Nestled on the breathtaking waterfront Downtown San Diego, the bi-annual CRSSD festival really takes the cake for us for unique and fun Southern California festivals. This March CRSSD will again deliver a refreshing and exciting line-up filled with great acts from all over the house, techno, indie, realms.

The thing that makes CRSSD so special is the fact that it combines some of the best acts in electronic music with a scene that’s a far from the candy kid rave circuit. Combine that with a great selection of gourmet food and craft beers all under the beautiful Spring San Diego climate and you’ve got one of the best weekends you’re going to have in a very long time. The venue itself boasts 3 separate stages, huge fountains for cooling off, and a grassy landscape comfortable enough to picnic on. If you’re in the area it would not be wise to miss this incredible weekend and did we mention the festival is 21+ so get ready to roam around with your cocktails freely from dancefloor to dancefloor.

This Spring’s line-up includes:

Empire of the Sun, Cirez D, Sasha, Gorgon City (LIVE), Bonobo (LIVE), Jai Wolf, Shiba San, Anna Lunoe, Nicole Moudaber, Tchami (LIVE), Little Dragon, Lee Burridge, MK, Alan Fitzpatrick, Amelie Lens, Boys Don’t Disco, Camelphat, Charlotte de Witte, Cristoph, DJDS, Eli Brown, Henry Saiz & Band, JP Soul, Kartell, Kyle Watson, Mark Knight, Max Chapman, Medasin, Molly, NoMBe, Nora En Pure, Patrice Baumel, Rodriguez Jr. (LIVE), Sébastien V, SNBRN, The Presets, Walker & Royce, Wax Motif

You can buy tickets here!

Romiro Lopez and Coyu – That’s Not Happening (Nicole Moudebar remix)

MK featureing A*M*E – My Luv 4 U

Tiga – Woke

Cirez D – In the Reds

Tickets / Our Interview

One of the most influential beat makers of our generation is making his way back to the Bay this week. His Beatz & Pieces Vol. 2 album straight up changed the game. That kind of soul, funk, and energy was in a realm of its own then and even still today. It’s a go-to album of mine whenever I’m traveling, because anyone, no matter where you’re from, what you do, or what you like, you can vibe with it. It just feels right, man.

He’s been criticized by some of his fans for veering too far away from what he started, but I honestly can’t blame him for wanting to explore the possibilities out there. Who wants to be pigeon holed? I sure as hell don’t. And hey, it brought him to his new RE:COIL EP, which is also the name of the tour. The “old” Gramatik is still very much there, it’s just evolved, and we’re going to see it live on Thursday! Check out the EP below.

Over the years few producers have had the same appeal as Charlie Yin a.k.a. Giraffage. His productions have found the middle ground between the derivative mainstream zeitgeist and fringe-like irrelevance. In the past I have always characterized a Giraffage performance as a bit cheeky. His sets often injected a sense of humor by including songs like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and even a remix of the original iPhone ringtone. Whenever an electronic artist performs a “live” set I always have high expectations. It was abundantly clear that Giraffage bodied his “live” show. His stage set-up included not only a 7-foot high LED wall for visual projections but he surrounded himself with circular neon rings almost to create a spherical lens effect around him akin to a James Bond opening sequence. Overall, the presentation was pristine and immersive. Each of the LED visuals seamlessly reflected the essence of the song selection. There were animals and 8-bit video game characters for his lighter tracks and skulls and flames when the music took a darker turn. Nothing seemed predictable or redundant. The venue (The Fonda Theater) added some great texture to the evening as each bass drop was accompanied by on-beat floor rumbles and the finely tuned acoustics left nothing more to be desired of the intimate atmosphere.

The set started out slow and built nicely throughout his almost hour and twenty minute run-time. The kawaii vibes were ratcheted up to 100 as the anime-esque visuals blended perfectly with each hi-hat and cord progression as each note felt very in place. A major high point of the night was when Giraffage dropped “Be With You”. The set seemed to have a very strong love-song driven narrative to it and “Be With You” was the characterizing crescendo among the already stellar track selection he employed. All in all the show was the perfect ending point for the Too Real tour. The crowd was electrified and left wanting more. That performance won’t soon be forgotten and we can’t wait to see what tricks Charlie has up his sleeve in the near future.

