Afterhours.fm's year-ending festival

Afterhours.fm is now broadcasting their "End of the Year Countdown" series of shows.

For set times and dates, click the image below to enlarge (some dates have passed):

[Image credit: Afterhours.fm]

The Top 1000 Trance songs of all time*

*some trance, that is.

Earlier this spring, Armada Music and Dancefoundation (a dance music-focused multimedia company), launched a web poll asking voters to choose their top 10 favorite trance songs of all time. The results have now been compiled into a top 1000 list, but not all of it is trance music.

Some of the tracks on the list are house and progressive-house releases, including a slew of tracks from deadmau5 such as "Arguru", "Not Exactly", and "Faxing Berlin". There's also a ton of Armin Van Buuren's less-publicized recent work. A coincidence considering the type of modern trance fans who are voting on this poll? Or not?

The top 20 are as follows:

1. Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan - Silence (Tiësto's In Search Of Sunrise Remix)
2. Rank 1 - Airwave (Original Mix)
3. Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Gabriel & Dresden Sweeping Strings Remix)
4. Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun (DJ Tiësto Remix)
5. Armin Van Buuren & Jan Vayne - Serenity (Original Mix)
6. Oceanlab - Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Mix)
7. Gaia - Tuvan (Original Mix)
8. Above & Beyond feat. Zoe Johnston - No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
9. Gouryella - Gouryella (Original Mix)
10. Sasha - Xpander (Original Mix)
11. Paul van Dyk - For An Angel (Original Mix)
12. Armin van Buuren ft. Sharon Den Adel - In And Out Of Love (Original Mix)
13. System F - Out Of The Blue (Original Mix)
14. Yahel & Eyal Barkan - Voyage (Tiësto's Magikal Remake)
15. William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings (Ferry Corsten Remix)
16. Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt - Waiting (Original Mix)
17. Bedrock - Heaven Scent (Original Mix)
18. Chicane - Saltwater (Original Mix)
19. Above & Beyond feat. Andy Moor - Air for Life (Original Mix)
20. Cass & Slide - Perception (Original Mix

You can check the top 10 that I submitted here, but looking at that list now, I'd change it considering some of the songs I've heard this year.

Electric Zoo 2011 pre-sale tickets now available

Although Electric Zoo 2010 wrapped up only a few months ago, Made Event is already selling tickets for next year's festival, which will now be a three day affair. The event will start earlier on Labor Day weekend on Friday, September 2.

No lineup announcements have been made yet- and it's unclear if Made Event will provide a fix to the dust problem that many attendees were concerned about last year. But for those committed to going, a three day pass costs $129 (with a additional $40 service fee).

Armada Music interviews DJ Eco

A new interview with DJ Eco can be read here.

Armada Music launches iOS App

Armada Music now has a free iOS App, covering all the latest news, releases, and videos from the label.

The app is designed in the typical iOS format with the menu at the bottom, so don't expect any visual thrills here. But Armada is the first dance music label that I know of that's released something like this. Maybe other labels will follow suit?

[Image credit: Apple.com]

RA Top 100 DJ poll, performance poll results

Resident Advisor has released the results of their Top 100 DJ poll, as well as their picks for the top 10 live acts of the year. Richie Hawtin took first place in both.

The cutting-room floor of DJ Eco's studio

DJ Eco posted a link on his Facebook fan page for "The Best Things In Life Are Free (A Walkabout Through The Deserts Of A Musical Mind)", a 16-track collection of his previously unreleased work.

The collection, which contains Trance, House, Ambient, Dubstep, and Trip-Hop tracks, can be downloaded here. Most of these tracks are pretty short as they clock in around three minutes each, but it's rare that we get to hear so much unreleased material in one place.

Tracklisting:

1. Eco - The First Time
2. Eco - People (Unreleased Version)
3. Eco - The Sky Moved Sideways
4. Eco - ??? (Thomas Sagstad's Unreleased Remix)
5. Deadrat6 - Somewhat Exactly
6. Eco - A Little Help From My Friends (A Day Before Electric Zoo)
7. Eco - Boston
8. Eco - Vodka Tonic (A Song For When The Weather Is Hot)
9. Eco - The River Is A Mirror Of The City Night Sky
10. The XX - Intro (Eco Bootleg Remix)
11. Eco - This Song Is Too Short But So Is Life, So Smile
12. Modest Mouse - Little Motel (Eco Bootleg Remix)
13. Eco - Things'll Get Better, I Promise
14. Moshic - Am I Stand On The Right Side (Eco Flew Away Bootleg)
15. White Rose Movement - Alsatian (Eco Bootleg Intro Remix)
16. Eco - End Of The World

AmazonMP3 Thanksgiving promotional offer

Enter the code GET3MP3S at this link to earn $3.00 in AmazonMP3 song credits.

District 36 finally opens its doors

After months of delays from permit registrations and building clearances, District 36 finally opened its doors for business last night. The new nightclub is known for its four huge speaker stacks and an elevated DJ booth that places an emphasis on the dancefloor; not watching a DJ spin.

The midtown techno/house spot, located on 36th street, is being booked with the help of Blk|Market Membership, a New York underground promoting group known for its Brooklyn-based warehouse events.

[Image credit: Resident Advisor]

An insight into the next iTunes?

Absolutepunk, an alternative music news web site, recently posted an interview with Bandcamp founder Ethan Diamond.

Bandcamp is an emerging digital music distribution service that offers several features that iTunes and AmazonMP3 do not, most notably:

- Full track previews for all songs.
- The ability for a consumer to set their own price for music downloads.
- The option to download files in MP3, FLAC, OGG, ACC, or Apple Lossless formats.

I bought my first album from Bandcamp two weeks ago; Benn Jordan's Pale Blue Dot, and the payment experience was seamless through PayPal.

Not many electronic artists have embraced Bandcamp for their digital sales, but it's definitely a service to keep an eye out for in the future.

Weekly shows update

New shows have been added to the calendar on the right, including a couple dates for 2011.

Enhanced Music announces 'Best of 2010' contest

Enhanced Recordings and Enhanced Progressive, two leading electronic music labels, are asking fans to vote for their five favorite songs of the year from each label. The results will form the tracklists of two 'Best of 2010' compilations, which will be released in December.

According to their web site, 10 fans who enter the contest with a valid email address will be chosen to receive Enhanced "goodie bags" with CD singles, compilations, and T-Shirts.

Here are my top five picks in ascending order (click the track names if you wish to purchase any of these tracks for 89 cents at AmazonMP3):

5. Vascotia - Verano (Sean Tyas 2010 Remix) [Enhanced Recordings]



4. 7 Skies & Kiholm - Lost And Found (Dan Stone Remix) [Enhanced Recordings]



3. After Meridian & Dave Costa ft. Cat Martin - Empty Spaces (Andrew Bennett's Lost Time Remix) [Enhanced Progressive]



2. Arty - Twilight Tonight (Arty Remode) [Enhanced Progressive]



1. Oliver P - Lost Without You (Karybde & Scylla Remix) [Enhanced Recordings]

DJ Eco among first 25 names selected for ASOT 500 shows

Armin Van Buuren has announced the first 25 DJ's that will play alongside him at the A State Of Trance 500 shows next spring.

