Weekly shows update

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

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

Weekly shows update

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

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.

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]

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.

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]