Christmas is Right Around the Corner

It's ironically funny and works out perfectly that my color scheme pattern on my blog ended with a red font  since my last blog is about Christmas being right around the corner and all my thoughts and opinions about the holidays. 

I love Christmas! 

It is my first favorite holiday. (Halloween is my second favorite)

I have already finished shopping for five of the most important people in my life, only two more people to shop for.  The mall was a mad house.  I lack patience when it comes to waiting in lines or walking through mobs.  That was the only aggravating thing, but I found some great presents and can’t wait to see the looks on my family and friends’ faces when they open their gifts!

I love the beautifully decorated trees and the fresh smell of pine and the delicious ,warm, soft cookies when they come straight out of the oven.  My favorite cookies are chocolate chip cookies which my mom makes from scratch and these amazing nuts with jam cookies which are a family recipe.  I always tend to sneak in the kitchen and steal a couple extra cookies when my mom isn’t looking because she usually likes to save them for Christmas day. LOL

The houses look amazing and so lively with all the lights.  My favorite are the regular color lights because the colorful lights look really tacky and cheesy.  I also love when they are shaped like icycles because that’s really classy and elegant looking. I love the christmas carols as well.

It is also wonderful getting together with family and friends and seeing how happy, loving, and generous people get during the holidays. I am going to NYC with my family to see a show and walk around Rockefeller Center which is a tradition of ours every Christmas.

I am really looking forward to this month off because I am going insane with all the enormous amounts of homework I have been getting in every class.  It’s too much to handle and stressful.

I am also not going to lie when I say that I can’t wait to get the clothes I picked out with my mom, for Christmas!! Call me materialistic, but I love receiving presents just as much as I love giving people presents.

A Nightclub Classic

Limelight is an old nightclub that used to be in Manhattan, NY in The Village.  It was a popular dance club in the 80s that featured House Music.  The interesting history about it is that it used to be a church, but they converted it into a nightclub.  

The Limelight is the name of a chain of nightlclubs  that were owned and operated by Peter Gatien with locations in Atlanta, Hollywood, Florida, Chicago, New York City, and London. 

The Limelight in New York City, which was owned by Peter Gatien, opened in November 1983. It was housed in a former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, a Gothic Revival brownstone building which was built in 1844-1845, as designed by architect Richard Upjoin. 

In the early 1970s, when the parish merged with two others, the church was deconsecrated and sold to Odyssey House, a Drug rehab program. Amidst financial hardship, Odyssey House sold it to Gatien in 1982. 

 Located on Avenue of  the Americas, at West 20th Street, the New York Limelight originally started as a disco and rock club. In the 1990s, it became a prominent place to hear techno, goth, and industrial music, and to obtain recreational drugs. 

It earned the media's attention in 1996, when Club Kid and party promoter Michael Alig was arrested and later convicted for the killing and dismemberment of Angel Melendez, a drug dealer at the club.  The 2003 film Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, was based on this event. The Limelight was closed by the police, and subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s.

Great NYC CLUBS

Here are some great clubs in NYC that feature House Music:

•  Pacha, 

• Kidd Pivot, 

• Space Invaders, 

• The Gatehouse, Village 

• Vanguard, 

• Boys Noise, 

• Webster Hall, 

• Tekserv, 

• Splash

• XL

Clubbing is so fun!!!  The music and the club atmosphere brings out the liveliness in people. You can meet a lot of new people.  Different dancers and performers are usually featured at the clubs.  At one club there was a fish tank in the bathrooms.  There was also a guy taking a shower in one of the clubs.  It was so funny and weird.

A List of Killer Songs!!!

