DJ MAG ASEAN ISSUE 003

AUDIO TRIBUTE ISSUE

AUGUST 2015

LAIDBACK LUKE LAYS IT AS IS HERE YE HERE STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY DASH-INGLY SMART CHAINSMOKERS LIGHTS IT UP MURDER RIH WROTE ARCADIA HEATS UP BRISTOL COSMIC GATE REJUVINATES WITH START TO FEEL

THE KING OF IBIZA RM 15.00

#003

PP 18496/052014 ( 033873)

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d j m a g a s e a n / J U NE 2 0 1 5

JUNE 2015 / dj mag asean

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editor’s note

Editorial EDITOR-in-chief

RAJ MALHI

rajmalhi@djmagasean.com EDITOR (INDONESIA)

PRIMA

prima@djmagasean.com MUSIC WRITER

LYDIA LOHSHINI (MALAYSIA) lydia@djmagasean.com

PAT SANTOS (PHILIPPINES) pat@djmagasean.com

PONTAKORN (THAILAND)

ponrakorn@djmagasean.com CHIEF DESIGNER

CHRISS LIEW

chriss@djmagasean.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERR

IZUAN SOBRI

izuan@djmagasean.com

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGER

REYVISA UMARI (INDONESIA) reyvisa@djmagasean.com

MIGZ del GALLEGO (PHILIPPINES) migz@djmagasean.com HEAD OF DIGITAL MEDIA

We don’t pay enough attention to the one thing that makes this music or any music awesome – our ears. And it’s about damn time we did. Give this month’s issue feature a read for a special on in-ear protections, what they do, and why you should already have a pair.

Carl Cox, the King of Ibiza gives us a peek into his handsomely decorated career in the electronic music scene. A highly respected game-changer and pioneer of the music, our cover story sees Carl’s sum up three decades of being in the game, why he truly is a multi-deck wizard and his latest collaboration with Nile Rodgers.

JOSHUA DESMOND josh@djmagasean.com

MANAGERIAL CHAIRMAN

ISKANDAR OTHMAN CO-CHAIRMAN

YAM TENGKU SHAHRAIN DIRECTOR

MELATI NAPITUPULU CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

In this issue, we also speak to the zany duo behind Chainsmokers on what the “Selfie” spurred as well as their thoughts on their Asia tour; Cosmic Gate and their story behind “The Drums” and their view on gladiators; as well as Laidback Luke on his Super You & Me parties and revisiting his old Dutch sounds.

We are also glad to announce that DJ MAG ASEAN is the official media partner for two-must-not-miss gigs; Neverland Presents Zedd True Colours Tour (8 Aug), and OD Presents The Prodigy at Bitec Magna (11 Aug). Do stay tuned to our website for the chance to score some tickets to catch these two amazing acts!

Raj Malhi

NICHOLAS DANIEL RAJ CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

KUMARAN GUNASAGARAN COUNTRY MANAGER

Bharatha Yudha (INDONESIA) baba@djmagasean.com EVENT MANAGER

NIKKI

nikki@djmagasean.com published by REGAL GATES SDN BHD (1134948-D) A-22-13, MENARA UOA BANGSAR, NO.5 JALA N BANGSAR UTAMA 1, BANGSAR 59000, KL, MALA YSIA. Printed by Percetakan Osacar Sdn Bhd Lot 11, Jalan 4/37 A Taman Bukit Maluri, Industrial Area Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur. distributed by MPH DISTRIBUTOR SDN BHD THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE THOSE OF INDIVIDUALS AND NOT NECESSARILY SHARED BY DJ MAGAZINE

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[ august 2015 ]

contents 22

60

Features 22 Carl Cox: King of Ibiza 58 Cosmic Gate Rejuvenates with Start To Feel 60 Chainsmokers Lights It Up 62 Laidback Luke Lays

It As Is

Highlights 76 Arcadia’s Arsenal Heads to Bristol (International News) 98 Stem Cell Technology 18 Special Feature- I

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66 70

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98

BEST OF THE REGION 30 32 34 36 38 46 48

DJ Kuma DJ Melo DJ Lincey DJ Carlo Atendido BEST 5 Supporting Clubs PARTIES

DJ MAG ASEAN RED 66 70 72 74

august 2015 / dj mag asean

Converse Chuck Taylor II Hennessy X.O Meridian x Naim Doppler HERE

24 REGULARS 02 06 08 14 83 132 91

Editor’s Note Fresh From The Decks Quicktakes Fashion Synced On The Floor Tech

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quotes

DECK

Fresh from the

“

[ Carl Cox ]

It’s the biggest music movement that we have ever witnessed in our lifetime. Forget rock and roll, forgot reggae, forget country western; forget R&B and soul and hip-hop. The biggest movement we can possibly be in now right now is dance music.

See page 22

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”

“

[ Cosmic Gate ]

In general that happens a lot but I’ve never seen it happen this long and at this frequency. I thought it’s gotten a little bit more melodic again, like deep house is finding its way. It’s about music, not just hard hitting beats in your face. It’s time to change.

See page 58

”

d j m a g a s e a n / J U NE 2 0 1 5

“

“

[ Laidback Luke ]

Actually I was talking to Blink (Goldfish & Blink) about this, that I think it’s very important to find that happiness and enthusiasm that you once started out with.

See page 62

JUNE 2015 / dj mag asean

”

[ The Chainsmokers ]

I always thought of songs like batteries, like you listen to it and it drains all the battery. And then you find it again and there’s still a little bit of life in it.

See page 60

”

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QUICKTAKE

T h is m o nth o n

DJ MAG ASEAN [MUSIC]

SPREADING THE GOOD VIBES

[event]

ZOUK REVOLUTION

The Good Vibes Festival Malaysia is set to return in 2016 after two very successful editions, and in the meantime, the organizers are giving us a peek into what they have in store for us. The organizers, Future Sound Asia have launched a new platform called “Good Vibes Presents” that seeks to satiate the appetite music enthusiasts all year round leading up to their main Good Vibes Festival. The series will kick off on the 8th of August with Echosmith leading the way. The Californian “Cool Kids” will be making their debut in Malaysia, alongside Australian synth dance pop trio, RUFUS, as well as Malaysian indie act Dash and DJ Crew Indiego & Co. Taking place at KL we suggest all you cool kids out there get your hands on tickets before they fly off the counters. www.facebook.com/GoodVibesFest

July 25th marked the end of the era for Zouk KL in Jalan Ampang after over a decade of parties and memories. But fret not, August will open doors to a new beginning for Zouk KL. The folks behind the superclub bring you The Zouk Evolution, the introductory party to the new Zouk Superclub at TREC. Zouk officially released their music roster for August and we’ve got to say we’re already super stoked. Party goers will be seeing the likes of Dubvision, Miss Nine, FTAMPA, and even Tritonal coming this August! They’re truly going big @ TREC. All we’ve got to say is, SEE YOU THERE! www.zoukclub.com.my

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dj mag asean / august 2015

[interview]

CEDRIC GERVAIS

With a long and successful career under his belt and not forgetting a Grammy on his shelf, Cedric Gervais shows no signs of slowing down. From dropping out of school and DJing at St. Tropez before he was even of legal drinking age, this French man is high commodity in the dance music industry. DJ Mag ASEAN had the chance to catch up with this award winner to talk about his long standing career and his secrets to success.

DJ at an age where it wasn’t event legal to party?

I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. My father was running the club and I had the chance to play for them, but I think I was very bad. It was St. Tropez so I think no one really cared about the music. I was playing a lot of house and underground music and my father asked me to play more commercial music. But yeah, it was fun.

It was a great experience.

Your journey towards becoming a DJ is one of the most awe-inspiring ones. Tell us more about it Thank you. I started when I was 13, I got into the industry, I started learning techniques. I started going to records stores buying vinyls, back in the day it was very big in France. At the age of 15, I saw Daft Punk performing live for the first time,

no mask, and I was like that’s it, that’s what I want. So I’ve never done anything else, just learning how to DJ, moving around, going to Miami, saving money, buying gear, learning how to produce and now I’m here.

You had your first residency at Papa Gaio club in St. Tropez at 14, how did you land it and how was it like, being a resident

You’ve had various residencies in some of the top clubs around the world, which one has been your most memorable one?

Space Miami, I was opening for every big DJ in the world. It was what put me on the map. It was a Saturday night music Conference, me Deep Dish, Nick were playing from 8 at night to 2 in the morning!

What made you start SHITSHOW parties?

It’s just a Miami thing you know, where you come and just do all kinds of crazy things. It was for my birthday in Miami, people loved it so we kept doing it. Our barbeque one was the biggest SHITSHOW with so many people there.

You have been one of the most consistent and solid producers in industry for the past few decades, how do you keep up with the times? What are your secrets to success?

I have no idea, I just keep getting inspired and making more music. I don’t make a lot of music, but when I do make sure its consistence and good. I keep learning better tricks and production and listening to other people and evolve from there.

[tech]

SIMPLY AMPLIFIED The Simplism Hibiki iPhone case is like no other case you’ve seen. Made out of natural wood, the case is cut and created by a Japanese craftsman to elevate the acoustical capacity of your iPhone.

Fashioned out of white ash wood which is usually reserved for high quality equipment, the wood suppresses vibration alongside preventing the degradation of sound quality and omits ambient noise thanks to specialized high tech material inside the casing. If you’re looking at appreciating music on a daily basis, this case is one to invest in. Engineered under the supervision of DJ Swing and his sound mastering studio, Crystal Sound, the Hibiki will produce the best sound quality out of your phone while protecting it but with a handsome exterior. www.simplism.com

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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QUICKTAKE

[fashion]

HEATING THINGS UP Boiler Room, the online video series that streams live sets by a wide-range of DJs and is famous for being ultraunderground and quite hard to gain entry into has finally launched their t-shirt collection. So for all us who can’t get into the illusive gigs, we can at least get their hands on the highly sought after Boiler Room official tees on the newly launched online store. The predominantly black and white clothing collection dons the Boiler Room logo on most of their apparel. Aside from the classic tees, Boiler Room will also make available their Public Service tee, Lord of the Mic’s Bomber jacket and many other t-shirt designs. And if you’re patient enough, you could take a puff with their smoke pack that comes inclusive of a gilded gold ashtray, lighter and rolling paper. Visit their online store and grab yourself a piece of the Boiler Room. www.shop. boilerroom.tv/ products

[tech]

VANS AND NIXON BRING YOU MINI BLASTERS The famous sneaker brand Vans have teamed up with Nixon to bring us a new range of Mini Blaster portable speakers. These speakers are pocket sized and can be transported to virtually anywhere but still has all the makings of Nixon’s popular Blaster speakers; great sound, portability and battery life.

The iconic waffle print rubber that makes up a pair of Vans acts as the silhouette for the speakers, making them both shock proof and water resistant.

The Vans x Nixon Mini Blasters are available in a wide variety of colorsways and can be found on both the partnering websites. www.nixon.com or www.vans.com

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dj mag asean / august 2015

[events]

DAFT PUNK TAKE US TO EDEN Fans of Daft Punk can rejoice for the much awaited film about their origins will finally hit the big screen. Long before the Daft Punk duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de HomemChristo were robotic electronic music giants; they were young producers in France, spinning at house parties. Eden, a film about the French house scene in the 1990’s , that is partially inspired by the true tales of Daft Punk recently released their official trailer. The clip is unlike any other trailer as it documents the first time that Daft Punk’s major single “Da Funk” was heard by an audience.

Written by Sven Hansen-Love who was in actuality one of the people who were present during that historic moment almost twenty years ago. Eden, will be officially released on the 24th of July. Get the popcorn read folks! www.palacefilms.com.au/eden

[fashion]

RAD GEAR The fast climbing fashion e-commerce brand, Rad has launched a collection of street wear that expresses the brands appreciation for the music industry, more specifically the hip hop genre. The collection merges their apparel with classical art and contemporary hip hop in a creative manner by taking lyrics from famous hip hop songs and pasting them onto renowned pieces of art. A cheeky yet chic collection, the “Fly Art” range is the brain child of Gisella Velasco and Toni Potenciano who used lyrics from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Drake as well as images of artwork by Cezanne and Renoir to create this whimsical collection. www.rad.co

[beverage]

RED BULL RIDES ALONG THE FULL FLEX EXPRESS The Full Flex Express Train Tour by Skrillex and team is back again for another round of shenanigans, this year with Red Bull riding along for the journey. To outfit Skrillex and his friends, Red Bull have constructed their first ever pop up studio on board the train. The space has been fully equipped with Novation and Native Instruments equipment that have been put together to specifically allow your DJs and artists on board to collaborate and push out tracks while on tour! With a retro design that takes from the 1970’s Festival Express which inspired Skrillex to start Full Flex, the train will make eight stops with the likes of Diplo, Zeds Dead, A$AP Ferg and a slew of other artists hopping on mid-way. Get those boarding passes already! www.fullflexexpress.com

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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QUICKTAKE

[tech]

DASH-INGLY SMART We’re heading into a future where everything is starting to be dubbed “smart” and now we can add earphones to that ever growing list. Dash is the firstof-its-kind smart earphones, and is packed with tech worth shouting about. Behold, a pair of earphones equipped with a host of sensors,that track your pace, distance, heart rate, oxygen saturation and even your energy spent. The product also has wireless and Bluetooth functions but our favorite function has to be the internal 4GB storage that at allows you to store 1000 tracks on your earphones.

Leave your phone at home and hit the open road with DASH, and if you happen to encounter some rain, fear not – they’re waterproof too. www.bragi.com

[MUSIC]

NOT SO SECRET Secret Sounds Asia is at it once again and this time they are thrilled to present to fellow Singaporeans the award winning electronic outfit, Clean Bandit! The four member band has a unique sound where they fuse elements of both classical and dance music to create their eclectic sound. Clean Bandit’s uplifting blend of bass, beats and rhythms has seen them concurring music circuits all around the world and winning a Grammy while at it.

The band behind “Rather Be” is set to take on Singapore for the first time ever on the 25th of November at The Coliseum Hard Rock Hotel Singapore. www.sistic.com.sg

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[tech]

AUDIO EXCELLENCE WITH AUMEO There is no way we could have an audio appreciation issue without highlighting Aumeo. With science proving that everyone hears differently the folks behind Aumeo decided that it’s about time they cater to everyone’s aural needs. Aumeo, developed by Hong Kong based Paul Lee, allows users to enjoy the best sound quality while protecting their ear drums from potential damage through the use of highly customizable audio profiles. So now you can hear your favorite Avicii or Tiesto track in its entirety and just the way your favorite DJ’s intended you to. Aumeo works with an app that allows users to create specific settings and profiles that will adjust and tune incoming sound inputs to suit you. This avoids overexposure to sound waves that could be harmful and at the same time making sure audio is heard in a full, clear and crisp manner. www.aumeoaudio.com

dj mag asean / august 2015

[interview]

John Dahlback

Swedish DJ/Producer and record label owner John Dahlback made his way to Malaysian shores recently. We got a chance to have a quick chat with the man behind Mutant Records who tells us about how he started out DJing in his early teens, and what a day is like in the life of this globe-trotting star. hard to label it; sometimes I do a progressive song with a lot of emotions in it, or just a cool club track with some elements that stand out.

[Beverage]

WINNING TEA The Republic of Tea have found a way to please both tea lovers and wine enthusiast’s with their introduction of wine inspired tea to their growing collection of teas. Borrowing inspiration from Chardonnay, Rosé, and Cabernet, the they have added new herbal iced-tea variations using wine grapes from Northern California’s Sonoma Wine region. These alcohol-free teas not only taste like wine but have some amazing antioxidant benefits. (The wine inspired teas from The Republic of Tea are Sonoma Chardonnay Iced Tea, Sonoma Cabernet Iced Tea and Sonoma Rose Iced Tea, each at $7.99 per steel tin.) www.tea.republicoftea.com

[Beverage]

NOT YOUR BASIC BREW Elixir Speciality Coffee of Sydney has developed a covert line of coffee brewed with high frequency sound waves!

These new beverages are sold in small jars labeled with the coffees country origin and a number from one to 24, we can only assume these digits specify the strength of the coffee because everything about this extraction method is kept secret.

Elixir Specialty Coffee are said to be using process called “ultrasonic-assisted extraction” that applies low heat to coffee beans using ultrasonic sound waves. Elixir’s tagline is “Looks like whiskey, feels like tea, made from coffee…unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before.” I don’t think it would be long before we get to request what track we’d like our coffee to be brewed in, for now we can only wonder what an EDM coffee would taste like. www.instagram.com/elixirspecialtycoffee

august 2015 / dj mag asean

Tell us about your journey towards becoming a DJ. Was there a specific DJ or track that made you realize this was the industry for you?

It all started when my cousin Jesper gave me a copy of his album “Stockholm”. I really didn’t like it at first but after a few listens I changed my mind.

And I think it was around that time I decided to start making house music. Obviously it wasn’t that great in the beginning but Jesper used to have a listen and come back to me with feedback, so I’m really happy with that sort of input. After a few unsuccessful demos sent out, finally I got my first record deal by the age of 15 or 16.

Who/What have been your inspiration and muses?

It varies a lot. It could be other genres of music or traveling to places. It could even come from searching through a synthesizer for sounds.

How would you describe your music?

I guess a bit emotional maybe.

Either that or cool. Haha. It’s

You’re merely 29 and have DJ, producer and record label owner under your belt. How do you juggle all of it? What is a day like in the life of John Dahlback?

It’s pretty solid! I go through demos, and if there’s anything I’d like to sign to Mutants, I simply just send it on to my label manager. I also like to A&R demos that I get in, to help people get their tracks to reach maximum potential.

Tell us about what drove you to start up Pickadoll Records and Mutant Records.

In the beginning, both labels were supposed to work as a platform for my music, but lately I find it more fun to give upcoming producers a chance to get their music out there.

Bigger things seem to be in store for you, what else do you have lined up for 2015?

I’m currently finishing my album for Armada. I’m extremely happy with it. It’s very varied and I’m very proud of myself that I took the album in the direction it’s in.

What is your go to summer anthem?

Not to sound selfish, but “Raven” has been working so well for me every time playing it.

What would you like to say to your fans?

Thanks for all your support and thanks for believing in my music!

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FASHION

FLASHBACK WITH CHRIS HOLMES DJ Chris Holmes once had a problem when he discovered that photos of his performances were “ruined” from flashes bouncing off his reflective clothing. The photos only show his illuminated clothing and blackened out the rest of the image.

But instead of being frustrated, Holmes decided that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Partnering with Betabrand, DJ Chris Holmes has released the Flashback Collection. This line designed to foil paparazzi attempts by illuminating the garment and turning the rest of the image dark, isn’t only chic but creates spectral photos.

Made up of many super reflective glass nanospheres, the garments reflect light that turn the wearers into ultimate photobombers.

TURNING UP IN STYLE If you’re looking for something classy to flaunt on your wrist while boasting your love for music then we suggest you get your hands on the Flud Turntable Watch. The turntable watch truly captures the essence of DJing, by shrinking the vinyl record player and putting it right on your wrist. This analogue watch will make sure that you arrive at the party on time and in style. Our only advice is that you don’t try scratching the record as the only thing that should be spinning on this device is the dial. www.fludwatches.com

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DAILY PAPER AND YELLOW CLAW WANT BLOOD FOR MERCY Amsterdam based street wear brand Daily Paper has once again tapped on DJ trio Yellow Claw’s creativity for a second collaboration under the name “Blood For Mercy”. The fashion forward DJ trio are constantly seen donning attire from their collection at shows worldwide. Following their capsule collection, this collection is accompanied by their track entitled “Dirty Paper” featuring Yung Felix. Their staple colours have always been monochrome thus is injecting it into their line. Heavily inspired by sportswear the collection sees monochromatic styles of athletic staples such as windbreakers, tracksuits and jerseys.

The entire collection takes influences from various sports such as motocross, football and even swimming to produce a line that caters to both men and women. The collection is exclusively available online at Yellow Claw’s web store. www.yellowclaw.com

dj mag asean / august 2015

DEAR BAE IS PHARRELLS ODE TO WOMEN Pharrell Williams seems to be on a roll, as the fashion icon announces the latest of his never ending slew of collaborations. He once again partners with adidas Originals to bring you “Dear Baes”, his collection of womenswear. The collection features street style pieces, flaunting bold polka dots and lotus inspired lines. This new range of apparel was inspired by Pharrells back-up performers who are known as The Baes. Each “Bae” Ai, Brya, Christina, Mette, Munchie, Nita, Rhea and Aye were all brought on board to help with the collection, with each of them taking on a color off the Supercolor range and adding their creative input to the designs. The Dear Bae Tour Pack is said to be Pharrells way of expressing his love for women and his feelings of owing his success to them.

ASTRID AND A$AP TAKE ON SPRING/ SUMMER 2016 Famous runway designer Astrid Andersen recently presented her Spring/Summer 2016 collection and fiercely rolled out designs that were tributed to A$AP Ferg and Missy Elliott. The Danish designer has taken to China for inspiration; with her use of Eastern print motifs that adorn her sporty take on modern casual wear. The entire collection sees Astrid reimagining apparel with ornate prints and rich silks with A$AP Ferg and Missy E as her muses. The soundtrack to her show featured vocals by her muses as models took to the runway in flowing scarves, boxy jerseys and 90’s music video inspired pants. It was also at her London show when both designer and muses unveiled their fashion film promoting the collection.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

MURDER RIH WROTE Rihanna is nothing less than a global fashion icon, so it’s no surprise that she has ventured into the fashion industry. Her latest partnership sees the star having her own designer sock line with Stance Socks called “murder Rih Wrote”.

The name of the line falls in line with the artist recent music video for BBHMM. The socks are in red, black and white, and come in different lengths featuring newpaper-esq typography and murderous themes.

Badgirlriri can definitely do no wrong, even if its murder.

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FASHION

DoYaThing in Chucks!

With the recent news of the supergroup’s new album on the way, we’ve decided that it was time for us to get a pair of these kicks because after 6 years of radio silence, we finally have a reason to flaunt these. The Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars starring the Gorillaz are a definite must have for fans, especially since these chucks featuring the artwork of Jamie Hewlett are Murdoc approved. You better cop yourself one of these kickass pairs of chucks before it’s too late.

WHAT A SITE!

ANTHILL is a Manila based clothing store with a cause. “ANTHILL” is short for Alternative Nest and Trading/ Training Hub for Indigenous/ Ingenious Little Livelihood seekers. The brand carries a large array of clothing and dolls made out of fabric. The brand is a hub for those with talent seeking to make a livelihood. ANTHILL is “where culture meets style” as the company is a cultural and social enterprise that supports and establishes community weaving enterprises by providing market access and transforming existing resources, homegrown skills and living traditions into innovative and contemporary lifestyle products. We suggest you check out their website to see all their chic bowties, comfy loafers and absolutely stunning skirts and dresses. www.facebook.com/AnthillFabricGallery

CamboFresh is a Cambodian clothing brand that make its wearer proud to flaunt their Cambodian pride. Their collections are a fusion of art and fashion that flaunt a wide range of t-shirts for both men and women with slogans and graphic prints that truly bring out the Khmer spirit in you. The brand is continuing to develop designs year in and year out so keep close tabs on their social media sites for all their new stuff. www.cambofresh.bigcartel.com

BOOST YOUR SNEAKER GAME

We’re not big fans of Kanye but you’ve got to admit the Yeezy Boost 350 is a sick pair of kicks. And yes we know they’re sold out at stores but if you look close enough you’d find a few up for sale (ie: the eBay pay going for $10,000), but if you’re one of the lucky ones who’ve managed to get your hands on a pair, you’d agree they’re a comfy pair of sneakers. The limited edition sneakers are made from primeknit, premium leather and full length boost midsole. With the success of his pair of sneakers, we can guarantee you Kanye is working more designs.

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Nasty Inc is a Malaysian apparel line that is the brainchild of DJ Duo, Bass Agents. The duo behind the BAXX clothing brand decided it was time to start a new line that would be appropriate for the new style direction they were taking on. The founders have said that their apparel represent dark, nonconformity, nasty, anti-heroes all blended together with a pinch of quirkiness. The brand hopes to in their words “Reject the artificially synthesized mass culture that has been produced by industrialization, as the Nasty crew presents their clothing line before the world ends.” Honestly, that alone has gotten us more than intrigued and wanting to cop ourselves some goodies. You can check out their quality apparel that reflect the brands love for the underdogs and music on their social media sites. www.thenastyinc.com dj mag asean / august 2015

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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Special Feature

Ear-preciate your hearing

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dj mag asean / august 2015

I

t’s all about music appreciation this issue and in light of the recent news about Lil Louis DJ Mag thought it would be a good opportunity to touch base with the DJ community about the importance of protecting their major assets: their ears.

We recently took a trip down to a hearing specialist to get the lowdown on our hearing and the potential damage we may have inflicted on them after over 25 years behind the decks.

The humble ears are probably DJs or producers’ primary tools. Reading the story about Lil Louis touches a nerve and brings it home how easy it is for everything to fall apart if hearing is damaged or threatened.

It’s a timely warning that the loss of a DJ’s hearing is a potential life and career ruining moment.

And that’s why it’s important to take every step possible to protect that livelihood.

VITAL There are many signs of hearing damage, and the usual one is the ringing noise that is heard after a night out in a club — tinnitus, which is the bane of many DJs’ lives. It’s an irritating buzzing/ringing noise that actually affects one in 10 people at some stage in their lives; however this form isn’t permanent and will usually subside after a good few hours.

For those prone to getting this type of irritation after a night out/behind the decks, it is definitely time to think about getting a set of custom-made in-ear protectors, which will do away with this annoyance and actually protect hearing from damage in very loud environments.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

T H E P R OC E SS There are a few services that they offer in terms of looking after that precious hearing: microsuction, a liquid-free procedure that uses a suction device to remove wax from within the ear, or irrigation, that uses a pressurised flow of water to clear the ears out. Once a bit of ear maintenance has been delivered it’s time to get the ears prepped for the moulding process. This is where the specialist takes an impression of the inner ears, from which the custom protectors will be made. It is a rather strange-yet-pleasing sensation as the mould is squirted into the ears.

As each ear is done, we temporarily experience a kind of deafness and the sensory perception is totally shifted, but this doesn’t last for long, and after a few minutes the moulds harden and can be taken out, leaving a perfect impression of the inner ears from which the protectors are made.

The protectors come in three versions: ER25, ER15 or ER9, basically offering 25db, 15db and 9db reduction in sound across frequencies respectively, whilst maintaining audio clarity. For most DJ and club use, ER15s will be acceptable if the sound environment is particularly loud.

Then, the 25s would probably be best, but these deliver heavy-duty filtering and sound reduction, whilst the 9s are at the lighter end of the reduction spectrum.

In use, the trick is to get the ears accustomed to the plugs before the gig. It is best to put them in up to an hour before taking to the decks, or even before entering the venue. This way it will give the ears time to adjust to the reduction across the sound frequencies, meaning having them in doesn’t feel unnatural. Once the ears are acclimatised it is easy to mix as per normal; however, with the added bonus that the ears are not taking the usual pounding they would do if the protectors were not in use The MusicPRO 9-15 earplugs are designed for musicians who want to hear naturally, need protection when hearing is at risk, and want to avoid the inconvenience of removing earplugs to hear.

