SONG OF THE DAY:?? Clinton Vansciver ft Queen B – “Indie Anna Jones”

The term dirty pop has been used by many people. Of course, ‘N Sync had a hit song about it.?? In the gay club scene, there is Drew G and Brian Cuo who describe their DirtyPop sound as a mix of hip-hop, electro, dance, and rock for a modern pop feel. From L.A. comes Clinton Vansciver, whose “trademark” Dirty Pop style is a mix of electro, disco house, and prog. Catching a lot of buzz right now is his track “Indie Anna Jones,” a glitchy electro track with stutters, sick studio effects, and the kind of pretty breakdown that you would expect from a progressive track. Yet, he keeps a beat going so even the most timid punter can keep moving. The rumbling keyboard run and stuttered vocal effects, which leads to a sick drum fill and then crescendoes to an almost guitar solo sound is maddeningly brilliant – I could only imagine how sickening that sounds on a big room sound system.? It’s no wonder that the Armada camp has enlisted him to work on tracks from Armin van Buuren and Emma Hewitt.? With “Indie Anna Jones” coming out simultaneously on Dim Mak and Transmission on both sides of the pond, Clinton Vansciver is definitely one to watch.

Image Courtesy of Transmission/Dim Mak.

INTERVIEW: Laidback Luke (2013)

Laidback Luke is an energetic character – something you get when you listen to his productions or see him perform live.? Take a listen to his recent track “Pogo” and that infectious joyous energy comes through.? Although he’s been producing tracks for twenty years, his work with the different members of the Swedish House Mafia in 2006/2007 really launched him into the stratosphere.? His solo tracks, as well as collaborations with everyone from Steve Aoki and Hardwell to Robyn and Sander Van Doorn, appear in the crates (or on the hard drives) of every big DJ around the world.? He launched his own label MixMash as a breeding ground for new talent, and having helped launch the careers of Avicii and Afrojack, you know that’s definitely a label to watch as well.? We caught up for a brief chat at WMC in March.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: Are you having a good conference?
Laidback Luke: Yes, it has been an amazing conference. Every year it seems to get bigger and better and I must say that it seems like a Dutch invasion as well.

RS: Well you have Dirty Dutch and Trance Superstars, what else do you see coming out of Amsterdam now?
Laidback Luke: Tons of stuff, we have Showtek coming up, those guys were a hardstyle before. We crashed Benny Benassi?s party at LIV?on Monday?and you would expect all the Italian DJs to be there but all the Dutch DJs were there, it?s crazy.
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SONG OF THE DAY (SUNDAY?FUNDAY): Sir Ari Gold – “Play My F**kn Record”

With Pride season in full swing, here’s a great plea for LGBT people to support their own culture.? Think about it, aside from RuPaul’s Drag Race, when was the last time you saw a gay artist performing on Logo? The Advocate had a riveting op-ed piece last month about how Pride festivals aren’t even booking LGBT artists any more. Then there’s the indie side of thing, when’s the last time you heard a non-major label artist (aside from Macklemore) on commercial radio?? So everyone’s favorite gay Jewish pop singer Ari Gold’s pleas to play his record seem perfectly appropriate.? With tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a matching video lampooning current gay commercial culture, the song has just the right amount of humor to get his point across.? Special kudos to Ari for enlisting the production skills of the Country Club Martini Crew for a high quality electropop mix.? Those guys have been turning out solid remixes often times better than the official ones – check out their mix of Pink “Blow Me One Last Kiss” for one such example.

Image Courtesy of Gold 18.