WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 29 AT OTTOBAR
FOOLS GOLD REMIXED TOUR
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CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR FREE ENTRY! featuring...
NICK CATCHDUBS <img src="http://catchdubs.com/images/yuuuuuuuuua.jpg" alt=" - " />
Nick Catchdubs lives in Brooklyn, eats Spaghetti-O's, and plays dance music.
Over the past five years, Nick has rocked spots around the globe armed with unassuming charm and a signature mix of hip-hop, electro, dancehall, rock and more, with an emphasis on new music. In the process, he's made a name for himself as a top-notch party DJ and one of the most diverse and enthusiastic selectors in todays scene, equally at home opening sold-out shows for the likes of the Clipse, MIA and Rihanna, banging it out between indie bands at the SXSW and CMJ festivals, or raving past dawn with Sinden and other new-school club wizards.
Nick's expertly-sequenced mixtapes have the Chicago Reader calling him "tastemaking royalty who can break an act single-handedly," while his blends, remixes, and re-edits get spun everywhere from blog radio to commercial stations like Power 106 in Los Angeles. He has a grip of original productions and official remixes on deck, and still finds time to make major moves with Fool's Gold, the trendsetting record label he co-founded with A-Trak that's been responsible for introducing new talent like Kid Sister to the world at large.
Yet even as the achievements and accolades stack up, Nick can't stop looking forward to the next party, the newest tunes, and the good times still to come. Hey, it's worked so far...
JOKERS OF THE SCENE <img src="http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/43/l_255d49cddae94d718080e5a8289e3cca.jpg" alt=" - " />
If Canuck heroes Bob and Doug McKenzie traded their fishing hole for a rave cave, they would probably sound a lot like Ottawa beat destroyers Jokers of the Scene. Hoser!
After five years running their wildly successful club night Disorganised - which has hosted the earliest Canadian appearances of such party favorites as MSTRKRFT, CSS, Diplo, Crystal Castles and Girl Talk - longtime selectors DJ Booth and Chameleonic decided to dive headfirst into producing tracks of their own, and Jokers of the Scene was born. JOTS take the best and most mind-meltingly intense parts of dance music through history - the ecstatic buildups of big room Euro house music, the hyper-distorted basslines of electro rock, and the lighthearted samples of 1990s rave - and throw them all in a blender at 130 BPM. It's loud, it's fun, and it's lighting up dancefloors worldwide.
The duo's remixes of underground favorites DJ Blaqstarr (Mad Decent), Muscles (Modular) and Brodinski (Mental Groove) have placed them front-and-center among the new club producers to watch for 2008, and their debut 12" on Fool's Gold, "Y'all Know The Name," only makes the buzz louder. Already a pre-release smash, JOTS' cheeky hip-hop rework has been getting dropped everywhere from sweaty basement parties to Ibiza megaclubs. At this past year's Lollapalooza and Coachella festivals, Flosstradamus cranked up "Y'all Know The Name"'s massive breakdown while accompanied by projections of a 20-foot mechanical dinosaur - all too fitting!
With more official remixes and a follow-up EP due on Fool's Gold this summer, Jokers of the Scene's club infestation isn't going to let up any time soon. Grab the wax and get on board early, eh!
"One last mention goes to B-More/Fidget outfit Jokers of the Scene, who shone last year. I'm predicting that this Ottawa duo, newly signed to A-Trak's Fools Gold label will go on to big things in 2008." Sinden, FACT UK, Kiss FM.
"Apparently it's becoming almost impossible to think up a cool name for your DJ crewâ?¦ Wow, the mental image of a bunch of DJs sitting around a room and trying to come up with a name is a spectacular oneâ?¦ heheâ?¦ um, where were we? Oh yeah, bad DJ names. Jokers of the Scene will be conjuring mental images of weirdos clad in medieval apparel doing the devil sticks and juggling tonight..." Only, Vancouver.
"While Jokers of the Scene hail from Ottawa, not Baltimore, this hour-plus mix features both B-more-style beats and a more experimental approach similar to M.I.A. producer Switch. Most of all, they share a dedication to euphoric intensity that recalls (and at times directly references) early rave music, combined with an understanding and appreciation of hip-hop; no matter how utterly bonkers the often atonal, stuttering tracks become, they're always funky. The cross-pollination of these traditionally black and white musical genres, hip-hop and techno, hasn't been this exciting since the late 80s, when house music seemed to spawn a new offshoot every few minutes; now both seem to be entering a new creative era thanks to influences from the other. Mixes like this are inspirational, not only for their purely sonic thrills, but also for the underlying philosophy: the more race ceases to be a factor, the better." Party Ben, the Riff Blog (Mother Jones).
