Category Archives: Music

DJ A-Mac and the Moombahton Movement

Posted on March 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

We can’t stop talking about it: moombahton. Bubbling just under the surface, moombahton is poised to be the Next Big Thing on dance floors everywhere, in places that might surprise you. Dave Nada‘s serendipitous slow down of Dutch house has even found an evangelist 2,000 miles away: Calgary’s DJ A-Mac. I had a chance to talk with a DJ/producer whose moombahton edits are already annihilating playlists and setlists.


The basic biographical: where are you from and where are you based now?

I’m originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, but have been living in Calgary, Alberta for the past 4 years.

How long have you been DJing? What’s the basic trajectory of your tastes and style?

Ive been DJing for 7 years now and really have only been working on production stuff during the past year, even though I bought an MPC way back before I even owned a pair of turntables. I started out playing hip hop / funk / disco jams and have gradually moved into playing house music and rave bombs that I used to never touch. With the introduction of Serato, I’ve found my musical tastes going all over the map.

How did you get on the moombahton tip? What’s the reaction been when playing it out?

I was up in Vancouver for the Olympics and all the homies were in town for various gigs all over town. We were up at this Monster Energy party on the top of a mountain overlooking Vancouver. It was earlier in the evening, so basically the place was just filled with the DJs that were going to be playing and various other people who helped throw the party. Dave Nada got on the decks and started playing these joints and everyone just got up and started to get down on the dance floor. My homie Neoteric was telling me that Dave had just played a radio show with him, and had introduced him to Moombahton. He knew what type of music I am into and was like, “you are gonna love this shit.” We all got down to it super hard, and afterwards, I grabbed the edits that Dave had made.

My first couple of edits, which include the “Heads Will Roll” joint, were originally just to have more of a crate to play a set with. I got a lot of really good feedback from those so I sat down and started putting some work into making some tracks with a lot more of my own personal touch. I have played it out a few times, and I find that it can get a dance floor going hard. It works especially well if the crowd knows some of the original house tracks in the back of their heads, but are more inclined to dance to slower tempo music like hip hop or reggae.

Any hints as to what is next to get “moombahton’d”?

I’ve got a new one in the works, as do a few other producers I have talked to, and I know that Dave Nada has some heat that he is going to unleash on Austin and Miami (PUNK ROCK LATINO!). I just finished up my latest track titled Long train to Moombahton. (Ed. note: this track is dangerous!)

What are the top three artists that everyone needs to know right now?

The local Calgary DJ super group Smalltown Romeo have an upcoming release on Plant music – home to your local destroyer Tittsworth – that is going to be huge! I can’t wait for them to get some big shine, as they have provided me with so much inspiration over the years.

They have a stranglehold on the scene here in Calgary, as they own the Hifi Club and have a weekly that has been going for 10 years. Its called Hai Karate, and over the years, they have hosted pretty much every big DJ in the game. I’m really excited for DC, as they are going to get a taste of how awesome it is to have visionary local DJs own the best club in town. I can’t wait to come check out the U Street Music Hall.

Neoteric has been killing the game lately with his mixtapes. His latest projects include a mix for Crookers.net and the next installment of his Mystery Mix series (mixed by Brodinski) can be found on Discobelle. The Mystery Mix idea is a really original concept that he came up with and I love where it’s going.

Stirling Agency is a new DJ booking agency that my girl Miche started this past year and things are really starting to blow up for her. They are throwing a massive jam down in Miami for WMC.

Check out A-Mac’s tracks and mixtapes, and if you’re in Calgary, check out his weekly Friday gig at Habitat.

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The Verge – Dubstep

Posted on March 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the verge of a breakthrough. This inaugural column is inspired by the life-changing bass of the U Street Music Hall, and will focus on a few of the subsonic sounds coming to a system near you.