Here are SONGS I have either recently discovered and ones that I already had on my iPod from awhile ago:

Flashback-Calvin Haris
Never Say Never-Armin Van Buren
Not Exactly-Deadmau5
In the Air-Morgan Page, Sultan, Ned Shepard & BT
Dynasty-Kaskade
Everything-Tiesto & Cosmic Gate
All You-Kaskade
Come Home-Ocean Lab
Lost-Sunlounger
Sirens of the Sea-Ocean Lab
Feel Alive-Benassi Bros
Open Your Heart-Cosmic Gate
Forgive Me, Forget You- Tritonal, Soto, Ashley Wallbridge Remix
Music Sounds Better With You-Stardust
Come Fly Away-Benny Benassi
Strobe-Deadmau5
As The Rush Comes-Motorcycle & Armin Van Buren

Discovering New Music

So I am recently discovering a lot more wonderful house songs and DJs.  There are two great ways to search and find new music:YouTube and Pandora

YouTube: You can search one particular song on YouTube and then it will suggest other related songs on the right side column.  
I usually end up spending an hour or so clicking through different videos and sampling songs to see which ones I like.  

Pandora: It's an awesome app that can be downloaded on pretty much any smartphone or even on a regular computer or iPad.  You just have to create an account.  It is FREE.  Then you just create a music station by typing an artist or music genre into the search box and then Pandora comes up with results of stations related to what you typed in.  If you put in the artist name then it will set up a station that plays a lot of songs by that artist as well as other songs by artists who sound similar.  You can even type in Christmas and you will get a station with all Christmas music.

ATB, One of My Top 3 Favorite House Djs

André Tanneberger is a German DJ, musician, and producer 
of trance music.  His stage name is ATB.  

He is super hot and a wonderful DJ.  I love his music.  His 
music is fun to dance to or just  and sit back and relax and 
listen to.

According to the official world DJ rankings governed by DJ Magazine, ATB was ranked #11 in 2009. 

He was born February 26, 1973 in Freiberg, Germany.

In the late 80s on the weekend Andre would always go to club Tarm Center in Bochum, to listen to the music of DJ Thomas Kukula aka General Base.  In 1992, he decided to do his own music composition.  He used equipment such as an Amiga computer and a small synthesizer. 

DJ Thomas Kukula offered to work in his recording studio to finish the song.

André Tanneberger started his music career at the dance music group Sequential One. 

                               

In February 1993, under the name of Andre Sequential One, they released their debut single "Dance" and "Let Me Hear You". These singles earned Tanneberger enough money to organize a mini-studio. 

In 1994 the band increased by 3 members: Ulrich Poppelbaum, Woody van Eyden and vocalist Morfa.  

After the great success in his native Germany, Sequential One gradually became known in other countries of Europe. The second album, "Energy" was released in Germany and in the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary. 

Even after all the success and growing popularity of two members of the project: Woody van Eyden and Morpha still left him in 1998.  Then Andre and Ullrich were the only two left in the group. In 1999 Sequential One collapsed. 

Andre was still later able to release the last single "Angels".

In 1998, Tanneberger also started a solo project named ATB.  His first track under this name was "9pm (Till I Come)," included in the "Movin' Melodies" album, which topped the United Kingdom music charts in 1999 and is widely regarded as the UK's first trance number one. 

The track features a guitar riff that became hugely popular. This guitar sound became the trademark of his early hits.  ATB continues to evolve and change with every album. His current style involves more vocals and varied sounds, with frequent pianos.

I am totally guessing that the name ATB came from his real name. Andre TanneBerger

Here's a song by him, "Ecstasy"!!

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

        I want to dedicate this blog entry to anyone who suffered because of Hurricane Sandy.  This was a very powerful storm with a horrific aftermath.  It really sucked having no power for awhile: No light, limited ways to entertain myself, PB and Jelly sandwiches everyday, no variety of food or warm meals.  There was no way to even do my hair so I felt like I looked like a neanderthal.  The long 4 hour gas lines were so chaotic and frustrating especially when I did not get gas after waiting that long on more than one attempts. So many fallen trees that blocked roads and damaged houses.  I felt terrible.  I was not able to get in touch with loved ones or see many people I care about at all.  I was going insane without power, but realized I was so lucky compared to so many other people.
       
        I felt horrible for all the people that lost their homes or for the people who's houses flooded.  There are also so many people with homes who still don't have power.   There were and still are so many power lines down.  So many towns that have been practically wiped out! It's a shame and it makes me cry to see how much damage, frustration, pain, and sadness this storm has caused so many people.

