Queen of UK urban dance, Ms Dynamite is back with a massive live date at London’??s SW4 Festival and an arsenal of club tunes that are hot-pepper tasters for her forthcoming album, due next yearâ?¦

Ms Dynamite is excited. She’s just finished the DJmag cover shoot and is about to film the video for her brand new single ‘Wot U Talking About’, the dubstep party tune with a “banging beat” and heavy d&b bassline produced by Redlight and due out next week on her own Pepperpot Records.

“I’m like a little kid again,” says the 29-year-old rapper, giggling as if to prove the point. “I feel like I did when I first started out 10 years ago.”

Anyone who doesn’t remember Dynamite’s first explosive assault on UK urban dance music over a decade ago might be wondering where exactly this vocal chameleon who’s contributed guest vocals on tracks such as Zinc’s 2009-released ‘Wile Out’ and Nextmen & Andy Cato’s ‘Lions Den’ has sprung from. After a hugely successful career that started when Dynamite was just 17-years-old and quickly went on to include a smattering of chart hits, a lucrative record deal with Polydor, two critically-acclaimed albums and a string of awards including three MOBOs, two BRITs and the 2002 Mercury Prize for her ‘A Little Deeper’ album, she disappeared from music and the public eye in late 2006.

“It definitely feels good to be back,” says Dynamite, known to her mum as Naomi Daley. “I’m just having fun, working with producers I respect and performing live in clubs. In the past 18 months I’ve worked with Zinc, Magnetic Man, Redlight, Gavin Koolman, Riva Starr, Major Lazer, Shy FX and Labrinth. Most of the stuff I’ve done is actually tracks I’m featuring on, which I’m really flattered about because all the producers I’ve worked with are hot in their own fields.”

Unlike the quirky, jokey lyrics she spits on ‘Wot U Talking About’ and her combo of sweet singing and ragga-style rapping on ‘Lions Den’, Dynamite’s vocal on Zinc’s ‘Wile Out’ is pure velvety bliss. The track itself epitomizes the so-called ubiquitous “crack house” sound, seguing elements of bashment, house and electro into a sure-fire party tune. Taken from the 2009-released, 10-track Zinc EP that unveiled his lethal new production style combining of brutal basslines and hard-hitting 4/4 rhythms, ‘crack house’ is just one of the sounds that Dynamite’s been getting hot under the collar about in recent months.

“I love producers such as Fake Blood and Boy 8-Bit and they make that sound too,” she says. “It’s just good house music that focuses on the fun things in life.”

Pogoing Frenzy
Dynamite’s just done a new track with Zinc, the urban dance hit-in-the-making ‘Luv Dat’ the 2010 update to ‘Wile Out’, already causing ructions in clubs up and down the UK, and she recently guested on a track called ‘Fire’ by Magnetic Man, the incendiary triumvirate of Benga, Skream and Artwork. They played the track when they headlined the dance stage at Glastonbury back in June, propelling the crowd into a pogoing frenzy.

And as you read this, Dynamite is putting the finishing touches to a track called ‘Neva Soft’ that she’s been working on with Labrinth, the producer behind Tinie Tempah, known for adding a Timbaland-esque pop slant to urban-sounding beats.

“The track is still urban dance music, but it sits at the poppier end,” she says.

“’Neva Soft’ itself is reminiscent of lovers rock, one of my favourite genres of music. With that track, I wanted to bring some elements of my musical loves into the vibe and beat as well as the lyrics, and Labrinth couldn’t have done a better job if he tried.”

Dynamite says her childhood was “ fairly average” but, minutes later, says that growing up in Archway, London, as the oldest of eleven siblings was “tough at times”. Her parents — a Scottish mother and Jamaican father — split when she was two-years-old. She still lives in London, now with her six-year-old son. Like most of her peers at Acland Burghley School in Tufnell Park, Dynamite started getting into hip-hop and UK garage as a teenager. But, she says, her musical tastes were informed early on by reggae artists such as Capleton, Dennis Brown, Gregory Issacs and Bunny Wailer, musicians she says she still listens to now.

Inspiration
By the time she turned 16, Dynamite had already started MCing.
“I just found what was going on in the clubs so inspiring and I felt I had something to say,” she remembers. “So I picked up a mic and starting rapping.”

