September blog roundup

Time to sum up the first month of Innotune.

The most read blog post of September was the funny one about Armin vs Tiesto at Dj Mag Top 100 2008. But we had other neat treats as well. Marcus wrote about the life on the road as a dj, and helped us put things in perspective. Thomas Sagstad reminded us about the PLUR of dance music.

We’ve got a really good discussion going on after Ville Lope wrote about the rise of superstar producers. Get in there and share your opinion!

This month has also given us blog posts about touchscreen dj’ing, the MIDI controllers Ohm 64, Vestax VCM 600 and Akai APC 40, edm vs hiphop, album reviews and of course the first Innotune podcast episode in which Marcus Schossow did the mix in the end.

It’s been a fantastic first month. Thank you for the kind feedback we’ve recieved! Support us by spreading the word and adding Innotune at Facebook and Twitter.

Dj Mag Top 100, 2008: Backstage

So the spam-wave from all the djs has decreased on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, and the votes are in for the 2009 Dj Mag Top 100 djs. As we’ll have to wait until the 28th of October to get the results, here’s a video from backstage at the Dj Mag awards 2008 we found on YouTube… Or is it…?

Ps: We’re not taking any sides in the Tiesto vs Armin thing. To be honest, we don’t really care that much either. We think both Tiesto and Armin are good sports and have a laugh at this one. We sure laughed.

Album review: Basement Jaxx – Scars

New music from the Basement Jaxx is always good news. But is this album good enough to scar you for life?

It has been a decade since the Jaxx revolution. The two blokes from Brixton, London saved house music from boring beats throughout the nineties. Since their album debut and commercial breakthrough with “Remedy” in 1999 we’ve heard three albums, a few compilations and a number of EPs. Three years after “Crazy Itch Radio” they are back with “Scars”, their fifth long-player.

Even though it was their new approach on dance music that got the Jaxx their status as musical geniouses, I feel the albums has grown into a collection of pop tunes rather than floorfillers. But with that said: It’s still impossible to stand still when you experience the live act. The UK duo’s effect on dancefloors worldwide has been and is still impressive.

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Akai APC 40 – The one and only, or just one of many?

The midi controller market is just overflowing ATM, everyone seems to be into this trend of doing so called “live sets” or making the DJ life way simpler or more advanced depending on how you look on things. Up till now I’ve been trying to find my way in this jungle of midi controller’s, where they all promise the ultimate experience.

So what creates the “perfect midi controller”?

It has to be a solid machine, you must be able to manhandle the knobs, the faders as you would do when you rock out at the club in front of your crowd.

Easy to set up – Plug and play. Lets face it, there’s nothing more annoying as a DJ, when the DJ after you comes in drunk, and needs to hook up 300 different cables and then struggle to get the shit running.

Easy to use, or at least easy to program so you can make it as complex or as easy as you would prefer.

I still haven’t tried a controller who has all these parts! Where most controllers fail is in the quality feel of the knobs and faders. Last thing I would want playing out is to be worried I’d break off 3 knobs and a fader in the process.

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Podcast 001 – Starring Marcus Schossow

Over one hour with fresh edm for your listening pleasure. Download the first ever Innotune podcast episode!

Download with iTunes
Listen with Mixcloud
or subscribe.

The show contains a nice blend of Drum’n'Bass, House, Minimal, Trance and Chillout. The 30 minute mix in the end is done by Innotune member Marcus Schossow.

Please let us know what you think by commenting this post. Since this is the first episode, we deeply appreciate feedback.

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Dawn of a new species – new gear from Pioneer

Some of you might have noticed that Pioneer is up to something new. They are releasing a new product on 17th September 2009 – and they claim it’s something we haven’t seen before.

There’s been some clever guerilla marketing online so far. Using promotional teaser videos and Twitter, they have created somewhat a hype – at least on my opinion. Check out PioneerDjKarl’s updates on Twitter to get a better overview.

The upcoming product have been introducing some big names relying heavily on Pioneer products when performing live. Armin Van Buuren, James Zabiela, Eddie Halliwell, Roger Sanchez, Laidback Luke, Angello & Ingrosso have said their (sponsored) opinions about the product.

