R.E.T.R.O.

Innotune aren’t known for reviewing all sorts of albums and releases from every corner of the world. When we like something – we put it in our podcast.

However, every now and then something special, different, and fresh pops up. That’s exactly what reached my ears today, and it’s called R.E.T.R.O. by the group mind.in.a.box.

It’s like everyone wants to make retro sounds these days, and then copies some supersaw stabs and arpeggios from back in the 90s. Some of it works, but it’s not what I would call proper retro. Proper retro for me is chip-music, trackers, 8-bit tracks and squeky sounds. If you know what “FT2″ means, then you know what I’m talking about. If not: Go get a history lesson in electronic music production.

Mind.in.a.box is a band consisting of two guys from Austria named Stefan Poiss and Markus Hadwiger. They originally created computer games, but decided to move into music production in 2002. Their sound isn’t exactly what you would call “2002-ish” but that’s what’s great about it! It’s full of 8-bit sounds and oldschool tracker-inspired sounds.

Their brand new album R.E.T.R.O. is just what it says: Retro. If you’re lucky enough to have access to Spotify, you can listen to it right HERE. If not, well, you’ll figure it out…

I strongly suggest you to check out the track “8-bit”, and here’s a snippet of the great lyrics – which is some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a while:

8 bits are enough for me,
this is not where I should be.
my life is more than information,
I want a life beyond emulation.

Five vikings ready to give you more EDM content.

Our electronic music blog and podcast has been around for six months! Here’s the best of Innotune until now.

Top 5 most read:

1. Dj Mag Top 100 backstage
   A video to cheer you up, posted by Håkon Lofthus.
2. When you put things into perspective
   Marcus Schossow wrote about his everyday life as a travelling DJ. An interesting read for any aspiring producer or DJ.
3. 5 great iPhone apps for music production and inspiration
   Quick reviews of five apps you should own to boost your musical creativity whilst on the move. Written by Endal.
4. What is podcasting?
   This is our view of the phenomenon podcasting. Written by Endal right after we had to shut down the MP3 feed of our podcast.
5. OHM 64 – Yet another MIDI spaceship?
   The first thoughts of Marcus Schossow after trying the OHM 64 MIDI controller.

Our own picks:

• Originality and superstardom
  Ville Lope wants more originality in EDM.
• The evolution of the lazy DJ
  DJ math – the numbers behind modern DJ-ing. A funny read from Thomas Sagstad.
• Are you a DJ or a controllerist?
  Computer DJ-ing is pretty much like controllerism, writes Endal. Or is it?
• Top 7 acoustic covers of electronic music
  Håkon Lofthus has found great acoustic remakes of legendary EDM.
• PLUR – Peace, love, unity and respect
  Thomas Sagstad reminds us about the PLUR of dance music.

The podcast episodes:
Our six audio episodes has all featured tracks we believe you should check out. Plus DJ mixes by Marcus Schossow, Mark Knight, Way Out West, Ville Lope, Thomas Sagstad and AN21.

Thank you for your support. We look forward to serving you more EDM buzz in the future.

Download episode six, with a mix by AN21 in it!

Drum’n'Bass, Minimal and Trance + House head AN21 in the mix. Here’s episode six.

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Discover new EDM with another episode of the Innotune podcast. This month our crew have picked out 11 bangers for you, including music from Sub Focus, Hoaxx, Lusine and Mark Pledger!

The second part is as usual reserved for a special DJ mix, this time from Swede AN21.  He’s on fire at the moment with another great Size release with partner in crime Max Vangeli. You may also know his tracks Volodja and Flonko done with his brother Steve Angello.

Download, listen, share and enjoy!