Calling herself Lady Dynamite, she took to the clubs, creating a stir because her lyrics were direct, clever and delivered with a sassy rhythm and explosive force that belied her 5ft6 stature. Her added signature was that her image was based solely on her talent and her feisty on-stage persona, rather than her sexuality. Not much has changed on that front. Since Dynamite ended her music-making hiatus in 2009 her plan has been to “have no definite plan”; but those components that first made her name remain intact. Added to that original potent recipe are extra doses of confidence, skill and finesse. She might be the UK’s most successful female rapper but there’s no diva attitude that comes with it. Maybe that’s because Dynamite still makes a point of avoiding ‘yes men’. Back then and now she’s refused to be a puppet; ensuring the decisions she makes about her music and her career are her own.

“If the beats are good and the basslines are hot then I’m getting involved,” grins Dynamite. “I’m just enjoying being in the clubs again and the great thing is that I can work with pretty much who I want. I feel very privileged to be able to do that.”

So what does she think has changed about the UK dance music scene since she first started out over 10 years ago?

“To get a tune like ‘Booo!’ played on a mainstream Radio station such as Radio 1 back then you had to do a 4/4 dance remix,” says Dynamite.

“I think that’s the biggest thing that’s changed about UK music since then. Now you get underground urban music played fresh on Radio 1. Also there’s more ways to access new music via the internet. It’s a lot more democratic now. The good stuff gets out there to the masses quicker. It’s exciting times.”

Redlight and Dynamite’s ‘Wot U Talking About’ was fresh from the studio when it got played by Annie Mac on the Radio 1 stage at Glastonbury back in June. Around that same time, Zane Lowe made it his ‘Hottest Record In The World’ on his Radio 1 show.

Dynamite currently performs live with fellow Londoner, DJ 3. Since she started doing live shows again she’s been playing in UK clubs from North London to Newcastle, as well as regular slots abroad, and is shortly to perform one of her most high profile new gigs yet at London’s SW4 Festival on 29^th August, at Clapham Common. These days, she has a huge repertoire to choose from when it comes to deciding which tracks to perform live.

“I always do ‘Booo!’,” she says. “Most people expect to hear that. But then they also want the new stuff. That seems to be going down really well, too.”

Dynamite’s ability to switch from MC to r&b style vocals then ragga-ranting is probably one of the main reasons why she’s been able to find success again so quickly after taking a career break. In a musical climate when reputation isn’t enough to hang a career on, Dynamite has come back armed with the raw, undiluted talent that got her noticed in the first place.

Lost and Found
When Speech Debelle won the Mercury prize in 2009 (the first woman to scoop it after Dynamite bagged the award in 2002) Dynamite broke her silence about her reasons for quitting music and was infamously quoted in The Independent as saying “You can lose your way after winning the Mercury”.

“To be totally honest, I definitely lost my way,” she confesses. “I really just wanted to be at home with my son and I shouldn’t have tried to come back so quickly with the second album. The way I feel about music is that I want to always be able to give it 100% and because I’d just become a mother and my focus was on that I couldn’t give as much attention to the music. I wasn’t ready to come back.”

It was after the release of ‘Judgement Days’ that things started to unravel for Dynamite

“I had success at such an early age and that did put me apart from my peers a bit,” she admits. “After ‘A Little Deeper’ was released, I definitely started work on the second album too soon. I suppose what I needed to do was some real living; to give myself a chance to get used to how my life had changed. Instead I did ‘Judgement Days’ and then straight after that had to go through the whole process of promoting it, traveling and all that. All this after I’d just had my son.”

Eventually the stress got to her and, in 2006, Dynamite appeared in court charged with slapping a police officer. She avoided a jail sentence and was ordered to carry out 60 hours of community work. When DJmag asks her about this incident Dynamite clams up. It’s a part of her past that pre-empted her disappearance from the music scene and, she says, she’d rather not talk about it.

“I wasn’t happy [at that time] and that’s when I realised that actually music wasn’t what I wanted to do any more,” she reasons. “That’s why I just cut off from music and I thought, until I feel like I’m totally ready to go back and do that again, then I’m not going to.”

Now, says Dynamite, her enthusiasm for music is hitting the 100% mark again. And featuring on a string of chilli-hot urban dance tracks and performing in clubs is just the beginning. Dynamite already has 20 tracks ready for her new album that, she says, will be focused around the soul, funk and “earthy flavours” that she loves.

“Saying that I’m not sure what is going to be on the album yet,” she says.

