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

Niki Belucci is the symbol of beauty, charm, eroticism, freedom, sexuality and energy. Growing up, Niki had a promising background in gymnastics collecting 21 gold, 12 silver and 8 bronze medals and countless other awards. Years later, after several months in the adult industry she began to focusing on a different hobby, DJing. By then she had been performing in small clubs with her vinyl plates entertaining club goers around the country. In a real professional sense, Niki entered the club life in the fall of 2003. Thanks to her talent and ability to perform well under pressure, she had about 160 performances during her first year in Hungary and in the neighboring countries altogether. More and more new gates opened up to her in the upcoming years mainly Austria, Germany and Russia, while she also continued to perform in her homeland.

After several years of playing gigs and touring the world she signed to Unlimited Sounds, home of the D.O.N.S and only a short while later her hit album was co-produced by D.O.N.S. & DBN, the widely recognized DJ and producer Jerry Ropero and vocals were performed on it by Charles Salter (the voice of Axwell). And Niki’s success story continued…

Niki as a resident DJ has acquired increasing recognition during 2010 and following her previous success in France and Italy, she is asked to become resident at the true home of House music at Amnesia in Ibiza. With that her new home on Wednesdays is now the party island of the Mediterranean, where she is headed straight from Gabicce, Italy, her other home of the past two years.

We have been getting lots of hits on DMb from people searching for more info on Niki Belucci and now we finally have a DJ mix for our loyal podcast listeners that covers the spectrum of Techno, House, and Club music.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:25 — 71.5MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

When I first started listening to this mix I didn’t realize how long it was (5 Hours 47 Minutes to be more precise) and before long I was 3 hours in and completely lost in the rhythm. This is an amazing and flawless DJ Mix from one of Techno’s finest!

Download it now.

More about Speedy J
Jochem Paap is the Rotterdam artist Speedy J, early on in his career he was given the moniker to note his adept skills in his DJ performances. He is unanimously considered to be one of the first techno producers to come from the Benelux. Together with people like Laurent Garnier, Aphex Twin and Richie Hawtin he helped in pushing the genre on just after it had escaped the Detroit delivery room.

Since the early nineties, Speedy J has released his music on Plus 8, Warp and Novamute, while techno developed into a dominating force on many dance floors worldwide. After his seminal albums Ginger (1993) and G Spot (1995), Jochem turned left and headed for other exciting sounds.
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Substation from Phoenix, Arizona has been creating and spinning various styles of electronic music for two decades all across the Southwest and his live sets are some of the last “Truly Live” sets in dance music. His sound is the sound of Desert Trance when playing live and a little bit of everything when DJing.

This rare recorded set from the live act Substation gives a glimpse of his groovier side with some Electro and Tech House.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:09:32 — 88.1MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

Peo De Pitte aka Häggström hails from the city of Stockholm, Sweden. After moving to London Peo has also been running his very own label FlatOut Records, the main home for releases of his two aliases Peo de Pitte and Haggstrom.

His trademark combination of rare groove beats and cutting edge synth action has resulted in making Peo one of the most exciting new producers to emerge. With remixes and releases on labels including U&A, Fingerlickin’, Global Underground, LOT49 and Champion Records it is no surprise that he has won huge support worldwide.

In just one year he managed to have massive support from Sinden, Laidback Luke, Fake Blood, Crookers, Jamie Fanatic, Loose Cannons, Trevor Loveys, MJ Cole, Calvertron, Matt Darey, James Zabiela, Kissy Sell Out, Stonebridge, Micky Slim, Elite Force, Evil 9, Foamo, Andy George, Nom De Strip, Stupid Fresh, Matt Darey, Plump DJ’s, Afrojack, DJ Icey, Tittsworth, Meat Katie, Utah Saints, NAPT and others.

Here Peo delivers a Dirty Bangin’ mix of Big Electro Techno tunes that would be right at home in a massive club or underground warehouse.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:28 — 59.7MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

We kinda got caught up on releasing all of these great mixes over the past 4 months that we kinda pushed this mix aside for a bit. This is Part 2 of 4 of the 5+ hour long mix by DJ Nth that will be released at the end of the series that covers: Techno, Progressive, House, and Trance. Keep posted for parts 3 & 4 to be posted over the next few months. If you want more DJ Nth, check out a few other mixes on DMb.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:19:50 — 109.7MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

Long time Phoenix resident Inertia is constantly bridging the gap between human and machine, laying down syncopated atmospheres of computer generated music without sacrificing the heart and soul that people long for on the dance floor. For nearly 2 decades Inertia has been at the forefront of electronic music, both as a DJ and Producer.

As a Producer, his tracks have found their way into the hearts and playlists of DJ’s such as Danny Howells, Deepdish, Paul Van Dyk, Sasha, and John Digweed. In fact, his co-produced track “Time” by The Dream Traveler, was featured as the opening (and only US Produced track) on the legendary “Tranceport” CD by Paul Oakenfold.

A typical night with Inertia behind the decks might include a mishmash of electronic styles. Whether it’s uplifting or dark and brooding, he is going to find the sweet spot in the audience, and ensure they leave with sweat soaked clothes and smiles on their faces.

Inertia’s mix for the final round in the NGDJ competition can be listened to and voted on at the Let’s Mix Website where you can also check out mixes by the other finalists in the NGDJ competition.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:30 — 85.9MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

DROOG is the DJ collective of Andrei Osyka, Brett Griffin and Justin Sloe. From their start 4 years ago, DROOG has steadily built a reputation as one the one of the leading purveyors of forward-thinking dance, in Los Angeles and beyond. For the past 3 years, Droog has held down a residency at Avalon Hollywood, one of the biggest clubs in the US. At Avalon, they have had the chance to play alongside influences such as Richie Hawtin, Lee Burridge, Steve Lawler, Damian Lazarus, Tiefschwarz, Mr. C, Booka Shade, MANDY, Matthew Dear and Steve Bug. Droog has began the exploration of a new frontier in launching an LA-based record label, Culprit, which has spawned successful releases from Matt Tolfrey, Inxec, Hot Natured, Lee Foss and Kenneth James Gibson aka [a]pendics.shuffle. As we begin 2010, Droog is about to embark on their first release, slated to hit the shops before the trio makes waves at WMC.

Culprit 15 Hollywood mix finds Droog dropping a Deeper Tech House set recorded live in 2010. Check out their MySpace page for more free mixes and Beatport for tracks from their label Culprit.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:15:55 — 102.9MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)