The bad news: the United States show won't be happening anywhere near New York.

The good news: New York's own DJ Eco will be representing the city at one of the five events.

The list so far:

Armin van Buuren
Alex M.O.R.P.H.
Aly & Fila
Andy Moor
Arnej
Arty
Ashley Wallbridge
Ben Gold
Cosmic Gate
Daniel Kandi
Eco
Gareth Emery
John O'Callaghan
Markus Schulz
Mat Zo
Menno de Jong
Myon & Shane 54
Ørjan Nilsen
Paul Oakenfold
Roger Shah
Sean Tyas
Sied van Riel
Signum
Tenishia
Ummet Ozcan
W&W

Well, at least the hard drives are ok

On Tuesday, a Los Angeles home owned by dubstep producer Rusko caught fire. According to his Twitter, the fire damaged his car and some of the house's exterior.

In any fire, it's best to evacuate the building as quick as possible. But we all know that it doesn't always happen that way; people grab their most prized belongings, then decide to escape. Rusko's most valuable item? His hard drives. The dedication of some musicians...

[Image credit: Resident Advisor]

Intros no more!

A good bit of news for those who enjoy purchasing dance music on iTunes: song previews will now be increased to 90 seconds.

I'm not an iTunes user (AmazonMP3 is my choice). But it's a pain to browse new dance music tracks under the current 30-second format. Rather than taking the 30 seconds out of the mainlead or breakdown of a song- its two most melodic parts, I usually find the samples to be the beginning of songs. Hearing the start of a dance music song is barely an indication of what it actually sounds like, since most introductions are just cues for DJ's to mix the track into their set.

With these new sample sizes, listeners should be able to get a better indication of what a track sounds like without having to search for the full version on YouTube.

[Image credit: 9to5Mac]

Weekly shows update

New shows have been added to the calendar on the right.

Free music on AmazonMP3

If you enter the promotional code "STUDENT3" on AmazonMP3, you'll get three dollars worth of download credits. They expire on Monday.

One last bit about the DJ Mag Top 100 poll

You can now search any DJ name and find their placement in the poll results. I'm not sure how deep this list goes, but I found guys ranked in the 7,000's.

Some thoughts on this year's DJ Mag Top 100 poll

Those DJ Mag Top 100 poll results that were leaked over the weekend were actually the real deal, as the magazine posted the exact same list on their web site today.

So what's interesting about this list?

- Dash Berlin makes his first appearance on the DJ Mag Top 100 list, debuting at the #15 slot. Again, this poll is essentially a popularity contest, but his ranking proves that he's already more popular than longtime "poppy" trance DJ's like Sean Tyas, Aly & Fila, and Daniel Kandi.

- The Swedish House Mafia's three members appear four times in the top 100. Axwell at #10, Steve Angello at #14, Sebastian Ingrosso at #16, and as the Swedish House Mafia at #23. Some people wrote the name 'Swedish House Mafia' as one entry, while I think others weren't sure if they could do that, so they listed all three members instead. If you added all these votes together, the Swedish House Mafia as a group could be in the top 10, or maybe even the #1 slot.

- Markus Schulz said that Electric Zoo was his favorite new place to play this year:

I haven't really been to a lot of new clubs this year, so can I say the Electric Zoo festival in New York? It was about time the East Coast had a proper festival. That was the most important new event in clubland.

- Arty (#78) is the guy this year who makes it onto the list for his production ability; not his mixing or DJ abilities. It happens every poll, and you can count the number of nights Arty has played this year with one hand. He was mentioned by Above & Beyond, Kyau & Albert, Super8 & Tab, Mat Zo, The Thrillseekers, and Aly & Fila as their breakout producer of the year. [What's with all those &'s? Weird.]

- Wolf + Lamb didn't make this list. The audience they cater to aren't the ones that would read a publication like DJ Mag, but their popularity is undeniable.

One of music's long-lost genres refuses to go away

There's three essential elements to any 80's action movie: a plot that doesn't make sense, ridiculous explosions caused by hand grenades, and majestic instrumental music that repeatedly blares in the background amongst the hysteria of battle.

Michael Cassette has captured that 80's action movie vibe in their debut album, Temporarity, which is now up for pre-order on Anjunadeep's web site. The Finnish production duo's brand of progressive house is a modern take on this classic soundtrack style.

As with every Anjunadeep release, new track samples will be posted up on their SoundCloud every Monday and Friday until the album's drops on November 29. If you can't wait to hear more, play the first video below starting at 5:12. Then turn the sound off for the second video and start play at :31 for some audio/visual fun.





[Image credit: Anjunadeep.com]

The other yearly DJ poll

TranceAddict, one of the most popular electronic music forums on the internet, is revealing the results of their top 250 poll today.

DJ Mag Top 100 poll results leaked

This one's been going around the internet forums lately: if you go to DJ Mag's web site and search the names of DJ's, you'll find their position listed on 2010's Top 100 poll. The official results won't be announced until Wednesday the 27th, but it looks as if the magazine is doing some early preparation to prepare their site for the unveiling.

Here's a search I did for "David Guetta", and the following popped up (click to enlarge):

Although the DJ Mag Top 100 poll is essentially a popularity contest, it does have an impact on the bookings side of the dance music industry, as names on this list will be easier sells to promoters around the world.

Below are the unofficial results by EDM-News. I'll have some commentary on Wednesday when the official results come out.

1. Armin van Buuren (non-mover)
2. David Guetta (up 1)
3. Tiesto (down 1)
4. Deadmau5 (up 2)
5. Above & Beyond (down 1)
6. Paul van Dyk (down 1)
7. Gareth Emery (up 2)
8. Markus Schulz (non-mover)
9. Ferry Corsten (down 2)
10. Axwell (up 4)

11. ATB (non-mover)
12. Sander van Doorn (down 2)
13. Infected Mushroom (down 1)
14. Steve Angello (up 6)
15. Dash Berlin (new entry)
16. Sebastian Ingrosso (up 9)
17. Laidback Luke (up 10)
18. Judge Jules (up 26)
19. Afrojack (new entry)
20. Aly & Fila (up 2)

21. Fedde Le Grand (up 8)
22. Carl Cox (down 4)
23. Swedish House Mafia (new entry)
24. Cosmic Gate (down 5)
25. Bobina (down 10)
26. Benny Benassi (non-mover)
27. Sasha (down 14)
28. Simon Patterson (up 14)
29. John Digweed (down 12)
30. Eric Prydz (up 4)

31. Richie Hawtin (down 3)
32. Andy Moor (down 17)
33. John O'Callaghan (down 9)
34. Roger Shah (down 13)
35. Kaskade (up 16)
36. Headhunterz (new entry)
37. Chuckie (up 25)
38. Bob Sinclar (down 3)
39. Avicii (new entry)
40. Kyau & Albert (down 3)

41. Feel (down 11)
42. Moonbeam (up 34)
43. Joachim Garraud (down 7)
44. Daft Punk (down 11)
45. Lange (down 14)
46. Sean Tyas (down 1)
47. Eddie Halliwell (down 6)
48. Erick Morillo (up 5)
49. James Zabiela (down 11)
50. Umek (down 11)

