FRI | BAUUER at BETA | 12/27/13 Sure, it's ancient history now, but remember earlier this year when you couldn't escape the "Harlem Shake" phenomenon. In case you need a refresher, "Harlem Shake" is what happened when a thunderous trap record on Diplo's Mad Decent imprint put the nation in a strangle hold. A vocal sample of "Do the Harlem Shake" signaled a death-rattling bass drop, summoning drums straight out of Helms' Deep to battle against the cheapest sounding synth horn until it all lurched momentarily to a halt to make room for the sweetest (if not first) rhythmically sampled tiger growl. Sounds tight, right? It was. It was also a pretty typical dance track, with a sixteen bar intro that repeated about three times and that's about all there was to it. Remember now? That was Bauuer, a 24 year old DJ from Brooklyn (aka Harry Bauer Rodrigues). He's at Beta tonight.
See also: Harlem Shake: Everything to know about YouTube's viral successor to "Gangnam Style"
FRI | DESERT DWELLERS at CERVANTES | 12/27/13 When Desert Dwellers opened up for EOTO at the Fillmore a few weeks ago, Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe offered up a set of soul-flavored downtempo with elements of trance's fluid, textured atmospherics. The sampled vocals sounded like something out of an R&B song recontextualized. In certain ways, the act's sound recalled a more chilled out version of the Orb. The transitions were smooth, and the final section of its set had a fantastic build that seemed to create a sound like attaining some kind of existential peak, reaching a psychological vista and surveying a windswept bigger picture perspective. Before hitting the road supporting Shpongle this spring, the Sante Fe-based duo returns to the Mile High City tonight for a set at Cervantes with saQi, Mikey Thunder, Mouseterious, Ginger Perry. (Bedrockk with DJ Chap, Snubluck, Dawn Safari and Amor, Est. are at Cervantes' Other Side this evening.)