Shannon Nehls / OC Weekly

EDM fans ready for NYE

Who would have thought five years ago that super star DJ's like Above & Beyond, Ferry Corsten, Andy Moor, Sebastian Ingrosso, Laidback Luke, Calvin Harris, Avicii and Nero would be headlining separate major EDM festivals right here in California on New Years Eve? Since Insomniac Events and Go Ventures ended their partnership, the infamous Together As One NYE massive which was held in LA for 13 years has ceased to exist and major EDM events and festivals have been popping up in the surrounding cities for the past couple of years. This weekend we took a stab at attending OMFG! NYE at the San Diego Sports Arena on Sunday December 30th and then rushing back to OC for White Wonderland at the Anaheim Convention Center Monday December 31st in an attempt to compare which party was the best! Take a look at our notes and decide for yourself.

See Also:
The Top Five EDM Parties on New Year's Eve
White Wonderland 2013 @ Anaheim Convention Center (Semi-NSFW)
Go Ventures Officially Cancels Together As One, Draws Heat From Falsely Advertised Performer

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Courtesy of Matthew Little / Insomniac

The crowd at last years White Wonderland

The end of the year snuck up on most of us this year with all of the fun we've been having week after week and the plethora of electronic dance music events that surged the music scene this year. It seems like every month there has been a major EDM festival or event and we're still recovering from the madness. But now that the Christmas gifts are open and you can't even stand to look at leftovers it's time to think New Years Eve. Some have been planning their midnight festivities for a while now (or maybe just who they plan on smooching at midnight), but we kept seeing EDM events pop up like Starbucks on every corner. Yet we still managed to break down the top five EDM NYE parties in Orange County and it's surrounding cities for your convenience of course.

See Also:
Top Five Holiday EDM Parties You're Not Allowed to Miss
First Listen: Minaya & Vikus, Spiro "Overdrive"
Damian Lazarus Plays Music For 24-Hour Party People...Literally

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DMX of Ruff Ryderz and "Rudolph" fame

If the sugar plum fairies dancing in your head this week have started to stop, drop, shut 'em down and open up shop, that's likely because they're still beaming from DMX's absolutely spellbinding cover of the children's Christmas classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." We at the Weekly consider the clip to be one of the best things we've seen this Holiday season and, in the fine tradition of quickly spreading hip-hop trends, really hope more rap artists give us their take on the great seasonal standards. It is with that in mind we present our choices for five more hip-hop holiday renditions we would love to hear!

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​Christmas is a lame holiday celebrating the fake birthday of some guy who probably never even existed. And that's just one reason why it sucks, which is why January 8 is a way better day to get your party on.

For those who don't know, January 8 is Elvis Presley's birthday. Depending on which camp you reside in, either Elvis would have been 77 years young this Sunday or he is turning 77 years young (by that, I mean either you think he died Aug. 16, 1977, or you think he is still alive). Personally, no straight man on this planet loves the King of Rock 'n' Roll more than I do (although rumor has it Elvis is even more popular on Uranus), but even I don't think he's still living. I sure as hell wish he was, but that's another story. 

A few years ago, some friends coined a term called "Elvismas" and instantly I knew they were onto something. As a total atheist-leaning agnostic who hates standing in crowded lines at the mall even more than he hates all the religious aspects of Christmas, instantly I knew that Elvismas was something I could get behind.

I understand this holiday is new to you, so to help I'm offering these five tips that will get you in the Elvismas spirit. And if none of these work, you could always fall back on the unspoken sixth rule, which more or less equates to getting shitty drunk until you pass out. But I guess you don't really need Elvismas to do that.

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Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​So many big names, so little time. Have you ever seen this many gigantic parties in Orange County happening on the same weekend? Sure, the OC Fair's annual New Year's Eve block party is always loads of fun, but Tiesto is performing in Santa Ana. White Wonderland (with Paul van Dyk and Kaskade) will be at Anaheim. Even KCRW's Jason Bentley will be deejaying at the Detroit Bar! What the heck? Check out what else is happening this weekend after the jump. 

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Sterling Taylor

​One of our favorite discoveries of 2011, the very retro chamber-folksters the Loom, have just released their version of "Auld Lang Syne." Why? They said, "When choosing a holiday song to record, we were looking for something secular that also felt in keeping with the spirit of our music. Well-trodden as this song is, we feel we recorded a version that achieves that sonically, and that lyrically also expresses a sentiment of appreciation, which kind of feels like what we'd like to say at this time of year." Listen to it after the jump.
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​We get a lot of free music here at the Heard Mentality offices on a regular basis, but this holiday season, record labels want us the share and gift that music with impunity. Which is great, because if you're anything like me, you're a sucker for good Christmas songs but don't always know how to seek them out. Here are five great new ones that are going to be on permanent rotation--from the funny country music duo Joey+Rory, a free song from the Spinto Band, alt-rock band Diamond's cover of "Christmastime is Here,"  electro-pop quartet Body Language's "Holiday" to Seattle songwriter Shelby Earl's sweet "This Christmas is for Us."

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Myspace.com

The first of our bands to cover the hymn "O Holy Night," Florida natives Go Radio tear into the piece with an anthemic, My Chemical Romance-like gusto. Originally released just last month on Fearless Records' holiday compilation 'Tis the Season to Be Fearless, the amped-up carol features slashing guitars, melodic piano, martial drums and angelic backing vocals that add up to an emo-tinged Christmas slammer. It may not be the way Adolphe Adam pictured his compostion over 150 years ago, but it's suitably epic for the occasion.
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