Beatportal Feed

9 February, 2010 | 8.59AM

Black History: Frankie Knuckles and house music

Written by: Zack Rico
Filed under: Music News: black history month frankie knuckles

When Illinois’ then State Senator Barack Obama shook the hand of Frankie Knuckles on August 26th 2004, and christened the Chicago street “where the legendary Warehouse once stood...Frankie Knuckles Way”, it was almost 30 years since Frankie had put his first record on in that famous nightclub.

How different the world was back in 1977. The year that Elvis Presley died of a heart attack aged 42 and the World Trade Center in New York was completed, everyone caught Saturday Night Fever.

Those were disco days, and Frankie Knuckles, alongside fellow DJ Larry Levan, was at the centre of it all playing soul, r&b, and disco at New York City’s The Continental Baths and Better Days clubs.

But it was in an old converted warehouse in Chicago, to predominantly black and gay people, that Frankie Knuckles began experimenting with drum machine-based music in his disco and soul sets. It sounded fresh, futuristic, and well beyond ‘the hustle’. The patrons nicknamed the music that Frankie played ‘house music’, and a legend was born.

There is a reason why Frankie Knuckles is known as the ‘godfather of house’. We’re proud to have him as our second Black History Month interviewee.

9 February, 2010 | 6.23AM

Black History: Jesse Saunders and house music

Written by: Terry Church
Filed under: Music News: black history month broken records jesse saunders

If you met him in 1977 aged 15, in his red gym shorts and blue basketball shirt, if you saw him carrying a box full of records with his headphones around his neck, if you heard him talk about DJing, disco, and some strange music called house, you’d never have believed that he would help change the world.

And yet that teenager created the first ever house music record in 1984, set up the first house record label, was the first house artist signed to a major label, and was the first house DJ to enter the Billboard music charts.

He became known as the very “originator of house music” and in 1997, he was honoured by Chicago’s Mayor Daley with an annual celebration on July 17th in his and the Pioneers of House Music’s name.

Throughout February we’re celebrating Black History Month by interviewing some of the most important black electronic music pioneers and contributors, and we’re proud to have him as our first interviewee.

Ladies and gentleman, please stand for Jesse Saunders.

8 February, 2010 | 11.57AM

Introducing Beatportal’s new contributing editor

Written by: Philip Sherburne
Filed under: Music News: beatportal

Hello Beatport massive! Today is my first day as Beatportal’s new contributing editor, so I figured an introduction was in order.

You might recognize my byline from The Wire, Pitchfork, Groove, XLR8R, SPIN and other publications.

8 February, 2010 | 11.03AM

Inside the mind of BT

Written by: Kirsty Kane
Filed under: Music News: black hole recordings bt

What do we know about BT? As one of America’s most-admired electronic music composers, Brian Transeau aka BT, has a penchant for studio wizardry, euphoric club rushes, and soaring vocals, as can be heard on his sixth album ‘These Hopeful Machines’ (released last week).

With radio-friendly guitar anthems and uplifting progressive house instrumentals, BT’s new album sounds like particularly optimistic pop, something that will appeal to both club kids and general pop fans.

Dance producers tend to ignore the musically grey area in between club music and pop, but clearly it’s a technique that’s paying off for BT - ‘These Hopeful Machines’ debuted at No.1 in the electronic categories of Amazon and iTunes upon its release, and he garnered praise from USA Today no less, who said “...even techno-phobes will be seduced by (BT’s) forward-thinking musicality.”

But what don’t we know about BT? We decided to sit down with the producer to ask him a series of personal questions that hopefully reveal more of the man behind the machines and the music.

5 February, 2010 | 8.25AM

Album of the Week: Pascal FEOS ‘Terra Bong’

Written by: Terry Church
Filed under: Music News: album of the week level non zero recordings pascal feos

It is 1984. In a quiet street in the small German town of Bad Nauheim a 16-year-old kid frantically destroys an encroaching line of pixelated alien spacecraft on a Space Invaders machine in a noisy video arcade.

“Hey Pascal, wanna make some money?” says a voice behind him. It’s the Italian man who runs a small club opposite. “I asked your dad and he said you can come work for me if you want.”

“Sure, what will I be doing?” the kid asked. “Oh, just playing some music for my customers. Come, I’ll show you how.”