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Etymotic Music Pro: The Ultimate In Hearing Protection

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dj mag asean / august 2015

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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dj mag asean / august 2015

L

words By Raj Malhi

From shaping the early sounds of electronic music, championing techno and acid house beats, taking on the biggest stages in the world, as well as heading his own label, and claiming rights as the King of Ibiza; Carl Cox is one of the few artists who we can claim has been there and done it all.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

earning the ropes of the industry at an early age, Carl took to his parent’s 45s turntable as a kid and purchased his own when he turned 15 – which marked the beginning of his career as a DJ. Captivated by the early sounds of disco, funk, and soul, Carl was eager to take up gigs at any avenue possible; birthday parties, school proms, weddings, and even played free beach and club parties. “It was all for the love of the music. It didn’t really matter what they could afford at the time. I just wanted to play and share tunes that I loved with people and that’s really not changed, not even up till today”, said Carl.

It wasn’t until Carl had a taste of the squelching bass lines in ‘Acid Trax’ by Phuture in 1987 which led him to actively explore and experiment acid house – a subgenre of house music that was cooked up in Chicago in the mid 1980’s. “It was then that I thought, ‘this is it,’ says Carl. “I would do my parties, and I’d play old rare groove and hip hop and soul and I would say ‘Right you’ve got to hear this Phuture track’ and people would just stop and listen.”

Backed by the enthusiasm, drive and genuine passion for the sound of acid house, Carl surfed the wave of the exploding British rave scene effortlessly.

The same year, he took on the decks for the opening night of Danny Rampling’s iconic Shoom, one of the first clubs to introduce acid house to the clubbing masses of the UK, co-promoted The Project club with Paul Oakenfold, and even introduced a third turntable to 15,000 rave revelers during his set at the 1988 Sunrise Rave – a move that quickly earned him the three-deck wizard title. “Everyone else was doing a two turntable setup. I wanted to mix it up a little and give the crowd something that they have never experienced before. The reaction from the crowd that day said it all!”

Having considerably mastered the performing end of the coin, Carl begin exploring the music production end of it. In 1991, he released his hit single ‘I Want You’ on Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label which earned him a top 30 hit listing - and as some say, it was the single that changed the music appetite of many for good.

Carl literally witnessed and played through the rise of Britain’s electronic music and rave culture and as the demand and reception of electronic music skyrocketed in the UK, he decided to take the road less travelled.

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With masses from the DJ scene moving on to house and trance, and the hardcore creating the jungle sub-genre, Carl embraced the sounds of underground techno. “Techno drives home somewhere. It takes you to an element of surprise, not knowing where you’re going.

It’s scary but wonderful at the same time”, says Carl.

Sticking to what ultimately felt right, Carl would go on to release a mix album in 1995 called F.A.C.T which saw a total of 250,000 albums sold – setting a benchmark for record sales in the techno realm.

Carl’s music hit the right notes with fans worldwide and demand for his signature sets and sounds only got more and more profound. A year after his first album, Carl was announced as DJ MAG’s No. 1 DJ in 1996, and kept the streak running by retaining his No.1 title in 1997 as well.

Once he got a taste of producing music, it wasn’t long until Carl realized that he wanted to work on his own label too. To him, it was the only option left if he was to pursue creating music that really represented his personal style as an artist, and in 1999, Carl started Intec Records. Intec Records went on to score a series of underground hits and enjoyed eight years at the forefront of electronic music.

In 2006, Intec Records announced its closure and five years later, still being inundated with new music, Carl announced the relaunch of his label as Intec Digital. It’s been a triumphant return, thanks to exclusives from some of the biggest names in techno.

“The label couldn’t be going better,” says Carl. “It’s great to be back at the helm discovering underground DJs.” Fast forward to the future, 2015 sees Carl’s epic Ibiza residency continue to break boundaries, celebrating 14 consecutive nothing-short-of-astounding years at Space in 2015. Carl residency is hands down one of the island’s most popular nights, guaranteeing an electronic music journey like no other thanks to its adventurous and forward-thinking line-ups, musical direction and state of the art production. “The night’s popularity and demand has increased year by year, so it’s enabled us to bring even more talent to the island.

We have a successful night because we just batten down the hatches and stick to what we do best, which is give value for money,” explains Carl. “People come back to us, as they’re big believers in our brand.”

From the biggest party island to the biggest EDM festivals, Carl can be found everywhere. He continues to deliver his Carl Cox & Friends stage at Ultra, for what has long been one of the festival’s highlights for more than a decade. “2015 will be our 11th year at Ultra, and I’m certain it will go on and on,” says Carl. It’s no wonder his signature styled stage and sets at ULTRA attract such a large following – the folks at Ultra gave Carl the freedom to creatively direct his stage, sound, DJs and sets. “We have a very special thing there. They give us free reign in everything. The look, staging, sound, what DJs we book, all of it is down to us, and that’s a great thing, and why we keep going back,” he said.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

When we say Carl has done it all, we weren’t kidding. His ‘Global’ radio show continues to break records; present in 35 countries, syndicated over 60 terrestrial FM, satellite and DAB stations, and reaching out to over 17-million weekly listeners worldwide, making him one of the most important broadcasters on the planet.

Earlier this month, Carl returned to Ibiza for his Space 2015 residency, with the mantra for this year taking on ‘Music Is Revolution – The Next Phase’.

Dubbed the King Of Ibiza, his is a throne that was built with blood, sweat, and smiles across two decades and it almost seems that he is ever ready to go on for another two. DJ MAG ASEAN speaks to Carl from his villa in Ibiza on the likes of the evolution of dance music, rocking a three turntable set, and what could be the biggest music movement of this era.

Thank you for taking time out of your Ibiza schedule to talk to us. How’s the island treating you this time around?

It’s been great, it’s always great to be back here. We just opened our nights here again, we’ve been doing it for the past 14 years in Space and last night we had Marco Carola on stage and everyone was just having the time of their life.

Ibiza really seems to be rocking it at the moment.

All the clubs are working really well and a lot of DJs are here this time around as you can imagine.

And as you mentioned, congratulations on your 14th season at Space, Ibiza! What do you think drives the success of your nights there?

I think more than anything, it’s because I have an affinity for the island. I like being on the island. I am not just another international DJ coming to Ibiza and leaving after my show; I’ve been consistently performing at Ibiza for the past two decades and it feels like I’m a part of the system here.

So I get a lot of support from the local people, and because of the relationship that I have with Pepe, who owns the club, together we have a very good understanding of what we want to offer the revelers of Space. He has the vision of how the club looks and how it sounds, and I have a vision of the kind of music and sets that I would like to play.

What’s the Space experience like?

It’s something quite out of this world actually. When people come from overseas to have a look on what’s going on here, they don’t classify it as ‘normal’. It is far from it. It’s something of an experience beyond belief.

The sound system is an experience, the atmosphere is an experience. The way the DJ steps up onto the deck is an experience.

People that fly over from all over the world and land in Ibiza and bought a ticket for Tuesday night, you are more and less guaranteed to have the best clubbing

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night of your life. And I make sure that happens, based on what I do and what I’ve been doing for all this years.

Space is not a normal club, it’s an animal. And as a DJ, you’ve got to tame the beast. And once you get it right in that room, you know you’ve done it.

You’ve played and continue to play an essential role in the evolution of the electronic dance music scene as we know it today. How has it changed since you first started?

Well the thing is, you’re talking to a man who was involved in this music right from the beginning, when it was misunderstood. I always had a notion that this was going to be the sound that is going to change everything. Acid house music, garage house music. This was going to be something that basically changed people perspective of what happens next and where we at.

Of course in the beginning of the whole house music movement for me, back in 88 or 89, where there would still be illegal rave parties going on around the country and around England, France and Germany. I’ve been a part of that movement and all of that places that were all pinnacle.

What are your thoughts on the current electronic music scene?

It’s the biggest music movement that we have ever witnessed in our lifetime. Forget rock and roll, forgot

august 2015 / dj mag asean

reggae, forget country western, forget R&B and soul and hip-hop. The biggest movement we can possibly be in now right now is dance music.

What do you think changed the game?

What’s really helped the whole movement is the power of the internet, the power of streaming and how obtainable all this music is. I mean if I played you a record now, you could just Shazam it and buy the record immediately. I mean that’s powerful.

Has it helped for the good? Yes it has, because people can really reach out to find new music at the tips at their fingertips. But in the other sense of it, no, because everything doesn’t get a chance to nurture anymore. Everything has become so quick to throw away. You know, you’d buy a record yesterday and two days later, everyone else says it’s old. The record doesn’t event get an opportunity to become a classic because it is too old already and you’ve forgotten about it.

Where else years ago, if you bought a record, you would save your money up, head on to the store, get the one record that speaks out most, walked home with that record, put in on, sat there and you’d go Ahhhh…what a tune. And you kept playing that tune until that tune became a classic and eventually you bought another record.

Most of the records these days, unless they are on radio rotation, whether you like it or not, doesn’t have the opportunity to become a classic. So you can imagine

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“You would save your money up, head on to the store, get the one record that speaks out most, walked home with that record, put in on, sat there and you’d go Ahhhh...what a tune.”

all the records that are still coming out right now, most of that record will not become industry classics, they will just become a throwaway commodity.

What makes you/your sets different from the rest?

Where I’m at, I mean I am from the underground scene with a crossover appeal; I want to take a record you’ve never heard before and play it to the masses. It’s up to the masses to deal with whatever I am playing because I believe in what I am playing, not because its top 20 on Beatport, I play it because it’s good.

Tell us about the Carl Cox & Friends stage at Ultra.

Well, first and foremost, when I was playing Ultra in the early days, they would just put me on the side of where other DJs were playing and I who just be like someone who came in to play an hour of the big records. And I just felt like I was belittling myself and the crowd based on the reason why I have been booked. So I said to them I didn’t want to do it anymore, and they sat me down and said, “Well, what would you like?”

And I said, well, I would like to become a festival within a festival. I want to give you something more than just playing for one and a half hours. I want to give your festival goers a reason to come to the festival for more than just main room music. And for them, they thought it was a great idea. And here we are more than a decade later.

From then on, this will be the 11th year of Carl Cox & Friends in Ultra – what made you guys so wildly popular among ULTRA goers?

It’s a mix of a few elements. The first being the ‘Friends’ who make up the Carl Cox & Friends stage; they happen to be some of the best DJs and producers out there and ones that I’ve always enjoyed listening too.

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When ULTRA gave us our first clear tent, the tent was produced by them, and I wasn’t particularly pleased with the look and feel of it. So I brought in a guy called Jim Baggott, who basically produces some of the biggest shows in the planet. He was able to give me his vision based on what he felt we could give to the people. And he had some pretty great ideas, and if you see where ULTRA is today, the screens, lighting and sound system, this is all conceptualized by Jim Baggott.

He basically turned our tent which had 3,500 people in which is now a megastructure that holds 15,000 people. So over the years, we build this up and now when people walk into the megastructure, they go “like, oh wow!”

With great DJ lineups and concepts, we now have kids from the other sides of the festivals coming over to our stage to culture themselves in some way with our music. It never stops in our room, you can leave it and it is pumping, you can come back and it is pumping. It has been really fantastic to be part of this journey and I am really glad Russel Faibisch (ULTRA Founder) believed in my ability and gave me the chance to grow this.

What is your take on the electronic music scene in Asia?

I’ve always had a really good time playing in Asia, be it China, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and so on. It’s really exciting to have a crowd that is so hungry for your music, and I can genuinely see people super excited for what I am going to do next – and I love it. I’ve never had a bad time in Asia, be it a club or festival, they have always been great experiences.

Three things you Carl Cox can’t live without?

My family, my music and my passion for life.

Carl, if you develop the ability to fly, what song would you play in the background of your maiden flight?

Laughs. That’s a great question. Oh my god. Let me think. It would probably be a Stevie Wonder song, the track called “Another Star”. Yup, that would be an absolute fitting record for my maiden flight.

dj mag asean / august 2015

Best Of The Region [M A L AYS I A]

KUMA

[ v i e t n am ]

Melo

[ P h ilippi n e s ]

Carlo Atendido

[ S i n g ap o r e ]

LINCEY

BEST OF THE REGION

KUMA [M A L AYS I A]

With close to a two decades of experience under his belt, DJ Kuma was the first Malaysian DJ to be invited to play at the world famous Bora Bound Summer party at Boracay, and has well seen his name take over countless international clubs and stages. DJ MAG ASEAN sits with him for a catch up on his upcoming international tour, the Jungle Experience in Koh Pangan and what’s in store next.

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Tell us about how you started.

My interest in music started at a very young age. At the age of 14, I had begin toying around with cassette tapes to make compilations for my friends and classmates.

My passion for music grew stronger and I began to hang out at the local clubs to watch DJ’s perform. This influenced me even more and I decided to start learning how to DJ from a close friend, who was a resident DJ at an established club in 1996.

With the advantage of access to the clubs record collections, I began experimenting dance music and fell in love with the sounds of House.

I took to my own decks in 1997, but at that time I was just another DJ, and it was tough to convince a small town crowd (Seremban) that House music was the way to go. Haha. People honestly thought I was crazy back then. I took up a club job in Seremban for a year and after that it was time to head out to Kuala Lumpur.

Where did you go from there?

Well, house boomed here around 2000, and from then on, big name DJs were already coming to spin here in KL. The music picked up and soon enough there was demand for the kind of sounds that I enjoyed playing. I went on to become the resident for clubs such as Absolut Chemistry, Voyeur, Qbar, Emporium, Nouvo and

august 2015 / dj mag asean

Warehouse as well as being involved in the dance music revolution in Kuala Lumpur in the late 90’s playing at after hours venues like TUBE, BarCode, super clubs such as Atmosphere, and Zouk.

As my fans grew bigger, my music gained a lot of favour across South East Asia and it wasn’t long until I was playing at super clubs such as EMBASSY in Phillipines, Sound Club in Thailand and festivals such as Full Moon parties on the beach of Hadrin.

You’ve played many regional gigs. How did it all start?

My first regional gig was in Philippines and it happened when I was there to visit a friend of mine. To my surprise, the house beat in Philippines at that time was already more advanced than Malaysia so I approached a few clubs and send them some mixes, and got a spot to play in Voodoo in Cebu. I’ve also done TIME, Embassy and a really big party in Boracay during the summer.

Soon after, I then went to Thailand to check out the full moon party scene and I really loved it there. I shared more of my mixes with the right people there and to date, I’ve been playing there for five years in a row. I’ve also played Jungle Experience in Koh Pangan, which is crazy. Eight-thousand people rocking it in an open air jungle rave assemble from 9.00pm to 9.00am the next day. What an experience!

Tell us more about your IBIZA experience and what’s lined up next there?

My first gig was at this amazing place called EDEN, it had two rooms, which as you guessed it was a main room and an underground room that hosted tech, tech house kinda DJs. I played there for two hours. Then I came back a year later to hit up their boat parties as well as at Hush.

This year will see me playing at some boat parties, Bora Bora, Amnesia as well as Hush.

All around, everyone in IBIZA is out to have fun. Great weather and the sun is our till 9pm. Great bars with great sound systems – like the Irish bar that I went to that had a Funktion One sound system. The people are really nice here and it’s just an island that’s so easy to fall in love with.

Surprisingly, the music that was being played in Ibiza at my time of visit was the same kind of stuff that they were playing back in Malaysia. What really sets them apart is their clubs and sound systems – not the music taste.

What do you have planned for the rest of the year?

I have a very exciting quarter coming up, where I will be playing the FOLLOW5RS two-day festival In the snowy highlands of Marseille, France and capping off my European tour at Belgium.

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BEST OF THE REGION

MELO [ v i e t n am ]

Based in Vietnam, DJ Melo has become one of the youngest female DJ’s to hit the high ranks in the Vietnam electronic music industry. From gaining a residency at Chill Sky Bar Night Club to travelling all through Asia, spinning her electrifying mixes, DJ Melo is on the rise.

Her passion for music started out at a very young age, and has since propelled her into the fast paced world of dance music.

We sat down with Melo to talk about all things music and even David Beckham.

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Hi there DJ MELO! Tell us more about yourself and how you ventured into the electronic music industry.

Hi All! Thanks firstly for this great opportunity to be interviewed in a magazine dedicated to this industry and for its fans. I’m really excited!! What I can say is that music has been my life and passion since a very young age and Melo ( short for Melody) is actually my nickname by my parents when they saw my passion for music and singing when I was little. Never thought I would end up as a DJ, but looking back I would say the first time I was at a beach music festival years ago and saw a DJ on stage playing electronic music and the crowd moving to its energy and beats was mesmerizing .I knew inside that this was something I wanted to do, that very DJ later became my teacher and mentor. A special thanks to DJ Lbass for being the mentor and helping me get started!

How would you describe your sound to people who have yet to hear your music?

Wow, that’s easy! I love mixing it Hip-hop, Trap, dub step and electro and with my signature energy and heavy bass.

What would you say are the milestones of your journey so far?

This year has been an amazing year for me, starring in TV program called “THE REMIX’ where we partnered up with top celebrities and DJ’s and competed live on TV. The show was very successful and grew a lot awareness for DJ’s and for me personally as one the top female DJ’s. Another great achievement has been my Residency at internationally renowned Chill Skybar in Ho Chi Minh City. Being one of Asia’s top 10 Skybar and one of Vietnam’s Top Clubs has really been a milestone for me to have my fans and be resident DJ is such a prestigious honor.

ways, especially the way he carries himself in style and looks.

You recently played at Marquee in Sydney, how was the show?

WOW it’s was an amazing time playing at the world famous Marquee Club! I was blown away with the energy and feel of the club. The crowd was amazing and I loved being the DJ that night, as its always-amazing experience when you play overseas gigs. I have been lucky to play such venues in Sydney, KL, Thailand, Macau, China and Singapore.

How do you think the local electronic music scene is like right now? Can Asia be the next big thing for dance music?

The local electronic music scene has been growing very fast and crowds are learning to appreciate the different types of genres and really getting into supporting the DJ’s and night scene. With many international big names popping in VN like Hardwell, Steve Aoki, Dyro, Dannic, Vinai, Showtek, Zedd and the list goes on shows everyone why Vietnam and Asia is growing fast and clearly has the opportunity to be the next big thing for dance music.

August is audio appreciation month, how would you say you appreciate music?

Music is in my DNA, I love how music can be shared with everyone and how it all connects us all in its own way be it in a dancing to it in club, chilling with family/

friends and even alone by ourselves.

What is the best way to listen to and appreciate music? Are there specific headphones or environments that allow to fully immersing yourself in music?

Best way to listen and appreciate for me would be to find what makes you move physically or emotionally, be it any genre of music. I always listen to different kinds of music from different countries and love how beautiful they are in their own way.

I always have my headphone and iPhone everywhere I go, but I love listening to music at home all alone when I’m working on new tracks or just chilling.

What do you have in store for you fans in the second half of 2015? Do you have any gigs planned for August?

I have planned to have new mixes for each month upload to Soundcloud for all my fans to enjoy, just follow me on Facebook or lookup Melo in Soundcloud.

For August I’m focusing on the local scene and spinning at Chill especially after my three week tour through Australia, playing in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

What would you like to say to your fans?

Hey fans, love all of you and thanks for the support .I look forward to DJing to all of you everywhere and keep sharing with you all my love and music. Keep connected with me on Facebook so I can keep you updated and hear from you soon. Love!

How was it like opening for DJ Jazzy Jeff, KimKat and other famous acts? We also heard you helmed the decks for David Beckham; tell us more about that too.

I was honored and learned a lot from warming up for DJ Cut Killer, FizeBeatz (top 100 DJs) and DJ Jazzy Jeff. They both have great personalities and are talented and great professionals plus many other acts it’s always a great experience for me to learn and grow. David Beckham was such a gentleman and really nice person to meet and play for, he is someone I respect in many

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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BEST OF THE REGION

Lincey [ S i n g ap o r e ]

DJ Lincey is Zouk Singapore’s youngest and freshest talent to helm their decks.

It’s no surprise that he has talent beyond his years and gets the crowd stoked with his sick beats. DJ Mag ASEAN had a quick chat with Lincey and found out his DJing origins and the story behind his very own label.

Tell us more about yourself and how you ventured into the electronic music industry. We’d also like to know the story behind your stage name, what inspired it?

Hi there! My stage name is actually a nickname my friends gave me when I was in school, people called me Lincey then and I felt like I wanted people to know me like how my friends know me. I’ve always had a passion for music, but I made the decision to enter the electronic music industry after failing to find joy in other avenues of work that I’ve tried before. In short, I decided that I wanted to spend my life doing something I am passionate about and enjoy thoroughly, and therefore I am here today!

Was there a specific DJ or track that made you realize DJing was the job for you?

In school, my friends and I watched this documentary about Justice titled ‘Across the Universe’ and it really struck a cord with me. It was so emotionally engaging, and also it looked like a lot of fun. Haha! Their

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Who or what have been your inspirations and influences?

I think one person that I personally respect and have been inspired by is Lincoln, the founder of Zouk Singapore, and arguably, and to me, the father of dance music in Singapore. He was a visionary and dance music would not be where it is today without him and the Zouk team.

August is audio appreciation month, how would you say you appreciate music?

I think to appreciate music is to appreciate the artist, whether it is a mix or a single or an album, to appreciate it is to pay attention to it and what the artist is trying to say through his or her music.

‘cross’ album was simply mind blowing to me. Justice were a huge inspiration, but also, my colleague and friend DJ Hong played a large role in making me realize DJing was the job for me.

How would you describe your sound to people who have yet to hear your music?

As a resident DJ I have to be flexible with my sound, depending on the night or the act I am supporting, I go through different genres quite often and quite regularly.

However, across all the genres, I would say my sound would be a sound that has bags of emotion. Not the sappy kind, (not always anyway), but just music that can speak to people, I like to engage with my crowd, go through the night with them.

What have been your achievements thus far?

I’m probably most proud of my achievements with Zouk, to be one of the two DJs that anchor the Zouk main room has been a dream. I’ve also played at three ZoukOuts(2012, 2013, 2014), Green Valley, Brazil (2015), and was invited to play at Ultra Korea (2015) although I did not actually make it there in the end, as well as another gig in America coming up soon in September. Oh, and I was very honored to be the opening act for the Singapore leg of One Direction’s On the Road again tour.

Another notable one would be being named

august 2015 / dj mag asean

as one of the 5 DJs under 25 to watch in 2013 by The Straits Times.

What was it like knowing you’ve been titled as the youngest resident DJ ever at Zouk?

Zouk is an institution that has housed many fantastic resident DJs and just to be one of them is a blessing. I may be the youngest but I am just happy to be here, working and learning alongside a great team.

Tell us about what made you want to start your own music label 7inear and what was the inspiration behind the labels name?

When I was 21, after I graduated with a BA(Hons) in music production I was working with a number of local independent musicians that had little or no avenue to produce and market their music. I started this label then to help them do just that, although it has since taken a back seat.

7inear(pronounced linear) is actually my surname Lin, with the word Ear, and hence it became 7inear!

What has been your most memorable show?

This is tough, mainly because every show is different and very memorable by itself.

But if I had to choose, it would have to be opening for One Direction at the Singapore Sports Hub. I was the first DJ to play there and there was a crowd of 30,000 odd in attendance. Electrifying!

What is the best way to listen to and appreciate music? Are there specific headphones or environments that allow you to fully immerse yourself in music?

If it’s dance music, Zouk would definitely be the best place to appreciate it in Singapore.

Our sound system is state of the art and you truly get to hear the music as it was intended. Furthermore I don’t think you can find a better atmosphere! Otherwise, a good set of speakers or headphones, (personally I use Sennheiser’s HD25 Aluminum) in the comfort of your home, would be ideal.

What do you have in store for you fans in the second half of 2015? Do you have any gigs planned for August?

This year has been great for me thus far and the second half looks equally, if not more exciting. At the start of august sees the officially ASICS City Relay Party in our main room with Formative and myself, following which I would be supporting a host of big names including Dzeko & Torres, Dubvision, as well as my own night Recess on the 29th.

In September I am looking forward to a long journey to the USA for a gig, and of course the big one, ZoukOut 2015, happening on the 11th and 12th of December.

Which relatively new local DJ’s have you been listening to or enjoying recently?

We have some great talent in Singapore, I enjoy the works of my colleagues, Jeremy Boon, Formative, Hong and the lot.

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BEST OF THE REGION

[ P h ilippi n e s ]

Carlo Atendido Reigning for 2 years in a row as the Philippines’s Red Bull Thre3style National Champion, Carlo Atendido is set to reprent his home country in the World Championship in Tokyo on September. DJ Mag Asean sits down with the young victor, and gives us a look at his mindset as a technical DJ.

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What pushed you to study turntablism?

When I was a kid, I saw a DJ on TV “scratch”.

I was amazed, to say the least. And then and there, I said to myself: “That’s what I wanna do. Make these crazy and out-of-the world sounds.” I was hooked and obsessed.

As the years went by, my desire to become a DJ faded, but was reignited when I attended college. Through their parties and going to clubs, I got to witness DJs perform, and I was disappointed. I said to myself, “I can do a better job.” And so I set out to prove it.

What made you decide to join Red Bull Thre3style?

It was a chance for me to showcase what I truly love to do - things such as scratching, juggling, and doing all kinds of technical DJ tricks and transitions. And also, it was a chance for me to prove myself in the local and international DJ communities.

How are your preperations for this year’s competetion different from last year?

This year, I was more methodical and devoted. I spent 10 months for conceptualization and routine making. 5 hours a day was devoted to Thre3style and to practicing.

I needed to keep my skills sharp. But in all honesty, what takes the most time is coming up with creative ways to transition. First you have to find a good song, then you have to think of how can you use it and implement it to connect to the next good song. And finding good songs that are Thre3style useable isn’t easy, let alone coming up with a unique routine for it.

How did you pick your song selections for the finals?

For this year, I really kept the ears of the judges and the audience in mind. So I tried to come up with a set that made the audience and judges both happy. I also included a few songs that I personally found pretty cool. But the really difficult part is working with those songs to come up with creative and unique routines and transitions. And stuff like that really define a set.

Who are your DJ influences?

DJ AM, DJ Craze, Shiftee, Jazzy-Jeff, Z-trip, and Shortkut.

What is the Carlo Atendido experience?

If you listen to me play, you can expect a different kind of set compared to other sets you hear in clubs and in festivals. I like to change things up, and play songs that DJs normally don’t play, and at the same time, I like to showcase my DJ skills and Thre3style routines towards the end of a set.

What are your pre-gig rituals?

I usually meet the promoter and ask him, “How’s the crowd?” Then right before I play, I kind of go to the audience section to get the vibe and feeling of the crowd. I think this is a great way to better immerse yourself with them. So when one plays, one has a better idea on what to play and how to play it based on the crowds energy and vibe.

3 tracks that describe you as a DJ. Big Gigantic - Get On Up Black Machine - How Gee Gangstarr - Now You’re Mine Name 1 song that is your guilty pleasure?

I like playing the really, really cheesy corny stuff at times, to get people laughing and reminiscing. So I guess my guilty pleasure is playing songs like the Macarena, Stop by the Spice Girls, and I Want It That Way by the Backstreet boys.

