We love a good DJ rant. And we love a good DJ-related commercial. Fortunately for you, today we’ve got both. Check them out, along with festival announcements, ringtones, and a lot more, in today’s Morning Roundup.
This year, Beatport was super-excited to announce our Mixes platform, a system by which any DJ can legally sell their mixes online and further expand their fan base. And since it’s blown up, naturally, it’s not just hobbyists who are getting in on the action. In fact, some of the dance music world’s biggest DJs are putting Mixes to use—and the Beatport News staff has decided to cull 10 must-hear sets of theirs for your mix-hungry ears. Check ‘em!
As you may already know, tons of your favorite DJs, like Moby, Paul Van Dyk, Photek, and Diplo, have been selling their exclusive mixes through our Beatport Mixes store. Now it’s your turn to start doing the same, as we’re excited to announce that we’ve released Beatport Mixes to open beta for the public.
Congratulations to Roger Sanchez, who’s just found himself in the #1 position on Beatport Mixes with his Release Yourself ’12 Pre-Party Mix. This weekend Sanchez surpassed Paul Van Dyk’s Beatport Live mix, but that’s not all—Sanchez also has another mix climbing the ladder, with his Party Mix from the same Release Yourself ’12 series.
The crazy, hilarious, brilliant, and oft-scary world of fan art has thrived for decades, but with its proliferation on the web, that space has become all the more amplified. And while fan art used to be relegated to the world inhabited by comic-book and fantasy geeks, in 2012, it really knows no bounds. Yep, it’s even jumped genes to the DJ world, with great success, as you’re about to witness. Whether for the purposes of generating a gig flyer, or simply to satisfy an urge deep down inside to express oneself with pencil and paper, in tribute to one’s favorite artists, DJ fan art can be a manifestation of equal parts sincerity and creepiness. But anyway you slice it, it’s all pretty mind-blowing, so without further ado, here are 10 of our favorite pieces floating around the web. Can you guess who’s who?
Folks, as always, we’ve got a jam-packed week on the Beatport Live docket, and, for your back-listening pleasure, some recordings of last week’s proceedings. On Wednesday, get ready for a monumental showcase of techno talent as The Innovator, Detroit’s legendary Derrick May, hits the decks in our Berlin office at 6 PM CET/11 AM MDT. And then two days later, treat #2 happens when Owen Howells makes his Beatport Live debut with a slick set from Berlin as well. Make sure to tune in, and check out last week’s Beatport Live sets archived after the jump.
As per usual, there’s plenty in store for you this week (and in the coming weeks) on our Beatport Live webcast, starting tomorrow with Paul Van Dyk and carrying through Friday when we’ll host Yousef and Designer Drugs. Make sure to tune in, and check out our archived Beatport Live sets below.
No matter which way you slice it, trance is having a “moment” again. And you know that when folks like Teengirl Fantasy’s Nick Weiss are entering (and winning) contests to make the most epic trance tunes, there’s something culturally afoot with the oft-maligned new-agey step-sister to techno.
Paul Van Dyk, of course, is one of the true legends of trance and progressive house, but over the course of the last 20 years, his sound has evolved quite a bit. Over that time, he’s dipped his toes into tech-house and electro-house, and now, with the recent “I Don’t Deserve You,” he’s exhibiting an interest in dubstep, with shades of the wobble bleeding into this still-progressing sound (which he tends to classify these days as just “electronic dance music,” rather than straight-up trance).
The Bloc Weekend festival breaks its silence, the vampires of Trouble & Bass are reborn, and ever notice that Carl Craig bears a striking resemblance to Tiger Woods? Check it all out in today’s news.
In the 10 years since Paul van Dyk signed Giuseppe Ottaviani to his VANDIT record label, the Italian trance titan has released the massive singles “Through Your Eyes,” “No More Alone” and “Angel,” won awards for his spectacular live shows and released his debut artist album, “GO!” In February, he launched his own radio show, “Go On Air,” and just recently he released a compilation off the back of it. He found some time in his hectic schedule to speak to us…
