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!