We were raised on Dinah Washington. We love Dinah Washington. But it was the mix of her all time great This Bitter Earth done by Max Richter that reminded us of the haunting swell of her melody. Her voice is the memory of fireplaces, candle light, wine glasses and kissing in the rain. And then losing it all…Luxury lost and regained.
If you haven’t heard the newer version, mixed for the film Shutter Island, check it out below.
Be Yourself. Be Fearless. Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury.
Every now and then we find an artist, of any kind, that shakes the industry they’re in and reshapes the stereotypes and logistics recreating the rules and boundaries. DJ Dainjazone has done just that. After touring the world with LMFAO as their party rock dj, Dainjazone has learned and been able to craft a sound that is a mix of old school pop/hiphop into the overwhelming sounds of electric music; creating with it a new generation of sound and soul…which has absolutely blown our minds! Ladies and Gentlemen…we give you DJ Dainjazone…the leader of the new school!
The power to control music and the battle DJs ignited my passion. My initial interest was to be a battle DJ and do a few parties here and there. Something about turntablism struck a flame of desire to make the art form my own.
3. How did you come up with your stage name?
In the midst of becoming a battle DJ I was an avid listener of the rapper Big L. He has a song called “Danger Zone”. The verses and chorus made the name come to life. It was organic. Something hit me. I wanted a name that would sound intimidating in a battle. If a competitor said, “I have to battle Dainjazone next?” then maybe mentally he would be distracted and intimidated by the mere thought of the name and what it represents.
4. Tell us a bit about your DJ’ing skills. How are you different from everyone else?
My focused mind set isn’t comparing myself to other. Surely words and opinions can twist into a comparing scenario. My focus is delivering a sound that feels right. Our uniqueness defines us and for the critics it will help separate us from the norm. I don’t think its my skills that make me unique but rather my ideas. I take chances. I tell a story throughout the course of a night. An emotional roller coaster if you will.
5. What is something we wouldn’t know by looking at you?
I’ve read 50 Shades of Grey.
6. Tell us about your experience touring with LMFAO.
The experience is like no other. Touring is no joke. It’s a mental challenge that break you down if handled carelessly. I ended the tour mentally comfortable and at peace with my inner being. Building confidence was an exceptional learning experience. You have to express confidence and love for what you do. It relays and rubs off on the crowd. They will be inspired to have fun.
7. How were you introduced to LMFAO?
I went to high school with their manager’s, Ian Fletcher, baby-mama. Between her vouching for me and my DJ friend, Mikiwar, introducing me to him I was more or less introduced to LMFAO.
8. They have an incredibly unique sense of style and music. What have you learn from touring with them?
Responsibility, showmanship, delivery and music theory seem to pop in my head first. Partying with them, having a good time and dressing the part is easy.
9. What has been your favorite thing about touring internationally?
The learning opportunities. The knowledge I’ve acquired regarding knowledge of self, the tour lifestyle, music, controlling emotions, mental health and survival in four months has been intense, gratifying and rewarding.
10. What are 3 things you always have with you while traveling?
Laptop, clean underwear and Cazal glasses.
11. Who are your top 5 favorite musicians and why?
Tough question. In no particular order…
1. The Weeknd. His music is like no other. It may very well be timeless. The modern day Sade.
2. Michael Jackson. The best to do it. His music was consistent and for the most part a step ahead of its time.
3. Travis Barker. Watching him live is a joy. His passion and skill level is inspiring.
4. DJ Premier. His sound is unique and has inspired hip hop producers for over 2 decades. His work can put you in an inspiring hip hop trance.
5. Prince. He’s Prince.
12. If you could work with any musician, dead or alive, who would your top 3 be and why?
As a DJ I can only do so much for the musicians of the past so my focus would be geared to the hip hop generation.
1. Kanye West. I’m a fan of art and his ability combine art in general with art in music can’t be explained.
2. Chris Brown. He’s an incredible performer with hits. He’s successfully entertaining both markets of hip hop and house and those fields are what I enjoy mixing.
3. The Weeknd. I thoroughly enjoy his music and would love to be a part of his movement.
13. If you had to master another genre of music, which one would it be and why?
Funk. The music was live and it felt like there wasn’t a terrible track produced since labels and pressings were hard to come by. seemed like a fun era of music and the soul was alive and kicking.
14. How do you define sexy?
Confidence.
15. What do you think is the sexiest city? Club? Hotel? Club? Place to kiss?
Cannes, France is my personal favorite but the whole French Riviera is gorgeous. Liv in Miami is all around great. We stayed in so many sexy hotels in Europe. Hard to call it. The French Riviera seems fitting for the best place to kiss.
16. Tell us about New School Music and what inspired this concept?
Music forever changes. So do people, fashion, slang, etc. Moral, ethics and integrity doesn’t when it comes to quality business. As the new wave of talented DJs evolve, they need guidance. We need guidance. We don’t want the ego to steer us off course. Its easy to be arrogant these days since that’s what sells and where the focus is for marketing strategies. My success has proven that being yourself and owning integrity can lead to infinite possibilities.
