SHM - Don't You Worry Child ft. John Martin (DSharp Remix)

    This remix is absolutely amazing.  I've always thought of DJ's as composers of new age music, sort of like an updated version of Mozart.  So to hear a violinist cover an EDM is pretty awesome and classy.  This is Swedish House Mafia's track "Don't You Worry Child" ft. John Martin (DSharp Violine Remix). Enjoy!

Mike D'Antoni's Debut Tonight Against The Nets

    Mike D'Antoni.  The answer to all of the Lakers problems or the demise?  Without a doubt, we all wanted Phil Jackson back but I think D'Antoni is going to be great.  At least in the regular season, he's definitely a step up from Mike Brown. So what's so special about D'Antoni?  He brings in a high powered offensive style known as "Seven Seconds or Less" (amongst other things) because the offensive shoots the ball in 7 seconds.  He runs a lot of pick and rolls, which is apparent during his reign in Phoenix with Nash and Amar'e.  This is perfect for the Lakers with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol in the paint and Nash in the backcourt.  While the defense is worried about that, Metta is in the corner waiting for a 3-pointer and I haven't even mentioned the best player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant.  I have to mention that age is not going to be a factor when it comes to Lakers, it will not hinder their performance.  Who do you double team? Who do you guard?  The problem isn't usually the Lakers starting line-up, however it's the bench.  I think that Jodie Meeks is going to thrive in D'Antoni's offensive, he should get 2-4 3-points a game.  Jamison adds some experience to the bench and we're going to see Morris develop quickly.  Jordan Hill is going to be a huge piece off the bench because he hustles.  The U of A power forward will grab a lot of rebounds, mostly offensive which is huge.  So what's D'Antoni's record like?

    D'Antoni is a player turned coach.  He won Coach Of The Year during his first year in Phoenix with the Suns in 2004-05 season.  He has 0 championships as a coach and 0 finals experience, he's been to the conference finals twice but lost.  He got Steve Nash the MVP two years in a row though (2005 and 2006), stealing at least 1 from Kobe, in 2006 when he scored 81 points against the Raptors.  Check out the box score from that game, HERE.  His lack of playoff experience worries me.  

    I'm confident that the Lakers are going to be incredible during the regular season, "Showtime" is back.  Unfortunately we won't be able to see the offensive truly shine until Nash is back.  He should catch on quickly though, having been coached by this offense for 5 years.  I'm predicting that the Lakers will lead the league in total points and probably average around 110 of them a game.  However, their are 2 problems that arise with this high powered offense. The first is that the team has to adjust to the offense, which will take about a month.  The second is that the style of play during the playoffs is different from the regular season.  "Defense Wins Championships" is still extremely valid during this time and we don't really have a lot of it strategically. We'll have to see how this goes.  Hopefully their offensive will be their defense and hopefully Kobe, Dwight, (3-time Defensive Player of the Year 2009-11) and Metta (Defensive Player of the Year 2004) can hold it down freestyle.  

    I'm excited to see how this season is going to go. I know one thing is for sure though.  Kobe needs to get his 6th ring this season.

Medicine Man (Drug Free): Fashawn ft. Wiz Khalifa

    It's kind of funny that the homie Wiz is on a track called "Drug Free" especially because...you know, he's higher than these gas prizes ha.  He kills it though.  Wiz has been collaberating with a bunch of different artists, featuring him on their mix tapes.  Juicy J, Fashawn, and French Montana are just a few in the past month.  This track is laid back, something you'd definitely roll one to.  If you sneak out of the house to burn before Thanksgiving dinner, hit this track.  It's perfect for the situation. 

Bands A Make Her Dance (Remix): Juicy J ft. Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, Lola Monroe & B.o.B

    This my favorite remix of "Bands A Make Her Dance" by Juicy J but I mean, check out this colab, Wiz, French Montana, B.o.B, and Lola Monroe, it's going to be a slapper for sure.  You decide for yourself.  Wiz's verse is the best.

Shocking!

    Here's some proof that there are still GOOD people in the world! Check out this video, "Shocking!" by Jolion Pillai

Melanie Iglesias: Sounds Of The Night

    In this video, Melanie Iglesias and Tiesto team up to help promote his new line of headphones, AKG.    In her fifth flip book, Sounds Of The Night, we get to see Melanie in a variety of different outfits.  From The Pool Party to The Night Club and all the way to the Festival.  It's pretty amazing.  Check it out for yourself, I promise you won't be disappointed.  Don't forget to set the settings to 1080p!