         I am hosting some friends at my house who don't have any power and giving them a warm place to sleep.  My family has been treating them to home cooked meals and dinner out to restaurants.  I am also going down to Point Pleasant to see how my beach condo is because it's across the street from the beach.  I am also going to Bay Head to visit close family friends to bring them food, etc. and to try to help them in any way that I can.  I was thinking of volunteering to help families who lost their homes.  I realize that I have been very blessed and fortunate to have good health and still have my home.  This is why I would like to give back to others and do what ever I can for people.  It is a very sensitive time, but hopefully things will get better day by day.  We all just need to stick together.
       
My heart and prayers go out to everyone who is still suffering from the aftermath of the storm!!!

A few inspirational quotes:

“Where hope grows, miracles blossom."- Elna Rae

“Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, 
we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear."-Monroe Forester

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”-Eleanor Roosevelt

Ladies, Here's Tips on How to Dress for the Nightclubs

If you are a woman, try not to bring a big purse. Some nightclubs have coat and bag checks, but some don't, so you don't want to get stuck lugging around your big purse or worry about important stuff falling out of the purse.

Switch to a small purse that can go over your shoulder, so you'll have what you need, and can still have fun dancing. This applies to coats in the winter time.  If you can leave it behind, do it!


Going to a nightclub in New York is where the high class type nightclubs are.  It's very important to have style when going dance in NYC. You won't make it past the bouncer's rope if you're not wearing the latest fashions. 


At a high-fashion club, you might find yourself wearing this season's hottest style of dress, a hot new colored cami or halter top with designer jeans or a pencil skirt with low neckline top to go with it.

You can never go wrong with a cute tight fitted dress and heels for the club.  There are a lot of cute club outfits that are affordable at Forever 21.

Animal Print dresses are really hot now too!!  You can always wear leggings (the stockings type) with the dress if it's cold or the dress seems too short.

The smokey eye look is very hot for the evening time at the clubs  Use some blacks, browns, and grey eye shadows and some killer black liquid eyeliner and Loreal has some great 24 hour mascaras!!! 

GOT TO LOVE DUBSTEP!!!

      DubStep is one of my favorite types of House Music!!

  It's like a music ecstasy when I hear this music playing!

           Some Hot Dub Step Musicians to listen to: 

    Skream, Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Gemini, DJ Fresh,  

                Excision, Borgore, and Zomby

BACKGROUND INFROMATION ABOUT DUBSTEP:

• Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England, United Kingdom. The music website, Allmusic has described its overall sound as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals."

• The earliest dubstep releases date back to 1998 and were darker, more experimental,      instrumental dub remixes of 2-step garage tracks attempting to incorporate the funky elements of breakbeat, or the dark elements of drum and bass into 2-step, which featured as B-sides of single releases.

• Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating tuplets. 

• The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142 beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar.

This guy, Dave Crowe is an awesome Dubstep beat boxer from England!! Check him out.  It's a ten minute video, but it's awesome if you get a chance to watch it or at least forward through the video to listen to different parts. 

Choosing The Right Nightclub!!!

So I am on a mission to find a hot nightclub to go clubbing to on Friday with my girl friends.  I heard some good reviews about Pacha and Webster in NYC.  I also was given suggestions about checking out Deko Lounge and Pure in Sayreville, NJ.  Two other clubs I was told about are 46 Lounge in Totowa, NJ and 4sixty6 in West Orange, NJ.

46 Lounge seems like a really enticing club to check out Friday due to this advertisement on their facebook:

Plus we are trying to stay in NJ this time.

Haunted Asylum Halloween Party Broadcasting Live on 92.3 NOW FM w/ DJ TORO FRIDAY @46 LOUNGE

$3,000 Costume Contest for the sexiest, funniest, most original & best couple
Hosted by TY Bentli
VIP line privilege for everyone in costume
For ladies free & guys reduced till 11pm text "FRIDAY" to 545454 

What Makes A Club Good:

A great variety of music, mainly house music

Friendly DJ, Bartenders, and Bouncers

Decently Priced Beverages

Good atmosphere of people

Cleanliness

No Creepers lol

When the majority of the crowd is relatively your age

When there is a time range where ladies can get in for FREE

When the decorations, the lighting, and the set up of the venue is hot and awesome looking! :)

Hopefully I pick the right club to venture to! If anyone reads this, feel free to give me any input or suggestions.

