Are you still scratching your head and trying to figure out where you will be counting down the final seconds of 2011? Well, if you’re looking an eve of epic festivities, look no further than to our friends at MeanRed.

MeanRed is gathering your favorite Brooklyn DJs to shake your inebriated bodies into the New Year. AND- you will be in Brooklyn, which means far far away from the horrific chaos of Times Square. Nick Cathdubs, Jubilee, Kaviar Disco Club, and Blue Jemz will be bringing the beats until the wee hours of morning. There will be a champagne toast and an open bar between 9-10 PM! The event is being held at Lorelely, Brooklyn’s best beer garden-turned-club! This event is only $20! So cheap for such great music and an open bar? How could you possibly resist?

Tickets for MeanRed’s New Years Eve event can be purchased online until 6pm the day of the show.

We’re also offering one lucky HiFi reader a pair of tickets to the event. Enter after the jump, the contest will close on Wednesday, December 28th at noon. Good luck!

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Wednesday, November 30th – Tiesto @ Pacha - Advance Tickets
Part 1 of the Pacha NYC 6-Year Anniversary Celebration! Whether it be the 250,000 revelers coming together at Ipanema Beach in Rio De Janeiro, the adoring clubbers who descend upon Privilege in Ibiza on a Monday night every summer, or the 25,000 fans en masse at Victoria Park in London, all are in attendance for the same reason: they have come to see Tiësto, the world’s biggest DJ/Producer! Tiesto is also performing on Thursday, December 1st at Lavo. For more info: click here

Thursday, December 1st – DARKSIDE Debut @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - Advance Tickets
DARKSIDE (Nicolas Jaar + Dave Harrington) began when a converter plug exploded in Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s Berlin hotel room during their summer tour. When the smoke cleared, they knew their twin, white Genelec speakers were fried. But rather than retire for the night, they both plugged into a computer and merged sounds, forming DARKSIDE. For more info: click here

Thursday, December 1st – BESPOKE + Mano Le Tough @ 4 Vandam St - Free with RSVP
Bespoke launches next Thursday, December 1st at the brand new art gallery, nightclub + lounge located at 34 Vandam St., aka Work in Progress.  Admission is free all night, simply RSVP to be placed on the guestlist. Expect exceptional electronic music-an aural and visual feast featuring some of the most forward-thinking DJs/producers at one of the most interesting and exciting new venues to come to New York in years. For more info: click here

Friday, December 2nd – Verboten Presents Rebel Rave @ Good Units - Advance Tickets
Damian Lazarus and the infamous Rebel Rave Tour descend upon New York for one night only, and Verboten’s got em. Join the Crosstown Rebels head and his gang, including Lee Curtiss (Visionquest), Clive Henry (Circoloco, Peace Division), Culprit’s Droog, and the New York debut of Subb-an, for an incredible throw down of epic proportions. For more info: click here

Friday, December 2nd – BLKMARKET with KOZE & Robag Wruhme @ TBA - Advance Tickets
On Friday 2nd December, we celebrate co-founder and resident DJ Fahad Haider’s Birthday Bash! For this night we have invited some close friends of ours to share the decks for the celebration. DJ Koze and Robag Wruhme have both been invited to play extended sets for the party. Also joining the lineup is Shadi Megallaa with residents Taimur & Fahad. If that’s not enough this event is also DJ Koze’s first record label night in the U.S. Ladies and gentlemen lets get ready for the Pampa records showcase! For more info: click here

Friday, December 2nd – Loco Dice @ Pacha - Advance Tickets
Part 2 of the Pacha NYC 6-Year Anniversary Celebration! Loco Dice is someone who can puzzle together intangible moods with a direct approach. Via his DJ sets or his productions on labels like M_nus, Cadenza, Ovum, Four Twenty and Cocoon, he merges perspectives in his delicate sense for sounds and reflective atmospheres, underpinned with solid, physical grooves inspired by the hip hop that was his early sonic stomping ground in the mid- to late ‘90s. There’s something there for the dreamers, as well as for the 9-to-5ers who just want to lose everything in a moment of abandon on the dancefloor. For more info: click here

