DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

2011 makes up for one of the highlight years in the career of American based DJ/producer Markus Schulz. He’s still rocking the DJ Mag Top 100 with a Top 10 position, moves ten-thousands of dance lovers each weekend, groves them with tracks and anthems and influences the sound of 2011.

100 Minutes of 2011: Markus Schulz is 100 minutes of essentials, mixed and handpicked by Schulz himself!

Buy it here: 100 Minutes of 2011 (Selected and Mixed by Markus Schulz) – Markus Schulz

Tracklist:
Mike Foyle presents Statica – Shades Of Blue [Mike Foyle presents Statica] (Original Mix) (09:07)
Basil O’Glue – Realm Of Mind (Original Mix) (06:38)
Max Freegrant – Olya (KhoMha Remix) (06:15)
Nash & Pepper present Ostrega – First Scream [Nash & Pepper present Ostrega] (Mike Foyle Edit) (03:45)
Danilo Ercole – Water That Birds Don’t Drink (Original Mix) (07:45)
3rd Planet – UFO Here (Original Mix) (06:10)
Kyau vs Albert – Kiksu [Kyau vs Albert] (2011 Rework) (06:57)
Basil O’Glue – Angular Momentum (Original Mix) (07:38)
Mario Hammer feat. Asheni – Life Before The Earthquake (Original Mix) (06:48)
Skytech – Sirens (Original Mix) (06:46)
Mike EFEX presents Emtech – Callisto (Pobsky Remix) (07:23)
Erick Strong – Heart Inside (Original Mix) (06:25)
Mark Otten – Libertine (Original Mix) (08:44)
Tucandeo – Macula (Original Mix) (06:47)
David Barnes – Noodler (Original Mix) (06:11)
Pobsky & Paul Atkinson – Locked Out (Original Mix) (07:04)
Grube & Hovsepian – Torque (Radio Edit) (03:04)
Boom Jinx feat. Justine Suissa – Phoenix From The Flames (Club Mix Edit) (04:00)
Jessus – Stereophonic (Original Mix) (06:51)
Markus Schulz – Digital Madness (Transmission 2011 Theme) (Original Mix) (08:35)
Beat Service – Charged (Original Mix) (07:00)
Grace – Not Over Yet (Max Graham vs Protoculture Remix) (08:28)
Aerofoil vs E&G – Oslo Anthem [Aerofoil vs E&G] (Original Mix Edit) (03:27)
Rex Mundi – Valley Of Dreams (Original Mix) (07:52)
Dennis Sheperd & Cold Blue feat. Ana Criado – Fallen Angel (Dennis Sheperd Club Mix) (07:52)
Markus Schulz – 100 Minutes Of 2011 (Full Continuous DJ Mix) (99:01.9999)

When asked to single out one artist who made an immense impact in the year 2011, it was no question for me. First name that popped to mind was the young & dynamic, Arty. While although Arty got the ball rolling in late 2009, he didn’t truly obtain his star power until Armin released one of his singles on his ASOT radio shows in 2010. Soon after, Arty was signed to the Anjunabeats label and has been on an express train to the top ever since!

Over the course of one year, Arty has made ridiculous waves among the trance/electro community. His fusion sound is certainly a hit on dance floors world-wide. I was first introduced to this Russian producer’s music when I heard his masterpiece rework of Ferry’s Punk. This may have single-handedly opened all doors for this young artist. His collaboration with Mat Zo on Rebound, also made its debut in April of 2011, and soon after, us EDM fanatics were blessed with Around the World. Most recently, his track Kate boasts a friendly, feel good disposition with clean beats & subtle progressions to get your feet moving.

Arty’s tracks have a distinct sound, combined with a quirky blend of music styles and he makes it apparent that he is not afraid to experiment with various techniques. As a live performer, Arty possesses energy behind the decks that can’t be surpassed. One of his first unveilings was when he rocked the main floor in Den Bosch during Armin’s ASOT 500 celebration. Aside from his amazing music, his animated faces and crowd interaction is a sure seller!

I must congratulate Arty for breaking into this scene like a bulldozer! From what we’ve already witnesses from this young lad, he definitely holds this title…and holds it strong! He mirrors a true artist experimenting with hearty sounds and effortlessly blending electro, trance, & house gracefully, proving how different genres can coexist.

Check out Arty’s full discology and give your ears a brilliant listen. This is only the beginning, as Arty has confirmed more collaborations to come with big-name artists. It’s safe to assume we can expect more original and edgy productions in 2012!

Written by Deb Graynor

Myon & Shane 54 are one of the brightest stars of the so-called new generation of dance music producer / DJs.

Coming from Hungary, the duo have achieved serious success in the international dance music scene; an achievement no artist had done before from their home country. In less than 2 years after they started making music together, the pair were voted into DJMag’s Top 100 DJs at #91. They’ve been producing for the biggest names in the trance scene, are a constant fixture in their record boxes, and the combined sales of everything they’ve done way exceeds the million mark.

USTM: Hello guys, how are you? You just celebrated 100 Episode’s of International Departures! Must have been a great achievement in your life/music career. Can you tell us how you celebrated?