Experiencing The Nightclub Life Through the Senses

I can hear the music blasting.  I can feel the bass vibrating as if the speakers are about to burst.  There are tons of other warm, sweaty bodies around me dancing and fist pumping.  The inside of the nightclub is dark except for the multicolored flashing lights that are shining down on the dance floor and all the glows stick jewelry that is wrapped around people's necks and wrists.  I see the DJ high up on his own platform scratching and spinning on the turntables.  He's got his massive, black headphones on top of his head.  I can tell he's really into what he does because he's swaying from side to side and tapping his foot on the floor as he DJs.  

I push my way through the crowd as if I am an explorer trying to get through the jungle.  So many bodies rubbing up against me.  I can smell the saltiness of their sweat and the intensity of their different colognes.  Once I find a comfortable spot that feels right, I begin to dance with my friends.  I just let the music take total control of my body, mind, and soul.  Everyone else just disappears.  Nothing else matters because my favorite music is playing, and it is loud.  I feel like I am high on some type of "music ecstasy".  The more I dance, the more energy I gain.  I never feel more alive than I do when I am dancing at the clubs.  I can feel this incredible vivacity in the atmosphere.  Everyone is happy and upbeat.  The concept of time is lost once I've entered the nightclub world.



ANOTHER AWESOME SONG!!! GOLD DUST (FLUX PAVILLION REMIX)_DJ FRESH:

One of My Favorite House DJs

One of the hottest House DJs is Kaskade!!

Kaskade is an American DJ and a record producer.  His real name is Ryan Raddon.  He was born February 25, 1971.  In 1989 to 1990, Kaskade practiced his DJ skills in his dorm room at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

On September 9, 2011, a DJ Times poll voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ 2011".  

On October 20, 2011, DJ Magazine announced the results of their annual Top 100 DJ Poll, with Ultra Records, and Kaskade placed at #30.

Kaskade rose to prominence alongside producers Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner during the revival of American progressive in late 2008-early 2009. His style is mostly bassline minimal, although he occasionally likes to add sudden very abrasive leads and breaks. 

Kaskade released his first single "What I Say" on the label in 2001. In the Moment saw Kaskade's first top 10 single with "Steppin' Out" reaching #5 on Billboard's Magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play chart and #6 on Dance Radio Airplay. The fourth single to be released from the album, "Everything," reached #1 on Billboard Magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play.

Kaskade took his stage name from a nature book when he saw a picture of a waterfall and a co-worker agreed "cascade" was a good choice, but he then changed the spelling.

Kaskade worked with Canadian house/electronic DJ/artist deadmau5 to produce tracks on Strobelite Seduction, including the first single (released as an EP) Move for Me. The single became his fifth top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, reaching the number one position in its September 6, 2008 issue. It also gave Kaskade his first number one single on this chart. The dance single has become a crossover hit, managing to reach number 71 on the Canadian Hot 100 as of February 14, 2009. on vocals.

Kaskade's has 5 albums out: 

• It's You, It's Me (2003)
• Love Mysterious (2006)
• Strobelite Seduction (2008)
• Dynasty (2010)
• Fire and Ice (2011)

My Favorite Songs by Kaskade which are on My Ipod are:

• Move for Me
• Fire In Your New Shoes
• 4 AM
• Angel on My Shoulder
• I Remember
• Dynasty
• Steppin’ Out

His music is really chill and relaxing.  It's not too fast paced or crazy.  It's more relaxing.  You can dance to some of his songs, but you can just lay back, relax, and listen to a lot of his songs.  For example, they are good songs to listen to while on a walk or while laying on the beach.  I just get lost in the songs and caught up in the moment.  Everything else around me just disappears!  I love it!  He's pretty hot too!! LOL

More Exploration on House Music

After the mid-90s, house music grew even larger during the second wave of Progressive House (1999–2001). The genre still remains popular and fused into other subgenres which are popular, as the DJ mag poll has been dominated by House DJs since the beginning of the polls. 

