Gallery Music Sunday Roast with Paul Oakenfold

October 20, 2010 - 11:02 am

Paul Oakenfold is considered to be one of the best DJs and remixers in the world.  He was the A&R rep who signed DJ Jazzy Jeff, the Fresh Prince, and Salt-n-Pepa.  He’s scored top box office films, toured with Madonna, and remixed early records for legends such as U2.  He’s toured all over the world and DJ’d in countless places, including the Great Wall of China.  He continues to break the boundaries of conventional dance music and is known for his individualistic style that dates back to his days spent in the Ibiza club scene.

Saturday night the Music Box was graced with the presence of Paul Oakenfold, as he brought his Facelift Tour to Los Angeles after a three year touring hiatus.   Accompanying Paul were special guests like Netherlands mixing hero Chuckie who warmed up the stage for Paul’s 2:30am to 4:00am set.  With a new studio album on the 2011 horizon, Paul treated fans to a road test of potential new material and showed off his legendary mixing skills amidst a laser light show cascading from a giant headset stage set.

Before his set, ChinaShop kicked it with Paul in his dressing room to discuss hot off the press topics such as his current obsession with the word fugly, Vegas vs. Ibiza, how to cook a proper Sunday roast, and his guilty TiVo-ing habits.

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Music Glitch Mob: Electronica 101

September 8, 2010 - 2:48 pm

glitch mob

The Glitch Mob is a trio of dudes from Los Angeles who played Sunday at the Redbull Music Academy Stage. Admittedly, I don’t keep up with the electronic music scene as well as I should so I had no idea who these guys were. As I approached the stage I had no intention of staying, listening, dancing, interviewing or taking portraits but I ended up doing all five.

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Music Electric Zoo: Party Animals Ready Set Go

September 1, 2010 - 2:30 pm

Electric Zoo

So we here at ChinaShop don’t know what your plans are for this Labor Day weekend but if you don’t have any or even if you do, cancel them quick and head out to the Electric Zoo, New York’s electronic music festival out on Randall’s Island.  There will be tons of music, interactive arts displays and plenty of eats to keep your dancin’ pants on all day.

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Music The Chemical Brothers “Swoon” the Hollywood Bowl

August 30, 2010 - 5:16 pm

Chemical Brothers at the Hollywood Bowl

August 29, 2010, they came, unleashed a firestorm, and left in a flash.

It was a perfectly bombastic and electrified night at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday. The Chemical Brothers were in rare form as they took to the stage for an insanely “up for it” crowd. Not known as dynamic performers, the seminal British electronic duo actually seemed rather excited about their Bowl performance – surprising those who experienced their rather lackluster 2009 DJ set at Coachella.

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Event Gallery Camp Hollywood Jitterbugs

August 24, 2010 - 9:37 am

While popular TV shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance have taken over the airwaves, a small but vital community of retro dance enthusiasts gather for an annual tribute to the bygone era of Swing with Camp Hollywood and the National Jitterbug Championships. Armed with my Cuban heels and stockings with seams up the back, I left the Converse at home and delved into the netherworld of Lindy Hoppers.

Highlights of the weekend included a Miss Camp Hollywood bathing beauty contest, and plethora of heated dance competitions for titles in swing styles like Balboa and Shag. But easily the wildest competition was the “anything goes” underground jitterbug challenge which erupted at 2am on the Saturday night!

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Music INNERPARTYSYSTEM Signs to Red Bull Records

August 23, 2010 - 6:12 pm

Innerpartysystem_-_Apple_Store

American dance group, INNERPARTYSYSTEM just signed to Red Bull Records. The creative  trio consists of Patrick Nissley, Jared Piccone and Kris Barman and has been making music you have probably heard and loved since 2007. Known mostly for their endearing and energetic remixes of such songs as ‘Hot N Cold’ by Katy Perry, ‘Don’t Trust M’ by 3OH!3 and ‘Human’ by The Killers, they have the ability to get your body moving on the dance floor.

In the Summer of 2009, the band announced on their official MySpace and Facebook pages that they had parted ways with their label, Island Records. They wrote, “There are some really amazing, overworked, underpaid, stressed out people who love music, working very hard there… and there are a handful of people who just didn’t really understand this band, and didn’t know how to react when ‘Don’t Stop’ wasn’t ‘Just Dance.’ Our bad there.”

In May of 2010 they self-released the EP American Trash, which exhibited a fresh and polished sound that made the industry perk up their ears. Their music is like a well blended cocktail of straight razors, motor oil, premium vodka and chewing gum. Its accessible, eclectic,  thumping, melodic masterpieces. Just last week they announced they signed to the ever growing roster on Red Bull Records out of Santa Monica, CA.

Have a listen and tell me what you think about their latest acquisition?

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Moody Mondays Moody Mondays: Mighty Mouse

August 23, 2010 - 8:41 am

Mighty Mouse

UK Producer duo Mighty Mouse felt like starting the week on the right foot.  Keeping true to their cinematic disco sound, the group hand picked some “blissful” gems for you to kick off this Moody Monday with a smile.

Every week we ask a person, or persons of note to pick a mood and then 5 songs that put them in that mood. See Mighty Mouse’s choice below.

Mood: Blissful

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Music Major Lazer: Guns Don’t kill people, Ladders Do

August 10, 2010 - 1:35 pm

Major Lazer

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Standard for portable ladders contains specific requirements designed to ensure worker safety when using portable ladders. #1926.1053(b)(4) States: Ladders shall be used only for the purpose for which they were designed. Shit! I swear, if any of you tell Skerrit Bwoy from Major Lazer that OSHA may frown upon his leaping through the air from said ladder and into the crotch area of his lady friend, I will turn this car around and no one will be getting a drop of MDMA. Not even you DJ Diplo.

Major Lazer

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Featured Gallery Music All Eyes on Flying Lotus: Hard Fest 2010

August 10, 2010 - 1:21 pm

I have photographed Steven Ellison, a.k.a Flying Lotus, 5 or 6 times in the past 2 years.  It was during the first set of his which I photographed that I noticed Flying Lotus had certain, “tell”, as they so call it in poker. Just before the baseline is to drop through the floor, into the basement and most likely end up in the water table, he would pause as if floating Wylie Coyote style in mid air. Just hovering there above his Eve bitten clamshell which contains the soles of well worn Samiyam 8-bit beats and most likely photos of a black tee clad Thom Yorke.

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Gallery Music Sex, Drugs, and Sunglasses: Hard Fest 2010

August 9, 2010 - 1:07 pm

A pupilometer is a device which is used by an ophthalmologist to test the response of a person’s pupil to visual stimuli.  Ya know that hole in your eyeball that a friendly police officer tends to enjoy shining a light in when you’ve had 2 or 16 beers. It’s been determined that the amount of dilation of the pupil in the eye can be proportional to the amount of particular interest in a subject.  The size of dilation indicates an increase in mental processes, but the speed of dilation can also be a sign of drug use or intoxication. I.e. Mr. Flashlight. HARD fest was this weekend in La-La land and I decided that this would be an opportune time to study this very phenomena my scientific self. But, with a camera flash.  The following gallery I believe will duly support my early hypothesis: I believe the crowd will be very into the show and thus pupils will be dilated to reflect said peeked interest. Either that or as one police officer in attendance relayed to me, “These f#@king kids are whacked out of their GD minds”…

party with sluts

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