51. Paul Oakenfold (down 28)
52. Matt Darey (up 2)
53. Mark Knight (up 8)
54. Richard Durand (down 5)
55. Martin Solveig (down 8)
56. tyDi (down 4)
57. Hernan Cattaneo (down 25)
58. Sven Väth (down 10)
59. Astrix (down 4)
60. Super8 & Tab (up 22)

61. Andy C (up 39)
62. Myon & Shane 54 (up 29)
63. Marcel Woods (up 11)
64. Roger Sanchez (down 4)
65. Wally Lopez (down 3)
66. Mat Zo (new entry)
67. Marco V (down 17)
68. Leon Boiler (down 5)
69. Ronski Speed (non-mover)
70. Wolfgang Gartner (new entry)

71. W&W (new entry)
72. Boys Noize (down 4)
73. D-Block & S-TE-FAN (new entry)
74. Dubfire (down 28)
75. Dirty South (down 16)
76. John B (up 16)
77. Daniel Kandi (up 10)
78. Arty (new entry)
79. BT (new entry)
80. Boy George (new entry)

81. Pete The Zouk (new entry)
82. Fatboy Slim (up 12)
83. Skazi (down 2)
84. Paul Kalkbrenner (new entry)
85. Pete Tong (down 2)
86. Bloody Beetroots (new entry)
87. Arnej (new entry)
88. Joris Voorn (new entry)
89. Dada Life (new entry)
90. Noisecontrollers (new entry)

91. Showtek (new entry)
92. Laurent Wolf (down 26)
93. Claudia Cazacu (new entry)
94. Calvin Harris (new entry)
95. Luciano (down 6)
96. Marcus Schossow (down 17)
97. Sied Van Riel (down 12)
98. The Thrillseekers (down 41)
99. Justice (down 34)
100. DJ Vibe (new entry)

Hip-Hop for a change

I've never written anything on here before about hip-hop, but I wanted to mention an album which recently came out that blends elements of the genre and electronic music.

Kno, the producer of the popular underground hip-hop trio, CunninLynguists, released a solo album last week entitled Death Is Silent.

Unlike most top-40 rap material which is backed by electro-based melodies and basslines, Death Is Silent is more of an ambient/chillout hip-hop album. Some of the tracks have a definite downtempo feel to them; a refreshing departure from what we've come to expect from this genre in recent years.

Do any of these DJ's interest you?

Tiesto
Brad Miller
James Gill
Matty & Romi
Avicii
Mark Knight
Carl Cox
Boyz Noize
Rusko
CircoLoco
Paco Osuna
Crookers
Art Department
Wolf + Lamb
Lee Burridge
Danny Howells
Taimur + Fahad
Axwell
Sebastian Ingrosso
Nero
Timo Maas
Sean Tyas
M.I.K.E.

If so, check the events listing to the right [yeah, it's been a while since I updated this]. They all have shows in the NYC Metro area in the next few months.

Beatport's new podcast series

Podcast series are a double-edged sword in dance music.

On one hand, they're usually always free, and you get to hear some of the latest tunes before they're released as singles. But at the same time, most podcasts are just that- a collection of new songs thrown together in a one to two hour format with no consideration to mixing, pacing, or storytelling. And the result is a glut of "shows" that sound more like a DJ's personal monthly chart rather than a mix.

So to be different, two approaches are becoming more common:

1) Make fewer episodes of a podcast and make each mix more thought-out. Quality over quantity...

2) Add an element to your show that makes each episode different. Quite a few of the locals here have built their podcast series around this characteristic. Brad Miller's "Push The Night" series switches genres each show, DJ Eco's "The Sound of (You)th" episodes are filled with snippets from his upcoming artist album, and Wayde Rafnel's "Uplift" podcasts usually have chunks of his live sets played at various New York clubs.

Beatport has announced their own podcast series today, centered around the first point outlined above...

except it's going to cost you $9.99 a month to listen.

*facepalm*

With a membership, you also get discounts and special offers from Beatport's webstore, and benefits at live evetns. The perks at shows is the most enticing part of the deal, but it's all dependent on your geographic location. If you're a resident of Wyoming for example, or even upstate New York, you're most likely never be able to experience these.

A monthly podcast series is a good idea for an electronic brand like Beatport. But please, don't charge us for something that everyone knows should already be free. Take a page out of Resident Advisor's book and let everyone enjoy the music- that's why we're listening, right?

[Image credit: Beatport.com]

Why the pluck-synth tuning is a bit boring

I think this video speaks for itself...

Trance.nu shutting down

One of the internet's larger trance web sites, Trance.nu, announced their closure yesterday with this statement:

After 12 years, tens of millions of unique visitors, thousands of articles and million upon millions of topics it's time for trance.nu to finally be put to it's last rest. It's not an easy decision to take, but its something that has to be done to preserve the good memory that hopefully all of you have of trance.nu.

The reasoning behind this is due to the lack of time to maintain the site and that the site need a complete restart to gain its former glory. A task that unfortunately is to big to undertake within a reasonable amount of time and effort. We all sincerely wish that we could revert time but unfortunately this is the position that we're at.

Its been a fantastic ride which we're sure that no one will regret, we've released CDs, sailed the sevens seas on the trance.nu summer boat, we saw and helped djs rise, we've seen (and maybe helped) users fall in love and join each other in holy matrimony, we've spread trance to every corner of the world but more importantly we made friends, loads of good friend - friendships that will last for a lifetime.

For that we are eternally grateful and would wish to thank every single one of you, keep in mind that you made the site the success it was, not us.

We will apply a technique call sundown when shutting down the site which means that the forums have been put on read-only which the ability to log-in, sign guest books and send PMs will remain for another 2 weeks.

This is to give a users a fair chance to hook up on alternative networks and/or sites to keep in touch. When the time is up we will disable the
login-system and keep the site as an cemetery/archive for the time being.

With that, this is the end - the final chapter, the last good bye and the chance for us to tell you all which fantastic time we've had together. Thank you for everything and hopefully we'll all stay in touch one way or another.

Signed,
Tommie, Kevin and the trance.nu staff

I've got a bone to pick with the U.S. location of ASOT 500

Armin Van Buuren just blew his chance at what could have been one of the biggest gigs of his career.

Next March, his popular weekly radio show, A State of Trance, will be reaching it's 500th episode. Whether you like the show or not, you can't deny that it's one of the most powerful brand names in electronic music.

Armin has used 476 broadcasts of ASOT so far to build an empire. Each week, millions of listeners worldwide hear the latest trance and progressive tracks on his show. He uses the airtime to promote new artists from Armada Music (the trance label he co-founded), and with the show, has made himself a name that's headlined nearly every electronic music festival that exists.

But there's one place that Armin hasn't played, and neither has anyone else in the industry. It's the one place in the United States that solidifies your position as a mainstream music artist, if you can get a booking there. And everyone who has played the venue has a story to tell about it.

That place is Madison Square Garden.

Over the summer, Armin announced that ASOT 500 would be taking place in five different continents on five different dates. When he started this show ten years ago, a few big milestones could be seen: episodes 100, 500, and 1,000, if he made it that far.