What is your advice to aspiring DJs? Be different. Anyone can go to a website, and download all the latest hits and learn how to DJ. But what makes a good DJ a good DJ, is that the good DJ can read the vibe of the crowd and sustain and empower the energy with good and unique song selection, and crowd entertainment (scratching, juggling and DJ tricks). www.fb.com/djcarloatendido

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BEST OF THE FEST

We take a look at some of the best festivals lined up for this August

Dream A Little Dream at Garuda Experience the thumping sounds of synths and bass in the sunny island of Bali this 15th of August as Dreamfields descends upon us once again. The breathtaking and tranquil grounds of Garuda will host the electronic dance music event unlike any other, as revelers party the day away. This year, festival goers will see the likes of Andrew Rayel, Firebeatz, Krewella, Quintino, Vinai and Yellow Claw headlining as Angger Dimas, Moti, New World Sound and Wolfpack also take on the crowds. Various local resident DJ like Yasmin, Indyana and Tsha will be supporting acts throughout your Dreamfields weekend. Get your hands on tickets soon because we hear it’s going to be on hell of a party as you dance among the grand statues and limestone pillars. www.dreamfields.co.id

ITS ALWAYS SUNNY IN BALI Sunny Side Up Tropical Musical Festival is a one day festival that hosts a slew of artists and DJ’s in one of the world’s most tropical and scenic destinations, Bali. The second annual tropical fest is brought to you by PTT Family and Ismaya Live so you can already predict that it’s going to be a party! Sunny Side Up will be seeing the likes of young maestro Madeon and Holy Ghosts helming the decks alongside Passion Pit, Jessie Ware and a whole lot of other artists. The festival will take place at none other than Potato Head Beach Club, one of the world’s best beach clubs with their stunning beachfront location. The tropical theme will encompass the whole venue and all you have to do is to show up and enjoy the good vibes. So you definitely know where to be on the 7th of August!

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Electrifying Run! If you’ve got no plans on the 30th of August then we suggest you sign yourself up for the Electric Run. The Livescape group bring you Electric Run 2015, a 5k run in a different world while music and lights pump you up throughout the exciting and electric wonderland that they have in store for you.

You can run, walk and even dance through the route that has various themed Course Lands such as Electro Rainforest, Rainbow Road, Under the Sea, Rockstar Powerhouse and many more. You can participate as an individual or grab your friends and sign up as a team.

Participants will receive custom event shirts, LED bracelets and Glow sunglasses that you can don throughout the route. When you hit the finish line, celebrate with everyone else as DJ’s helm the decks and spin dance tracks for you to party the day away.

Hit up electricrun.my for more details.

For The Love of Dance Descending from Bacolod, the premier festival of the Negros Island Region is going east! Headrush and Team Evo PH present Negros Love Dance East 2015: #BOUNDFORDUMA will be held in Ninoy Aquino Memorial Freedom Park Open Grounds in Dumaguete City on 21 August 2015. A total of 22 acts will be up on stage performing all day: 7 international acts like Jetfire and Miki Taka, 5 nationally-known talents, and 10 of the region’s top artists and performers.

More info: www.fb.com/NLD2013

TAKING YOU TO PARADISE What better way to spend Malaysia’s Independence Day than to be a part of a festival that brings people of all creed and color together to enjoy unbeatable blends of beats and rhythms.

The organizers of the white themed music fiesta have high hopes that the festival will enlighten the purity of global language through vibrant sounds and visuals. This Musical Wanderlust will be held at KL Live, Kuala Lumpur on 29th and 30th August featuring local favorites to compliment the special appearances from Top 100 DJ Mag artists in the span of 2 days. So wait no more, celebrate Malaysia’s Independence Day with one love, one heart and one passion at PARADISE!

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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ZOUK KL: EXPERIENCE THE EVOLUTION

The spanking new RM38-million Zouk KL reopens this month at a new location along Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur. It stands brazenly in the capital city shaped by modern skyscrapers and historic landmarks.

With its sharp, sloping lines, its masculine, futuristic exterior is a symbol of tomorrow.

Imposing on the outside, it houses a myriad of contrasting interior spaces at its heart, embracing modernist techniques in sound, lights and design, keeping its inhabitants au courant with the future.

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The much-awaited, new home of global club brand Zouk Kuala Lumpur [KL] in TREC is Malaysia and KL’s first and largest purpose-built entertainment and lifestyle enclave. This follows the recent two-part farewell parties [July 11 and July 25] at its former club space at Jalan Ampang, where Zouk KL has been located since 2004. The new multi-room complex will open nine venues on Aug 21, after its private preview for invited guests on Aug 20, and the remaining two venues will open on Sept 4. At a staggering 106,000 sq. ft., the newly-built, two-storey Zouk KL comprises 11 venues – of which three are new concepts – which occupy a total of 60,000 sq. ft. of built-in space. This is twice the entire size of the previous club complex at Jalan Ampang. The new Zouk KL’s underground car park [for 150 cars] makes up the remaining 46,000 sq. ft.

With distinct straight line edges defining its external appearance, the new structure is a vision that embodies the innovative concept of the 24-year-old a world-class brand – and it is a symbol of leadership in Asia’s entertainment industry.

Zouk KL, the pulse of the city’s electronic dance music scene, is lavishly outfitted with a state of the art lighting and sound equipment, set against a kaleidoscope of soundscapes from EDM to Techno or from

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R&B to Indie and even Nu-Disco now stands poised to become the new landmark at its new along the bustling Jalan Tun Razak.

After three years of being on the drawing block, the award-winning nightspot is a hallmark of club design and concept, with its dramatic architecture resonating with the global club brand. Its Singapore flagship at Jiak Kim Street opened in 1991 and will move to its new home in Clarke Quay next year.

Zouk KL, Malaysia’s most successful nightspot, opened in Kuala Lumpur 13 years after the brand’s advent in Singapore, in March 2004.

Ranked No. 38 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Clubs in the World global poll, Zouk KL – a tourist magnet – draws 15,000 visitors weekly, including tourists. This is nearly double the 8,000 weekly visitors it welcomed when it first opened in 2004. Now, more than half a million revelers waltz past its velvet ropes yearly. Among these, an estimated 100,000 are tourists. Zouk KL offers free entry to tourists, in support of the city’s appeal as a tourist destination. It is also the only nightspot in Malaysia to have a GST Tax Invoice Counter for Malaysian and GST-registered companies that spend a minimum of RM500 at Zouk KL in a night. With its brand new offerings, overall visitorship is expected to increase by another 20%. Zouk KL’s latest incarnation also underlines its ambition to be the Top 20 club in the world.

Zouk KL’s co-founder, Cher Ng, who is behind its design and concept, says: “What we’ve done with the new Zouk KL is designing one cool massive venue that tailors to the needs of various demographics as well as provide an experiential outing of the Zouk brand for foreign visitors.” He adds: “Foremost on our mind when conceptualizing the

august 2015 / dj mag asean

new Zouk KL boils down to acknowledging and catering to clubbers’ choices. We understand what they want and why they have been visiting Zouk KL regularly in the past decade, and what we’ve learned, we have applied towards improving all our amenities and services.”

Cher, who is also the founder of TREC where the new Zouk KL is located, notes: “This is the key difference between Zouk KL and the rest. We’re riding on that philosophy and we have sharpened the room concepts at the new club to target our core demographic groups.” They include the high-net worth individuals, regular partygoers, and creative communities and even for those who prefer a subdued night-out to a highlyenergetic experience. The result: 11 venues, ranging from members areas, alfresco

areas, club rooms, private rooms, and a cafe, each with a distinct purpose, feature and appeal – topped off by amenities such as kitchen/catering facility, private rooms, plus lifts to clubs, a medical bay and more, making Zouk KL a self-contained, sustainable entity.

One of Zouk KL’s latest additions will become the most ritzy and exclusive venue in Kuala Lumpur – Imperial. As the name suggests, it caters to Zouk KL’s growing elite clientele and it features a dedicated VIP concierge service that has a team of party planners, guest relations and security personnel. With Zouk KL’s rebirth, it has also beefed up its programming with new nights, alongside a roster of global acts. Last year, Zouk KL clinched the Nightspot Platinum Award at the Mayor’s Tourism Awards. Zouk KL is also the only standalone nightspot in Malaysia endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture as a venue under the National Key Economic Areas. It is the only nightspot in the metropolis with a 5am operating license. Zouk’s brand founder Lincoln Cheng [SG/ KL] says: “There is nothing in the world like the new Zouk KL. Everything is custom-built from the complex, architecture, furnishings and club concepts.” Cher adds: “Zouk KL has firmly established itself in Asia in the last 11 years, and the idea of a club designed by clubbers-for-clubbers still holds true – the motto when we first opened Zouk KL in 2004.”

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THE R AVELU TIO N Zouk KL’s co-founder Cher Ng took lead of the new Zouk KL’s concept, research and planning, which started three years ago, in 2011. He recalls: “By late 2014, the design draft had reached over 60 revisions, and we started the design process two years ago in 2012. I’m particular when comes to space planning and that’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years that it can make or break a nightspot.”

Cher did his research, studying designs of various nightspots through his frequent travels. The former nightspot at Jalan Ampang was also a case study – on how the crowd moved around within the complex; dictating the correct ceiling height for the rooms; having the right entrance design for better flow and crowd management; and specifying the type of sound, light and visual effects to be achieved in each room.

Phillips notes: “The project is very large and there is a complex interrelationship between the varieties of venues within the space. It is important to create a systematic approach to planning. This building was created from the inside out – from looking at the different clubs in the space; how they interrelate with one another; how customers would experience them; and then, creating the building envelope.” Cher adds: “We have created a unique environment for each of those experiences when people are in the rooms, moving from space to space, and enjoying that journey and environment.”

Architecturally, the building design is progressive – it’s new, it’s angular, and it zooms towards you. There is lots of ethereal light, with plenty of colouration on the facade, Phillips describes.

The result: An architectural and design marvel. The powerful experience of Zouk KL starts when one approaches the

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building, designed by the awardwinning Veritas Design Group as an aggressive, iconic architectural statement. So bold and alluring, people can quickly recognise and identify it. Zouk KL’s facade features a hard and reflective property that picks up the night light beautifully, says Fabian Low of SLK Interior and Falkcon Interior, who sourced for various materials from Canada, the Philippines, Italy, Spain, USA, China, Indonesia and Japan, during the one-year building of Zouk KL. Zouk’s brand founder Lincoln Cheng [SG/KL] lent his expertise as a trained architect, acting as a design advisor overseeing Zouk KL’s design layouts and selection of materials that attribute to the nightspot’s aesthetic values.

Zouk KL’s lighting and effects project was two years in the making. The result: The most elaborate, custom-built multimedia spectacle in KL’s club scene combining video, lighting, sound and special effects for an audio-visual sensation that elevates the musical and clubbing experience. Within the Zouk Main Room alone, there are a million LED lights flashing in synchronization with the speakers of the British-built Funktion-One sound system – designed for maximum acoustic and directional impact.

Zouk KL’s co-founder Cher Ng explains: “We wanted to offer a one-of-a-kind experience, not only unique in Malaysia but unique when compared to most prominent nightclubs worldwide. The lighting team looked for compelling installations in nightclubs, cabarets and even amusement parks before deciding what would be worth installing in the new Zouk KL. The task was, therefore, to create a bespoke installation within the multiple spaces that would not be found anywhere else in the world.”

THE RO O MS With 11 venues, each possessing a unique, individual identity – there is diversity and a self-supporting ecosystem even within the club complex. The challenge was to create unique, individual experiences for each outlet that would also preserve the Zouk brand, combining its unique savoir faire, design, and functionality. Zouk KL’s co-founder Cher Ng says: “It’s about reimagining spaces – integrating architecture, interior design, music, art, decor, lighting and effects, making each space one of its kind and individualistic – just like the Zouk clientele. And, that’s what Zouk KL is all about – the experiential journey.”

Where The Party Begins

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FUEL UP

Zouk Café Bar Pitstop for drinks, good food and conversations.

Zouk Main Room Heart of Zouk and home to the cool club kids, features over a million LED bulbs dazzle the room and a custom-built moving truss for lighting above the dance floor, adding to the electrifying atmosphere.

MUSIC: EDM, TRANCE, TECHNO, ELECTRO, TRAP

Beer Garden Adjoined to the Zouk Cafe Bar, this is an alfresco space to hang out, or have a sumptuous meal before the party

PHUTURE The residence for the fun-loving, trendy and cosmopolitan set who transform the dance floor into a rhythm nation. Your eyes will be drawn to an androgynous space sculpture at the luminous bar – and light lines that lead you to the back. The specially designed, contemporary space-like sculptures, along with hues of blues and grays from the panels, give the entire room a futuristic and avant- garde look.

MUSIC: EDM, OPEN FORMAT, MASH-UP

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Velvet Underground Velvet Underground is alluring and seductive, and it is here the trendy, beautiful crowd and fashion-conscious call home. It features a wall made up of illuminated protruding resin blocks and this is reected on some screens that separate some of the areas. Its magnetic appeal is underlined by the coloration that verges towards bronze and other metals MUSIC: OPEN FORMAT, COMMERCIAL HOUSE

Members Lounge Is a symmetrical room focused on the service bar that flaunts its faux marble effect that projects a dramatic, almost art deco feel.

MUSIC: EDM, OPEN FORMAT

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ACE This Urban Hip-Hop Bar is a room for the very expressive younger set with a penchant for hip-grinding urban rhythms of crisp hi-hats and banging snares. It features Hip-Hop bling-inspired iconic symbols and a ceiling plane over the bar that provides a dramatic overhead lighting feature.

MUSIC: HIP-HOP, R&B

APEX LOUNGE The breeding ground for the free spirited and creative hounds, from the advertising, arts to music and design communities that flaunts a 5m floor-to-ceiling glass window lets you to enjoy the spectacular view of the streetscape on Jalan Tun Razak.

MUSIC: HOUSE, NU DISCO, INDIE, CLASSICS

IMPERIA Celebrating the highlife, the second biggest room at Zouk, Imperial boasts opulence in its design, it was conceptualized for the growing affluent, high society who pursue the finer things in life where premium wines and champagnes are top tipples.

MUSIC: HOUSE, EDM

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ReVELRY 2.

A JUMBO NIGHT IN

1.

EMPIRES NEW GROOVE

We know so many of you are longing for the return of TV Series Empire, but while you’re waiting, we suggest you hit up Empire Singapore. The penthouse lounge sits comfortably 45 storeys above ground with a breath-taking panoramic view of the city. The high end and upscale establishment boasts stunning views of the Central Business District from its indoor and outdoor venues. Its patrons are usually working men and women who just want to kick back for happy hour after a long day of work or those looking for a place to relax and unwind.

Empire is the brainchild of lifestyle and entertainment group, Massive Collective who are the folks behind Bang Bang, Fenix Room and other establishments; with that

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in mind we can already predict that this is going to be one trendy place to hangout.

Empire elevated with funky furniture, sleek fixtures and not to mention premium bottle service that will make you feel as high society as you’d like to be.

This establishment has a wide range of champagnes, spirits and cocktails to quench your after work thirst. When you’re there be sure to order their Kraken Spiced Rum and Coke, because we all know a real good spiced rum is hard to find and they’ve managed hit the right spot with theirs. If you’re looking for some gourmet bar bites then you definitely have to try out their Louisiana Style Frog Leg Drums, they honestly taste just like chicken and they look like it too, or if that isn’t exotic enough then order up their Croc ‘n’ Roll sliders, made out of fried crocodile meat, avocado and beetroot inbetween savoury buns.

Empire is definitely a lounge you should hit up if you’re ever in the vicinity. Watch the city slowly drift into the night 47 storeys about ground as you kick back and unwind with a drink in one hand some bar bites in another. Oh and did we mention there’s a live DJ every night, so you’ll have some good music accompanying your night. They’ve also introduced ELEVATION and METROPOLIS nights where you can groove the night away to some on Singapore’s best DJ’s.

EMPIRE | 50 Raffles Place, Singapore Land Tower, Level 45 8349 1672

When in KL, hit up the hole in a wall joint that is Blue Elephant for a night out that will make quite the mark in your books. Blue Elephant is a speakeasy style hangout, where you will find the hippest of the hipsters, movie buffs and just people looking for a good time. This bar lets you work on your seeking skills as they have no signage, just a beaming blue light shining on the pavements guiding you up a flight of stairs.

It wouldn’t take you long to figure out that Blue Elephant is encompassed around a silver screen theme. Let the dreamy Keanu Reeves and the ever so bubbly Drew Barrymore invite you into the little joint as they grace the walls leading up to the bar. As you set foot into the establishment, it will become evident to you how seriously the folks behind Blue Elephant take their movies. You’ll be taken aback by the ceiling to floor wall of famous faces such as Denzel, Leo, Hugh and many more. The larger than life Oscar that takes center stage at the lively establishment and don’t worry we doubt anyone would judge you if you practice your acceptance speech by it. Did we mention they also have a paparazzi wall, with lighting that makes all your pictures so much more Instagram-worthy! And the silver screen madness doesn’t event stop there, Blue Elephant have director’s chairs by the bar for you to have a feel of that coveted seat. But all this comes as no surprise as we hear one of the partners behind Blue Elephant is a significant stakeholder at Village Cinemas!

If the interior of this establishment isn’t enough to make you go on the hunt for this place then get this, Blue Elephant is a spin off A Li Yaa, and hence they’ve got a delectable array of Sri Lankan grub to satiate your hunger pangs, but if you’re feeling a tad bit peckish then try out their signature popcorn that comes in peanut butter, curry and caramel flavors. But the real stars of the establishment are their various specialty cocktails. Their signature namesake cocktail

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Blue Elephant is quite the big hit with a blend of Smirnoff vodka, chardonnay, passion fruit syrup, apple juice and grapefruit juice, making this a sweet, light and fruity cocktail. We also suggest you try their Fragrant Lycheetini and their Ginberry Juniper cocktails.

Blue Elephant also serves up some quality music as resident DJ’s Kuma, Victor Trixter and Niza Minx helm the decks and every now and again we see international acts such as Frank Muller and Stella Nutella spin smashing hits for you to groove along to.

So if you’re ever looking for a chill little nook for you to enjoy some quality music while you sip on signature cocktails then head on over to Blue Elephant.

BLUE ELEPHANT | 17 M & 15M Plaza Damansara, Medan Setia 1, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, +60 3 2011 7715, www.facebook.com/buleelephant

boasts scenic views of Makati skyline, as they literally take high class lounging to the next level.

Noted to be the first rooftop lounge in Manila, Skye manages to perfectly ease patrons in their upscale establishment into a casual and laidback ambience. During the week, Skye is a relief to all those working class citizens who just need to unwind but things are kicked up a notch during the weekend as it turns into party central. It

comes as no surprise that Skye is sprawling with guests as their relaxed vibes, great food and drinks alongside their scenic venue puts them on the map.

The establishment also flaunts their wide array of drinks and cocktails from their stacked and well lit collection of wine and spirits. Their signature cocktails are a must order when you’re at Skye, especially the infamous mojitos (try the Dalandan and Iced Tea Mojito) and Skye special which are the establishments most raved about drinks. Skye also prides themselves for their food, serving an assortment of tapas that perfectly accompany their drinks. The Spanish practice of having drinks with tapas has been absorbed into the Filipino culture, thus also used by Skye when assembling their menu. Their Gambas Al Ajillo, Salpicoa, and their Paellas are popular options by patrons.

Aside from good food and drinks, Skye also spins great music as local DJ’s helm the decks, and have also brought in an impressive roster of internationally recognized guest and resident DJs gracing its decks, namely Danny Rampling, Andy Caldwell, KimKat, AN21 & Max Vangeli, Dinka, Leventina, Jimmy Carris, Tatiana Fontes, Minx, and Juicy M just to name few.

The Makati skyline together with food, a few drinks, great company and good music is more than it takes to make some unforgettable memories. So when in Manila, be sure to count the Skye W High Street in on your next night out!

SKYE | Roofdeck W Highstreet Building, 28th Street Corner, 11th Avenue Taguig, Metro Manila

3.

SKYE’S THE LIMIT

If you’re looking at unwinding over the city center, then we suggest you go on over to Skye at W in High Street. You can retreat to Manila’s premier rooftop bar and lounge to get away from the hectic city life. Skye is a casual and cozy spot that provides the space for patrons to enjoy a bar atmosphere without the constraints of one. Skye

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Galantis @ Chaos Manila Last 25 July 2015, Swedish electronica DJ, producer and songwriter duo, Galantis had a stellar performance at Chaos Manila. David Ardiente started the night with a tasteful, steady House set opening, and Jet Boado sustained the energy as he closed for the headliner duo. With a surprise live set, Galantis performed with live percussions, did their own Mcing, and constantly engaged with the crowd that had the whole club jumping and dancing with them all night. Their performance was hands down the best showmanship Chaos Manila has had by far.

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CLUB TOUR BY DJ MAG ASEAN

Party people thronged Play Club on the 25th of July as DJ Mag ASEAN proudly presented Spinning Records and Armada Trice’s wonder boy Amersy as part of the DJ Mag ASEAN Club Tour. With hundreds in attendance, Amersy helmed the decks as he churned out body reverberating beats and rhythmic build ups for the pulsating crowd.

Before the show DJ Mag ASEAN had a quick chat with Amersy and found out that the 18 year old began DJing after being driven by his passion and the need to convey emotions through his music. Even after his rise to fame at 16, this Russian DJ has remained grounded and continues to thank his lucky stars for the for all his achievements, saying “ I have no words to express how I feel” when asked about what it was like knowing that he’s achieved what many can only dream to do.

Citing Swedish House Mafia and Alesso as his influences, Amersy is sure enough to one day be ranked amidst them. With skills beyond his years, this Russian DJ is sure to be a force to be reckoned with.

The man behind “Air” took to the decks at midnight as the crowd cheered through his set as he turned Play into a literal dance music playground. Playing chart topping hits and some exciting new tracks, Amersy had the crowd at the palm of his hands, as they whipped their bodies into shape with the pulse pounding progressive hits.

Be sure to keep a look out for Amersy as he rises to fame, and keep close tabs with DJ Mag ASEAN.

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party

Gravity Venue: Gravity Address: The Gardens 6th Floor, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra City: Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Apollo X Manila Venue: Apollo X Manila Address: (former Blue Racket Badminton Court) 2150 Chino Roces Ave. City: Makati City, Philippines

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Tiger Translate Venue: APW, Bangsar Address: Next to Pulp

by Papa Palheta City: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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party

Zouk Lights Out Move Out Venue: Zouk KL Address: Formerly at Jalan Ampang, currently located at TREC City: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cuvee Venue: Cuvee Address: 10470 Tanjong Tokong, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia City: Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

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dj mag asean / august 2015

LABEL Label’s Artist of the Month Troy Samuela & Neguimbeats

Darker Than Wax is not only a music label it resembles a lifestyle and a movement.

With over 10 years of hard work, worldwide gigs, producing, growing and touring, the label finally came to be. DJ FUNK BSTRD and Kaye together built the label from the ground up while garnering quite the name for themselves over the years.

In an industry saturated with mainstream music, the duo pushed forward in the underground scene in Singapore, working tirelessly to create a platform of expression for all the kindred artists.

The label name, Darker Than Wax was culminated as a result of the pervasiveness of black music and the influence it has on various genres and sub genres. The founders believe that Darker Than Wax is a statement that is all about taking music into the future with depth and regardless of racial, cultural or genetic identity, music is about one’s soul. Since its inception in 2011, the label has been progressively growing and moving into unexplored territory. In what started out as two, is now being run by six. In its four years, the label has flourished, and has concurred the underground circuit, even garnering themselves as one of the regions most celebrated indie labels.

In the studio Deeper Than Wax are equipped with the Roland TR-8 drum machine, and the Arturia Microbrute. The folks say that the TR-8 is very good at reinterpreting the classic Roland drum machines and works well both in the studio and on the stage! As for the Microbrute, DTW say that it has a unique character to its sound and architecture (being semi modular), and produces big sounds considering it’s a one oscillator synth, excellent for basses and leads.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

With the label now boasting over 25 international artists, most of who have amassed quite the credentials whilst under the wings of Darker Than Wax. With those artists on board, DTW have a unique library of artists who dabble in funk and deep house to soul and dub-step. Four years in, the folks behind Darker Than Wax have definitely come a long way and have achieved more than what you would expect from a label based on a small island. DTW is still going strong as continue on with their movement. www.darkerthanwax.com

This issue, Darker Than Wax would like to highlight two artists on their roaster, the first being Troy Samuela. Although being a new addition to the label, Samuela has made quite the name for himself, with his fiery energy behind the decks, and onslaught of production skills. His hardwork and passion is paying off as he will be opening for electronic music duo Odesza in Auckland and Wellington. The talented artist is also currently producing for artists in LA. www.samueltruth.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/samueltruthbeats www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyeMHcCfic0

DTW’s Neguimbeats is a master of arrangement and has been a key addition to the label. The electronic music artist moves away from the typical expectations from a South American artist and dabbles in the world of jazz. Neguimbeats who is currently on tour in Brazil is gunning to be a forced to be reckoned with. www.soundcloud.com/neguim_beats www.twitter.com/neguim_beats www.facebook.com/prodneguimbeats

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WWW.DJMAGASEAN.COM

#69

[ Cosmic Gate ]

#97

[ The Chainsmokers ]

#50 [ LAIDBACK LUKE ]

WWW.DJMAGASEAN.COM

Starting off 2015 with a bang with the release of their 2-CD mix compilation “Wake Your Mind Sessions 001”, the German duo Cosmic Gate show no sign of slowing down with tours and festivals lined up all throughout the year. DJ Mag ASEAN sat down with Claus Terhoeven and Stefan Bossems to talk about how it started 20 years ago, what DJs are doing wrong, as well as and the latest kind of sounds that they’re experimenting with.

[GERMANY]

Cosmic-Gate 58

Let’s talk about how you guys met in Germany and the subsequent forming of Cosmic Gate.

Claus: It was nearly 20 years ago, I would say we were both producing, you were working for a record company and I sent some tracks in and released some tracks there and we started talking on the phone.

We also had mutual friends; we came from the same area. We were both residents at different clubs there and visited each other frequently. And yeah, because we had mutual friends, we though one day just go into the studio and made something.

Stefan: It just happened, there was no plan.

We were just hanging out and these other guys left, we just started talking, “what’s going with you” and “how’s it going in your club” and things like that. That led to a fun jam session and in 3 hours, we had this tune, which this day is now known as ‘The Drums’.

Claus: What’s crazy is that prior to that, we weren’t friends or anything. We didn’t know each other too well; it’s just from saying ‘Hi’.

It’s crazy that after all that, years later we’re still touring.

Stefan: And then we played that track to a friend and he says that it’s total bullshit, to be very honest. We both forgot about it, and then there was a party or something that night. And I listened to that track and I though, I actually like it. I don’t care what that guy says, so I called him up like what about this party tonight and by the way I listened to the track. And he said believe it or not I listened to it too today, and I like it.

I liked it too and then we decided to send it to some record companies.

Claus: We didn’t even send it out for months.

Stefan: Without that track, right now there won’t be a Cosmic Gate. And actually that

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night there were people from EMI, and I ran into the guy from dance A&R, and he asked if I had anything new and I said no actually not and I said I’ll see you and then I said no, wait I have a CD for you. Maybe it’s something for you, its way to hard and pumpy for the major company. And I left the building and in 10 minutes, and he shouts my name and I say “Did we forget something?” “Shut up no small talk! I’ll hang you by the balls if I can’t have this track” I will never forget that. I said “Okay but I’ve got to talk to Claus” and the rest is history.

You’ve toured pretty much everywhere, but how do your fans in Germany differ from your fans here?

Stefan: We’ve played two or three shows in the last 7 or 8 years in Germany. We don’t know. What we play, doesn’t exist in Germany, it’s just Hip Hop, EDM, Big Room Sounds.

Claus: Wherever you go in the world, it’s not that different anymore, maybe just slightly.

In general, as global as it now days, with the internet, people know the tracks the day after it’s played. Wherever you’re going, they know it. They wear the same clothes, same haircut, its global. It used to take years for something to travel you know.

