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Showing posts from September 1, 2005

solaris on decks

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Unrelenting since 1995 is the best way to describe DJ Solaris. In a blazing fury of vinyl and chaos, Solaris assaults party goers and sound systems alike. Many have fell before the ceaseless barrage of gritty acid techno in Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, and in cities all across the Midwest. This devout DJ/producer stepped up to the Techno alter in the mid nineties and has been preaching the word of evil techno ever since. Picture a dark dungeon, pounding with a rhythmic drone. Inside people are in a fervor some still unable to comprehend what this man behind the decks is wielding. Such stories are just a drop to the stories Solaris has to tell about his experience performing around the US. Few have the stamina and perseverance that this man puts forth at every show, giving this Tyrant of Techno a formidable collection of sounds to penetrate the ears of any with the conviction to witness his presence. This month, phocas.net brings you an exclusive mix from Solaris. His ne

shadowrunner sept 2005 trance

With over fifteen years experience in the local and regional electronic music scene, DJ Shadowrunner has been a promoter, producer, DJ , as well as, provider of sound and lighting for clubs and events. Through the years he has gained quite the ear for the music that will inspire and move the crowds. Check out his monthly picks in the genre of Trance, and enjoy the music of the night. Erro V & Essex - The Second Day (Perry O'Neil Remix) - Captivating Sounds There are forces in the world set on killing your good time. Arm yourself with this lethal pair of Anthems, rally the troops, and give them hell. A strong synth driven effort here from Captivating Sounds. Dance Valley 2005 tested..... Raver approved!!!! Stan Void - Montavo <b:side> A Moment's Definition - Somatic Sense Vision I am hooked on these two tracks and once we fire up the decks, there is no relief for this addiction. Epic trance fans can rejoice once again. Montavo is the more uplifting and driving ant

solaris sept 2005 techno

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Techno DJ and Producer Solaris is back again pushing the sounds to those in the world that need it most. These are some of his favorite tracks that have pushed their way into his mind this month. Always looking for a way to expand your horizons, in the techno world, check out these tracks and reviews. Mouseville - Cirez D - MOUSE001RMX Leave it to great purveyors of the techno genre to go and do something so nice! Words cant even describe what Beyer and Henrik B. were up to or thinking but I have to say that this is a piece of gold electro elements with the techno attitude! The flip side has a nice builder while keeping the electro tip. A must have for any club. This will get them swinging off their seats! Gigamusic – Nova - GIGA06 This reminds me of another record I have. Nice and spacey with it feeling almost Goa-like. This has the very minimal Detroit feel that kept me going when I first started. Like they say it is what dreams are made of! Keep in mind that this is still te

svs sept 2005 jungle and dnb

Originally from Long Island, NY, SVS has been playing around in Kansas City since mid-2000, playing different types of music over that time and finally settling on Jungle & DnB and pushing the limits of that since. Here's his picks for the month! SKC: Dominion/Offguard: Promo: Commercial Suicide Bringing the bang for your buck back to Commercial Suicide is SKC is this release. Dominion is a very nice dark piece with those ever so lovely chain-clanking snares. It’s a perfect track for any time of the night. Offguard sounds like something if Bad Company and Baron had a baby. Very nice bouncy beat with grasping pauses. The melody is some to be desired as it is almost mystical. arQer: Locomoco/Squalor: Promo: Basic Going solo this time arQer drives the A side as properly named, Locomoco. A very fast paced track for all of you speed freaks out there. Slowing it down a bit on the flip side is Squalor. A very nice release from the previous track with a very chill, late night synt

crampton sept 2005 house

Brent Crampton ~ Whether it be funky and deep, bompty and quirky, or just click-click beepy – this is your monthly house music source for what’s hot and churning on the dance floors at the moment. And with the Winter Music Conference just behind us, so many great choons are now on the market. Andre Harris - Get Down Africa - Large Soaring trumpets, spoken word and crisp drums, Harris makes his Large debut with this afro-centered jazz EP. With the main mix giving more of an instrumental New York feel, the house mix and dub bring the energy level up with smooth production reminiscent of a Miguel Migs and Jay-J selection. Jihad Muhammad feat. Carolyn Victorian - Melt In You - Hustle Music B ordering on porno house, this deep, moody, minimal and above all - sexy deep house track is a sexually conscious mix. A female spoken word urges that she wants to feel your special place in hers, wanting to melt in you. Sueno En Ti - Soul Creation - Deepagrooves Beach samba bliss, a Spanish fe

rj bass sept 2005 break beats

So September is upon us. Were getting out of the warm months and heading straight for the cold months or as i like to call them, the Bers. It wont be long before were all forced to stay inside to escape the cold, wind and snow that generally come with the Bers. That being the case I decided to cover a few different radio stations in this months breaks reviews. Internet radio shows can help with not being able to get out and enjoy the night life. Internet radio shows are also an up and down thing. One station may have over a thousand listeners at any given time, while another may only have 10. Regardless of the amount of listeners on any one given station, their is almost always something good to hear. When it comes to the breaks, we have a plethora of great shows and stations for which to listen to, which is a good thing, because if its cold outside and also if you live in one of the many cities where breaks are not played out in the local night life much, these stations can really hel