With the way his career has played out; the constant touring, production work, and the amount of time managing ASOT, I predict that Armin won't reach episode 1,000. He'd have to be in the industry for another decade for this to happen, as he's only at the halfway point now. Armin's only 34, and there are a few big names right now that have DJed into their 40's and beyond- most notably Tiesto (41), Sasha (41), Benny Benassi (43), and Paul Oakenfold (47). But I find it difficult to believe Armin won't get burnt out by the time episode 1,000 would arrive.

So that would make ASOT 500 one of the biggest gigs of his career. And the U.S. location for that event is not Madison Square Garden, but in a tent at the Ultra Music Festival in 2011.

Ultra is a huge event, but chances are the lineup Armin could be playing with are guys who have been performing at the event for years, since it hosts a lot of trance DJ's. So in reality, ASOT 500 in the US is just moving all of those guys into one tent and calling it that name. It's not the standalone event that it normally is.

Maybe Alda Events (Armin's booking agency), couldn't reach an agreement with MSG. Maybe he didn't want to spoil New Yorkers after playing two ASOT 450 shows here earlier this year. Maybe the Garden told them they don't do 9pm-5am events (which I don't recall them ever doing), so they would have to settle on a less-desired 4pm-midnight booking.

But either way, I can't see performing in a tent at Ultra being bigger than playing onstage at one of the most famous arenas in the world. Not for the visuals, the atmosphere, or the fans. And not even for Armin.

Maybe we'll have to wait a little longer for that MSG electronic dance music event. Or we can just envision what ASOT 500 could have been...

Summer's not over yet...

It's autumn now. The weather is getting colder, leaves are blowing off the trees, and days are getting gloomier as Winter approaches.

But as the seasons changed, Soul Clap put out a fantastic edition of the Resident Advisor podcast that will keep the summer vibes going well into the colder months.

This is one of the better podcasts I've heard all year, loaded with downtempo tracks and a classic closer. Registered RA members can check it out here.

[Image credit: Resident Advisor]

New DJ Eco Podcast

DJ Eco has a new podcast: "The Sound Of (You)th". The first episode can be listened to here, with new episodes being released bi-weekly.

Weekly shows update

- Aly & Fila, Simon Patterson, and Tom Colontonio will be celebrating Massive Event's four-year anniversary with a show scheduled for October 9 at Webster Hall.

- The openers for deadmau5's trio of shows in late October at the Roseland Ballroom, in which he has dubbed "The Trifecta", have been announced. Performers include Afrojack, Sleepy & Boo, Pete Tong, Kaskade, and Busta Rhymes.

- Soul Clap and Nicolas Jaar, of Wolf + Lamb fame, will be at the Rivington Penthouse in a few weeks.

- Two notable names are coming to Pacha again: Mark Knight on October 23, and Stoneface & Terminal on October 15.

- Gareth Emery will play a show at Cielo on October 28 in support of his new artist album: Northern Lights.

- For the first time in over a year, Sasha will play a show in New York City in one of it's newest clubs: District 36.

So yeah...about that VMA performance

What I thought would be an actual 2-3 minute performance by deadmau5 last night at the VMA's was nothing more than a couple 20 second spurts of music for the show before and after commercial breaks. He played some of his popular tracks like "Some Chords" and "Moar Ghosts N' Stuff", but for the most part, he was just someone there in person filling a role that is normally done behind the scenes.

While his "performance" didn't help the image of dance music in the United States as much as I hoped it would, it actually made me appreciate deadmau5 even more. Compared to the lip-synched performances by guys like Usher and Justin Beiber, deadmau5's music wasn't annoying, and it wasn't shoved in your face either. And his LED mau5head and cube were visual eye-candy.

The next chance for a DJ to play to millions of Americans on national television will be New Year's Eve. Last year David Guetta filled that spot.

deadmau5 at the VMA's

Deadmau5 will be performing at the MTV VMA's tonight alongside some of America's biggest mainstream artists: Lady Gaga, Eminem, Justin Beiber, and Linkin Park.

Since the show is only two hours long, he probably won't get more than 2-3 minutes to play, but I'm curious about what song he will pick for his "set". Outside of David Guetta performing with the Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Eve 2009, I can't think of a DJ getting TV time at an event this big in recent memory.

Beatport's annual end of summer sale

Through Monday, all tracks that previously cost $1.49 on Beatport are now $.99.

The Winter 100 at Audiojelly

Audiojelly is running another promotion where if you buy $5 worth of tracks from them, you get 100 free downloads.

The site has also lowered their per track price to $1.45.

Electric Zoo Roundup

Just a few more quick things before the festival this weekend:

- There will be an Ultra Records tent on-site both days where the following artists will be signing items for fans:

Saturday: Markus Schulz, Benny Benassi, Kaskade
Sunday: Above & Beyond, Grum, Armin Van Buuren

- The list of food vendors has also been released:

[taken from a Plexi press release]

FOOD BOOTH VENDORS  @ ELECTRIC ZOO

Ruthy’s Bakery – Middle Eastern/Italian/ vegetarian

Circles Café – hot dogs/Italian ices

Vegetarian Oasis – Mexican/Carribean/Thai/falafel/burritos/jumbalaya      

Water Taxi Beach LIC  – cheeseburgers/fruit (grass fed beef/hand cut fries)

Strawberry Fields Inc. – burritos/smoothies/Pita/Falafel

Masala Times – Indian/specialty drinks (Mango Lassi yogurt drinks)

PizzaMoto – wood oven pizza/ice cream (locally produced products)

Sigmund Pretzelshop – pretzels/sandwiches (handmade & vegan)

Thai Trio Platters – Thai/salads

Nyota’s Ting – vegan health food

Shaved Ice – flavored shaved ice

MOBILE TRUCK VENDORS @ ELECTRIC ZOO

Green Truck – American/Mexican/vegetarian (organic/locally produced) 

Kwik Meal – Indian/Mediterranean/pitas

La Cense Beef – steak burgers (natural grass fed beef) 

Rickshaw Dumplings – Pan-Asian/Pacific Rim 

Street Sweets – coffee drinks/cookies (gluten free/organic dairy)

Van Leeuwen – ice cream (hormone free) 

Miss Softee – soft serve ice cream (kosher) 

Je & Jo Cookie Dough Ice Cream (cart- tricycle) – organic ice cream that's cookie-dough-a-licious!

Mexicue – Mexican/BBQ (gluten free foods) 

More free music?

Junodownload is offering a free download of Dash Berlin's "Never Cry Again (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix)" for registered users.

Free Nicolas Jaar EP

Wolf + Lamb has released a free Nicolas Jaar EP, "6 Edits", which contains the following tracks:

Come N' Get It
Mini Calcutta
Nico's Feelin Good
Shakedown
Stay In Love
The Beach

Available for download here.

It has arrived!

The Enhanced Sessions Volume Two compilation that I ordered last week finally arrived in the mail today, and it's one of my favorite releases of the year already, even though I've only listened to Ferry Tayle's mix.

The compilation is still on sale for £7.99 ($12.81 US) at the Enhanced Recordings store [I'm not sure when the sale ends though].

If you like the songs below, you should check this release out.