The Bay Area has seen their fair share of artists rise to the ranks of international acclaim. Few have seemed so effortless in their approach and style as Giraffage. He’s unmistakably himself. He always has been. And he just continues to get better. The recent run of the Tour Real tour confirms what genius he can put together when his vision is able to flourish.

The first time I saw Giraffage was at SXSW in 2013. I had never seen him, nor had I even listened to his music; I was awe-struck. It was the first time I had seen electronic music fused with the vibes of hip-hop and 90s R&B in such a way. One of the many aspects of Giraffage that makes his sets unique is that he always incorporated live aspects using various controllers and drum pads. He used to defend himself for being accused of simply being a DJ, when there’s much more to his talent than that. I could see how they could be confused as DJ sets, because of how smoothly he was able to mix all of his songs and live remixes together. That’s just a perfect example of an artist dialed into his craft.

The ‘Too Real’ Tour happened to be the pinnacle of his prior years of playing shows around the world and the release of his third album of the same title. From some controllers and a laptop, to the aforementioned and an LED wall, to the aforementioned and a giant light portal! His visuals are best described for me as kooky; and I mean that in the best way possible. They’re all over the place: Kittens. Puppies. Chains. Fires. Bubbles. Naked unisex people. They’re always entertaining. They’re always unmistakably Giraffage, and that’s why we love him so much.

Pete Tong host of the legendary BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix Series is bringing a little of Ibiza to Los Angeles on November 9th.

The event entitled “Ibiza Classics” will see Tong perform alongside avant-garde composer Jules Buckley and the 65 piece Heritage Orchestra reinterpreting classic dance tunes that have provided the soundtrack to the last two decades with the power of a full Philharmonic orchestra. If you’re looking for something fresh, new and exciting the check out then look no further.

Tong will be joined by opener Guy Gerber – who will perform his first live set in over four years – and special guests including Moby, making his Hollywood Bowl debut, Aluna George and vocalist Bipolar Sunshine, and special host for the night Zane Lowe

This could be a historic night for electronic music in California. There’s no perfect place to hold this event than in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl. The Bowl show follows Pete’s #1 record ‘Classic House’ earlier this year, and precedes the upcoming LP release of Ibiza Classics Dec 1.

Get your tickets here and we’ll see you out at the Bowl.

Tickets

Among the plethora of Halloween events in the Bay this year, you would be hard-pressed to find one more storied, coveted, and simply traditional as LoveBoat. You may be wondering, “LoveBoat? 10 year anniversary in the Bay? I was born and raised here and never heard of it!” Well first of all, relax. Second of all, you may remember it as Ghost Ship. Due to the tragic Oakland fire that shook the whole Bay Area community, they decided to shift away from the name. Their words:

LoveBoat Halloween will honor the Oakland warehouse fire victims and families by doing what we have always done: building art and spreading love. Hopefully a little love will help.

LoveBoat will do just that this year in a warehouse where the most creative stage builders and imaginative artists come together to celebrate the creepy, weird, and exciting vibes of Halloween in San Francisco. Check out the set times and a fun mix from the man himself below.

Coming off a fresh, uplifting release on Anjunabeats, Kane Michael is back to his ‘Lights Out’ series. While he says, for now, he’s putting his Psytrance efforts on pause, Michael pursues techno with a deep, dark passion. Here’s what he had to say about the track:

“It’s tough trying to put your twist on a track like this, as it’s such a fine line between great and trash, but I’m very proud of this. No nonsense, just a straight late-night techno rework.”

Kane’s edit starts off slow as he introduces the eerie, evolving elements and weaves in the timeless sample. As the song seemingly builds into its groove, he changes it into a smooth R&B vibe that no one with any respectable taste in music would be able to turn down. The song wraps up with a full culmination of all the elements and in a way only Kane Michael could do. Looking forward to the journey of his sound.

Enjoy the track below as a free download, and follow Kane on his socials below.