Rusko, the king of wobble, dropped the video for Woo Boost this week. The track is the lead single off his Mad Decent debut, O.M.G! As I’ve written about previously, Rusko is leading the way in the dubstep world with a singular sound that is aggressive and abrasive yet eminently listenable, like Charlie Brown’s teacher on acid. The video is the perfect visual complement to the ostentatious tunage. Obnoxious and glaring, the clip is a collage of broken video effects, swirling fluorescents, and a Union Jack-draped Rusko rocking a keytar. It is a total guilty pleasure, in all of its seizure inducing glory. The most defining visual is Rusko tearing through the green screen; it’s like watching the violent birth of something twisted and wrong. Enough words, watch the damn clip:

Jakwob first came to my attention thanks to his remixes of songs by Sound of 2010 winner Ellie Goulding, where he turned her shimmering, synth-folk-pop into danceable dubstep that preserved the charm of the originals. His remix of Kid Sister’s “Daydreaming” is more of the same: adding a dash of wobble to enhance, but not obscure, a solid dance track. His recent minimix for Annie Mac’s Radio 1 showcases both his remix and DJing talents as he skillfully mixes about 30 songs in 6 minutes. It sounds like DJ Premier and Girl Talk had a baby in London. Try to follow the bouncing ball:

Starkey, the Philadelphia purveyor of “that street bass sound,” will drop Ear Drums and Black Holes on April 19. Ear Drums is probably the first album that totally encapsulates the concept of luvstep (an interview with Starkey did launch the Luvstep podcast, after all). The first single, “Stars” (featuring Anneka), is the polar opposite of Woo Boost: a track designed for chillout not knockout. The video, while less over-the-top than that of Woo Boost, is disturbing in its own way, matching the tone of the deceptively dark track. “Stars” is only one of the Baskin Robbins-like flavors that appear on Ear Drums, so get your first taste now:

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Janelle Monae @ Black Cat, 3/15/10

Posted on March 16, 2010 | Leave a comment


Janelle Monae is an alien, an outsider, a misfit. Confounding critics and listeners since appearing on the Big Boi- curated Got Purp? Volume 2 back in 2005, she’s also been Exhibit A in one of the music industry’s most persistent and perplexing failings: what to do with black alternative artists. For an industry that hasn’t used the term “race records” since 1958, not a lot has changed, especially for artists that challenge the “hip-hop, R&B or nothing” paradigm. Unlike the census form, there isn’t an “other” box to check. Just ask Saul Williams, K-Os, and Kenna.

But all of that may be changing, with the little-d democratizing of the digital age, especially for an artist like Monae. At the Black Cat on Monday to kick-off her ArchAndroid tour, her performance art-cum-concert even made a few tongue in cheek references to Twitter, Facebook, and God forbid, MySpace. And playing to a sold-out crowd, something must be working. Maybe the wave of (rightly deserved) hype that she’s been riding for nearly half a decade is finally ready to break.

With Monae not taking the stage until two and half hours after doors opened, the audience was anxious, to say the least, as introductory music and video played until around 10:30. But any ill will was quickly forgotten as the performance kicked off. Monae, in trademark throwback trappings, stayed “in character” the entire show, with her herky-jerky dance moves and impressive vocal range. She was joined on stage by an on-spot three piece band and a few other performance artists, throwing balloons and noise makers into the first rows.

The songs of ArchAndroid dominated the set; only “Sincerely, Jane” from her debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite made an appearance, bittersweet for fans hoping to hear favorites like “Violet Stars Happy Hunting” and “Many Moons.” However, the first singles off her debut full length, the smooth, swinging “Tightrope” and the stirring “Cold War,” are in familiar enough territory that fans, old and new alike, will be singing and dancing along in no time.

After a dense 45 minute set that moved between operatic ballads and jams that just drip funk, it was time for Monae to blast off and head for her home planet. But not before fearlessly crowdsurfing the entire crowd, threatening to brain herself on the low ceilings at the Cat. Forgoing an encore for an after party at the Renaissance was an interesting choice, although I don’t know how many restless androids took her up on the offer. ArchAndroid lands on May 18.

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VV Brown @ DC9, 2/19/10

Posted on February 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

“Do you guys like rock ‘n’ roll music?” For the crowd at British songstress VV Brown’s sold-out Friday show at DC9, the answer was a resounding “yes.”

The music world is constantly faced with revivals of past styles; everything old is eventually shined into something new. Most of Brown’s debut Travelling Like the Light takes the form of a rock n’ roll & doo wop pastiche that recalls the pioneers of 50s and 60s pop music. It’s not necessarily novel territory (Brian Setzer revived similar sounds in both the 80s and 90s), but Brown does put her own spin on the ball. Her bouncy vocals are strong enough to carry the hook heavy songs, and she cuts an imposing figure on stage: a 5’11” Lady Gaga-meets-Janelle Monae hybrid.

