THE DROP: Trevor Martin’s Halloween mix keeps it spooky

Halloween is over a month away, which gives you just enough time to digest Trevor Martin‘s latest mix, MARTIN: This is Halloween.

The 70 minute mixtape is perfect for All Hallows’ Eve, both lyrically and sonically. As we’ve become accustomed from his live sets, Trevor bobs and weaves across genres, seamlessly mixing punk, metal, hip hop, and EDM of all flavors – sometimes in one edit. His remix of Lil Jon’s “Get In Get Out” adds the industrial grind of Ministry before turning into crunkstep with a touch of Rusko. Similarly, Waka Flocka and Deftones is a match made in Hell that only Trevor would think of.

There’s plenty of stuff from Trouble & Bass (and friends), a necessity for anything Halloween-themed. Little Jinder’s “Youth Blood” is a perfect fit for our vampire-obsessed culture, and anything by Deathface is a no-brainer.

Like any punk worth his ink, Trevor includes plenty of rawk: Danzig, Sick Of It All, and even Dio show up in between more dancefloor-ready material. It’s a testament to his skill that none of it feels out of place.

So check out the mix, before I start making trick or treat puns. And pay attention for some surprising drops that I won’t spoil here.

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Tracklist after the jump.

Trevor Martin – MARTIN: This is Halloween

Lil Jon – Get In Get Out (Trevor Martin New World edit)
Usher – Hot Tottie (Edit)
Waka Flocka/Deftones – On My D*ck Now (138 Edit)
12th Planet & Datsik – Open Your Eyes/On My D*ck (138 Blend)
Symble – Meet Me Outside
We Bang – Smash The Floor (Edit)
Lil Jon/Diplo – U Don’t Like Me (Heroes and Villians Remix )
DJ Khaled – All I Do Is Win (Trevor Martin‘s Quick Edit)
Jinder – Vampire (12th planet and Flinch Remix)
Underdawg vs. AfroJack – Watcha Say
Flinch – Midnight Hustle (Udachi Remix)
Heart Attack – Switchblade (Jonny Blaze Remix)
Hyper Crush – Ayo
WTF/Dead Prez – It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop (Sidney Samson Remix)
Chapter House – We Are The Beautiful
AC Slater – Transatlantic Riddim
Janes Addiction – I Would For You (edit)
AC Slater – Calm Down
Horx Ft Redman – Shut The Lights Off (Adam F & Sigma Remix)
Gorilla Zoe – Hood N***a (DJ Baddmixx Remix)
The Cure – Want
DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince – Nightmare on My Street
Fat Boys – Ready for Freddy
Danzig – Long Way Back From Hell
Placebo – Infra-red
Mos Def – Boogieman
The Used – Buried Myself Alive
At The Drive-In – Enfilade
Sick Of It All – Scratch The Surface (138 Hands Up Edit)
Craig Mac/Biggie Smalls – Flava In Your Ear
Fabolous – Breathe
Dr. Dre/Ice Cube – Natural Born Killaz
Dr. Dre/Snoop – Deep Cover/Murder Was The Case
Kanye West/Nicki Minaj- Monster
Dio – Holy Diver
Drop Top – Machete (High Rankin Remix)
Deathface – The Horror
DMX – Damien III
Goofee – Flow (Torro Torro Remix) Bill Fold’s Fr33ky Moombahton Edit
Proxy – Raven (Skinny Friedman Moombahton Remix)
Nadastrom – Sabina Moombahton
The Cure – Burn
45 Grave – Party Time (Zombie Version)
Red House Painters – Lord Kill The Pain

KEEPIN’ THE FAITH an enormous success and the best DC DJ night of 2010.

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Government Issue – Plain to See (Stereo Faith Intro) Trevor Martin’s HUGE night closer!

There are indeed occasions where words cannot effectively cover how massive something was. Many say the key to journalism is to efficiently use wordplay to be able to conjure images that make actions come to life. I don’t think those words exist to describe last night. If you gave of yourself entirely, gave in to the concussive impact of the U Street Music Hall Soundsystem, and found the cause for the event right and just, then you literally felt every emotion music allows humanity to feel. In six hours, kingpin selectors ALL played sets that were ethereal, sublime and completely and undeniably the best of their kind heard in the city all year. When asking every single DJ to a man what propelled this destructive blast of soulsonic force out of them? They all had the same answer: “I had to go in for Steve.” Stone, deadfaced serious each and every time. The delirium caused by the level of excellence of these sets proved an undeniable fact to be true. Steven McPherson, aka DJ Stereo Faith is maybe one of the best dudes ever in underground music. If we harness the force of sound and human energy contained in U Street Music Hall last night, there’s no doubt that not only will Stereo Faith overcome his brain tumor, but he will come back renewed, with a vigor and excellence never before seen or heard.

