Music News - Main Feed
Breaking dubstep in Berlin: Scuba talks Sub:stance
One year ago two British DJs decided that Berlin, the capital of techno, needed to dance to a different beat. They launched Sub:stance, Europe’s biggest dubstep night at Berlin’s famous techno bastion Berghain.
One year on, Paul Fowler (former owner of the label Spymania) and Scuba’s experiment spearheads the growing techno and dubstep soundclash via headliners like Shackleton![[a]](http://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif)
, T++, and Appleblim. The brand is already going global with parties having been held in New York.
With the one year anniversary party coming up on the 10th July, we met Scuba to find out how he and Fowler managed to pull off a dubstep night in Berlin and to discuss the secrets to their success.
You can also listen to an exclusive live DJ mix from Scuba after the jump.
The 20 hottest tracks on Beatport this week
Each week we like to highlight the 20 hottest cuts floating about on Beatport, with 10 chosen by the public and 10 chosen by Beatport’s team of music gurus. We do the digging, so you don’t have to.
The 10 featured releases span multiple genres and are always forward-thinking, whilst the tracks from the Top 10 are guaranteed mainroom crowd pleasers.
This week sees tracks by DJ T., Joakim, Hugo, Nic Fanciulli and Axwell featured.
Listen to previews of The 20 after the jump.
- (2) Comments
- (712) Views
- Get The 20 on Beatport
- Hand picked from the Community Feed. Have a Story? Submit Content.
Ross Couch bides his time ‘Night And Day’
Ross Couch crawled for eight years to squeeze his debut album ‘Night And Day’ out of his Glasgow studio.
Some hares might laugh, but like a true house music tortoise Couch believed that persistence and a commitment to high quality ideas would eventually lead to a brilliant win. He was right.
‘Night And Day’ is one of the most competent and well rounded house albums of the year, with a sound that bridges dancefloors and home stereos with warm soothing chords, serene vocals, funky rhythms and chunky house grooves.
With his LP quickly winning over the house camp, we decided to meet Ross Couch to find out why he waited so long to produce his debut, and to find out more about the process that went into making it.
House Music Circles: June
I’m obsessed with the idea of bringing together what some might consider the many disparate camps of house music - its colorful sub genres have helped spread the four four beat across the globe and fostered experimentation that might not have otherwise happened without specialization.
Sometimes though we get caught up as fans, creators or DJs with over emphasizing the prefix of our favorite hyphenated sub genre - and I think this kind of separatist behavior harms the music as a whole.
I’ve been told plenty of times by promoters or other DJs how ‘crazy’ I am for playing so many different styles in just one set. Coming up in Chicago, that’s exactly what the definition of a good DJ was - someone who could weave a unique tapestry out of deep house, vocal house, techno, minimal, ghetto, disco or whatever else they made their own through the art of mixing.
To this end I’d like to use this month’s column to mention tracks and labels that aren’t afraid of mixing and matching styles.
- (4) Comments
- (847) Views
- Check out Audio Soul Project on Beatport
How to write a hit house track: 10 top tips
Chocolate Puma stormed into the charts in 2001 with the monumental house hit ‘I Wanna Be U’ and since then Gaston Steenkist and René ter Horst have topped the house charts many times over.
Their latest track ‘Disco Electrique’ is currently sitting at No.5 in the Beatport Top 10, and you can bet their next house track will there too.
But what goes into making a hit house track? Is there a secret formula?
Beatportal decided to jump inside the brain of the Dutch duo and get their tips for writing a hit house track.
Here are 10 basic tips that every aspiring house producer should know.
- (9) Comments
- (4028) Views
- Get Chocolate Puma 'Disco Electrique'
Luke Slater interview
British techno pioneer Luke Slater, a man who has been through every facet of the techno scene (and he’s got the haircuts to prove it), has been interviewed by our friends over at RA.
Their interview coincides with Slater’s excellent new Planetary Assault Systems album ‘Temporary Suspension’, which sees Slater firmly back in harder-tinged experimental techno territory.
‘Temporary Suspension’ plays like a lesson in futuristic techno exploration, with complex sound layers constructed over tightly woven techno rhythms and dark hypnotic funk.
Check out a preview of the album after the jump, you won’t be disappointed if you’re into forward-thinking electronic club music.
- (4) Comments
- (459) Views
- Get Luke Slater 'Temporary Suspension'
The art of techno: Mathew Jonson
Before Mathew Jonson became the star of Canada’s techno scene, before his celebrity as a live act, before his Vancouver record label, before his releases on Minus and his Cobblestone Jazz outfit - before all that, there was a geeky kid in Victoria, British Columbia.
He was obsessed with making sounds. He played drums in a marching band at 7, experimented with electronic music at 10, and later rocked school assemblies with Nelly Furtado whom he went to school with. “We would perform Maria Carey covers together and Nelly used to rip that shit up and have 500 people screaming during our school performances,” he says, laughing at the memories. “We also used to produce electronic music together.”
- (7) Comments
- (2211) Views
Mark Knight world tour: Week 1
British sensation Mark Knight kick started his world tour last week in the US. He’s been keeping a diary for us.
Here is the first weekly installment of the Toolroom boss’ tour blog, featuring a day-by-day reflection of his life on the road that gives some insight into his world.
This week Twitter, remixes, online haters, forthcoming Toolroom tracks and a Black Eyed Peas production all feature.
- (11) Comments
- (2065) Views
- Check out Toolroom on Beatport
Pacha Ibiza competition: And the winner is…
In May we launched a competition with Pacha Recordings offering one lucky winner the chance to go to Ibiza for seven nights of whirlwind dance music adventure.