Friday, Dember 2nd – Digitalism (Live) @ Webster Hall – Advance Tickets 19+
Digitalism have been responsible for some of the most outstanding tracks of the genre. ‘Zdarlight’, ‘Idealistic’, ‘Digitalism In Cairo’ (an amazing Cure remix), ‘Jupiter Room’, ‘Pogo’ among others, helped Digitalism stand out from the crowd. Recent tracks like ‘Circles’ from their new album ‘I Love You Dude’ just press the point further; these guys are awesome. They will be playing for us this Friday at our Girls and Boys party at Webster Hall with Nadastrom and Data Romance. We are looking forward to this one.

Saturday, December 3rd – Jeff Mills @ LPR - Advance Tickets
The Axis visionary and techno icon JEFF MILLS returns to New York for a very special night at (le) Poisson Rouge! Basic NYC is excited and honored to welcome Jeff to LPR for his long-awaited return set, where he’ll be featuring his latest spellbinding music – his new score of the 60′s Sci-Fi film classic “Fantastic Voyage”, his brand-new double album on his own Axis Records label. We’re bringing in extra sound and visuals for this night, which will feature an extended set from the always-amazing Jeff. Don’t miss out on this intimate performance from one of the world’s most important artists. For more info: click here

Saturday, December 3rd – Octave @ National Underground - Advance Tickets
Dasha Rush [ Fullpanda | Sonic Groove | Berlin ] Mike Parker [ Prologue | Mote Evolver | Buffalo ] Jeff Derringer [ Perc Trax | Chicago ] 11 PM – 6 AM, For more info: click here

Sunday, December 4th – Mark Verbos, Jacques Renault, Walker & Royce @ Brooklyn Terrace -  Advance Tickets
Nurvous Records and Benny Soto present three of the top dj’s in the evolving nu-disco genre. We are giving away two lists spots to anyone who gives us a shout on our Facebook page.

This weekend’s Essential Mix travels to Bristol’s skate park turned warehouse party, In:Motion, for a Eats Everything live session. Fresh off his latest EP for Dirtybird, Eats Everything aka Dan Pearce has quickly become the unforgettable champion of low-slung house. Boasting a handful of releases in the past year including one of the 2011 summer anthems ‘Entrance Song‘, Bristol seems to have yet another star. Expect two hours of chunky bass laden house perfect for getting your booty shaking.

Eats Everything – Essential Mix Live at In:Motion [Download]

Be sure to tune in next week for Pearson Sound!
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The second day of the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival took the energy from the previous day’s festivities and doubled it, with all of Williamsburg awash in the sound of beats and dancing feet. Rubble from the night before was still littering the streets as the darkness set in, the energy picked up, and New York City’s cool kids emerged from their hangovers to start the party all over again.

At the Public Assembly Loft, Tim Sweeney stepped in around midnight, spinning his signature blend of house and disco, grooving right along with his rapt audience. Jackmaster the took over to great cheers, proceeding to drop a set of serious bangers; nothing short of a greatest hits of house and techno from 2011. As Julio Bashmore’s “Battle for Middle You” came floating out from the speakers, the entire crowd sang along, as best they could to en electronic track. Scuba’s “Feel It” was also a huge hit, getting those last few people who weren’t moving to hit the dancefloor. Braille followed, proving without a doubt that he’s a DJ in his own right (although everyone loves a good Sepalcure performance).

Downstairs, Fout Tet played to a truly packed house, with people so crammed in they were spilling out from every door. Kingdom and Girl Unit went bass heavy, focusing on the lower and more dub centric spectrum of sound. Meanwhile, Thugfucker spun deep house next door, with no shortage of pretty girls pressing up toward the DJ booth. The house was still packed when the lights went on at 4am, and the bleary eyed population was evicted into the streets in search of an afterparty. BEMF, why’d you have to go? We look forward to seeing you again next year.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PHOTO GALLERIES FROM DAY 1 AND DAY 2

11-11-11 was a magical day for NYC’s music scene. Plaid and the Gamelan Dhara Swara played at LPR, it was the first night of the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, Paco Osuna was spinning at Good Units, and MiM0$a was rocking out at Webster Hall alongside Alex English. Energy levels were high and HiFi was on a mission to catch as much music possible for the eve.