ask a dj sept 2005

by svs ~Have you ever been at a party and wanted to know how the DJ just pulled that trick? Ever wondered what all those knobs and buttons do? Perhaps you want to know what color his underwear was? For whatever question you may have had and didn't have the opportunity to ask or you were just to shy, now's your time. fall3n: Is any / all of your equipment insured, and how often does your gear get jacked up or disappear? Personally, none of my equipment is insured since normally it never leaves my house. However, due to recent events I'd suggest to everyone that they get their gear insured. I myself have yet to experience the pain of having anything of mine jacked aside from a pair of headphones here and there but I know plenty of people who have lost years and years of hard work due to some gutless culprits. My suggestions to you all, weather you take your gear out or not is to get insurance. Aside from things being stolen you also have to account for damage such as fir

the politics of dancing 2

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by Betty Kang, PlexiPR ~  Politics – nothing to do with dance music? Paul van Dyk’s first installment of Politics Of Dancing established his belief that dancing is a political act and dance music can very well be political. He should know. As someone who enjoyed little freedom in his native East Berlin before escaping over the wall to the West, he understood all too well that radios and dance music are windows to freedom for many young people in repressive societies. His own experience has led him to use the global youth culture platform provided by dance music to voice his political opinions, such as his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq, to encourage active participation in democracy, such as his Rock the Vote Tour in 2004, and to help fight poverty by supporting social care networks for the disadvantaged from India’s Mumbai province (Akanksha) to New York (Ground Hero Kids) to his native Berlin in partnership with the German Red Cross (Rueckenwind). And in contrast to the popula

three hallucienda

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by Betty Kang, PlexiPR ~ The new mix CD from noted New York-based DJ/producer Three of the critically acclaimed Second-Hand Satellites (with Sean Q6) & remix project Three A.M. (with Rabbit in the Moon's David Christophere). The culmination of both the last three years work into the Hallucination Limited record label and the last 11 years of being involved with Hallucination Records (who’s roster included Rabbit In The Moon and electro giants Jackal & Hyde). HALLUCIENDA is Three and Hallucination’s long-awaited, first ‘official’ DJ-mixed CD and captures the genre-bending diversity of both Three’s DJ sets and the output on his Hallucination Limited label. It features rare exclusives and unreleased tracks expertly mixed by Three himself using Pioneer’s DVJ-X1, Allen & Heath’s Xone:92 mixer, Red Zone’s C-Loops sampler and outboard effects. On this benchmark compilation Three says, “First and foremost this CD is about the label, but I wanted to present it as a live DJ m

made in miami

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Justin Kleinfeld ~ “Over the last few years Miami has come a long way in developing as an important place for dance music and I am very proud to have been a part of that... I have always tried to be an ambassador for Miami when I tour and this CD is a reflection of the sound I take from Miami to the rest of the world.” – Oscar G, August 2005 On October 4, *69 Records will release Oscar G’s long awaited new mix compilation, Made In Miami. Look no further than the title of this CD to understand what Oscar G. is all about. He was born and bred in Miami; he is one of the architects of much talked about “Miami sound;” and he is one-half (along with partner Ralph Falcon) of Miami’s super award-winning production / remix team MURK. Oscar G. was indeed made in Miami and this CD is a window into his world. Made In Miami is Oscar G’s most personal and introspective project to date. Unlike his previous mix CDs – which often only covered a moment in time on the dance floor – Made In Miami wa

insen

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Justin Kleinfeld ~  Forma announces a major European tour of Insen, the much-anticipated live collaboration between critically-acclaimed German electronic composer/visual artist Carsten Nicolai [Alva Noto] and multi award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Released in March 2005 on the raster-noton / Asphodel label, the album has received critical acclaim around the world. This new live production of the collaborative project will feature the introduction of a specially commissioned new digital instrument used by Nicolai. An on-stage video installation by the artist will create a distinctive stage set featuring dynamic, real-time visualization of the sound as graphics. Insen will be presented in major venues across Europe, with a world premiere at the Opera House in Chemnitz, Nicolai's home town. The tour continues with dates in London, Paris, Berlin, Chiasso, Rome, Milan, Bari, Modena and Udine. Berlin-based Carsten Nicolai is an artist whose work comprises images, install