S: The show started a few days after our big introduction at ASOT 400, which was our 2nd international gig together in 2009. We had a few ideas about how it’s gonna turn out, but we never imagined it will go this far. It’s still weird to think about all those people around the world listening to what we do week by week. We get a lot of feedback, and that’s what keeps us going really. It might sound cheesy, but the love of the fans makes everything worthwhile.

M: We were celebrating in Winnipeg, Canada while we had a few days off while touring there. We made a regular radio episode, and we thought it would be great to do a long mix consisting of all our stuff, just to show how far we’ve come since day one. But as the mix reached 4.5 hours length, we realized we might not be able to squeeze everything in there. So we kept half of those tracks and remixes for episode 200, where we pretty sure they will work with our future material. And it was a lot of fun listening back to all those old productions we’ve made like 3 years ago, and haven’t heard for a long time. We will also have an ID100 Celebration in Hawaii on New Years Eve. Now THAT is something we are looking forward to…

USTM: What are your opinions on the changing EDM scene and the effect that pop culture has had on EDM? Do you think its better? Worse? And would you be willing to change your style to fit the new and growing audience?

M:It’s just as true the other way around. Pop music has changed a lot due to dance music, and now every single big pop artist wants to work a dj or seen hanging out with big djs. Obviously those people don’t have any real idea what EDM is really about, but they have a great sense of pop of course. Underground djs can moan about this, but we don’t necessarily think that way. We think it’s a great thing, and it opened a lot of doors for people who might have never thought about 4/4 beats if it wasn’t for all those big cheesy hits.

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Today, Monday Dec 4th, is the last day of voting for the Lights – Siberia remix contest and our own djNth has a couple of tracks in the running. Voting ends at 5pm PST. Get your votes in now.

http://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/lights-siberia-remix-contest/submissions/83315
“This one came together very quickly, I initially downloaded this vocal first becuase I liked this song the best out of all of the Lights tracks in the remix competition but I found it wasn’t working out with my clubby Trance track I was writing so I set it aside and did the Banner remix instead. Came back to this later and checked to see how it fit with the Breaks track I had originally intended to use in the Toes remix and I liked the feel of it. I think it turned out pretty good for getting pieced together last minute and keeping me up all night long trying to make the deadline.”

http://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/lights-banner-remix-contest/submissions/82201
“This is my nu-school Cybertrance remix. Inspired by AVICII and the portamento synths of the Cybertrance sound of yesteryear. :) I feel like this song could finish in the top 20 just because it is pretty different from the rest of the remixes. Most people did faster Dubstep type remixes because the original track is around 75 or 150 BMP range, but check it out and send me a vote.”

Last night, during his radio show, Armin van Buuren revealed 5 extra events of the A State of Trance 550 celebration. Next to events in Belgrade, Moscow and Kiev, the 550th episode of the show will also be celebrated in Los Angeles and Miami. The grand finale will take place in Den Bosch on March 31st, 2012. Divided over 4 weeks and taking place on 2 different continents, ASOT 550 will be the biggest show the popular DJ has ever done.

A State of Trance 550 kicks off on March 3rd in Serbia’s Belgrade, to move to Russia’s capital Moscow only 4 days later on March 7th. Ukrainian dance lovers will be dancing in Kiev on March 10th. This time, Armin lands his ASOT show twice in the US. On March 17th, as part of the Beyond Wonderland festival in Los Angeles and in Miami on March 25th. On March 31st, the biggest and final edition of ASOT 550 takes place in the Brabanthallen of Den Bosch, The Netherlands. Armin announced the full line-up for the Dutch edition of A State of Trance 550 last night, which can now be found via www.astateoftrance.com.

Armin:“Like last year, I wanted to lay it on again, so that ASOT 550 turns into a real worldwide happening. I’m very much looking forward to share this milestone with all listeners, visitors and DJ’s!”

Next to these 6 events, Armin and his team are also looking into the possibilities of an exclusive pre-party on the first of March 2012. The full line-up of all events, as well as the winner of the wildcard for the A State of Trance 550 Theme contest will be announced next week, on December 8th. After that, the voting poll for the contest opens and people are able to vote for their favourite track to be the official anthem of ASOT 550.

TOURDATES ASOT 550, March 2012: 3rd March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Belgrade, Serbia 7th March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Moscow, Russia 10th March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Kiev, Ukraine 17th March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Los Angeles, USA (as part of Beyond Wonderland) 25th March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Miami, USA 31st March A STATE OF TRANCE 550 – Den Bosch, The Netherlands For more info and tickets, as well as the full line-up of the Dutch ASOT 550 show, check www.astateoftrance.com.

Also all producers send in your original tracks by December 8th for a chance to be the ASOT 550 Anthem. http://www.astateoftrance.com/anthemcontest/

Ferry Corsten has released the first App-only album ever to celebrate his 20 years as a producer.

The 20 year App contains a one hour long special mix created by the man himself, filled with 34 of his biggest hits up to date and a lot of unique pictures of Ferry’s face morphing through the years and his musical life. A must have for every fan of Ferry Corsten and dance music in general.