17. What piece of advice would you give a DJ starting out his/her career?
Study every DJ including him or herself. Know who he or she is. Live right. Respect yourself and others. Speak well of others. Exercise mental toughness. Be ready for anything. What you do today sets up tomorrow.
18. What should we expect from your upcoming solo tour?
A unique delivery; Party Rock energy; amazing clubs; and a story for the dance floor.
19. What’s next for DJ Dainjazone?
I will ride out the remainder of the year as LMFAO’s tour DJ. In the midst of that ill be working w/ a talent agency that will get me involved in modeling and commercial opportunities.
20. What are your three simple luxuries?
Comfortable bed, power outlets and a shower.
Be Yourself. Be Fearless. Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury
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We are absolutely in love with Alesso’s newest hit Years Ft. Matthew Koma, which is rapidly moving up not only the European but also the US Dance charts. The song is both upbeat but also has a haunting sadness about it. Our favorite part of the track is the outro…but the whole song is amazing. Check it out and you’ll understand why it’s moving so quick up the charts. You’ll LOVE the first person video clips! Probably why he’s quickly becoming one of our favorites!
I actually had this poster hanging in my bedroom when I was in high school. We were all obsessed with The Cure back then and most of my girl-friends were obsessed with Robert Smith…why I’ll never understand. By today’s standards he’s so completely dark and brooding, the perfect boyfriend mix of eye liner and angst while wielding a guitar. The song Friday I’m in Love didn’t actually come out until 1992 when it was released on the Wish album, but I was already two years gone from high school so it’s strange that I remember this song from high school. While I’m not sure of the specifics, I am absolutely sure that we did listen to Boys Don’t Cry, Just Like Heaven and all of the other greats while we were in high school, driving around, leaving notes on boy’s cars that we liked and pouring syrup from pancake houses on the windshield wipers and door handles of cars of boys we didn’t like. Yes, we were quite the badasses of central Indiana with our punk rock concert tees and Doc Martins, cuffed jeans and thrift store sport coats.
Today, my friend Stephanie from high school commented on the flashback of The Smiths Girlfriend in a Coma, that I had written yesterday. “Oh wow. I can smell the wisp of cloves now…”, referring to our late fall and summer nights smoking clove cigarettes while signing the words to our favorite songs. It’s nice to know that some of my other friends remember those nights and those songs because there are still nights that I get into my car, light a cigarette and I’m 18 again. Actually, I don’t think some of us ever grow up. I don’t think I will. I refuse. You can’t make me!
Well…maybe at least not until I’m done listening to my old Cure albums…
Oh man do we love sweet musical magic! For those of you that don’t know what musical magic means, it is when incredible talented artists get together and create music, sweet and magical, transporting to a different world music.
This is the case with Calvin Harris’ latest hit Sweet Nothing. The international DJ teamed up with vocal power house, fashionista, and socialite Florence Welch to create a track that elevates any set to a higher level! And if this equation of talent wasn’t enough insert Tiësto who remixed the track to an absolute club jammer!
Porter Robinson & Mat Zo found time in between stops on their successful Language tour to bring us “Easy“, an excellent new tune. The track clashes Robinson’s recent addition of uplifting chord melodies (most notably on his festival hit “Language”) and near trademark thudding bass lines with Zo’s distinct synths and warm piano leads. The production on the vocal sample is executed flawlessly, filtering in & out paving the way for the track’s atmospheric breakdowns and euphoric drops. The groove is immense on this one, and will surely be on the festival circuit in the months to come. The collab is due out on Anjunabeats soon, but check out the preview below.
Think back to high school days, driving around with new friends, smoking cigarettes even though you don’t really smoke, talking political bullshit although you didn’t even know what you’re talking about. Walmart’s the man. The man has to be stopped. Who the fuck is the man? They get it in Britain you say. Britain…not England. Well…maybe London. All you know of London is Doc Martins and Big Ben and that they’re controlled by a Queen or some shit like that.
And then this chick in the front seat turns around and pulls her headphones off of her head and puts them on yours. Suddenly this song fills your ears and you’ve never heard anything like it before in your life. The voice is…amazing! Yet the whole time you’re trying to stay focused on this chick in the front seat blowing chewing gum bubbles so nobody notices you staring at her boyfriend. It’s a distraction…just a distraction.
Until you go into the music store the following week and ask for a tape from the band who sings about the girl in a coma. The lady at the counter, dressed in all black, laughs and walks you over to the Alternative section. The Smiths. She gives you a quick history lesson on The Smiths and Morrissey and then taps this tape…The Singles, all the while chomping on her chewing gum. What is it with these chicks and their chewing gum.