All of the folks came out. Taxlo’s Simon Phoenix and Cullen Stalin. The Brick Bandits/Mad Decent afilliates Dirty South Joe, DJ Sega and Guns Garcia. Crossfaded Bacon’s Uncle Jesse. The Nouveau Riche crew. Tabi Bonney. Representatives of every major clothing brand, venue and independent record label in the Northeast. Nobody’s a celebrity on the underground, but game recognize game and all respect all. It was an event for the ages for a man of all time.

Will Eastman opened huge with some punk rock. Jerome Baker played classic house, then Scottie B started to make things serious. Scottie plays these house sets every week at the party he curates at Bmore’s Metro Gallery with Cullen Stalin that are so great that you almost want to feel depressed that you got into the party for free. Scottie’s excellence is so understated, his style so impeccable that you lose sight of how magnificent he is at what he does because it doesn’t slam you over the head, but instead causes your feet to dance for themselves.

Speaking of, I thought Dave Nada had forgotten how to punch people in the face with bass and pistol whip them with rhythm during a set. The Nadastrom combination has in many ways smoothed out Dave’s edges and taught him how to harness his never-ending desire to cause criminal and passionate energy from playing club music. Last night, homie threw down the gloves and engaged a throng of people ready to wild out in a musical battle of Survival of the Fittest that he won. It felt like being transported back to Krunk for an hour. Dave’s club edit of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” fell into classic Blaqstarr, which headbutted KW Griff and Porkchop which piledrove DJ Class and elbowed DJ Booman and Diamond K in the face. The hardcore fanatic came back out to play last night, and, yeah. When it comes to club music, Nada’s still got it.

On any other night, that set would be the star. But Jesse Tittsworth is one of the owners of the venue, and there was absolutely no way he would be upstaged. Tittsworth cut his teeth as a DJ on drum n bass and hip hop. Therefore, it goes without saying that in going back to his roots, those would be the hallmarks of his excellence for the night. Tittsworth looked like a kid at Christmas spinning the obscenely percussive music, as always engaging in an epic battle of fisticuffs with the bass register of the U Hall soundsystem. Last night was a time for mainstream club folks who have never been to U hall to get a taste of what the room has to offer, and I think that when the sound waves from the bass began to make people’s hair stand on end and skin begin to vibrate, and nothing was lost in the quality and levels of the sound, people were shocked, amazed, and kept on dancing. When the lights hit these people in a certain manner, it appeared to be a sea of psychedelic drones descending upon the DJ booth. It was proof that the sound has a possibility of truly making converts in the musical mainstream, and was utterly amazing.

Trevor Martin and Jerome Baker III stood up and became superhuman last night. Neither did anything particularly different than what they usually do, Martin holding down the mainstream spots and Baker one of the crown princes of “jiggy” posh locales around town and cruise ships as well (so serious, he just did a tour as a DJ on a cruise ship). Given the nature of the event and the hyperkinetic energy of the room, Martin and Baker proved that mainstream club style, when delivered by spinners who know what they are doing, can read a crowd, not let the energy dip, and take risks (Baker dropped Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” AND Darude’s “Sandstorm”), can make phenomenal feats of magic overwhelm a crowd.

It’s often been said in this gestation period for U Street Music Hall that the venue can’t be everything to everyone. Well, what if you’re honoring someone who already is. I guess for one night, it’s possible to make an exception to the rule.

SEAL OF APPROVAL: (DC) $WEAT$HOP ft. DJ Sega & DJ Lil’ Elle @ 9:30 CLUB BACKBAR – 7/23/10

It’s the fourth Friday of the month, which means one thing: it’s time for the ultimate late night party option, $weat$hop. Hosted by residents Trevor Martin and Jackie O, $weat$hop always promises top DJ talent in the subterranean, speakeasy-esque Back Bar.

Tonight is a prime example, as Trevor and Jackie are joined by DC tastemaker-in-chief Lil’ Elle and Philly’s #1 Brick Bandit, DJ Sega. Just when you think you’ve debauched enough, carefully make your way down the stairs at 815 V St NW with $5 and an appetite for boozy slushies and body shaking bangers.

Sega always brings it, like he did back in April at Sonar with Kid Sister, and catching one of his sets at a bar as tiny as this one is a treat. And we (hardly) ever miss an Ill Element or KIDS, where Lil’ Elle regularly gets crunk. Tonight should be no different.

