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Tech News Roundup: January 9, 2009
Now that 2009 is off the ground – and the annual Winter NAMM Show is just around the corner – the tech news tidbits are getting a lot more interesting.
This week, we’ve got some info about Celemony’s long-awaited Direct Note Access technology, an actual pre-announcement of a 2009 Grammy winner, and a video about a new Microsoft technology that must be seen to be believed.
Well? What are you waiting for?
Click “Continue reading...” already!
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Prok & Fitch’s 2009 house invasion
Last year Brighton house duo Prok & Fitch![[a]](http://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif)
narrowly missed out being crowned Beatportal’s house artists of 2008, but with the speed they’re gaining, this year could be huge for them.
The newly formed duo kicked off 2008 with ‘Outro Lugar’, which quickly burgeoned into an anthem of WMC 2008 later to be picked up by Stealth Records![[l]](http://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_l.gif)
chief Roger Sanchez.
Since that release, they’ve built up a reputation for remixing the ‘who’s who’ of classic house, from Golden Girls (’Kinetic’) to Cevin Fisher (’You Got Me Burning Up’), wrapping up the year by mixing a ‘Best of Stealth 2008’ compilation.
It certainly was an impressive 12 months for Prok & Fitch, so Beatportal caught up with the boys to discuss how they plan to capitalize on their 2008 successes this year.
Steve Lawler’s renaissance continues in 2009
Today Viva Music boss Steve Lawler played Beatportal a cheeky preview of his fresh-out-of-the-studio track ‘Panderio’, and after listening to it, it seems the British DJ and producer will continue this year down the drum-heavy carnival house route that he started in 2008.
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- Check out Steve Lawler on Beatport
New club Dice for Berlin
Berlin already has the world’s best club scene with Berghain, Watergate, Weekend and countless other dancing holes, but on 14th February the city will get a plush new club in an abandoned electricity station (after all a club wouldn’t be Berlin club, without post-industrial decor and the threat of electrocution on the dancefloor).
Dice in Mitte is being touted as 2000 square metres of “state-of-the-art sound and lighting and cutting edge electronic sounds” with a large roof terrace that’s “perfect for after hours Sunday sessions.”
Who wants to move to Berlin?
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Design DEMF 2009 and win $5000
Paxahau and 323East, the good people behind Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival aka Movement (scheduled to take place this year May 23rd - 25th) have announced a competition to find a local designer/artist to come up with the design for this year’s party.
To be honest (and no disrepect to DEMF) they kind of need it, as last year’s campaign was a little weak, not that the dodgy logo (see it after the jump) detracted from the excellent three days of techno bliss that occurred last May.
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Winning remix hits Beatport Top 5
Last summer Beatportal hosted a remix competition, challenging aspiring producers to rework the classic house anthem, ‘Music is the Answer’ by Danny Tenaglia and Celeda.
After sorting through a huge pool nearly 600 entries from every genre of electronic music, three outstanding remixes were found, and eventually signed to TWISTED.
Now several months later, the first place winning remix by Gabriel Vezzola has made it into the Top 10 Beatport chart (it rose to No.4 at one point), proof that the remix contest managed to unearth some real talent.
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- Gabriel Vezzola on Beatport
DJs’ tips for success in 2009
With the new year here, resolutions are no doubt already being broken. But what can DJs and producers do to kick start 2009 in the right way?
Beatportal’s Mr. Tunes, a self-confessed tech junkie and accomplished music producer in his own right, grabbed his notepad and pen and wrote a quick self-help guide for DJs and producers in 2009.
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- Check out Mr. Tunes on Beatport
Become a Hed Kandi America resident DJ
Venerable house music label Hed Kandi, one of the world’s most successful dance brands, is currently running a DJ competition for North American residents.
Hed Kandi America needs up and coming DJs to represent them across North America (that hints at a plan to set up regular club nights across the continent), so if your sets align with Hed Kandi’s distinctive sexy soulful and vocal house sound submit a mix at HedKandiAmerica.com.
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Top 10 DJ Chart
SIS [Various]
Beyond his ubiquitous releases last year, very little is known about Turkish born, Frankfurt resident Burak Star aka SIS.
Perhaps taking his media training from fellow press-dodger Ricardo Villalobos, (who outputted his brass-meets-house anthem ‘Trompeta’ last year through his own Sei Es Drum label) SIS has been hiding under the radar since his November 2007 release ‘La Gurua’ pricked up the ears of the electronic community.
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- Get SIS' Top 10 DJ Chart
Podcast: Genrecast: Trance 19
Beatport
This week’s installation of the Trance Genrecast was handpicked and sorted by Beatport staff, and represents a selection of favorite trance classics.
As always, this Genrecast is an enhanced podcast, meaning you can view the artwork, skip through tracks, and purchase the tracks that are linked directly for download from Beatport.
This week’s trance genrecast features Mr. Pit, Martin Roth & DJ Eco, Jon O’Bir, Anjunabeats, In Charge and more.
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Cold Champagne
Phace [Neosignal]
Having been in the scene for some time, producing some blisteringly hard tunes for Subtitles and Vision, Phace and Misanthrop have joined forces to launch their new label, Neosignal, to try and establish a stronghold of cutting-edge, neurofunk drum & bass.
The first release, ‘Cold Champagne’ is the ultimate showcase for the label’s future releases; the sound is characteristically dark and eerie but also dynamic and gut wrenchingly heavy.
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- Get 'Cold Champagne' on Beatport
Electronic music’s struggle in a changing China
China’s continued rise as a global superpower is having quite a strange effect on the development of the country’s indigenous electronic music and club scene.
Whilst China’s gross domestic product grew by 8.7% in 2008, making its economy the fourth largest in the world, the club scene experienced something of a recession (at least the superclub scene did).
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Loco Dice to mix ‘The Lab’ on NRK
NRK, the imprint responsible for the ‘Back in the Box’ series (among many others), have lined up tech-funk luminary Loco Dice for the first installment of a new series called ‘The Lab’.
The label has seen such wide-ranging and diverse talent as Dave Clarke, DJ Sneak, Louie Vega and Christian Burkhardt on its roster recently, and Loco Dice is undoubtedly a solid choice to join the stately ranks.
In this double-disc set, the Berlin-based jock shows off his versatility, with a first disc that fights dark and dirty, while the second is more the ‘lover’ of the two.
Have a stare at the full tracklisting after the jump.
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- Check out Loco Dice on Beatport
Retro Sonics for London’s old skool fans
Old skool ravers will have a new temple in London at the end of January in which to don white gloves and blow their air horns.
DJ Kid Fiesta aka Franc Gooding, co-director of Bloom Festival, has announced a new night called Retro Sonics that is dedicated to late ‘80s and early ‘90s house music.
Unlike many of the other retrospective raves around, the first Retro Sonics party will actually see two of the biggest early UK house pioneers play live, Shades of Rhythm and Liquid. Oi oi.
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- Check out Liquid on Beatport
Under The Willow
Ryan Crosson [Alphahouse]
The slightly warped releases of Ryan Crosson have marked him out as a key player in the North American techno nu-school, and here he returns to Butane’s Alphahouse imprint for more sinister fun.
Honing down the ricocheting percussion of his other work into a starker, sharper groove, both tracks are designed with the foggy hours of the night in mind.
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- Get 'Under My Willow' on Beatport
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