfth floor apartment
A jigsaw puzzle aerial view of the projects
A kid saw struggle, buried a few of his partners
Now I chill in resorts, enjoying massages

Check out the oracle bred from city housing
Nas Hec, I arise the dead by thousands
I remember seeing Shan 75 chilling near his Audi
Hollis Brian had Run and them but I proudly
Put a poster up of Shan Pac and Marley Biggie, that was art kid
You love to hear the story how it started
The bubbly I’m pouring wasn’t popped yet

BEFORE THERE WAS AN AUDIENCE TO WATCH US
I ASSURE YOU, IT WAS A PROCESS…”

NaS – Back When

This brings me back to my teen years, scary how time flys by so quickly and yet we are still listening to the same tunes and trying to find ways to give them a little modern flavor without destroying the magic taste that it already possesses.

“The Mouse and The Mask” was a sick album to say the least and a collaboration of genius to put it lightly.  Danger Mouse and MF Doom, or Danger Doom, gave out hip-hop gold.  Methodical lyrics over solid heavy beats and production is something that can definitely be over looked today, Danger Doom has justice.  Even a lot of hip-hop has become super pop, not to say that it’s a bad thing, but it’s good to get back to the roots and what I believe to be hip-hop gold.

Opiuo, Australian native, brings his funk flavor to this track in a way that just brings the tempo up perfectly with out ruining it at all.  You don’t want to add to much salt and ketchup if you know what I mean, but just the right dash of something different still keeps the original mood at it’s finest.  Thank you for this gem dude and taking me back to the good ol’ days!

This is exactly what I needed today, a little old school mixed with some extra sauce.  Mondays are never my favorite, and tomorrow is my birthday so I am trying to get myself pumped and let go of any bullshit that shall now be in the past because it is now a new year for me.

Press play on this one and get your mind right, enjoy!

Danger Doom – Benzie Box (Opiuo Rework)

In order to fully appreciate this track you must be in a complete state of bliss, and/or in a completely chilled out state of mind.

Counting, is the falsetto executed love song filled with ambient sounds and energy waves alongside quirky brass work that not only makes it eery in a way we love, but also as abstract as the lyrics, which we also adore.  The song is a plea for artist Autre Ne Veut’s (Arthur Ashin) dying grandmother to stay alive.  It is sad and profound, yet simple and loving much like an opera of an golden age, or a sonnet of the enlightenment.

It is an appropriate song for this Mother’s Day, wherever you may be, to appreciate what you have, and the life that you have so graciously been given.

Enjoy this day.

Autre Ne Veut — Counting

Daft Punk, Skrillex, a Launchpad and a TV – Conte’s audiovisual remix

The ability to realize that there is more happening in a song than what we realize upon first listen, makes songs that much more beautiful. I find that this is always the case with the music that CocoRosie produces, because there are so many elements to their music that one might not realize immediately. The first sounds that enter the ears are beats, but if you listen closer, you’ll notice that they are produced by a mouth. This is something that sets them apart, making their live performances that much more special. Their new album, Tales of A Grass Widow, is set to launch at the end of May, but I’ve already listened to the album in its entirety and I’m not surprised that the work is beautiful. They successfully manage to keep every track diverse, while still threading the whole work together in a solid continuation of sound. It’s a listening journey and definitely one best enjoyed in one sitting.

This song stopped me in my tracks upon first listen, much like everything else that’s happened in my life as of late. I haven’t been able to write for EMPT for the past week due to a broken limb, and while I was sad that I could not serve up quality music for your days, I allowed myself the time to re-evaluate some parts of my life. Approaching my final week of undergrad leaves me feeling ambivalent but mostly thankful — I can safely say that this is one of the things I’ve worked hardest for so far in my life, and my broken collarbone only enhanced my desire to push through and succeed in graduating from this one part of my life. I’m excited and scared but mostly just thankful that it’s all happening right now.

