For anybody heading to Florida for Miami Music Week, there is certainly a passel of parties to choose from — but may we suggest DJ Mag’s Miami Pool Party at the Sagamore Hotel in South Beach on Wednesday, March 20th? There are two good reasons to put this soiree on your itinerary — first, we’d simply love to have you, and second, the lineup is absolutely stacked, with the Dutch duo ANOTR joined by techno mainstay Joseph Capriati, Parisian house purveyor Chloé Caillet, rising South African-Guinean DJ AQUTIE and none other than this month’s cover star, the dance-music lifer Louie Vega. The veteran DJ and producer’s biography reads like few others, from his immersion in hip-hop’s beginnings in the Bronx to helping to popularize freestyle in the ’80s, from his solo productions and groundbreaking work with longtime partner Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez as Masters at Work and Nuyorican Soul, to his Elements of Life combo and beyond. Hell, the man has even performed at the Super Bowl. After four decades in the biz, he is busier than ever — where does he get the energy? — but he managed to squeeze in a long chat with DJ Mag to fill us in on all things Louie.
Home is where the heart is, they say — and for Bad Snacks’ sake, we hope that aphorism is true, as she’s had nine different homes in four separate states over the last seven years. The producer, performer and multi-instrumentalist has come to accept her peripatetic state, though, and the musical proof is in her new ‘Home Music’ EP, five tracks that hone in on what she calls “that centralizing theme of ‘comfortable’ house music — it’s like that sparkly thing without being too overly shiny.” She forgot to mention that it’s also a fab listen.
As always, you’ll find lots more in between the covers, including chats with T.Willams and with Voices From The Lake’s Donato Dozzy and Neel, pages of tech news and reviews, and tons more. See you in (hopefully) sunny Miami!
Bruce Tantum
Editor