Party Favorz

What happens when the worlds of Hip Hop, Heart, Hall & Oates, Erik Prydz & Daft Punk collide?  While that’s not exactly a question I would have ever thought to ask myself, the answer is simply The Trademark Experience (TME).  The TME is a production crew out of Philly that consists of Tom, Tom and you guessed it Tom.  He sings, he raps, he writes, he produces (with a little help from his friends) and is basically a one man show with many talents.  That’s not to say his work is monotone, rather he adds a lot of color by featuring other local artists in his songs.  Tom was kind enough to forward a copy of his mixtape Volume 3 to me last week for preview and I can honestly say I was blown AWAY!  With a heavy hand in hip hop, Trademark’s sound relies on a keen pop sensibility that’s spread over multiple genres including dance, electro-pop and 90s R&B.

Kicking things off is a rework of the massive Eric Prydz filtered classic “Call On Me.”  Adding a sensible rap punches up the overall mix, providing freshness to a familiar tune, while boosting the song to another level.  Frankly, this should be played on dancefloors across the globe now, it’s that well done. 

Call On Me Remix by the Trademark Experience

The mood abruptly shifts to a big hip hop beat “Ecstasy,” which is one of several radio friendly tunes that are begging for airplay.  Be sure to check out the bonus remix featuring South Philly Sheed towards the end, which kicks it up a notch. 

“Losing My Mind” is slower number with hypnotic synths and rap reminiscent of PM Dawn.  When TME sings “I, I, I, I, I, I, I think I’m losing my mind,” the addictive chorus sticks in your head like gum on the bottom of your shoe.

“Let Me Get That” featuring the vocals of KTA is a huge electro stomper.  TME and KTA trade barbs “I want that vibe, I want that shine, I want that dress, I want that slide, I want that hit, I want those hips, I want that cash, I want that ass!” showcasing the the aspirations of the “everything now” generation. 

“Out of Touch” moves more into electro-pop territory where TME’s rap takes center stage while the chorus from the familiar Hall & Oates pop hit of the same name pulls it all together, creating some seriously sweet earcandy.   

“Until I Met You” is a bonus track (?) produced by The Presidentz with an unaccredited vocalist (though I’m guessing KTA).  This is another radio friendly track that deserves immediate attention!  This time Heart’s massive classic “Alone” provides the hook that glues TME’s rap together.  Brilliantly written and produced, I wonder why this was included as a “bonus” selection and not part of the actual body of work.  Regardless, this is a wonderful treat and further proves the “pop” smarts of the Trademark Experience.

Until I Met You by The Trademark Experience

Ultimately, Volume 3 is a solid piece of work replete with hooks that will be playing in your head long after it’s over.  One can only wonder what several of the songs on here would sound like if Jump Smokers, Chew Fu or Space Cowboy got their hands on this stuff.  Until then, you might want to hop on over to the Trademark Experience’s Fan Page and download Volume 3 for yourself.  The nice thing is that it’s FREE!  While you’re there, you can also check out some of his videos and always remember, if you like his work, let him know.   

Released today, Tom remarked about Volume 3 “I can say without exaggeration, fabrication, or hyperbole, that this is my greatest accomplishment… this is my masterpiece.”  Well, if this is his masterpiece, I want parts 4, 5 and 6 that are sure to follow.  Trademark Experience clearly has a long shelf life and outdoing yourself should never be an option, rather an imperative. A+

Track List :

1. Call On Me Remix

2. Ecstasy (prod. by Jim Conway)

3. Around The World Remix

4. Losing My Mind (prod. by 4H2A)

5. Psychedelic ft. KTA (prod. by 4H2A)

6. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (prod. by Soop)

7. Hater Man

8. Let Me Get That ft. KTA (prod. by 4H2A)

9. Co-Star (prod. by Soop)

10. Out Of Touch Remix

11. End Of Forever ft. KTA (prod. by 4H2A)

12. What A Feeling Remix

13. Ecstasy Remix ft. South Philly Sheed (prod. by Jim Conway)

14. Good Lovin’ Remix ft. Chill Moody

15. Until I Met You (prod. by The Presidentz)

http://www.facebook.com/thetrademarkexperience

http://www.myspace.com/thetrademarkexperience

http://www.youtube.com/user/TrademarkExperience

# Bonus Tracks

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It’s 2010!  Right out of the gate and just in time to get your (my) lazy ass back into the gym for Spring Break (can you believe I’m already talking about that), DJ Bill Bennett delivers the first body pumping circuit mix of the year; and what a way to start it!  Jam packed with his biggest hits off of the amazing Big Muscle of the Rhythm album (Breakaway [Inaya Day]; Fame [Suzanne Palmer]; Manhunt [Pepper Mashay] & Abigail’s now classic gay anthem, Forever Young), Big Muscle Remixed kicks it up 100 notches with non-stop circuit mayhem. 

