The success of Provoke‘s Loud All Night Canadian-UK collaboration concert on March 31 at the Sound Academy in Toronto left many of us wishing we could relive the excitement of that night. So I’m happy to report that Provoke has released the Loud All Night sets from Chris Lake, Michael Woods, Autoerotique and Northend. You can find them on SoundCloud.
It was one of those rare evenings when the DJs and the crowd were in perfect sync, each entrusting the other with energy and getting it back with interest. Seems to be a hallmark of Sound Academy shows, as we felt the same vibe not long ago when Rusko was in town. (Check out bpm:tv’s new Rusko Web Exclusive HERE or on our YOUTUBE CHANNEL.)
I believe all the DJs called audibles during this show and really stepped up for the occasion. And there’ll be more where that came from on Saturday June 9, when Provoke presents the Space Ibiza Festival at Sound Academy. I know I’ll be there — and if it’s anything like the real Space in Ibiza’s Playa d’en Bossa, you’ll need to be there too.
Incidentally, here’s the Web Exclusive clip with Autoerotique that we shot at the Loud All Night show. Enjoy!
Attention shoppers! Today’s blue light special is the brand new EP from Australian duo Knife Party, appropriately and awesomely titled Rage Valley.
Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen are electronic artists in the purest form. I remember seeing them at WEMF last year and thinking that when they broke away from Pendulum and started putting out stuff as Knife Party, the pair really came into their own, eclipsing the work they’d done with their old outfit. That may sound blasphemous, but hear me out. They were darlings of the electro scene at that moment, but you also knew they were in the game for the long haul — not just a couple of resident club DJs who had struck gold with a couple of flash-in-the-pan tracks. So excuse me for straying away from their Pendulum stuff and crazing their Knife sound.
What happened next was, as they say, history: The 100% No Modern Talking EP, plus a passel of remixes and a little track called “Antidote,” boasting one of the hottest videos of the year. It was official: Rob and Gareth were in it to win it.
Then silence — until now. This EP is pretty wicked, and that’s about as much as I can say. The title track is exactly what you’d expect: a huge sound, with just enough musical soul to connect with a large audience. “Centipede” bangs, I’ll leave it at that. “Bonfire” sounds like the hottest riddim of da summa for my dancehall fans, uzeeeminow?! — and then it melts your face. And “Sleaze” is like someone let Jaws into a Moombahton club, spraying blood. Each track unique, each distinct from the next.
Knife Party are back where they left off. Can’t wait to see them live. Cop the EP amigos!
The first-ever multi-day EDM festival in downtown Toronto, Digital Dreams will feature full sets by Kaskade, Afrojack, Duck Sauce, Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Steve Lawler, Alesso, Major Lazer, R3hab, and many more.
bpm:tv wants to send you and a friend to Digital Dreams! We’re giving away five pairs of tickets – plus, as a Grand Prize, one pair of VIP tickets! (Travel not included.) CLICK HERE to find out how to enter our Digital Dreams contest.
Contest closes Monday June 18, 2012.
CLICK HERE for more information on the Digital Dreams Music Festival.
When listening to and watching CYBERPUNKERS in action, it’s The Bloody Beetroots that come first to mind. Like the Beetroots, this Italian duo has an impressively vociferous production style. And, like the Beetroots, they wear masks — in their case, the kind you’d expect to find on the fields of a paintball battle. In the EDM scene, it seems, putting on a mask or a costume (or a giant cartoon mouse head) allows you to play a role that, in “reality,” you’re too scared to become: freed from all boundaries, openly rebellious against the music scene’s rules or judgement. I’d love to attend an EDM masquerade and see what might happen — that would make for one hell of a crazy musical wonderland.
The CYBERPUNKERS track that first caught my ear was “I Needed To Go.” I heard the first 10 seconds and was hooked. This crazed duo have a raw, sexual temerity, and the kind of good, grimy basslines that drive me absolutely crazy. I pressed replay a few times on this one, and fell into their musical grasp.
The beginning of their track “Epic” is a tease to the senses, but at the 1:07 mark the unsuspecting listener gets clobbered hard in the face with some heavy-duty bass and a unique, smashing rhythm. The music video is … interesting, to say the least. I recommend just pressing play, sitting back and opening your eyes and ears to a truly insane track.
I may be a melomaniac, but I don’t swoon like pre-teen Justin Bieber fan for every hot act that comes along. Where CYBERPUNKERS are concerned, however, I thrall myself willingly to their sound. They push the sonic boundaries and deliver truly mind-blowing tracks. I strongly recommend you check them out for yourself; follow them on Facebook HERE, and on SoundCloud HERE.
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
The Toronto Argonauts Cheerleaders took a break from prepping for the upcoming season recently to pose for a calendar photo shoot. I joined the danceNEWS team to see what goes on behind-the-scenes. And after hearing about the 18 hours that the cheerleaders spent in the studio the day before, I’ve got to admit, it sounds pretty tiring. In all, there are 40 girls who will be part of the calendar: that’s a lot of energy, beauty and pep packed into 12 pages.
From the hair to the make-up, the girls were picture-perfect for their moments in front of the camera. Craig Boyko was the lucky photographer who got to shoot the girls lounging in a mini pool full of footballs (as one does). I’m sure many of the guys on our team here at bpm:tv would have gladly volunteered for the job.
Kalen caught up with the cheerleader squad’s head coach — and host of bpm:tv’s Back @ Ya! — Jorie Brown, who gave us a tour of the studio and showed us what goes into one of these photo shoots. She took us into the make-up area, where Wendy, from Inspire Cosmetics, chatted about the looks they were going for. Kalen even got a little touch-up before his turn in front of the camera.
