Random Circuits

Happiness is an elusive concept that most struggle to attain but never do. This last year has probably been the unhappiest in my measly 21 years of life. So I decided to go all out and enjoy myself during the little break we got from med school. Usually when people in Dominican Republic take a vacation they go to one of the various beaches. I landed on Bavaro, which resides about three hours from my new home in Santo Domingo. I went looking for adventure – I had no plans and no hotel – and oh did I get it! I arrived on Friday and randomly ended up at a weird rave in the middle of nowhere where they played terribly bleepy techno for 8 hours until sunrise. That got annoying fast, but the bar tender let me stay the night (or the morning) at his apartment, which was right on the beach, so it was worth it. I slept for a few hours, ate lunch, and then headed to the beach with a bottle of Something Special. My friend and I found this insane place called Soles Bar, where they were playing choice House music. They played a ton of the tracks we have posted on RC such as that Radio Slave remix of ‘Dead Souls’ that Joe posted. I had previously been living in the boring state of Florida for a while and so the entire 6 hours I was there felt like Heaven. Beautiful beach, beautiful music, beautiful girls dancing in bikinis, well the most important part was that the people enjoyed the music. I felt connected for the first time like I belonged somewhere.

After that ended we went to this HUGE event at Huracán. It was AMAZING! If you could imagine every beautiful girl you’ve ever seen whether it be in person or a celebrity and put them all in one place it wouldn’t hold a candle to this party. Danny Howells, from London, was the main DJ and I would have to say the music was decent, not as good as at Soles, but there were mind boggling moments. My favorite track was probably ‘Sex Vibe’. Wow I never realized how powerful that track is. About 100% of my listening is done at home. When I saw about 10,000 kids losing their shit over this I instantly knew why it has been so popular recently. Another interesting one was ‘Bricolage’, albeit I found it hard to dance to even though I love it. We left at 8 AM, but I didn’t want to leave. I usually prefer the shows with 500 or less people, but the place and the people were just amazing. The sunrise over the teal/light blue water was spectacular. It was paradise. Now I am going through withdrawal and I am back to my disconnected self again. Here is to momentary happiness and the best vacation I’ve had in my short life!

Since I’ve been absent for so long here’s a handful of tracks I’ve been listening to the past few weeks:

Juan Maclean – Happy House (Lee Douglas Remix) [DFA; 2008]

To continue with the alliteration, HOT! I don’t need to say anything more just look at the track title.

Jackmate – Male Kicks [Philpot; 2008]

Beautiful drumming combined with resonating chords. This track is not just a tool. It is substantially charismatic enough to steal your girlfriend.

Alejandro Vivanco – Rojo Pomodoro [Andes; 2008]

“Pomodoro” is a Spanish word with Italian origin that means “tomato”. It is a particularly interesting word because the translation literally means “golden apple”. This is because the variety of tomato that was first introduced to Europe was a yellowish color. His organic sound is attributed to his most influential subject matter – nature. Vivanco flipped the script on this one and gave us a dark powerful track that makes a nice contrast to his beautiful ‘Madre Tierra’. But what is it about a red tomato that makes it so ominous?

Exercise One – Ceremony [Mobilee; 2008]

As expected, more greatness from Mobilee. This is the B-side to the Intensity release, which I found more rewarding. Killer bass beat.

Bookmark It