Bad things do happen for a reason, and I think this eerily beautiful track embodies the exact sentiment that I’ve experienced for this past week. Plus, it’s got a hell of a beat.

CocoRosie – Gravediggress

Seeing as it is May I thought this would be an appropriate classic to reminisce on.  As Summer approaches our bodies have an urge to slow down and relax but being a New Yorker we have a totally different way of what slowing down means.  There is no slowing down! Things only become more exciting and vibrant, so why slow down?!  DONT..Instead play your music really loud, have a drink during lunch and let loose but don’t slow down.

Re-Enjoy!

Original post May 25th, 2011

_______________

My red-eye flight got delayed 4 hours Monday night, there was an endless supply of crying babies everywhere I went and the lady sitting next to me was wearing dirty hospital scrubs on the plane. What are people thinking? I guess after an amazing weekend like that something had to go wrong. Anyways, I laid back in the cut yesterday to recover and now I’m back in action. It was good while it lasted but I’m so happy to be back in the big apple. I feel like a lot of places try to be a lot of things that New York is naturally

Here I am again in the city
With a fist full of dollars and baby you better believe:

I’m back! Back in the New York groove…” – Hello

Madeon, the 16 year old producer from France is absolutely smashing it these days. Pete Tong recently played his Raise Your Weapon remix on Radio One and his version of Que Veux Tuhas been everywhere and back. By the way this isn’t a bootleg, it’s an official remix released on Mau5trap so I’d say Madeon is doing pretty good as far as 16 year olds go. What’s his formula for success? It’s very simple, create and release great music and the rest will follow. If you’re a young artists pay close attention to this blueprint because it’s the only one that matters these days. I talk to a lot of older people in the music industry who are full of pessimism and don’t really understand the power of our generation, how we communicate and how we consume. Madeon is 16, he made a few remixes, probably didn’t make a dime from it but thanks for blogs and websites he got attention and now he’s in Deadmau5′s circle. I can name 15 other artists how have done the same in a heartbeat. This track is great and Madeon’s story is an inspiration to all of us. That said, I have to go work on my own story but here’s a mid-week banger to keep you going, enjoy.

Deadmau5 – Raise Your Weapon (Madeon Extended Remix)

What can one say about perfection that it cannot tell you all on it’s own without saying a word?

I’m currently in one of the remotest parts of this beautiful planet of ours, stuck high in some mountains with an impeccable view of the sea, the most amazing food ever, and the love of my life.  Perfection is a total understatement, but unfortunately the only word capable of grasping the idea that every single detail is right where it should be, and right where you have always imagined it to be.  And, that’s exactly what we get here with this “Dreamers” French Horn Rebellion Remix.

The remix breathes energy, disco madness, electro perfection, and vocals that push their way and shove their shoulders into the top.  French Horn does an incredible job with their sounds of making you move around in various forms, yet keeping your movements respectable and fun so that you don’t look too crazy on the dance floor, and this is something that I simply love.  Ever notice that one person that’s so into the music that they’re somehow moving to a way different song than everyone else out there?  Well, that’s usually me, so I thank them all on this one for giving me something that will make me look cool, and keep the pace with everyone else.

Savoir Adore — Dreamers French Horn Rebellion Remix

The rain today is a blessing. It’s a welcome dreary day that makes staying inside and getting everything on your to-do list done seem like a good use of your hours. It’s been blissfully spring here in New York, but I’ve been stuck behind my desk fashioning together models of a performance space I’ve been working on for my final exhibition this week staring out at the people in chilling on the steps of Union Square, eating Mister Softee, sipping iced coffee, and generally enjoying the city. I’ve never been more envious of Union Square than I have been this week. No matter, though. Once this week is over I will be done with one of biggest and most influential chapters of my life, and beginning my next one in the coming weeks. I’ve landed a full time job and it’s scary. My roommate and I are packing up our East Village apartment of two years and making the trek to the quieter tip of Manhattan  and setting up home in the Financial District. Things that I’ve imagined and dreamed are actually happening and it feels odd; it feels great; it makes me nauseous  it feels — for lack of a better word — alien.