Taking the stage in a Gaga-ish masquerade get-up, Brown and her backing band launched into “Everybody,” a toe-tapper that sounds like “Black Betty” with a disco chorus. Next up was “Game Over,” aided by backing tracks – a disappointing conceit for someone so dedicated to recreating the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll. The songs are strong enough to stand on their own without the note-for-note production found on the album.

The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the set, dancing and singing along at the sock hop throwback. A cover of Drake’s hit “Best I Ever Had” was a crowd-pleaser, as was the swinging surf rocker “Crying Blood,” augmented by a reggae remix that let Brown take the crowd “back to the islands.” Closing the set was one of the strongest singles from her album, “Shark in the Water,” a strummer reminiscent of KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.”

Another artist on the BBC Sound of 2009 list, VV Brown offers a fresh take on classic sounds – and a fun experience for those who were too young to jump, jive, and wail during the late 90s.

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Artist Spotlight: Little Bigheart and the Wilderbeast

Posted on February 19, 2010 | Leave a comment


As their name suggests, DC rockers Little Bigheart and the Wilderbeast is all about the chaos and juxtaposition of colliding influences. Attempts to classify their sound with a one-size-fits-all genre are futile; from freak folk to progressive rock, Little Bigheart distills the disparate influences of its four members into something soulful and vital.

At a recent gig at the Velvet Lounge, the band’s surprisingly robust sound was on full display. Bryn Bellomy (bass/keys/samples), Russell Joye (drums), Patrick Mulroy (guitar), and John Russell (guitar) cover a lot of sonic real estate while staying cohesive. Bellomy, Mulroy, and Russell share vocal duties, belting our three-part harmonies and soaring, theatrical melodies. Each brings a different character to the vocal sound: Bellomy’s is breathy and falsetto, Mulroy’s soulful and gravelly, Russell’s earnest and crisp. And while they don’t always nail the harmonies, they leave it all on the stage, like any rough-around-the-edges rockers worth their salt.

The band’s set kicked off with the four-part suite on their concept EP The Assassination of Julius Caesar and its Barbarous Aftermath. Little Bigheart moves from mournful Americana to funky, Thin Lizzy riffage and back again. Complete with epic lyrics (retelling the fall of the Roman Republic), the performance of the EP resembled a jam session, anchored by Roye’s steady, behind the beat drumming. However, the band sidesteps the pretension that usually accompanies prog rock or jam bands, and the medley simply rocks for 13 minutes.

Little Bigheart’s songs are well crafted, and again, while most feature some soloing, it isn’t unnecessary noodling: the band puts the song over the solo. Standouts in the set included “Little Boat,” a rollicking crowd-pleaser, and “Metropolis,” which alternates between throwback hard rock and a worldbeat jam, a la Vampire Weekend. Playing for a crowd of fans, friends, and family, Little Bigheart put on an impressive show and left the crowd wanting more.

Catch Little Bigheart and the Wilderbeast at DC9 on Wednesday, March 17 for a show that promises to be experimental but soulful, with something for fans of honest rock music of all flavors. This is definitely a band to watch in the DC scene.

“The Assassination of Julius Caesar and its Barbarous Aftermath, pts. I-IV”

“When I Went Down”

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Album Review: Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels

Posted on February 11, 2010 | Leave a comment


The BBC “Sound of…” poll is an annual attempt by leading UK tastemakers to find the pulse of the upcoming year in music. Chart toppers have included everyone from Adele to 50 Cent, with artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, and Santigold rounding out the top ten lists. However, the list may be a self-fulfilling prophesy, and the individual rankiangs leave a bit to be desired; 2009 clearly belongs to Lady Gaga (#6), while Little Boots (#1) didn’t even release her album stateside.

Even with those caveats, the poll is generally a good tool for discovering artists on the edge of a breakthrough, like Sound of 2010 runner-up Marina and the Diamonds, who is set to release her debut record The Family Jewels on February 22.

Marina and the Diamonds is the stage name of Marina Diamandis, a half-Greek, half-Welsh chanteuse with a deep, rich voice and a unique take on pop songwriting (unlike Florence and the Machine, the Diamonds are not her backing band, but her fans). After bouncing around universities and teaching herself piano, she ended up in London to pursue a musical career. In 2007, she released her self-recorded demos, Mermaid vs. Sailor, and was eventually signed to 679 Records, home to electropop stars Little Boots and Annie.

