Sound of Stereo. Get it in Dolby, Baby!

I was postponing this entry till today because I was hoping I could catch the Belgian electro duo in Brussels last night. I wasn't able to make it. But I've been itching to share their new EP with you! It's called Zipper and the track title "Zipper" is off the fucking hook. It's an instant dancing it. They played the Petrol club not too long ago and they really drove me the crowd insane. "Button" is equally sick. Velcro is essentially a smooth continuation of the two (not on youtube but on their MySpace). I highly recommend getting the EP, not only is it worth it, you're supporting music from my country!

Groove City Festival (Brussels, BE)

8 p.m. I got there spanking early. There were barely 30 people on site. I remembered I ❤ Techno at 7 p.m. was already pumping. The rooms weren't packed but there was a decent vibe going on. The few people here hadn't quite warmed up yet. I was flipping though. I still had no contact whatsoever from my Parisian friends. They came over to Belgium just for this party. Little by little, the place started filling up. I checked out a bunch of the rooms they had. I even went to the drum n' bass lounge just to see what kind of set up they have. Truth be told, unless it's played in a deep Prague underground club or at Cross Club (also in Prague), I don't enjoy drum n' bass. Their electro room was rather small and unpopulated, so I didn't linger there either. So far I dug the light and sound of the techno room, so I stuck around. The place was the most crowded of all the rooms. at 9 p.m., Sebastien Leger came on. He's a French house/techno DJ from Paris. I could tell he had quite the following already because the place had doubled in capacity. I made a quick stop at the House lodge for a second time and concluded that the music there was not my type. It wasn't making me groove. So I went back to Sebastien Leger while waiting for my friends. They really trekked here for their favorite act, James Holden. And it seemed the whole crowd was crazy about the London-based spinner. I've never seen an audience strike back like they did last night. People going up to dance on stage and there was no security to stop them. Sometimes, a crew of the DJ would mention to the guy to get off, but it was totally amicable. If someone so much as made a move towards the stage in NYC, that person would have been dragged out onto the street by the rogue security crew. Here, it felt homey. Friendly, almost. It was as if we were all just attending one big house party. The Frenchies arrived for their beloved act, and we were grooving further to the prodigal beats of German DJ Sven Väth. (He doesn't have a myspace account and there are no uploaded videos of last night's performance but here are two excerpts from last year's groove city ). We couldn't even finish his performance. We were dead. We needed to sit down, walk around, do something besides dancing. Weather permitting. And last night, the weather was not permitting anything. It was raining a river. So we took refuge in the house lodge. We caught the end of Bob Sinclair's super commercial mix. It was really sad. That man sucks live. David Vendetta however, came to save the show. There was fight starting up at my left and my friends were recuperating close to me at my right. And the music suddenly hit me. I don't understand how I suddenly managed to move again, but I was dancing. As the music got better, I kept giving it harder. It came to a point where my brain no longer controlled what I was doing. I had no idea my body could or would move like that. People around me probably thought I was on some new miraculous dancing drug (not the case). The man and his violinist just tore it up with a electric violin rendition of small town boy, MGMT's "Kids," "Seven Nation Army" and "Sweet Dreams." No videos of last night are up on youtube yet, but I asked a girl who filmed the entire cathartic finale to put it on youtube. Waiting to relive that magical moment!

Sure Thing! Surkin is on my Saturday night playlist!

I know I'm a bad sport. I hate to admit it when French DJ's are awesome. Now I am presenting Surkin, a small French prodigy, despite my reservations. See the thing is... I love France. I love their music, I love their movies, I love their culture, I even love their super-strict education system which I was a prisoner of for 15 years. But they get on my NERVES when they try to use my open-mindedness about the world's greatest dj's against Belgium's ability to throw the sickest raves on the planet! But, if I'm going to let them gloat, I may as well use this dude, who was man enough to produce this sick remix of boys noise's "Don't Believe The Hype." Naturally, he has created equally, if not superior mixes of his own, like the uber vibing White Knight Two. Though I hated David Guetta's track "Sexy Bitch" for marking his demise into pop music, Surkin's Hoes Get Down proves that you can put the word "Ho" in the title of the track, and repeated it throughout the number and NOT turn it into techno from the ghetto. "Gangsta's" and "Homies" have hip-hop and rap. Leave the electro to the European kids!