Today, find infinite ways it could be plenty worse.

It’s a blessing but it’s also a curse.”

MGMT’s first single from their third LP slated for a June release (hopefully maybe) is exactly what you’d expect from the duo. It’s a psychedelic mellow soundscape with a lyrical story Lewis Carroll would be proud of. The sounds swirl through space and for five minutes, time ceases to exist. It’s just you and the music. MGMT’s created yet another alien territory that I wouldn’t mind being beamed up into more often. Lyrically, “Alien Days” sounds like the duo is reflecting on their first single, “Time To Pretend.” They’re talking about the crazy days, the hazy and foreign hours that have ultimately shaped them into the band we know today. They’ve made it past the sophomore slump and are just doing themselves.

Those days taught me everything I know;
how to catch a feeling,
and when to let it go.”

MGMT – Alien Days

So yet again our friends The Chainsmokers have hit us with a banger remix and I feel like it couldn’t be better timing.  Selfishly I feel like it was a birthday present to me since it happens to be in exactly one week..I guess it was just a simple twist of fate since my Taurus bro Alex was brought into this world just a couple days after me, but enough about that!  Summer is basically here and being over on the East Coast means shit is about to pop off.  People start smiling, girls let their hair down, throw away their morals and all we want to do is listen to uplifting jams like this one.  It’s no question that we are avid listeners of Phoenix here at EMPT, with the chill, feel good pop tempo and the vocal/lyric combination gives us a perfect taste of Summer.  Before I get ahead of myself who better to explain this awesome mix then the boys themselves, Alex & Drew:

Our goal has always been to create music that maintains the energy of the progressive house sound, has the depth and authentic feeling of indie music but also has the mainsteam appeal of pop music, and there is no better band in the world to drive that goal home than Phoenix. Their sound is so unique yet appealing without compromise, that presented the opportunity to do a remix we thought there no better band to work with. Blending Thomas Mars’ voice and the bands infectious instrumentation with our style production just came so easily and vwala we think we came up with a truly fun remix for everyones summer that takes the song a place the phoenix sound was meant for….”

Pretty much sums it up right?!  But man I can’t get enough of this and the lyrics just put the taste and feeling of summer all over my body, F*&k ya!

Cool
I’m just trying to be cool
It’s all because of you
So tonight ain’t better too
We’re all goneOh girlfriend business says it all
You can’t go wrong
Is innocence a word where you’re from?
Tell me that you want me
Tell me that you want it all.”

Press play over and over and get your mind right, enjoy!

Phoenix – Trying To Be Cool (The Chainsmokers Remix)

Hey Brooklyn what’s good!?  I am always on my Hip-Hop kick trying to study different rhymes and flows.  I will probably never be a rapper myself but rap and hip-hop will forever be the anthems I “pray” too.  Joey Bada$$ actor turned rapper, yup that’s right, he was an actor, probably why he has such a unique style and a way with words.  You have to study all the time in order to the be the best and push beyond the limits.  The shock factor is what it’s all about and definitely what I am all about when it comes to my own music.

I’m a Brooklyn nigga, basically
I grind with the grimiest
learn how to eat in a jungle full of hyenas and vultures
dont worry what a verse will cost ya
from the young scortcher just remember who taught ya
I’ma spark it off unorthodox.”

It’s Cinco De Mayo and all though I was trying to find a party track for you all I had to be a little selfish and throw you something that I like to party too..It’s a little “Unorthodox” for this Sunday wouldn’t you say, so all the better.  I don’t want to keep you from your festivities but press play on this one and Joey’s dope video before you go running out the door to slam tequila and tacos!

