Merry Christmas from... Pan-Pot

'a mix for you to end the year in a bang!' by Pan-Pot
Have a good one peeps!

techno mix from Juljan!..

....and here's a new mix from Juljan!... listening to it, as I type... loving min 35!

Soudbury Road Mix by Juljan on Mixcloud

Par Grindvik - Sinister

This is what I call good techno!!! Here is a track from Berlin based, Par Grindvik. Originally from Sweden, Grindvik, also known as The Hollow, has been around for a good few years. Other than being a well respected DJ and producer, he also owns his own label, Stockholm LTD. I only discovered him recently, one of my mates sent me the track below and I was well impressed! Thanks for opening my eyes (or... ears!) J! :)

ps. not sure about the choice of images... but hey! noone is perfect!...

Redshape at Basing House

Basing House, not a venue that gets me too excited, unless of course Redshape is playing! Saying that, on Saturday night I thought the venue actually wasn't bad at all! The security was nice and polite, the bar staff the same and the sound really good as well!

Redshape played for just over 1 hour. Really nice set, I was at the front the whole time dancing by the speaker. The crowd was cool and seemed to be enjoying the music, Redshape seemed to be happy behind his laptop, dancing here and there. Overall really nice night. The guy that played before Redshape was also pretty good, no idea who it was though..

Here's a mix from Redshape, available as a free download, about 2 years old, but I still like listening to it.

Saturday night with Efdemin

Last Saturday Efdemin was playing at Fabric. I keep saying to myself I will never go back there, but they always bring good acts... so I keep going back... We got there at 4am and stayed until just before 6.30am. Efdemin played a super nice set; dark, industrial and quite repetitive, in a positive way of course! Even though I really enjoyed the music, I avoided going to any other room, I didn't manage to get into it. I found the crowd, as always, distracting, mainly made of students, tourists, and non music lovers... Not really there for the music, rather because Fabric is the only club they know in London. I really hope Efdemin recorded the set, so I can listen to it at home while partying with my mates!

Oh yes... we also got there just before Skudge finished his set. I would have enjoyed that a lot! I did enjoy a lot the 15mins I heard! Such a shame we are always late...

Here's a little something from Skudge!..

SKUDGE LIVE AT THE OFFICE-15.05.10 by freshgood02

Conforce free download

This morning I've been listening to Dutch DJ and Producer; Conforce, also know as Boris Bunnik. His second and latest album Escapism was released in December 2011, here's one of the tracks; Shadows of the Invisible, available as a free download. One for the late hours...

New release from Philippe Petit

So what's been happening in Chamonix since the last release of Myk Derill on Knotweed Records? Well Philippe Petit, DJ and founder of Knotweed Records, has been preparing his second release on his own label; a 3 track EP named Invasion. Here's a teaser for your musical pleasure... Another great piece of work from Petit!

KW 003 - Philippe Petit - Invasion E.P. - Preview - available mid Jan 2012 on vinyl by Knotweed Records

The EP should be out any day now, so keep your eyes and ears open!

Marcel Dettmann's latest release

As already mentioned in a previous post, Marcel Dettmann released on 2 Dec his latest 2 track EP on 50 Weapons. I had previously posted a teaser of Deluge; track 1 of the EP, but I was just listening to Duel; track 2 of the EP, which without a doubt made me buy the record!

Here's the track, so you can see for yourselves...

On a different note... Went to buy it online from Soho based Black Market Records, where it would cost me £14. Getting it from Berlin based Monkeytown Recors though cost me 13EUR (that would be £11). How often do I find myself debating... Should I be buying local or go for cheaper?..

Marcel Dettmann new release

Here's a teaser of Marcel Dettmann's new release. The two track EP is expected to be released on 2nd December on 50 Weapons, Modeselektor's white label. Other artists having released on 50 Weapons include Shackleton and Roska. 