"Lately, there's been increased debate â?? among DJs, peeps posting to Stillepost.ca and in these very pages for example â?? about what makes a DJ good. Is it having the right tunes (whether on vinyl, CD or MP3) or knowing how to play them? Are irony, fashion sense and an ability to draw dozens to hundreds of "friends" to your gigs more important than programming and mixing skills, especially in this time of trendy indie parties? Well kids, here you get it all with Ottawa's Jokers of the Scene, a.k.a. DJs Booth and Chameleonic. Their mixing skills are as tight as their tunes and 'tudes. Go hear how it's meant to be done." Denise Benson, Eye Weekly.
"These guys own Ottawa." - Sinden
TRACKADEMICKS <img src="http://b9.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00294/98/93/294373989_l.gif" alt=" - " />
Armed with an Ensoniq ASR-88, a few records, and a computer, Trackademicks has begun to capture the attention of those who keep their ear to the beat, effectively articulating himself through sound to others. In a climate where producers and artists pride themselves on having a particular sound, he brings a tremendous amount of variety to the table. Hailing from Alameda, an island located off the coast of Oakland, CA, Trackademicks makes music driven by the same philosophy that made him; mix it up. Born to a Filipino father from the Bay Area and a Black mother from Richmond, VA, his cultural diversity inherently translates itself into the music. Like California Cuisine, I take ingredients and influences from all over to add to our local tastes and create something appealing to everyone.
Taking cue from his parents modest record collection, Trackademicks musical influences have always spanned the musical spectrum. Long before hip-hop became his creative point of reference, artists ranging from Sergio Mendes, The Doors, Sade, Bob James, to Tears For Fears, Wham!, and Cherelle made their impact on this grade school band student. It wouldnt be long, though, before the independent spirit of the thriving mid-90s Bay Areas rap scene would take its hold on Trackademicks. This interest in hip-hop would quickly grow beyond the local scene. With all of these different influences present in his music, Trackademicks is one of many helping to change the soundscape of popular culture by changing the way culture is presented in music.
Whether he's remixing artists across the international dateline or doing tracks for artists across the Bay Bridge, Trackademicks represents a progressive school of thought that is not held captive to preexisting musical boundaries. And in that school, Trackademicks is a star student. As member of the Honor Roll, an East Bay Area-based collective, he and his peers are building upon the foundation that was laid by artists such as the Neptunes, Andre 3000, and Kanye West, whove expanded the definition of what hip-hop can be on a mainstream level. In an industry where the streets are gridlocked with artists, Trackademicks has decided to take the freeway... and there seems to be no traffic at all.
SAMMY BANANAS <img src="http://a568.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/54/l_dcc93d8512d030588f9d19fbdfcdbd3f.jpg" alt=" - " />
Rising Brooklyn remixer and party maestro Sammy Bananas lives up to his name by crafting ecstatic tracks that ditch trendy production tricks in favor of pure pop satisfaction. He's already remixed the likes of Chromeo and 45 King, and his latest Fool's Gold EP Braids & Fades is a tribute to the biker-shorted divas of the 1990s, chopping up their r&b hits into uptempo club tracks. The approach has already made fans out of influential BBC DJ Annie Mac and platinum producer will.i.am, who ran up to the DJ booth at Sammy's last LA show to shout "YOU made this?!?" The new record is a follow up to the equally catchy and early 90s rooted High Top Fades EP which saw release in late 2007.
Early in this year, Sammy stunned the DJ community with his inventive bootleg of N.E.R.D's "Everyone Nose" which he rechristened as "All The Girls." He debuted the remix on the Screaming Bloody Murder tour in which he traveled North America with A-Trak, Sinden and Steve Aoki. The track was played across the world and became a staple in sets by heavyweights like A-Trak and Flosstradamus. Sammy is always working on new material, so keep on the lookout for his remix of Tittsworth's "WTF" coming out on T&A Records as well as his take on Trackademic's "Enjoy What You Do" dropping later this fall on Fool's Gold. Sammy continues to spread his net ever further with a European tour this October, and a trip to Australia planned for early '09.
"Sammy IS straight up bananas. He ripped it at LAX and I can't wait to have him back!" - DJ AM
"Wow I love these! I don't know which one to play on the radio!"- Annie Mac
"In a musical climate where so many DJs and producers are doing the same thing as the next guy, Sammy Bananas is a breath of fresh air. His music is full of character and can be best described by one word: funky" -A Trak
THIS EVENT IS TOTALLY FREE WITH RSVP!
AGES 18+
OTTOBAR
2549 North Howard Street
Baltimore City, USA
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