Czech out this DJ

So I went to Prague for the weekend. On top of being beautiful, this is a great town to stay up late in! I came back for nostalgic purposes. I lived here for four months in 2008 and had such a good time, I just had to come back to scope out the scene. Now that I am in Belgium, I can afford to city hop on a whim (literally, I can afford it... it was a 30 euro round-trip flight). When I checked out a bunch of the local DJ, I found that the most well-known of all, is DJ Lucca, a girl. A blonde girl! And don't let her apperance fool you, because this hottie can deliver a goddamn beat! Regrettably, she will not be performing in Prague while I am here (she's in Poland right now), but I checked out her schedule and found that the elektrolady will be performing at Austria's Rave on Snow and that she joined Chris Liebing on his tour in South America. If you want to groove to her tracks, check out the songs "Quantum" and "Woodblocker" on her MySpace. I can linger on her page for a while listening to her stuff. It doesn't hurt that she is a total FOX either...

Berlin is calling me!

So there I was, on the elevated stage of the orange room, waiting for Laurent Garnier to perform his sick set when a French dude and I started talking. Well, more like screaming. He was from Paris (of course) and mentioned how we Belgians can throw some sick parties. Tell me something I don't know, Christophe! He asked me who I was going to see after Laurent Garnier. I was headed straight for Boys Noize. The new track, NOTT, repeating "I. LOVE. TECHNO" in a robotic voice, would make the mob go wild, I thought. I wanted to witness that. "No, go check out Paul Kalkbrenner in the green room," he said. "He makes the best techno of our time. This dude is German." This sounded all too appealing for me. I was convinced! I shouldn't have been, because the German sensation was moved to a different room without notice and I missed him. But when I got home I check out his material. I was intrigued. And, though I'd hardly put my hand in the fire saying this dude makes "the best techno of our time," I'd gladly vouch for the fact that this DJ has quite a range of electro. From MANGO's spiritual beats taking you on a more relaxed journey through electronica, the KALKBOMB brings you to TORTED, a danceable techno groove with a vengeance. He doesn't really deal with the terribly hard techno, but damn, the man can spin. His claim to fame still rests primarily on SKY AND SAND, which earns him rave revues from fans, aficionados and techno connoisseurs. Though not my personal favorite, it fits in with the rest of the album very well. An album which displays the range of Kalbrenner's talent. A range I would like to see develop and progress. The Parisian techno fan and I spoke of both our plans to move to Berlin in the near future. He told me, as parting advice, "try to catch Kalkbrenner now... you'll regret it later if you don't."

No tracks, just sets

Adam Beyer is a sick motherfucker. You walk into anyone of his gigs and you will be surprised. Mainly because you can't predict any of the songs that this dude will be playing. I can't even tell if the dude would be playing a chill set or a techno-trance night. But then again, I expect nothing less coming from the Ultra-Modern Sweden. Electro artists like Eric Prydz, Basshunter and The Knife all play by their own set of Scandinavian rule. And so far, I'm not disappointed. The set this guy played at I Love Techno was electric, and his essential live mix is even more booming. He's into pure beats. No commercial sound coming outta him. So if you're not that into techno, he's probably not your best bet. But for electro junkies such as I, he's a man you want to catch in action.

Fake Blood, Real Endorphins

Have you ever been to a restaurant and the wine waitress is using adjectives like "compassionate" and "wild" to describe the fermented grape juice? Well, if you haven't, it's a shame because I still laugh about it with my friend. But I'm going to be doing the same thing right now with music. I checked out Fake Blood's last EP FIX YOUR ACCENT and it's a really fun ep. They've managed to turn a series of fun sounds into three great, totally danceable, tracks. The title track "Fix Your Accent" makes me feel like I'm on holiday. Or on an endorphin rush somewhere in a dark corner. Either way, I'm happy. I don't know if it's the whistle, the party flute or the French guy telling ME to fix MY accent, but it just works.

Here are some other reccomendations for Fake Blood Lovers:

"Mars"

"I Think I like It"

Another Italian DJ sensation... The Bloody Beetroots

So it looks like the Italian scene in Milan is a bourgeoning market for remixes! The bloody beetroot' remix of shitdisco's "72 virgins" is an ABSOLUTE MUST in any dance song list. They've got a real rough/dirty sound going on. And honestly, since I've been back from the stats, that's what I've been needing my fix in! And shit, this song's got it all, the cathartic bestial beat, and the smooth breakdown. But enough about the tune, the Beetroots are growing in popularity quite fast. With barely three years on them, they're now touring the world, reaching places like singapore and Australia! They're touring the US and Canada right now. So if y'all want to hit that shit up, here's some advice: dress code> light light light. Ladies, you have the advantage here shorts and a sports bra. And wear a nice one, because the time might come that your shirt too will come off. Water, Water, WATER.... RED BULL. Pace yourself, enjoy the show. Have a good night!