In addition to the hits, you also get first time ever remixes of “Sexual High” with Eve Gallagher; “Touch Me, Feel Me” with Jason Hunter and one of my favorites off of Bill’s debut album “Big Muscle” with the Party Favorz’ favorite potty mouth girl, Thea Austin.  Look for additional remixes and a video for Big Muscle later this year.  Another guaranteed blazer is one of my best of 2009 “Maybe God Is Trying to Tell You Something” by Sweet Feet Music featuring Jeanie Tracy & Pepper Mashay!  Bill adds a lot of seasoning to Edson Pride’s mix, making for a prize winning formula that’s guranteed to go down gritty, yet tasty.

From beginning to finish, this is one solid set that will get your heart pumping and the blood flowing.  Now I know many of you have been stuck in sub-below temperatures for a long-time now, but trust me, this will thaw you out and get you back in the groove.  Currently, you can download the album from iTunes or purchase the physical CD at any of these stores nationwide:

Best Buy Stores (North America) The Funny Bone Portland, OR Borderline Chicago, Il Boy Next Door, Atlanta Brushstrokes, Atlanta Gaymart, Palm Springs Graffitti’s, Key West J & R Music World, NYC Just 4 Us, Detroit Melody Records, DC Obelisk The Bookstore, San Diego Outwrite Bookstore, Atlanta Perfect Beat, Los Angeles Pride Factory, Ft Lauderdale Rainbow Road, Minneapolis Rainbow’s & Triangles, NYC Tapelenders Video, Dallas Torso, Columbus

Bill is currently in the studio with Matt Zarley working on a new track for this summer. Bill is also doing a REMIX tour; scheduled dates include (Rich’s) San Diego, CA; (Backstreet) Detroit, MI; (South Beach) Houston, TX; (Manor) Wilton Manors, FL with more to come.  For booking information go to www.djbillbennett.com

1. NOH8 Morning Mass Intro

2. Forever Young (Bill Bennett and Pete Masitti’s Decadance Mix)

3. Fame (Klubjumpers Hands In the Air Club Mix)

4. Manhunt (Bryan Reyes Sex In the Office Club Mix)

5. Chacal’s Song (Edison Pride Club Mix)

6. Maybe God Is Trying to Tell You Something (Bill Bennett vs. Edison Pride Club Mix)

7. Breakaway (Twisted Dee & Jayito Club Mix)

8. Tonight I Dream (Bryan Reyes Dream Anthem Club Mix)

9. Sexual High (Bill Bennett and Pete Masitti’s Guitar Hero Club Mix)

10. Big Muscle (Bill Bennett and Pete Masitti’s Ibiza Club Mix)

11. Joy In My Life (White Party Interlude)

12. Touch Me, Feel Me (Bill Bennett and Pete Masitti’s South Beach Club Mix)

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For all those who stood up and were counted

For all those for whom money was no motive

For all those for whom music was a message

I want to thank you

For making me A little more sure

A little more wise

and courageous

You told me to look much further

You told me to walk much more

You told me that music matters and to chase the dogs back from my door

I won’t stop here

I won’t be still until the sun sets on us all..

-Faithless feat. Cass Fox

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!

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When I was a kid, my parents didn’t have a lot of money.  Our vacations usually consisted of road trips to Houston to visit our cousins and go to Astroworld (now Six Flags) or to the beach for a few days.  These road trips always took place during the day when my sister, brother and I could play the “Love Bug Game.”  You know, that’s where you count how many Volks Wagon Beetles you could find on the road or even dilapidated sitting out in some field or junk yard.  Our Christmas trips to Momo and Boonpa’s house in Corpus Christi were pretty much the same, but we were always driving at night.  Dad was a manager at “Wally’s Shoe Store” and would work until 6pm before coming home and piling us kids in the Plymouth to make the three hour trip. 

It was those trips during the cold night that were different from the rest.  After a long day at work, dad didn’t want a bunch of misbehaving kids in the back of his car for a three hour drive.  To counter that, he would have us all play “The Quiet Game.”  Whoever could be the most quiet during the whole trip, would win a nickel.  Now, when you put my sister between my brother and I, that plainly wasn’t going to happen.  She would pinch, tickle and kick to get us to squeal.  Thinking about the candy I could buy with a nickel, I really wanted to win, but keeping my mouth shut for any length of time was just not humanly possible.  Ten minutes into the drive, I would be asking “are we there yet?”  This has pretty much been my mantra for 2009.  How much longer until I get there, wherever “there” is? 

Several of you that I communicate with privately, have told me you lost your job this year.  While others I follow on Facebook may have lost a parent, a friend or are just uncertain and unhappy with your current circumstance.  Whatever the reason that made 2009 such a miserable year, let’s all make a pact.  Starting the day after Christmas, decide what it is you want to achieve in 2010.  Make a plan, write it down and put it on your desk or fridge, somewhere visible that will serve as a reminder.  We still have a week to go before the New Year and what better time than these last few days to plan ahead?