7 Skies & Kiholm - Lost & Found (Dan Stone Remix)
Vascotia - Verano 2010 (Sean Tyas Remix)
ReOrder feat. Stine Grove - Biscay Bay (Ferry Tayle E-Motion Intro Edit)

Weekly shows update

- The lineups for the Trance Takeover event at Pacha during the upcoming September 24th weekend have been announced:

Friday: Marco V, Filo & Peri, Zack Roth, DJ Eco, Keryn & Dani Lehman, James Gill, Rory James, Wayde Rafnel, Ali Mahmud

Saturday: Andy Moor, Ronski Speed, Randy Boyer, Mike Saint-Jules, Harji & Watson, DJ Kaeno, Dave Correa, Frank Chiarello, Brendan Bartels.

- Chus & Ceballos will be at Cielo on Sunday night after Electric Zoo.

- Bobina and Danny Tenaglia return to Pacha in two weeks to play shows on Friday and Saturday, September 10 and 11.

- Boris will play a 6pm-midnight show at Water Taxi Beach on September 12.

- Dirty South will play Pacha on November 19.

- Paul Oakenfold will be at the Roseland Ballroom on November 24.

[Thanks to Enigmat on TranceAddict for compiling some of these]

Free download: Lorant ft. SAMN! - Jet Black

Lorant is offering "Jet Black" from his The History of Love EP as a free download until next Thursday on his SoundCloud page.

  Lorant feat. SAMN! - Jet Black [Free download until Sept. 2] by DJLorant

EP Review: Lorant - The History Of Love

Music can be repetitive.

No matter what genre I'm listening to, I always hear some of the same elements repeated over and over again. Any song on FM radio follows the verse/chorus formula, dance music producers love to recycle some synth tunings, and rock bands often write lyrics on only a few subjects.

But every once in a while something comes along that is so vastly different and original; something that breaks the cycle and makes you wonder: "how did someone come up with this stuff"?

Lorant's The History of Love EP is that kind of release for me this summer.

When speaking about electronic music, what sets Lorant apart from other producers is his attention to the smaller things: the drum patterns, the basslines, and the musical bells and whistles that give each track its own flair.

And while some producers compose a lead melody and then create a track around that (sometimes reusing the same background effects as others), Lorant's creations yield that "homemade" feel. Every song on the EP sounds built from scratch, and throughout this 31-minute release, there are few moments where you can predict what's about to come next.

1. Hunter

"Hunter" was the first track I heard off this release before it came out, and like I described earlier, it's an incredible array of melodies, effects, and sound patterns mixed into seven minutes. The song is primarily electro, but has some garage-sounding drums thrown in for added variety. 

2. Dracula 2010

As the title implies, "Dracula" has an underlying 'haunting' vibe. The song is carried by a choppy electro synth-melody with a few surprises: most notably some hand-drumming and low-pitched piano notes.

3. Sound X. ft. Emanuel Xavier

This is the mellowest track on The History of Love, and features the voice of Brooklyn poet Emanuel Xavier over relaxing background synth notes and percussion that has the style of a New York City street performance.

Xavier's performance is something different, but gets repetitive near the end of the track. 

4. The History of Love

The EP's title track is built around a techy-synth melody that moves along at the pace of some minimal drum and percussion sounds. As the song progresses, the melody becomes longer in some places and shorter in others, with additional effects thrown in to keep the track from becoming too predictable.

One of my favorite effects is the powerful synth hits that shine in the back half of the song (they sound reminiscent of something you'd hear in an 80's action movie soundtrack). But as things start to really pick up, "The History of Love" ends. Although the track is four and a half minutes long, I feel like an extended version would suit this song concept better. 

5. Movie ft. O-Red

"Movie" is a breaks track with a rock-band feel, supplemented by the vocals of O-Red. The heavy usage of vocals and non-electronic drums are nice departure from the previous songs on the EP, but the track doesn't seem to build to any climax or endpoint. 

6. Jet Black ft. SAMN!

Lorant enlists Royal Advisor Records labelmate SAMN! to help out in the EP's final cut, which is among its best.

SAMN!'s soulful voice adds an interesting dynamic to this electronica-style track, which becomes ridiculously catchy as a xylophone pattern plays a back-and-forth game with a slew of electro-synths and percussion effects.

Final Verdict

The good: Lorant's debut release is nothing short of original, with a wide variety of electronic and percussion sounds that keep you coming back for more. This isn't the kind of EP you do a once-over with: you have to keep listening to it again to uncover everything that's going on in each track.

The bad: The vocal work on this release has a few quirks, and a couple of the tracks left me wanting more, such as "The History of Love" and "Movie".

Rating: 8 out of 10 [Great]

For sale at:
Beatport // Traxsource // JunoDownload // AudioJelly // AmazonMP3

(also available on iTunes)

Trance Thursdays...and some coffee

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Birch Coffee in lower Manhattan for their "Trance Thursdays" event, where they broadcast Armin Van Buuren's A State Of Trance and M.I.K.E.'s Club Elite Sessions radio shows on their speaker system.

If you haven't checked this place out before, I highly recommend it. Not only do you get to enjoy quality food and drink, but the venue is comfortable, the staff is friendly, and the music is great.

Local DJ Mike Saint-Jules also plays sets there from 4-7pm on Fridays with drink specials throughout the afternoon.

I wish I could turn back the clock and experience this cup of their hot chocolate again:

Birch Coffee is located on 5 East 27th Street.

Weekly shows update

A couple things popped up over the weekend that I didn't list last week:

- DJ Eco is going to Toronto on the 20th and Edmonton on the 27th.

- Love is presenting their annual Classics Night this Saturday put on by Massive Event, where the theme of the show is old-school tunes. Zack Roth, Tom Colontonio, DJ Eco, and Frank Chiarello will be playing that night.

- Sleepy & Boo will be at Cielo this Friday, with free admission on the guestlist before midnight

- deadmau5 is playing a trio of shows at the end of October at the Roseland Ballroom.

Check the sidebar to the right for more info/tickets.

Electric Zoo 2010 set times, scheduling tool, and afterparty info announced

When announcing new info on this year's Electric Zoo Festival, usually Made Event will send out small updates, such as a ticket price increase or a couple new names added to the schedule.

But today they sent out a huge update with some decent surprises.

First off, New York's Zack Roth has been added to the Hilltop Arena schedule for an 11am-noon set on Sunday. I've seen Zack play his house and progressive sets before on Bars N' Beats, and he's always fun to watch.

The official set times for the festival can be found here. This year the schedule is a new format where you can create your own printable list of who you want to see and listen to tracks from each artist. Artist bios are also built into the schedule, and can be viewed when you mouse over their names. An iPhone scheduler app is also in the works (no Android or Blackberry love though?).

Some of the bigger names like Markus Schulz are playing sets earlier in the day since they have separate gigs that night, but I'm glad that Made Event didn't run into some possible scheduling snafus (Above & Beyond and Armin Van Buuren are the headliners for their respective stages on Sunday, but they're not playing at the same time).

You can also get to the festival this year through the local ferry, and tickets for that can be purchased here.

Finally, Dresden & Johnson, Italoboyz, Heartthrob, and Taimur & Fahad have been announced to round out the lineup for Saturday's official afterparty at Pacha. Guy Gerber is the only name right now for the Sunday afterparty, but more details will be coming soon.

