 DJ/Producer Kaskade |
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I'm going to admit to many nonessential, frivolous personal weaknesses through writing for howwastheshow.com here…one of which, not surprisingly, is I'm a shameless party harlot. It's the big reason why I'm happy VimLab has put some roots down in Minneapolis, via San Francisco, connecting us with a progressive West Coast sound from an anchor house music city--and throwing some damn fine parties. The three-month old promotional company brought us the boat party on the Fourth, and this past weekend brought us the illustrious house DJ/producer, Kaskade.
Their second event marks the second Om Records regular to grace Mell's in the span of two weeks. Ryan Raddon, aka Kaskade, is currently a labelmate of Andy Caldwell's on Om, a label well-regarded around the world for putting out consistently deep and exploratory house music. Kaskade's first full-length release, "It's You, It's Me", came out in March to much buzz in the likes of Billboard and Urb. The title track features Joslyn on vocals, her voice lush and airy over a haunting, deep bass line. It's been a staple of the discos around here all summer, from the breezy patio to a sweaty evening at the club.
And chalk up Saturday night to another sweaty evening at the club, one of many I've had this summer. It seems the house music scene is experiencing a terrific bubble of activity as of late, a fact verified by nearly all the househeads with whom I regularly rub sweaty elbows. Perhaps we can partly attribute it to the phenomenal weather we've been having, which affords us many evenings spent on patios and rooftops; maybe it's the support of new spots like Bar Lurcat and Solera and Mell's; maybe it's the notoriously family-esque crowd of happy house-lovers out en masse.
Whatever forces are aligning here, I'm awed that we've been graced with the likes of Kaskade and Derrick Carter (yes, I missed it, and yes, I'll certainly be chastised repeatedly for that) and Andy Caldwell. After haggling at the door a bit, I bounded into Mell's Saturday night to find a bumpin' crowd worshipping at the turntables, which were turning out Caldwell's latest anthemic hit, "I Can't Wait". I felt a wash of delight remembering I'd just seen that cat here two weeks ago!
The vibe was already infectious, so I took a spot on the dancefloor, at nearly max capacity and totally tuned in to Kaskade's groove. In contrast to Caldwell's set, he kept it totally deep and funky, where his labelmate ventured more into electro-style touches on top of the 120 bpm's. His set varied from a remixed Everything But the Girl ("Wrong") to gospel house to his infamous mix of the Talking Head's "Naïve Melody"; he probably didn't realize it, but at almost the exact same time as Caldwell two weeks prior, when the crowd was bursting with energy and good spirits, he dropped "Keep on Risin'", a six a.m. floor-burner if I ever heard one. Joining him was the ubiquitous and mad-talented Chuck Love, who is prone to picking up an instrument at any given moment during a set and adding his unique live touch.
Either I arrived late (Monte, don't hate me because I missed your set, please!) or he didn't play it, but I sheepishly was hoping for him to play his mix of Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You". I first heard that track one night at the VIP room of First Ave, wondering what in the hell was going on…Justin Timberlake, suddenly palatable to a house music fan? Not only that, addictive?? He tore that song a new, funky one, not to the liking of Jive records who commissioned then rejected it, thus pushing it to bootleg, white-label status. Kaskade regularly lends his remixing skills to the usual suspects and label partners like Andy Caldwell, Amma, and Rithma, but he is just at home giving his unique treatment to Justin Timberlake and the Talking Heads, showing his prowess extends beyond that of DJ'ing.
Any DJ who can funk up Justin, burn up dance floors from Minneapolis to Sydney to Chicago to San Fran to Toronto, record on an enviable slate of labels like Hed Kandi, Naked, Om, Jamayka and Afterhours, and in general purvey a sexy, deep and eclectic sound is a DJ who will always keep my butt on the dancefloor until I drop. "I'm always trying to relive the time when I was 15, dancing until sunrise and losing about 5lbs from sweating every night!" he's quoted as saying in DJ Magazine. That energy was certainly alive Saturday. Add another beautiful night of house, a la Kaskade, to the roster of incredible summer nights we've been treated to in 2003.
Location Info:
Mell's Beauty Bar
Artist Info: DJ Kaskade
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