This Sunday marked the first ever Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, hosted by Street Attack, Famous Friends, and Impose Magazine. Covering local Brooklyn artists for some time now, Impose Magazine has come to be an important fixture in the Brooklyn community, and a trustworthy source for pithy coverage of the musical oasis that can be the Brooklyn neighborhood. Street Attack and Famous Friends, the primary hosts for this year’s BEMF, are an innovative and resourceful duo that pull all stops. So when the poster went up for BEMF recently, it should be no surprise that the list of sponsors ranged from Miller Lite to the Izze Beverage Co. Even less of a surprise though was the quality of electronic artists and DJs they culled to headline their very first electronic music festival.

Located in The Yard, the notorious outdoor music space in Park Slope, the festival ran from 12PM to 9PM in an epic day of diverse beats and rippling bass. Headlining the event was Brooklyn-by-Venezuela group Todosantos, already featured here on Trash, and Treasure Fingers(see his recent Trash write-up here, and of course the beloved duo, Purple Crush. Throughout the afternoon, though, there was a strong collection of up and coming acts like Lismore, The Glass, Finger On the Pulse, Neon Coyote, and Cobra Krames.

Arriving in the late afternoon, just as the sun was letting up on a crowd of Sparks ignited Brooklynites, I felt what was a strong community of music supporters, friends artists, and the usual blog-league members making sure Ableton mixtapes sounded just as good live. Luckily for those drunk enough by the time Cobra Krames went on, it didn’t matter, as his blend of Blatimore Club and party mash-ups were perfectly crowd pleasing and genre-bending. Stringing together Top 40 Rap and Pop hits with his flavor of B-more stomp, I was surprised not to hear a Journey mash-up amongst his arsenal.

Following Cobra was The Glass, one of the live acts present that day. With their blend of slightly sweet electro-pop, they sung the kind of late-night drunken ballads you might associate with a group of Daft Punk loyalists, suffering from a night of blissed out synths. Unfortunately for The Glass, they spent too much time at the Sparks tent and not enough time at the Izze tent, and relied too heavily on their friends to hype their boozed-down set. Luckily Finger on the Pulse, DJ and producer of The Glass supplied a quick-set of Armand Van Helden remixes to give us a good taste in our mouths beforehand.

For BEMF attendees that day, Purple Crush was clearly a significant draw, and I too was excited to see fellow Islander (Bainbridge Island, Washington) Isla Cheadle and her beatman Jared Selter get freaky on stage in Neon and Nikes. Definitely a highlight of the evening, Isla brought the party, bar none, and got little girls to shake their money makers in feminine glory. Pairing slightly maligned synth-pop and chugging Madonna-disco, Isla rapped, sang, and hyped with a natural frontman femininity that won over the headier skeptics like myself. With tunes like “Fuck the DJ” and “Marry Me,” Purple Crush’s first album “Blog Party” is a must-grab in a sea of uninspired Justice-fallout.

After Purple Crush and after a French-house heavy set from Treasure Fingers, who by virtue of market forces or purely bass-blown ear drums, has been invited to join the ranks of the Fools Gold family, a tour de force in dance music’s finest. One third of Evol Intent, perhaps the State’s best and last contribution to Drum n’ Bass, Treasure Fingers had the presence of your classic UK DJ/producer: techy, cerebral, and an invisible hand on the feet of the crowd. And Treasure Fingers could have just pressed play and returned to the beer garden because his flawless set of ethereal electro had some long-time fans and a drunk-happy crowd brought to their knees that Summer evening at The Yard.

Best and last for me was Todosantos, the Venezuelan trio of young hearts, making the only progressive music that was played that day. Drawing on their love for the music of their hometown (Cumbia, Soca, Reggaeton), as well as the reverberations from abroad (Speed Garage, Baile Funk, Miami Bass, Bassline), Todosantos represents what M.I.A. could only start, and what people like Pharaoh (Todosantos producer), Mariana (Todosantos video editor), and their lead singer (?) are calling “Tukky Bass.” On the wave of their hit song and EP “Acid Girlzzz,” Todosantos brought on the warm-darkness of the night with a rip roaring set of colorful video editing from Mariana and a fiery collection of bass heaviness from Pharaoh. A part from their sing-along set of quick one-liners and hollers, they actually seemed in love with what they were doing.

With a diverse collection of musicians and extremely-well hosted party in a beautiful space, Impose’s first Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival has no doubt set the tone for an upcoming year of exciting music from the electronic sounds of the world. More than ever we’re seeing the synthesis of all things musical, and Impose, much like other music-forward artists and critics, see this synthesis as the great calling to unite under Summer sun, fueled by warm, thick beats and the nutrients of corporate money, an increasingly smart trick to support the arts. And stay posted with Impose Magazine as they post pictures of buckwild hipsters gettin’ down in the sun.

Purple Crush - Physical Attraction (Madonna Cover)

Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (Lifelike Remix)

The Glass - Come Alive

Todosantos - Acid Boys Acid Girls (Leif’s Acid Blowing In the Wind Remix)

Britney Spears Vs. Justice - I Just Wanna D.A.N.C.E. With You (Neon Coyote Mix)

Cobra Krames - Players Choose You