“I write my songs in all sorts of places. I even went to Ibiza for a month earlier this year to do some writing.”

For this new album, due next year, Dynamite is taking control as executive producer; combining everything she’s learned in her long and varied career and distilling it into one diamond-cast package.

In the meantime, she’s focusing on performing live and when she talks about her forthcoming show at SW4, she giggles again, like the young Lady Dynamite that DJmag first interviewed back in 1999, just weeks before the release of ‘Booo!’ — and it’s not just her live set she’s excited about.

“I can’t wait to see Salt N Pepa, and Erick Morillo too,” she says. “That’s the best thing about being back — being able to perform, but also vibe off the other performers too. That’s what music is about for me.”

Our new marking system and its first DJmag Star Product – the Allen and Heath XONE DX

As you might have gathered from last month’s mag, we have overhauled our scoring system, and now all our marks are out of 10. This gives us extra scope to be more accurate when it comes to testing and marking the kit that budding DJs and producers will eventually spend their hard-earned cash on. A new feature we are introducing to the scoring system is the DJmag Star Product Award. Any product that achieves 9.0 or higher will be graced with this new prestigious accolade, and in true Oscars’ fashion, the first to be awarded this hallowed status is Allen and Heath’s XONE DX.

A controller-mixer built to combine old school DJing with modern digital delivery, the XONE DX is a standalone unit for the supplied Serato Itch DJing software, as well as a conventional mixer. DJs can switch between Itch — which gives budding mixologists the ability to mix four virtual decks with effects from the DX — or mix via a standard DJ set up, comprising of up to four external sound sources. Phono and line inputs can be selected at a push of a button, allowing up to four variations of turntables or CD Decks to be connected to the XONE DX.

The DX is also a 20-channel USB soundcard, and can be configured using the multiple outputs to ensure that separate signals can be provided and controlled for the main club outputs, as well as for the monitoring in the DJ booth. There is also an Aux out for direct connection to a recording device, so that DJ sets can be recorded using Allen and Heath’s tried and tested sound circuitry, found deep inside the DX.

The XONE DX is also fully compatible with other DJ software brands like Native Instruments Traktor, so with all bases covered, everyone’s a winner. Without further ado, here are the scores for the first DJmag Star Product Award!

With 24 stages and over 200 artists, this years edition of Dance Valley Festival will be organised on August the 7th of August. In earlier editions over thousands of DJ’s and artists spung their wheels, did their performances and showed us everything they got. And you were there, remember?…

Romances bloomed, friendships for life were made, to put it shortly: what Dance Valley edition is the one you will cherish the most? To bring back the good times we added something extra to the musicplayer of the website. And we called it Dance Valley Radio!! In order to get you in the right mood for the 7th of August we recommend to put your computerspeakers and base level to the maximum and check www.dancevalley.com!

TIME TABLE HQ

People, the always sold-out popular club night HQ at the Melkweg in Amsterdam says enough. HQ can’t be missed. Hardstyle, hard dance, hard trance – always with a happy vibe. JP, Technoboy, Proteus…
Come and experience it yourself. Here your line-up. Told you, you don’t want to miss it. See you @ HQ!

12:00 – 13:30 Peter C
13:30 – 15:00 JP
15:00 – 16:30 Fausto vs Wragg & Log:one
16:30 – 17:30 A*S*Y*S
17:30 – 18:30 Thera
18:30 – 19:30 Technoboy
19:30 – 20:30 Tom Harding
20:30 – 21:30 Andy Whitby
21:30 – 22:30 Proteus
MC Da Silva

YouClubVideo a new video sharing service offers exclusive live streaming  Disco Ring Costinesti By GeoDaSilva

www.youclubvideo.com/live-clubbing

Every night at 22 live streaming exclusively on www.youclubvideo.com in Ring Costinesti Romania, Discotheque by GEODASILVA.

The latest, biggest and most epic addition to Brazilian’s vibrant clubbing scene, Green Valley might just be the best outdoor club we’re ever likely to sample

Whoever said that travel broadens the mind probably wasn’t thinking of times like this, but it’s certainly stretching any previous conceptions of what outdoor clubbing is all about. Stood behind the decks as Carl Cox rocks out another thumping groove, we’re surveying a club rammed with 8,000 people in the middle of the baking-hot Brazilian countryside. With a sea of arms waving as far as we can see and smiling faces as standard, it’s like no other club we’ve seen.

