The same styles of EDM from last year seemed to dominate Beyond Wonderland this year. Mainly progressive house and various forms of bass music. I like a lot of both, but this mainstream shit sounds so manufactured. It’s like old people buying into infomercials, but at least they have an excuse (they’re old).
I know I sound like the typical music blogger bitchin about the mainstream, but I bring it up so someone will help me understand why people settle for this shit. There are just so many better alternatives. And a few were actually on side stages at Beyond. I guess the lack of awareness is the biggest problem.
So every year, since last year, we’ve put together a list of our favorite EDM tracks for Beyond. Since we’ve already covered house this year with our tropical house & deep house playlists, we decided to go for bass.
It does include deep house & electro funk, but we tried to highlight as much glitch & lazers & shit as possible. Just remember, bass is more for the feeling & dance than for the sound.
Bass Music 2014 tracklist
Jade Blue & Frequency – Lately
WDL – With Blood
Dead CAT Bounce & Hydrak – Nyctophilia
Disclosure x Friend Within – The Mechanism
Toxo – Need Your Love
Bassnectar & Seth Drake – F.U.N.
Slum Village – Fall In Love [Moody Good Remix]
J.A.C.K – Kids
MartyParty – Don’t Call Me Names (with Mimosa)
Leo – Twilight
ill-esha – Open Heart Surgery
Ben Negative – Love Come Down
Nero – Satisfy
Vodge Diper & Ragga Twins – Reggae Bass
[youtube]http://youtu.be/uQvkW1-dRtU?list=UUDDb9XAKuoiE05eYSt7nlJg[/youtube]
Wristband Adventures
Most music festivals distribute different colored wristbands for press & other VIP to get into various areas around the festival & backstage. However, with every festival I’ve gone to it’s been a mystery on what colored wristbands get you in where. So every time my photographer & I make it into a kind of game, seeing where we can legitimately & otherwise get into.
Beyond Wonderland was no different, except one minor thing. Usually my photographer gets into the photo pit, the part between the stage and the front row, but this time it was all me and I had a field day with it.
It’s like I was the next contestant on the Price is Right and I got to “come on down.” I swiped up my friend’s DSLR camera and worked the front row, pretending I knew what the hell I was doing. I did not. I remember at one point I was dangling from the front gate “to get the perfect angle.” I must have looked like such a fool, but it was fuckin fun lookin like one.
Sadly, I think I’m going to retire from photography right now, or at least until I take it more seriously. Out of the nearly thousand pictures taken the first day, not one was usable. I did better the second day. I used two.