Beat the heat and line with a Fancy Pants pass.  This VIP pass allows you additional access to the air-conditioned Fancy Pants stages/tents complete with quick entry at the festival gate, seating, shorter food and beverage lines, plus exclusive DIRB! performances.

Here’s the lineup for our Fancy Pants (In the Bowl) stage:

Fancy Pants Stage

DAY 1: JUNE 5th
Doors open from 2pm-10pm

2:00-5:30  DIRB! DJs

5:30-6:05  Guerilla FoCo Plan

6:05-6:40  Nosaprise

6:40-7:30  Ghost Mountain

DIRB! AFTER-PARTY at  THE LOT  (4212 WASHINGTON, 77007), 10pm-2am

DAY 2: JUNE 6th
Doors open from 11am-10pm

11:00-3:00 DIRB! DJs

G.Wizz – 11:00
Squincy Jones – 12:00
Gracie Chavez - 1:00
Tonio- 2:00

3:00-5:30 DJ Meshak

5:30-6:05 Mic Skills

* All times subject to change.

For the entire festival lineup, go to www.freepresssummerfest.com.

Buy your 2-day Fancy Pants wristband pass here.

But remember, when you get your wristband at the festival entrance on Saturday, DO NOT REMOVE IT! If you do and try to re-attached it, you won’t be allowed back in on Sunday! Wristbands are void if torn, broken, stretched, taped together or not worn snugly on the wrist. So, now you know!

THE FREE PRESS SUMMERFEST AD from Free Video Houston on Vimeo.

UPDATED: Join us DIRB! DJs at the Fancy Pants Stage at the Free Press Summer Fest on Saturday and Sunday for some cool jams–literally!

The VIP stage in the Bowl near Buffalo Bayou sponsored by Fahrenheit-Media and our Dusty Crates blog of course, is air conditioned! YES, I said AC!! Which will make it a nice break from the heat/humidity and the hotter acts at the Fest.

Brett Koshkin

Just added to the lineup: Dirty Honey’s funk master Brett Koshkin will join DIRB! DJs on Saturday. So come by and cool off with us, Gracie Chavez, Squincy Jones, G.Wizz,  Tonio, plus local hip hop act Nosaprise, electro duo Ghost Mountain, rappers Guerrilla Foco Clan, DJ Meshak, hip hop artist Mic Skillz and more special acts.

Check back for a performance lineup!

To purchase pre-sale passes and get up to date information please visit: www.FreePressSummerFest.com

Then later Saturday night, it’s the DIRB! After-Party at The Lot on Washington (4212 Washington, 77007) with Gracie Chavez and Tonio doin it real big!

Bring lotsa water and sunscreen…this weekend’s gonna be straight fiya!

Co-sponsored by www.DustyCrates.com and www.Fahrenheit-Media.com.

Raspberry Criminal from Orion Garcia on Vimeo.

This weekend, our dudes Klassen and Orion from Austin are stopping off in Dallas then Houston, completing the golden triangle of their Raspberry Criminal (sorta) mini tour. Watch them battle the best originals and remixes from musical icons Prince and Michael Jackson at the Bronze Peacock Room (House of Blues – Houston, 1204 Caroline, 77002) this Saturday, May 22nd.

The Houston battle pops off at 10 p.m. and fizzes all night long. The King of Pop and His Royal Purpleness costumes are strongly encouraged! Tickets are $10 pre-sale (available thru Ticketmaster) and $12 at the door.

Come out and get it on the floor. I’m gonna put my money on Prince ‘cuz I gotta represent for the City of Syrup!

Meanwhile, I’ll be holdin’ it down at The Lot on Washington with my DIRB! pahtnah, Cashless Tonio.

Hey, Tonio, after you get over your jet lag, I’m gonna find out what happened to my postcards from Greece! Ha!

Some of the more Latin-inspired dance rhythms with spicier bass lines swarming around lately have reawakened a new-found interest in my conquistadora roots. As a first-gen Chicana growing up in Houston’s Northside, I explored Papi’s concept albums and his 45 record collection of cumbia, boleros and traditional Mexican folk music along with his more modern disco, pop music, movie soundtracks and the newer “hip hop” sounds on KYOK radio in the early ’80s.

