DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

After 30 years working on their respective ongoing music projects, Vince Clarke (Erasure / Yazoo / Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) come together for the first time since 1981 as VCMG to release a brand new album on Mute, preceded by a series of EPs.

VCMG is the fruit of initially tentative discussion and subsequent enthused collaboration where Vince and Martin, both influential as pioneers in electronic music, get to exercise their lifelong love of the genre as the techno inspired VCMG.

As Vince explains: “I’ve been getting into and listening to a lot of minimal dance music and I got really intrigued by all the sounds… I realised I needed a collaborator… so it occurred to me to talk to Martin.”

Says Gore: “Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, ‘I’m interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?’ This was maybe a year ago. He said, ‘No pressure, no deadlines,’ so I said, ‘OK’.”

The writing and recording of the album was done in a typically unique way with the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the album was ready. It was in May 2011 that the pair met for the first time to discuss the project when they both performed at Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London.

The album (title to be announced soon) was produced by Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and mixed by the influential Californian electronic artist Überzone / Q and will be released in the spring of 2012.

The first release is an EP entitled Spock. EP1 / SPOCK will feature remixes from Edit-Select, aka Tony Scott, the UK DJ / producer and founder of EditSelect Records whose previous remix credits include Speedy J, Death In Vegas and Gary Beck; Regis, British techno musician Karl O’Connor, member of the Sandwell District collective and co-founder of Downwards Records); Zak aka DVS1, founder of Hush Records and one of the most prominent figures in US dance music counts techno innovator Derrick May amongst his biggest fans, with his second ever release on May’s own Transmat plus XOQ, the alter ego of Überzone / Q, who mixed the VCMG album.

EP1 / SPOCK will be available initially as a global exclusive on Beatport on 30 November, and then on all DSPs from 12 December with the 12″ release following on 19 December 2011.

EP1 / SPOCK TRACKLIST
Spock – Album Version
Spock – Edit Select Remix
Spock – Regis Remix
Spock – DVS1 Voyage Home Remix
Spock – XOQ Remix

Headliner.fm
Promote your music by leveraging your current fanbase on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Send messages to your fans promoting other people’s music and earn credits to have bands you like promote your sound. [Headliner.fm]

Drumssette the Cassette Drum Machine
Check out this cool drum machine from Mystery Circuits made out of a Tascam 4 Track cassette recorder. [Make Blog]

Sander Kleinenberg – M.A.N.I.A.C.
Nice new track from Sander Kleinenberg called M.A.N.I.A.C. over at Beatport. [BeatPortal]

Tiesto Didn’t Die in LA Car Accident
He might make $20 Million a year, and he might be the World’s most recognized DJ, and he’s still alive. Tiesto let everyone know via twitter that he is not dead. [TrackitDown]

LA Rave Task Force Created
In the aftermath of the death of a 15 year old at Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles the city has set up a special group to investigate electronic music events and report back with their findings. [LA Times]

Electronic Music Events in LA Cancelled
HARD LA Music Festival and Fresh Squeezed both cancelled in wake of Electric Daisy Carnival death. [SoundSpike]

iPad DJ, Ok Maybe This Thing is Useful
It’s definitely overpriced but it just may prove useful for DJs and musicians after all. [Fosfor]

50 Most Charted Tracks at Beatport
Taken from DJ charts for the first half of 2010. [BeatPortal]

World famous House DJ Erick Morillo was arrested at Glasgow Airport on Saturday night for alleged drug possession. The 37-year-old DJ star pleaded not guilty to the charge of cocaine possession.

You would think he could have one of his groupies carry that shit around for him. You just weren’t thinking were you Erick? Oh yeah, cuz you were high. Tsk tsk!

Some more photos after the jump just cuz…
(more…)

Christopher Lawrence and his team are pleased to announce that
Christopher has been cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the Top
100 poll.

Following the discovery of voting anomalies in this years poll, DJ Mag
conducted an in depth investigation, which ultimately cleared
Christopher of any involvement.

Publisher James Robertson says “DJ Mag has been in lengthy discussions
with Christopher Lawrence following our discovery of voting
irregularities” he stated. “We fully accept his explanation that he,
personally, had no involvement in any cheating”.

In an interview with Skrufff, Christopher Lawrence explained
“Apparently there were multiple votes from single IP addresses. DJ Mag
felt it was suspicious and contacted my team to see if we knew anything
about it,” he continued, “We didn’t, so we arranged for the marketing
manager who was handling my Top 100 campaign to speak to them. He
explained that he promotes the vote to street teams of 100,000- 150,000
people, mainly students”.

“My team hired him because he had done campaigns like People’s Choice
Awards in the US as well as work for major record labels and movie
studios. He said he had never had problems before, but clearly DJ Mag
had a problem with his methods and the multiple votes were irregular,
so we had to ask him to step aside,” he continued.

“My wife was worried and considered signing me up with a wedding DJ
agency, but fortunately there has been no impact whatsoever. No
cancelled bookings. Nothing. So I guess I can put my Kool & the Gang
records away. No weddings any time soon,” Christopher joked.

Members of the dance industry spoke out in support. BBC Radio 1′s Judge
Jules said “Christopher has long been one of the biggest DJ’s in the
US, who in more recent years found just how well his sound worked over
in Europe. I’ve played with him loads and he’s never failed to generate
a brilliant reaction”.

Dave Lee, Gatecrasher Brand Director says “Chris has been a great
artist for many years, and performed well for Gatecrasher in 2007. His
‘Live in Moscow’ album was at the top of MOS non TV album seller list
in 2007″.

“The fans have also been great” said Christopher. “I was on tour in
China over the weekend and the shows were the best I have ever done in
that market. I think most people are able to put it into perspective.”

And as for other DJ’s reactions, “I think most DJs are probably
relieved that it wasn’t them,” he laughed.

DJ Mag publisher James Robertson says “DJmag has always believed,
regardless of 2007’s anomalies, that Christopher is an excellent DJ who
stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s best. We look forward to
him resuming his rightful place amongst the leading performers in the
Top 100 DJs 2008 poll.”

In conclusion, Christopher said “Any DJ can be #1 on any given night.
The Top 100 is only a poll and what really matters is what happens on
the dance floor. At the end of the night when the lights come on and
the music fades, you know who your favorite DJ is, and that’s all that
really matters”.

For more info: http://www.christopherlawrence.com

Paul Oakenfold, once the #1 DJ in the world, was photographed drunken, unkempt, and apparently homeless in a Los Angeles bus depot. My how he has fallen.

His latest release Greatest Hits & Remixes, out Oct. 23 on Perfecto must not being doing too well. This collection features his remixes of Justin Timberlake, U2, Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and others.

(editor’s note: We have reports that this photo might not actually be Paul Oakenfold but rather one of the cast members of ABC’s new sitcoms “Cavemen”. We’ll keep you posted.)