I recently dropped a secret poll on a handful of people who are in the scene asking them what they thought the best and worst of what’s going on here in New Mexico. This year’s the categories included
Best/worst single
Best/worst album
Best/worst mix
Best/worst party
Best/worst promotion crew
Best/worst club
Most played out genre
Genre of the year
Anything you’d like to give special mention to
Because of the massive number of singles and albums that come out each year, there really wasn’t a clear leader when it came to these categories, however, the category narrowed down when it came to local mixes and events going on, and a few clear patterns emerged.
The responses were edited for brevity, and partially for content, only to make them as anonymous as possible.
Please feel free to add your own best and worst of in the comment section below.
(Edit: I am still receiving vote’s for the best and worst of 07, however, Editor Betty and I will be heading out of town to celebrate New Years which necessitates posting this a bit early. The rest of the best and worst of 07 will be posted soon)
Best and worst singles of the year
Best:
-Deadmaus 5-Passing time
-Specimen A – Freak In Us Ft Miss Trouble, Rock this House and Beat Assassins – We Run Tings / Play the game
-Sasha- Park It In The Shade
Worst:
-Electro All-stars-POP music
-PLUMP DJS - SYSTEM ADDICT / DOPPLER (FINGER LICKIN)
-Mrs. Brittany- More Brittany Please
Best and worst Albums of the Year
Best:
-Ils - Paranoid Prophets - (BOTCHIT & SCARPER) and Ed Solo & Skool of Thought - Random Acts of Kindness (KILOWATT)
-Ferry Corsten-L.E.F.
-Colette- Push
Worst:
-Deep Dish- “George is On”, I was really disappointed with this album. I had high expectations from the kings of progressive/house and found the material to be a poor electro house pop with absolutely no soul.
-The new Beastie Boys
-Modeselektor- Happy Birthday
Best and worst Mixes of the Year
Best:
-Fabric22 Mixed and Compliled by Adam Beyer- OHHHH MMMYYYY GGGGOOOODDDDD by far one of the BEST MIXES EVER!!!!!! Came out in 2005 though, but what ever
-The Rev - 3 degrees below
-Steve Lawler-Music choice june 2007 mix
-Karmasuture- Educated
Worst:
-DJ Venom November 2007 promo mix
-Karmasuture - Educated
-the most annoying mixes were pretty much anything dubstep
Best and worst Parties of the Year
Best:
-ISIS …..did a wonderful job at trying to bring back what events used to be. A lot of mistakes but a definitely learned a lot. 2nd Best- Family Ten Year.
-The Sagittarius party v4.0 : : 12.08.07/SANDRA COLLINS & LEE COOMBS @ Sound Therapy-9/27
-Celestial Sessions 1
-Nick Terranova
Worst:
-Starkillers- The venue was awesome but absolutely nothing was done with it, the talent was talentless, and was that of a pop concert. 2nd Worst- Blaze but that was due to my security shutting me down 15 minutes into my set.
-Satellite funk (Vic/wack shake productions) Local Weeds - (Party Crashers)
-Maui Waui
-Too many to name this was a shitty year in NM as far as parties go.
-Anything at the 2nd street warehouse
Best and worst Promotion crew of the Year
Best:
-Zodiac/Get Loose/Family
-Family moons Zodiac entertainment
Desert Moon
-Party Crashers: They kept them coming this year
Worst:
-Future Beats (the Starkillers Promoters)- I find them a poor excuse for promoters and equal them to about as low as Vic and ANY of the 2nd St. Warehouse people. 2nd Worst- Santa Fe Music Festival promoters- they were scum and had no respect for the local artists. Technical riders were not honored and payments were short
-Wack shack… I’m not sure of the name of there production… Fresh beat entertainment… ( I asked to get paid and I almost got beat down with fresh beat). I feel these crews lack any real integrity in what the scene is really about.
-PSD
-Whack Shack
-P$D: I just can’t get behind a promotion crew with a $ sign in there name
Best and worst Club of the Year
Best:
-Pulse (RIP)- Hands down the longest running and consistenly decent club around.
-Club 7 for the fact that it is well kept and they have a pretty good sound system…
-Club 7
-Club 7: Only club with a real system
Worst:
-Gotham- Too damn violent.
-Gotham night club is the worst. Every time I walk in to that place it feels and looks run down and I feel like I have to watch my back because of the shady security team and the crowd it has on a regular basis.
-The District
-Whack Shack
-Suace and Raw: The management has no idea what the hell they are doing with such a great venue
Genre of the Year
-Progressive House/ Breaks (all subgenres)
-Electro Trance
-Minimal
-Dubstep
-Techno: Made a massive comeback and it’s still moving forward
Most Played out Genre
-Electro House
-Electro House. The sound is very borderline and everyone and there mom plays it to some extent…Breakbeat has also had lots of play this year but the sound is in a constant evolution therefore I feel its “Played out” status is nill.
-Breaks
-I think this year there was not one genre that was played out, at least on the underground level
-Electro House
-DubStep: It’s the Trance of DnB
Special Mention
“Partysmart is on its way back, we just have to be patient.”
“I would like to say this has been a great year for New Mexico. So many big things have happened and I am very grateful for all the wonderful people that are in our community. I am often enlightened by the smile’s I see at all the events and the people motivate me to keep doing big things for New Mexico. Here are the people who should be mentioned-Party Crasher Mike, Adrack, Scott, Javi, Bowra, Niles, Natalie, and all the hundreds of party kids who keep this scene going.”
“JOB is back and I am happy about it!”
“I think Albuquerque has come a long way. (There are) a lot more parties, and some new promoters trying to bring in some great acts. However, the scene still needs to be more open minded about new music. I personally remember when electro was looked down on, 8 months later, it’s what everyone is playing. I kind of pride myself on getting into new music. My last set was pure techno/ progressive. I don’t think anyone really got it. Of course 8 months from now, it’s all you’re going to hear. By then I and some other DJ’s will move on to the next sound.
There is a lot of negativity here. I can’t figure out if it’s because people are really that negative, or just trying to be bastards for shits and giggles. Yes, there are some crap promoters, crap DJ’s and crap events. Everyone focuses on that. People also focus on shit from the past… wayy too much.
By that I mean this. People focus on what bad things people have done and said. They never let it go. They also focus on events gone by, websites, genres, and “the way it was”. They hold on to it for dear life, and then subsequently alienate anyone who looks forward, or enjoys this with new eyes.”