Joey Bada$$ – Unorthodox (Produced By DJ Premier)

Hey Hey!  We have a little something special for you all.  Summer is approaching rapidly and that means beautiful weather, sexy bodies, music and mixes to die for, and yup the brunch crowds in full bloom.  Jose knows what this is all about and I don’t have to explain a lot because he did it flawlessly, but what I will say is that panties are going to drop and your weekends and Summer is never going to be the same.  So without further ado I would like to have the pleasure of announcing the Brunch Bounce Radio!

Welcome to our first ever #BrunchBounceRadio monthly mix!! If you heard about the #Brunchbounce or had the pleasure of attending one, you know that the music is eclectic, energetic, and not to mention, AWESOME! Considering that we’re DJ’s ourselves, we take pride in our selections and ability to keep the party going, without playing stuff you hear on the radio. At the end of the day, it’s all about the music.

So without further ado, we present you the first monthly mix by Jose Espinal aka @theEspinalien. He’s one half of the #BrunchBounce creative team, one half of @Spieshouse, and the bald guy with the “Hat”. Enjoy this feel-good summertime mix, guaranteed to make dance in your seat at work, blast it out it the sunroof of your car, or just plain rock out whenever, where ever.

“We’re just here to make you dance.”

1.) Cloud Life – Treasure Fingers
2.)The Wall – Louis LaRoche (J Paul Getto Remix)
3.)OMG – Aniki (J paul Getto Remix)
4.)Blowin’ Up – Treasure Fingers
5.)Solitaire – You got the love (treasure fingers remix edit)
6.)Micheal -Daft Punk
7.)Get Lucky – Daft Punk (Ice hunt remix)
8.)Cross the Dancefloor – Treasure Fingers (chromeo remix)
9.)Take my Hand – Treasure Fingers
10.)Ready, Aim Fire, – Codes (JWLS remix)
11.)One More Time – Daft Punk (DJ AYers remix)
12.)Look Up – Carli
13.)Dance -Rebecca & Fiona (Loops of Fury Remix)
14.)Pay attention to the Drums – Alvaro
15.)Us – Leon Bolier
16.)We are your Friends- Leewise, Dj Exodus
17.)Hit it! – GTA

Before you hit play a little announcement from Jose for your future brunch extravaganzas and a little history lesson on it’s birth:

The BrunchBounce was first conceived by Irvin Benitez @twitaworldpeace on twitterbecause there wasn’t a place for him and his friends to enjoy good music on Saturday afternoon in Washington Heights, NYC.

The first BrunchBounce was launched Memorial Day weekend 2012, and he hired one of his good friends and DJ, Jose Espinal to play @theespinalien on twitter.

After the success of the first party and the response to Jose’s eclectic music selection, Irvin and Jose partnered up to produce the monthly Brunchbounce events. Above all, they strive to maintain a positive, fun atmosphere, playing the most progressive and high energy dance music around. The success of the BrunchBounce and it’s rabid following is attritbuted to it’s fun-loving, unpretentious approach to having a good time. At a BrunchBounce It’s not rare to see gaggles of gorgeous women expressing themselves, crowdsurfing, and raging along their male counterparts. It’s far removed from the bottle-oriented, poser filled environment that has permeated NYC partying in recent years.

The next and biggest BrunchBounce yet will be at La Marina Beach on Memorial Day Saturday, May 25th 2013.

Weed, whiskey, pills, shrinks, out-of-control shopping and some wall punching.  Does any of this sound like your life?

Do you ever feel as if the life you are living is just a dream?  Does your life ever feel like a movie?  The places you go, the things you do, the people you meet, the scenarios you find yourself in?  No one is saying that this dream isn’t a nightmare, or that the movie can’t be a horror film.  We have variety for that very purpose, so that very few of our stories will ever be the same.

We live in a society where escaping whatever the reality in your mind is has become a frequent and very consistent occurrence.  It is normal to look for ways to run away from the things our inner consciousness cannot let go of.  So, rather than letting go of the pains we face, we medicate to forget them only to have them come right back with more intensity when the effects of whatever these medications we are using wear off.  And then what?