First half: Various EDM presented by Endal
1. Sub Focus – Could This Be Real (Sub Focus DnB Remix) – RAM Records
2. Hobo – Symptom – Minus
3. Deadmau5 & Chris Lake – I Said – Mau5trap
4. John Lagora – New York (Wehbba Remix) – SK Supreme
5. Ali Disco B – Check The Lovers – Dandy Kid Records
6. Hoaxx – Cadillac: Arcade – Dandy Kid Records
7. Lusine – Twilight – Ghostly International
8. Sovve – Some Other Day (Thomas Cresine Remix) – Bonzai Progressive
9. Mark Pledger feat. Melinda Gareh – Time Stands Still (Andy Duguid Remix) – Solaris
10. Ayleon – Gear Up – Subtraxx
11. Flight & Jontey – We Do Everything In The – CDR

Second half: AN21 guest mix
12. Jaimy & Kenny D – Work It (Jaimy remix) – Drum Mode
13. Obernik & Paul Harris – The Take (Sultan & Ned Shepherd Instrumental) – Harem
14. De Nuit and Mischa Daniels – All That Mattered (Mischa’s Rock Tool) – Fame
15. Laidback Luke & Gregor Salto – Step By Step (Big Room Mix) – Network Records
16. Tim Berg – Alcoholic (AN21 booty) – White
17. AN21 & Max Vangeli – Gama – Size Records
18. Steve Angello – Monday (AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix) – Size Records

Our five EDM bloggers.

Here’s top of the Innotune blog of January.

Get to know controllerism. Can we compare digital DJs and controllerists?  Read on and share your opinion.

You may also read about sampling and pick up a few tricks from the Prodigy classic “Smack my bitch up”.

This month we gathered 20 great EDM music videos. Check out both part 1 and part 2.

Ableton and Serato finally launched the first result of their cooperation. Ville Lope wrote about the DJ system “The Bridge” and gave you his first thoughts.

The fifth episode of the Innotune podcast featured Thomas Sagstad, BT, Sami Saari, Dj Eco, Pete Tong and Funkagenda. Plus new music from other great producers. Download, listen or subscribe to our monthly podcast.

January at Innotune also brought you mouth producing, game trance, free nu disco downloads and the true story about the A&R guy.

Stay tuned!

Download Cassian "Fuck song" for free.

Here’s an exciting label. The aussies in Bang Gang have released quite a few bangin Nu Disco tracks on regular music download stores. But unlike many others in the business, they are putting out parts of their releases for free download. They most certainly have adapted to the modern way of marketing music.

I liked “Fuck Song” by Cassian, which I perfectly legally downloaded for free from their site. And then I bought the other tracks on the EP at Beatport.

I realise that not everyone will do that, but they get to spread their music and maybe more important create word of mouth (or maybe blogs?).

Check out the releases at Bang Gang and their blog. In particular “Friday Night” by Cassian is a killer!

By clicking these links you can download MP3’s of “Fuck Song” by Cassian, “White Feather (Bang Gang Remix)” by Wolfmother, “Gimme (Bang Gang Remix)” by Headman and “Assasin” by Golden Bug.

Everyone loves a free treat!

Screenshot from "Frozen Synapse".

What would it sound like if a trance producer did a soundtrack for a video game?

Paul Taylor, better known for his trance alias nervous_testpilot and his excellent work for Subtraxx and Bonzai related labels, is also heavily involved in the gaming and game industry.

He has done the soundtrack for the upcoming indie game Frozen Synapse, which is already getting some good feedback from the gaming enthusiasts.

Frozen Synapse is a top-down simultaneous-turn-based tactical game set in the near-future.

This is what they say about the game:

The gameplay focuses on knife-edge tactical decisions: matches between opposing squads are quick, intense battles of wits rather than slow-burn strategic epics. The emphasis is on tactical competence rather than memorising unit trees or hoarding resources. We’re calling it “bite-sized hardcore strategy” because we think that sounds fantastic.

This is what the game looks and sounds like:

What it comes to his trance producing, check out nervous_testpilot’s latest release on Subtraxx.

Just how easy should music making be? This iPhone app called Voice Band looks awesome, I’ve been dreaming about a feature like this ever since I was a kid.

The principle of using voice to control synthesis in itself isn’t new, but if this is available with all sorts of instruments, imagine how you could use this for putting down fresh ideas when you’re on the move. It may not be a social winner on a plane or when bored at your in-laws. But come on, it’s producing with your mouth!

Is Voice Band a great tool towards fresh and innovative productions or are we killing the magic?

A big thank you to Chris R for showing us the video.

Thanks to Steve Angello for sharing this link via his Twitter, funniest video in ages. It’s a must see, and I’m pretty sure this will turn out to be a classic.