The boy went with the man, who showed him his record collection and DJ equipment, and soon he was playing records for people on a dancefloor.

“It was at that small club that I discovered what it truly means to be a junkie,” jokes Pascal Dardoufas, now 42.

A quarter of a century later, Pascal is still a DJ, and as Pascal FEOS, he’s considered one of the original fathers of German techno.

His fourth solo album ‘Terra Bong’ has just been released, and it is our Album of the Week.

We spoke to Pascal FEOS in Frankfurt about his new record, his earliest club memories, and techno history.

4 February, 2010 | 9.26AM

Mr. C and Adultnapper’s big gamble?

Written by: Zack Rico
Filed under: Videos: adultnapper, mr c, poker flat recordings

It takes a brave soul to attempt to rap over a minimal house record, but if anyone was going to do it it might as well be The Shamen’s lovable rogue Mr. C.

The Londoner’s latest Sycophant Slags single ‘Keep Off’ (co-produced with Adultnapper), valiantly attempts to inject some fun into the minimal sound with rhymes such as “Mr. C’s in the house...everybody go rocking the party right”, lyrics that will probably cause the average chin-stroking minimal fan to snicker.

However, with the track’s Sky’s the limit chorus coming straight off D-Train’s 1982 dance hit ‘Keep On’, it’s clear that Mr. C and Adultnapper had their tongues firmly inside their cheeks when they put the track together.

4 February, 2010 | 6.17AM

Weekend Weapons…Kiki

Written by: Terry Church
Filed under: Music News: kiki weekend weapons

It’s a Saturday night in Berlin and a sweet smiling Finnish DJ named Joakim Ijäs steps up to the sweaty decks at the Watergate club that overlooks the River Spree.

Before he drops one beat, the heaving dancefloor knows what to expect. His rich and gratifying sophomore album ‘Kaiku’ released last year, cemented everything that he had done before.

Darkly optimistic techno and sweetly evil melodies on Berlin’s Mood Music and Bpitch Control have won Kiki many fans, not least because he’s as consistent as they come.

You can always rely on Kiki to get the dancefloor to move and think, so we asked Finland’s most loved techno export to share eight of his current favourite Weekend Weapons.

3 February, 2010 | 3.26AM

Yello remix contest winners

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: remix contests yello

In November for the first time, pioneering electronic music band Yello put up remix parts to two of their classic hits and asked the Beatport community to remix to their hearts’ content.

After weeks of deliberation, Yello have announced the winners of their ‘Bostich’ / ‘Oh Yeah’ double remix contest.

Here are the winners and runners-up to both contests.

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2 February, 2010 | 3.12PM

RA’s top tracks of the decade

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: 20 years of dance music dj charts

RA has revealed its Top 100 electronic music tracks of the decade.

The site voted Morgan Geist’s cover of Lipps Inc’s 1980 disco classic ‘Funkytown’, Metro Area ‘Miura’, as the top track of the noughties. Also in the Top 10 was Laurent Garnier’s ‘Man With The Red Face’, Ame ‘Rej’, Octave One ‘Blackwater’, Burial ‘Archangel’, Newworldaquarium ‘Trespassers’, LCD Soundsystem ‘Losing My Edge’, and Ricardo Villalobos ‘Easy Lee’.

A large number of the tracks that made it into RA’s Top 100 are available on Beatport. Click through to listen to the ones that are.

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2 February, 2010 | 8.30AM

The 50 most charted tracks of January

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: dj charts the 50

Beatport receives thousands of DJ charts every month from some of the world’s most influential spinners, and each month on Beatportal we collate all of those DJ charts to produce a list of The 50 Most Charted Tracks. The results are usually pretty indicative of what the world DJ community considers currently hot.

London-based producer Tim Green is on course to becoming one of 2010’s most talked about techno artists - his track ‘Lone Time’ was the most charted track by DJs on Beatport in January.

Other new entries include Defected’s latest house bomb ‘Back To NY’ produced by DJ Chus and Rob Mirage, Duoteque’s spooky new techno thriller ‘Gotcha’ on Boxer, and the pumping tribal house groove ‘Zuma’, produced by newcomers Jet Project on Get Physical Digital.

