Beatportal Feed

29 July, 2010 | 1.55PM

Native Instruments announces KOMPLETE 7

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: native instruments tech

We’re still working on getting our hands on Traktor’s new version of Final Scratch—and maybe sneaking a spy camera in the showroom, while we’re at it—but for now, Native Instruments has announced some big news: KOMPLETE 7, the newest version of their studio-standard software bundle, will be out in September.

KOMPLETE 7 will include 24 instruments and effects, including five entirely new products. Perhaps the most exciting is the inclusion of Reaktor 5.5, a major upgrade of their modular synthesis studio, featuring modal and additive synthesis, a revised user interface, the new “Lazerbass” synthesizer, and more.

29 July, 2010 | 12.54PM

Siriusmo gets his scream on

Written by: Alex Hughes
Filed under: Videos: modeselektor, monkeytown, siriusmo

Siriusmo delivers a suitably freaky video for his freaky new tune, ‘Einmal in der Woche Schreien’. The title translates as something like, “Scream once a week”, but fear not. You’re not going to shriek upon seeing this surrealistic vision of a farmer gone to heaven—just scratch your head, and maybe rub your eyes in disbelief.

It’s a gorgeous piece of work, and so is the blippy, quirky tune that soundtracks it. You can find the track on ‘The Plasterer of Love’, one of two excellent new Siriusmo EPs released on Modeselektor’s new Monkeytown label.

Don’t miss Siriusmo’s new top 10 chart, just uploaded to Beatport, featuring cuts from SebastiAn & Mr. Oizo, Housemeister, Jan Driver, Squarepusher, Modeselektor, and more. Check it out after the jump.

29 July, 2010 | 7.40AM

John Digweed: A structured approach

Written by: Philip Sherburne
Filed under: Music News: bedrock john digweed structures

When is a DJ mix not just a DJ mix? Probably when it’s something like John Digweed’s ‘Structures’. Like all of his mixes, it’s a showcase of the Bedrock sound, a portrait of his tastes as a DJ, and even a state-of-the-art address describing his vision of today’s underground house and techno.

‘Structures’ also might be the most monumental release of Digweed’s career to date. Not only does the package include two full album-length mixes, along with full-length versions of all 33 tracks used in them; the majority of the tracks are themselves previously unreleased and exclusive to ‘Structures’, or new versions of material included on last year’s ‘Bedrock 11’. (The Beatport release of the album also includes six additional tracks not included on the mix.)

There’s also a third mix, recorded live at Bedrock’s WMC party at Vagabond Miami last March; in fact, it’s Digweed’s first ever commercially released live session.

Rounding out the package, the Uruguayan director Pablo Casacuberta filmed Digweed’s 2009 tour of South America, turning the footage into an intimate portrait of the artist as he’s rarely (if ever) been seen. (Purchasers of ‘Structures’ on Beatport get a 50-minute edit of the documentary by downloading Bedrock’s special interactive sleeve; go here to get it, or check this tutorial for more information on how to use it.)

We caught up with the workaholic producer in a rare moment of downtime to find out how ‘Structures’ came together. Read on for the full interview.

29 July, 2010 | 7.28AM

Mark Knight announces co-production competition winner

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: co-production competition drew scott hollywood hills mark knight toolroom

The entries have been uploaded, collected, and put into round-the-clock rotation, and at long last, we’re happy to announce that Mark Knight has selected a winner in the co-production competition!

But before we unveil the name, in addition to the grand prize winner, there’s more. Due to the overwhelming number of submissions—more than 700, in fact—Mark and Toolroom Records have decided to pick four runners-up, whose co-productions for the contest will be featured on a remix package at a later date.

29 July, 2010 | 2.08AM

Thomas Schumacher unfurls his ‘Bandera’

Written by: Justin Jack
Filed under: Videos: riva starr, snatch!, thomas schumacher

Riva Starr‘s Snatch! label launches a comical video teaser with Thomas Schumacher‘s ‘Bandera’. The musically diverse Schumacher exploits his talents once again by working a classic Cuban sample that has fiesta written all over it!

