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Beachie keen
Miami’s Winter Music Conference will take you for your last dollar, every shred of dignity and even a good bit of your precious hearing, but we know you, you’ll be back again. Founded in 1986, the WMC has outlasted dance music’s ups and downs, stared down a rival fest—the short-lived, live-oriented M3—and remained influential. This year, with electro-rock music’s popularity ascending, the fest enjoyed a shot of hip credibility. Our encounters with some of the fest’s featured DJs, such as Ewan Pearson (making his first WMC appearance), confirmed our impression that the week’s events are a lot of fun, even for the most discerning beat snob. This year, DJs such as Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, A-Trak, Mehdi and others represented the new guard with a slew of big club night festival slots and pool party sets. But the fest doesn’t just chase new trends; WMC keeps followers of niche genres happy. Read on to see how it all went down.
The hits
Label showcases from Kompakt, mobilee and the like showed us the various faces of the tech, tech-house and minimal scene still raging out of Berlin. At the top on our list was the famed Made: Sunday School for Degenerates at Pawn Shop party featuring Alexi Delano, Loco Dice and more spinning minimal and techno to a sweaty, chemically-altered crowd. It felt like an illegal warehouse party—one that requires sunscreen for the outdoor deck when it opens at 8am.
Oh, the guilt
Big-name DJs are starting to tire of the bottle-service business model that’s taken over the big clubs in New York, Miami and elsewhere. How do we know? They’re talking about it—on the record. We had more than a few, including famed U.K.-based DJ John Digweed, tell us they missed the venues that were dominant before expensive, VIP-obsessed nightlife. But until they start turning gigs down, we can’t imagine this griping will be any more than just a nostalgia trip.
The pace of beats
The success of the dance download site Beatport in the past three years has changed the way music gets into the hands of DJs. The Beatport charts themselves are now closely watched. The Beatport pool party has become best places to get close to the likes of Tiefschwarz and Richie Hawtin. Also in evidence at the Remix hotel, new gear and gadgets that will further revolutionize the way DJs manipulate music. Exhibit A: the Pacemaker ($700), from Swedish company Tonium, a pocket-sized DJ digital system. It renders today’s iPod mixers obsolete by allowing complete mixing control of two tracks in the palm of one’s hand. Look for it at this summer’s BBQs.
Missed our daily reports from Miami? Get caught up at timeouchicago.com/blog.