Key features in this App: - Unique 20 Years mix made by Ferry Corsten - Beautiful pictures of Ferry’s face morphing through the years, his musical life and dance events - An overview of his albums over the past 20 years, including track lists Check out the App on ferrycorsten.com

Ferry Corsten has become an icon in the trance and dance scene. He has released 6 artist albums since his rise to the top and a myriad of compilations. With his own record label, Flashover Recordings he releases his own music and the music of other great electronic DJ’s and producers.

His interactive radio show Corstens Countdown is currently broadcasted in more than 50 countries worldwide and annually nominated as one of the best dance radio shows in the world.

With Full on Ferry he treats his fans to a great night filled with back to back sets with himself and various artists. The show has it’s residency in Ibiza, Spain.

As part of a special video-cast, Markus Schulz – one of the 10 biggest DJs in the world – yesterday announced that it would be the sprawling electronic dancetropolis of Los Angeles that’s been selected for his 2012 city compilation! Speculation had been mounting on forums over the last week that the honours could well fall the city’s way, with it becoming the odds-on favourite among Schulz watchers in the final hours before the broadcast. And that was indeed the way the compass spun! As the video’s countdown reached zero (with the broadcast’s hosts uStream at near meltdown!), it revealed the iconic cityscape of the album’s cover and confirmation that the series would return to North America next year.

In unveiling LA as the city of choice, Markus said “electronic dance music has blown up huge in the United States this past year. One of the main reasons driving that is the scene in Los Angeles, where a new generation of clubbers are uniting with long-term fans and creating one of the most passionate scenes anywhere on the globe. I’ve played there many times in my career, at the Monster Massive festivals, the Electric Daisy Carnivals and for the last 3 years New Years Eves at Together As One, and they’ve all been so memorable in their own way.”

To mark the release of Markus’ city-celebrating Los Angeles 2012 mix-comp, Schulz will be playing not one, but two incredible gigs on consecutive nights at alegendary LA dance spot. Markus continues: “one of the clubs heavily featured in my Do You Dream DVD is Avalon. The fans there have always been amazing and as a result of the vibe and the response of the Avalon crowd I ended up playing over six hours, past 7am in the morning! It’s these types of environments where I really test my DJ sets and skills”. So on Presidents Day weekend in the States, it’ll be the West Hollywood club that will play host to two very special parties to celebrate the release of Los Angeles ’12. Saturday February 18th will be a 21+ event with Sunday the 19th being a 18s and over show. “It’s going to be an extended set from me alongside some very special guests and it’ll be the first time in my career that I’ve done two back-to-back shows in LA”, says Markus. “So get your plane tickets, booked, your hotel rooms reserved and your plans made – it’s going to be an incredible weekend!”

From here, over the next six weeks, Markus will be making his final preparations to musically decode the City of Angeles. The album promises to be two discs of the most upfront, cutting-edge, tip-of-the-spear electronic dance music out there, personifying exactly how LA clubs it!

We’ll be back to unveil its tracklist mid-Jan… so standby for that! More info on Markus Schulz from www.markusschulz.com and www.facebook.com/markusschulz

Featuring music from across the electronic dance range, including 31 tracks and remixes from W&W And Mark Sixma, Marco V, Orjan Nilsen, Jochen Miller, Marcel Woods, Alex M.O.R.P.H. and many more.

As this dance music year starts to draw to a close, High Contrast Recordings are ready to put 2011 through the sound barrier with their latest compilation expedition. The man tasked with compiling and mixing it is none other than genre-explorer extraordinaire, Ali Wilson.

Late last year, through the release of his ‘Phenomenon’ album, Ali established himself as one of the producers to watch throughout 2011. By the same stroke it sent his deck career into overdrive, with turntable duty being served at a many major worldwide events and festivals.

Now he’s been given the keys to a trove of the best current and forthcoming crop from High Contrast Recordings and beyond and he’s ready to deal the year some compilation justice!

Wilson instantly draws the listener in on Mix 1 with the Dyor Feat. Matthew Hall’s groovy-but-moody ‘On The Road’ and ‘I Die’, the moving, Sue McLaren-sung current single from Dennis Sheperd & Alan Morris. The album’s audio initially charts a chunky, proggy path, but don’t get too settled. Tectonic style shifts are afoot. True to his reputation, Ali refuses to hang in any genre locale long enough for the album to get pigeonholed. Erick Strong’s ‘Muffin’ puts it into a housey S.H.M. stride, before Aerofoil & E&G’s ‘Plank Effect’ and Marco V & Damian William’s ‘Essence’ re-point it down a churning, burning tech road.

Given that this is the man who gave us ‘Pandora’ – one of dance overlord Armin van Buuren’s top 10 tracks of 2010 – you better believe that some big room action isn’t far off. Norwegian sensation Orjan Nilsen sends the mercury rising with the pulsating ‘Atchoo’, while ‘Twist’ (in its arena-sized Rick Mitchells and Bas van Essen Remix form) catalyses with its attacking can’t-miss riff. (more...)