28 July, 2010 | 5.46AM

Bomb Alert: Ame’s ‘Junggesellenmaschine’

Written by: Alex Hughes
Filed under: Music News: ame bomb alert innervisions

Ame are back, and it’s about time! It’s been a well-toasted minute since the duo of Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann have given us something to salivate over. The last proper release was their bruising ‘Setsa’/’Ensor’ single of over a year ago, and since then, all we’ve had to go on have been remixes for Newworldaquarium and The Machine, along with Innervisions releases like ‘A Critical Mass Live EP’ (featuring Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, and Ame) and the ‘Secret Weapons EP Part 4’ (featuring a fresh Dixon edit of Âme’s ‘Fiori’, originally released on Ostgut Ton’s excellent ‘Shut Up and Dance! Updated’ compilation alongside cuts from Sleeparchive, nsi., and The 7th Plain).

But the new single, featuring the dreamy ‘Rrose Selavy’ and the harder hitting ‘Junggesellenmaschine’, turns out to have been well worth the wait.

28 July, 2010 | 4.30AM

Caribou’s ‘Sun’ rises

Written by: Kornel Koch
Filed under: Videos: caribou, videos

Given the title and the breezy, psychedelic vibe of Caribou‘s ‘Sun’, it would have been easy enough to turn out a trippy set of visuals (using kaleidoscopes, blurry Lomography, even lava lamps) that suited the music just fine. But Caribou and CIty Slang didn’t opt for “easy”.

Instead, director Simon Owens came up with a slow-motion spectacle of geriatric expressive dance that suddenly, inexplicably turns into a multi-racial, multi-generation rave. Someone, clearly, has been watching David Lynch…

In other Caribou news, his remix of the band Oh No Ono was released yesterday (along with further mixes from Efterklang, Higamos Hogamos, the Phenomenal Handclap Band, and others), just a week after his magisterial rework of Four Tet’s ‘Angel Echoes’. Check out embedded players for both releases after the jump.

28 July, 2010 | 2.08AM

Ibiza compilations on sale now!

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: ibiza sale

Ibiza’s summer season is in full swing. Whether or not you’re planning a trip to the White Island, you can take a vicarious vacation with these Ibiza-themed compilations. And for this week only, they’re 20% off. For about the price of a bottle of water in the mega-clubs, you can enjoy every brand of Balearic beats, from house to progressive, trance to chillout, from Toolroom, Space Ibiza, Cocoon, Armada, and more.

Check out the full list after the jump. And while you’ve got the Baleares on the brain, don’t forget to enter to win a trip for two to Ibiza, courtesy of Pacha Recordings, American Airlines, and Beatport—the August 7 deadline is drawing near!

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28 July, 2010 | 1.52AM

The top downloads of 2010

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: charts top downloads

With the year halfway over, we thought it was time to highlight some of the year’s top downloads on Beatport. We’ve sifted through all our top sellers and put together 10 charts designed to represent the year’s most popular picks across house, progressive, trance, tech house, deep house, techno, and more.

We’ve loosely—and we do mean loosely—divided them into two catch-all categories: one aimed at more popular, “overground” tastes, and one representing the underground. But they all share one thing in common: every track here has been tested and proven by some of the world’s best DJs. Whatever style you play, there’s plenty in these selections to give your sets a crucial boost of energy as we head into those lazy dog days of summer.

27 July, 2010 | 7.59AM

Featured Chart: Joris Voorn

Written by: Alex Hughes
Filed under: Music News: charts green joris voorn rejected

I’m not exactly sure when Joris Voorn became man of the moment, but that he is. The Dutch producer has been putting out records for eight years now, building up a solid underground fan base for his Detroit-leaning productions. But in recent months, he’s become a regular fixture in the upper regions of Beatport’s charts as well as one of the most searched artists in our catalog.

For fans of Voorn’s work, the most gratifying thing about his newfound popularity is that he hasn’t changed or compromised in the slightest: he’s still turning out the same sleek, sweeping, coolly emotional techno that he’s been known for from the beginning.

Voorn’s new Beatport top 10 offers a killer selection of likeminded work, showcasing a wide variety of underground house, techno, and tech house that’s perfectly suited for DJs of a deeper persuasion.

Read on for highlights. (For good measure, we’ve re-posted his June 2010 chart, also a killer.)

27 July, 2010 | 7.03AM

Loveparade disaster spurs controversy, finger-pointing

Written by: Philip Sherburne
Filed under: Videos:

The initial shock has worn off, but the horror lingers and the death toll continues to mount: yesterday, Loveparade’s 20th victim died of injuries sustained in a stampede at the festival, held Saturday in Duisberg, Germany. German police report 511 injured, one of them still in critical condition.