Le Passion Rouge was first on the list. We made our way through the doors with plenty of time to down a few Vodka-RedBulls during happy hour. As happy hour concluded, the Gamelan Dharma Swara took the stage. This 15+ person group performs the music and dance of Bali in the NYC area. Gamelan was dressed in beautiful authentic Indonesian attire and played a myriad of instruments that I can not name. An orchestra of percussion, woodwinds, and xylophone-like instruments was spread across the stage. Their structured tunes sounded atonal and chaotic, yet your ear could grasp the tonal center that remained audible through a maze of accidentals and modes. The group finished with two dancers acting out the story behind the music onstage. They were confronted by an evil daemon, but victoriously forced the daemon away.

Plaid took the stage next. I was unaware of what to expect from the avaunt guard Warp duo. They managed to deliver a very true representation of their studio tracks. The entire set itself felt like one long continuous song with very few rests. Much of the set had this distinct under water sound, which mirrored their opening video montage of a girl swimming and encountering a deadly octopus. Whimsical melodic lines were laid on top of structured rhythms and patterns. Soft synth lines ran back and forth from spacious simple sounds to dark and heavy drones. When looking out into the audience, their confusion was visible. Throughout the first 15 minutes of the set most everyone stood still. As time progressed, everyone started dancing to the tune of their own horn. It looked crazy, but it made sense. Plaid took the crowd on a symphonic journey through their heavy beats. A part of me wished they had jammed out in downtempo. The set was great, and overwhelmingly powerful, but the constant change from fast to slow became somewhat exhausting. However, the creation of tones produced put our ears in music heaven for the entirety of their set.

We left LPR and heading directly to Williamsburg for BEMF. Friday night was Cold. Quite frigid to say the least. We huddled on the subway for warmth all the way to the Bedford stop. After securing our wrist bands, we ran into The Cove for warmth and successfully succeeded with the disco funk beats pouring out from the decks by Nick Hook. We danced to his tunes and stared at the beautiful green lazers bouncing around the room. The Cove was not the only poppin’ place at that time. BEMF had taken over all of north Williamsburg, with showcases at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Public Assembly, Cameo, and Zablozki’s. It was visibly obvious that The Cove was slowly but surely filling up, and by the time Hudson Mohawke took over the decks, you could barely move. The recognizable Shower Melody opened his set and the crowd went nuts. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a glimpse of Hudson, but knowing that I was dancing to a set curated Ross Birchard himself, made it all worthwhile.

In the midst of Hudon’s set, I fled over to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to catch the Fischerspooner DJ set by Casey Spooner and Lauren Flax. Casey looked dashing in his black suit with bright purple hair. He and Lauren plunged into a fresh remix Casey had made featuring Patti Smith. From there on out, deep house beats pulsated through the airwaves in the MHoW and it felt like we danced until the sun the came up. Or 3 AM. As the audience filed out, with exhausted yet elated looks on their faces. HiFi stuck around to chat one on one with Casey Spooner himself. Casey is a very kind and humble man. Sitting, talking, and drinking beers with an artist of his caliber was mind blowing, and probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. (The interview will be up in the next few days.) By 4:30 AM we stumbled back into our apartment and fell into a deep deep sleep.

11-11-11 was a magical day indeed. The music witnessed that evening was the perfect combination of the finest from BK and the UK. BEMF was as great success as well as the early show at LPR. We can’t wait for next year. Cheers.

On Tuesday, November 22, Nervous Records and Société Perrier will bring a night of house to Cielo. Headliner Norman Doray is coming all the way from France in celebration of his latest album, “Amsterdam to Ibiza” (out on Strictly Rhythm), following an opening performance from New York’s own Theo, who recently released “School of House” (Nervous Records).