Enhanced Recordings albums, clothing on sale

It was a pleasant surprise when I opened up one of my email accounts this afternoon and found this in my inbox:

Enhanced Recordings has been one of the hottest trance and progressive labels this year so far, and  they have a bunch of great two-disc compilations now on sale for $12.81 (US) each. There's also a few bundle deals there too, where you can get two compilations (four discs total) for $20.32 or a compilation/shirt for $28.14.

And the icing on the cake is free shipping no matter where you live and no tax for US customers.

Click here to visit their web store.

If you're looking for something new to listen to and can't decide, check out Enhanced Sessions Vol. 2 (Mixed by Tritonal and Ferry Tayle):

Over on TranceFix, Jorn Van Deynhoven called it the best compilation of the year so far and the previews sound awesome. After I'm done sifting through some of the stuff I haven't listened to yet, I can't wait to give this one a spin when it arrives in my mailbox.

[Image/video credit: Enhanced Recordings]

Want to learn how to DJ or produce?

No matter what music store you visit in New York, you'll always seem to notice this trend: they sell guitars, keyboards, and band instruments in abundance, and offer lessons for each. For us electronic music fans, they might have a corner where you can buy a cheap turntable or a mixer, but as for lessons on how to use this stuff, you'll have to go "elsewhere".

That "elsewhere" is Dubspot, which looks nicer than any lesson room of a Guitar Center or Sam Ash that I've ever seen:

If you're heading back to school somewhere in the New York area over the next couple weeks (and a lot of us are), Dubspot is offering discounts for courses that begin this month and in September.

You can get a 20% discount for signing up for a course that starts in August, and a 10% discount for those that begin in September.

Their staff also runs a blog where they post podcasts and free instructional videos. Wouldn't it be cool if they let their students make some guest mixes for the blog as a final exam? (just an idea...)

Call 212-242-2100 or email info@dubspot.com for more information.

[Image credit: Dubspot, info credit: PlexiPR]

Beatbot: Is it good?

Yesterday Beatport unveiled a new service for their website: Beatbot, which matches tracks that you like to similar ones based on sound, genre, style, and other aspects. It's a bit similar to the way Pandora works, but the goal is to get you to buy more music from the store.

Here's a quick demo of how it works (the track in this video, Gorge's "Xaxax", is pretty decent):



So how is it?

While I give Beatport effort for trying, it's nothing more than a glorified label tracking service.

For each song you want Beatport to do a scan on, it chooses 20 similar ones. But the problem is that only one or two of these 20 songs are not from the label of the song you picked. So you're essentially just getting an in-browser update of "what's new" from your favorite labels.

Weekly shows update

- Sean Tyas, Ryan Tyas, MadRiverRai, James Costas, and Jay Kinard will be playing another boat cruise through Manhattan's harbor on August 20.

- Deadmau5's unhooked show with 22 other acts, which was originally scheduled for July 5  (but got canceled) at the pool at Harrah's Resort and Casino, has been rescheduled for October 3.

- TranceAddict and Massive Event are putting on a "Trance Takeover" event at Pacha on the weekend of September 24th. The only two names confirmed so far are Andy Moor and Marco V, but many more are going to be announced in the coming weeks.

- Sappho's Journey of Royal Advisor Records will be at The Bitter End this Sunday.

- Lastly, if you haven't bought tickets yet for this upcoming Labor Day weekend's Electric Zoo Festival, prices will increase again at midnight tonight.

DJ Hero was too simple

Gregory Kaufman has designed an interesting-looking digital turntable setup, with mixer controls being incorporated through touchscreen hand gestures.

[Image credit: Engadget]

New York Times article on Arabian EDM festival

The New York Times ran an article today on Distant Heat, a Middle-Eastern dance music festival.

Stephen Farrell of the NYT did a great job at capturing the feel of an electronic event and includes quotes from Ferry Corsten and Alex M.O.R.P.H.

You can read the article and watch a video here.

Exchange of Sound Festival to be broadcast tomorrow on AH.fm

Afterhours.fm will be broadcasting another live event tomorrow: the Exchange of Sound Festival in Poland.

 The music starts at 3pm (CET) and 9am (EST).

[Flyer credit: Afterhours.fm]

1,000 albums for $5 each

Every month, Amazon.com sells 100 of their MP3 albums for a reduced price of $5 each. But for the month of August, they've listed 1,000 choices in this category, including some decent selections for those of us that like electronic dance music.

You can view a full list of the EDM albums on sale here. Among the trance deals:

Anjunabeats Vol. 7

Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise 2

Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise 5 - Los Angeles

Aly & Fila - Rising Sun

[Image credit: Amazon.com]

ReOrder releases free track in memory of Love Parade victims

Following the news of last month's tragedy at the Love Parade festival in Germany, ReOrder has teamed up with Silent Shore Records to release a free track in memory of those who died: "A World of Trance". Right click the link on their website and choose "save as" to download.

Now I'm not sure if he cranked out this track in two weeks after the event happened, or if this was something he recently finished and decided to label it "in memorandum".

But either way, this is a fantastic uplifting tune with a huge breakdown and an emotional melody. Highly recommended.

[Image credit: Silent Shore Records]

Axwell added as Electric Zoo headliner

A couple weeks ago Paul Van Dyk was taken off the lineup for this year's Electric Zoo Festival.

So what does Made Event do? They announce today that Axwell (one-third of the Swedish House Mafia) has been added to the roster of performing artists. Not a bad choice for a replacement...

Also in that announcement is the details of one of the official afterparties, where Robbie Rivera, Sharam, and others will be playing Pacha on Saturday, September 4.

In my opinion, Axwell is the most unique-sounding member of the Swedish House Mafia when compared to Steve Angello, who played Electric Zoo last year, and Sebastian Ingrosso. He still carries that signature SHM sound, but at the same time produces some quality stuff outside the normal parameters, like his new single "Nothing But Love". The "Remode" version of the track is the one faring better on Beatport charts, but I like the "Classic Mix" more.

[Info credit: PlexiPR]

DJ Mag Top 100 spoof + some irony?

Two things that I thought were pretty funny today...

This guy wants you to vote in DJ Mag's Top 100 poll for a few of his favorite names. But in the meantime, he explains why some guys always make it into the top 10 each year:



Also today during my commute home from NYC, I was listening to Andy Blueman and I turned and looked out the window and snapped this picture. A coincidence considering the kind of music Andy produces? Or not?

Weekly shows update

- If you're reading this blog and happen to live in the northwest, Brad Miller is returning home to play a show at Trinity in Seattle on August 14.

- Ferry Corsten is returning to New York, this time at Pacha, on October 1.

- I made an error on a previous post saying that Aly & Fila would be at Pacha this Friday. Instead, it will be John O'Callaghan and Matt Darey performing that night, with Mike Saint-Jules, Wayde Rafnel, and others playing some of the other rooms in the club. Danny Tenaglia will be at Pacha the following night.

- Hot Natured, the duo of Lee Foss (Culprit, Wolf + Lamb) and Jamie Jones (Culprit, Hot Creations) will be playing a daytime show from 2pm-Midnight at the Rivington Hotel on September 18. If you haven't heard their new track "Wintertime", it's worth checking out.