Building a strong mind is building a stronger life.  If you ask most people, they will most likely give you a sob story about how their life is so much tougher than it looks.  Rarely do you ever come across a human being who will do the opposite and highlight the things that have been most beautiful about their lives.  Not everyday is a mess or a tragedy, so why then do we insist on holding on to the pains that we suffer?  Do we not understand that in doing so we stay in those moments of pain way passed their occurrences?

Just What I Am by the self proclaimed weirdo Kid Cudi is by all accounts the cry of an artist that is trapped in a dream he cannot escape.  It is the justification of a lifestyle that he subconsciously wanted, and without even crediting his mind, he made happen.

Uma complained of a boil on her leg, and fetched a jar of ointment. I smeared a bit of the salve on my forearm.

“Why do you use medicine on a healthy arm?”

“Well, Sis, I feel I am going to have a boil tomorrow. I am testing your ointment on the spot where the boil will appear.”

“You little liar!”

“Sis, don’t call me a liar until you see what happens in the morning.” Indignation filled me.

Uma was unimpressed, and thrice repeated her taunt. An adamant resolution sounded in my voice as I made slow reply.

“By the power of will in me, I say that tomorrow I shall have a fairly large boil in this exact place on my arm; and yourboil shall swell to twice its present size!”

Morning found me with a stalwart boil on the indicated spot; the dimensions of Uma’s boil had doubled. With a shriek, my sister rushed to Mother. “Mukunda has become a necromancer!” Gravely, Mother instructed me never to use the power of words for doing harm. I have always remembered her counsel, and followed it.

My boil was surgically treated. A noticeable scar, left by the doctor’s incision, is present today. On my right forearm is a constant reminder of the power in man’s sheer word.

Those simple and apparently harmless phrases to Uma, spoken with deep concentration, had possessed sufficient hidden force to explode like bombs and produce definite, though injurious, effects. I understood, later, that the explosive vibratory power in speech could be wisely directed to free one’s life from difficulties, and thus operate without scar or rebuke.”  - Autobiography of a Yogi.

Is Mr. Mescudi in pain?  Yes.  But he keeps himself in an almost constant state of euphoria via the marijuana, the liquor, the pills, the women, the shopping, and almost anything else to keep his mind busy other than training it.  The musical production on Just What I Am translates to the chilled out state that weed puts any of us in, and then it is meshed with electronic sounds that represent those momentary flashes of the very things some of you are so desperately trying to escape.

When you realize that facing the pains, accepting what happened as a life lesson, and then letting go is the key to real mental stability and growth, only then will you be able to put down the medications, whatever they may be, at will, and use them only for rare recreational purposes, if at all even needed.

Need a real escape?  Listen to a song that you have never heard before, or read pages that you have never seen before, or, go for a run.  If you are not making every aspect of you progressively better and more complete, and you are in that much pain that you need constant escapes, then why not just go away?

“If you have that much pain… Jimmy, why don’t you just jump off the roof?” - The Black Donnellys

Kid Cudi — Just What I Am

If your at all a fan of 80s sawtooth synth revivals like Com Truise, you’ll find some refreshingly familiar fare in Canadian producer Speakerslut’s track “Delta City Blues”. Though the track has nothing to do with the Mississippi delta bred style that was so instrumental in forming modern popular music, the sentiment is the same. “Delta City Blues” is crafted like a love note to the synth pioneers of the 80′s, a time when the proliferators of Moogs and Junos longed for the time when their music would be sufficiently embedded in popular consciousness. And now, with the popularity of EDM being what it is, Speakerslut is free to paint these nostalgic notes across the canvas with robotic vocals samples and of course, swaths of prodigious synthery.

Speakerslut- Delta City Blues

Check out Speakerslut on Indaba Music and Soundcloud.