Loco Dice’s latest rumbling minimal house cut ‘Definition’ is also in the Top 10 for January. 2000 And One and DJ Madskillz’ remix of Reset Robot and Christian Smith ‘Air Miles’ has also proven it has some staying power - the driving tech house cut was released in early December but was the 4th most charted track in January.

Click through for the full Top 50.

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2 February, 2010 | 5.08AM

2010 Grammys: Dance winners

Written by: Zack Rico
Filed under: Music News: grammys

David Guetta was the sole dance artist winner at the 2010 Grammys. The Frenchman picked up a gong for Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical, for his Electro Extended Remix of his own single ‘When Love Takes Over’.

Guetta was also nominated for four other awards - Best Dance Recording and Best Electronic/Dance Album, as well as for Record of the Year and Album of the Year for his collaborative efforts with the Black Eyed Peas.

The Grammys dance nominees traditionally tend to be pop focused, with major label artists generally winning the dance/electronic categories. This year was no exception, with Lady Gaga scooping Best Dance Recording and Best Electronic/Dance Album.

1 February, 2010 | 11.48AM

The top 30 club tracks of the decade

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: 20 years of dance music

Look back at the last decade of electronic music and it’s hard not to be optimistic. The whopping number of club anthems, and hands-in-the-air moments of dancefloor bliss released during the noughties was staggering, and serves as a reminder that, despite the large influx of releases since the dawn of digital, there are still exciting and timeless dance anthems being made.

Here we take a look back at the last 10 years of club music by highlighting our favourite 30 club tracks from 2000 to 2010, so join us as we remember how the noughties sounded.

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30 January, 2010 | 8.53AM

Vote for Beatportal & Beatport in the IDMAs

Written by: Beatportal
Filed under: Music News: idma

The nominees for the 25th annual IDMAs (International Dance Music Awards) have been announced. Both Beatportal and Beatport have been nominated. Yippee!

Beatport is up once again for Best Speciality Retailer, and Beatportal has been nominated for Best Music Website.

The Beatportal team here are really excited about being nominated for the first time, so if you’ve enjoyed reading our features, interviews, and daily electronic music content over the years, please take a minute or two to vote for us cool cats.

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29 January, 2010 | 8.32AM

Album of the Week: Four Tet ‘There Is Love In You’

Written by: Terry Church
Filed under: Music News: album of the week domino four tet

In many ways, Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet has spent his life trying to be different. He strives day after day to create something that has never been done before.

Is it human nature, to always want more? Or do only true artists leave their mark on this earth before they inevitably turn into dust?

“The computer is a chance to do something completely new,” says Hebden, from his home in London. He speaks effortlessly, with the kind of quiet confidence a well-read classicist might describe the past. Except, Kieran Hebden always looks towards the future.

“When I pick up a guitar, it feels like the most explored instrument of all time,” he says. “Everything that can be done with a guitar, has been done, but the computer knows no boundaries. The possibilities are near infinite, and that is what excites me.”

Four Tet’s new album ‘There Is Love In You’ comes mightily close to achieving its maker’s goals. From the gentle choral waves of the album’s opener ‘Angel Echoes’, to the surreptitiously danceable ‘Love Cry’, the magical ‘Circling’, the loopy house of ‘Sing’, and the hypnotically intricate ‘Plastic People’, there’s a profound sense of stepping into the unknown.

Yet for all its wires, complicated electronic circuitry, and lonely computer beginnings, its foundation - its woods - feel so very old. With this album, Four Tet has constructed a fantasy world that few will not find mesmerising. It is our Album of the Week.

We met Four Tet for an in-depth chat about his fifth album, studio, and sometimes hectic life.

29 January, 2010 | 3.28AM

DJ chart: Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry

Written by: Kirsty Kane
Filed under: Music News: bryan ferry dj charts dj hell

He sang ‘Don’t Stop the Dance’ in 1985, and 25 years later Bryan Ferry still lives those words, if his debut DJ chart is anything to go by.

Yes that’s right, the frontman of endearing English glam rock band Roxy Music, the suave chap that declared ‘Let’s Stick Together’, the cool cat that moaned ‘More Than This’, the original Electric Lounge Lizard of London, has uploaded a DJ chart to Beatport!