The world’s latest destination venue, Green Valley might be the most recent venues to join the Brazilian party, but it’s undoubtedly the biggest. For two years now, it’s been putting the super in to Brazilian clubbing, winning a bunch of domestic accolades in the process and drawing the cream of the world’s DJ superstars to its breath-taking location.

Located at Balneário Camboriú, in the Southern State of Santa Catarina, Green Valley’s tropical region is fast making a name as the Ibiza of Brazil thanks to its abundance of clubs, beaches and high-rolling party people.

And with flights to Sao Paulo and Rio taking little over an hour, Green Valley is now the premier place to catch the largest house and techno heavyweights when they’re in Brazil, their big room sounds resounding in a club space bigger than any other imaginable.

Already they’ve played host to everyone from Erick Morillo to Armin Van Buuren, while the unstoppable Swedish house don Steve Angello has been recruited to mix the first Green Valley CD, out in early 2010.

But it’s original Brit rave legend Carl Cox who has forged the most special relationship with club owners, Ricardo Flores, Duda Cunha, Eduardo Phillips and Ricardo Tolazzi, who all boast varying backgrounds in business and investment.

Rocking their inaugural party in 2007, Cox’s performance impressed the four so much that he was invited back for both their first birthday and tonight’s second anniversary celebrations.  In return, he’s named it his favourite club in the world. No small statement from a man whose talent has taken him to every corner of the globe and played just about every venue worth its salt.

Touching base

We first touched base with the Green Valley crew when we arrived at our hotel, the Praia do Estaleiro guesthouse, earlier in the day, where we also sampled the famous Brazilian hospitality for the first time. Home to Green Valley’s weekly pre-parties, the Praia do Estaleiro is an exclusive 14-room boutique hotel just metres from a deserted, golden sandy beach.

A four-person Jacuzzi hot tub in the bathroom hints at the usual goings on here, and once installed in our room the Don Pérignon is soon flowing freely amongst the guests. All are here this weekend for one reason and one reason alone – Green Valley.

Warming up the invite-only crowd around the hotel’s central pool is Rodrigo Vieira and DJ partner Ferris. Born in Rio and DJing since 1979, Vieira now runs UC Music in Miami, bringing Brazilian DJs to the US, and regularly promotes the night We Love Brazil across Miami. But it’s his past life working for both Sony and Universal that provides the most colourful illustrations of his native country’s free-wheeling attitude. From tales of bribing drug gangs to allow Michael Jackson into the favelas for the ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ video, to dealing with the fall-out from Axel Rose throwing a TV out of his hotel window, Rodrigo is clearly a cat that action follows around like a hawk.

Right now, though, he’s spinning a selection of pumping vocals anthems and remixes of classic tracks alongside Ferris. The pair’s early, ear-friendly selection is the perfect musical bridge to take us from afternoon in to night, with a short burst of spring rain the only downside, before the darkness hears them progressing to a tougher techno sound.

Next we grab a pre-action dinner at the hotel with the club owners and Russell Faibisch, head of Miami’s huge Ultra Music Festival. With Carl Cox already hosting a huge tent at the festival, Faibisch is here finalising plans for Green Valley to do the same – a sign not only of the club’s huge, growing reputation and influence, but also the large numbers of Brazilians now hitting the States for the Winter Music Conference. As if we needed reminding, dance music continues to strengthen its grip on this country.

It’s a fact reinforced by our attempts to get to the club. With public transport thin of the ground thanks to Green Valley’s remote setting, the only way to get to the club is by car, which helps to explain the mile-long tailback we encounter around midnight. Fortunately, with typical Brazilian improvisation (or total disregard for health or safety), there are soon three lanes of traffic going one way down the two-way road. Any cars leaving the venue are simply forced off-road as they try to squeeze by.

Once we’re at the venue, security simply open a side gate and allow us to drive straight into the club, past a postcard-perfect lake and the Green Valley shop (which even sells branded Havaianas and beach towels), and right up to the entrance of the raised VIP area.

It’s here, to the right of the huge platform, where we find Ferris warming up. Surveying the site, it’s our first opportunity to take in the full vastness of the Green Valley experience and wonder at the number of power points they need just to power the DJ booth. As we stand in the shadow of a huge concert-worthy lighting rig, Ferris is illuminated by a huge cinema-sized screen that fires out projections of eye-popping visuals. Along the front of the stage a massive LED display scrolls the words ‘Green Valley’.

