Archive for April 2012
Gui Boratto and Matthew Dear DJ Set - at AVALAND
Budding techno heavyweight and creative polymath Gui Boratto has come a long way from his roots in the advertising sector of his Brazilian home town of São Paolo.A student of architecture and design, Gui’s earliest musical work came in the studio producing many commercial pop and rock acts. It wasn’t until Gui’s self released 2004 debut album ‘Royal House’, when he drew attention for it’s juxtaposition of latin percussive elements with classic French House.After sending a two track demo to Kompakt in 2005, Gui shot to prominence with the release of 12 inch ‘Arquipélago’ on K2, catalyzing a number of well received singles on labels such as Audiomatique, Plastic City and Kompakt’s Pop imprint.Infusing a much needed dose of colour amidst the monochrome minimal landscape, his 2007 debut album ‘Chromophobia’ drew unanimous critical praise and sparked an avalanche of distinct productions and remixes. Singles ‘Mr Decay’ and the epic anthem ‘A Beautiful Life’ became emblematic of a greater scene shift toward richer melodic climes, the latter being particularly special as it features Gui’s wife, Luciana Villanova, on vocals.With a style characterized by a combination of blissful pop sensibilities and complex dance floor arrangements, Gui soon developed a distinct aesthetic profile, aided by the live arrangement of his favorite tracks on the ‘Addicted’ compilation released on Platipus in 2007. Gui has himself featured on innumerable compilations, from club mixes released by Fabric, Ministry of Sound and Cocoon to essential label mixes from Pokerflat, Mobilee and DFA.His remix abilities are also in high demand, with Gui having worked with artists as high profile as Goldfrapp and The Pet Shop Boys, as well as contributing interpretations of his contemporaries from SCSI-9 to Bomb the Bass. As Brazil’s premiere techno export, Gui has developed a reputation for his relentless touring schedule, and has graced the Read more
Congorock, Hot Mouth and Ken Loi - at CONTROL
From underground phenomenon to emerging star of the world’s biggest dance floors: the hottest fresh face of international dance music hails from Italy: Congorock. In only two years, with the single Babylon, the remix of Somebody to Love (Boy George/Mark Ronson), and One (Swedish House Mafia), Rocco Rampino has earned the respect of the most famous names in the game, like David Guetta at the legendary Cocoricò of Riccione where he recently shared the console. The Leccese’s powerful electro-house sound and his tropical deejay sets have gained the support from Afrojack to Diplo, from Tiësto to Benny Benassi, from Martin Solveig to Duck Sauce and the Crookers.
The year 2011 has been most notable for this upcoming artist. Ken Loi has been well known for his remixes for artists such as Tiësto, Kaskade, Markus Schulz, Martin Solveig, Marcel Woods, and Wynter Gordon. His recent signings include Dim Mak, High Contrast Recordings & Big Beat/Atlantic Records. However, after popular demand, Ken released his bootleg of The Ting Ting’s “Hands”, which went viral with the support of Tiësto playing it on tour at worldwide events, such as Stereosonic Festival Australia, Ultra Music Festival, Energy 2011, etc. With Tiësto giving Ken’s bootleg of “Hands” an outstanding reputation, producers such as Kaskade, Steve Aoki, and Wolfgang Gartner started spinning it as well. In the meanwhile, Ken Loi’s remix of Martin Solveig’s “Hello,” released on Mixture, caught the attention of listeners around the world. But it is undoubtedly recognized that the release of Ken Loi’s remix of Kaskade & Tiësto’s “Only You” was the turning point of his career as it broke into the Beatport Top 100 Chart. It wasn’t long until Tiësto, the DJ legend himself, invited Ken Loi to play an opening set for the ‘Tiësto: In Concert’ residency in Las Vegas located at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. His energetic performance in Las Vegas impressed Tiësto and his team that they personally invited Ken back for several more opening sets, which included the history making final stop of the Club Life: College Invasion Tour at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles and the back-to-back shows at San Francisco’s Ruby Skye for Tiësto’s Halloween edition of Club Life. If all that wasn’t enough for this humble artist, Ken was recently named Breakthrough DJ/Producer of 2011 by Tiësto on DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJ poll.
Steve Aoki vs Mr. Hudson – Forever Ladi Dadi (Ken Loi Mashup) by kenloi
Michael Woods and Andy Caldwell - at AVALAND
Michael Woods: Genius can be measured in a number of ways: ability, originality and accomplishment. In Michael’s short career he has managed to touch on every cornerstone, leaving proof of his musical competence at producing big room, progressive and tech-house tracks, along with a discernible motivation to better the quality of music being distributed. This has not gone unnoticed, with DJs like Pete Tong jumping at the chance to document Michael’s rise, featuring him on shows such as Radio 1’s 15 minutes of Fame.
Michael Woods Podcast 022 by michaelwoods
Stuart Browne & Flippers – ‘Wild Card’ (Michael Woods Edit) by michaelwoods
Bay Area native Andy Caldwell had a passion for the art of music long before the advent of electronica, and a decade before embarking on a career in deejaying, producing and songwriting. But true musical expression for Andy hit all new levels in the wake of San Francisco’s underground rave explosion, when the one-time concert trumpeter and piano player subordinated his horn and foot-pedals in favor of two turntables and a bag of vinyl.