What is your take on the scene here especially in your genre of music? How has the scene changed since you’ve come to Asia?

Stefan: Like we said before, it can go either way. It can be really different, we can have crowds that go really nuts and wild and other crowds that just look at you. But to put it in a different direction, like our international following, we have a lot of Asian fans who love trance. We sometimes say ‘Expiration of Space’ is like an Asian anthem. We sometimes have a 60% Asian crowd even in the US. 2015 has been quite a year for you guys.

Apart from launching your radio show and new album, what else is planned for the next half?

Stefan: Actually in a few weeks the Start To Feel’s Deluxe Edition will come out. So for all the fans that don’t have it, they can get the remixes and the originals. A two for

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one, may be a good deal. I think it’s a good deal. We started working with quite a few collaborations, 4-5 new tracks.

Claus: We did a tour with Ilan Bluestone, and then started a track with him and some other big names. We’re hoping for it to be launched this year.

Stefan: The European summer just started and all the festivals are around. We have a few residencies in Ibiza, it’s very exciting really. And we think it is a good time for the EDM scene actually; take techno, dance music, the underground, there’s so much good stuff going on. EDM is basically ruling the music world.

There has been a lot of talk in the industry about how vital of a role production plays in music. And this topic has been going back and forth about artist not being up to par with what is required of being a DJ. What would you say the latest releases that you’ve heard production wise, in EDM, who are the people who make good tracks?

Stefan: It’s a very good question actually like we’re not even listening to these people anymore. Like say two years before, we were, you know the scene was more kind of getting together. You know like W&W were bringing the scenes together and now it feels like it is getting separated again.

Claus: But the thing is that this genre is getting repetitive. That’s why at one point we just said there’s no point anymore. Either do something new or stop it. It’s not innovative anymore, it’s not interesting.

Stefan: In general that happens a lot but I’ve never seen it happen this long and at this frequency. I thought it’s gotten a little bit more melodic again, like deep house is finding its way. It’s about music, not just hard hitting beats in your face. It’s time to change.

People want melody again, last year said we “Start To Feel”, that’s what we meant, we want more emotional ,feeling and deepness, and not to have a track with words. We don’t like drops and everything but you can combine both and still have a song that’s not only built for that one moment. It’s starting to get a little better, let’s see.

How do you think technology will grow the DJ and producing industry?

Stefan: In the end, with production, it’s

still the brain that’s giving the idea. If you basically can put like some knobs in your head, and tell the computer what to do, then still I know what’s in his brain is going to better than all these people out there. It’s still the knowledge of and ability to imagine what you want to reach. So, no matter what technique you have, its still the human factor that trumps it all.

Claus: I think that now people just put on a show and make it a show thing and less about DJing. So like there was a time where we complained about that, but we realized they’re two completely different things.

There are people that entertain, just putting a show on, and others who are actually real DJ’s. They do a show but in a different way.

It’ll be a great show; one is more about the music and the other about entertainment.

There are so many festivals coming up now, and they have these massive lineups with DJ’s playing one hour sets. Is that given time enough to deliver the best DJ experience?

Claus: No, not at all. Festivals of course they need a lot of names.

Stefan: If there were 3-4 DJ’s before and all played an hour and all basically squeezed the energy out of the crowd, it’s very hard to play a 2-3 hour set without losing a part of the crowd. Maybe we won’t even ask for a longer time because people are on a wrong level of energy. Basically the longer the set, the more comfortable we feel. Especially when the people come for our sound, we know we can work with them for hours. But with festivals it’s a problem, we don’t know if we can still turn it around.

Claus: What we used to love about trance energy, it was just six DJ’s maximum. All two hours, we loved it. Let’s see if it goes back to that. I mean clubs for sure, but festivals we’ll never know.

The two of you are in a gladiator arena and about to fight whatever comes through those gates, what song plays the minute those gates open?

Stefan: Gladiators, arena, fights and we’re talking about songs? What if all the gladiators come and have a beer together?

We’re lovers not fighters!

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[AMERICA]

The Chainsmokers With the monumental success of their track “Selfie”, The Chainsmokers were catapulted to EDM stardom. Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall have both since garnered quite the legion of fans worldwide. DJ Mag ASEAN decided it was time for us to sit down with the notorious duo and find out how their hit track “Selfie” came to be and how you can really get to know them as DJ’s.

Are you excited to be here in Malaysia for the first time? What do you have planned for tonight?

We’ve never played in Malaysia before so every time you play in a new country you have to feel out the crowd, we play a lot of our songs but we also change the set and cater to the different audience. Should be really exciting!

You guys have been known to mix with hip hop, rock, soul and RnB during you sets.

Andrew: Just for the record, I’ve never mixed with soul. That just like goes in the common thing with DJing, but I’ve never mixed with soul.

Alex: I have because I used to be an open format guy. But to answer your question, it’s sometimes really hit and miss. Some countries are really inclined to listen to dance music and hip hop and know what’s out. We’re not overdoing it, sometimes some hip hop won’t work because it really has to be popular. But it’s fun, I think it creates dynamics in your set which is most important.

When Selfie exploded onto charts, you guys were hurled into super stardom. How did that track even come about?

Andrew: We just wanted to make a funny song; our social media captures a lot of our

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humor. So we were like our fans would love if we made this joke song. The beat was actually really hot and what we ended up saying was super relatable and the song got really big. You never know what it’s going to be, but we definitely didn’t predict it was going to be that big when we first made it. I remember us hoping that it would be a track that everyone in New York City would know about it, and then here we are in Malaysia, talking to you about it.

You’ve got a track with Priyanka Chopra, tell us about that.

Alex: We finally met her.

Andrew: Oh yeah, we didn’t really meet her.

We were supposed to Skype and that didn’t really happen.

Alex: It was really funny, we were at dinner in LA, just us and a couple of friends and Tiesto walks into the same restaurant, who we now actually have a track with, we didn’t know who he was sitting with, and this guy

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Alex: Its funny like it’s really exciting, you almost feel like a teen heartthrob. Not that people aren’t excited in the US, but here it’s like animalistic almost, the way they scream and stuff, it’s really cool. They’re less critical of the music you play and more excited to see you, but in the US, they’re excited to see you but you better come through with a good set.

Andrew: Coz they got another DJ’s coming through next weekend, so you’ve got to throw down.

Festivals are popping up everywhere you turn and hiring a slew of DJs has become a must but what happens when these festivals end up cutting DJ slots in half to cater to the whole lineup? Can DJ’s deliver what they truly set out to do?

Andrew: That’s happening and also more DJ’s have their own music and songs that people know. So if you think about it, we have a one hour set time, we have to play Selfie, Kanye, Good Intentions, Let You Go, Dreaming and then like three other remixes that are really popular and three songs that we really like with a couple of drops and that’s like an hour, that’s what you get if you give us an hour. If you give us two hours, you’re going to get to know us more. We’ll play more of what we’re into, deeper cuts, old remixes and new stuff that are not out yet.

comes running and says “Hey, you’re The Chainsmokers, Priyanka Chopra is sitting inside, she wants to meet you guys” and we’re like this is so funny, that we never spoke or met and we did this song that became really popular. And she’s really cool.

Talking about your fans in Asia, how has your experience in Asia been so far?

Andrew: Its interesting, your sets are different because people aren’t as aware

august 2015 / dj mag asean

of dance music, they’re not as current on their music but it’s getting better, with the internet. However it’s really exciting because people are really excited to come see you because there aren’t as many artist that tour here that frequently. And our shows in Asia have been sold out and that’s like a fun experience on its own.

How do fans here differ than from where you’re from?

What are you top 3 favorite songs or your go to tracks?

Alex: I feel like I play a song like it’ll be completely dead to me and then I won’t listen to again for like five years.

Andrew: I always thought of songs like batteries, like you listen to it and it drains all the battery. And then you find it again and there’s still a little bit of life in it.

Alex: That’s a good point! I mean like I love, Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge” or “Californication” or something.

Andrew: Red Hot Chili Peppers definitely gets one song.

Alex: We love Coldplay, like “Yellow” or “Scientist” or “Magic” and from like a hip hop perspective…

Andrew: Oh My God, do you know who Tinashe is? Omg! The Drake remix of Too On is my guilty pleasure. I could listen to that till I die, it’s one of my favorite songs, I don’t know what it is.

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Laidback Luke has had an interesting journey, from churning out chart toppers to founding his influential MixMash Records and throwing his Super You & Me parties across the world. So we caught up with this dance music dynamo to find out how he discovered DJing and what he hopes to accomplish at the new Zouk KL. Tell us about your journey towards becoming a DJ. Well I actually started off as a producer this back in 1992, when I discovered that you could make music with a computer. I fell in love with it and back in the day computers were really shitty and trying to get enough memory to just be able to do it was crazy. I was putting out tracks, already got my record deal at 18, and my girlfriend at the time was very much inspired by girl DJ’s. This was like the big thing for the girls back in the Netherlands in 1996, I think. So she bought a couple of decks, tried it and wasn’t able to do it. So we had the decks standing there and I was like okay maybe I should give it a try, see it from a producers point of view to optimize my tracks for DJ’s. And it was just really addicting to me. I actually had a lot of talent for it; it was really easy for me. So I stuck with it.

Did you have any musical training prior to getting involved in the industry?

Well I come from a musical family, I guess it’s very typical around here too that people play a bit of guitar and piano, as well in my family.

But the thing with me, I was always the one who couldn’t play as good as the others; they often made fun of me. And so when I found out that I could make tracks with the help of the computer I could finally unleash all of my musicality.

[ N e t h er l an d ]

LAIDBACK LUKE

You’ve had this remarkable career and you’ve been one of the most consistent and solid producers out there. There has to be a secret to all this success.

Well the secret is just to not become arrogant and not believe your own hype. There are a lot of young super stars coming up, they come from nothing and then in a year they’re the shit and they believe it. And then you’ll see a year after or a couple of years after, everyone has forgotten you. I actually had a bit of this sensation as well.

Back in 2003 I scored a national chart topper in the Netherlands, and I thought I had made it. And I was living the life, I was like WOW this is great, I’m a superstar now. I did that for a year, and the year after, I found out no one was interested anymore. It was such a shock, I literally had to start from the bottom and work my way up. So luckily it never happened when I crossed over internationally. It was a lesson to learn!

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You’re known to master the ever-evolving EDM scene. How have you managed to keep up with the times?

Well my key with electronic music is when I stepped into it; it was always about the newest technology and really just keeping up with the times. Basically when I stepped into electronic music, there was no room for being conservative or sticking with a certain sound. I sometimes say that If I wasn’t a DJ or producer now I would be a trendwatcher for instance. Because I can easily and quickly spot what’s next and this is what I do with music as well. For me the easy route is to stick with your own sound and the challenging route is to dive into the new stuff and just experiment with new styles and production techniques. That’s how I do it, it’s like a vision I get of what’s coming in the future and I’m very thankful for that.

You said that you’ve ventured into various styles and techniques but do you think you’ve found a certain style or sound that you can call yours?

No, not really. Actually I’m very quickly bored, for instance I’ve been trying to grab back into my old Dutch sound right now.

Because it seems that everything that happened in 2005 is happening again right now. So I’ve been trying to grab back my Dutch sound, my dirty talk sound and it’s very hard for me to produce this type of music again because it’s really boring for me, I’ve done it over and over again.

Hundreds and hundreds of times, obviously it’s really easy to make it but creatively there’s no challenge and as an artist that’s what I’m looking for.

me for that, people expect me to do this, so I will make this for them. But actually you should make music for yourself and make music that makes you happy.

Is that one of the reasons why you ventured into MixMash?

Yes! But I too find that having your own label can be a trap, especially since having your own label means you do need to have a business type of mind for it. In a way I need to guide my talents and give them guidelines to produce this and that type of music. So it’s a tricky one because I want to let them be free and let them be happy and make the music they want. And same for me, so I know the record label side and the artist side.

What initially sparked your interest in starting up your own label?

So basically I’ve been running my forum on Laidbackluke.com since 2000, I quickly began giving answers and production tips to all the new kids that were on there, who were fans. I noticed that a lot of them had big talent; I always saw them releasing on this label and that label and sometimes not even on any. And I always wanted to have a platform for new talent and obviously it’s easy for me to release my own music on there. But it’s mainly for up and coming names which we’ve proven in the past.

On to a different project, what made you want to start Super You and Me? Oh yeah, this is basically coming back to the fun side of things because especially in Amsterdam the scene was getting really serious at a certain point. So when people would go out, they would just care about standing in the corner looking cool or sexy, and I thought back at the times I went out with my friends just having crazy stupid silly fun with your friends are the best nights out so I wanted to bring that back. Plus I’ve always wanted to become a Superhero, so the combination of both and to have a theme for the night builds up the anticipation of going to a night like that. You know you have to think about your outfit and what your friends are wearing, and be creative with it. It all adds up to the experience. So this is Super You and Me basically.

So can we expect a Super You and Me show around here anytime soon?

Oh man, I hope so! That would be great.

I mean we’ve been trying to do it but unfortunately we couldn’t do it. Hopefully for the new Zouk!

Since you love Superhero’s, what would be the ultimate super power?

My ultimate super power would be to take people on a higher journey using my music!

So instead of rewinding back to 2005, what is it really that you wish you could venture into?

Well right now I’m very much inspired by Jungle Terror, Jersey Club and so for my more commercial side of things I had a really good year, starting up with Sax, so that type of Housey EDM kindda sound.

I want to focus more on that, I’ve been making tracks with that type of style.

Especially with Jersey Club bootlegs right now, it’s so much fun for me. Actually I was talking to Blink (Goldfish & Blink) about this, that I think it’s very important to find that happiness and enthusiasm that you once started out with. It’s a very tricky thing to become very corporate, you go in thinking people know me for this and the label knows

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RED b y

D J

M AG

A S E A N

Rolling out the carpet for the modern, stylish and discerning music lover, RED brings you the latest handpicked premium lifestyle must haves from around the globe. Indulge in the finest that fashion can get you in TailoRED, fix your spirits with StirRED, check out the best rides (on and off the road) in EngineeRED, and get jacked to the top-class tech and gadgets around town in GeaRED.

[ Ta i lo r e d] [stirred ] [Engineered] [geared] [Preferred]

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p. 66 p. 68 p. 70 p. 72 p. 74

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A GUETTA HAVE TAG

RAVI RATAN TURNS IT UP

Any spindoctor or mixmaster needs to keep it real with two decks on his arm or cuff. Thick, bold turntables in heavy sterling silver. By Ravi Ratan.

Silver with straight post whale back closure.

The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 special edition is dedicated to David Guetta, universally accredited with being one of the First DJs to open up the world of electronic music to global charts audiences, transforming the sound of radio and with it, the musical tastes of millions of listeners across the world in the process. Based on the black-and-blue look of the Calibre 7 GMT that was first unveiled in 2014, the David Guetta limited edition takes the design up a notch, appearing handsomely loud. The black and blue aluminium bezel is one of the most striking elements in the design, with a colorway that is perfect for all your nocturnal socializing activities. The watch is designed with travel in mind thanks to its GMT function and “day/ night” symbol and features an impressive cuff watch strap that’s made out from aged calfskin. The watch features a 24-hour display, with daytime hours from 6 am to 6 pm shown in blue and night-time hours from 6 pm to 6 am shown in black; it also features a second time zone, a very useful function for all you globe-trotting revelers.

Saint Laurent sl/14 Sneakers

Well known for his knack of injecting party-rock stylings to runway fashion, iconic French photographer and fashion designer, Hedi Slimane seems to be at it again with the Saint Laurent sl/14 collection. Responsible for the stage designs of many A-list artists including Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand and Mick Jagger, Hedi brings the world of disco through this premium pair of kicks.

Elevating conventional sneaker builds, the Saint Laurent sl/14 line features suede panels on the toe box and heel, a metallic silver side panel and the signature Saint Laurent stamp on the back sole. Available in blue and red, the Saint Laurent sl/14 is disco meets style at its best.

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[ ta i lo

]

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO: CONVERSE CHUCK TAYLOR II

It took close to a century after its initial release for the iconic Converse Chuck Taylor All Star to get a face lift, and needless to say, they are set to be a classy classic sneaker choice for the next century to come. The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II is ready for more, boasting the most recognizable exterior attributes of the original Chuck Taylor All Star. Details include the unique white foxing, rubber toe-cap and statement All Star patch, while dialing up consumer-led features and benefits to deliver a comfortable and versatile premium sneaker for Chuck Taylor lovers everywhere. Since its debut in 1917, the Chuck Taylor All Star has become one of the world’s most celebrated sneakers, with fans, artists and musicians adopting the brand as a badge of creativity and self-expression. In creating the Chuck II, Converse obsessed over creative spirits around the world joining them on tour, in concert halls and art studios, on sidewalks and at all-night parties, and realized they wanted more. The Chuck Taylor All Star II is designed to meet the demands of the creative lifestyle and is built for the next generation of self-expression.

OUT OF SIGHT GEAR WITH THE PX INVISIBLE

No, it’s not invisible, but the PX Invisible backpack has a way of making your gear disappear. Featuring a series of separated compartments, this truly is a backpack that was designed as a lug-it-all minus the bulkiness. It comfortably fits a 15’ laptop, a pair of shoes, and a water bottle with spare space for your other essentials. Built from waterproof military grade 1000D nylon with 5,000 water column resistance, the PX is ready to face anything that the urban jungle might throw its way. The backpack’s widest point is at the top making it easy to get things in and out. But the Invisible design goes beyond that. This shape distributes the weight more evenly across your back and provides a level of comfort that no amount of padding on your straps could ever achieve.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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[ ENGINEE

]

MERIDIAN LIFTS THE RANGE A NOTE HIGHER

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The fourth generation c is an evolution of an iconic design. With Land Rover strength at its heart, the all-new model has been engineered from the ground up to be the most capable, most refined Range Rover ever. Building on the tradition of its predecessors, the all-new Range Rover has been developed to offer the ultimate in luxury for its occupants, combining the latest premium features and technologies with immaculate craftsmanship and materials, all delivered with the unique Range Rover ambience.

The top of the range is the Meridian Signature Reference System, a 1700-Watts, 24-channel stereo/surround system driving 29 loudspeakers mounted around the vehicle cabin, including roof mounted and personal seat-back centre loudspeakers.

The system incorporates Meridian Trifield 3D technology to deliver a unique, personal and incredibly realistic experience adding a three-dimensional sense of space. The Meridian Signature Reference System feature state-of-the-art amplifiers which incorporate Meridian’s latest digital processing technology to ensure perfectly optimised sound quality, along with Meridian high-efficiency speakers for exceptional clarity and dynamics.

As pioneers and leaders in the field of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology, Meridian is able to deliver your music authentically to recreate the passion and involvement of your musical moments. Powerefficient, active DSP crossovers are individually tailored to distribute music to each speaker, bringing your music to life.

Many sources of music are enjoyed through digital audio systems such as radio, USB and Bluetooth audio streaming.

To maintain the quality of these musical recordings, they are converted into a common

august 2015 / dj mag asean

format. Meridian Digital Dither Shaping ensures that digital signal changes are made smooth and seamless, preserving the finest details of the performance. The result is authentic, engaging musical enjoyment, evoking the emotions of the original recording.

Meridian Cabin Correction technology intelligently and discreetly optimises the audio system to the precise acoustics of the vehicle cabin, preserving the natural rhythm of the performance. This unique Meridian technology enables bass notes to be reproduced cleanly, ensuring that the clarity and definition of each instrument and vocal are tailored to the interior of your cabin.

Meridian’s exclusive Trifield technology, specifically created for musical reproduction, recreates the venue of the original musical performance for all passengers in the vehicle.

Blending the centre and surround channels seamlessly with left and right channels delivers a consistent, concert-like experience, optimised for all seating positions. Meridian Trifield technology expands the sense of space within the cabin bringing you closer to the music.

Building upon their proven Trifield technology, Meridian Trifield 3D is a world’s first technology that truly brings musical performances to life. The addition of dedicated height channels adds a further sense of scale and definition to your music.

All the instruments, performers and venues of your favourite performances are rendered in true scale and location to ensure that everyone in the vehicle will enjoy an authentic, personal and consistent musical experience.

Delivering an exhilarating personal music experience throughout, prepare for music in all its dimensions with the Meridian Signature Reference System.

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[stir

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HENNESSY X.O: A CLASS OF ITS OWN

A rich heritage, superior savoir-faire, with exceptional aromas and flavours make Hennessy X.O a timeless cognac, one that took the world over in 1870, and still does till today.

Honoring superior savoir-faire, craftsmanship and innovation, Hennessy X.O. captivates discerning drinkers today just as it did the world when it was first created by Maurice Hennessy in 1870.

Pioneering the class of X.O, Maurice Hennessy established a world-renowned

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benchmark of quality, now prominently appreciated by connoisseurs worldwide.

The creation of the X.O classification marked a turning point in the history of cognac, as it saw the introduction of a new style of cognac; one that is bold, rich and complex. Maurice Hennessy gave the name X.O to this unique “extra old” cognac as more than 100 eaux-de-vie assembled to create Hennessy X.O were aged for a long time – up to 30 years – to give an unparalleled robustness.

The extremely thorough preparation process of Hennessy X.O, the result of a combination of more than 100 eaux-devie with refined aromas, has not changed

since 1870. Hennessy X.O has stood the test of time as a result of the unparalleled craftsmanship and attention invested into the creation of each Hennessy X.O bottle – making it the world’s most loved X.O up until today.

A seventh generation master craftsmen of creating the world’s most loved cognac, Yann Fillioux, the Master Blender of Hennessy, ensures that every bottle of this one-of-a-kind blend is made perfect before bearing his final seal of approval.

At Hennessy, cognac is not improvised; it is raised with kindness and attention, firmness and affection.

A Taste To Appreciate

d j mag dj m a g asean asean / august 2015

Woodinville Whisky Kit: Age, Art and Appreciation If sipping on whiskey happens to be a part of your weekly routine then maybe it’s time for you to invest in your very own Woodinville Whiskey Kit. All whiskey connoisseurs know that the real magic happens inside of a whiskey barrel and then later when it’s poured into your glass. The whiskey kit will give you the opportunity to watch your whiskey age to perfection right before you and comes equipped with two 750ml bottles of 110 proof White Dog un-aged whiskey, a two liter aging barrel, pouring funnel, tasting glasses and step-by-step instructions (Dummy approved). Not meant for the occasional whiskey drinkers, this kit requires patience a true connoisseur would have, and when you’ve finally aged your whiskey, we suggest you give White Dog Whiskey’s Cocktail Recipes a try. The ‘Charlie Jones’ is a cocktail we highly recommend.

The Macallan meets Oakley: A Gentlemans Flask Luxury and performance have united to create the ultimate auxiliary tool for the aspiring single malt whisky aficionado. The Macallan have collaborated with Oakley, Inc. to create the definitive solution for the industrious and active gentleman. One of a kind, the carefully considered and expertly executed Flask is the last word in dynamic and premium craftsmanship from the inside out. Durable in style as well as design, the resilience of The Flask is assuredly hardy in application. From the rubberised bottom for a non-slip grip to a small rectangular air vent on the side of the funnel to allow for ventilation, every potential circumstance and environment of usage has been considered. Ladies and gentleman, if you’re taking your single malt whisky for a ride, then The Macallan Flask is the only way to go.

Trust us when we say this, pulling this out and taking a swig from it makes you feel like a total badass – a cultured total badass!

a u g u s t 2 0 1 5 / dj d j mag m a g asean asean

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MARSHALL AMPS IT UP You’re not buying it for its camera, although at 8 megapixels, it’s more than serviceable.

You’re not buying it for the quad-core processor, or 4.7-inch, 720p screen. You’re buying the Marshall London Smartphone for music. It doesn’t disappoint, either, with dual front-facing speakers and headphone ports, a knurled scroll wheel for volume control, a dedicated, one-touch music access button, a Wolfson WM8281 chip and Bluetooth aptX for superior audio quality, and included Marshall Mode in-ear headphones.

TWO SPEAKERS ARE LOUDER THAN ONE Marshall London might just be the loudest mobile phone on Earth. With two frontfacing speakers, you can enjoy your music without the use of headphones. Perfect for those impromptu get-togethers. It’s also pretty handy when you need to make a group phone call. Did we mention it’s loud?

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SCROLL WHEEL The scroll wheel gives you quick access to volume control. Its tactile precision allows you to find that sweet spot of sonic goodness

ALL ABOUT THE SOUND Marshall London packs a lot of heat under the hood; take for example the Cirrus Logic WM8281 Audio Hub. This smart codec gives the London a separate processor for music, allowing it to play at a higher resolution. Higher resolution means that even the best quality MP3 will sound phenomenally better when played with London. Additionally it lets you play uncompressed music such as FLAC format.

This cannot be emphasized enough; the London is boss!

LIFE IN STEREO London is equipped with not one, but two stereo jacks – allowing you and a friend to plug in and share your music or watch a video together. Each sound source has independent volume control, so you’re free to kick out the jams while your friend keeps things mellow yellow.

GLOBAL EQUALIZER One equalizer to rule them all! Use one of the pre-loaded profiles or adjust the sound to your liking and save it as a custom profile. The Global Equalizer will apply your selected profile to whichever music player you use. Accessing the equalizer is quick via the M-Button.

M-BUTTON At the heart of the London is the M-Button – a dedicated one-click access to your music, whatever the source of it may be. Thanks to this ingenious bit of engineering, you can control your music on top of whatever else you happen to have onyour screen.

d j mag dj m a g asean asean / august 2015

[ GEA

]

YAMAHA REFACE KEYBOARDS

Based on classic keyboards from years past, Yamaha Reface Keyboards promise to bring professional-level sound on the road. Each of these mini-keyboards offers 37 keys, with actions taken from the flagship Motif XF synth, built-in speakers, turning knobs and sliding faders to control the sound, and the ability to operate off battery power alone. The CS is based on the Control Synthesizer from the ‘70s, while the CP is based on the Combo Piano played by everyone from Billy Joel to Keane. The YC is based on the combo organs of the late ‘60s, and the DX — perhaps the most notable of the collection — draws inspiration from the DX7, the keyboard that helped to shape the sound of the mid ‘80s.

DOPPLER: HERE YE HERE YE

Change the way you hear the world, this is what Doppler HERE promises. The Here Active Listening System consists of two wireless, in-ear buds and a connected smartphone app that let you instantly control and personalize your live audio environment.

Use volume sliders, EQ and effects to adjust the real world sound in your ears for everyday scenarios like concerts, sporting events, air travel, open office environments or noisy commutes and create the perfect audio environment – for you – no matter the situation.

Here does not stream or play recorded music. Instead, the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) inside Here acts as a studio in your ears by providing you with a volume knob, equalizer and effects to transform real world audio. Use this “remote control for your ears” to have an optimal listening experience every time.

a u g u s t 2 0 1 5 / dj d j mag m a g asean asean

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[Preffe

]

A B&O KIND OF LOVE AFFAIR

During the roaring 20s, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen started their journey into technology when it was still an almost magical phenomenon, and with the accompanying flourish of Art Deco, it was clear that luxury, glamour and exuberance were at the heart of the time. It was a time when jazz music blossomed, and where the young – especially the young women – set themselves free. Led by rebellious and passionate spirits, the roaring twenties saw a renewed attraction to genuine beauty, music and dance, that set the stage for a love affair that could last forever.