THE DROP: DC’s DJ Billfold wants to help lead a DC Dubstep Revolution – Mort Par Vacille Mixtape

  Mort Par Vacille (Death By Wobbles) by Dj Billfold 

And so it begins. Dubstep’s wildly popular these days. Even on this very site, we have Chris Kelly’s “Dubstep Dossier” on Thursdays to simply handle the ridiculously high level of new and noteworthy content dropping daily. Reflecting the popularity of the sound, and attempting to create a level of familiarity and comfort with it is the goal of DC’s up and coming DJ Billfold, tattoo artist by day and wobbling bassline fiddler by night. His “Mort Par Vacille (Death by Wobbles)” mix likely has the illest name of a dubstep mix to date, and features some of the DJ’s personal favorite tracks, not simply just a rundown of the blawggg favorites of the day. This attempt by Billfold to dig into the depths of the grime and muck of deep bass is appreciated, and creates a solid foray by the young DJ into the sound.

Keep an eye on Billfold’s Death By Wobbles blog. Also, you can check for yourself to see if Billfold’s worth the hype as he spins at Trevor Martin and Jackie O’s “Sweatshop” party Friday night. He’s cosigned by none other than Trevor himself, so, on that recommendation, we’re inclined to tell you to give him a listen as well.

SEAL OF APPROVAL: Welcome to the Jungle! Marcus Dowling’s 32nd Birthday Party! – Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar – 4/24/10

Yes, I’m giving my own birthday party a seal of approval. No, I’m not being a sanctimonious, self-promoting jerk, either. On Saturday night, I celebrate my recently passed 32nd birthday. Trevor Martin is spinning. The dude is criminally slept on and always knows how to spin a dope party. Hip hop, electro, rock, R & B, Top 40, Trevor’s your guy. Want girls dancing on bars? This is your guy for that, too. It’s a documented fact.

http://www.youtube.com/v/o1tj2zJ2Wvg&hl=en_US&fs=1&

What I’m doing here is merely stating that this party begins audacious times here at True Genius Requires Insanity. See, on Friday, we at TGRIOnline.com are going to kill the insular, reduced to a high school popularity contest, misguided, worthless beast known as “hipster culture.” In doing so, we’re starting a culture of embracing yourself, and embracing what you love, and feeling no angst or pressure in doing so. To that end, we’re bringing back our quarterly excellence in rock decadence “Over the Edge,” and introducing a new quarterly party, “Friends,” a party that will celebrate, yes, TEEN POP MUSIC. It’s time to get back to basics, it’s time to back away from the Pitchfork, back away from the remixes, back away from the hottest blawggg hausse, and remember what life was like before we even knew how or what being cool, trying to be cool, or what even defined all of that. Sure, we’ll return back to that, as it’s still going to be there, and will still be evolving at an entirely too quick rate of speed, but let’s remember what got us there, and hopefully reclaim a bit of ourselves. The world keeps spinning faster and faster. I’m going to back away and relax for a second. Do come and join me…

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VISIT FACEBOOK INVITATION

SEAL OF APPROVAL: (DC) $WEATSHOP feat. JONNY BLAZE @ 9:30 CLUB BACKBAR – 2/26/10

 

Jonny Blaze is one of the more heroic figures of the folklore of Baltimore Club music. A 20+ year veteran, Jonny is one of the original party starters of the genre, a man who always cuts his own path and does things with his own unmistakable style. He’s a straight up, no chaser kind of performer who will leave his hear spinning on the turntables in order to get you to move. We’ve covered his decision now to start making club music more geared towards religious themes and overtones, as he’s decided to keep the energy that provided us with “Head, Tits and Ass” and other salacious club hits, but move them in a far more religious direction. First single “Here We Go” from his forthcoming album is a Charleston hopping religious celebration with Blaze FINALLY on the mic. Expect more of the same tonight, as the club legend has promised us here at TGRIOnline that he’s “gonna make us dance, and take us to church!” 

On the same billing as per usual with $weat$hop are the consistently grinding electro party queen DJ Jackie O, always seemingly fresh from a big travel gig on the East Coast, and DJ Trevor Martin, who simply put, rocks bamas and makes Becky go nuts and forces Chad to watch his girl. He’ll bring the bass and the top 40 and is easily one of the more talented and versatile DJs in the city. He even spun our inaugural All Killer No Filler party. Homie’s a beast. Local indie rapper Blake 9 completes an absolutely stacked bill for the party at the small club with one of the cleanest sounding sound systems in the city.

