Memories #26

Porter Robinson - Worlds 

This Thanksgiving break, as we gathered with family and friends, my brother-in-law regaled us with a tale about a rave that one of the cousins threw back in the day. It was in a warehouse that they were renting and the lease was up, so they decided to throw a big bash before this prime spot was gone. Mind you, this was long before all the revitalization efforts that went under way here in San Diego back in the aughts, so it was quite an underground event. Well, apparently this was one epic rave and I'm sure there was plenty of music that pounded down on the all the sweaty bodies harbored under that roof. At the time of this occurrence, I wasn't really into dance music and never attended these types of parties that were becoming such an important part of our culture. Of course, by now music that thumps our hearts and bones in such a way is common and I have come to love it in my own way. Porter Robinson's Worlds is my favorite dance album from the past year, mostly because, even though the beat will drive through you in a way that is primal, Robinson also blends in the type of soaring beauty that lifts us over the crowd and into the heavens. Now, I mentioned that I never went to a proper rave of the kind mentioned this past weekend but the most impromptu party that I ever was involved with happened in my early twenties when I still lived out in Jamul. Some friends of mine had gathered at my place to appreciate the beauty of a weekend out in the countryside when my sister came to tell us about a band, going by the name Green Box, that couldn't find their party out there in the boondocks. We welcomed them with open arms and set them up next to the pool. Green Box spent the evening blasting us with nineties punk rock, while we all got properly wasted. It was such a spontaneous and intimate experience that I know I'll remember it forever.