And lastly, the reason why I haven't been doing so many of these lately is because most of the shows for July were announced at the beginning of the summer, leaving substantial updates few and far between.

deadmau5 hospitalized, upcoming shows canceled

Taken from his Facebook fan page:

[deadmau5 management]

Last night, whilst performing onstage at the 9:30 club in Washington DC, deadmau5 collapsed, suffering exhaustion and vomiting. Medics at the venue took him directly to hospital where he is now under supervision

deadmau5 is sad to advise his fans that on the strict advice of the doctors, he now has no choice but to cancel the next 9 shows of his Summer tour schedule to allow for his recovery. The dates affected are listed below.

Deadmau5 hopes to reschedule appearing in these cities in due course but in the meantime thanks all his fans for their understanding and support.

Dates that have to be CANCELLED:

August 1st Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, Montreal Canada
August 7th Summersonic Osaka Japan
August 8th Summersonic Tokyo Japan
August 12th Cream at Amnesia Ibiza
August 13th Cocorico Riccione Italy
August 14th Papaya Summer Festival Croatia
August 15th Sziget Festival Budapest Hungary
August 17th Cavo Paradiso Mykonos Greece
August 18th Opium Mar Barcelona Spain

Considering deadmau5's rigorous touring schedule where he's been bouncing from country to country playing shows 24/7/365, its finally caught up to him. This could happen to any DJ though with that kind of lifestyle.

Best of luck to his recovery.

Eastern Europe being showcased this weekend at AH.fm

Friday:

Saturday:

Once again a bunch of new faces in the uplifting trance scene, but a couple known names like Arctic Moon, Adam Nickey, and Nitrous Oxide. Also be sure to check out NatLife today on the Ukraine In The Mix special- he's a new-school trance producer with an old-school sound.

[Image credit: Afterhours.fm]

DJ Mag 2010 Top 100 voting now open

Yep, it's that time of year again.

Regardless of whether you think this poll is a farce or not, you can get a free download from TrackItDown just for participating.

15+ dead at German EDM festival

When crowds get too big...

Weekly shows update

The biggest news this week is that the 2010 Electric Zoo lineup has been finalized with schedules released for each day (minus set times):

And at Pacha last weekend during the Oakenfold and Laidback Luke shows, flyers were being handed out to advertise a bunch of new events, including Aly & Fila's first-ever visit to NYC.

Lastly, Royal Advisor Records and their artists have a couple shows lined up for the next two weeks.

[Image credit: PlexiPR, Brad Miller @ TranceAddict]

Weekly shows update

- Mike Saint Jules and others will be playing three hour sets from 4-7 p.m. each Friday at Birch Coffee in Manhattan. Pretty cool timing for those who want to listen to some good stuff after work.

- Victor Calderone will be at Pacha on July 17.

Shah music day tomorrow

A good lineup of DJ's for those into uplifting trance.

When I first heard of this, I thought it was going to be some show centered around Roger Shah of Magic Island and Armada fame, but it's actually about the label Shah-Music.

The event will be broadcast tomorrow all day at Afterhours.fm.

[Image credit: Afterhours.fm]

Google to launch music service this fall

If you follow technology, chances are you might have heard already about how Google plans to create a cloud-based music store and open it to the public this fall.

The cloud, which is where computer software seems to be going, is when a program can be accessed and used through an internet browser. With current software like iTunes, you must be on your computer to open the store and buy music. Google wants to make something similar here, but accessible on any phone, TV, or device with an internet connection.

What's interesting though is that there might be some sort of streaming music service also offered.

What if you're DJing and you wanted any track to play in your set? You could stream it off a catalog of millions of songs on a service like this...

J00F 5-hour set tonight

Afterhours.fm is broadcasting a live, five hour set from John '00' Fleming tonight at Vola in Toronto.

Weekly shows update

One thing to mention this week: Made Event is posting up single-day ticket sale options for their Electric Zoo Festival on July 8.

This probably means they'll also announce the remaining names on the same date. On the Sunday lineup, there are two headliners yet to be revealed, so some big names could be coming down the pipe.

Uplifting trance, ambient sounds, and just about everything in between

Would be the words to describe this new remix by Ferry Tayle, who has worked on a side project with DJ Laurant called "Cape Town".

I discovered this song while browsing the TranceFix forums, and I was taken away by the variety of sounds stuffed into the 9-minute track.

One of the best songs of the year so far, although no official release date or label has been set.

New Electric Zoo lineup additions announced

Made Event has added six new names to their Electric Zoo 2010 lineup:

Pretty Lights (headliner)
Avicii
Fake Blood
Joachim Garraud
Popof
Reboot

The days of their sets are in the image below (look for the glowing names):

[Image credit: MadeEvent]

Weekly shows update

Only one new thing to announce this week: Richard Durand, who is mixing the eighth installment of the In Search of Sunrise series, will be playing a boat party show with Brad Miller and Ryan Tyas on July 31.

Physical CD sales on the way out?

Some interesting music industry sales figures to look at, considering more EDM artists are going the album route in 2010.

According to Billboard, only 2,050 albums in 2009 achieved over 5,000 sales, among other statistics.

Oh yea...that events listing thing

Over the last two weeks I've slacked a bit on updating local shows, mainly because news was slow last week and I've been quite busy this week.

So in order to catch up, here's the rundown on everything I missed...

At Pacha: Boris on June 12, Oscar G on June 18, and Jonathan Peters on June 26. Paul Oakenfold on July 2, Laidback Luke on July 3, and Erick Morillo on July 4.

At Governor's Island: Benny Benassi on July 5.

At Love: Tritional on July 17.

All ticket info and links will be to the right.

DJNY #4: Wayde Rafnel

Every local DJ's career story is born from humble beginnings, turning into something that has the potential to become so much more. 

Like many others in New York's emergent scene, Wayde Rafnel is among the wave of homegrown talent bringing fresh ideas and perspectives to electronic dance music.

Wayde has his sights set on an eventful second half of 2010: one which will include revamping the traditional mix podcast format, raising the bar for the quality of demo compilations, and most importantly playing great sets.

While this set of goals may appear lofty, it can be done.  And here's Wayde plans to make it all come together...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From paradise to the country...and maybe back

Binarysound: You were born in Costa Mesa, California. What age did you move over to Pennsylvania and where are you in that state right now? 

Wayde Rafnel: Right now I live in the Poconos which is in the middle of nowhere. I moved here when I was about 6 or 7-years-old, because my Mom lived here when she was my age and then moved out west before she met my Dad. We then decided to move back here to be closer to family. 

BSound: So you were living in the Poconos before you got into DJing and producing? 

WR: Oh yea, by far. 

BSound: What age were you and where did you become exposed to electronic dance music? 

WR: I started playing guitar when I was 15-years-old and I was really influenced by heavy metal and anything that sounded aggressive. I fell into that and did that for a while, but the first ever trance song I heard was on Grand Theft Auto 3 on one of the in-game radio stations. The song was called "Neo (The One)" by Slyder and I just fell in love with it. I thought to myself: "wow this is amazing...what is this?". I'd say I was about 17 or 18 at this point. 