Fast-forward 90 years and the company is pleased to launch a collection that truly captures the mood and style of the time, setting the stage for a love affair that could last the ages. Combined with the warm colour fabrics recently developed in a cooperation with fashion designer Stine Goya, the company hopes it will truly capture the hearts of customers who have enjoyed a love affair with the company over the years.

The radiant and romantic Rose golden nuance is achieved through a unique dyeing process, which in itself inspires our designers to create concepts that can match any style and any age, where the only limit is their imagination.

This, combined with warm and elegant walnut wood, bridges past and present to represent the passion, pride and persistence that has been driving Bang & Olufsen for the last 90 years.

The Love Affair Collection consists of the following six signature offerings; the first is the majestic and recently launched BeoVision Avant 85, and then the all-in one entertainment solution BeoVision 11-46 and BeoRemote One. Also included in the range is the extremely popular magic-touch BeoPlay A9 music system and the elegant, lightweight BeoPlay H6 headphones. Last but certainly not least, the collection will include the classic, slender and straightlined BeoLab 18 with a new walnut lamella front and a cabinet in a stunningly elegant rose golden version.

Bang & Olufsen’s Love Affair collection is truly one that leads to the artpreciation of music – one that sees the perfect marriage of hi-fidelity, form and function.

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d j dj dj m a mag mag g asean a s easean a n / a /u g J Uu Ns E t 2015

BOWER & WILKINS P5 ON THE GO

Bowers & Wilkins, the British loudspeaker company noted for bringing its knowledge and experience of acoustic excellence to the headphone category for the first time with the highly regarded P5 headphones, just announced a well-deserved wireless edition - the latest in convenience headphone listening without any compromise in audio quality.

P5 Wireless are Bowers & Wilkins first Bluetooth headphones, and offer all the power, precision and true Hi-Fi sound of the renowned P5 Series 2 headphone, the same luxurious materials and solid build quality, but with the added advantage of highquality wireless streaming. Tuned by the same experts behind their flagship 800 Series speakers, with drivers designed to work like those in a Hi-Fi speaker, you are assured to be in audio bliss as long as you have them on.

Using the same advanced Bluetooth aptX technology that helped deliver fantastic audio for the Bowers & Wilkins T7, P5 Wireless are capable of producing the best possible sound that your device (whether it is a smartphone, tablet or computer) is capable of delivering.

The P5 Wireless easily connects to compatible devices, and also features intuitive controls that allow users to not only play/ pause and skip music but also answer calls without fuss. It also features two microphones, which help deliver great telephony audio in addition to fantastic music playback.

P5 Wireless’ rechargeable battery lasts a class-leading 17 hours before a charge is required, delivering world-class music experiences that are one point, on the go. With luxurious leather and aluminium materials lending it a discreet, timeless design, the Bower & Wilson P5 Wireless is a must have for any modern audiophile.

a u g u s t 2 0 1 5 / dj d j mag m a g asean asean

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on the floor

We bring you... fire!

Glasto’s giant flaming spider Arcadia makes its way to Bristol next month!

M

ade up of recycled military hardware and founded in 2007, if you haven’t experienced the mind-blowing spectacle of Arcadia’s spider stage you simply haven’t lived! After dominating festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown and Electric Picnic with its flame-throwing antics, there was a one-off show in Bangkok last year, and now the ginormous arson-committing arachnid is on the move once again, this time crawling all the way to Bristol for Bristfest on 4th and 5th September.

“We wanted the event to celebrate Bristol’s music scene and we are hugely excited about seeing the Spider come to life in such a new and different setting,” says a spokesperson for Arcadia. “As an inner city event, we are hoping to make it as inclusive as possible and hopefully encourage people who might not want to sign up to a three-day festival to experience Arcadia.”

And an experience it certainly will be. An explosion of giant gasoline torches, acrobatic aliens and booming sound, Arcadia and its little sister Afterburner have also featured at T In The Park and Rockness in Scotland,

as well as abroad, and now the West Country is getting a big slice of the flaming pie. “We took the Spider to Bangkok in November last year and the Afterburner to New Zealand’s Rhythm and Vines and Miami’s Ultra Festival,” they tell us. The event, which will take place in the historic grounds of Queen Square, will, of course, come with some hurdles. “There will be spatial challenges to deal with, as well as the logistics of an inner city Georgian square to negotiate.”

The sounds of Bristol feature heavily at this event, with Roni Size and Eats Everything both confirmed. Friday night will focus on bass with Congo Natty also climbing into the booth. Leftfield will also bring the techno following the release of ‘Alternative Light Source’, while Saturday night will see Annie Mac on the decks, as well as Eats, Monki and Gotsome, when things go house-y.

With Arcadia events planned for Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Miami, this isn’t the last we’ll see of this fiery beast in the coming months.

Mehrnaz Karimi

BRIXTON WELCOMES NEW CLUB

NATION TO CLOSE ITS DOORS

TRUSS TO LAUNCH IN BIRMINGHAM

IN the face of a string of recent club closures in the UK capital, a new club called Phonox will open in Brixton this September. Opening as a bar from 6pm and running into the later hours, the club, previously Plan B, promises a dancefloor, one soundsystem and a single DJ all night long.

NATION, the home of Cream, will close at the end of 2015, to make way for a brand new subterranean music venue on the same hallowed grounds. A Cream spokesperson said: “The Elliot Group have taken on board the importance of retaining the cultural and musical hub that Wolstenholme Square offers and our ideas and ethos for the new venue.

RUSS launches in Birmingham this October.

With a capacity of over 1500 people, the club will consist of three spaces; a main room for high profile DJs, a second one for upcoming talent, and a third room dedicated solely to local talent.

Plan B becomes Phonox next month

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Home of notorious club brand Cream replaced

Club in the Midlands coming soon!

dj mag asean / august 2015

BOOTIN’ OFF! One party kicking it this month...

Michael Bibi

Get your groove on!

The clue is in the title. SolidGrooves is about solid, groovy beats...

I

t began life three years ago; an idea spawned during one of Ibiza’s notorious after-parties.

Then stickers and posters started showing up in London, and a Brixton launch event went off, which, good authority tells us, was ‘messy’.

Like all the best things in dance music, though, things didn’t stay still long. Founded

by DJ and Dawn promoter Michael Bibi, who drafted in best friend-cum-business partner Tim Howllet, SolidGrooves is now a session with an international presence, centered on the UK capital whilst hitting hotspots from Berlin to Barcelona.

The result being a nomadic event, with a label launching late-August.

“You can’t pinpoint SolidGrooves to one particular place,” says Bibi. “We always use different, unique locations, which I think is part of our success. Our fans know we spend a lot of time handpicking and sourcing cool and exciting spaces.”

Drawing in followers with one thing in common — a love for getting down and dirty — solid, groovy beats (geddit?) come from an impressive list of guests, including Anja Schneider, Hot Since 82, Fur Coat, MK, Francesca Lombardo and Sable Sheep. Indicative of a desire to showcase fresh talent, the concept seems to work, hence the success of this season’s Ibiza sessions, held in conjunction with fellow Londoners Abode at

venues like Sankeys. Nevertheless, Bibi is quick to note it’s about more than simply music.

“The vibe at a SolidGrooves party is massively important to me,” he admits. “At our shows the crowd interact, feel united and part of something special. For example, we spend a great deal of time and effort adding interactive activities to our summer day-parties. Last year, we made our own beach at a venue in Hackney. Driving in over 12 tons of sand, installing palm trees, a cocktail bar, BBQ, photobooth, face painting... The list could go on.”

Clearly a crew with a plan, those interested in checking them out might want to head for London’s Hackney Wick Canal on Saturday 15th August for an open-air party, with Detlef, Anek, Pawsa, Michael Bibi, plenty of friends and, most probably, a healthy dose of debauchery for all involved.

Canadian duo Bob Moses release their highly anticipated debut album ‘Days Gone By’ (Domino) on 18th September. Featuring 10 tracks including the critically acclaimed single ‘Talk’, the duo have announced a handful of intimate gigs before they take it on tour properly this autumn/winter. Described as “what a DJ does with a rock band”, the duo’s live show appeared consecutive years at Damian Lazarus’ Get Lost party in Miami as well as at Robot Heart at Burning Man. A combo of soporific vocals and low-slung, textured techno, they describe themselves as coming out of a scene that’s “trying to change what dance music is”. Catch them in London at The Lexington on 20th August.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

BOB MOSES THURSDAY 20TH AUGUST THE LEXINGTON, LONDON

THE BIG GIG If you only book tickets for one live gig this month, make it this…

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Away from novelty acts on the Pyramid Stage and the hippies connecting with the galaxy over at the Healing Fields, a wealth of dance music was on offer again at Worthy Farm this year — and then some. Our clubbers’ guide to Glastonbury has everything you need if you want to get mash-up in the mud at the mother of all festivals...

W

hen millions tuned into the BBC to watch Mary J Blige cry her eyes out on the Pyramid Stage on the BBC last month — “no more dramaaaa!” — little did they know (or care) that, just a few hundred yards either side of her, there was enough dance debauchery to fill Fabric, SW4 and Secret Garden Party three times over — at least.

Or that this jaded dance hack was also in the crowd wearing a poncho, also in tears, blaming it on the rain.

Of course, the sound of Motörhead thrashing it out on the main stage is unlikely to appeal to the majority of DJ Mag readers — even if Lio-

nel Richie’s jubilant rendition of ‘All Night Long’ is a festival moment we’ll never forget — and, it’s true, for those lucky enough to get a ticket, the sheer amount going on at Glastonbury is overwhelming to say the least, especially for first-timers at the festival.

It wasn’t until ‘95 that a dedicated stage for dance music even appeared at Worthy Farm. After that came Glade in ‘98 and Lost Vagueness (now Shangri-La) during the early ‘00s before Dance Village appeared later that decade, reborn as Silver Hayes in 2013. Serious ravers are catered for more than ever before at Glasto these days. Sod Kanye West desecrating

Pics: sarah ginn

More than meets the eye!

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or Pharrell in his silly little denim waistcoat, these days clubbers are as crucial to the event as phoney rumours of Prince popping up to do a secret set in a long-drop.

Silver Hayes could be a dance music festival of its very own, while Arcadia is a giant flamethrowing metal spider making moves as far as Bangkok. Then there’s Shangri-La and Block 9 at the other end of a site twice the size of Bath.

Let’s also not forget spots like The Beat Hotel, Greenpeace’s The Engine Room, Glade and live electronic/dance acts hitting West Holts and the Other Stage. If you’re a real dance fiend, Glastonbury is about much more than getting trippy at the stone circle until sunrise...

The Beat Hotel It’s the beat!

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Pic: Anita Russo

The first stop for bleary-eyed campers trekking down the hill from the Hospitality site and just a stone’s throw away from Silver Hayes, this comfy dance tent/ cocktail bar is what you’d imagine a hotel would look like if it was co-designed by David Mancuso and Hunter S Thompson. The automatic choice for a slushy cocktail to get you back on your feet around midday, it’s here we catch Greg Wilson dropping vintage disco classics before Groove Armada pack the place out on Sunday afternoon. Things get heady and deep late on Thursday with Gerd Janson b2b Ata, before Erol Alkan puts people into a trance with the spacey techno of DJ Koze’s ‘XTC’ on Friday just before close at 3am. As useful for a proper dance as it is a spot to chill during the day, The Beat Hotel, with its iconic sign, raised outdoor dancefloor and Smokey Tails next door, is a must for those who favour deep house and disco flavours.

dj mag asean / august 2015

Block 9

Block, the rocking beats!

Silver Hayes

Hayes! What’s wrong with you!?

T

he area most obviously geared towards or b THE area most obviously geared towards clubbers at the festival, Silver Hayes is like London’s South West Four with a bit of Lovebox thrown in — that’s how much is on offer! The WOW tent is a big-top where we catch J.E.SuS dropping ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ into industrial techno to an extremely squashed congregation on Thursday night.Outside the tent is a boat party-themed stage — the booth shaped as a bridge— where the likes

august 2015 / dj mag asean

of Optimo, Midland and Dusky brought beats in the sunshine last year, and this time the structure has been developed, increased in size and raised higher. It’s here we encounter a rabble persevering through the pouring rain at a Hessle Audio boat party on Friday, before heard singing like a bird on ‘Stand Still’.

Idris Elba is here on Saturday, as is Herbert (live). Much later, this is where we pass the slightly spooky sight and sounds of The Heds silent disco until 5am; a dancefloor confusingly singing along jauntily to ‘Suspicious Minds’, while others on the same dancefloor chant “I wanna give you Devotioooon!” deep in their groove.

Elsewhere, the BBC Introducing tent is hosting Annie Mac’s live broadcast, there’s a girl-punk band thrashing it out on a stage to three or four people in rain macs as people spill out of the comfy Boo Dior tent; part taking shelter, part letting their inner chimp play free at ‘Sexy Kitchen Party!’(see box-out).

Meanwhile, the sultry La Pussy Parlure tent is promoting emerging electronic/indie talent and scruffily built shanty town, The Blues, is going off to dub, while others spread out, cotching on the grass (weather permitting), enjoying an open space scattered with big flags, various luminous structures and a giant wicker fox. Slap this in a city park and call it a festival, you’d get no complaints from us!

Next to Shangri-La we find Block 9; immediately recognised by the enormous flat block with a tube train jammed halfway up it. At the end is the field’s main attraction, Genosys, a booth backdropped by a tall, decaying high-rise from the future installed with windows revealing spooky dark rooms. We catch Chicago’s Robert Hood banging out slamming house and techno here on Sunday night as Floorplan.

With NYC Downlow opposite lining up house and treats, Block 9 is more obviously dedicated to club sounds than its neighbouring field. The notorious tranny party comes into its own with DJ sets from Cerrone, Tamo Sumo and Prosumer — there’s even a secret show involving Florence & The Machine — over the weekend. Taking us back to the gay roots of dance music, it’s the cross-dressing MCs serenading the queue from a seedy first-floor hotel suite that really give this dirty basementthemed club/tent its dissident edge (“Welcome to NYC Downlow, homo-sexual disco”).

Shangri-La and Block 9 combined is a playground for ravers like no other. Just get there early, before the main stages shut-up, or be prepared to queue!

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Shangri-La

The Engine Room

La la land!

A buzzing corner of activity at the end of the rail-track, made up of aweinspiring installations depicting freakish, end-of-the-world motifs and wild acrobatic performers dressed like Mad Max extras, Shangri-La is like nowhere else on planet Earth — let alone at a festival.

Predominately split into two outdoor stages separated by walls — Heaven and Hell — this field is as much about the hidden passageways and secret tents — as each tiny, exquisite artistic detail — as it is the strength of the bill.

DJs and performers here are considered just as crucial as the many Banksyinspired artists who contribute, music programmer Chris Tofu tells DJ Mag. “I’m more about bigging up the artists all in a single lump. They’re all equal, like the proletariat!” he tells DJ Mag.

Indeed, it’s this mentality that defines Shangri-La this year. Run as part of an ongoing narrative, the theme this year revolves around political consciousness, following last year’s focus on apocalypse. “This time it was about reminding people there is an alternative,” he tells us after the event.

“Fuck the Tories, basically!”

And, aside from a sinister mural of David Cameron’s face and revolutionaries abseiling down

When the ship goes down stage walls, it’s an ethos reflected in the booking policy too, which sets out to provide an alternative to mainstream dance music. There’s The Monster Raving Tent — “literally a tent full of monsters raving,” Chris says — and another entitled the House Of Cum-ons. More than once we pass through to the sound of bands thrashing out ska, dance music with live drums or trumpets and DJs pumping out electro-swing stylings.

Andy C is called upon to “bring it” to Hell on Friday for the Essential Mix and J.E.SuS (Jackmaster, Eats, Seth and Skream) are at Heaven on Friday, while Lovebullets — in aid of charity WarChild and curated by Love Saves The Day (Bristol) — is a delightfully decorated 200-capacity tent where we find Richy Ahmed. Apart from that, the majority on offer in Shangr-La this weekend is of the weirder, more outlandish variety.

Dusky

Back towards the centre of the site along the rail-track, we stumble upon beats inside the belly of a boat deep within the Green Fields.

Powered by Greenpeace and its ‘Save The Oceans: Stop Over-Fishing’ cause, The Engine Room is just that; a stage, dancefloor and bar deep within the engine room of a ship constructed of scaffolding. Designed by Tabitha Pope and her team, it’s the many artful touches — smoke emerging from giant funnels and its oily, metallic décor — that make this such a special place to party. Programmed by Mi7 Records, who’ve been involved since 2007, sets come from Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols, Coldcut, Pedestrian b2b Maribou State and The Egg over the weekend, so the music is pretty damn wicked too!

Chemical Brothers @ Other Stage Still great veterans

It’s not a real festival without a headline spectacle from a UK dance legend, is it? We’ve all seen BBC footage of Orbital on this stage in 2004, so expectations were high for The Chems closing the festival’s second largest stage on the last day.

We know exactly what to expect — a skilfully compiled collection of hits (‘Hey Boy’, ‘Star Guitar’, ‘Saturate’), mind-boggling visuals in a field with flags flying at sunset, and smiley people going absolutely nuts. So do they deliver? Of course they bloody do!

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dj mag asean / august 2015

Sexy Kitchen Party @ Boo Dior Something’s heating up!

Sheltering from the rain, we stumble upon something a bit special on Friday afternoon — none other than the Sexy Kitchen Party. Dressed as chefs in aprons, brandishing spatulas and dropping strictly old skool hip-hop, r&b and pop to a trendily kitted-out bunch, it’s a long-way removed from your average dour-faced techno rave. Shaneil, one of the chefs, is on the mic, imploring the happy-as-Larry dancefloor to “get those lightbulbs out (it’s ok, it’s not offensive!)” over the sound of Punjabi MC’s Knight Rider theme. Between dropping self-proclaimed “stinkers”, we’re regularly reminded of the Sexy Kitchen Party rules, which include “respect all women!”: helpful advice considering how steamy things get… turns out, the ninth unwritten rule of Sexy Kitchen Party is: “If Justin Timberlake tells you to do something, you do it!”

So, obliging, the dancefloor split into two sides — girls vs boys — we go head-to-head for ‘Señorita’.

“Not too sexy!,” chimes Head Chef Alex, as a few guys get a little out of control during the singalong (“It feels like something heating up!”). We haven’t had this much fun in years.

‘How on earth did this come about?’, we’re left wondering...

“In the early hours of the second night I found Alex in the kitchen with a few others next to a small set of speakers which were pounding out techno,” recalls Shaneil, back in London, who’s not really a chef at all, but actually co-boss of Birmingham night Seedy Sonics. “Right on cue, he said, ‘Let’s have a sexy kitchen party’ and stuck on some George Michael. I said, ‘This is EXACTLY what I need right now’. Within half an hour, as predicted by Alex, we had 30 people in the kitchen, dancing to everything from Spice Girls to Blue to Sean Paul to Mobb Deep to Aretha Franklin and necking shots of tequila. The main room was empty.”

“We knew that this was something special,” adds Alex, who, alongside Shaniel, regularly brings Sexy Kitchen Party to Regression Sessions as residents. “It was a vibe, the funniest atmosphere. Utensils were being used like pom-poms, people were chanting ‘Sexy Kitchen Party! Sexy Kitchen Party!’ and everyone was dropping like it’s hot. Stupendously sexy and idiotic. People we had been going to raves with for years, who in their own right are music snobs, were getting low to Ciara in a kitchen at 7:30am.” So there you have it. You’ll always find these guys in the (sexy) kitchen at parties.

august 2015 / dj mag asean

West Holts Go west!

Every proper festival needs a stage for leftfield electronic bands. For Field Day and Lovebox it’s the main stage, but at Glastonbury it’s the third biggest on site. Even The Other Stage (the big stage behind the Pyramid) is headlined by dance acts this year, with Deadmau5 and Chemical Brothers (side bar) on Saturday and Sunday. West Holts, however, is the one that really digs deeper when it comes to dance bands.

Funkadelic’s George Clinton tops the bill on Saturday and the wild jazz forms of Flying Lotus for Sunday, but it’s Caribou followed by Hot Chip that gets DJ Mag down the front on Friday. Dan Snaith and his band have clearly come a long way since 2010’s ‘Swim’ and his prized near-top billing proves to be well deserved.

However it’s Joe Goddard’s five-piece — dressed a bit like Jelly Babies — that steal the night with an exceptionally tight set, finished with a rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ that blends seamlessly into LCD Soundsystem ‘All My Friends’, the band joined on stage by Caribou on keys. It’s one of those unique, once-in-a-lifetime festival moments that — we get the feeling — is only possible at Glastonbury.

Dorian Concept’s illustrious electronica on Saturday afternoon — presented via live drummer, bass keytarist and Oliver Thomas’ off-beat keys — provides yet more proof that West Holts is Glastonbury’s strongest stage for live electronic music. The real McCoy!

Arcadia Alien invasion

Founded in 2007, Arcadia is the brainchild of Pip Rush and Bert Cole, who saw the project as an opportunity to experiment with the concept of an immersive 360-degree event experience. Built of discarded military and industrial machinery, this enormous metallic spider presides proudly over the festival — just below the site’s summit behind the Old Railway Line in front of The Park area — like a space invader nobody wants to mess with.

DJs play in the cock-pit from 7pm but it’s not until after sun-down that this fiery beast really gets its A-game on. At 11pm, spangled ravers are treated to Metamorphosis: The Arcadia Spectacular Show, an intensely choreographed performance of robot characters bungie jumping, zorbing and getting electrocuted alongside all sorts of acrobatic aliens, magnetic mechanisms and intense flame-throwing fireworks.

Straight after the show, on Friday, Maceo Plex is called upon to keep proceedings appropriately dramatic with his new ‘Solar Detroit’ opus before Adam Beyer delivers some Drumcode darkness, proving how hydraulic extraterrestrial spiders and techno do mix!

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on the floor

AROUND THE WORLD

GOLDIEROCKS: THE GLOBE!

The Selector DJ gets naughty-cool in her column...

So I’ve been hopping about the Med this month, partying in Cannes and Puerto Banaus. Both are famed for yachts, magnums of rose and general overindulgence. They like a bit of bling, and oh — the boat parties! There’s something about being trapped on board a floating vessel crammed with world famous DJs and overexcitable ravers that sets a little fire in our heart. Is it the sunshine, the nakedness, the heavy basslines or the sheer fact you can’t escape...?

HIDEOUT Punters at Hideout were reportedly seasick and joyous in equal measure during deep house legend Chicagoan Chez Damier’s boat party set. Some of my favourite boat parties of all time are Montego Bay’s ‘Sumfest’ dancehall night after-parties; occasionally lasting almost two-and-a-half days — the general vibe is you just swim back to shore when you’ve had enough.

Werk that shit!

STRAF_WERK is yet another in a long line of ace Amsterdam dance events...

E

urope boasts many party hotspots, but during the summer Amsterdam claims the crown as the continent’s festival capital. Now in its third year, STRAF_WERK, held at Sportpark Riekerhaven in the south of the city, isn’t just another face in the crowd, though.

Taking place on Saturday 22nd August, the concept is deceptively simple. Take five stages, a wide array of music that makes it difficult to pigeonhole into a singular genre, invite a few thousand like-minded Dutch revellers (along with those from overseas), and blow the proverbial roof off via sets from the likes of Henrik Schwarz (live), KiNK (live), Jamie Jones, Hot Since 82, Skream, Julio Bashmore, Alex Niggemann and Huxley.

In addition to the international talent — of which there is plenty — there’s a solid domestic contingency worth checking out too. Former Trouw resident and local hero Job Jobse is definitely one to catch, along with rising tech man Prunk, and relatively new kids on the block such as Luuk van Dijk and De Sluwe Vos. Remember their names, even if you have no hope of

pronouncing them.

Meanwhile, those responsible are also promising Class A visuals and light shows, helping to set the mood and accentuate the charm of the urban green space the event has called home since its inception.

“It’s definitely true that there is a lot going on in our lovely city this summer. With new festivals entering the schedule, it is always a challenge to stay unique. But STRAF_WERK is not about one specific sound, we host several stages with multiple styles but still manage to make it feel like one experience,” explains Annerieke Glaser, the festival’s programmer. “We move along the edges of underground music without losing touch with the scene. It’s all about finding the right balance between party, music and people. We believe this combination is what makes a great festival, or in other words, a great party. At the end of the day, visitors want a festival with good music and lovely people. Providing that is what we hope will set us aside from the rest.”

Enough said, then.

Martin Guttridge Hewitt

IBIZA Looking ahead, Ibiza has always led the nautical way with Carl Cox’s weekly shindig Float Your Boat getting quite the buzz this summer. Nearer to home, Congo Natty will be bringing jungle to the Thames for a dubheavy, smoky experience; which always feels that extra bit naughtier when sailing past the House Of Commons. And dear old Seth

Troxler’s Acid Future party at Tobacco Dock has been in my diary for months after seeing him play at Burning Man last summer... nothing like it.

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dj mag asean / august 2015

MANTRA COLLECTIVE, SPICE CELLAR, AUSTRALIA David Mayer: “On my Australia and New Zealand tour in February 2015, I got to play at the Spice Cellar for Mantra Collective. Although the nightlife of the city is facing serious restrictions due to ridiculous lockout laws and the party seemed over within the blink of an eye, it was one of the most intense parties — lest not the only one on that tour. I am glad I have this opportunity to thank each and everyone I met for making it so special.”

JOCKEY JOURNAL The on-the-road diary of the world’s top DJs treading the globe

OFF WEEK, BARCELONA Reznik: “&ME already mentioned it — our label-nights at Off Week Barcelona are outstanding. Not to forget the

KEINEMUSIK

A LT E R N AT I V E S FESTIVAL, NEUCHÂTEL, SWITZERLAND Adam Port: “This picture was taken in Neuchâtel some weeks ago, just before my show at the Alternatives Festival. We had an amazing Ethiopian dinner around the corner from the venue, so I hopped over and visited the technic crew to say hello and to take a small walk around the club.”

Collective Mantra

RAMPA ON TOUR (AUSTRALIA & ASIA) Rampa: “It’s pretty standard to talk about all the interesting people you meet on the road. I was actually quite honoured to meet this little fella during my last Asia and Australia tour and hang with him for a while. I spent around two hours just chilling and playing with my new buddy.”

s festival Alternative

C L U B 4 , BARCELONA &ME: “I was pretty psyched when Paco O s u n a invited me to his Club4 parties in his hometown — Barcelona. Never been in this city apart from the usual Sonar madness, so I was curious to see how the Barcelona natives were going to rave. Arriving at the club, it felt immediately like heaven because Paco and I shared the same passion for Chupa Chups while playing and he already prepared a bowl with a stunning variety of them.”

august 2015 / dj mag asean

Barcelona club4,

r ek, Ba celona Off we

on tour Rampa

additional time of hanging out altogether, fooling around, getting sunburned, enjoying the local cuisine etc.

But back to partybusiness, on this year’s edition of our night, taking place at Warehouse 1, this pretty unambiguous offer was handed over the DJ booth while I was playing a b2b set with Adam.

It’s those moments when you realize, you must do something right.”

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JAKARTA’S

NIGHT LIFE

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asean / AUGUST 2015

Synced

Words could only fail to describe how massive this collection of records really is. ‘Pryda 10 Vol. 1’ is the first in a series of EPs that will prelude an Eric Prydz artist album later this year.

And while recent excursions under his own name might have been tweaked for mass appeal, this is nothing less than dark and dirty Pryda, with perhaps even a little more menace than you’d expect under the alias.

More about this inside >>

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

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Disco REVIEWS jonathan buRnip jonathanburnip@gmail.com

QUICKIES Disclosure feat.

