DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

Seems everyone is rushing to get their live shows announced with some creative way of doing a video show to hide the fact that a one-man band just physically cannot be playing all of the instruments in a song live. With a few exceptions there haven’t really been many Electronic Musicians that have put on good live shows, and the word “live” is generally used to indicate that the artist may be triggering patterns or muting and unmuting tracks on the fly but generally not actually playing any instruments live. Personally I have nothing against this, what else can really be expected of one person? One man standing in front a few pieces of equipment, generally with a laptop in tow, doing a “live” show seems to generate less excitement than a DJ behind a pair of decks playing other people’s music.

The Solution
Stand in front of some mysterious piece of gear with lots of really cool looking synchronized 3D graphics and flashing lights to distract and hypnotize the crowd while bobbing your head to the music and moving your hands around like a conductor pushing buttons and occasionally pointing to the space above the crowd.

Underworld has always been one of the top Electronic Dance Music acts to put on a great live show. They always had the visuals provided by Tomato and an energetic vocalist jumping around the stage with a guitar.

Daft Punk pretty much set the stage for the current formula being used by many artists in the Electronic Music world with their Pyramid of lights and visuals. They also didn’t really play an instruments live it was more like they were tour guides through a mash-up of their entire discography. Entertaining, no doubt.

Etienne de Crecy did in next with his Visual Cube, taking the same formula as Daft Punk and the anonymous equipment in front of him. Etienne recently released a compilation available on Dim Mak Records called Beats n’ Cubes which contains some of the music from his show.

Then came Amon Tobin with Isam and the bar was raised. Incorporating perfectly synced 3D visuals projected onto a stack of boxes, Amon and his team created a show that has left people with their jaws on the floor. He’s still touring if you (more…)

Here’s your chance to remix one of the Thrillseekers’ biggest releases to date. Featuring the astonishing vocals of Fisher, and chosen by Above & Beyond as their favourite track of 2008, the track in question is, of course, The Last Time. What kind of mix is Steve looking for? Well, he’s leaving that up to you! Be as creative as you like. The winning mix, chosen by Steve, will be featured on t

We have a couple of passes for one lucky reader in the UK who wants to attend a night at Together. Just post in the comments and we will randomly choose one reader next week to receive the passes.

Together Season One kicks off on Friday 12th March for a series of events at the Coronet Theatre with an amazing lineup over the next few months.

Full Info on Together: (more…)

JohnBeez has developed a new Fretless Fader which acts as a two octave pitch controller and crossfader which makes creating music on the turntable that much easier. Pair that up with the Vestax Controller One and this is what you get…

Here is another video of JohnBeez with his Controller One and a Loop Pedal…

Friday March 2nd is a landmark date in the history of drum & bass. Ram Records has been one of the most important drum & bass labels in the history of the genre. They have been at the very forefront of drum & bass ever since Ant Miles and a sixteen year old Andy C released the label’s debut ‘Sour Mash EP’ in 1992, and almost immediately wrote the label into jungle history with their genre-defining and scene-shaping magnum opus ‘Valley of the Shadows’ in 1993.

The years since have seen the label become one of the scene’s dominant forces with one of the tightest knit collectives. Along with the founding fathers, the talents of Shimon, Moving Fusion and Red One were soon incorporated in to their stable, and later the likes of Nightbreed and Subfocus were added, creating one of the most formidable collectives in the scene. Their music has been of such consistently high quality it’s possible to pick a drum & bass anthem of the year for every year from the Ram catalogue alone.

The success of Ram also went hand in hand with the development of Andy C’s career and helped shape him in to drum & bass’ undisputed heavyweight champion. Ram will not only be marking their fifteen year anniversary with this monster of a party, but with the release of a commemorative CD/DVD pack that will include live footage from ‘The Executioner’ recorded on the night, along with interview footage with all the crew and much more.

The night itself is a blend of Ram mainstays such as Sub Focus, Shimon and of course Andy C, and a select choice of some of the finest talent from across the scene in mouth-watering back to back combinations including Mampi Swift back to back with DJ Fresh, Bryan Gee back to back with DJ Die and Fierce back to back with Commix.

The lounge dwellers will be treated to some gems too, including the wonky hip hop, breaks and downtempo of Danny Breaks, the no-nonsense party breaks of Jay Cunning, Neil Mitchell’s straight-up house, and the cherry on the cake, a very special AWOL set from the legendary DJ Randall! Not to be missed.

An extraordinary line-up for an historic anniversary in drum & bass, and a night that is set to go down in folklore. Let’s all toast to another fifteen years from the Ram crew!

via: DanceNova

John Digweed hardly needs an introduction; he is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most in-demand artists in the industry. Now following the success of the first in the Transitions series, he returns with the eagerly anticipated second volume, to deliver another characteristically sublime mix.’

With this single disc mix, to be released twice a year, John is able to compile a contemporary snapshot of his current set taking in the most up-to-date material on the scene.

Trans Vol.2
His standing as a world-renowned DJ has enabled him to include several tracks that are exclusively available on this album prior to their full single release. Amongst these are Guy Gerber’s atmospheric mix of Chaime – ‘Dana’, David K’s trippy masterpiece ‘Boul de Nerf’ and two tracks by G-Stylz (aka Bruce Aisher).

He incorporates further stand-out tracks from Buzzin’ Fly’s latest, Abyss ‘Mind Games’ and ‘The Dreamer’, as well as another exclusive from man of the moment Guy Gerber, entitled ‘Digital Memories’ and the incredible Joakim Mix of Antena’s ‘Camino Del Sol’. As with Vol.1, it is his flawless mixing and programming that Digweed brings to this project, creating a mix that offers new interpretations, improving with each listen as it shifts from 124 to a 129bpm finale across it’s 70 minutes.

As one half of Bedrock, Digweed has long been a force in the studio, and his production acumen is highlighted here, as he turns in subtle, exclusive edits throughout the album

In recent times John’s sound has reached an ever wider audience with ‘Transitions’, his globally syndicated radio show, which has over 2 million listeners a week and also provides the name and inspiration for the comp’.

Renaissance: John Digweed – Transitions Vol.2 is out now
Get John Digweed CDs
via DanceNova