Upon entering Cinespace for the pre-launch listening party, the first visible person was none other than producer, DJ and founder of Dim Mak Records, Steve Aoki himself. Tuesday night in Hollywood would be the first time he would be unveiling his debut album, "Wonderland."

The globally renowned LA-based party rocker has been wildly successful in recent years, bringing modern electronic dance music to the forefront by collaborating with all-star artists in different genres. After a brief cocktails and hors d'oeuvres reception, the select group of media guests were ushered into Dim Mak Studios to take a seat in the lounge-style setup. Steve Aoki hung out and talked to his guests as his album played from top to bottom, the bass booming from the nightclub's speakers.

Songs most likely to be heard on the radio include tracks featuring female vocals such as "Come With Me (Deadmeat)" featuring Polina Goudieva and "Ladi Dadi" featuring Wynter Gordon. Hip hop-flavored tracks include "Emergency" with Lil Jon and Chiddy Bang, as well as "Cudi the Kid" with Kid Cudi. Aoki's signature electronic beat style works well with hip hop talent; "Turbulence" featuring Lil Jon and Laidback Luke, as well as his remix of Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" have seen great success.

Other notable tracks include the hard-hitting "Dangerous" featuring Zuper Blahq, and the catchy "Control Freak." The album begins with the popular single "Earthquakey People" featuring Rivers Cuomo, and ends with a sequel to the same track.

Aoki's bulldog, Coco, was also in attendance at the meet and greet listening party. She had a small camcorder attached to her that Aoki referred to as the #cococam on Twitter. The adorable pup was constantly on the move, creating her own good vibes by making her rounds among the guests in order to get a little love from everybody. It was difficult to stay seated in the lounge-style setup since the energetic music, heavy with skillful effects, urged attendees to get up and dance.

Aoki may be notorious for being a DJ wild child, throwing water on fans and crowd surfing in rafts during his sets, but he was quite humble in person when he asked how we liked the album so far. Additionally, the UC Santa Barbara graduate has said that he "wanted this album to show all the different kinds of production sounds I can do." Rather than being a comprehensive package, the album is more like a diverse compilation of singles.

Producing eclectic tracks with dubstep, electro, punk, rap, pop, and rock influences, "this album is a spectrum of music that influences me," says Aoki. This can be a good thing, since there is something for everyone in "Wonderland." But if listeners aren't open-minded enough, it may not be enough for a fan of any one particular genre to want to get the whole album. However, it is clear that Aoki has a talent for fusing unlikely genres together, and he undoubtedly does it well.

Dim Mak Records & Ultra Music will be releasing "Wonderland" on January 17, 2012. Steve Aoki will also be touring worldwide through March to promote his much-anticipated debut album. For free-minded dance music addicts, this album provides surefire pump-up tracks to rage to whether at a house party or a massive, or just to liven up the time spent in the car while stuck in traffic.

 

You can reach reporter Tanaya Ghosh here or follow her on Twitter.