Gregory Porter Holding On (Gus Pirelli Mix) PMR Island 7.5

Primer for the duo’s next album sees a collaboration from new soul star Gregory Porter, remixed in a heavy disco style by Gus Pirelli.

Julio Bashmore

Lee Perry & The Upsetters Upsetting Rhythm # 2 Black Ark/ Drum & Bass 10

Insanely good reggae/ disco cut taken from the B-side of the Japanese issue of Sam Carty’s haunting, alternative version of the Hindi love song ‘Milte Hi Ankhen’. Stripped back to the cyclical rhythm of a very dusty sounding Roland CR-78, the lonely throb of a languid bassline (very reminiscent of Disco Dub Band’s ‘For The Love Of Money’) and some tape hiss, this 10” release is as much an essential for the out-there disco heads as it is for the Perry completists.

house rush of the title track, ‘Vertigo’ is another standout release on Matias Aguayo’s quality-assured label. Start the dance!

Fort Romeau

Antoine Rouge

8.5

Centurians Of Rome

UK house talent, Fort Romeau, has recently been enjoying the success of his ‘Insides’ album for Ghostly - an album that crossed a deep-house-to-disco divide - and has now come up with this follow-up release of remixes of key album tracks.

Italian producer Massimiliano Pagliara offers a spacey disco fix of the giddy ‘All I Want’, while Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer are here as the indestructible Tuff City Kids, with two playfully old school-style house ‘club’ and ‘disco’ mixes.

Johnny Adams

Feel The Beat, Feel The Heat

Carisma Vertigo Cómeme 10

Argentinian duo, Carisma, are back on Cómeme with another EP of fevered electro, house and new-wave rhythms, following up their excellent ‘Directamete’ debut of last year. From the brilliantly curdled EBM of ‘Dueños de Este Instante’, to the Ron Hardy-style, old school

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Sounds of the Universe / Soul Jazz 10

Killer modern soul/disco 45 that initially did the circuit in and around the clubs of New Orleans back in ‘79. Now, since its release on the obscure Hep’ Me label, my favourite central London-based record store, in affiliation with Soul Jazz Records, do the right thing and release this superb, facsimile issue. Arranged by the late, great New Orleans producer

Monte Verità EP

La Disques De La Mort 9.5

A label debut from Rodion & Mammarella who both grace Ivan Smagghe’s La Disques De La Mort label with this chilling, atmospheric minimal wave masterpiece.

Holding On feat. Sam Dew

Loose Joints

7.5

West End

Broadwalk

Is It All Over My Face (KON’s Duet Mix)

Ahead of his album debut, Julio Bashmore samples Inner Life’s disco classic, 'Make It Last Forever’ and drops ‘Holding On’. Sam Dew’s vocal is good, but doesn’t reach the height of Jocelyn Brown’s.

Tasteful remix of this classic disco tune (using both original male and female vocals) penned

by Arthur Russell.

Includes a previously unreleased full-length version.

8.0

and bandleader Wardell Quezergue, ‘Feel The Beat, Feel The Heat’ measures out the right amount of funk with a big disco horn section and rousing vocal from Johnny Adams. Essential.

Insides (Remixes) Ghostly

Rodion & Mammarella

Eye Of The Star Warrior 9.0

Next up on Tim Fairplay’s Centurians Of Rome label is some new material from umbral producer figure, Antoine Rouge – the nom de plume for a certain page regular that may or may not be that obvious. Regardless, these three tracks appear on Fairplay’s cassette label and explore the realms of vintage synth-play; occupying the space between plastic-disco, ‘wave’ and electro – nodding to the playful sound of Legowelt and the more atmospheric, industrial mood of Prurient/Vatican Shadow. Ace.

S'Express

Excursions EP

Needle Boss Records 8.0

Mark Moore, a legend of the British house scene, is back with a new label and new single under his chart-topping pop/disco guise, S'Express.

Four classics are remixed and reconstructed to open Mark’s new Needle Boss label – including new versions of ‘Hey Music Lover’ and ‘Theme From S'Express’

Tronik Youth Nein Records 01. Emperor Machine ‘Love Lick’ Nein Records

“So proud to be releasing the next single from Emperor Machine on my label… and he’s come up with the goods… 11 minutes of synth heaven.”

02. Moscoman ‘Devoted (Manfredas Mix)’ Renate Schallplatten “The whole EP is killer, but this dark woozy remix from Manfredas is a great first track for any set.”

03. Il Est Vilaine ‘Peyotl’ Kill The DJ Records

“Excellent dark vibes on this twangy new EP from the Parisian duo… it’s like being in a tunnel of grooves.”

04. William Earl ‘Chemical Love (Tronik Youth Mix)’ Nein Records

“William is a mighty talent for one so young, and his follow-up single for Nein is even better than his debut… I’ve stripped it back and pumped up the weird factor on my mix.”

05. Low Manuel ‘The Storm’ Beachcoma

“Love this label… and this is their best release yet… exceptional dark spacey vibes and warp synths collide.”

06. Khidja ‘Indecis (Red Axes Mix)’ Emotional Espacial

“The original is great but this remix turns the dark fear vibes up to 11 and drags it onto the late-night dancefloor.”

07. La Decadanse ‘In Vain’ Astrolab

“This EP is amazing… and this is a great track. I’ve opened many of my summer sets with it.”

08. Rodion ‘Hills’ Nein Records

“This is the first single from the next Rodion album and it’s a monster! Lowslung cosmic business takes you to another dimension.”

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

HOUSE REVIEWS

Synced

Ben ARNOLD ben.a.arnold@gmail.com

QUICKIES Last Magpie Separation EP Hypercolour 7.5

Craig McNamara's Last Magpie alias turns up this four-tracker for Bristol's Hypercolour.

Seek out the Larry Heard-esque 'Silver', it really is stunningly good.

Rhymos

Particle Fever Whistleblower 7.5

Emotive tech from Rhymos, on the imprint he's set up with Reset Robot and Alan Fitzpatrick. 'Planet Of The Grape' is the one, a slinky groove for the late-night floors.

Pampa since the legendarily amazing 'Holy Love EP' from 2010, only the fledgling label's fourth release, and home to the staggering Purple Drank.

Pleasingly, this is another stunner of a release, both for Pampa and Barnhus don Boman. '1979' is simple yet devastatingly effective, with shimmering layers of synths creating a blissful, joyous soundscape. Nokturn (Grand Finale) is an altogether different beast – a clamour of mind-bending effects fused with shuffling Latin percussion. Seek it out this minute.

Demarkus Lewis

Running On Kaoz Street EP Madhouse 7.5

Blazing, old-fashioned house music from veteran Demarkus Lewis on fellow veteran Kerri Chandler's Madhouse imprint.

There's some damned good pedigree here.

Francesca Lombardo

DJ Bone

Perseidi EP

It's All About EP

Crosstown Rebels

Leftroom

7.5

8.5

Deep and meaningful house music from the persistently excellent Francesca Lombardo.

Aril Brikha's take on the title track is spectacular.

Krankbrother When You're Watching Me Krankbrother 9.0

With You. Hypercolour 01. Matthew Herbert ‘The Shakes (With You. Remix)’ Accidental “He asked us to pick a song from the album and we couldn’t, so this has a piece of all of them.”

02. Four Tet ‘Evening’ Text “As usual.”

03. Floating Points ‘Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub)’ R2

“2000? Don’t really matter, does it – still sounds like how you wanna dance next summer.”

04. With You. & Vince Staples ‘Ghost’ For You

“First release on our new label For You. Vince is on it. Beat is on it too.”

05. Alice Smith ‘Love Endeavor (Maurice Fulton Remix)’ BBE “I’m always disappointed when this record ends!”

06. Kenny Dope/Raheem ‘Guess Who Loves You More (DJ Cratebug DJ Tool Mix)’ Dopewax

London's Krankbrother – sibling pair Danny and Kieran Clancy, known to this point predominantly for their party-throwing shenanigans – have gone epic, slugging it out of the park on only their second release. 'When You're Watching Me' is from that Germanic mould of spine-chilling electronic anthems, peddled by the likes of Sascha Funke, or the stately Kompakt. It's gently but determinedly euphoric, pitched to bring grown adults to tears under the correct circumstances (on a boat in the Adriatic, sand beneath the feet with a view of Es Vedra). Over, 'Washed Up' is anything but. Keep these coming, please and thank you.

“You can play two copies of this and any acapella in the history of acapellas for about seven hours. Proper fun.”

07. Modjo ‘Lady (Kaytranada Remix)’ Unknown

“Why do all this French duo’s records sound like they’re having a proper giggle but bang like Daft Punk don’t anymore?”

08. Outboxx ft Naomi Jeremy ‘Rumours’ Hypercolour

“This is the first and only track I’ve heard from these guys — something really authentic about it.”

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

Andhim

und Tobias Müller) fire off this feel-good bombshell for Black Butter – a big, brash, pulsating party track stuffed full of stabs and general frenetic madness.

Rejected boss man Joris Voorn subtracts the fun – not in a bad way – bending the whole business towards the emotive and anthemic, as does the legendary MK with his girthsome retool.

Mr Beatnick

Formed In The Stance EP Don't Be Afraid 8.0

Mr Beatnick, aka former hip-hop producer Nick Wilson, threw himself into the house music fold in 2011; the dazzling, orchestral 'Synthetes (Don't Be Afraid)' being one of his first forays into four-four. 'Formed In The Stance' finds him back after a two-year hiatus, and he's in some fine form. 'Stutter' is a rich and textured blast of machine music, recalling Metro Area. 'Jellyfish' is similarly off-kilter – but on the money – spooky and sumptuous.

And 'Obsidian Morning' embraces blazing broken beats.

Boy Boy Boy

Axel Boman

7.5

Pampa

Black Butter

Fresh from their stint on the Essential Mix last month, German pair Andhim (aka Simon Haehnel

1979 9.0

This is Axel Boman's first outing on DJ Koze's sterling

Probably techno, but there's no techno without house, so here we are. And it's not like 150bpm techno anyway. We digress. Detroit legend Eric Dulan delivers a devastating pair of sturdy workouts for Matt Tolfrey's Leftroom (and a cracking piece of A&R work too, might we add). 'It's All About' is about firing, clean stabs and dirty, throbbing percussion. Just superb. Over, 'Tipping Point', with its elasticated organs, which from nowhere start spinning off in all directions, is crafted to send dancefloors insane. And it likely will.

E-Work

Who Do You Believe In? Merc 8.5

Effortlessly classy work from the ever-dazzling Mark E, embarking as he is on this E-Work series, following his majestic, discoflavoured E-Versions jaunts last year on his own Merc imprint. 'Who Do You Believe In' is purest Balearic rapture – slow motion house, with thick synths wrapping you up like a duvet, and an old school vocal performance from Trudie Dawn Smith. There's an instrumental, but why would you ever want it? It's a high bar to set for the forthcoming E-Work releases, but he can handle it.

Endian

Birdie 003 Birdie 8.0

Trevino, aka Marcus Intalex, lures another of his d&b brethren into the light for his Birdie label. This time it's George Levings, one half of Commix, under the nom-deplume Endian. All four tracks here are solid.

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E L E C T R O / pr o gre s s i ve R E V I E W S

Sander van Doorn

Angus Thomas Paterson angusthomaspaterson@gmail.com

QUICKIES

Oh, Amazing Bass Spinnin’ 7.0

Sander van Doorn mercifully puts aside EDM for a moment to put his name to a tougher-edged banger. ‘Oh, Amazing Bass’ channels his edgy tech-trance past, while still being steeped in mainstage appeal. And as the title suggests, its oomph comes from the churning power of that bassline. Custom-made to instill some grunt into festival sets over the summer.

Various Artists Unified Vol.2 Zerothree 8.0

The next volume in Zerothree’s ‘Unified’ series sees the label crafting classy bigroom perfection across two different cuts. BUDD & Steve Haines lead with the '80s vibes and punchy electro basslines of ‘Connect’, while French prodigy Matt Fax gifts us something really special and unique in the form of ‘Supertaper’ – driving electro house that climbs into trancier territory.

Pryda

Pryda 10 Vol. 1 Pryda 9.5 Words could only fail to describe how massive this collection of records really is. ‘Pryda 10 Vol. 1’ is the first in a series of EPs that will prelude an Eric Prydz artist album later this year.

And while recent excursions under his own name might have been tweaked for mass appeal, this is nothing less than dark and dirty Pryda, with perhaps even a little more menace than you’d expect under the alias.

All four tracks represent dancefloor thrills delivered with ungodly precision, proving again that when it comes to mainroom power, Prydz still slays them all.

Wayfinder Field Of Mine Positronic 8.5

Jaytech’s debut ‘Positronic Collective’ compilation showcase is packed with electro/progressive

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Olivier Giacomotto & J Diesel Pure Fiction Get Physical 7.0

The simple things are often the best. ‘Pure Fiction’ revolves largely around the impact of that sexy blast of acid, which swells beautifully into the groove of that dirty progressive bassline. Intense dancefloor grooves that come with a cheeky grin.

Jason Ross vs Jenaux Solaris

Anjunabeats 8.5

Anjunabeats newbie Jason Ross pairs with Jenaux here, showing further promise in terms of developing a genuinely unique take on the trance sound

that brings something new to the table.

Avoiding the saccharine in the uplifting elements, what really drives ‘Solaris’ home is that goliath tech-house bassline that shakes the walls. More of this please.

Budakid 23 EP

Einmusika 8.0

One of the best collections of music to come out on Einmusika for quite a while, with a warmer touch than usual, though still with the dramatic flair the label is known for.

Beautiful summery synths join gorgeous melancholic vibes.

Alan Fitzpatrick

U Said U

Drumcode 8.0

gems sourced nearly entirely from a pool of unknown artists, brimming with bubbling euphoria that’s tempered with crunchy electro grooves. Uplifting, without ever plunging into the trance abyss. ‘Field Of Mine’ from Wayfinder is one of the standouts, the chunky electro bassline building into some truly excellent hands-in-the-air moments.

Alan Fitzpatrick has a wellestablished knack for fashioning steely sounds that are garnished with an extra dose of the 'epic', and ‘U Said U’ is one such techno stomper with an undeniably ravey appeal. It delivers in terms of a thunderous stomp that will ensure it gets a workout at the big techno parties this summer, though with its epic breakdown, pulsing bassline and ravey vocal sample, there’s potential to crossover in all sorts of directions. Everybody wins.

Vaults

Harper & Green

Virgin EMI

Perfecto Black

Cry No More (Sasha Remix) 8.5

Another in the same vein as the melodic techno and progressive we’ve been hearing lately from Sasha, which has seen him dropping functional bombs galore, this rework of ‘Cry No More’ represents a homerun in terms of what a remix should offer. He’s bottled the gentle charms of the original, keeping much of the vocals, songwriting and instrumentation intact, and otherwise weaving it into a first-rate progressive record.

Destined to be an Ibiza anthem.

Lost (Paul Oakenfold Edit) 8.0

Oakenfold takes the already impressive progressive thrills of the Harper & Green original and gives it a minor tweak that proves most effective indeed. The energy levels are turbo powered in the direction of mainroom trance, though the appeal of ‘Lost’ remains satisfyingly dirty and dark. Its rumbling bassline takes the lead over the more ethereal elements, before that gritty acid line rears its head a few minutes into proceedings.

Jaytech Positronic/Anjunabeats 01. MATT FAX ‘Tumble’ Positronic

“The first track on my new mix compilation ‘Positronic Collective’, from the French progressive house extraordinaire who can do no wrong.”

02. ZANIO ‘Moonrise (Nhato Remix)’ Nueva

“Cool grooves and great summery chords make this one shine.”

03. ELEVEN.FIVE ‘Gamble’ Arrival

“Excellent deep vibes on this latest release from Eric Fox with a very clean and wide stereo mix.”

04. B.EXP ‘Aquilla’ Arrival

“A trance-edged progressive monster, a favourite from my sets lately.”

05. SOUND QUELLE & MAX MEYER ‘Elision’ Freegrant

“A very classy transition from an ethereal breakdown into a slamming dancefloor drop that absolutely destroys.”

06. IGOR VOEVODIN ‘Atomic’ Freegrant

“Clubby goodness with a tight electro breakdown reminiscent of Mat Zo’s earlier Anjunabeats releases.”

07. PROFF ‘Carmel’ Intricate

“Great electro/progressive vibes from this Moscow-based producer.”

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

TECHNO REVIEWS

Synced

RICHARD BROPHY, richardbrophy@gmail.com

QUICKIES DLS

Lights Of Neu Detroit EP

Innerspace Halflife

7.0

Machining Dreams

Semper Memor

The ‘Sunrise’ version of the title track is an expansive ambient affair, while the original version sees the mysterious DLS add in some deft dubby beats and swirling acidic undercurrents.

Completing the release is the dark pulse of ‘NTHW’.

the techno/wave/noise thing at the moment, but so few are able to do it as convincingly as Beau Wanzer. Over four tracks, the US producer moves from the primal stomp of ‘Beaches Of Leeches’ through the gloomy drums of ‘Beefhearts’ onto the droning, slowed down ‘Drew Is A Dog’.

However, he leaves the best to last and ‘Seedless Grins’ is a brilliant, slamming techno track with more creaky noises and malfunctioning machines than a haunted factory.

Antimatter EP 8.0

Hakim Murphy and Ike Velez deliver another individualistic take on Chicago techno. From the warbling tones of ‘Soma’ through the dream pulses and dubby drums of ‘Dancing Reflections’ into the tripped out 'MScience', this is another killer release from Chicago’s finest.

Head Front Panel 10.5

Head Front Panel 8.0

Various Artists

Test Pilot Volume 2 Viewlexx 9.0

Otto Kraanen Bordello A Parigi 01. ANTENNA ‘When I Read My Boo’ Pinkman

“This track is more addictive than any dope: on repeat.”

02. ANTONI MAIOVVI ‘Molly’s Theme’ Giallo Disco

“My favourite track on the upcoming fictitious ‘80s teen drama soundtrack ‘Wild In Blue’.”

03. EISKALTE ENGEL ‘Mach Mich Nicht An Mann’ Mond Musik “A totally weirdo Neue Deutsche Welle diamond: love it!”

04. ELECTRICK DRAGON ‘Elect Flow’ Nous’Klaer A Parigi

“This has Electrick Dragon written all over it and is gonna be released soon in conjunction with the Nous’Klaer label: bingo!”

05. G-MACHINE ‘Flying Objects’ Bordello A Parigi

“First track of G-Machine’s upcoming debut album: hard to pick a favourite!”

06. HILDEGARD ‘Satanicamente’ Mothball Record

“Insanely good track for the advanced italo listener, just out on this cool label from Down Under.”

08. MATA HARI ‘Mata Hari’ Moustache A Parigi

“All-time favourite soon to be re-released in conjunction with David Vunk’s Moustache Records.”

09. NOUVELLE PHENOMENE ‘Cruel Game (Vanzetti & Sacco Remix)’ Bordello A Parigi

“An upcoming remix I’ve made (together with my buddy Josef) for these great Hungarian musicians.”

10. UABOS ‘Squash’ Bitter Moon

“Vinyl debut from this very talented DJ and producer from Milan.”

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

In underground circles, the second ‘Test Pilot’ instalment is one of this year’s most anticipated records. It’s an understatement to say that it has been worth the wait. From Roberto Auser’s ‘The Force’, a typically dark disco Viewlexx workout, to the eerie acid of Gesloten Cirkel’s ‘Asleep’, I-F’s label is pulling out all the stops.

On the flip, the release also features two ‘new’ artists. No one knows for sure the real identity of Panama Brown or Tandy Ogmo, but the former drops a robust electro track, while Ogmo’s sample-heavy disco tune ‘Everybody’ could be as big as ‘Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass’.

VC-118A Vaxna

AC Records 7.5

Aviation-obsessed producer Samuel van Dijk shows an introspective side to his sound here. While the same steely rhythms and crisp 808s that have become the Dutch producer’s signature are audible

again, tellingly, there are no references to airplanes or flight numbers. However, ‘Vaxna’ also features the kind of chilling strings and dreamy, atmospheric synths on ‘Sepia’ and ‘Versicolor’ that put VC-118A on the same plane (no pun intended) as electro pioneers like Convextion and Lost Trax.

Faetch Faetch 1

Earwiggle 8.0

It’s hard to believe that ‘1’ is new artist Faetch’s first ever release. While tracks like ‘Takm’ take their cues from Surgeon and Inigo Kennedy, there is a real sense that anything can — and will — happen.

‘Kvaim’ is a tangled web of car alarm screeches and mangled rhythms, while ‘Flaie’ revolves around a gargantuan, hardcoreinfluenced bass. ‘Flaie’ rounds off this impressive debut with a haunted vocal sample and the kind of distorted backing and cheese-wire percussion that the new wave of hard techno players would kill for.

Beau Wanzer Untitled BW

8.0

So many people are trying to do

John Heckle dons his Head Front Panel guise for another exercise in punishing techno.

With echoes of Jeff Mills circa the first two Waveform Transmissions releases, this release is not for the fainthearted. Underpinned by distorted, pummelling drums and powerful percussive volleys, the Liverpool producer rains down discordant riffs, contorted acid sequences and barbed-wire ticks and stutters. The most impressive thing here however is the momentum; Heckle pushes each rhythm into the red and never stops riding the groove into extreme places.

John Heckle

Blues For A Red Giant Lunar Disko 8.0

With remixes of Hieroglyphic Being and a new Head Front Panel record ready for release, it’s hard to understand where John Heckle got the energy to put out ‘Giant’. Like Irish label Lunar Disko, he shares a love of Chicago jack, audible here on the drum tool 'Drunken Organ' and 'Collective Intelligence’, a clanking, percussive workout. But ‘Giant’ also throws a number of curveballs, most notably the new wave-sounding ‘Bon Voyage’ and ‘Red Giant Encounter’, a move into ebm-fuelled rhythmic oppression. It’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do next.

Ike Release

Dance Equations EP Smart Bar 7.5

Revered Chicago venue Smart Bar launches its label in style with a record from local hero Ike Release. The title track sees woozy synths and tight claps set to a rolling

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Synced

tRANCE REVIEWS Tim Stark djmagtrance@gmail.com

pounced on the opportunity to remix not one but two of electronic music’s beatified in one fell swoop. They quickly could have found themselves between a rock and a harder place, though.

Outstandingly translating the slo-mo cinematica of JMJ and Tangerine Dream’s deferred collaboration for clubs was arguably the easier part.

Reworking two grandmasters at once though, probably trickier!

Ferry Corsten pres Gouryella Anahera Flashover 9.0

Quite the effect greeted ‘Anahera’ last month.

Without knocking the legacy of Gouryella’s eponymous smash, it gave the scene even more of a seizure than might have been expected. It felt turbo-charged by the relief that Ferry still had it in him.

No expectation management required on ‘Anahera’ — it’s a production reconnection that’s produced with a zest that’s almost physical.

Everything you’d want it to be... and more besides.

Phoebus Undeep

J00F Recordings 8.5

The first-minute thud of the dulled drums and clang of its industrial, mechanized FX has ‘Undeep’ sounding doomy... or perhaps even doomed.

The following nine minutes, though, will soundly convince you otherwise. First sign is its incorrigibly groovy bass swing.

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Kyau & Albert

VANDIT Recordings

Euphonic

680

7.5

Follow The Waves 7.5

‘Follow The Waves’ is based around a much-favoured-by-K&A indie-rock vocal, which has more than a touch of electro grind and a d&b b-line powering it. Mino Safy’s mix trances things up a treat.

All Gone

Albert Keyn

Niburu

8.0

Kennvad Music

Who’s Afraid Of 138?!

SHO

Ben Nicky From Nicky, an appropriately stormy audio high-five to Melbourne’s den of trance iniquity, Room 680. Sulphuric 303, a propulsive tempo and a decidedly NSFW vocal sample are ‘680’'s order of the day.

Andy Moor & RAM feat.

Christina Novelli

MONETY!

QUICKIES

With Moor in the co-production chair and Ms Novelli on vocals, this is certainly a front-runner-best from RAM’s highly accomplished ‘Forever Love’ album. ‘All Gone’'s drop is all-but owned by Christina, who delivers a sincere, emotionwrapped/wracked song that cuts to the quick. Andy and RAM pack the strings in and around to support, and come break’s end this soars plenty high.

Find My Way

Davey Asprey Rielism Records 8.0

8.0

Keyn’s latest comes pre-dipped with plenty of seaside atmospherics.

The synths work wonders in developing the theme, but crucially ‘Find My Way’ has the engine room drive to ensure its temperate top-end doesn’t lose its grip on the floor.

The debut release from Sied van Riel’s first label endeavour is a chestsweller from Asprey’s 'Original Mix' right through to its equally fissionable Tomac and First Class remixes. Nononsense floor-busting synth business that gates-up a storm.

Eddie Bitar Secondaries: well, the loud, whip-cracking percussion, trilling sub-FX and a hypnotizing, looping vocal take it a long way.

From there it develops on and on into a trancer that’s as darkly thrill-some as they come.

Airbase

Mondegreen ASOT

8.0

Airbase returns (says the press release) “bringing his infinite musicality” along with him. I don’t remember Jezper absolutely nailing “infinite musicality” back in the day, but he certainly has on ‘Mondegreen’. Melodies you can effortlessly lose yourself in, temperately summery wraparound bass, fluttering, beautifully cultivated synths and a cultured production twist at every turn. This is what ASOT should be all about.

Jean-Michel Jarre & Tangerine Dream

Zero Gravity (Above & Beyond Remix) Anjunabeats 8.5

One would imagine A&B fair

Come On

VANDIT Recordings 7.5

A ‘kitchen-sinker’ of a track from Bitar here, but every bit as fine a production as he’s turned out in the last 18 months.

It’s all-in approach summons aspects from multiple trance sub-styles. Seemingly innocent melodics cede, on the turn of a four-bar, to analogue-ish bass belch, pitch-wheel flambé and floor-hyping “Come on” shouts, all culminating in a canny dualdrop break. Positively kills.

Aly & Fila & Thrillseekers Es Vedra

Future Sound Of Egypt 8.5

This is audibly a collaboration in the truest sense of the word.

The early acid bubbles and break’s castaway strings are A&F all over. Its instinctive, catalysing key changes, wistfully lamenting sub-riffs and preeminent bottom-end oomph are the hallmark of Helstrip.

An outstanding two (or three!) hander, ‘Es Vedra’ is even more than the sum of its considerable parts, and is well worth searching out.

RAM Grotesque 01. RAM & SUSANA ‘Someone Like You’ Black Hole Recordings

“For me, this is one of the pearls from my album. RAMazing lyrics and a massive breakdown followed by a monster of a drop. The follow-up with Susana to ‘RAMelia’.”

02. FERRY CORSTEN PRES. GOURYELLA ‘Anahera’ Flashover

“This is my absolute fave track of the month. So happy to see Ferry back on his trance game. Monster track, massive melody, pure trance — love it!”

03. RAM ‘Elijah’ Black Hole Recordings

“This track from my album was made for my son. The breakdown starts with a Duduk — a 2000-year-old Armenian instrument, which moves from a beautiful angelic sound to a super-energetic drop. How trance should be.”

04. RAM & STINE GROVE ‘RAMore (Arctic Moon Remix)’ Grotesque

“This remix is an absolute killer. It’s done justice to the original and given it another twist. With an amazing vocal from Stine Grove, this is pure heaven.”