Innotune resident Thomas Sagstad in the mix.

Another strong Innotune selection of new house, trance, techno and downtempo. And Thomas Sagstad in the mix!

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or subscribe.

Thomas Sagstad is one of the five bloggers at Innotune. In this episode he get’s the chance to show you his DJ skills. He has travelled all over the globe DJ’ing for his fans. Now be sure to check out the last half of episode five.

As usual, the first 30 minutes is packed with tunes we believe in. We’ve got BT, Funkagenda, Pete Tong and Dj Eco for you, to mention a few.

First half: Fresh EDM presented by Endal
1. BT – Suddenly (Celldweller Mix) – Black Hole Recordings
2. Pigi & Pirupa – Sweet Devil – Noir Music
3. Funkagenda & MC Flipside – Nobody Listens To Techno – Toolroom
4. Pete Tong & Dave Spoon – Gas Face (Japanese Popstars Remix) – Dance 2 Dance
5. The Black Project – In The Disco – LoudBit
6. Lake & LYS feat. Steve Smith – Humanica – Rising Music
7. Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions (Heartbreak’s Minimal Dub Mix) – Wichita Recordings
8. The Revenge feat. Danielle Moore – Just Be Good To Me – Needwant
9. Xgenic – Around Me – Enhanced Progressive
10. Atlantis Ocean – Life Frequency (Playton Remix) – Silk Digital
11. Sami Saari – Primality – Wicked
12. Dj Eco – And We Flew Away – Tone Diary

Second half: DJ mix by Thomas Sagstad
13. Butch – Joy – Bang Bang!
14. Saeed Younan – Backroom Honey – Viva Music
15. Alex Kenji & Mark Mendes – Take that sax – Starter Records
16. Christian Smith & John Selway – Move (Steve Angello mix) – Tronic
17. Thomas Sagstad – Meiri – Harem Records
18. Sour Grapes – We are – Rising Music

So let’s continue our excellent list of amazing EDM music videos

Antiloop – Start Rockin

Scandinavian duo, and you might recognize one of them: Yeah, it’s David West in his younger days. Would be so cool if this was possible to do.

Blueboy – Remember Me

Alexis Blackmore one and only hit. But I guess he could retire after the success of this one anyways. “Remember me? I’m the one who had your Babies”

Aphex Twin – Windowlicker

Aphex Twin is notorious for his music videos. You don’t want to meet in in a dark alley after a good night out. Parental advisory? (PS: It’s a long introduction in this one, so you can forward to 3:40 for the action)

The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up

Everyone must have seen this one. However, if you weren’t allowed to stay up after 0:00 in year 2000 – you might have missed it. It was banned from MTV due to… Well… Read the Wikipedia description of it: The promotional music video for “Smack My Bitch Up”, directed by Swede Jonas Åkerlund depicts a night out in the city filmed from a first-person perspective, portraying drinking and driving, snorting cocaine, violence, vandalism, nudity and sex. The unedited version also includes a scene of heroin use and a hit and run incident. The protagonist takes a stripper (played by model Teresa May) home and has sex with her. Well, that doesn’t sound to bad, does it? Ehrm….

Shakedown – At Night

The track is classic, and you might have missed the video – but it’s also a piece of class! It’s also quite relevant these days with the vampire hysteria going on.

Eric Prydz – Call On Me

Sorry, we couldn’t bear ourselves. How can you make a list of the best EDM videos and not include this one?? Any men voting against that?

Blank & Jones – Dj Culture

Alright, it might not be the best quality video, or the best story. But it got quite some airtime back in the days, and for young, tranced-out, bedroom dj’s like all of us Innotune-guys was back then – this was inspiring!

Rank 1 – Such Is Life

Here’s my personal favorite. I love the string sections and the lyrics in this track. The music video takes it to the next level with a very strong message.

Mr. Oizo – Flat Beat

Flat Eric going strong. Hmm… why do I suddenly feel the urge of buying a pair of 501’s when I see this?

X-Press 2 – Lazy

Now that’s a proper video! And the best part is that it looks just like Marcus at home.

So after a lot of discussions and fighting in the Innotune HQ – that’s our Top 20 Electronic Music Videos.

Which one of your favourites didn’t make it to our list?