It's Top 100 DJ voting season again!

 Hey everyone!  In case you've been living under a rock in the DJ/Producer world of EDM, it is once again voting season for the coveted prize of being named on the Top 100 DJ list from DJMag.com.  I think this is a really exciting time for everyone involved because each DJ does their part to rally their fans in attempt to earn votes.  Some good viral marketing, contests, promotions, and special events are usually done to make it all that much more exciting.  Now while I have my top 5 in mind (something I will post about later), my biggest gripe is that we can't vote for a top 10.  I know this would make a lot more work for the magazine and for the voting, but it's just too hard to narrow your favorite DJ's/producers of the year into a list of only 5.  I definitely have 10 (at the very LEAST) that I would like to support.  Oh well, business is business.  And speaking of which, here is a little gem from Sied van Riel about the whole concept of this voting and the DJ business.  Sure gave me a big LOL.  Check it out:




Happy vorting.  Please be sure to visit http://www.top100djs.net to place your votes!

~Mark

This Week's Artist Spotlight: Ben Gold

This week's artist spotlight is the UK's finest Ben Gold.  One of my favorite producers of last/this year, aside from being one of the leading men of Gareth Emery's Garuda Records with a string of big singles and being a remix juggernaut, edged his way to be this week's artist spotlight because of a dream collaboration with his boss (and one of my favorites), none other than Gareth Emery.  The video however has Gareth's humor written all over it.  Check it out:

Gareth Emery & Ben Gold - "Flash"



I love this track.  Such a big sound and a great mashup of styles from two of my favorite artists.  All the patches used, arrangement, drum patterns, and other plug ins could be the work of either/or, which in my opinion makes a collaboration the most successful.  When everything comes together so well and blends, that's the makings of a beautiful collaboration track.  However, like true Garuda fashion, we won't see it released anytime soon.  The tentative date is in early September.  Remember when Ben Gold's "Pandemic" was supposed to come out in mid-March?  Ya, about that.. I hope we see it released sooner than later, because this could really rip up dance floors while the summer season is still hot.

But wait...this week's spotlight was about Ben Gold and not just Gareth right?  That's correct!  So that being said, let me leave you with some more gems from Mr. Gold that you may have missed:

John O'Callaghan - Big Sky (Ben Gold Festival Remix)



Ben Gold - "Pandemic (Sied van Riel Remix)"



Tritonal & Sibicky - "Suzu (Ben Gold Remix)"




Hope you enjoyed the tracks.  Any requests for next week's artist spotlight?

~Mark

EDC 2011 Flashback: Porter Robinson hits a home run

Porter Robinson proved after EDC Las Vegas that he's a force to be reckoned with and he's here to stay, no doubt about that.  Anyone that managed to catch his set, albeit early, understood the future of the biz within that 1 hour of music that he spun.  While EDC is a great spot to see the juggernauts of the business, it's also a great place to catch who the juggernauts will be later down the line...and Porter is the man.  Catch out a snapshot of  his set:



~Mark

EDC 2011 Flashback: Dada Life's Marching Band

Another "blink and you missed it" moment from the epic extravaganza at Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 in Las Vegas.  I just so happen to be there, and it just so happen to be awesome.  It was already getting late in the night on the Saturday evening that the Dada took the stage at Cosmic Meadow, but they certainly found a way to wake the crowd up like they always do.  Marching bands, inflatable bananas, pounding beats? ...just for starters.  Take a look for yourself!



what a night that was mannn.  EDC next year anyone?

Today's LOL: OZI - Juicy Pen #MusicMonday

In perhaps one of the greatest electro house tunes of all time, without further adieu, DJ Ozi's "Juicy Pen":



I'm your friend, Juicy Pen!

Classic Stuff lol.

This week's artist spotlight: Heatbeat

This week's spotlight definitely goes to my Latino brothers from Argentina: big time up and coming trance duo Heatbeat out of Buenos Aires. Now while they aren't new to the trance world, they have a refreshed sense of momentum due to their recent appearance at the Buenos Aires chapter of the awe-mazing (see what I just did?) ASOT 500 worldwide extravaganza and much high praise from Armin van Buuren himself. Having remixes and singles in heavy rotation on weekly ASOT and having him personally shout you out on twitter is kind of a big deal:

"@arminvanbuuren: @heatbeatmusic You guys are on fire dude!! Love all your recent stuff"

Ya...pretty major. Couple that with their most recent single, "Ask The Angels", you can be sure to place your bets on these two to make a lot of big moves this year. Check out the single here and let me know what you think!



~Mark

#NowPlaying: Afrojack - "Bangduck" (Moguai Remix)

Ladies n gentlemen, we officially have a banger:



While the original was pretty cool, Germay's Moguai put an awesome touch to the track on his most recent remix, pretty much changing the feel of the track altogether.  It really flows now and he's made it really danceable...big room status.  Sometimes it's the little things that can make a remix so huge.  You don't have to change everything, just a few key elements and you can transform a track into something major.  Look forward to hearing this played all summer long.