05. RAM & CHRIS METCALFE FEAT NATALIE GIOIA ‘Don’t Give Up’ Black Hole Recordings

“The combination of perfect vocals and a great build-up of energy is what it’s all about in this track. Goosebumps all over the place.”

06. RAM Heartfelt Black Hole Recordings

“This track I based on the hang drum, the energy from which will blow you out of your shoes. For me, one of the best instrumental tracks from the album. Emotion X energy!”

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

B A SS R E V I E W S

Synced

Oli Marlow, info@sonicrouter.com

QUICKIES Pev/Steevio

Deadboy

Schmorgasbord

Local Action

Edges/Seren 8.0

The combination of Peverelist and the Free Rotation top dawg, Steevio dropping tracks and then remixing each other’s work is exciting to me. But that’s mainly because I love the way Pev snatches little phrases and runs with them when he’s remixing.

by warning dudes that it’s a little different from the raft of wayward and emotive, grime-formatted music that Gobstopper’s been home to of late. But that’s not to say Tarquin’s duo of cuts are really straightforward, because they’re not. Bolshy 4x4 stomps, half-time switches and stuttering sample chops abound over two tracks that are full of impressively intricate rhythms.

Black Magick 7.0

The London-based Deadboy’s dancefloor retooling of his recent breakthrough 'Local Action EP' does exactly what it promises, converting the sweeping melodic serenity of tracks like ‘Sad Sniper’ into cuts that will register a new kind of recognition in the club.

Krueger

Marbled EP Silverback 5.0

Szare

Parched/Scored Project 13 9.0

Batu Mistry 01. LURKA ‘Partials’ Black Acre

“Includes one of the bendiest synth sounds you’ll ever hear.”

02. ASUSU ‘Trephine’ Unreleased

“Asusu basically making electro. Dark but super funky.”

03. HELM ‘I Exist In Fog’ PAN

“I love the second section of this one.”

04. RHYTHMIC THEORY ‘Future Tense’ Unreleased “Techno via early Metalheadz, seriously weighty.”

05. SHACKLETON For Promotional Use Only DDS

“Shackleton vs Cutty Ranks = as stripped back as you can get.”

06. MENCHESS ‘Mitsubishi Song’ Goon Club Allstars

“An anthem of South Africa’s Gqom scene. Rhythmically, it’s really similar to UK funky.”

MONETY!

08. LASKA ‘Draw For The’ Mistry

“The title track from Laksa’s wicked debut 12-inch, definitely a producer to keep an eye out for.”

09. L.SAE ‘The West End As It Will Be’ Unreleased

“An amazing new artist, L.SAE has some crazy rhythms and sound palette.

Look out for this one.”

10. BENEATH ‘5050’ Berceuse Heroique

“Seriously tough track; love how this one switches up with the synths in the second half.”

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

Chrononautz

SHO

Manchester’s Idle Handsassociated duo Szare return on their home city’s Project 13 label with a storming outing comprised of two doggedly rugged club cuts.

Right from the off Szare throw their production weight around, stamping out a mantra of booming kicks, subs and simple snares cleverly deployed to hint at a swing that is actually never really there. Both tracks come super-tough but ‘Scored’ could sit alongside some over-saturated 130bpm grime stuff neatly.

Noments And his command of a four-four groove feels like it's only getting stronger on his second outing for the Versatile label. ‘Kung Fu’ is the highlight on this 12-inch, tucked away casually on the B-side like it wasn’t one of the most infectious tracks he’s put out to date.

Wen

Senary Cycles

Soundman Chronicles 9.0

The Maghreban

I do love how transparent Wen can be. When the sampled clippings of emcees start saying “a new vibe” on ‘Pace Myself’, it’s simply because these six tracks for his mate Parris’ label sound a little different to his previous material — and he’s very conscious of that. Using his stylistic vocal calling card to reinforce that these new bare and dissected tracks are a new direction is clever, but it’s the strength of the material that really convinces.

Versatile

Tarquin

In adapting his hip-hop steez to a house and techno mindset, The Maghreban’s bought the static, crunch and character of his rough shot-sampling to the dancefloor.

Gobstopper

07. SAMUEL ‘Pump Room’ Not So Much

“One of my favourite tunes to play out. Tough broken techno with a strong UK feel to it.”

I get it. Like, I love the look, feel and gloss of marble too; all those rich snaking veins of colour trailing through a body of rich glistening smoothened stone. But as much as I love it, I wouldn’t want every surface of my flat covered in it. It’d just be… impractical. And that’s kinda how I feel about Krueger’s weaponized club constructions: they’re rugged, purposeful and pounding but their formularity is their ultimate downfall.

Wonder Woman EP 8.5

Lost My Marbles/Kid U 6.0

It’s probably quite a pertinent thing that label boss Mr Mitch introduced his latest signing

Quietus Phonographic Corp.

7.0

The respected music portal The Quietus follow up releases from East India Youth and Grumbling Fur with a hard hitting 12-inch of analogue techno from Chrononautz. Having followed co-editor Luke’s head-first lunge into the world of 4x4 through his writing, I fully expected to find something that’d lurch, roll, bubble and stomp into being, but these two near 18-minute epics more sort of drill, pound and thunder their way through.

Relentless is a keyword.

Andreas Gehm Elec Pt. 1

Happy Skull 7.5

The Kelly Twins’ latest signing, the very German monikered producer, Andreas Gehm, delivers three acid-flecked DJ tools for the Bristol label’s seventh release. Sounding like they’ve been recorded straight from the hip, the tracks on 'Elec Pt.1' might sound simple: an array of boosted drum machine lines draped with acid basslines and swirling synths, but the effect is anything but straightforward.

Listen to them once; then go straight back and listen to them again.

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Synced

HIP HOP REVIEWS Neil Kulkarni, 81 Crosbie Road, Coventry, CV5 8FX

Skyzoo

QUICKIES

Everything's For Sale First Generation Rich 8.0

Djar One feat.

Fliptrix Dragon Fli Empire Lean Star Gazer

Skyzoo's soon-dropping new album 'Music For My Friends' is a delicious slab of summer heat, and this is one of the phattest joints on it — lovely thumping Pete Rock-style production from Illmind, flute and bass flattening all before it, the beat a boom-thwack to the head and your speakers, Sky spitting brilliantly throughout.

If his 'Barrel Brothers' collabo with Torae gave you the slip last year, catch up with that and then catch up with 'Music For My Friends asap. One of the finest in the game right now.

A Little More Funk Beats House Records

High Focus Recordings 7.5

Love Molotov's production all over This month's essential 'Polyhymnia' — here he 7-inch — a natty little marshals a gorgeous banger from Beats suite of cinematic House, perfect for that textures as adeptly and b-boy in your life. It's effectively as Adrian designed for maximum breaking appeal but also Younge. Typically dead-on, straight-talking frabjous for listeners verbals from Trix seal too, with great funk the deal and send you loops and simmering scurrying for the rewind. scratching action Tight as fuck. throughout. Diggit.

8.0

Estee Nack & Purpose When I Get High Ill Adrenaline 7.5

Estee and Purpose from the Tragic Allies have a fantastic collaborative underground hip-hop album coming out right now called '14 Forms' and this is one of the spaciest, trippiest things on it. Yes it's got an old-skool, almost Adrian Younge feel, but what's really sublime is the backdrop to these boombap beats — a twist of Hawaiian/bottleneck guitar as freakily trippy as Calexico or the Latin Playboys. There are better tracks on the album, so make sure you get it (the kind of guilty dated pleasure I just can't resist as I enter my dotage), but check this out to get a flava and keep smoking those funny fags that don't have writing on them. Puts hairs on your chest.

Cappo & Nappa Elite Marine

King Underground 8.0

Keep an eye out for C&N's soon-drop 'Rebel Base' album which finally sees the light of day this month. This first taster is a wonderfully wibbly-wobbly slice of Kraftwerk-inflected electro-funk, an unexpected departure from what you might've expected and all the fresher for it.

Apathy feat. Suave-Ski & Jus Cuz How To Breathe Underwater Dirty Version Records 8.0

Love Apathy, whether on his tod or with Celph Titled and this preview from his

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Stig Of The Dump feat Jehst Kubrick Rap And Soul Ltd.

8.5

'Weekend At The Cape' LP is wonderfully evocative of summer evenings, liquidity and water, buzzing insects, storms on the horizon, the tingle of approaching thunder and lightning. Wonderful that he's doing a series of concept records about New England backdrops, and this is genuinely environmentally suggestive music that you might not expect from the veteran producer and spitter.

Alongside 'Weekend At The Cape', Ap is also releasing the fourth installment of his 'It's A Bootleg' series entitled 'The Black Lodge' that features nigh-on 48 tracks. Plenty of Apathy to catch up with this summer, don't sleep.

Superb tribute to Stanley from the similarly-titled LP. Would've been easy for Stig to lash in quotes from the man's oeuvre (and I would've moaned about the lack of mention for 'Paths Of Glory'), but what the track is really about is the solitary experience of writing and creativity. The way cinematic inspiration can effect the way you link language and vision, the rush of endorphines and adrenaline that happens when you find le mot just, the frustration of windmilling against your own limitations to find that kind of ease of expression.

Sublime, understated production from Jehst and some final mixology touches from Chemo make this the standout track of the month.

Essential.

Eric Biddines Golden Rules 01. ANGUS & JULIA STONE ‘Big Jet Plane’ Flock Music

“Soothing song detailing the desire of wanting to travel and escape everyday reality. The visual is amazing and the perspective has multiple interpretations.”

02. BIG KRIT FEAT RAPHAEL SAADIQ ‘Soul Food’ Def Jam

“Southern tune by Mississippi native Big Krit detailing every aspect of Sunday dinner. You can smell the BBQ ribs through the speakers.”

03. DELTA RAE ‘Bottom Of The River’ Sire Records

Bold harmonic vocal arrangement, this record includes gospel-like tones and tells the story of a wife being sent to her death for her actions. It’s sad but beautiful too.”

04. DONNIE TRUMPET & THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT ‘Windows’ The Social Experiment

“Ambient feel with a poetic opening by Chance The Rapper. The instrumentation and arrangement is very therapeutic, warning the youth on the reality of their heroes.”

05. FLYING LOTUS FEAT ERYKAH BADU ‘See Thru To U’ Warp Records

“Tribal non-traditional unquantized drums with colourful vocals from mother nature’s very own Erykah Badu. Imagine a mermaid having a jam session underwater.”

06. MAVERICK SABRE ‘I Need’ Mercury Records

“’I Need’ is where reggae and hip-hop meets a long train ride. Sabre opens up with a string sample and goes into life’s wants and priorities, steering the listener onto a much healthier path. An important song to get anyone back on track.”

07. SELAH SUE ‘On The Run’ Because Music

“The soundtrack to honesty. A warm-felt conversation encouraging anyone feeling the need to run. Something to keep you going when you feel like everything ahead is cold.”

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

HARD DANCE REVIEWS

Synced

DJ kutski kutski@mac.com

QUICKIES The Prophet

Argy

Scantraxx

Subground

Mixmaster 8.0

Old school kick and bass track here from hardstyle pioneer The Prophet, taking influence from early hardstyle releases with a simple melody, and a rap vocal hook proving that less can be more in this style.

Zany & Dr Phunk

CDR

9.0

Sentinel 8.0

Bass Modulators

Black Mask 7.0

South Wales' tech tyrant Argy is back on the mighty Subground label with a slab of tech bassline-driven goodness. He strips some of the elements right back in the breakdown, making the impact on the drop even more brutal!

Titan & Wareface

8.5

Fusion

Repressing the freestyle sounds of the legendary Pussylounge parties in Holland on this release, with uplifting melodies and jump-influenced drops, an energetic, simplistic groove and short punchy vocal snippets.

Time-Out

One of the most exciting things about dance music today is how blurred the lines are between genres in 2015, with hardstyle DJs playing trap tracks and trance DJs finishing their sets at 150bpm. This track by Hasse de Moor could feature on several review pages of DJ Mag, but I’m here to bring attention to it from a hard dance perspective.

Not overly hard but clocking in at 150bpm, this track has an abundance of energy that will fit perfectly within the ‘freestyle’ DJ sound and add that fresh “WTF!?” dancefloor reaction we all look for on the drop.

No Sleep Fusion

Hasse de Moor

Brutal raw beats from two hot young acts on the Dutch rawstyle scene featuring a distorted female vocal, hard-as-nails kicks and dark pulsating bassline.

Raw, but still accessible.

Scantraxx 9.0

Huge vocal hit from Bass Modulators, with strong worldwide commercial possibilities if this gets into the right hands. Featuring an incredibly catchy female vocal (which could easily be a chart pop release on its own), backed up by the superb melody that Bass Modulators have put down makes this a hardstyle hit — one that will remain timeless.

Massive!

Headhunterz & Crystal Lake

Live Your Life (Crystal Lake Hard Mix) Doorn 9.0

Digital Punk A2 01. DIGITAL PUNK ‘Rest In Hell’ A2 Records

“When I started to produce this one, I had one thing in mind. This had to be a track for the end of my sets. You’ll get the point!”

02. RAN-D & PHUTURE NOIZE ‘Paranoid’ Dirty Workz

“Most definitely one of my favourite tracks of the moment. The vocals are insane!”

03. BRENNAN HEART ‘Heart Bass Junkie (Digital Punk Remix)’ WE R Raw

“When I heard the original, a few years ago, I thought the vocals were so good. My remix still honours the original melody and vocals, but I added the Digital Punk flavour to it.”

04. RADICAL REDEMPTION ‘Piece Of Shit’ Minus Is More “Best Radical track so far! I’m dropping this bomb every set!”

05. E-FORCE & DIGITAL PUNK ‘My God’ A2 Records “OH MY GOD!”

06. DIGITAL PUNK, RADICAL REDEMPTION & CRYPSIS ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’ A2 Records

“I had so much fun making this track with these guys. The result is not so funny. A very heavy track, it leaves no survivors on the dancefloors.”

07. GUNZ FOR HIRE ‘May God Be With You All’ Roughstate

“The title says it all. Destruction at the highest level. Great drop, great kicks, great sounds, good job like always, Gunz!”

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

Wildstylez feat Bright Lights

Oxygen

This track has been one of the most talked-about tracks on the hardstyle scene, sometimes from a negative perspective.

Headhunterz joins forces with Crystal Lake for an incredibly catchy EDM release with elements of Daft Punk productions and a commercial vocal hook. In my opinion, the original is epic but to keep true to their origins, Crystal Lake have beefed things up with a 150bpm hardstyle mix to keep all the haters happy (if that's at all possible these days). This certainly does it for me and will be big in my festival set this summer. Great original, even bigger remix.

Geck-O

Front Row Workout CDR

8.5

Geck-O is one of the most unique artists on the hardstyle

Every Step I Take Lose Control Music scene, with consistent productions ranging from peak-time hardstyle hits to underground subground anthems. Here the eccentric Dutch producer lowers the tempo slightly for a technofused monster with catchy diva-style vocals and relentless industrial percussion. It’s the diversity of his productions that makes Geck-O one of the most loved and credible artists in the scene today, and this track is the perfect example of why.

Cally & Malfunction vs Beamer feat. Natski Colours

Bionic Digital 7.5

Reverse bass monster release from Cally (ex-Cally & Juice) and Scotland's Malfunction & Beamer, with the vocal talents of Natski covering the classic ‘True Colours’ vocal in the main breakdown for a singalong moment. It then drops with pitched kicks and the main melody hook.

Atmozfears feat David Sepkter Release

10

Wildstylez is without a shadow of a doubt one of the pioneers of the euphoric hardstyle sound which has helped catapult hardstyle into the mainstream festival market over the past few years, growing in popularity worldwide. At long last he has delivered his debut artist album ‘Lose Control’ featuring some huge collaborations with other global superstars including Brennan Heart, Noisecontrollers and Max Enforcer. This new single, hand-picked by Wildstylez himself for release, features the vocal talents of Bright Lights delivering a chartworthy vocal backed up by an incredible melodic hook and powerful straight up drops, giving this great crossover potential on the global EDM scene.

Scantraxx 9.0

Timmahhh Atmozfears is one of the most diverse producers on the hardstyle scene at the moment, switching between uplifting and raw sounds like he has multiple personalities.

This new vocal uplifting

hardstyle release has summer anthem written all over it with a great vocal from David Sepkter and catchy hooky melody, reminiscent of his festival smash from last summer ‘Accelerate’.

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ALBUM REVIEWS

8.0 Woolfy vs. Projections

The Orb

Permanent Vacation Orbit of alright

Kompakt Circle of trust

Following in the illustrious footsteps of David Bowie, Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce and — err — that bloke from Babylon Zoo, Californian duo Woolfy vs. Projections have cast themselves as spacemen for their third album. Concluding the trilogy that began with their previous LPs ‘The Astral Projections Of Starlight’ and ‘The Return Of Love’, ‘Stations’ sees Woolfy vs. Projections once again in the guise of Captain Starlight floating through cosmic house, motorik disco, prog rock and psychedelic folk. Moments like ‘The Bright Light Of The Truth’ — part The Byrds and part Kool & The Gang’s ‘Summer Madness’ — or the sumptuous chillwave of the title track are hardly boldly going where no man has gone before, but are still so beautifully produced they feel more like falling into a feather mattress than crash-landing back on Earth.

Some things in life are unchanging.

British summers will always be unpredictable, for example, and The Orb’s output consistently hypnotic, otherworldly, mechanical yet organic, as is proven on what’s possibly their finest post-millennial work. Composed of four lengthy pieces (the word ‘track’ doesn’t apply, nor does ‘album’, within this context), ‘Moonbuilding 2703 AD’ is as fitting a title as you could ask for. Space-age synths shimmer atop bleeps and and whirring noises on ‘Moon Scapes 2703 BC’, building effortlessly by adding more strange noises to the mix until you’re hooked in to the aural acid trip. ‘Lunar Caves’ offers up truly lush soundscapes before descending into ambience crafted from reversed-out melodies, meanwhile the title effort takes us on a multiwithin the funk. Exceptional stuff.

Martin Guttridge Hewitt

Stations

Seven Davis Jr Universes Ninja Tune

8.5

Planet funk

In little more than two years, Houston-born, Cali-raised singer, producer and songwriter Seven Davis Jr has gone from unknown to what music writers often call ‘feted’, such is the general celebratory language unleashed whenever his latest thing drops.

It helped that ‘One’, the leading track on his debut EP on Must Have Records, from 2013, became an instant Detroit classic, championed — and indeed hammered — by the likes of Kyle Hall and Jay Daniel (Hall also ran ‘All Kinds’ ragged, found on the flip, a metallic discoid bombshell).

His talent was also fostered early on by LA’s Hit+Run crew, while the influential Kutmah let him run wild on the 2013 minialbum ‘The Lost Tapes Vol. 1’ for his Izwid imprint, which in turn caught the attention of the likes of Gilles Peterson and Benji B. From these sturdy foundations he failed to put a foot wrong, becoming that rarity that lives up to the hype, via the blazing ‘Friends’ on Classic — a perfect coupling for Luke Solomon and Derrick Carter’s veteran label

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— and the shuffling madness of ‘P.A.R.T.Y.’ on Apron. This first proper album for Ninja Tune (another pleasing coupling) shows the kind of range that indie label wet dreams are made of, embracing the sounds of woozy West Coast electronica, Prince, Dilla, P-Funk, Outkast, Alice Coltrane, Sa-Ra, Moodymann and Theo Parrish. ‘No Worries’ and ‘Everybody Too Cool’ sound like the bastard offspring of Jamie Lidell and Romanthony, both angular, irrepressible funk workouts of the first water.

‘Sunday Morning’ is a glitchladen houser, wilfully scattershot percussion barely underpinning a wayward wash of synths and his dizzying vocals. ‘Good Vibes’, a hook-up with Julio Bashmore, is a stone-cold disco devastator, a mucky boogie loop crunching together with ragged hi-hats.

Bravely cutting a swathe in the leftfield rather than turning out a predictable selection of house music, ‘Universes’ is out there on its own. It’s strange and quite possibly brilliant.

Ben Arnold

9.0 Moonbuilding 2703 AD

8.0

5.0

Omar Souleyman

Felix Da Housecat

Monkeytown Records He’s a Souleyman

No Shame Furry feline fail

The idea of marrying the indigenous sounds of Syria’s most successful musical export with Modeselektor was always bound to attract attention.

And, while Omar Souleyman’s latest LP isn’t for everyone, the results don’t deflate that hype balloon, in our eyes.

For the most part less electronic and more akin to the soundtrack to some party in the Saharan wilderness, if you hadn’t been told it might be difficult to spot that the Monkeytown bossmen were involved at all.

Forsaking acidic synths in favour of ethnic instrumentations, a host of high-profile collaborations show off the talents of some big name producers such as Gilles Peterson and Four Tet. Meanwhile, Legowelt flips the script via a techno remix of the title track that comes with not-so-subtle shades .

Not adverse to a Twitter beef or two, Felix Da Housecat has been a consistent — if contentious — character in house music’s modern narrative. His latest effort proves no different, as the producer offers up an opinion-dividing long play on Brooklyn-based label, No Shame.

The muted, wonky reggae of fifth cut ‘The Natural’, featuring Lee Scratch Perry, is beguiling, whilst tracks like ‘Lookin 4 A Reason’ are angelic in their simplicity. First single ‘Is Everything OK?’ and final track ‘Devon’s Box’ both chug like a genuine ‘80s synth banger — the latter a fitting conclusion to this bizarrely dated LP. Billed as an introspective journey rather than a heads-down club set, what really lets this record down is its lack of light and shade.

Bahdeni Nami

Narrative Of Thee Blast Illusion

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

8.0

7.5

7.0

Seb Wildblood

Felix Laband

Felix Laband

SW Mass appeal

Compost Felix my spoon

Compost Felix my spoon

Foreign Parts

Seb Wildblood’s take-on house music isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. But there’s no problem with that when it’s the sort of deep, sophisticated and subtly funky style that was put out on labels like DiY Discs and Guidance in the early ‘90s, and which Seb has been championing at his Church nights in London. Church has featured guests ranging from veterans like Marcellus Pitmann to newer names like Youandewan and you can hear the influence of his headliners in ‘Sondag’’s mellow Detroit shuffle, or the more gleaming ‘Moodlight’.

When playing a warm-up slot, the DJ is basically a dancefloor fluffer, and cuts like ‘Gunvor’ prove that Seb knows exactly how to tickle and tease in all the right places.

Although the biggest tease of all is that this album is just seven tracks long, a fact which only leaves you more desperate for him to carry on.

Paul Clarke

Deaf Safari

This is the fourth long-player from South African producer Felix Laband, but also the first in nearly 10 years. As much influenced by the Kwaito house of his homeland and American roots music — it features remarkable field recordings of chain- gangs from the ‘40s — ‘Deaf Safari’ is thick with ideas and ideology. ‘Righteous Red Berets’ and ‘Ding Dong Thing’ are weighed heavy by spoken word samples and chain- gang blues, both from the US and Africa. ‘Squeeze The Trigger’ is ghostly, haunted house music, languid and atmospheric, while ‘Down The Garden Path’ couples jazz chords, ringing bells, glitchy vocals, blues and Kwaito guitar. It should sound a mess, but it’s somehow masterfully put together. ‘The Devil Threatens Me’ busts out dubby electro, while ‘Pietermartizburg’, ‘Deaf Safari’ confounds at first. But it’s worth trying to breakinto. BenArnold

7.5 FTSE

Deaf Safari

Joyless

The list of collaborations on this debut from Bulletdodge man Gareth Whitehead is longer than a Glastonbury comedown, and definitely more enjoyable. Running the gamut from soulful Chicago house through lucid tech that invokes the sadly defunct Big Chief imprint, onto solid techno, given the range of producers involved, this variety isn’t surprising, but is a refreshing break from the sameness dominating many long players. With 16 very different tracks, the phrase ‘something for (almost) everybody’ springs to mind, and reassuringly this isn’t a ‘Jack of all trades’ release either. Picks from the strong selection must include the brooding, atmospheric trancetipped stepper, ‘About Time’ — crafted with Michael Grieg; the rough metallic prog-edges of ‘Give Me Something’ — which welcomes Carl Cox and Steve Ward — Martin Guttridge Hewitt

If you’re a fan of leftwing ideology, Brit rappers like Lowkey and the cockney pop jams of Lily Allen, then FTSE is for you. Sound obscure?

Well, it is, as hip-hop, grime, pop and wackier, Latin-style influences collide on FTSE’s LP debut ‘Joyless’ — out via independent London imprint, Lucky Number. FTSE butts up against some pretty serious issues on ‘Joyless’ — think poverty, violence, democracy et al — as the MC spits across 11 tracks of agenda-heavy hip-hop. Even FTSE’s name stands for “Fuck The System, Ennit”, leaving little doubt of his anti-capitalist — and at times, exhausting — rap mantra. Highlights include ‘This Is Life’ (“This ain’t life man, no, this is existence”) and ‘Blood On My Hands’ (“It’s rotten, 100% cotton”) that juxtapose fun, pop-focused thumpers with FTSE’s grim lyrical content — dark, plucky, but best of all, thought provoking. Charlotte Lucy Cijffers

Lucky Number Are you feeling Lucky Numbers?

LHF

For The Thrown

Keysound Recordings

10

Superbly sensuous sounds

LHF is a collective of producers that hail from all over the world, but their music soundtracks a place very much not on this planet. Three years ago they laid out their vision in expert fashion on ‘Keepers Of The Light’, and now these cult sound designers return to outline another inter-dimensional place that is thoroughly brainsoothing. Full of reflective synths, long-tailed pads and pixelated melody, ‘For The Thrown’ is a candied fusion of the most tender moments

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 / d j m ag as e a n

of acts like Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada that ultimately suspends you in the most lush and joyous musical realms imaginable.

Many tracks are beatless but conjure up a deep sense of rhythm thanks to persuasive percussive patterns and swooning synths. Those that come with kicks are indebted to bass and dub culture, so are punchy and off-beat, often coming drowned in breaking waves, trilling chords or angelic ad libs. Ensuring things don’t

grow too samey over the course of the album, the moods drift from insular and late-night to sun-bathed and al fresco, with instruments reflecting that: harps, trumpets, finger-clicks and various analogue machines all contribute to an ever-changing textural trip without losing an underlying sense of brilliant brightness. There’s a freedom of expression throughout this whole album that leads to a cumulative effect as blissful as a week on the beach. Kristan J Caryl

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ALBUM REVIEWS

quickies 4.0 Nero

7.0 J-Felix

Between II Worlds

101 Reasons

Virgin Between two stools

Tru Thoughts Brighton boogie

What’s happened to Nero? They started off making cool underground d&b, moved into dubstep — making the quite great ‘Innocence’ in the process — before lurching towards mainstream commercialism?

A lame vocal from new permanent third member Alana Watson and a rubbish dumb-ass EDM synth stab kick off ‘Into The Night’. It wants to be a cool electro-tinged big room house track, but lacks any groove.

‘The Thrill’ is better, gallumphing pop-step that you can imagine all over Radio 1, but without Zane Lowe’s patronage they could be sunk. ‘Tonight’ has fingers-downthe-blackboard cheapo trance synth-work ruining what otherwise might have been passable. ‘destroying. Kim O’Connor

Last time we checked, Brighton wasn’t all palm trees, rollerskates, apricot sunsets and lowrider Cadillacs. But Joe F Newman under his J-Felix guise certainly seems to be living that life, despite his hometown being about as far from LA as it’s possible to be. A sidestep (or should that be two step?) away from Tru Thoughts’ more jazzy fare, J-Felix is all about that purple-tinted 1980s boogie.