In a recent post, I suggested that Rick’s doctor would show up in a Santa hat and tell him he’s through with dialysis.  That didn’t quite happen, though we received some more good news.  Monday, he was taken off dialysis for the week after they drew a blood sample.  The doctor did call yesterday with those results and said everything was still normal.  So, this next Monday, they will draw another sample and if things remain the same, he’s off for good with a bi-monthly follow-up.  Considering he hasn’t taken a full bath in over six months because of possibly infecting his catheter (which has already happened once), this is really great news.  I’m already picturing the Herbal Essence commercial where the girl in the shower starts having an orgasm when she washes her hair.  I’m guessing that having hot sudsy water pouring over your body after having sponge-bathed for six months might feel pretty damn good.  If anything, I miss his horrible singing in the shower, which will be a welcome return to normalcy once that happens LOL. 

So, starting on the 1st of January 2010, it’s going to be all about ME.  ME! ME! ME!  I know, that’s very Marsha Brady of me and we still have a couple more things to go with Rick, but we’re getting “there;” as will you.  I wish the BEST possible year for each and every one of you.  Just remember, if you say you “can’t,” then you “won’t.”  If you say you “can,” then you most certainly “will.”  Make it happen folks!  If you do, then you won’t be asking yourself “are we there yet,” because you’ll already know that you’re on your way.

From Rick, Keith and Katherine, we wish you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a rockin’ NEW YEAR! 

P.S. Stephen, I know you’re reading this.  So, when you’re finished sampling the French cuisine in Paris, you and I have a lot of work to do!  

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I wanted to take a little time to show everybody my current stats on Podbean.  Basically they aggregate all of my traffic including downloads, hits and streaming, not just from their site, but my primary site, iTunes and all of the other places I have made my feed available.

I know these are kind of hard to read, but if you click on each image they should enlarge for better viewing.  As you can see, these stats are for the last 7 days of the two most recent BPM Editions.  Actually, less than that because v1 went up on Friday and v2 went up on Saturday.  Based on previous experience, these numbers will quadruple by the end of October.

The stats above reflect my overall traffic across all spectrums for the past thirty days.  As you can see, it’s pretty substantial.  The reason I am bringing this to everyone’s attention is that in my Saturday post, I informed everyone that I had been nominated for “Best Podcast” and “Entertainment Blog” for the 2009 Blogger’s Choice Awards.  I then asked if everyone would please go and vote for me.  Since that time, not one of you has bothered to take the time to vote.  I cannot begin to tell you how disappointing that is.  Considering all the hard work that goes into producing this blog, I can assure you, there isn’t anyone else out there that takes all the extra steps to make each post unique and individual.  From cover art and Cue Sheets to tracklistings embedded into each podcast; I heard your requests and implemented each idea that many of you find useful.

I’m not trying to shame anyone, I just wanted you to see where I’m coming from.  So, all I’m asking is for everyone to take a couple of minutes and vote for this site.  You know you love it, so why not show some appreciation?  It would mean a great deal to me and even more so for Party Favorz to gain more attention.  I’ll be posting reminders at least once a week, since I believe you can vote more than once.  In the meantime, help a brother out and please vote.  Thank you for your prompt attention.

-K

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In the digital age of of one hit wonders and one-offs seemingly thrown at the music buying public as if we are a bunch of unintelligent money machines, it’s refreshing to actually see an artist put out an entire album that is not only cohesive and speaks to who they are, but is actually damn good.  Erika Jayne is that artist and Pretty Mess is that album.  With obvious influences ranging from disco, funk, hip hop, electronic, garage, pop and house music Erika wear’s her influences on her sleeve like a proud girl scout who received a badge for selling the most cookies in her troupe.

Erika broke onto the scene in 2007 with the dirty electro-funk number one Billboard club hit Rollercoaster.  In 2008, she followed up with Stars which also reached the top spot on Billboard’s Dance and Club Play charts.  It’s extremely rare when a debut artist comes out of nowhere and makes such a huge impact on the charts right out of the gate.  Since then, Erika has been working with some serious heavy weights like Peter Rafelson, Eric Kupper, Esthero (Pinklake), Jahi Lake and Ike Dirty to create this mish-mash of beautiful pop music that has you up and dancing one minute and chillaxing the next.  Pretty Mess has been on permanent rotation in my home, car and the gym all summer long.  Now that her third single Give You Everything has reached the top of the club charts, I decided it was time to find out more about Erika and see what this Atlanta native is all about.

