UBIQUITOUS: Michael Potvin was everywhere in Boston in 2006. |
In last year’s “Circuits” year-end wrap-up, we heralded the reach of Boston out to the world at large. This year, things got pretty radical inside the Hub. From Allston to Cambridge, mad parties and party troupes were blowing up, until now there isn’t a night of the week someone’s not bringing heat somewhere. Here’s a countdown of the contenders.10 Clubs generally relaunch with little fanfare, by slowly plugging in DJ residencies, but the GOOD LIFE down on Kingston Street went totally bananas and inundated us with flyers about this night or that. Hooking up with local institutions like Karma Loop and Underground Hip-Hop was also a wise move. Now the Good Life Web site comes complete with podcasts and everything. This month, “g-life audio” has sessions from Beats-Not-Bombs’ DJ YAMIN and marathon man KC HALLETT.
9 As if running an internationally known sneaker boutique (Bodega) weren’t enough, OLIVER MAK (a/k/a GUCCI VUITTON) had a stellar year inside Boston’s best little club, Enormous Room. His Bankrupt parties were always free and always outrageously sweaty. Mr. Write-To-Eat (his Web handle) made Boston nice with guys like Lazaro Casanova from Miami’s amazing junkyard/nightclub Revolver, DJ Eleven from the Rub, and the amazing Nossa, who restarted some Brazilian fire.
8 Over in Allston, the FENWAY RECORDINGS SESSIONS had a number of events that took electronic music to the hipster masses. We were there for album-of-the-year contenders Hot Chip and the Brazilian lovefest with Diplo and Bonde do Role; we missed, we’re sorry to say, Norwegian pop goddess Annie and Warp’s Jamie Lidell.
7 Not to be outdone, Great Scott’s BEN SISTO put together the grandmama of DJ bills with the fantastical LOVE DURING WARTIME superparties. The inaugural event was held in the big room of the Paradise club, and from the go-go dancers (E-MARCE) to the disco (JOSEPH COLBOURNE) to the hits at 45 rpm (LONE WOLF), it was nearly out of control. It actually did become out of control once SIR LOINS took his clothes off.
6 And then there was the techno. High above Boston’s combat zone the ROBOTLOVESONGS and UNLOCKEDGROOVE crews would get sweaty and dirty to old-fashioned, high-gloss computer music. World-class stuff going on right here.
5 In the Bean proper, no crew turned on the booster jets like Allston-based NEXT GENERATION PRODUCTIONS and Mr. Charles and Mr. Eli. By forming with Future Classic under the Media-Pop empire, NGP became the official run-and-gun party crew and practically ran the ladder district all year long.
4 Sleep not on Somerville. Somewhere in that mess sits COMPOUND 440R’s HQ, where acts like UV Protection and Big Digits warm up the cassette recorders nightly. MICHAEL POTVIN is the resident DJ in the crew, and his name was associated with everyone from Europe-touring rock bands (C4RT) to electronic-pop project We Are Cassette, who recently dropped an Xmas album on-line.
3 No DJ worked harder in Boston than the almost ubiquitous KC HALLETT, from Middlesex Lounge to the Brendan Behan. It all culminated Friday December 1, when the man spun for 12 hours. “What was most rewarding for me was I could DJ all three spots in one night and get people into the music,” he writes. “I looked out onto the Lounge Floor at Rise and everyone was dancing! There are a bunch of chairs for people to chill on that floor, but there was no chilling going on at that moment, just a Heavy Vibe!”