The lucky winner is…
- (14) Comments
- (2531) Views
Depeche Mode Remix Contest update
Martin Gore, the songwriter and head of Depeche Mode, will personally listen to every single one of the 20 remixes submitted to him today from our Depeche Mode Remix Contest.
We aren’t able to reveal who made the final shortlist but we can confirm that 10 remixes are from complete newcomers and 10 are from established names.
Martin Gore and the rest of the band will make their final decision within 14 days. Thank you to the thousands of producers out there who submitted a remix. And good luck!
- (18) Comments
- (1220) Views
What’s a DJ in 2009? We ask Joris Voorn
DJs were confined to the turntable for a quarter of a century. They were slaves to the music. Rhythmically matching two records together was all they could do to help people dance. Then technology set them free.
CD players with loop functionality, FX units, and sophisticated mixers all helped DJs to seize control of the music in the 1990s. Software was the next phase and it is changing the very meaning of the word ‘DJ’.
Dutch producer and DJ Joris Voorn has embraced technology. His ‘Balance 14’ mix CD, released in February, saw Voorn mix over 100 tracks across two CDs, with each different track a layered construction of three or four different songs.
With mixing in parts (or molecular mixing) becoming more and more common, Beatportal decided to meet Joris Voorn to find out his opinion about what is the definition of a DJ today.
- (79) Comments
- (2961) Views
- Check out Joris Voorn on Beatport
The 20 hottest tracks on Beatport this week
Each week we like to highlight the 20 hottest cuts floating about on Beatport, with 10 chosen by the public and 10 chosen by Beatport’s team of music gurus. We do the digging, so you don’t have to.
The 10 featured releases span multiple genres and are always forward-thinking, whilst the tracks from the Top 10 are guaranteed mainroom crowd pleasers.
This week sees tracks by Toby Tobias, John Daly, Kris Wadsworth, Santos and Wolfgang Gartner featured.
Listen to previews of The 20 after the jump.
- (2) Comments
- (1128) Views
- Get The 20 on Beatport
Weekend Weapons…Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki leads the Los Angeles indie dance revolution like a pirate who has taken control of Hollywood’s nightlife. To his hipster fans, he is a Captain Jack Sparrow, a neo-hippy DJ who is dedicated to the cause, unafraid to sail to Ibiza or to play cave-like afterparties.
To his detractors, Steve Aoki is a celebrity-endorsed spinner (Lindsay Lohan loves him, model/actress Devon Aoki is his half sister) who has successfully commandeered the blog generation via polaroid snaps, hipster friends (he counts famous photographer Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter as his friend), corporate sponsorship, and a clothing line.
But beyond the hype, and the subsequent derision that dance music fans seem to bestow on any of their brothers whose head is above the parapet, Steve Aoki knows his music. His record label Dim Mak![[l]](http://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_l.gif)
kick started the career of Bloc Party, and more recently helped the Klaxons, Scanners, and Mystery Jets find their feet.
Aoki’s Dim Mak Tuesdays parties at Cinespace and his Sunday party, Banana Split Sundaes, are two of LA’s most popular club events. Wherever he goes, people come and see him play. He is America’s answer to Erol Alkan.
Beatportal hoodwinked the mustache-touting king of LA dance to reveal his current three Weekend Weapons.
- (14) Comments
- (2438) Views
- Check out Dim Mak on Beatport
Competition: Traktor Duo daily giveaway!
Beatport, Beatportal and Native Instruments have teamed up to give a copy of Traktor Duo to one lucky winner every day this week.
Traktor Duo provides all the essentials of modern DJ software. Based on the industry’s leading DJ software Traktor Pro, Duo offers 2 fully featured decks with rock solid performance and complete creative freedom - no matter what your style.
- (30) Comments
- (7846) Views
Ignoring the trends: Steve Bug
Trends are as much a part of the fabric of electronic music as drum beats. The scene’s contempt for the old, and its obsession for the new, can be traced back to its dependance on technology: electronic music is in a permanent beta.
Steve Bug, the long-serving German DJ and producer who runs Poker Flat, Dessous, and Audiomatique, has seen many trends come and go. Yet as his new album ‘Collaboratory’ proves, he’s never been one to hop on the bandwagon.
With 11 tracks of warm melodic deep house, subtly evolving minimal, pop friendly vocals, and sultry techno, Steve Bug’s fourth artist album is far from the club music trends of today. It sounds quite timeless.
Beatportal met Steve Bug in his studio in Berlin (he moved to the city 11 years ago, long before it became an electronic music hotspot) to discuss electronic music truisms and trends like mp3s, analogue, Traktor, and percussive house.
- (22) Comments
- (2913) Views
- Get Steve Bug 'Collaboratory' on Beatport
Featured Content
Twitter Updates
Most Viewed
-
How to write a hit house track: 10 top t...
- (4028) Views
-
House Music Circles: June
- (847) Views
-
The 20 hottest tracks on Beatport this w...
- (712) Views
-
Luke Slater interview
- (459) Views
-
Video interview: Plump DJs
- (444) Views
-
Breaking dubstep in Berlin: Scuba talks...
- (373) Views
Popular tags...last 30 days
Hot Discussions
-
How to write a hit house track: 10 top t...
- (9) Comments
-
Video: Rebel Rave meets Droog and Butane...
- (5) Comments
-
Video interview: Plump DJs
- (5) Comments
-
House Music Circles: June
- (4) Comments
-
Luke Slater interview
- (4) Comments
-
Ross Couch bides his time ‘Night And Day...
- (3) Comments
Advertisements
Email Updates
Get daily email updates on the latest electronic music news.
Today's Poll
- Poll:
- What content do you want more of?