Saturday, May 30th may not go down as being as amazing as the August day in Harlem in 1958 where 57 jazz artists took a portrait in front of the Hotel Theresa on 126th street, but, it certainly was a positive portend that what is rapidly becoming the "powerhouse by the Potomac" for underground and club music had a phenomenal day ALL day in the regard of the advancement and celebration of said music.
The day's highlights were trifold, starting early at noon with the video shoot for Will Eastman's mix of Ruby Isle's track "So Damn High" at the 9:30 Club Backbar. Eastman's been doing it as grandiose as possible for the city for quite some time, so to actually see a video shoot authorized by the label for the track means that someone thinks the track has legs, which it most certainly does, a delightfully poppy mood starter, not erring on the side of being too heavy, but a briskly paced winner that is a classy production for sure. Sure, the shoot took place at noon, but when the video is released, and it gains traction (there's smokin' hot babes, phenomenal disco dancing from visually arrestingly attired male performers, alcohol drinking, jump cuts and general frivolity, so it IS a possibility) hopefully there is a nod to the city involved, as, well, it makes DC seem a lot more than what people already know, with the black presidents, Wale mixtapes, Cmonwealth fitted caps and Ben's Chili Bowl half smokes.
As well on DC's scintillating Saturday, DC powerblog Brightest Young Things threw their inaugural WEEKLY Summer Camp Party at the Capital Skyline Hotel pool. The Skyline's top floor former high priced super suite has been refurbished now into a Miami aspiring lounge/pool hotspot, and the inaugural event was DJed by the Beautiful Swimmers collective of Ari Goldman and Andrew Field-Pickering, the latter whom I saw spin a delightful set of mid to late era New York disco cuts with Chris Burns at Rock and Roll Hotel's upstairs bar's Disco City party, and a number of times more tribal and funk inspired deep house at various other DC venues, to give you a sense of the vibe. The party is all ages, and a great look for the summer, providing a destination point with the appropriate amount of glitz, glamour and barely attired beautiful people listening to beautiful music to give cameras looking to find the next hot locale more than enough solid footage.
The night finished with the now perpetual killer of DC nightlife, Gavin Holland, and the tremendously swiftly rising to prominence Nacey and Steve Starks' Nouveau Riche event at DC9. Last November, I stated in this space that that last November's party, from a structure, performance and content level was the best event the young trio had put on. Last Saturday, to jack a Bmore club sample, "beat that bitch with a bat." That shouldn't be a surprise, as look at the evolution and development of the DJs and party involved since that point.
Nouveau Riche has hosted AC Slater at the Rock and Roll Hotel downstiars performance venue, an event that made Sodom and Gomorrah look like kindergarten recess. Steve Starks has been busy in the lab defining his own production and remixing style, his deep house, trance and dirty south hip hop inspirations creating VERY moody and highly listenable productions. Gavin Holland has played gigs in NYC, and has become one of your favorite DJs favorite DJs, along with refining and honing his style with the help of Chris Burns in the Party Bros collaboration, and probably a ton of other shocking, but not surprising others as well. And Nacey, well, let's just say that in this author's estimation, Nacey's the hottest and most underrated underground club producer and arranger IN THE GAME right now. If he were in NY, Chicago or LA, there'd be a DJ in DC probably spinning his tracks in clubs right now. High praise? Well, not to Discobelle, who voted his mix of AC Slater's bass banger AA/247 as the best in a contest for remixes of that track in a blog visited by pretty much every DJ I know. And, if blogs that you don't read aren't enough, well, Dplo's Mad Decent imprint, in a contest for remixes of tracks from Alabama crunk hood anthem creators the Paper Route Gangstas, voted Nacey's mix of "Hood Celebrity" as an honorable mention as well.
With all that being said, after a slightly disappointing trip for the trio to the Winter Music Conference, it would seem as though they all have seen the light in crafting their own celebrity is in creating their own tracks, tracks that are hits, and will fill and crush the dance floor, and for the first ime we got to see what happens when three very good DJs on the cusp of bigger things deign to have some professional arrogance, swagger if you will, and play large arounts of their own productions at their own party. Sure, there were the usual popular blog hits and crucial classics of yore, but to see Nacey selecting his own material, and watching it succeed in a capacity packed room of people who are a million times less of a music writer and music nerd as I who wouldn't immediately know a track HE produced over a track that say, Switch produced, and watching it melt faces and cause delerium just the same is a critical improvement for the city. Also played was more production heat from the Gavin Holland and Chris Burns Party Bros' collaboration, and Steve Starks originals, as well as, yes, the friends since high school, Nacey and Steve Starks pieces as well. All in all, the trio went hard, and yes, it's a term often used but never actually meant, absolutely and unequivocally MURKED the event.
The determination of DC is at an all time high right now. Stereofaith and the soon to be interviewed for the site Bmore legend Jonny Blaze have come together as production unit "The Heat," and while not yet polished, that's just a phenomenal idea in theory. Will Eastman has an album of his own productions dropping. In a few weeks, the Party Bros are shooting a video for "Oooh Bay Bay" that between all of the critical points of local, national and international marketing between Burns and Holland is sure to be hugely popular amonst hugely popular people, and trickle down to the rest of the world from there. The 95 Live party at Steve's Bar Room every Thursday isn't just great because you got to hear Scottie B spin 90s hip hop last Thursday, but because it's a clothing label with national presence getting in and making a splash on the local scene. Wale's going to be a star on the rise after this Wednesday's 9:30 Club event. And beneath that, there's a gang of really polished rappers like the Diamond District underground power trio of Oddisee, YU and XO and too many DJs to name that on the high end are really super talented and highly polished selectors, and on the low end have the hustle and grind to want to catch up and surpass those ahead of them.
While this was A great day in DC, it is clear and certain this won't be the LAST great day by a large margin.
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