Like fellow Frenchman Laurent Garnier, house DJ Joachim Garraud cut his teeth at Paris nightclub Boy, ground zero for the country's techno scene. Unlike most DJs, however, he came in with a fully rounded musical background, having spent seven years training at the French Academy of Music Percussion and Piano. Recently his understandable music snobbishness led to a bit of fan-fueled controversy when, during an interview with Belgian webzine Ready2Move, Garraud casually noted that he was the arr
Back in my days over at Miami Nights, I liked to close out the year by looking back at all the music I discovered where I spend most of my time -- in nightclubs. It's always interesting to see what makes it big the following year, because downtown club in particular tend to be ahead of the curve. So maybe I should call this list the Club Hits of 2009?But feel free to argue with me -- in fact, I encourage it. I love a good "You're music list sucks!" argument.10. M.I.A."Paper Planes (DFA Remix)"(
Ultra Music Festival released the second phase of its lineup, and while the biggest names in the list offer no big surprises, a number of other, smaller acts added to the bill demonstrate more of the festival's forward-thinking approach this year. So here are the titans who will play (again): Paul Van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren. Another dance legend to play is Moby, who didn't appear at Ultra last year, but is generally always lurking around during WMC and thus seems not too rare. But remember the
I know, I know, WMC talk already -- yikes, we just celebrated the new year. But if you've got any interest in WMC then you know that the Shelborne always grabs absolutely stellar lineups who play legendary parties. If you like big-room house music, you've already been to some of these, and you already know. This year doesn't disappoint, as the hotel (and home of the classy club Shine) has teamed up with DJ magazine this year, to host all of the publication's workshops, signings, and parties thi
The scaling back of this past Art Basel Miami Beach was noticeable, with fewer freebies and lower-key events. So it's safe to assume that the final big event of the "season," Winter Music Conference, is going to look a little different overall this year, too. It's doubtful that megawatt DJs will be able to still command their usual booking fees, or that regular clubbers (that is, not industry people who get onto guest lists for everything) will want to shell out the huge attendant cover char
Boys NoizeNow that Ultra's lineup has finally been unveiled, it's time to move on the what the local clubs will be putting on. There are certain things we are concerned about for this year's Winter Music Conference: Are there going to be enough people in town this year to support all the events that usually take place during the week? How will the nightclub industry handle the sudden economic downtown? We aren't sure everyone is going to come out winning this year during WMC, but we are just br
