DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

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.”

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

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Always wanting to be a dancer, Juliet Star enjoyed dancing to the beautiful sounds of Progressive House and Trance. The transition from just dancing to the music, and wanting to play it instead, was a slow one but eventually took hold and a love for DJing was born.

After joining #trancefamily and a trip to Holland Juliet found a home for herself among Trance lovers from all over the world. Currently residing in San Diego, California, Juliet Star can be found performing across the Southwest US with her take on Progressive and Trance with the occasional Breaks or House set.

Currently you can catch her live every Thursday at 6pm PST / 9pm EST on ProjectRadio.us for her show ‘The Mix Hour’ and ever Sunday 6pm PST / 9pm EST for 2 hours on ProjectRadio.us and JulietStar.com

Moving forward keep an eye open for some original Juliet Star productions and her contributions to the blog United States Trance Movement.

Juliet Star has put together a great collection of Trance tracks that showcases her programming and mixing skills. Download then head over to her podcast and subscribe.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:13 — 70.1MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

Well, another Schulz show has come and gone, and once again my fellow Schulz Army Cadets are left in post-Markus depression! When we first heard Markus would be in DC on October 15th, a 6-hour trip seemed like NOTHING for Schulz! Road trip from NYC was definitely in store!

I’ll start by saying, if you haven’t been to Fur Nightclub in DC, here’s the scoop. While definitely not as seedy and dark as your normal NYC nightclub…it definitely has its quirky yet unique characteristics. The club contains a layout with 4 areas to dance. Outside patio, salsa room (which I have yet to see), hip hop/pop area and of course the only room that makes this club…the main dance area on the lower level. If you’ve read any of my past reviews, you know I can’t resist to comment on the horrid cheesy pop/mainstream crap they play on the main level. It’s just poor planning to hear this garbage while there are epic trance events in the lower room. If you have the urge to escape for some fresh air on the back patio, you are forced to walk through garbage music while meddling through amateur crowds of mayhem. Not fun!

On to more relevant things…we arrived around 11:15pm and had an easy entry experience with no line. Nice! The opening DJ in the main room was…let me say…meh. While the crowd seemed to dig the vibe, this guy had way too much fun dropping cheesy mashups of various popular edm tracks. Might I also mention an observation early on in the night…the crowd seemed a little “off”, as if too many people simply strolled off the street just to go clubbing, not realizing there is an epic master DJ/producer about to take the stage. Nevertheless, we situated ourselves directly in the center of the crowd and awaited the entrance of our boss…Mr. Markus Schulz!

About 12:30am, Markus took over. It’s always impressive when a DJ is able to come out of the BS music of an opening DJ, into full blown Markus-mode! Instantly turned the mood around!!!

As always, Markus was consistent with his set, and never disappointing. Dropping remixed tracks like Perception, Saints, and of course, Sinners, the floor was rumbling and the sound system was banging! I must say, I’ve seen Schulz a lot, and I can honestly say, every show gets better with new remixes and fresh sounds that I’ve never heard live. He really took it to extreme levels that night with the non-vocal hard tracks and had the entire crowd on their feet. Tracks like Angular Momentum & The Plank Effect, kept the crowd at energy levels I have never experienced! I can’t forget to mention also how Markus so effortlessly changed the room energy with some melodic Gaia Stellar…Love! (more...)

ELECTRIC ZOO 2012 Early Bird Passes on Sale www.electriczoofestival.com

After the smash success of the third annual Electric Zoo, Made Event is pleased to announce that Early Bird passes for Electric Zoo 2012 go on sale today at 1 p.m. EDT. Buy your Early Bird pass at www.electriczoofestival.com. The supply is very limited, so don’t miss out! Electric Zoo 2012 will take place at Randall’s Island Park, NYC, on Labor Day Weekend, August 31 to September 2, 2012.