PF: Hi Erika, my name is Keith from the Party Favorz blog.  First, I want to congratulate you on the success of your first three number one singles and now the release of Pretty Mess.  I have to say, I haven’t been able to get enough of your album since it was forwarded to me for review.  You’ve done an outstanding job, something really rare these days.

EJ: I’m so glad you like it! I always like to hear that people had a good time listening to it.

PF: I understand you were always surrounded by music growing up.  At what point did you decided that this is what you wanted to do and what kind of plan did you have in place once you made that decision?

EJ: I started as a little girl in musical theatre, went to a performing arts high school and really never thought of doing anything else.

PF: For all the wannabes out there, how much time, work, patience and networking goes into making this a reality?

EJ: The road to being successful at anything is long and hard, this is just a more interesting journey.

PF: What was it like working with some heavy weights in the music industry and how did you get them to agree to work on your project in the first place?

EJ: I really enjoyed working with everyone on the record, great artist are always crazy fun.

PF: You have performed for various Pride Events including Logo’s NewNowNext Awards show.  How important is the gay community to your initial success and how do you plan on taking it to the next level to reach a wider audience?

EJ: The gay community is always in front of new trends, new music. They set the tone for the rest of the audience and with more exposure and more media you begin to capture others and take it to the next level.

PF: Pretty Mess showcases an abundance of influences.  Who are your heroes and how did they influence your writing when making this album?

EJ: I’m a fan of Prince, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. They all pop up from time to time in the album.

PF: Looking over all of your promo shots, I’ve got to say that you have one heck of a fashion sense.  Is this something that you work at or is it just something that comes naturally?  Frankly, I’m leaning towards naturally since you make everything look so effortless.

EJ: I like clothes and playing dress up so it’s fun for me.

PF: Now that “Give You Everything” has gone to number one, what’s the next single from the album and can we expect some more big name remixes like its predecessors?

EJ: We are looking to release another single but I’m not sure which one just yet.

PF: In all honesty, this album is so full of potential hits, I see it keeping you on the road for some time to come.  When and where can we expect you to perform next and will your backup hotties dancers be with you?  Also, do you have any plans to take your show to our good friends across the pond?  Keep in mind, Atlanta’s Pride Celebration isn’t until the end of October (hint hint)

EJ: I just got home from NYC, this weekend I will be in West Hollywood, and Sept 5 in Vegas. Any time Atlanta wants me there I’m there.

PF: Well Erika, that’s all I have for you today.  Once again, I want to congratulate you on the release of Pretty Mess and wish you continued success that you clearly deserve.  Frankly, I still can’t get over just how good this album is and I’m certain that your fans and those coming aboard shortly will feel the same way.  Thank you for taking the time to allow me and my followers to get to know you better.

EJ: Thank you for the kind words. I’m so pleased you like the music. Enjoy and take care of one another.

Pretty Mess is currently available for purchase via iTunes.  If you only buy one album this year, I can’t recommend this one enough.

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I can honestly say that things are moving along quite nicely.  Thanks to those of you who provided feedback, I have now completed the new re-design of the Party Favorz blog.  You’ll notice I took everyone’s advice into consideration and changed the font and re-added color without it being to distracting from the actual posts.  Honestly, I’m already seeing a lot of potential for tinkering during various holidays, so I think this will work out very well.

I’ll be spending the weekend getting as much as possible moved over to my new Pod-o-matic account.  While nothing is guaranteed, I’m hoping that this switch will work out well.  They seem to have a more thriving community of house music lovers which should bring even more attention to my work.  I know, everyone would prefer to keeps this their own little secret, but at the end of the day it’s about growing and expanding my audience.  It is possible that there may be some delay and/or lag time between my next post and iTunes, because the feed will need to be re-directed and I don’t know how long that will take after I contact iTunes about the switch.  So a little patience on the part of the iTunes folks would be greatly appreciated.  After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

In the meantime, all current podcasts will remain active through the end of August.  After that, more than 2/3 of them will no longer be available.  So if you are new to the site and are just now exploring, I highly recommend you grab what you want now because I cannot guarantee their availability after this month.

In the interim, I will also be working and finalizing the next Chrome Edition for release next week and hopefully a BPM after that coupled with the Fall Edition by the end of the month.  I finally had my appointment with the surgeon yesterday and am currently waiting for his office to contact me for a day and time to have my operation.  They said they would try to get me in by the end of the month, so everything mentioned above IS tentative.  Regardless, I’ll do my best to keep the flow going.  Even with a few hiccups here and there, if everything goes as planned, I expect to be taking everything to the next level early in 2010.

I also want to give a shout out to our good friend Tom Pham who is currently in the process of moving from New York to San Jose, California.  Tom, I wish you a safe trip and I hope everything works out for you in Cali.  That’s about all the news I have for today.  I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.  I’ll be back sometime next week with the Chrome Edition 2003.

Until then…enjoy!

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