~Mark

EDC Video: The Dash Berlin Experience

Holy smokes that video is stellar!  Makes me really sad that I missed the set :(.  However, its a good point of view from one worldwide renowned DJ as to what the greatness of EDC truly is.  I think the clip speaks for itself.  For those that didn't go to EDC Las Vegas, that wasn't the biggest stage of the event.  Yep, that huge.  Can't wait to see him in Oakland this September (yes you read that right lol).

Cheers,
Mark

EDC 2011 Flashback: Afrojack shout out with Skrillex

Remember this moment when Afrojack got on stage with Skrillex?  It was kind of a "blink and you missed it" kind of moment, but it was pretty memorable for considering the love that's shown between genres these days.  I wouldn't expect a 5 ft tall American dubstep artist to be cool with a 7 ft tall Dutch house juggernaut, but that's just EDM these days....awesome!  I'm sure a lot of people in the crowd didn't even realize it was Afrojack on the mic.

~Mark

This week's artist spotlight: Ummet Ozcan

Let me just start off by saying if you haven't picked up a copy of Sander van Doorn's Dusk Till Doorn 2011 compilation, you are greatly missing out. This is an awesome collection of great tunes for the trance or house enthusiast alike. Which brings me to my real point here...Ummet Ozcan. This man has 2 amazing tracks on this compilation. I've been a fan of his ever since I heard "Arcadia" (my snowboarding anthem), but everything I've heard since then has been nothing but winning. He has a very unique style, especially on "Reboot" (try categorizing that doozy). That particular track sounds amazing live too btw (see SvD @ ASOT 500 Miami). I'm sure he will continue to crank out tunes this year that will find themselves on several end of the year top lists before 2011 is said and done. That being said, let's skip ahead to the tunes and enjoy the genius.







~Mark

LovEvolution is back! And everyone is excited! ...well, almost

Well in case you didn't hear the big news, the Bay Area's premier edm festival LovEvolution is back! Noteworthy for its infamous cancellation last year due to lack of cooperation from the city of San Francisco, this year its back with a facelift and new venue: the Oracle coliseum grounds in Oakland. Now while I am happy for Skills getting their premiere event back and the edm enthusiasts of the Bay Area having something to be happy about (without having to drive to LA or Vegas for an event like this), this still presents a problem. That problem is one little word: Oakland. Good that the artist formerly known as Lovefest is back; Bad that its in the worst city to put together an event like this. Its no secret that Oakland has a problem with crime, theft, and drugs. With the edm scene having a bad enough image problem as it does in California (last year's POP and EDC deaths), having it the bay area's crime capitol will not help our rallying cry of "saving the rave". Don't get me wrong, in all the years Lovefest was in SF, 100% of the population were not angels. I know there was plenty of drugs, crime, vandalism, and property destruction to go around, but for the most part SFPD kept things under control and the city had the civic center spotless by the next morning as if an event had never happened. Oakland presents a problem in the sense that they hold one of the poorest police departments. Layoffs and budget cuts to this PD have been pretty drastic, which only bodes poorly for those looking to have a good time in Oakland. Add into the fold that for the type of event that Skills is planning to organize at the coliseum grounds, considering the location and lack of police, you would probably need some EDC worthy security; something I'm not sure can be provided given the past incidents at past events. Having LovEvolution in Oakland has the potential to harm the edm/dance/rave image even worse than it already is. Imagine if we have even more deaths and/or overdoses? Let's not even mention drug dealers looking to make big scores, cars being broken into, pick pocketing, and other things that could happen in the surrounding areas. This would be pretty much catastrophic to the "Save The Rave" movement. I don't mean to be a negative Nancy, but I'm sure if you put together the statistics of drug use, drug sales, theft, rape, and other crimes of edm events thrown in Oakland vs edm events thrown in San Francisco....the numbers would speak for themselves. I am very excited to read about Dash Berlin, Laidback Luke, and most of all Gareth Emery being added to the bill. Good for Skills for their clout. I just hope they put this together the right way. Edm in the Bay Area needs some big time help and this event has the potential to make our break our case. I, like many, love electronic music and hope to see our issues in the Bay Area rectified.

~Mark

This week's artist spotlight: Erick Strong

Who? ...I find myself asking that same question. The mystery man Erick Strong is pretty much a John Doe in the edm world, yet we all know his name due to the release of recent singles that have gotten a lot of rotation from the big name producers in the business. The first track I heard was "Orchids" on Corsten's Countdown. After that was "Hopeless" on Gareth Emery's podcast, and I was sold. The latter track has such a haunting melody that I could see being played at Halloween festivals this year. A unique producer with a knack for catchy melodies and captivating drops. I'm hooked. So for having such high profile podcast spins, tracks on Sander van Doorn's latest compilation, and so many youtube hits...how has he remained such a mystery? Come out of the shadows Erick! We need to see this mastermind. Below are some of the mentioned tracks, and I'm sure you'll dig them too:








~Mark