Fast forward. Today, I get to hear that familiar cultural blend in acts like Mexicans with Guns, a San Antonio producer that’s muy libre with his musical genres and always lucha for more bass. MWG’s recent well-received release, “Me Gusto,” featuring Chico Mann is an explosion of dubby, electro, 8-bit goodies all stuffed into one colorful piñata.

The lively track is part of the similarly titled five-track EP,  Me Gusto (Innovative Leisure/FoF Music), below:

Track List

1. Me Gusto ft. Chico Mann
2. Dame Lo
3. Los Perritos
4. Me Gusto ft. Chico Mann (Ghosts on Tape Remix)
5. Me Gusto (Instrumental)

Get the Mexicans with Guns Me Gusto EP on 12-inch vinyl at Stones Throw. 

Mexicans With Guns – “Me Gustó” ft. Chico MannbyFunny Ha Ha

Download: Mexicans With Guns – “Me Gustó” ft. Chico Mann (mp3)

With music like this, there was a good reason to revive Movida, a close-knit monthly party that featured soul, funk, 80s, 90s, plus other remixes and rarities to make you move. Instigated in 2007 by DJs Witnes (who’s holding down The Lot this Saturday night) & Antonio, the reoccurring night found a loyal niche audience for a good run at The Flat.

This Saturday, May 15, we’re bringing back Movida Remixed with special guest DJ Criminal V and hostesses Las Chiquitas at Dean’s Montrose (315 Fairview @ Morgan, 77006).

Join us for la Movida! RSVP now.

Our dude is back!

This Saturday, DJ Mel is gonna DIRB! with us again at The Lot on Washington. We’ve had a lot of fun each time he’s been down and something tells me we’re cued up for a ginormous summer in the H!

Here’s Mel’s latest edits to get you warmed up for summertime! The Goodmen’s is an edit of the original samba club jam, “Give It Up“.

>> Give It Up (DJ Mel edit) – The Goodmen (mediafire)

>> When I Think of You (Summertime remix) – Janet Jackson (mediafire)

DIRB! in TX and FB RSVP for more event details and updates.

*Sniff, sniff*

I may not have tickets to see the sold-out Phoenix show tonight, but this HOB Klever-Sober-Dayta-Roy show should make up for it!

Bring your Phoenix ticket stubs and get in FREE!

FB RSVP for more info.

Download

Klever mix-tapes

If I had this Saturday night off, I’d be off to see ATX’s Nick Nack at Top Notch HTX (Boondocks, 1417 Westheimer, 77006).

So who’s the DJ with the odd sing-songy name, you might ask?

Well, if you’ve browsed thru GigaCrate for music (see our widget –>), then chances are you know the man behind the Texas-based DJ-friendly digital download music site. And like most top-notch talent worthy enough to play out of town often, Nick Nack has been rockin it for quite some time, covering everything from golden-era hip hop and psych rock to more current dance/electro via performances (2000’s SXSW show with the late all-mighty Guru ain’t too bad) and a gang of mixes. Plus it helps when you also own your own record label, Crowd Control Records. Nick Nack is gearing up for an upcoming full-length CD/mp3 release, Dearly Departed, of original music and remixes any day now. The album’s first single, “Strangest Secret,” is available on limited 7-inch vinyl.

Here at Dusty Crates, we can admire that ability to turn the drop in vinyl use in the DJ game (more on that later) and parlay that into a new opportunity–it’s precisely why this blog was initially established as a shared ftp site for digital music in ‘06.

But digital downloads and tool use aside, I’m just down for a DJ that makes me work up the dance floor. However, this Saturday, April 24, I won’t be able to make it; but perhaps you will, and I hope to get a full report from the floor as DJ Nick Nack joins them two, Sober and Dayta, and El Roy Boogie for the usual mayhem.