Tickets for this Nervous Tuesday even can be purchased online until 6pm the day of the show.

We’re also offering one lucky HiFi reader a pair of tickets to the event. Enter after the jump, the contest will close on Saturday, November 19 at noon. Good luck!

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Plaid is not just for hipsters, country music stars, your grandfather, or Scottish kilts. That statement was not meant to offend, nothing beats wearing a heavy plaid button down on a cold New York City day like today, but I am not talking about anything clothing related. The Plaid I’m speaking of is the group of two master curators and creators of sound, the London based duo, Andy Turner and Ed Handley.

Apologies, but I must take a few minutes to gush about how phenomenal these two musicians are. A friend introduced me to Plaid about three years ago, and still, I find myself picking up on new details within the same tracks live listened to hundreds of times over.  Plaid is not a group that can be labeled, nor can you fit them into a box. Their compositions are whimsical, spacious, and organic. All of these components (not simultaneously of course) are present in their unique sound: ambient, breakbeat, chiptune (video game music), disco, downtempo, drum and bass (on the lighter side), electronic art music, glitch, IDM, synthpop, melodic, atonal, all fused together with characteristics from every genre imaginable. The tranquil yet complex tunes that are birthed from these two have the ability to take your breath away.

The group is signed to the one and only Warp Records (thank you Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell) that has signed A-List, head of their time talent such as Aphex Twin, Bibio, Grizzly Bear, Hudson Mohawke (who is also playing tonight at the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival), Squarepusher, and !!!. Plaid released their first album in 1991 and their most recent album ‘scintilli’ a few months ago. Sharon O’Connell of Time Out London said the following of ‘scintilli’:

“The euphoric immediacy of the whole record belies its painstaking, dazzling multifaceted beauty and ‘Tetris’ like construction, which makes pick a highlight impossible.”

We will leave you with a few of our favorite tunes from Plaid. Hopefully you will purchase your ticket HERE for their show tonight at LPR, and we will see you there! Happy Friday.

Stills- Plaid

Missing- Plaid

BALANCE 020, a two-disc compilation mixed by Sweden’s Deetron, will be out Tuesday, November 8. Featuring a selection of classics and lesser-known tracks, this mix seeks to prove that vinyl and digital mixing can coexist. As Deetron puts it, “This compilation is a celebration of the gorgeous format that is vinyl and a praise for the endless possibilities the digital world has to offer.” The track selection and structure of each of these two sublime mixes lovingly and carefully reflects that inherent choice of medium, while at all times reminding the listener why his highly accessible, humanistic sound is so widely cherished and embraced.

Balance 020 is an easy contender for the finest compilation of 2011. North American customers can head over to Balance Music’s online store to purchase BALANCE 020 on Tuesday.

This Saturday, MeanRed is bringing L-Vis 1990 for a special Pre-Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival dance session. This English visionary has been called a “true phenomenon;” with releases on Mad Decent and Sound Pellegrino, L-Vis 1990 started receiving his well deserved recognition for changing the face of underground club music. His incredibly unique style comes from his musical stew of post-modern tribal house and years of garage heritage. The musical stylings of Nick Hook and Dan Wender will also be in effect.

As always, this Dark Disco will be filled to the brim with inspirational surprises throughout the night. The Chinatown location will not be disclosed until the week of the event… think Dim Sum.

To make this even more fantastically mouth-watering, they’re offering a BEMF ticket special: attendees will be given the option of a $10 reduction on their BEMF tickets, for a limited time. This will be SOLD OUT as they have limited capacity on the dance floor between the egg rolls and dumplings. Tickets can be purchased HERE.

But that’s not all! We have a pair of tickets to give out that are good for BOTH Dark Disco AND BEMF, to one luck winner! The winner will be chosen at 12 noon on Saturday, so be sure you enter before then. Fill out the form below to enter.