Above the swarming, thousands strong crowd, a huge tented ceiling is held aloft by tall metal structures, while around the open sides an array of buildings house not only bars but also a pizzeria and sushi restaurant. Up on a hill at the back of the crowd, is the lounge, a separate building with a second dancefloor and, bizarrely, a hair-dressing salon, where more seemingly immaculate woman are being pampered. When we said it was like nothing else we’d seen, we really weren’t joking.

Impressive sight

As bottles of vodka and strawberry juice appearance in ice buckets, the prospect of staying even reasonably presentable begins to evaporate in the swelling mass of bodies below. When the chorus of David Guetta’s ‘We Love Takes Over’ booms out, the dancefloor erupts in the kind of collective emotional outpouring normally only found at festivals. An impressive sight only topped when a minimal drop sees hundreds of green balloons released from the distant ceiling, precipitating mass popping hysteria on the dancefloor.

As Carl Cox makes his first appearance on stage, jets of flame shoot up around the DJ booth, flares explode and machines fire confetti into the front row of the crowd. An all-out assault on the senses, it sets the scene perfectly for the return of Green Valley’s favourite overseas son.

Renowned for his three deck mixing in pre-digital days, Cox’s adoption of Traktor now gives him four deck control at the touch of the button and the mater is soon in full swing – dropping wave after wave of grooving techno via the glowing touch-pads of his Native Instruments Maschine drum pad.

Joining the VIPs and photographers behind Cox to escape the squeeze below, we can view exactly why Green Valley keeps DJs coming back for more. When the lights illuminate the club during a prolonged breakdown, there are people as far as the eye can see – distant, barely visible figures are grooving away on the hill.

Pondering just how to follow this spectacle is Global Underground’s Sultan, who has a flight back to Montreal booked for the afternoon. He might be in for a long wait. “Last time Carl played, the next DJ was meant to take over at 4am,” explains Rodrigo. “He was still waiting at 9am!”

Indeed, Cox’s annual appearance at Green Valley has become such an established event that backstage is a veritable who’s who of local officials and club players. There’s a politician and police chief rubbing shoulders with the owner of Sao Paulo Buddha Bar and Rodrigo Baretto (a.k.a. Rod B), another Miami-based Brazilian whose Teggno label has been gaining props from Cox.

Also watching are Josh Abrahams and Davide Carbone, ex-members of Future Sound of Melbourne (who pre-date The Future Sound of London in case you’re wondering) who are both working with Cox on his awaited, fourth artist album. Listening eagerly as their production cohort roadtests a new track, the unswerving enthusiasm of the assembled masses bodes well. But you can almost see the mental cogs turning as the pair make silent notes on what to tweak in their next studio session.

Changing face

As we discuss the changing face of Brazilian dance music with some local DJs, talk turns to Jesus Luis. Who, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock the size of Green Valley itself, is the latest prey of celebrity cougar Madonna. Currently reinventing himself as a DJ, a booking at Green Valley heard his set drowned out by the excited screams of on-looking women. Which is something he might have been glad for given the subsequent rumours he was actually playing mix CDs. A Brazilian TV show even went so far as to suggest there was a midget mixing below the decks.

No such accusations can be levied at Cox, mind, who still has the heaving mass at breaking point. With dawn creeping through, the techno master is chalking up a cool three hours with the aid of a man passing him glasses of freshly poured champagne. As the sun seeps across the landscape, we’re finally able to see the green canopy of vegetation that surrounds the valley walls around the club. Sunglasses begin to appear on the faces, but the crowd holds strong with nobody moving an inch from their little patch of dancefloor.

As we approach 8am, Cox finally hands over to Sultan whose opening progressive vocal assault sends a visible pulse of renewed energy through the crowd. With an assembled throng of girls now dancing around the stage, smudged eye-liner hidden behind black lenses, the party spirit is undaunted by the morning. For the locals, the prospect of dancing outside in the daylight is clearly as much a part of Green Valley’s appeal as Panorama Bar’s infamous shutters.