In Europe, the genre remains highly popular into the 2000s, with groups and artists such as Daft Punk and Justice performing in the genre, and obtaining commercial success and critical acclaim.  

In the 2000s, a house subgenre known as electro house achieved popularity. Today, house music remains popular in both clubs and in the mainstream pop scene.
House is uptempo music for dancing, although by modern dance-music standards it is mid-tempo, generally ranging between 118 and 135 bpm. Tempos tended to be slower in the early years of house.

The common element of house is a prominent kick drum on every beat (also known as a four-on-the-floor beat), usually generated by a drum machine or sampler. The kick drum sound is augmented by various kick fills and extended dropouts. 
 This pattern derives from the so-called "four-on-the-floor" dance drumbeats of the 1960s which impacted on 1980s house music via the 1970s disco drummers.

The term "house music" is widely cited to have originated as a reference to a Chicago nightclub called The Warehouse which existed from 1977 to 1983.  The Warehouse was patronized primarily by black and Latino men, who came to dance music played by the club's resident DJ Frankie Knuckles.  

 Knuckles became a popular DJ at the club.  After the Warehouse closed in 1983, the crowds went to his new club, The Power Plant.  In the Channel 4 documentary Pump Up The Volume, Knuckles remarks that the first time he heard the term "house music" was upon seeing "we play house music" on a sign in the window of a bar on Chicago's South Side.  

One of the people in the car with him joked, "you know, that's the kind of music you play down at the Warehouse!", and then everybody laughed.  South-Side Chicago DJ Leonard "Remix" Roy, in self-published statements, claims he put such a sign in a tavern window because it was where he played music that one might find in one's home; in his case, it referred to his mother's soul & disco records, which he worked into his sets. 

Chip E.'s 1985 recording "It's House" may also have helped to define this new form of electronic music.  However, Chip E. lends credence to the Knuckles association, claiming the name came from methods of labelling records at the Importes Etc. record store, where he worked in the early 1980s.

Much of the music that DJ Knuckles played at the Warehouse nightclub were labelled in the store "As Heard At The Warehouse", which was shortened to simply "House".  

I would now like to end this blog with a sample of a house song that I love!!!!

A Look At Where House Music Began

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the American city of Chicago in the early 1980s.  

Some other genres within electronic dance music include:

•  Trance, 
• Techno, 
• and Dubstep. 

Some house music producers that are really popular are: 

• Daft Punk, 
• David Guetta, 
• Stardust, 
• Swedish House Mafia, 
• Deadmau5, 
• Afrojack, 
• Steve Aoki, 
• Avicii, 
• Fredde Le Grand, 
• Benny Benassi, 
• Kaskade, 
• Calvin Harris,
•  and ATB, 

which have brought eurodance-infused house tracks back to the US Top 40 charts.

Electronic music was initially popularized circa 1984 in discothèques catering to gay and mixed, primarily African-American and Latino audiences in Chicago.  Beginning in 1985, this music fanned out to other major cities such as Detroit, Toronto, New York City,Boston, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Manchester,  Miami, London, and Paris.  

Then it began to influence popular music in Europe, with songs such as "House Nation" by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy Of House (1987) and "Doctorin' The House" by Coldcut (1988) in the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats and rhythms centered around drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic.

The structured music's focus around a repetitive rhythm was more important than the song itself. House music today still has several of these core elements like the prominent kick drum on every beat.  However, it varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house, to the more minimalistic microhouse.

House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as Euro house and tech house.  House music, after enjoying significant underground and club-based success in Chicago from the early 1980s onwards, emerged into the UK mainstream pop market in the mid-to-late 80s. Popularity quickly followed in the rest of Europe, and it became a global phenomenon from the early-to-mid 90s onwards.

Introduction Of My Topic

I would like to explore House Music.  I would like to discuss the different sub genres of music within House Music.  I would like to talk about maybe the origins of the music, the wonderful djs who are out there and how I feel about this type of music.  I might also talk about the club scenes and the atmosphere of the dance clubs.