The Family Jewels is a stunning debut, with thirteen shining examples of piano-driven songwriting. Marina is quirky and theatrical, bringing a mature, cerebral edge to what is basically a pop record (only one song clocks in over the four minute mark). Stylistically, she’s equally adept with singer-songwriter ballads (“Numb”) and new-wave throwbacks (“Shampain”). Her compositions are aided by dense production that begs for live performance without trampling over catchy melodies and hooks.

After releasing brooding, down-tempo songs like “Obsessions” and “I Am Not a Robot” as singles, Marina got the message about what works in 2010 pop music. “Hollywood,” the first proper single off the record, balances both of her sensibilities, building from dark synths and strings to a shimmering chorus that belies the tone of the lyrics: “Hollywood infected your brain / You wanted kissing in the rain / Oh oh, I’ve been living in a movie scene / Puking American dreams / Oh oh, I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America.” The cynicism doesn’t stop there: “you look just like Shakira, no no, you’re Catherine Zeta, actually, my name is Marina,” nails the industry need to classify and pigeonhole.

Marina’s ability to juxtapose musical and lyrical content is also apparent on “Oh No,” a danceable jaunt with lyrics that paint the picture of a reluctant pop star: “Don’t want cash / don’t want card / want it fast want it hard / don’t need money / don’t need fame / I just want to make a change.” Propelled by an insistent kick drum and bassline combo, the song bounces along as Marina tears down what we expect from a 23-year old pop starlet.

Every year brings another crop of female singer-songwriters; the road to Fame is paved with would-be Next Big Things. So what makes Marina and the Diamonds any different? With dance pop dominated by Gaga (and flavor of the week Ke$ha), pop music as a whole is in dire need of a songstress who can pull together the disparate strands of piano-based music to craft something new, like a quilt made of Regina Spektor, Amanda Palmer, and Siouxie Sioux. With Marina and the Diamonds, those Brits may be on to something.

FOUR STARS

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Artist Spotlight: Gills and Wings

Posted on January 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

Richmond pop-rockers Gills and Wings are all about surprises. While their band name suggests an airy, twee-pop sound, it’s a misnomer: their music is dynamically rich and densely orchestrated, a throwback to a time when Queen ruled arena rock. Not content to simply rehash the songs of Freddie Mercury and Brian May, however, Gills and Wings add to their sound with the progressive electronic streak of Muse and the symphonic sensibility of Jon Brion. Playing on Saturday at DC9, they had no trouble painting the small venue with a major key palette of sounds.

The quintet augments standard rock instrumentation with Korgs and a drum machine, allowing the band to play with melody outside the range of your run-of-the-mill indie band. It also allows them to faithfully recreate the arrangements of their self-titled EP. Guitarist Alex McCallum manipulates his ax into making sounds that are more string quartet than Fender Jaguar (thanks to the trusty eBow, an electronic take on what Jimmy Page tried with the real thing). Santiago de la Fuente’s harmonies complement the impressive vocal range of lead singer Danny Reyes, whose powerful singing voice is unrivaled in modern rock music

The setlist covered their EP, along with a few new songs. Contrasts keep the listeners guessing, as sing-song lyrics over arpeggiated chords turn into full-throated cries, backed by chugging riffage and the pounding drumming of Andrew Hackett. As their songs take dramatic turns, the dynamic ebb and flow lends an operatic feel to the whole performance. Closing the set was standout track “Rebirth of a Nation,” a satirical look at the American Dream, with a chorus that calls for fists-in-the-air rocking out.

Modern pop-rock, or anything that could crossover these days, is usually too paint-by-numbers to really excite anyone, but Gills and Wings have the talent to surprise audiences, and shouldn’t be missed. Catch them tonight at Jammin Java in Vienna. You won’t be disappointed.

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The Drive-by Truckers and the Southern Rock Opera

Posted on January 13, 2010 | Leave a comment


Part of TGRI Goes Country Week at TGRIOnline.com.

I’ll admit it. The idea of a country music week on TGRIOnline took the form that many ideas on this site do: entirely out of left field, counter-zeitgeist, yet totally necessary. We’re all music snobs to some degree, and if you answer “what type of music do you listen to?” with “everything… but classical/rap/country,” that’s a deal-breaker. So, with my musical depth of country music knowledge in the shallow end of the pool, I decided to let a band that understands country music to do the heavy lifting.