You buy the tape and go home, rummaging through your shit to find your older brother’s old Sony cassette Walkman. Man…they should bring back tapes.
You turn it on and BAM! Girlfriend in a Coma. You found it! You listen to it over and over until you have all of the words memorized, which takes about three times and then you listen to the rest of the tape. All night long you lay in bed, thinking about him driving that car and you listen to Morrissey’s words echo in your heart.
The next day at school you wear a safety pin through your pierced ear and you write The Smiths on your French folder with a thick, black Sharpie.
And for the first time…he smiles at you.
One of our all time faves…Girlfriend in a Coma!
Be Yourself. Be Fearless. Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!
Funny how music, like fashion, makes its way back into our daily lives and teleports us back to a night, week, event, minute, memory. As little kids we heard our parents jam to their favorite tunes and talk to their friends over drinks about their college years, weddings and parties they attended and little details about their lives when they were younger.
Last week the hit ABC show Revenge showcased Paradise Circus by Massive Attack and as we watched the closing caption of the episode, right away we were taken back two years ago to the gossip girl episode when Little J made it her mission to get Nate to love her.
The same song, because it’s so amazing…was played in both shows!
As lovers of music, good music, we couldn’t help but fall in love with this song. Its sexy and sensual, and it will forever bring the memories of nights ago when we sat on our couch and watched our favorite shows as they left us wanting more.
Check out this remix of the super sexy song:
Be Yourself. Be Fearless. Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!
Recently, we mentioned we were looking for guest bloggers on our site in the areas of style, music and pop culture reviews. Within days, several people contacted us stating an interest in working for us. This was actually more difficult than we thought because we wanted to find writers who had a similar voice as ours, share the same passion we do for the things we love and also lived a life according to our motto…Be Yourself, Be Fearless, Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury. Alberto Reyes was a perfect fit. Below is his first music review for us. We hope he will continue to write for us regularly and join us in attending music festivals and events, developing a strong voice in the music scene. If you also have an interest in being a guest blogger on our site writing about music, style or pop culture reviews, please contact us at info@raannt.com.
Rising EDM group, GTA might have a significant breakout hit on their hands with “Booty Bounce (Feat. DJ Funk)”! Being praised as “one of the biggest releases ever” on Mad Decent/Jeffrees by the label head himself, Diplo might guarantee it. The Miami-based duo are no newcomers to the EDM game and showcase their raw talent and keen ear for infectious beats on their new single. This track explosively combines an INCREDIBLY catchy and over the top vocal (try NOT to shimmy while singing “BOOTY BOOTY BOOTY BOOTY BOUNCE”) and a hard hitting bass drum that will leave you in dire need of a dance floor. Take a listen, grab the free download & get your booty bouncing!
Celia Cruz’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao will forever be one of our favorite songs. I remember the first time I heard it. We had been dating for a few weeks when Alex asked me if I wanted to go salsa dancing with he and his cousin Mya. This was long before my inception into Latino culture and I didn’t know anything about salsa dancing or Celia Cruz. We went to this small bar which had salsa dancing one night a week. It was absolutely packed. All of the men had their hair slicked back and all of the women were extremely well dressed in sexy, tight dresses and heels. When the DJ started playing the music he made an announcement that they were going to have a salsa contest. Alex informed me that he and Mya were going to enter the contest and he thought it would give me a good chance to see real salsa dancing from serious dancers because most of the people who would enter would be much better than he and Mya…he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Maybe it was the thick accent of Tequila and cologne or maybe it was the intensity of the heat from the dance floor, but sensuality danced around that room and as soon as they hit the floor, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. The song was Celia Cruz’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao. I had never heard the song before, but by the words being mouthed from almost everyone else in the bar, it was a well known song. I watched all of the dancers and their different styles move around the floor, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Alex. His cute butt moved quickly in his tight jeans and he spun Mya around and back again as they moved across the floor, so confident in their movement that it almost seemed like they were gliding on water. In one quick glance, he looked over at me and winked. I was in love.
Maybe because it’s the moment I realized I was in love with Alex or maybe it’s because the scene of that bar that night cemented in my heart forever a love of Latino culture, but I will never forget that song or how it felt that night to be standing in that bar. I’ve learned a lot in the last four years that we, as white America, could learn from Latino culture. They take pride in family, in appearance and in working hard. They know the difference between working and having a good time; and trying to do both at the same time. They teach their children at a young age the power of being friendly, thankful and pride in culture. Alex told me later that he had been salsa dancing for so long that he couldn’t remember the first time that his mom started dancing with him. Since that time, I’ve seen tons of little kids at family gatherings salsa dancing much better than I will ever dance.
They didn’t win the contest, but they should have. It doesn’t matter though, because every time I hear this song…I’m reminded of that love and all that I’ve learned from so many wonderful people in the last few years. Enjoy…besos!
Be Yourself. Be Fearless. Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury.