By this morning, photographs of the victims covered the front pages of Germany’s major newspapers; they ranged from 18 years old to their late 30s, and came from all over the world—Italy, Australia, China, the Netherlands, and Bosnia—as well as from many regions in Germany. Two young women from Spain who were among the dead had spent the year on an Erasmus program in Münster; they were part of a group of friends visiting the Loveparade as a farewell celebration.

Meanwhile, the controversy over who should be held responsible continues to grow.

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27 July, 2010 | 2.48AM

RA launches tech tutorials

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: remix contests resident advisor tech tips tutorials

Continuing to expand its tech coverage, Resident Advisor has launched a new series of producers’ tutorials. The first installment, by Jono Buchanan, addresses the sticky issues related to EQing kicks and bass.

With audio examples, explanatory illustrations, step-by-step exercises, and clear prose that doesn’t require a degree in rocket science to understand, it’s well worth a read for pros and amateurs alike. While you’re there, check out other recent RA tech coverage, including a studio-centric conversation with cosmic man of the moment Oneohtrix Point Never.

Of course, there’s no better way to test out your newfound knowledge of the science of bass than to enter one of Beatport’s own remix contests. The competition to remix Guy Gerber’s ‘Timing’ closes on Monday, August 2—giving you just under a week to get cracking!

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Enter Guy Gerber's 'Timing' remix contest on Beatport

27 July, 2010 | 2.31AM

Heard at Exit Festival

Written by: Caleb Rakes
Filed under: Music News:

Now in its tenth year, the Exit Festival, located in a historic fort perched above the river Danube, brings a wealth of music and culture to the little town of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Originally instigated as a party to rebel against the oppression of the old Yugoslavian regime, the festival has grown to attract thousands of revelers from across Europe. For those still yet to experience Exit, imagine Sonar in the East. It’s a true festival-goer’s dream: picturesque setting, easy access, cheap drinks, brilliant set planning, and friendly locals. The lineup itself is a diverse and rich mixture of contemporary and classic, electronic and rock. The main stage itself switched between the likes of Faith No More and The Chemical Brothers to DJ Zinc and the Foreign Beggars.

26 July, 2010 | 11.28AM

We Know The Feeling: Michelle Owen (Beatport Berlin)

Written by: Beatport Mike
Filed under: Music News:

We live and breathe music here at Beatport. Whether it’s the newest crowd-rocking anthem, the heads-down underground house cuts, or soundscapes found in headphone-centric ambient compositions, we love music.

With a incredible group of people working behind the scenes at Beatport, between two offices spread across the Atlantic ocean, Beatport is a company full of vibrant music lovers who not only help present the best music to you, but spend day and night obsessing about the electronic sounds keeping the people moving and grooving across the world, for their own personal enjoyment. Simply put, music continues to drive us and help us wake up early in the morning to come to the office, pour a fresh cup of coffee, turn on the computers, and get to work.

In a new series, entitled ‘We Know The Feeling,’ we take a quick look into the diverse and wonderful folks inside these office walls, and give our music-loving friends around the planet a chance to get to know us a bit more. Our first feature is with Michelle Owen, an Australian turned Berliner who thinks Elvis is the best member of the Beatport staff. Read on!

26 July, 2010 | 10.17AM

Booka Shade announce ‘Teenage Spaceman’ video winners

Written by: Kornel Koch
Filed under: Videos: booka shade, videos

Booka Shade‘s latest video, for their new single ‘Teenage Spaceman’, is the winning entry from a contest the duo held with Genero.tv, a hub for user-created music videos. Produced by New Zealand’s Matthew Harris, it’s a lighthearted (even uplifting) view of the power of music and technology to bring people together.

Booka Shade praised the winner thusly: “The narrative is held together with amazing special effects from Fergus Jack-Hinton and Fred Marshall and a fantastic performance by Scott Orr. The video is freaky, funny, a little trashy (in a a positive, Dee Lite circa early 90s, way). We’ve never had a video with a sense of humour before and our initial reservations were slowly quashed as something kept making us return to watch it over and over.”

Keep reading for links to all the finalists, plus audio of the single (including Booka Shade, Sei A and Tim Deluxe remixes) and Booka Shade’s July Top 10.