BSound: Costa Mesa is about an hour away from Los Angeles, one of the biggest clubbing cities in the United States. Although your current location is only two and a half hours away from New York City, how difficult was it to get started as a DJ in a rural area like where you live? 

WR: It was really hard. When I first got into this and started producing, I figured that I needed to DJ while I was making tracks. So I thought I'd try to take my talents to a club around here, but I found out pretty fast that they don't play anything EDM-related.

I then started going to shows in New York and started talking to a couple of the locals who are bigger there, like Brad Miller and Marcello (DJ Eco), and they helped me out a lot. They kind of guided me on the right path and were very supportive of what I was doing.

BSound: So there's no local scene for you to play a show or a house party in Pennsylvania? 

WR: When I first started DJing I tried to do house parties, but even before I went to New York to start playing shows I messaged a bunch of fraternities around here and told them "you should do a house night or a progressive night, and I'll DJ for you if you give me some free drinks or whatever". I just wanted to get my name out there, but all of them were like "we just wanna hear rap".

Reinventing the podcast, the demo compilation, and a DJ's fashion choices?

BSound: When you first set out to make your podcast, Uplift, how did you want to market it differently from the hundreds of other trance podcasts out there? 

WR: I had a podcast before Uplift called At Sunset and it was good, but it failed because my hosting service just [shut down?] and I couldn't recover the old shows. At that time I thought to myself why I wasn't getting the listener base that I wanted and how I could make a podcast better. 

So I decided to start a whole new podcast and give it a better title that would draw people in. That's the whole thing I found out about marketing: it's almost like you have to make a brand for yourself and give people a reason to come. What I'm planning to do more of on the show are updates on local events, artist interviews, and showcasing new talent. Whenever someone comes to me and says they just started DJing and need some help I'll ask them if they have a guest mix and try to incorporate that onto the show.

I'm also doing more quality versus quantity episodes. I used to do one episode a week every Wednesday, but now I do one every two weeks since I'm searching for the perfect track selection rather than just playing the top 20 at the moment. 

BSound: How has the reaction been so far for Uplift? 

WR: It's been way better than the other one and I think some of that has to do with the title, since you know what the show is about right away. I've gotten at least double the traffic on it and it's been received well. I'm pretty excited about it. 

BSound: When talking about uplifting trance online, I often read how people think the genre is too generic and people are no longer innovating with their productions. What's your stance on this sentiment? 

WR: I don't think it's generic. A lot of people say it is, but I think the problem is that a lot of people still want something that sounds similar to what it was five years ago. If you go to any musical genre, you'll find that people always say "oh it isn't the same anymore". It's almost like people are holding onto that memory but aren't willing to create something new. 

But guys like Simon Patterson- to me that's a new sound, like that techy drive with some uplifting elements in the middle. When I first heard his style I was floored. Guys like DJ Eco, Jaytech, Breakfast, Oliver P, Marcus Schossow, and Jorn van Deynhoven are also making unique sounds where you know it's them when you hear it. It's a very wide range of sound in the genre, and I think the people who say it's generic are listening to more of the top 20 stuff and aren't diversifying themselves enough. 

BSound: What upcoming tracks do you have coming out? 

WR: I have a two song EP coming out on Couture, but I'm not sure of the exact release date yet. It's a more tech-trance label and the main track on the EP is called "Struggle", and it's really odd how that track came together. I've written so many tracks and sent them to different labels, but I usually get the response of "oh well it's really good, but whatever". 

The idea behind "Struggle" originated when I watched The Pursuit of Happyness, and that movie was so inspiring to me because producing trance music is what I love to do. I wrote the song and gave it that name because the sound feels like you want something more. I was totally inspired by the fact that I feel like I struggle and I'm never going to get anywhere with a song, but it's weird because now it got signed to a label. It's a really dark track with three parts to it and people who have heard the track already have said that it's interesting. 

The other song is called "Costa Mesa". I've always wanted to write a track with that title but they were never good enough. When I finished the first song on the EP, Couture asked me for another track and I was working on this one and decided to finish it up. It's more of an uplifting track, similar to Sean Tyas' "Melbourne": a song that has pads and piano. 

BSound: How long have you been working on both of these songs? 

WR: "Struggle" came out pretty quick because the ideas really flowed together and I had the basis of the song together within a couple weeks. "Costa Mesa" was a lot faster than that because I felt I was on a deadline and I wanted to have something good so I finished that one in about a week. The total process for "Struggle" took me about a solid month. 

BSound: On your last episode of Uplift, you played a half hour mix of an upcoming demo compilation that you are putting out called "Costa Mesa". What's the story behind this release? 

WR: A lot of people ask me when I'm playing a gig if I have a demo mix, and I feel like every artist in the scene will take a one hour mix and burn it to a CD, write on it on sharpie, and then hand it to people. But the problem is those people are getting a million other CD's like that with sharpie on them. So I felt that I really wanted to make a demo mix that is almost like my own version of A State of Trance or In Search of Sunrise, which contained tracks that I really identify with and something that really showcases what I want to sound like in my feelings. 

But I wanted to do it professionally by getting nice CD labels and artwork. I'm not going to sell it because of course that's illegal, but I'm planning to give it away when I have a gig. It'll be a great demo and it's something people can enjoy and remember more since they have more of a package rather than just a blank-labeled CDR.

The compilation is called "Costa Mesa" because that is where I want to move back to and be, and every single track on there has something to do with that location. About half the tracks on both CD's (it's a two disc thing), are edited or original. On my latest podcast I did a 30 minute preview of the first disc and it's way laid back and definitely like a summer beach mix. Disc two is solid trance but it definitely has its summery sounds and uplifting elements.

Some tracks off of the Costa Mesa compilation are:

Luigi Lusini - Who We Are (Wayde Rafnel Costa Mesa Intro Edit)

Answer 42 - Pink Houses (Wayde Rafnel Dub/Vocal Piano Edit)

Oceania Pres Corndonnier - Squares in Boxes (Suncatcher Remix)

Velvetine - Safe (Wherever You Are) (Rank 1 Remix)

Greg Downey - Global Code (Original Mix)

Oliver P - Philadelphia (Wayde Rafnel Southern California Edit) 

BSound: In most of the photos I've seen of you DJing, you wear plain clothes like a solid black or white T-shirt. How would you describe your fashion choice? I though it looked a lot different than what everyone else wears when they're behind the decks… 

WR: [Laughs] I have 20 white t-shirts and that's pretty much all I wear. It's just my style: jeans and a white t-shirt. I guess it's just how I like to look- something laid back because the button downs and flamboyant shirts are cool and stuff, but it's something that sets me apart and may make me look more approachable. When I think about it I don't like to put a front on or a fake image- if you wear a white t-shirt and jeans I feel people are more accepting of you way more than if you try to look like something you're not. 

BSound: Can you tell us what people can expect from you this Friday with Brad Miller and Mike Saint-Jules at Santos Party House? 

WR: I'm really excited for this show. I'm going to be playing more laid back stuff to give people another taste of what I can do. A lot of people right now know me for playing 140 bpm straight driving trance, but I'm on opening duties and I want to show people that I can play the progressive trance stuff without it sounding the same. I want to show people that you can play summer themed music in a club and people will love it.  

[Image credit: Nickki Figurski, Santiago Maiza]