The Official Electric Zoo 2011 Recap Video has just been released! Recapture a glimpse of the magic that was Electric Zoo 2011 in this official post-festival recap video, just released today on our Youtube channel. Watch the video here: Youtube.com/ElectricZooNY.

Official Electric Zoo 2011 Recap Video 



Electric Zoo is also working with Music Unites, a 501(c)3 non-profit, to auction off a CDJ-2000 provided on behalf of Pioneer DJ and signed by Electric Zoo 2011 artists: 12th Planet, ATB, Beardyman, Benny Benassi, Big Gigantic, BT, Calvin Harris, Daedelus, Egyptrixx, Fake Blood, Felguk, Gabriel & Dresden, Gui Boratto, Guti, James Holden, Jaytech, Michael Woods, MiMOSA, Sander Van Doorn, Serge Devant, Sidney Samson, Steve Bug, Sub Focus, The M Machine, The Martinez Brothers, Tiga and TOKiMONSTA. In addition, the auction includes 2 general admission tickets to Electric Zoo 2012 (more...)

I honestly didn’t see it coming. David Guetta? I figured he would have topped out at number 2 but I guess working with lots of commercial rap/r&b/pop singers will get you more votes. I hope this doesn’t start a bigger trend of more commercial music that we already have in our massively expanding dance music scene. Well congrats to David Guetta and cheers to Armin van Buuren for a great run!

Some notable movers: AVICII (up 33), Swedish House Mafia (up 13), Skrillex (debut at #19!), Arty (up 53), Martin Solveig (up 26), Calvin Harris (up 60), Noisecontrollers (up 55), W&W (up 36), Pete tha Zouk (up 44), Dada Life (up 38), Steve Aoki (debut at #42), Lange (down 29), Joachim Garraud (down 32), Simon Patterson (down 48), Felguk (debut at #87), James Zabiela (down 45), and Marcel Woods (down 32).

The top 100 DJ’s of 2011:

01. David Guetta (up 1)
02. Armin van Buuren (down 1)
03. Tiësto (non-mover)
04. Deadmau5 (non-mover)
05. Above & Beyond (non-mover)
06. Avicii (up 33)
07. Afrojack (up 12)
08. Dash Berlin (up 7 )
09. Markus Schulz (down 1)
10. Swedish House Mafia (up 13)
11. Paul van Dyk (down 5)
12. Axwell (down 2)
13. Gareth Emery (down 6)
14. Fedde Le Grand (up 5)
15. ATB (down 4)
16. Sander van Doorn (down 4)
17. Headhunterz (up 17)
18. Ferry Corsten (down 9)
19. Skrillex (BEST new entry)
20. Laidback Luke (down 3)
21. Infected Mushroom (down 8 )
22. Aly & Fila (down 2)
23. Steve Angello (down 9)
24. Hardwell (new entry)
25. Arty (up 53)
26. Sebastian Ingrosso (down 10)
27. Benny Benassi (down 1)
28. Daft Punk (up 16)
29. Martin Solveig (up 26)
30. Kaskade (up 5)
31. Carl Cox (down 9)
32. Chuckie (up 5)
33. Bob Sinclar (up 5)
34. Calvin Harris (up 60)
35. Noisecontrollers (up 55)
36. W&W (up 36)
37. Pete tha Zouk (up 44)
38. Dada Life (up 38)
39. Angerfist (new entry)
40. D Block & S Te Fan (up 33)
41. Coone (new entry)
42. Steve Aoki (new entry)
43. Cosmic Gate (down 19)
44. Bobina (down 19)
45. Richie Hawtin (down 14)
46. Eric Prydz (down 16)
47. Zatox (new entry)
48. tyDi (up 8 )
49. Orjan Nilsen (new entry)
50. Andy Moor (down 18) (more…)

Record your own version of AVICII – Levels (street performance, children’s choir, flash mob etc) and upload to YouTube. Winners get to be a part of the official video for Levels. Contest ends November 1, 2011 so get moving.

Check out the full Info and Rules here.

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