extraordinary ways

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Justin Kleinfeld ~   Conjure One is the product of producer Rhys Fulber. Fulber is best known as a former member of defining industrial act Frontline Assembly and one half of ambient dance project Delerium. You might be familiar with his million-selling Delerium album, Karma, which features the smash hit “Silence” sung by the Grammy Award-winner Sarah McLachlan. the multi-talented Fulber has also been a producer-in-demand for several years. His list of credits ranges from metal outfits Fear Factory (supplying production, programming, keyboards, and arrangements to such popular albums as 1995's Demanufacture and 1998's Obsolete, among others) Megadeth, Mudvayne and Paradise Lost to AOR pop acts Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban. As with his debut, Extraordinary Ways (08.30.05, Nettwerk America) features vocal performances by several female singers while musically, is a blend of lush textures, haunting melodies and electronic rhythms. However, this time - for the first time in

alcyone

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Justin Kleinfeld ~ photo by DJ Dragonfly ~  Alex Newman and Suzanne Sterling bring a rich legacy of experience to Alcyone from their studio and stage work as producer and lead vocalist of internationally renowned, pioneering electronic dance act, Medicine Drum. Newman produced, co-wrote, and engineered Medicine Drum’s 2003 third album Original Face, which was given a rave review by Billboard: “A Major Thrill... one cool track after another.” Newman and Sterling have toured the USA extensively and performed internationally with Medicine Drum - as keyboardist and lead vocalist - including the recent Australian tour, shows in Japan, and as the opening act for popular electronic/live crossover band Sound Tribe Sector 9 on their 2003 US tour. Alcyone has become a popular choice with clubbers, festival-goers and all-night party people, playing peak-time performances at Earthdance, Harmony Festival, Burning Man’s “Sol System,” Solfest, Anon Salon’s Sea of Dreams, San Francisco Decompression

love week

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Betty Kang ~ San Francisco, CA - The landmark electronic music event Loveparade San Francisco taking place Saturday, September 24th is announcing a full ‘LOVE WEEK’ of festivities to bookmark the main event with the City of San Francisco providing the perfect backdrop as the original home of the Summer of Love. This year’s Loveparade DJ line-up brings together DJs from all over the global dance music community with Paul van Dyk, Carl Cox, Lee Burridge, Ferry Corsten, Crystal Method, Bad Boy Bill, Lee Coombs, DJ Dan, Hyper, Goldie and many more confirmed. Over the years, Paul van Dyk has been a leading force in the Loveparade Berlin and exclaims about this year’s event, "I was very excited when I heard that the Loveparade will take place in North America. I am sure that the positive and peaceful vibe of this event will be an extra feature in the amazing cultural life of San Francisco and is going to become an annual highlight!" Here some other artists have expressed thei

woogles!

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by David Goth ~ photos by todd ~ Kansas City, MO - Jason Guffey is an artist friend of mine, that I think is doing something that's really cool, so when I got the chance to interview him for phocas.net, I jumped at it. Guff's sculptures are a variety of different figures, some simple, but with an incredible amount of character, each one seeming to have it's own personality simply from the whims of the designer. Others include fully articulated figures that when you look at them, and see the detail, start to question if they really are only made with pipe cleaners. Yeah, pipe cleaners! It's a beautiful thing to see Guffey pull those figures out and people just start throwing out the questions... "Yes, they're made with nothing but pipe cleaners" is the answer to the usual first question. I once had an interest in making some figures for stop motion animation and I know how important and difficult it is to have joints with that kind of articulation. But

chaos upon chaos

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Sarah Bates ~  photos by todd & Shaun Williams ~  Kansas City, MO - July 30, 2005 - It's that time of year again, time for scantily clad women, cold drinks, late nights and parties that go all night long. Everyone seemed to be just waiting anxiously in anticipation. You couldn't venture out in Kansas City without seeing a flyer or billboard, hearing a radio ad. And with the drought of parties this summer, everyone was rearing and ready to go. It was time for Chaos. This particular party, Chaos Theory v3.0: The Catalyst, held three consecutive years in a row, at The Uptown Theater. I have had the pleasure of attending all three of these events and I must say this year they outdid themselves yet again. We showed up as the doors opened (as those of us who are hardcore do!) and there were already many anxious partygoers roaming around. We walked around and checked everything out. The Uptown itself seemed ready to party. All four rooms looked amazing, but I was really imp

scirbble jam 2005 - a hip hop frenzy

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story & photos by Chris Milbourn ~ Cincinnati, OH - “Some come for the shows, some come for the hos…but whatever happens on the road, stays on the road.” - MURS and Mac Lethal “There’s seven main hills that surround Cincinnati,” my taxi driver informed me on the way from the airport to the Days Inn. Looking out my window, I was taken aback by the hilly terrain in this part of Ohio. The scenery reminded me of the Ozarks in southern Missouri, minus the red clay. This would be my first vacation in the Eastern Time zone, and the farthest I’d ever been without family members or a single friend. I was flying solo. When I checked in and got the keys to my hotel room, I felt exhausted and frustrated that I couldn’t trust anyone around me, namely the taxi drivers and even the hotel clerks. I dropped everything in my room and crashed on the bed until six o’clock that evening. I showered and changed clothes, only then realizing what a dump I would be staying in. I went downstairs an