Crookers: Please pimp my playlist

You know those annoying songs that have been played in bars and clubs over and over and over again? And you're so sick of it, you could actually leave the please just to get away? Crookers take these songs and makes them listenable again, NAY, they make them danceable! Their claim to fame was their pimpage for Kid Cudi, Moby and AC/DC (Yeah, you're bound to be thunda'struck on that one!). They've got the magic finger to make you sweat your vodka so fast you'd be ready to drive when you leave the floor! I just got this FRESHHH summer mix of them which almost beats the special remix they made for the I Love Techno Festival. Be sure to check out their myspace and hit their gigs up if you're around, because they are rising stars in the elektro world. All I know is, they are well worth the two hour drive from Antwerp to Hamburg next month. See you there!

Deadmau5 ❤s Techno

Here we go again, a year (almost) after the last gig. Deadmau5 is one of the big boys now. So much has happened for him. He already has a second album out which, as most of you know already, is sick! And even though I heard each of the tracks in 3 different kind of remixes, all barely changing the nature of the song. That's not exactly how things went down Saturday. First off, except for "The Reward Is Cheese" he didn't play any of his old number. He might have played "Sometimes things get, whatever" but I wasn't too sure. After a 10 minute intro to his set, he looped in "FML" after which most of the girls in the mosh pit (including myself) had to join in with the boys and take our Goddamn shirts off. From the new record, he displayed Ghosts and Stuff, Moar Ghosts and Stuff and Bot which also unleashed an army of jumping fans. Thanks to the Winter time change, we actually got a 2h30 set by Deadmau5. I don't think anyone would have minded seeing him for an extra one. After almost 8 hours of straight dancing (No seats in any of the rooms but the Chill Out lounge, which was already overcrowded by sleeping potheads), I thought I would be dead by the time the mau5 came around. WRONG. I was camping up my whole left leg but I did it 'till the end. Just as it should be!

I LOVE TECHNO (Ghent, BE)

3 days after I landed, I got my ticket for I ❤ Techno. Though I was born and raised in Belgium, this year's edition of ILT was a first for me. My first thought when I entered the Flanders Expo (bigger than a stadium) with 5 separate rooms each twice the size of Terminal 5 was "This is the party I've been waiting for." The place was also equipped with two large official bars, three red bull bars, two Eristoff bars, 2 free water stations opening after 10 (it's a techno party...) and, yes, a Red Cross booth. This year's I love Techno was a special edition. Saturday 24th of October was the day we here in Europe changed our clocks to winter time. So while all the non-ILTers were jubilating about one more hour of sleep, me and my 35.000 close friends were partying for one more hour. The festival was thus truly 13 hours long. The DJ's I saw were all amazing except Surkin (wtf?) so make sure to check out the Partyharders Squad (from BELGIUM), The Proxy, Laurent Garnier, Adam Beyer, and Chris Liebing if you haven't already (the two last ones are big names, so most you should know 'em). The name of any particular songs, I wouldn't be able to tell you. Why? Because most the mixologists were freestyling that night even Deadmau5 was going off like a madman (later post coming especially dedicated to the man and his mouse). The whole thing was nuts. ILT needs a new word to accurately describe its own shit-show!

You know it's a party when people leave the place in a stretcher!

Infected Mushroom @ Term 5 (NYC)

After my backpacking trip, I came back to NYC for a week. Needed to pack my things before I crossed over to Europe again. I don't know when I'll be back in NYC (to live, I'll prolly be back next year to git git git it on!) because I realized something about myself in the last year in New York. I'm a European at heart. And you can take a European out of a Europe, but you can't take Europe out of the European's heart! And the best techno/electro parties are all going down in Europe. But more of this in my later blogs (live from Europe!) and more about INFECTED MUSHROOM. Well, as you can expect it from the kings of techno, they brought it. Unfortunately, they only rocked the vibe for 90 minutes. At $40 a ticket, I thought it was downright propaganda to put Infected Mushroom on the ticket stub and have 2 djs open up before them and 1 closing in after 'em. I downloaded their new CD but didn't really get a chance to listen to it before the gig. That's why, when I heard Sa'eed, I thought my head was going to burst. This is potentially the sickest beat they brought to the scene yet. I'm still making up my mind because it's a brand new track and I can't really see if it stands the test of time like cities of the future or deeply disturbed, but the whole crowd seemed to be agreeing. The Legend of the Black Shawarma's title track (yes, sadly, this is the name of the album and of pretty good song!) is an elating number. They played it near the end, to prevent all the rave heads to dehydrate/overheat (note: this was all of us!!) they demo'ed End of the Road from the album which is another GREAT track. Then there were Killing Time and Smashing The Opponents which, based on the reaction of the crowd, I doubt will remain in the set list very long. The usual suspects (Deeply Disturbed, Cities of the Future, Deeply Disturbed...) brought in the necessary vibe for everyone in the room to be vibing together. On top of the lightshow, some sick glowstickers with the lastest lights were bugging the acid heads out. Both the lights and the acid head freak outs were worth the look!

