Yes the Winter Music Conference was great; amazing music, even better people. The weather was excellent and it was soooo nice to let loose without any responsibilities other than to remember to sleep and eat. But as I become more involved in the scene – and increasingly jaded I guess – I start to see things with a more critical eye.

It was ANOTHER year of technical difficulties. So many venues had shotty sound. I know Miami doesn’t have a strong House scene outside of conference, but this week comes around every year, with much, much notice, you figure the venues would give the promoters a hand and ensure the set-ups are absolutely perfect when these world-class events go down.

And holy shit, aren’t you totally sick of paying $8 for water and $10 plus for drinks? I know there’s a free pour policy down south, but someone has to tell South Beach that more doesn’t necessarily mean better… like I don’t need a Flintstone sized helping for every meal either!

Don’t get even get me started on the fact the city doesn’t recycle… soooo gross!!

But enough of the bickering - I’ll save that barney’s blazes (coming soon) - the week really was awesome, with so many long lasting memories and friendships made once again. Here are some day by day highlights of bringthebeats’ WMC ‘08.

Day 1 – gallery

>> Finally hearing Amsterdam’s DJ Fountain live and in person at the Proton meet and great at Jafar. Jeroen and his Epicurious partner Rogier are top shelf dudes through and through.

>> I’m amazed how the 80’s never fail to get a crowd going and when it’s Danny Howells dropping the hits, it adds the extra flare required at the WMC.

Day 2 – gallery

>> The Sex on Wax / Canada Loves Miami crew showed mega class by rotating established DJs and emerging artists all day. Seeing how pumped Tom Morgan was after following up Jody Wisternoff and setting up Desyn and Omid put a huge smile on my face all night… the kabillion drinks I had that day probably helped too.

>> Alex Fish and Noah Becker had the sweet ass condo of the week. The Holosound crew was our fav of ’08 and their set in the lobby of The Shelly created the sloppiest night of the conference ($50 glasses of whiskey…ouch!).

Day 3 – gallery

>> Believe it or not, we actually made it to the beach. It lasted all of a half hour, but who keeps track of time during conference?

>> Even some pretty heavy duty sound issues at the Discoteca party at Jafar couldn’t diminish the great times created by the many, many friends that came out to support. I won’t even try to name them all, but a huge thanks to everyone who stopped by and made the first Disctoeca party in Miami well worth an encore.

>> We hit up Ewan Pearson at the Resident Advisor gig in the back room of the Pawn Shop. Incredible tension over three to four tracks and then nuclear missile bombs, one after another, blowing the bottom right out from underneath us. Dark music that’s still dance music… very tough to find nowadays.

>> The SOS party picked up mid way through the night, after some - yeah you got it - sound problems. But once things were sorted, the floor really began to bounce. The vibe was extraordinary all night, it’s these mega events that make the WMC so addicting.

Day 4 – gallery

>> What can be said of Ruby Skye’s Sasha and Digweed boat cruise? The two best DJs, the conference’s coolest looking people, a picturesque environment, alone worth the trip to Miami.

>> Luke’s hour and a half at Tantra was the most energetic of the week. The place was packed, the music was pumping and the floor was jumping; A Luke Fair blaze like only he can put together.

>> Nikki Beach at 4am on the Friday of conference… sketchy!!!

Day 5 – gallery

>> Porterhouse brings out the best people every year. Ora is a wicked space, Luke and Steve Porter were great, but we missed Ricky Ryan more on this night than at any other time all week. Like you said bro, we’ll meet again when all is right.

>> We ended the conference in absolute style at the Shelborne and the Hope 10-year anniversary party. The vibe in both rooms was magical. Missing 16 Bit Lolita’s is my only regret of the night, but you can’t dwell on things missed in Miami. Jody, Hybrid, Nick Warren and Dave Seaman were all fantastic. The best way we could wrap it all up, no doubt.

For one reason or another weren’t given too many promo CDs this year. However, one in particular is pretty amazing and I have to thank my dear friend Michelle for hooking me up with it.

Sasha’s promo for The emFire Collection: Mixed, Unmixed & Remixed is another step forward in technology for an artist that has always been on the cutting edge. The un-mastered collection of remixes and original versions of Sasha’s newest productions, which also includes a 40 minute film score that was featured in a surf documentary, has an embedded technology that restricts its use within a CPU system.

The CD can’t be ripped; it won’t even play on a computer system. Of course there may be ways around everything in the computer age, but I thought this was very intriguing include on what was already a monumental find. Thanks again Penny, I owe you BIG TIME!!

It wouldn’t be bringthebeats if we didn’t offer a download somewhere within this post so instead of digging into what we received at conference, we’ll pass on a set we obtained post WMC.

It’s become a tradition for Naveen G to release an after conference mix to encapsulate the inspiration of the week. The ’08 version is just as impressive as last year’s, a set which we were all over long into ’07. We were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Naveen, his brother and their entire crew this year, top notch mates in all aspects.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Naveen G - Post WMC Mix 2008

Finally a huge thanks to the Toronto Massive, most of which who are not from Toronto anymore, but continue to possess a cool and calm demeanor and maintain the energy and stamina that makes us one of the slickest crews on South Beach every year.

And to everyone who we spent time with throughout the week, thanks for your kindness and inspiration. We’ve tried to stick to a two years on, one year off policy, but because of your phenomenal energy and kindness, it’ll be tough to stay away and not make it three in a row in 2009.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Reviews, What's Going Down. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.