Come 10am, the party still shows no sign of abating.  But with phones and sunglasses lost in the melee, we head back to Praia do Estaleiro for more champagne, breakfast, a morning swim and, finally, our much-needed bed. With plans for taking the club on tour around Brazil, Green Valley’s presence at Rio’s Music Conference in February is sure to spread the word further as well as complimentinh six nights of conference week parties with back-to-back nightly performances from Erick Morillo, Armin Van Buuren, Steve Angello (with his Green Valley mix included free with the ticket), Bob Sinclar and Kaskade.

Two days later, we’re in Rio ourselves, and joining Carl Cox for a totally contrasting club experience. Tonight, Cox is playing at Boox, an exclusive restaurant and club where a chichi crowd of less than 200 will squeeze in to hear him in the confines of a cosy, exclusive venue.

It’s a chance for him to return to his roots, digging out classic house tracks and playing a more intimate sound than his global status normally allows. But for now he’s still buzzing from Green Valley’s second birthday, keen to sing the praises of a club which has put their faith in him, as much he has in them.

“I’ve seen it grow from a conceptual idea into what it’s turned into now,” Cox says, recalling the amazing transformation he’s witnessed over three visits.

“I think the biggest thing is that it’s a club that Brazil can feel proud about. Privilege in Ibiza is as big but it’s all broken up there.

“At Green Valley you have one great atmosphere in one great place with enough room for people from all around. It’s open air so everyone also makes the effort to look and feel good. As a performer it’s fantastic to have an audience like that.  The experience of Green Valley is like nowhere else in the world. “

We’ll second that, too.

Fedde chats about 7-hour back-to-back Ministry set with Mark Knight

Fedde Le Grand touched down at Ministry of Sound on 6th February to launch his new double CD Toolroom Knights compilation (out 22nd March) with a takeover of the Box playing back-to-back with Toolroom main man, Mark Knight.

Recreating the successful DJ partnership which heard them join forces behind the decks in Ibiza last summer, the pair played a seven hour set to a club rammed with eager ravers.

“I’ve never seen it like that in Ministry,” laughs Fedde. “People were queuing around the block when I got there at 1.30 in the morning! The demand must be pretty high so you never know, maybe we will do it again.”

When asked about his track of the night, however, Fedde is remaining tight-lipped.

“It’s a track in progress, which I tried out that night. Mark too was amazed. Luckily it was on my USB, not on CD, otherwise he would definitely have snatched it out of my hands.”

With the future of Ministry also recently put in doubt due to plans to build flats opposite, he is quick to speak out in the club’s defence.

“It’s shocking. I can’t quite believe that somebody somewhere is actually seriously thinking about this.

“I read online that one of the corporate people who want to build these flats said, ‘nightclubs come and go’.  I don’t think they realize what the Ministry of Sound is. It’s not just any other club, it’s the benchmark for many DJs of what a club should be like.  It’s an institution, it’s the head of a huge global music empire and it’s part of our international dance history.

“They already know that if they build these apartments, it will cause problems, so why do they decide to go through with it?  It will just cause the developers problems and I honestly think that they will be shocked by the reaction to their plans.”

You can watch footage of the party at be-at.tv

Big Chill Bar holds free Sonar alternative

The Big Chill Bar in East London is hosting So NOT Barcelona, a three-day free alternative to Sonar festival, for those of you who aren’t making it across to Spain for the sun-soaked celebration this weekend.

We’ve got the sun right here and if you’re knocking around Londinium over the next few days you should most definitely check out the Big Chill Bar’s anti-Sonar parties, which are completely free to enter and set to rock the town with some class electronic music acts.

The celebration gets started on Thursday 17th June and runs through to Saturday 19th. Each day features a full-on party beginning at 7pm and taking you through to 12-1am – the perfect warm-up for your night. Headliners over the three days include Instra:mental and Luke Vibert and during the daytime you can also watch full coverage of the World Cup.

Obviously there’s no camping so whatever you do, don’t turn up with yer tent and wellies.

For the full line-ups over three days go to the big chill website

Day, Night and the bit in-between

If Brighton is known as ‘London by sea’ for its preponderance of big city hipsters drawn by the thriving music scene, relaxed atmosphere and proximity to the beach, then it’s safe to say that, for Sonar at least, Barcelona feels the same.

Now entering its 17 edition, this year’s Sonar (or International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art to give it full credit) is like a home away from home with London’s sun-starved music cognoscenti taking full advantage of the festival’s expansive scope, which takes in everything from outdoor experimental noodlings during Sonar Day to full-on face melting techno rave in the cavernous setting of Sonar night.