Those videos are easily seen from Pioneer’s own DJ portal djsounds.com, but the announcement of the new CDJ NEXT (if that is the name) is  just in few hours.

Why the hype has been so good then? If someone is trying to get a good view on the product from a reflection from Roger Sanchez’s sunglasses, it has to be something big, right?

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PLUR – “Peace Love Unity Respect”? Part 1

“Many in the rave scene have heard this term at some time or another, although its common usage is relatively recent. Early 1990s and mid-1980s ravers often followed similar principles, but did not use this coinage to describe their beliefs. It may be interpreted as the way that a raver believes he or she should live his or her life, and how people are expected to behave at a rave. This philosophy of the rave culture theoretically takes precedence over any chemical aspects of the rave scene”

I was randomly browsing some of my old favourite djs/producers Myspace sites, and I came across a “statement” made by ATB`s agency Dancefield. You can read the whole story here.

But to break it into the short version for the lazy reader out there. It pretty much say that PVD refused to play directly after the German superstar ATB.

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When you put things into perspective

Now, iv always hated djs who are crying about their jobs, honestly, would you rather work in a storage knowing that the tomates goes into the number 347 in your system and that the spanish sallad always gets in on tuesday night so on wedensday you know you will spend half of the day aranging space for it in the storage ?

Sure, flying can be a hassle and it is very a lonely job (unless you are a top 10 dj so you can force the promoters to pay for your agent to come along…). But does it really matter ? You will be doing what you love and you have to sometimes understand that you are one of the lucky once out of the 28347834374637 other djs that tried to make it.

Im sitting hear in my hotel room in Seoul/Korea and im pretty fucked up by the jetlag and the night before. Iv managed to be in Copenhagen, Vienna, Bratislava, Miami, New York, Frankfurt, Beijing, Tampa & Seoul all within 5 days… Should i complain about my flight shedule ? Erhmm i dont think so, i just got paid for traveling the world and to drink a magnum bottle of champagne for free as “thanks” for coming to a club.

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Calvin Harris – Ready for the weekend: Album review

The Scottish producer & songwriter Calvin Harris released his new album named “Ready for the weekend” a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been listening to it for a while on my iPhone, in my car, and on some pre-partys. It’s already number #1 on the UK charts, and here’s my thoughts on the new album.

I was a sucker for his last album “I Created Disco” that hit the stores in 2007. The moog-ish, simple, and catchy melodies captured me in to his sound, and it was actually fun listening to. Calvin had a huge success with the track “Acceptable in the 80s” with the infamous lyrics “I got love for you if you were born in the 80s” on the album, and surely the track appealed to many people like me – born in the 80s and got introduced to dance music in the 90s.

He knows his audience, and that’s the genius with Calvins’ album: Remember those catchy (almost meaningless) short vocal phrases, piano stabs and saw chords? Well, it’s time for a re-introduction.

The album got 14 tracks, but I won’t go through them all with you here, but rather tell you about my top 3 picks:

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Ever wanted to remix Röyksopp?

Check out two great Röyksopp fan remixes, download the original and have a go at “Tricky Tricky” yourself!

Norwegian duo Röksopp released the brilliant album “Junior” in March, and it’s instrumental follow up “Senior” is out later this fall. In the meantime, Torbjørn and Svein decided to give away the parts of the single “Tricky Tricky” to creative fans. And what a remix package!

The material has been out there for a couple of months, and remixers from all over the world have had a go.

I have listened through most of the submissions so far, and I’ve found two really nice tracks. I think you will enjoy them too, if you can stand the fact that they both use auto tune to get away with their own melody.

First up: The original. This is actually up for free download as well:

Tricky Tricky (Original) by Royksopp

When entering you’re uploading your track to a geographic category. Marcus Longfoot and Craig Williams submitted this excellent feelgood tune to the Australian folder at SoundCloud:

Tricky Tricky Marcus Longfoot Craig Williams Club Mix by Marcus Longfoot

Then back to Norway again. Vendurain’s Return To V-Dur Remix is a beautiful slow electro stomper:

Röyksopp – Tricky Tricky (Vendurain’s Return To V-Dur Remix) by Vendurain

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