Meanwhile, Squincy & yours truly are cueing up requests and workin up The Lot on Washington. So post up your Tweets or send me a postcard from Top Notch with, “Wish you were here. <3 Nick Nack”

Download, Buy or Listen

>> Nick Nack’s Mixes

>> Nick Nack’s Soundcloud

SDF-one in his element. Photo by Jessie Weber

UPDATE: It took a minute, but I finally pieced this monumental night together thru photos and actual accounts. I unfortunately got there late and missed Joker entirely. But from the looks of it, a lot of people should be able to fill in more of the gaps and help me experience the sounds radiating from the stack of rumbling subwoofers vicariously.

Here are a few quotes and flicks from the Houston Beats and FB Joker/Gritsy recaps:

That had to be one of the best top 5 nights of my whole freaking LIFE! My entire body still hurts from dancing. Absolutely unbelievable! Thanks again to all the Gritsy family for bringing it proper. You guys are ridiculous! — HB

Ohmydays! big up gritsy for bringin that UK grime to Houston…now, i dont wanna sound greedy..but who’s next? big sets all around tonight and joker put the show to rest! — FB

Joker & MC Nomad on deck.

Purple H City!

OE and Drank was flowin'.

Gilbert feelin top notch!

There were too many great photos to post. But you can see more photos here, thanks to Jessie Weber. Other photos here. If you got ‘em, feel free to toss me more links to photos in the comments area below.

Noted! I’m not gonna miss it either, that’s for damned sure, and neither should you.

Gritsy DJs Live, Pt. 1,2,3 – 4/10/10 (mp3)

Bristol’s 20-year-old producer Joker has a passion. It’s a passion for subterranean subwoofer frequencies he’s shared with a steadfast group of dubstep fans worldwide for quite some time. Following a string of remarkable releases characterized by 8-bit sounds,  swooping synths and rattling basslines, Joker’s anthems are uniquely branded the ‘purple’ sound of dubstep.

Eventually Gritsy’s don, Suraj Kurian, tuned in full-blast.

The first time I came upon Joker was while * was running a dnb/dubstep/2step record store out of my house in 2007. I  had ordered a few copies of his first release called the Kapsize EP on DJ Pinch’s Earwax Label.

The thing that really set this release apart from all the other stuff that was coming out at the time [at least] dubstep-wise was its hype, grimey/SNES feel. It was a good release, but definitely not a game changer…

Enter Jae Swope from Sines. He dropped “Gully Brook Lane” during a set at Gritsy in the summer of ‘08.

It was the first time I’d heard [the track played] out on the Gritsy sound system, and quite frankly, it was the shit!

This track shoved my prior conceptions about dubstep immediately out the door. I wanted more.

I purchased the record that next Monday and  instantly fell for the B-side, “Retro Racer,” which became one of the first of many Joker tracks in heavy rotation in my DJ sets.

Since then it’s been a stratospheric rise for Joker, including remix work spanning various genres. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s in the company of international dubstep superstar DJ/producers Skream and Benga.

Not surprisingly, Joker’s “purple” anthems have gone over really well in Houston, particularly “Purple City” which got a lot of play last summer. I’m still partial to the monstrous “Snake Eater“.

And as expected, Joker’s recent popularity has also made him as elusive as his purple-draped comic book namesake. But persistence always pays off. Suraj and the notorious Gritsy boys finally locked Joker down for a Houston date.

Now the city infamously known for purple drank and passionate for dubstep parties is only one of four dates on Joker’s North American tour this spring. He touches down this Saturday, April 10th, at newcomer venue Wired Live (2000 Bell Street, 77003) to play alongside MC Nomad. Tickets are $20 for 18+ and $10 for 21+ before 11 p.m. with a Facebook RSVP. Doors open at 9 p.m. Purple attire and earplugs are highly recommended.

Download

“Tron” + VIP Mix (soundcloud)

Purple Wow Sound Mix (zshare)

Joker’s Guest Mix on Skream’s Rinse Show

Joker’s Sonar Mix (zshare)

“How You Like Me Know” (Joker remix) – The Heavy (mp3)

DIRB! Saturday at The Lot on Washington

Squincy & Gracie do it real BIG to the MAX!

>> GOjira!!