Even Pete Tong, Radio One’s soothing voice of dance conservatism, gets off our flight on the sunny Thursday afternoon to head for the faux grass covering in front of SonarVillage, where he’s playing a special 2-hour ‘Pieces In A Modern House’ set later.

For now, however, a stampede of horses’ hooves echoing around the courtyard (courtesy of the Go Mag DJs) has us seeking shelter in the subterranean depths of SonarHall where Warp’s Broadcast are taking to the stage. Backed by psychedelic projections that envelope singer Trish Keenan as she wanders the stage, their re-imagining of eerie early 60s electronic pop holds the huge audience in sway and encapsulates precisely the kind of off-kilter leftfield imaginings that Sonar’s organisers are happy to embrace.

Now pulling in as many punters as its official counterpart, off-Sonar’s array of club nights piggy-back on the festival’s popularity to provide a head spinning array of options.  Plumping for Soma’s party at Le Terraza, the famous outdoor club in Pueblo Español, a creepily authentic recreation of a Spanish village in the hills of Barcelona, most people unfortunately seem to be elsewhere or saving themselves for tomorrow night’s main event.

For first timers arriving at Sonar Night the next evening the imposing venue lives up to its monolithic reputation, Batman style spotlights burning holes in the clouds above a massive complex swarming with attendees. Part conference centre, part aircraft hanger, it’s fitting that when we enter SonarClub Aeroplane are playing somewhere in the distance, a lone figure illuminated on an expansive stage firing out gleaming nu-disco gems.

Orientation takes a while, a peek at the sweaty mass jammed in front of Hot Chip revealing that, contrary to its name, SonarPub is actually a huge outdoor arena packing in an unbelievably large number of people.  We soon find ‘home’ though in the equally open-air setting of SonarLab where the line-up has been assembled by DJMag favourite Mary Anne Hobbs.

Taking in everything from glitched-out hip-hop to techno, Flying Lotus has the crowd jerking about to his avalanche of beats like a deranged puppet master, grabbing the mic to further fan the hype. Roska (Roska, Roska) follows, switching between sub heavy urban house and more syncopated rhythms, the leap from Kyla and Crazy Cousin’s ‘Do You Mind’ to Deadboy’s ‘I U Want’ showing the scope of funky’s influence.

By comparison Dixon’s deep house lacks oomph while 2ManyDJs wedding set delivers the same old tracks they’ve been peddling since their inception so we’re soon back out for Hudson Mohawke who’s bobbing manically behind the decks and dropping beats so hot not even the presence of an MC can douse their fire.

The truly formidable spectacle of SonarPub comes into its own during Carte Blanche’s closing set, thousands of wide-eyed ravers illuminated by the morning sun as Riton and Mehdi drop everything from French touch to  booty bass, Inner City’s ‘Good Life’ echoing around the surrounding walls and providing a fitting send off.

Crosstown Rebels enduring popularity makes them a tech-house homing beacon for UK clubbers of all accents and age, so Saturday night finds us surrounded by plenty of familiar faces at Oshum Club.

Down in the thumping, underground liar of Damian Lazarus, dressed like a mad sorcerer as he waves his hands in the air to accompany his deep, dirty house incantations, the crowd is so young it’s probably never heard of City Rockers, but as the stage behind him, filled with an entourage that includes Jamie Jones and Guy Gerber, shows, this is the place to be.

To prove it, upstairs and outside Seth Troxler steps forward to the decks overlooking the terrace, a pulse of electronic noise signalling his intent to the wild abandonment of the people below as they jostle for dancing space and air in the cloying squeeze.

The end arrives unexpectedly soon, Barcelona’s usual morning lack of taxis dispersing the fleeing crowds in different directions in search of transport to the next stop of Sonar’s never ending party. Whatever the final destination, however, there’s no doubt that all roads will converge again on Barcelona next year.

London’s festival highlight grows near

The South West Four Weekender is gearing up to be THE event the late summer, having just announced additions to their already astonishing line up.

Joining the ranks of Saturday 28th August will be the shit-hot Alex Metric, electro-pop producer Chris Lake, Berwick Street don Timo Garcia, deep techno chica Nicole Moudaber and Intec’s Jon Rundell.