The Drive-By Truckers released The Southern Rock Opera on September 12, 2001, when Ground Zero was still an open-wound on the American psyche. Ironically, the album’s dramatic arc focuses on a plane crash that happened nearly 25 years earlier: the October 20, 1977 crash of Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s charter in Gillsburg , Mississippi. The album is a meditation on Southern history, culture, mythology and music: a meta concept album very much of the 2000s but heavily rooted in the generations preceding it.

The Truckers are based in Athens, Georgia, but most of its members hail from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a place where some truly classic soul, R&B, and country rock music was made. The Shoals even show up in “Sweet Home Alabama:” “Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers, and they’ve been known to pick a song or two.” And since band leader Patterson Hood is the son of Swamper bassist David Hood, the Alabama-Skynyrd -Truckers connection is deeper than any concept record gimmick. Call them alt-country, call them southern-rock, but the Drive-by Truckers haven’t just lived the Southern, country music experience – they’re a part of it.

Like many great concept albums, The Southern Rock Opera tells a familiar story: the rise-and-fall of a band called Betamax Guillotine (a stand-in for Skynyrd), formed through Hood’s life experiences. Act I is about a Southern kid growing up in Alabama, trying to reconcile his love of the South and Southern rock with the ghosts of the South. In Act II, the kid grows up and gets to be like the rock stars he idolized, with the same bad decisions and tragic consequences.

The music is a modern take on the Skynyrd tradition: a three-guitar attack that lays down crunchy riffs and soaring solos. Hood’s vocals have the gravelly, whiskey-washed tone of classic country, not the pop-twang of anything on CMT . And when he’s not singing, Hood’s spoken words literally narrate the story. The lyrics hit the traditional cultural touchstones: hard living and hard drinking, joy riding with loose women. But the greater story is an honest look at class and poverty that informs the Southern experience, laid out as the “duality of the Southern Thing:” the pride and shame of a region (and country) still feeling the repercussions of centuries of racism. “The Southern Thing” is Southern Rock Opera’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” paying tribute to rock operas past, and can be summed up in one lyric: “To the fucking rich man all poor people look the same.”

If Lynyrd Skynyrd / Betamax Guillotine are the heroes of the opera, the villain is George Wallace, Alabama’s governor for life who will forever be known for his work for the segregationist cause. Wallace’s eponymous song is a bluesy number, narrated by the Devil (a fellow Southerner, according to Hood), who welcomes him to Hell, not for his political record, but for his blind ambition and for being a pawn for most of his life. Hood knows that racism will forever be associated with the South because of men like Wallace; for this, he cannot be forgiven.

The album is filled with musical and lyrical references to the greats of the arena rock era, before it got silly and bloated and turned into cock rock and hair metal. “Ronnie and Neil” explores the controversy between Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young (another look into the duality of the South). And while the narrator never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd , he saw .38 Special, AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Ozzie Osbourne (with Randi Rhodes), and dropped acid at a Blue Oyster Cult show. A life both saved and doomed by rock and roll.

The final three songs of Act II, “Shut Up and Get On the Plane,” “Greenville to Baton Rouge,” and “Angels and Fuselage” find Betamax Guillotine following the path of their idols to the logical conclusion. When life is “dirty needles and cheap cocaine / some gal’s old man with a gun,” death is a cold bitch right around the corner, and there’s no use fighting it. So as the engines start failing, our narrator can only think of “smoking by the gym door, practicing my rock-star attitude,” and how for a Southern man, your dreams can only take you so far.

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Freddie Gibbs and the Return of Gangsta

Posted on December 31, 2009 | Leave a comment


Part of the Alpha Male Music Week at True Genius Requires Insanity.

You could probably write a thesis on the alpha male in hip-hop (if be_gully hasn’t already written said thesis, there should at least be an abstract on the subject here soon). Some combination of money, women, drugs, and guns are lyrical mainstays of rap for a reason. Reveling in such pure id is escapism of the highest degree. When it comes to lyrics that are exciting and engaging, transgression is better than introspection.

Which brings us to the class of 2009. The much-debated freshman class of hip-hop as editorialized by XXL (alphabetically: Ace Hood, Asher Roth, B.o.B., Blu, Charles Hamilton, Cory Gunz, Curren$y, Kid Cudi, Mickey Factz, and Wale), for the most part, are big into beta. So, for fans of hip-hop that demonstrates both street authenticity (Gucci Mane) and rapping talent (not Gucci Mane), who is out there fighting the good fight?