RECAP: FEEDBACK @ DC9, 2/13/10

Monthly, weekly, or one-off, DC has plenty of DJ nights and dance parties. If you attend as many as the crew here at TGRI, they mostly start to blend together. This was not the case on Saturday, for a very special pre-Valentine’s Day edition of Feedback Dance Party at DC9. Turns out we gave it the Seal of Approval for a reason.

Taking over for Feedback host Stereo Faith (who had his hands full across town at Sutra) were kindred spirits and frequent collaborators James Nasty, Andrew Jaye, and Trevor Martin. Collectively known as the 1.21 Jiggawatt Soundsystem, Nasty and Jaye started the night with truly classic jams guaranteed to get the floor moving. Feedback is fast becoming a dance party where you can drop the pretension and bullshit of going out, and say, “Yes, I will be dancing to Marky Mark and Right Said Fred. So what?”

After double teaming the decks for a bit, Trevor Martin joined the fun, doing what he does best, mixing everything from Modest Mouse to Biggie to Miley Cyrus (yes, Miley Cyrus). At some point, somebody played Ke$ha and Lady Gaga back-to-back, and the crowd ate it up (with a few exceptions).

Feedback is known for combining top DJs with amazing live performers, and Saturday was no exception, with DC’s Roll Wit Us All-Stars dropping a killer set. The mission of Malik Starx and Mr. Cliff is right there in the name: the duo is determined to get the party moving, whether rapping over club beats by Tittsworth or G-funk cuts brought back from a recent trip to the City of Angels. A highlight of the set was a freestyle cypher with fellow DC rapper Ardamus. Don’t sleep on the Roll Wit Us All-Stars: their combination of lyrical prowess with a party-friendly attitude portends big things in 2010.

The night evolved – or devolved, if you prefer – into pure madness when James Nasty started playing Baltimore club, from classics (“Doo Doo Brown”) to exclusives (“Let me c wat you got”). If you still haven’t seen this man do his thing, you either need to get on 95 and hit the Ottobar for his Moustache Dance Party or wait until he returns to DC. Or better yet, both.

SEAL OF APPROVAL: (DC) FEEDBACK @ DC9 – 2/13/10

This event has been identified by TGRIOnline.com as a QUALITY event this weekend on the DC/Bmore social calendar!

DJ Stereo Faith’s Feedback Dance Party at DC9 has had a terrific past 12 months in bringing crowds the most exciting blends of top DJs with national trending, but local DC talent. US Royalty and Tabi Bonney have rocked the stage to raucous crowds expanding across cultures, making the party a true amalgamation of what ultimately makes the growth of DC’s underground party scene one of the more unique stories in the constant redevelopment and expansion of the national underground party scene.

Stereo Faith also now rocks a giant party at Adams Morgan’s Sutra, DC’s newest restaurant/lounge, so it would appear as if he’s sharing the reigns for this night with three of the most consistently entertaining DJs in the DC/Bmore area, Andrew Jaye, Trevor Martin and James Nasty. You’ll know all three from TGRIOnline.com’s “All Killer No Filler” parties (which WILL be returning, keep your eyes open!) thrown with our friends at TheCouchSessions.com and the presently dormant Glass House in September and October. Trevor Martin and Andrew Jaye are musical encyclopedias with deep libraries and more than enough skill between them to know how to weave a crowd through the finest in hip hop, dance, electro, bass, house, disco, funk and soul. And James Nasty is likely the hottest and most underrated DJ DJing pure, old school dipped Baltimore Club, alongside a love of go go, hip hop and yes, it’s been seen to be believed, slow jams.

Performing with them are TGRIOnline.com faves the Roll Wit Us All Stars, the Howard alums who with their polished and engaging stage presence, party rhymes and dance ready production are quietly and assuresly becoming the most buzzed about act in this and many other cities nationwide. Their “Girl You Know What’s Up,” produced by Tittsworth with remixes from the aforementioned James Nasty and California’s Ekue will be part of their soon to be released EP.

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With free entry and free Vodka and Red Bull before 10, come in, warm up from the temperatures and melting snow, and get your cabin fever blasted away!

P

RECAP: OVER THE EDGE

(ed. note: You may notice there are no pictures here. I’m not apologizing. You missed out. Other sites will absolutely have tons of pics of the tomfoolery and chicanery that went down. But TGRI? We won’t. Because if you were there, the pics will do NO justice, and if you missed it, we’re not going to even feel bad for you in the least. Over the Edge does not pander to anyone. It’s a stiff fist in the face of convention. You’ll just have to show up to the next one. And there WILL be a next one. With DJs Trevor Martin and Andrew Jaye. Date to be announced soon. The excellence of rock decadence is here to stay.)