Music Festival Review: HARD's Haunted Mansion 2012

Another awesome holiday, another awesome music festival.  

    We arrived to the scene fashionably late, as always, even though we had a hotel down the street from the venue and as always, the line to get in was hell.  We got in pretty quick, about 20 minutes, but some people were saying that it took them 2 hours to get in.  Once we got in we went straight to The HARD Stage where AraabMuzik was finishing up his set.   During this time I checked out the people in the crowd, the scene, as well as the the festival layout.  I wasn't impressed by anything, they had a couple carnival rides but thats about it, nothing I haven't seen before.  However, a good amount of people were dressed up for the occasion, Dia De Los Muertos skulls were the most common costumes.

Mariah Tauger / For the Times 

    8:00p our night finally gets going.  Jack Beats came on and they kind of killed it.  They put on a good set, a lot of dance music but nothing so awesome that it stood out.  We raged the outter area of the crowd the whole set.  I must be getting old because this is the first time we stayed on the outter perimeter of the crowd instead of hustling to get in the middle, center stage.  I liked it though, it gave us a lot of HAM space.  If you don't know, HAM space is the amount of room one has to go HAM while spectating a show in the crowd.  HAM meaning Hard As a Motherfucker made popular by Kanye West and Jay-Z's track "HAM" off of the Watch The Thrones album.  You know you have HAM space when you have room to jump around, shuffle, when people aren't bumping into you, and you can go crazy and wild but not bump into other people.  I've come to learn that HAM space is essential.

    Now I have to admit, the Mad Decent artists that performed at HARD were amazing.  That includes Zed's Dead, Major Lazer, Dillion Francis, and Diplo.  I really wanted to see Crookers' set because I heard it was their last live performance before Phra and Bot parted ways, but we saw the end of Kill the Noise and some Knife Party instead.  Don't get me wrong, Kill the Noise and Knife Party blew my mind.  Kill the Noise had the second or third best set of the night but I'm getting a head of myself.  So like I said earlier, Zed's Dead was amazing.  They threw down a mix heavily influenced by dubstep with some trap in it and a little rap.  Songs such as Cowboy had Omar on the mic but Rude Boy and Coffee Break didn't.  The blend was great.  They also played "Mercy" which I'm going to go ham to every time I hear it.  Over all the set was pretty awesome but it sounded A LOT like the set from the Mad Decent Block Party with some songs replaced.  Major Lazer was pretty incredible too I remember leaving and Niggas in Paris went on and my friend and I went crazy, we listened to that song on repeat when we went to Coachella so it brought back some memories.  It never gets old.

Mariah Tauger / For the Times 

    We headed to the Earstorm Stage.  Luckily we got their in time to see Kill the Noise close which was fucking incredible.  I've seen him a bunch of times and I wasn't impressed till this particular set.  I don't know what it is but the integration of trap music and hip hop has greatly influenced the EDM game, especially in Los Angeles.  Hip Hop has also attracted some EDM elements for itself too, it's a pretty interesting.  Although I hate it when I hear EDM on the radio.  Knife Party wasn't that great, we were in the back of the crowd with not a lot of HAM space.  But the last time I saw them I was front stage against the railing, pretty much as good as it gets.  We left a little early to catch some Dillion Francis who was amazing, I think I would've liked his set more if I saw the whole thing.  What I heard was pretty awesome though so I'll take what I can get.

Mariah Tauger / For the Times 

    The best set of the night, without a doubt, was Diplo's.  The perfect combination of dubstep, electro, hip hop, and trap.  Actually a lot of trap including a mix of Kanye West's "Clique" which was probably the best part of the night.  There was a lot of HAM space too so that helps make the experience better.  Diplo blew me away, there wasn't a point in his set were I wasn't moving or having a good time.  A lot of the people I talked to agreed, ranking his set as #1 for the night.   I really liked the whole feel of the LA scene because it houses a different EDM culture than its counter part San Diego.  The LA music culture incorporates a lot of hip hop and hard music and dubstep.  It's my favorite kind of music.  After the festival we went back to the hotel and got WEIRD. 

If I could add any artist to this festival, Bassnectar would have made it perfect.

I'll score this festivals based on 4 categories: venue, average performance, crowd energy, and overall experience.
Venue: 7
Average performance: 8.5
Crowd energy: 8
Overall experience: 8
In other words, I had a great time.

Here's how I ranked the performances:
#1: Diplo
#2: Kill the Noise
#3: Zed's Dead
#4: Major Lazer
#5: Knife Party