2012 has been a great year filled with awesome music, and the year I started dj-ing as Ice Hotel. Here’s a retrospective I made to remember and celebrate this sparkling year. The title is from the Beach House song “The Hours”, definitely my favourite song of the year (and “Bloom” my favourite album!) Enjoy!
One of my favourite DJs Lindstrom from Norway is releasing a new album called Smalhans. You can stream the album and read a short interview here. As a follow up to the more experimental Six Cups of Rebel, Lindstrom returns to what he is known for with Smalhans: irresistible electronic dance music with shimmering pop melodies. I love the vintage synth sound and the uplifting progressions. I read that he had a little help with the final mix from Todd Terje of Inspector Norse fame (also one of my favourite Norwegian music magicians!), what a perfect combination. I love all of the tracks!
A rather cute detail about the track listing: each song is named after a traditional Norwegian dish. For example, Vos-sako-rv is actually vossakorv, a sausage with real meat unlike regular hotdogs in Norway that is “20% meat and the rest is crap”. Eg-ged-osis is an egg and sugar mixture Lindstrom liked as a kid. Here is a visual guide to Lindstrom’s aural (and culinary) space adventure:
Track 1: Råkost salat
Track 2: Lammelår
Track 3: Eggedosis
Track 4: Vossakorv
Track 5: Faarikaal
Track 6: Vafler
Now it’s kind of hard not to imagine these dishes while listening to these dreamy songs. A bit funny and trippy at the same time. 🙂
It’s rare to find electronic dance music like Lindstrom’s, songs that are “light” enough to listen to in the daytime but still super danceable at nighttime. Perfect for breakfast and bus rides, perfect for pulsating midnight parties. This is EDM just as a I like it – simple, fresh, upbeat without the mainstream thub-thumping of heavy bass. Give me pure blissful melodies, shoot me to the stars with synths! Thanks Lindstrom for another mind-blowing album.
Tomorrow night at TAPE, 22:00! See ya!
Our first Spotify DJ is back! Ice Hotel is born in the Philippines with a Scandinavian heart. She spreads a big love for danceable indie pop, sparkly electronica, melancholy chillwave and fuzzy shoegaze wherever she finds herself in. TAPE is the place on Friday 13 July for infectious melodies, fun dancing and a simply gezellig time!Also, she’s having her birthday soon – so friends, future friends and fellow lovers of feel-good, irresistible, sparkly music come dance and celebrate with us! Welcome!
Last Friday, I dj-ed at Luxor Live for my friend Melissa’s awesome Friendly Galaxy Party. It was great fun! I made a playlist that was sparkly, spacey and dancey to follow the intergalactic theme (enter silver shirt and face glitters). The result: a mix of thumping Daft Punks and Chemical Brothers, laser-firing Robyns, dreamy New Orders, attitude-y M.I.A.s and dancing feet-tickling Crystal Castles to name a few. Plus, I got a little help from my dj-elves of the night Mark and Willem who’s back from Australia! DJ Wichje was my partner that night – it was my first time to do a duo set and what can I say, it was awesome and two times the fun! Our music are different from each other but suprisingly, it works very well- a good combination of soft + hard, electric + smooth, pop + rap, Angel + Devil (our dj-duo name haha)!
I prepared a playlist for you guys of what went down that night, enjoy! See ya later space invaders. 🙂
Friday night was super fun! I dj-ed at TAPE and played Scandinavian indie pop, electro, shoegaze, the usual Angel sound. It was my first time to play at TAPE (and in Arnhem!), so I was curious to see how people will take it. From the smiles on their faces, the shuffling on the dance floor, the buzz in the air and the feedback I got, they liked it! 🙂 Some nice people even came up to me to say that they loved the music! Ahhh.
Good music should be playing everywhere! It’s such an important thing, but often taken for granted. Good music can change your mood in a heartbeat and can instantly make you feel better.. even great! And if I can give people a happy, sparkling feeling on a Friday night, then I am already happy!
And it doesn’t even have to be so complicated, good music is good music. You don’t need to be a “professional” DJ to get a crowd going. Well.. but I guess you have to have an impeccable taste in music! Hehe.
Here are some more action shots from last night:
I might do this again soon, I’ll keep you updated! For now, I leave you with one of the lovely tracks from last night, enjoy!
Now listening: Todd Terje’s It’s the Arps EP. Incredible! It feels like running in outer space, at least that’s how I think it would feel like. Dashing through Saturn’s rings, scaling the moon, comets whooshing by, with your pet unicorn galloping next to you. Something like that!
If it sounds good to you, there’s more where that came from! Lots of awesome Norwegian electronica geniuses at my DJ night at TAPE on 30 March. See you there!
I’m DJ-ing for TAPE bar on March 30, Friday at 22.00! It’s Scandinavian night in the Netherlands – danceable indie pop, electronica and shoegaze all night long! YES! It’s also my first time to play in Arnhem, so it’s bound to be epic! 🙂 See you there, spread the northern love!
Here’s the announcement from TAPE’s website:
DJ Ice Hotel
VRIJDAG 30 MAART – 22.00 UUR
Onze eerste Spotify DJ heeft zich aangediend. En wat voor een! DJ Ice Hotel is een Filippijnse met een grote liefde voor Scandinavie. Oftewel, deze kokette dame gaat dansbare indiepop, electronica en shoegaze uit het noorden draaien. Zij aan de ene kant van de bar. Speakers, dansvloertje en leuke mensen aan de andere. Het feest kan beginnen!
Happy Christmas everyone! As a present, here’s my mix from Strict Rules last week. Enjoy and make the holidays sparkly!
Love,
Angel