Enter: Freddie Gibbs. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, the 27-year-old is out to prove that gangsta isn’t dead. After being dropped by Interscope Records, Gibbs produced and released two mixtapes within months of each other this year: The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik (a third, The Label’s Trying to Kill Me, is a compilation tape that cuts-and-pastes from both). Right off the bat, the title references touch on a desire to be a part of the pantheon of rap classics rather than on the level a mere mortal.

Gary, Indiana is fucking hard. The crack age coupled with the decline of American industry have left Gary harder hit than either East St. Louis or Baltimore. There is no silver lining. And this is the crucible in which Gibbs has been forged: “Sixty percent unemployment / Why you think we sellin’ dope?” The facts of his environment are inescapable, physically for many and mentally for all. Gibbs’ lyrics are unapologetically about this life, not to glorify or to educate, they just exist, familiar stories that are so outrageous they seem fictional. The themes are classic alpha male rap: dealing drugs and smoking weed (“Boxframe Cadillac”), scamming chicks (“Bussdown”) and killing dudes (“Murda on My Mind”).

Stylistically, Gibbs’ hardened voice and smooth flow take many forms: at times, it’s the Southern syrup of UGK, at others the rat-a-tat of Midwesterners like Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The beats range from pure g-funk (“Talkin’ Bout You”) to trap-hop (“Summa Dis”), paying reverence to a by-gone era with tasteful samples (Biggie’s “Beef” shows up on “Standing Still”). Contrast this with the constant, braying namedropping of the Game: which is a better (and more alpha) tribute to the golden age of gangsta?

For a song that encapsulates Freddie Gibbs the artist, take this alpha male manifesto from the chorus of “Womb to the Tomb:” “From the cradle to the grave / the womb to the tomb / Imma get it win or lose / I’m just out here making moves / from the womb to the tomb / the cradle to the grave / till I jack up out this bitch / I’m out this bitch / get paid.” Sure beats “Man, I love college.”

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Dispatches from Suburbia: Rusko in Miami

Posted on December 30, 2009 | Leave a comment


As the cliché goes, all good things must come to an end: my nearly two week vacation in South Florida is over. I’ve gone from 70 degrees at the beach to 40 degrees in DC, from a nascent scene to a more developed one. And while the DJ nights, singer-songwriters, and local bands were pleasantly surprising, I’m happy to be home.

But before I left, I trekked down to Miami once more, this time for Rusko: DJ and dubstep producer extraordinaire, and one of the winners of 2009 (a more complete list of things that didn’t suck in 2009 is coming tomorrow – procrastination for life!). The 24-year-old is one of the driving forces in a style that we at TGRI Online think will be huge next year, and while I have seen Rusko rock a room before, I couldn’t miss a stateside gig in my backyard.

Ever since 2 Live Crew decided to be as nasty as they wanted to be, Miami and bass have been forever intertwined, influencing local scenes and styles from Atlanta to Baltimore. So I was interested to see how bassheads in the 305 would react to the distinct wobble crunk that the Leeds-born, LA-based Rusko generates.

Just down the street from the Vagabond in Miami’s Design District is White Room. The venue is basically a warehouse adjoined to a large open-air space that holds canopy lounges that wouldn’t get much use anywhere else this time of year. After a few local dubstep producers and MCs warmed up the crowd, the mullethawked feature DJ took the stage.

Rusko is one of the most active DJs I’ve ever seen. At all times, he’s either jumping up and down or air conducting, convulsing as if his movements control the treble, mids and overwhelming bass pouring out of the speakers. The crowd eats it up, doing their best to dance along to a style that is admittedly not the most dance-centric electronic music. The few kids trying to light show with glow sticks were dismissed out of hand: “Why don’t you wait for fucking Ultra for your twirly little shit?!” However, the pseudo-ravers were hardly the worst audience members: a few couples decided to demonstrate crowdfucking – or something close to it – and it wasn’t pleasant.

Still, we were able to enjoy the dubstep clinic that Rusko put on, much like he did at Hard NYC. From contemporaries Zomby and Doorly, to remixes of Gucci and Kid Sister, the set included everything that demonstrates dubstep’s promise right now. The best part is initially recognizing a song, before it devolves into the glitched out sounds of the apocalypse that have come to define dubstep. And it was good to see it work where bass was born.

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