‘101 Reasons’ is an impossibly assured debut, and the title track is a real treat with its squidgy electro bass, funk guitar-licks, cool vocals (courtesy of the man himself) and a wistful, breezy feel you just can’t fake. Elsewhere on ‘Late Night S.O.S’ he channels the Gap Band and the S.O.S Band, and touches on instrumental hip-hop.

Quantic Presents The Western Transient

Hanna Haïs

Tame Impala

Atal Music So Frenchy, so chic!

Fiction We all play synth

Raised on a diet of American soul classics, singer Hanna Haïs’ mastery of melody is obvious.

Back with the follow-up to 2009’s ‘Love Paradise’, minimal beats and sparse arrangements let her sugary vocals shine on new LP ‘2071’, which is set for release on off-kilter UK imprint, Atal Music. The bouncy, almost-electro thunk of ‘RendezVous’ is infectious, whilst heady, piano groover ‘A Coté’ is more of a traditional house affair. ‘Edouard’ and ‘N’fa Kafo’ call on flirty, latin influences, before ‘Il Me Parle En Anglais’ bumps like a French re-dub from ‘90s movie A Night At The Roxbury. Ultimately, there’s little not to like about Haïs’ third LP outing, as the singer delivers a gorgeous, sweet-like-chocolate trip through house music’s most melodic and endearing — a treat for French speakers and house heads alike! Charlotte Lucy Cijffers

They were never really a rock band in a conventional sense, but ‘Currents’ sees Aussie psychedelic warriors Tame Impala embrace electronics more than ever. At a time when guitar music was dead on its arse, singer and studio virtuoso Kevin Parker and the crew were wise enough to make the synth their weapon of choice on albums ‘Innerspeaker’ and breakthrough ‘Lonerism’. But ‘Currents’ will be the one that sends them stratospheric.

Mixing their acknowledged influences from DJ Shadow, ’70s funk and the fuzzier edges of psyche, they tap into dancier frequencies here. ‘Let it Happen’ is over seven minutes of charging synth-rock before it switches to a trippy techno mid-section, going all distorted, melancholy funk at the coda, while ‘Past Life’ is psychotropic R&B beats, jagged curves and ‘80s John Hughes nostalgia. Tame Impala’s psychedelic electronic pop is soaring, bittersweet and wonderfully mind-frying. Ben Murphy

2071

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Currents

Company 7.5

The first signing to Toro y Moi’s new label Company is Vinyl Williams, and musically his apple doesn’t fall too far from the bossman’s tree.

He taps into the same dreamy shoe-gazing of Toro; if anything he’s even more somnambulist and far out. File next to Ariel Pink, Connan Mockasin and Wild Nothing. Well worth checking out.

Ben Murphy

On the right track

Will Holland has more side projects than people have opinions on Kanye West. His latest Quantic trip is another live band excursion, this one into breezy, sun-dappled West Coast jazz. It’s gorgeously produced, touching on everything from Grover Washington to Tommy Guerrero. But it’s also smooth like butter, so only slick cats should apply.

Ben Murphy

Lektroluv Records 6.5

On the right track

Italian producers Herva and Dukwa combine for Life’s Track, and their world is one of staggered broken beats playing out alongside a wealth of familiar samples that have been twisted into something that’s at once both recognisable and fresh. However, ‘Venere’ sees them exploring and shaping these ideas, rather than nailing a genuinely impressive LP. Angus Paterson

Remember The Life Is Beautifu Endless 9.0

6.5

Records

Gonno fight

Into the ather

Venere

8.0

Into

Venere Lektroluv

Life’s Track

8.5

Vinyl Williams

Tronik Youth Youth Is Wasted On The Young Nein

7.5

Unsung hero

The second album from the man hardly anyone’s calling “the Japanese James Holden”. Which is because — despite a decade-long career — Gonno remains relatively unknown outside his homeland, a scandalous injustice but one which the 10 tracks of wonky but wonderful house and techno on offer here will hopefullyputright.

Paul Clarke

Loggi

Back To The Jungle Emotif Recordings 8.0

Liquid Gold

Forever young

Despite releasing 75 remixes and 25 singles in 10 years, Tronik Youth’s Neil Parnell has only just got round to writing his debut album. Featuring a veritable smorgasbord of analogue disco goodness from the undulating, gooey ‘Hate Tease’ to the robotic pining of ‘MemorHex’, it’s thrilling, albeit nostalgic, stuff from the veteran producer. Andrew Rafter

Twenty years after hot single ‘I Don’t Mind’ got them signed up for an album that was made but never realised, Emotif unearth and release Loggi’s lost LP, ‘Back To The Jungle’. It’s a heartwarmingly feelgood, piano-heavy and stringlaced jungle roller full of vocal highs, echoing cats like Omni Trio and even Baby D in places. Kristan J Caryl

repeat THE LPS WE CAN’T LEAVE ALONE...

Marky

Alternative

Ashworth

Innerground

Infectious Music

Needwant

My Heroes 9.0

Brazilian d&b don with his first solo artist album.

Light Source 9.0

Leftfield is back! This album doesn’t disappoint.

Grai 9.0

You’ll want and need Ashworth’s debut LP. Simple as that.

dj mag asean / AUGUST 2015

tech Italian DJ/producer Phra from Crookers gives us the lowdown on how he got the killer sound on the Crookers bamger ‘I Just Can’t’ featuring Jeremih earlier this year...

august 2015 / dj mag asean

97

tech NEWS

XONE OFFENSIVE

Allen & Heath’s new XONE:43 and XONE:43C mixers.

CLASSICAL EXPLORATION In The Studio with Emika.

STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY

An exciting look at the future of DJing, brought to you by Native Instruments...

NEW MODEL ARMY

AiAiAi’s new way to get modular sound.

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTic

Numark’s Lightwave speakers.

TECH PRODUCER

Assorted tips and tricks to help your productions on their way.

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STEMS is the new Multi-Channel Audio format from Native Instruments that is going to change the way DJs and live performers deliver their sets.

Without beating about the bush, the technology isn’t actually new as it is based on — and takes advantage of — the existing MP4 file format that has previously been used to deliver audio/ video content but it’s the way that the audio information contained in these MP4 STEM files is delivered which is really the ground-breaking and potentially industry-defining component to Native Instruments’ new STEMS format.

As you read this tasty morsel of news, STEMS and the associated software — as well as product upgrades — will be just about available to every DJ on the planet. However, a few weeks back DJ Mag was lucky enough to pop over to Native Instruments’ UK HQ to get an advanced look at this eagerly anticipated and highly publicised product to get the lowdown on what STEMS is all about. To do some STEMS cell research, if you like...

At a root level, STEMS allows DJs/producers/ labels to be able to deconstruct a full track into the sum of its parts based around Drums, Bassline, Synths, and Voxes. However, in practice and delivery, any part of a track can be allocated to a STEM track. Just to clarify this process, only four

parts of a track can be used in the creation of a STEM file.

In use, what is now apparent is that DJs now have direct control over how a track can be played in a set. One minute the floor is rocking and the mix is sweet, the next the DJ drops the bass, takes out the drums and leaves just the musical and vox elements (perfect for instant acapellas). Then using a STEM file of the next tune, the DJ can now add just the drums of the incoming track to the mix and start to build a long, evolving transformation with more dimension than just mixing the two tracks together.

This technique was used in the good old days.

Look to DJs like Carl Cox or Richie Hawtin, who would use multiple decks to deliver a similar affect, or by DJs that would use kill switches to isolate certain sounds and segments in a track. However, STEMs makes this mixing approach far easier, and that is the key to this new technology. It has been designed to be easy to use, but at the same time allowing for some pretty amazing performances and creative mixing.

Another element of STEMS is the Stem Creator software and the new website which is standalone to Native Instruments’ main site. Users are free to build STEMS using the aforementioned Stem Creator, which is a handy

dj mag asean / august 2015

SOUNDBYTES

Studio Essentials

Tronik Youth’s debut album ‘Youth Is Wasted On The Young’ features Factory Floor’s Gabe Gurnsey on drums and is out now on Nein Records. Here are Tronik Youth’s studio essentials...

piece of preparation software that comes in various guises (DJ/Producer/Label) and allows users and adopters to create their own STEM files.

Once again, this has been designed to be as easy and simple as possible — drag each of the four track parts onto the relevant area in the software, hit the export button and voilá... you have a STEM audio file ready to be used in your set. It really is as quick and easy as that.

Labels can use the Stem Creator to convert and deliver their releases in the STEM format that DJs can buy from outlets such as Beatport, Juno and the likes. Talking about labels, there are a wealth of early adopters that have leapt on board to push this new format along — Toolroom Records, Cadenza, Blackhole Recordings to name just a few.

From its official release STEMS will run on the Traktor Kontrol D2, S8 and F1 controllers with new and existing controllers from various manufacturers to follow. As STEMS is an audio format, there is potential that any MIDI controller that has the right amount of sliders and associated pads knobs and buttons can be set up to use the technology, so prospective users are not just tied down to Native Hardware. Even though this is a Native Instruments-derived format, the MP4 files can be used outside of the STEMS environment, as they will play as ordinary audio files if used with products that are not STEMSenabled. And apparently there are discussions with other manufacturers to adopt the STEMS protocol in their own products, which is a story for another day.

The sneak preview that we saw of STEMS was very exciting, and playing on it opened up new opportunities for creative mixing. It’s been a long time since something totally new has been introduced to the dance music scene that has the potential to change how we go about our business, and STEMS is an exciting look into this future. stems-music.com

august 2015 / dj mag asean

PAINT IT BLACK Reloop drop the refreshed Beat Mix2 Mk2 in new all-black colour. The Black Edition is a rather coollooking performance- oriented two-channel controller for Serato DJing software, sporting an ergonomic two-channel mixer layout, featuring dedicated equalizer and gain controls, high-quality up-faders, super smooth- running crossfader, two FX sections and 16 multi- colour drum pads. £195 reloop.com DONT FADE AWAY Novation up the ante with their revamped Launchpad and Pro controllers for Ableton Live. One of the first dedicated controllers for Ableton Live now comes with RGB pads and a new industrial design. The new RGB Pads will now match the colour of your clips in your session view on your computer, and the new styling and colour scheme gives the new versions even more of the wow factor. £129 — £219 uk.novationmusic.com SIMPLY THE BEST Talking about looking sharp, Pioneer update their flagship DJ headphone with the HJD2000 Mk2 model. Building on the already much-loved original headphone,the new version has a styling revamped as well as a technical overhaul to make these ,Pioneer claim the best ever. £269 pioneerdj.com uk.novationmusic. com

Novation Bass Station II “Such an amazing synth, it is all over my new album. If I’m stuck and need some inspiration, I always go to this, its ability to save exact patches makes it great to come back to again and again.”

U-He Satin “Amazing plug-in, great for dubby tape FX and vocals. It has such grit and depth, which a lot of plug-in reverbs just don’t have, and always has something to add to a production.”

Roland TR-8 “Only had this for a few months but it’s already become a main piece of my studio.

The depth of the kicks and the classic percussion means I can be up and running with some beats in seconds when the inspiration strikes.”

Native Instruments Monark “This plug-in is modelled on the Mini Moog and is astonishing — great for dark basslines and creating fizzing analogue sounding pulses. My first single off the album ‘Splinter Of The Minds Eye’ has lots of this synth featured on it.”

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tech NEWS VERDICT

App REVIEW

APP: IMPC PRO DEVELOPER: AKAI PROFESSIONAL FORMAT: IOS 7+ PRICE: £9.99

ed is dead

can’t live without cubase Ed Is Dead is one of the new breed of Spanish producers making a splash in the ocean...

“I really love and use lots of my ‘toys’ in all my productions: Korg MS2000, Access Virus, Akai MPC, even my Avalon Compressor or my AKG K812 headphones are essential for mixing, but to be honest, I couldn’t have done my entire album, even most of my discography, without Cubase.

“I started producing on an old ‘90s PC computer, then jumped into Reason, Logic and, of course, Pro Tools. I can say I have tried most of the DAWs that have appeared over the years: Fruity Loops, Ableton Live, even Sony VEGAS, but none of them get close to how I feel working with Cubase. I’ve been working with Cubase since its third edition, so I can say we are very close friends but it’s not about technical boundaries of a DAW. It’s about using it as an extension of myself, using it as a creative and essential part of my writing process.

“For my album I took the decision to start composing songs ‘old school’, like a songwriter or an acoustic musician. It may sound stupid but it completely changed my approach about how to produce.

To say Akai’s MPC is an iconic piece of studio equipment would be the understatement of the century. This little box of tricks has been used to write and perform some of the biggest hip-hop and electronic dance tracks of all time, with writers and producers like Dr Dre swearing by them and still using them today. These days there are more than a few versions of the MPC on offer, and the good news for iPad owners is that one of those versions is an iOS App. The reason for the MPC’s continued popularity from the eighties until now is the user interface, which makes beat programming relatively easy and also happens to translate to the iPad perfectly. iMPC Pro is a 64-track music production powerhouse with features like sampling, a comprehensive sound library and effects at users’ fingertips anytime, anywhere — as long as they

8/10

have their iPad with them. The sound library is awesome with over 1400 top-notch sounds on offer covering a range of instruments including beats, synths, basses, leads and more — plus there is the ability to import samples into the library or sample them directly into the library.

The user interface and workflow are not only intuitive and slick, they are a whole lot of fun to use too.

For beat-makers, DJs, musicians and producers, the iMPC Pro could be the perfect way to make music on the go, as well as being a fantastic performance partner for live shows and DJ sets.

ALL ABOUT THE BASS

The team that brought out the innovative Subpac bass system are back with an updated version that refines the experience and delivers a new level of tactile/physical/ audio interaction. The Subpac S2 features all-new technology and materials to deliver a far improved user experience, as well as being overhauled in the looks department.

DJ/producers can use the Subpac S2 to really feel those bass frequencies and get the added physical dimension that the S2 delivers. £299 thesubpac.com

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE Anyone looking for an alternative to the usual DDJ software should take a peek at One DJ Start Edition. A lite version of One DJ, Start is aimed at DJs who like to blur the boundaries between DJing and live performance, offering four-deck mixing combined with DAW-type workflow. One Start Edition is purely for the moment and won’t allow saving or exporting of timelines, but offers a fun alternative at a price that smashes the competition out of the park. £20 one.dj PLASTIC FANTASTIC QRATES is a new way for DJs and labels to release on the beloved vinyl format.

Artists and labels can press vinyl from a minimum of 100 copies and by using the funding system they can collect pre-orders before they actually press to vinyl. The pressing will only begin when the designated amount of pre-orders is reached — a little like a Kickstarter campaign. Merchandise and other goodies can be added to make the release a little bit special. qrates.com

MINIATURE SOUNDS

Minirigs are hand-built mini portable Bluetooth speakers, made by a bunch of Bristol sound engineers who used to build professional club soundsystems, inspired by the Bristol soundsystem culture. The aim of the Minirigs is to deliver serious portable sound that can power up any room — perfect for those ‘all back to mine’ sessions. The full set-up consists of two Minirig speakers (connected via Bluetooth) plus one Minirig Subwoofer, and will be as close as you’ll get to a mini portable club soundsystem.

Minirig.com

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dj mag asean / august 2015

tech NEWS

A moment of your time

Thomas Fehlmann Thomas Fehlmann is one-half of ambient electronic legends The Orb alongside long-term production partner Alex Paterson. They are currently enjoying 25 years of pioneering electronic music creation with the release of their new album, ‘Moon Building 2703 AD’. Four years in the making and the realisation of their journey to date, Thomas puts DJ Mag straight on the perception of time and the joys of making this new piece of work...

This is your first album in a long time, why has it taken so long?

“I’m not quite sure what you consider to be long, because it’s not been too long as far as I’m concerned — in 2013 we had the album with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.”

True, true, but in reference to The Orb solo, it’s been a little while.

“This record is a little different, and we very much looked forward to release something just with the two of us — with no collaborations, no outside support at all. We felt it’s about time that The Orb made a statement as to where we’re at these days, 25 years into our career.

It’s important to tell people who we are these days and what kind of record we’d like to make.”

In regards to the time, how long did it actually take to put together ‘Moon Building’?

“A span of four years, but with lots of gaps and other projects in between.

We weren’t under some grey cloud not knowing which direction to take, more so we just allowed it to grow and ripen and flow into each other. It’s a different technique to how we used to work on other projects.”

So this process is totally different to how you used to work?

“Exactly, we just felt not so much bored but it would be interesting to allow us to develop a new technique. So many ideas are falling under the table out of the time pressure, so we wanted to see what that felt like if we were actually able to spend the time on them. After

august 2015 / dj mag asean

three years we decided that was it, then we spliced it up and made an album out of it.”

Did you find that over the four years, the music you were creating stayed relevant?

“This is always a gamble. You want to correct everything you did looking back over a certain amount of time, and that was a question we were confronted with, especially with us not being bound by timeframes. So we did go back and alter things, that’s not to say whole tracks were changed, just certain sections would be altered.”

Did you record this in your own studio?

“Just here in Berlin in my home studio. All the Lee Perry stuff was done here, and music from the last 15 years, all of it has been done here.

We know it, we feel comfortable here and so there was no need to move somewhere else.

Inspiration from us comes from within, as opposed to the gear around us.”

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tech PRODUCER Welcome to Plug-in Corner, our monthly exposé of some of the best plug-ins around for creating electronic music

words: Mick Wilson

We reveal some handy tips and tricks to help you on the road to wicked productions...

dests Soun er KHoill sh fre the ate cre to w

r... sounds on the dancefloo

sponsored by

CROOKERS’ URBAN HOUSE BANGER

Italian DJ/producer Phra from Crookers gives us the lowdown on how he got the killer sound on the Crookers banger ‘I Just Can’t’ featuring Jeremih earlier this year…

“Not a lot of people know but I have been a rap/R&B’ fanatic since I was twelve. Way before I fell in love with house music, I wanted to be a MC and a rap producer. I’ve also been a fan of Jeremih since ‘Birthday Sex’, and I listened to ‘Late Night’ every day in my car going to the studio for at least two years! So one day I asked my manager if she could make a Crookers feat. Jeremih track possible, and after one week she sent me the acapella for ‘I Just Can’t’.

“The approach for this track was more like a remix rather than a writing session. I’ve never actually met Jeremih, but when I got his vocal I chopped it up and made it work in a different musical territory than his own. I have this folder of ‘Crookers signature drums’ and you

can feel the drums in ‘I Just Can’t’ are the same (but slightly changed) to those in my ‘Day ‘N’ Night’ remix (and those were the same drums from another twenty remixes I did around that time). I started the track by programming a simple fat house drum-loop and chopping all the dirtiness out of Jeremih’s vocal. After that I could literally do whatever I wanted, cos the drums and vocal were already working great.

“I decided to keep it really simple

— a really simple bassline, a really simple structure, a really simple break (not too crazy or uplifting), and revert back again into the good old filter and vocal trick. As my girlfriend always says to me, ‘I Just Can’t’ is very basic as a song if you compare it to my other productions as Crookers or LuckyBeard. It doesn’t show my ‘skills’ in a hip-hop way, but it works great in clubs and it’s having success probably because of its simplicity.”

SAMPLE TANK: CR2 RECORDS ‘GLITCH HOP’

CR2 RECORDS are back with another addition to their producer toolkit range with a sample library that crosses a few popular borders in its design. ‘Glitch Hop’ brings the high-pitched, wobbly bass sound of glitch house and dubstep made popular by artists like Skrillex and combines them with a more laidback hip-hop-inspired groove than wouldn’t be found in house or techno-style productions. ‘Glitch Hop’ comes fully loaded with ‘killer’ basslines, drum and synth loops, punchy drum hits (including key labeled kicks), twisted synth shots and inspiring FX that should stimulate those creative juices. However, CR2 go one step further by adding three Prod-Cast video tutorials highlighting some of the production techniques used in the pack, and a handy booklet containing tips and tricks from the producer. They also throw in a video from well respected DJ/producer Mike Monday offering an insight into creative productions.The pack is made up of eight construction kits that are quickandeasyfornewproducerstorun,asthe kits break up the main element of a track into nice bite-size portions — drums, melodies, vocal hooks, FX etc. As an added extra, users of Native Instruments’ Massive Synth also get twenty sound presets to use at their will. The samples in the pack come in wav audio format and weigh in at a healthy 2.87gigabytes.

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plug-in: XFER RECORDS Developer: SERUM Format: MAC/PC NATIVE Price: £121.13 BERLIN-BASED Future Audio Workshop have just brought out the latest version of their flagship synthesiser, Circle2.

The original Circle was released in 2009 and quickly gained some cult status within both underground and pop-hit makers production communities. Artists such as Deadmau5, Hudson Mohawke, Arca, Rustie, among others, have been backing the abilities of this synth since its first release, and, now we’ve got our hands on it (thanks to our friends at Plugin Boutique), we can see why.

A new type of synthesis can be found in Circle2: VPS (vector phase-shaping synthesis). FAW describe it like this, “The VPS oscillator works by gluing together a pair of sine waves with specified frequencies.

Via its two parameters — which control the frequencies of the sine waves and the location at which they are glued — the VPS oscillator provides direct control of the waveform’s intricate harmonics”. Might sound complicated, but what matters most is that in use the audio results are great.

We found experimenting with this new VPS engine produced pleasing results in the sound department. From subby basslines, d&b risers, all the way through to bigsounding leads and pads and it didn’t take long for us to get some decent results. The extensive modulation parameters enabled even more tweaking, which in our opinion you can actually get a bit too lost in.

Circle2 is compatible for both Mac and PC, in all desirable formats (VST, AU, AAX + Standalone) and is also ‘Retina Ready’ for all you coffee-shop Mac users. In summary, even those who didn’t have a chance to use the original Circle will be very impressed with Circle2.

VERDICT

7/10

PRICE

£15.99

contact

cr2records.com

VERDICT

8/10

Plug-in Corner is sponsored by pluginboutique.com, your login for plug-ins! dj mag asean / august 2015

price

VERDICT

UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt Quad Core From £749 UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt Octo Core From £1,169 BUILD QUALITY CONTACT

uaudio.com

EASE OF USE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY sound quality

9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0

HYPE

Fanless design, Thunderbolt connectivity, ultra-portable and ultra-fast data transfer speeds.

Gripe

No PC support.

Universal Audio’s ever-popular UAD platform is now available with a Thunderbolt connection that gives blisteringly fast data transfer speeds to create the ultimate ultra-portable box of high-end studio tools for the discerning professional.

LIGHTING STRIKES TWICE

9/10

Universal Audio’s UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt gives lighting-fast performance…

Universal Audio has a reputation that has gone beyond legendary and has become almost mythical in high-end professional audio circles, with their classic equipment such as the Teletronix LA-2 proudly on display in the racks of virtually every high-end studio the world over. Like many of these old-skool legends, the road has been a rocky one but these days UAD is in good hands with the sons of Bill Putnam — the original creator of the company — at the helm, and Bill’s boys have taken the company from strength to strength in recent years.

They’ve taken the UAD name to greater heights than ever before, thanks to an ‘only the best will do’ approach to audio quality matched with innovative product design, which is keeping the UAD name at the forefront of digital studio technology.

Of course, while most of us would love to have a rack full of vintage UAD equipment, the fact is that the purchase cost of even a few choice pieces of this kit would financially cripple most of today’s producers, and that is without getting into the costs associated with studio space along with electricity bills and maintenance. Thankfully, the UAD-2 series of DSP processors have managed to pack in all of the amazing sound of the original UA equipment along with other seriously high-end outboard manufacturers’ equipment such as Manley, Shadow Hills and Thermionic Culture (to name but a few) into a digital box of tricks.

The latest in this highly respected linage of DSP processors is the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt, which Have a press kit ready These days, playing out live is more important than ever for income and exposure, so make sure you have a professional press kit ready.

as the name suggests brings the UAD-2 Satellite’s unique plug-in platform into a Thunderboltequipped shiny black box. This will no doubt delight Mac-based pro-audio perfectionists and be much cause for celebration in those circles.

While UAD’s DSP platform is available in a few different flavours, this new Thunderbolt version is sure to be a hit with the music-making community who use Apple as their platform of choice — especially as the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt has the same data transfer performance levels as the PCIe card version, without the limitations of needing installation inside a desktop computer.

Another advantage the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt has over the PCIe card-based version is the portability that comes with an external thunderbolt device, making this box of tricks the perfect way for engineers and producers to bring their favourite production tools to any studio or recording session when away from home. The build quality of the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt is lovely, with two Thunderbolt connectors at the rear for added convenience, and the size is compact — saving valuable studio space as well as making it super-portable.

The UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt is available in two different versions: the cheaper QUAD version, which has four SHARC digital signal-processing chips onboard, and the OCTO version which has eight SHARC chips with twice the processing power. When it comes to plug-ins, once the Satellite

Don’t be cheap Nothing will ruin a track quicker than heavy-handed use of cheap and nasty reverbs. Get a decent reverb plug-in and your tracks will instantly gain a level of polish.

Keep the dynamics Misuse of brick wall compression or limiting will rob a track of life and energy. Learn how to use dynamics to your advantage and your tracks will benefit massively.

system has been purchased owners can pick and choose from over 90 plug-ins on offer from names like Ampex, Lexicon, Roland, Studer, Neve, Manley, SSL, EMT and Empirical Labs — these are each sold separately. However, each of the three editions of the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt come with a mouthwatering selection of plug-ins included in the price — the UAD Analog Classics Plus bundle.

This includes the legacy edition of the LA-2A Audio Leveller, 1176 Limiting Amplifier, Pultec EQP-1A and Pultec Pro equalisers, Fairchild 670 compressor, plus the 610-B Tube Preamp. The slightly more expensive Custom edition of the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt gives owners the UAD Analog Classics Plus package plus their choice of another three additional UAD plug-ins, while the top of the range Ultimate 3 edition comes with no less than 79 of the most awesome-sounding and lusted-after UA powered plug-ins.

For Apple users, it will be hard to find a better way to expand their studio with a stunning range of the absolute top of the line studio plug-ins than the UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt — it’s sleek, compact and portable as well as hugely expandable with new plug-ins or add-on Satellite units. The UAD range of devices are among the most popular tools used every day by top-end engineers and producers the world over for a reason, and this latest digital powerhouse from UAD is sure to continue the legacy and gain huge support from adoring fans the world over.

Use counter melodies Good use of counter melodies underneath vocals and lead lines will add interest and give tracks a professional sound.

TIPS djmag.com

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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through the lens

pix of the month

Just snapped a cool picture? Send it to info@djmagasean.com with ‘Picture Perfect’ in the subject line

Justin Thesua Choo, a visual artist born and raised in the heart of Singapore, is our featured photographer for Picture of The Month in this issue. This globetrotter has always had the knack for photography and decided on pursuing a diploma in visual arts and is now a graduate from the Lasalle College of the Arts. This young photographers love for visual and music have come together as he has started documenting music festivals and events in and around Asia. Justin started shooting videos for local night clubs in Singapore and progressed ahead with photography, which opened many doors for his. Since then he’s been the man behind the lens at festivals like Ultra, Zoukout,, Future Music Festival, A State Of Trance, Mysterious World and many more.

To see more of Justin Thesua Choo’s work, visit Instagram: @jxtcz Facebook: www.facebook.com/ justin.thesuachoo Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/ justinthesuachoo 500px: www.500px.com/ JustinThesuaChoo

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dj mag asean / august 2015

august 2015 / dj mag asean

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dj mag asean / august 2015