DC needs another hip-hop / electro night like you need an asshole on your elbow. With that in mind, TGRIOnline.com brought together DJ Stereo Faith, DJ Trevor Martin, and the boys from Rattler for a night of rock revelry at Asylum. This recap took a little longer than usual to write, mainly because my ears finally stopped ringing, but also because I’ve just recently been able to piece together the unabashed hedonism that went down on Thursday.

Ever notice that Stereo Faith’s Twitter photo is Ian Curtis? Or that Trevor Martin looks more skate punk that crate digger? There’s a reason for that. Apart from being two of the most cutting edge DJs in the DC scene, they really know classic rock – not the Hits of the Seventies Classic Rock Radio variety, but the notes from the underground that fermented in clubs, basements, and garages in Detroit and NYC. As always, they were on-point, perfectly channeling the crowd’s energy right back through the speakers.

The crowd packed the upstairs bar at Asylum early, drinking cheap whiskey and PBR (without irony), before The World’s Greatest Band even showed up. So by the time Scott Rattler hopped on the bar to eat a beer, the promised “excellence in rock decadence” was in full effect. Good news: Rattler is just as big a spectacle as hosts in the crowd as they are as rock gods on stage.

There were beer bongs. There was leather. There was moshing. And while “up to eleven” has become the ultimate rock joke / cliché, it was damn loud – the proper way to listen to bands like the Stooges and the Misfits. To say that the crowd was appreciative is an understatement. For kids that grew up scrawling band names and anarchy symbols on their Chucks, wearing a lot of black, and trying to live a rock and roll lifestyle before they could drive, Over the Edge was a big slice of nostalgia. The way some people react when a DJ plays “Juicy” is the way I react when I hear “Kick out the Jams:” pure sing-along, dance-along elation.

For a party inspired by the cult film of the same name, how do you top what happened on Thursday night? Add some grunge to the mix, and do it all again next month. FUN FACT: the music video that launched a thousand flannels, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is based in part on Over the Edge. So if you were 9 when Kurt died (like me), come out, lose control, and go over the edge.

A open letter regarding "OVER THE EDGE" this THURSDAY night at Asylum!

Dear readers:

A few notes about Thursday’s event.

“Over The Edge” is the first event solely promoted by True Genius Requires Insanity. As always, being that it’s originated from this site, there’s a good reason why it’s going to be done a bit differently.

This party has no guest list. The price is $5 because, well, it’s fair, equitable, and not going to leave people unnecessarily getting dollar bills back for change. There will be no haggling over getting on, being cool or being superior. Sure. Rattler’s gonna have a VIP area. Well, they’re Rattler. If you’ve ever seen Rick, Scott and the boys live, that’s just there to protect the universe from exploding from when they start getting awesome. There’s an issue in DC these days. We claim to be so many things that we’ve forgotten about just letting go and having fun. Parties have become a dime a dozen in the city, and can be found everywhere, with roughly the same music, the same style, the same ethos, with the same result. I’m just saying, DC’s getting pretty great, but it’s time to move things in a bit of an opposite direction for a bit before we start to become amazing, yet somehow expected and stale.

That’s what we’re doing here. This is all rock, all the time. No remixes, no electro, no dubstep, no Gucci, no Guetta, but definitely a possibility of Gene. Gene Simmons. Of KISS. Or G.G. Allin. Rest in Peace. Rock music is the backbone of Washington, DC. Before Wale started chillin’, Bad Brains and Minor Threat were thrashin’ at the old 9:30 Club. I’m not trying to say we’re going old school, I’m just wanting to make sure DC doesn’t forget its roots. Stereo Faith and Trevor Martin know exactly what I mean, and are going to MURK SHIT on Thursday night.

If afraid of rock music, this is an introduction to it at it’s best, finest and purest form, with people who for the most part, would live and die for it. This will be the excellence of rock decadence. There will be moshing. There will be air guitars. There will be impromptu karaoke. There will be copious alcohol consumption. I hope there will be no blatant use of hard drugs. But, on the flipside I actively encourage the sight of hot women blatantly looking hot and behaving hotter.

And I hope there will be you. This is the dawn of the most fun the city has seen in ages. Or, if you get it in like I do on a weekly basis, this will be the best Thursday you’ll have all month.

OVER THE EDGE is THE party.

Sincerely,
Marcus Dowling
Executive Editor, True Genius Requires Insanity