Sunday 29th August sees electro vixen Uffie, fresh from releasing her debut album ‘Sex, Dreams and Denim Jeans’ (which, yes, includes Pop The Glock); dubstep and grime aficionado Plastician; gritty techno and nu-disco kid Thomas Gandy aka Cagedbaby;  and Union DJs who claim to wield a ‘mandate of destruction,’ whatever that means.

These additions add to the already hyperbolic line up of trance god Armin Van Buuren in his only London show of the year, Fatboy Slim, Steve Aoki, Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Sasha & John Digweed, Radio 1’s Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Boys Noize, plus dubstep pioneers Skream & Benga.

Here’s the skinny:  The event runs from 12pm-9pm at Clapham Common in London.  You can get weekend saver tickets for £75, individual day savers for £40, and when those run out, standard tickets will be sold for £45 per day.  Tickets are selling like hotcakes, so get ‘em while they’re hot.

For a look at full line-up as well as tickets, click here.

Raving for a good cause

Party promoters with a conscience Cool to be Kind have partnered with Oxfam to put on yet another party for a good cause.  This time it’s the opening night of the Oxjam festival at the Coronet Theatre, headlined by the nipple-tweakers of Faithless Sound System.

The event, which will be held on 1st October, kicks off a month-long, nationwide festival that celebrates local music scenes and raises money for Oxfam, a charitable organization this year dedicated to helping those in struggling nations affected by global climate change.

Faithless will be tearing the main room up, putting the Coronet’s legendary sound system through its paces, all for your listening and dancing pleasure.  They promise that the event’s going to be a ‘night of mayhem,’ and those kids seem like the type who know exactly how to make one of those happen.

Additionally, the night’s festivities will feature an entire room of the Coronet being turned into a pop-up dress-up shop as curated by the coolsters at Vice Magazine, who have taken a break from their strict regimen of telling you why your outfit is stupid in order to do their part for the cause.

Tickets are £20 plus a booking fee, half of which will be donated to Oxfam.  More acts to be announced.  Check out the official Cool to Be Kind website for tickets and more info.

The world’s longest festival opens its doors

The Kazantip Republic should not logically exist.  The fact that the nation claims to not exist, yet also boasts a President, government, citizens and laws further complicates the matter.

What is Kazantip exactly?  It’s a round-the-clock beachside festival running from 31st July to 21st August that offers six dancefloors, thirty bars, two open air crimea halls, three kite stations for windsurfing, as well as mind-blowing figures, both human and architectural, for festival-goers to ogle.  Sven Väth describes it as, ‘a festival site that reminds me of the props for a Mad Max movie, but much more colourful and friendly.’

Basically, think Burning Man, but on crack.

Headliners this year include: Carl Cox, Ricardo Villalobos, M.A.N.D.Y., Josh Wink, Stanton Warriors, Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Hybrid, Joel Mull, Meat Katie, Guy Gerber, Raresh, Freestylers, Fergie (the DJ, not the Black Eyed Pea), Joel Xavier, plus loads of other acts since they’ve got a whole three weeks to fill with music.

In closing, if you only have five hundred and four hours carved out of your schedule to spend at a once-in-a-lifetime experience of a festival that may or may not also function as a sovereign body, do yourself a favour and make a pilgrimage to the Kazantip Republic.  If you don’t believe us, take it from Armin Van Buuren, who offered the festival his stamp of approval, saying, ‘you have to see this!  Amazing!!’

Tickets (or ‘Visas to the Kazantip Republic’) go on sale soon.  Official opening is 31st July 2010, but rumours are floating around that it unofficially opens a week earlier than that.  Price TBA.  Hotel accommodations nearby, but with round-the-clock music, who needs sleep?  Website is here (good luck, it’s in Russian), a more complete line up is here, and the fest’s LiveJournal is here.

Oh, and it goes without saying that this one is clothing optional, kids.

Eivolution Records is now on Beatport, it’s really a pleasure for us to present our new release EIVO008- Marc Flaque & Koldo Falcon – Last Monday
The release also includes Mark Ramsey and Alan Lockwood remixes.

01.Marc Flaque & Koldo Falcon – Last Monday (Original Mix)
02.Marc Flaque & Koldo Falcon – Last Monday (Mark Ramsey Remix)
03.Marc Flaque & Koldo Falcon – Last Monday (Alan Lockwood Remix)

Release Date: June 10 – 2010 (Beatport Exclusive)

Cat#: EIVO008

Format: Digital

Buy it here:

https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/252468/Last%20Monday

Thanks so much for your support!!!