The girls seemed to enjoy the experience, even practicing their routines while waiting for their set-ups. (Now, that’s dedication!) There’s a big season ahead, which will climax with the 100th Annual CFL Grey Cup at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on November 25. Be sure to stay updated with the Argos cheer squad by following them on Twitter (@ArgosCheer), and keep an eye out for the 2012 calendar.
See the full photo gallery HERE. Follow Christina Dun’s blog HERE.
I’m finding it hard to recall the last time an artist put out so many successful tracks in as short a time as Sound Remedy has done. With the release of his “Neopolitan Dreams” remix — already a contender for song of the summer — following hard on the heels of the epic KO KO remix “Float” and the Haunted Valor EP, you’d think the man in the mask would be ready to take a little down time. Not so much. When you find yourself in the zone, you just want to keep at it and see what other genius comes out the speakers.
Enter Sound Remedy’s remix of “The Funeral.” An amazing track from Band of Horses gets the dub-electro spin it was crying out for. The best thing about Sound Remedy’s remixes? He doesn’t diminish the parts that make the original song so compelling. Easy to say, harder to do — and harder to perfect.
I’d have no problem paying for tracks like these — the quality and replay value would make the price well worthwhile. Buuuuut … he’s giving them away for free. God Bless Sound Remedy!
Toronto’s City Night Club hasn’t been a major force on the city’s EDM scene until now. Its wayback-playback, mainstream and top 40 sounds definitely have their appeal — but not so much with electronic dance music partisans. But there’s a hint of change in the air.
PLUR. It’s a word that’s been dancing from lip to lip and ear to ear throughout the EDM community: Peace Love Unity Respect. And now Toronto party production company Vivid Dream Productions is trying to create a little PLUR of its own by bringing EDM to the City dance floor. Vivid Dream’s PLUR event this Saturday May 26 will mark the grand opening of City’s new “half” club, Caramel Lounge.
It’s no small task to try to create a new home for EDM in Toronto . Let’s turn out on Saturday to see check out the fruit of Vivid Dream’s labours, and to see what we can bring to the dance floors of the Caramel Lounge. Dress in white — the colour of a fresh, new beginning. See you there!
Across Canada this week the weather is into the plus-20s, which means forget about June 20 — summer starts NOW!
With EDM kidz from far and wide searching for that special tune that says “summer of 2012,” many producers will be pumping their tracks out there, all hoping to score the next “Barbra Streisand” or “Leave the World Behind.” Some will be amazing, yet fail to get the love they deserve. In other cases, the opposite will be true.
Every year a specific sound comes to the fore, and I’ve been waiting for this year’s to drop. BAM! We got it yesterday.
For the past year or more I’ve been professing my love for Dillon Francis — and naturally, I figured if that if anyone was going to define the sound of this summer, it would be him. And it is. Teamed up with 50 percent of Duck Sauce, he has delivered a track that is 100 percent awesomeness. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you “Money Making,” by A-Trak and Dillon Francis — a tune so perfectly addictive it will be an immediate download.
Best of all is the video that accompanies this track. Watch out for cameos from P-Thugg, Natalia Kills and my favourite rapper of the moment, Action Bronson.
This tune is bananas.. I’ll be keeping count of how many times I hear it this Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas — which is where I’m headed right now. Stay tuned for updates!
Back to work. A crazy long weekend for most of you ravers — and I hope even those of you who were stuck working managed an hour or two for yourself, to enjoy the spectacular weather. Talking to a few friends of mine, it sounds like the long weekend’s hot spots were the Exodus Festival in Las Vegas (featuring Gareth Emery, Robbie Rivera, LMFAO and Arno Cost) and, closer to home, the beach town of Grand Bend, Ontario — better known to readers of this blog as the setting for bpm:tv’s awesome new original series Grand Benders. And if you couldn’t make it to either of those destinations, I trust our Friday playlist helped to take your backyard BBQ or up-north nightcap to the next level.
Yeah, so what you got for me now? Rest assured, I got some great new tunez that I’ll be relaying throughout the week. But first, I want to pass on this stellar EP teaser from Autoerotique that dropped about a month ago. Each of the three tracks is special, and each is completely different from the others. Give it a taste test, and show your support for Canadian artists by copping this when it drops in June.
While you’re at it, check out the bpm:tv Web Exclusive we shot with Autoerotique some weeks back, at the Chris Lake/Michael Woods show, brought to you by Provoke.
I can still remember the feeling I got when was first introduced to the sounds of Tiësto back in high school. The track that stole my heart was the classic “Traffic” – I still get goose bumps when I play it today. I’ve been a loyal fan since then, but have tended to favour the Dutch maestro’s earlier work over his more recent shift toward the mainstream. Or I did, until I came across these two tracks from 2010: “I Miss You” and “No Memory From Yesterday.” Both evoke that familiar shivery sensation that “Traffic” gave me years ago.
Let’s start with “I Miss You.” In its dulcet perfection, this melodious track is perfect for listening with headphones in the comfort of my own room, putting me in a euphoric, phantasmagorial trance state.
Then there’s “No Memory From Yesterday.” A more up-beat sound than “I Miss You” — but my body just can’t stay still when I hear this music. It’s a classic track with a catchy rhythm, one of those unforgettable, sweetly harmonious pieces of music that lingers in the corners of your mind.
I have to recommend these two tracks to any confirmed EDM enthusiast. After 15-plus years on the scene, Tiësto has established himself beyond doubt as a true cognoscente of the EDM world. It’s easy to take potshots at arena-filling superstar DJs, but these big players have a unifying effect on our whole community. We should be thankful every day for major artists, like Tiësto, who bring us all together as one big EDM family.
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