Backpacking hiatus

I'm going to be traveling ... backpacking to be exact. I'm leaving all the electronics at home and taking a break. See you when I get back!

The Prodigy @ Roseland Ballroom

I wanted a sick rave with some dirty British electro, and for fuck sake THE PRODIGY thrilled my insides last night. When I first gave a listen to their new album Invaders Must Die, I was really into the title song and Omen. but as I discovered the rest of the album, I soon realized it would be sacrilegious for me NOT to go see them when they passed by New York City.
So last night, trying to get in without a ticket stressed me out because I thought we wouldn't get it. Clearly, it was destiny that I see them live. The new album alone is like viagra for 20-year-olds. But the show was a motherfucking orgy of depraved lights and mental beats, complete with acid heads jumping everywhere and turning the moshpit into... well, a sick moshpit!
The real mindfuck was Firestarter. This golden classic is ready to turn any civilized person, anywhere, anytime into a complete animal. And there were definitely a pack of hounds @ Roseland... Funny, it was followed by Run With The Wolves from the new album.

AA 24/7 (Diplo remix) - Dance area

Every good electro-dance song has basic phases: it starts with a warm up, then turns into a build up, then a break down makes the tension and anticipation rise in every raver in the place until the DJ decides it's finally time to "drop the bomb." Well, Diplo remixed 24/7 in a fabulous way. The break down is the hardest part to master as a DJ because you don't want to cut it too short, but you certainly don't want to drag it out too long and loose the interest of the crowd. The balance in AA 24/7 is BOMB!
If an electro song is REALLY good, it'll have -what I call- an "Anything Goes" bit, where just like the title suggests, if you haven't made a move on whoever you're with at a rave/club/etc... THIS is the moment to do it. For this mix, it's around 2:17 and 2:31. It's a sick combination of hormones, sexual tension and beat stimulation. And that is why, people, we european love our electro!

WHOMADEWHO-EUROTOUR!

For everyone lucky enough to find themselves coincidentally lucky enough to be in the same city as WHOMADEWHO, check them out live. They spread mayhem, they ooze pulsating rhythms, they got the stuff, they ruff stuff that makes the sweat from your forehead sprinkle on the nearest people dancing on your right and left (if you're lucky enough, you'll get some of it on WHOMADEWHO, and get some back!!) Check out their rocking tunes, and see if you can catch them live! The three Danish boys are in a full blown euro tour (they're going to Brussels!! represent!) I am LITERALLY encouraging every Belgian to open up their minds to the gift of Disko Punk ... And if this miraculously get back to them... COME TO NYC!

The Kids Don't Stand A Chance-Miike Snow & Vampire Weekend

What the hell happened to the Postal Service? I miss their tasteful feng-shuiing of cheap electro sounds and ben Gibbard soft spoken words. Well now, I've got something to complete the Genius Playlist of the Postal Service: Miike Snow's remix of Vampire Weekend "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance." It's incredible what a few bleeps and beeps can do to an indie song. You can download and stream the track for free at RCRDLBL. Miike Snow is an American trio composed of Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg. They got more phat beats on their Myspace page, where unfortunately, there are no concert dates to be found yet.... I am patiently waiting!

Side Kick - Deep Fear

Within the dark walls of the Antwerp minimal techno/house scenes, the most enticing beats usually resonate off the steaming bodies of ravers and the still-legal smoke of the crowd. Now that I don't permanently live there anymore, I usually take a pen to the spot and end up writing the absurd lyrics all over my hands and google the tracks the next day. Unfortunately, the best tracks are often stripped of their meaningless words and titillate you to a sonic climax. This was the case of Side Kick (productions)'s Deep Fear. The Italian DJ trio, hailing from mob-central Naples, is a noob in the house scene. Their underdeveloped MySpace page -showing that they have only been active since 2008- delights me. I was wondering why I hadn't heard of them before. The fact that they are so new to the scene and yet this track has already reached the greater northern Europe is quite an accomplishment. These guys are mixing geniuses, and I'll be following their moves for a while from their first album drop to the announcement of a tour. Rock on, ragazzi!