Marcel Dettmann "Deluge" (50WEAPONS016) OUT DEC 02 by Modeselektor

Tony Lionni

British DJ and producer, Tony Lionni is the latest addition to the Modelisme Records family. Tony Lionni has been in the scene for a good few years and has also released on Ostgut Ton, Mule Electronic and Versatile Records. Here is one the tracks of Model 28, his latest EP released on Modelisme in September. 

TONY LIONNI - ASTROBLACK - MODEL 28 by MODELISME RECORDS

Richie Hawtin documentary

Slices - Pioneers Of Electronic Music Vol. 1 - Richie Hawtin

This is a fascinating 90min documetary, part of DVD special series, Slices - Pioneers of Electronic Music. The first one is about DJ and producer Richie Hawtin, it covers his childhood, how he got into music, his relationship to his parents and how he became the icon he is today. 

Myk Derill releases new EP

DJ and producer, Myk Derill is releasing his new EP, Enclosure, on 15th November on Knotweed Records. This is the second release of the recently launched french label, though Derill has already had a few releases on several other labels. Derill plays some pretty dark techno, influenced by the scene in Berlin, where he is based. I look forward to getting the EP once it's out!

KW 002 - Myk Derill - Enclosure E.P. - Preview by KNOTWEED RECORDS

Philippe Petit releases his first EP

Philippe Petit launched his first EP on 30th September on his own label Knotweed Records, which was also launched this September. Rain In The Valley, available to buy on Juno, consists of three tracks, which should really be listened to on a big sound! I can so imagine myself dancing to this in a club! I think my favorite is Above, although I keep changing my mind... it could be Rain In The Valley... 

Knotweed Records 001 - Rain in the Valley - now available! by Philippe Petit

Blueprint party at Cable

Saturday night, Cable, Blueprint Records party, one room, James Ruskin, 3hr Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock back to back set. Of course once again we had to go through the usual super anal security check of Cable to enter the club. Even though their security system is enough to put you off from going there, the security staff is actually quite nice! Got there at midnight and stayed until about 4am. The venue wasn't too busy, which was a relief, as it made the night so much more bearable than other times... It wasn't too crowded, we didn't have to queue for too long to get a drink, the crowd quite young often looking like it was their first techno party... but overall quite happy with the setting! Musicwise, what is there to say? Really enjoyed Ruskin's set, he played some nice tunes, the crowd seemed to enjoy dancing quite a lot! Then the long awaited back to back set of Dettmann and Klock. Dettmann started with his usual darkish sound and the set continued like that! Didn't stay till the end, but I can most definitely say I was happy to be there! I have to admit though, I have seen both Dettmann and Klock at Corsica Studios before and it was far better there... 

Matthew Dear at Alpha-ville

Saturday night... Alpha-ville festival... Hearn Street Car Park...

Had a really nice night at Hearn Street on Saturday night, at a party organised as part of the Alpha-ville festival that was on 22-25 September. Got there at about 12.30 when Truss was just about to start. He played for an hour, his sound was quite raw and industrial, a bit too slow at times for me, but definitely enjoyed it! Then Jennifer Cardini... I was really looking forward to seeing her; I had never seen her before, but I love so many DJs on Kompakt, that I had a very good feeling about her. She played for just under 2 hours, I loved her set, she played some super nice techno! It's also so nice seeing girls DJing well! And finally... Matthew Dear! He played for another couple of hours, quite nice, not too harsh, good for the masses, nice visuals, kept us dancing... Overall a good night out, I expected it to be more busy, but hey at least it was good for us to have more space to move around and not have to queue at the bar or to get in!

New Andy Stott EP

On 10 October Andy Stott is releasing his new double EP We Stay Together; 40mins, 6 tracks, the photo above is the cover artwork. To get a feel of what to expect, you can stream the second track; Posers, from The Wire. I really look forward to getting this, I love his dark primitive sound.

So looking forward to seeing him at Corsica Studios on 28 October; great venue, great lineup! Definitely one not to be missed!

Bestival 2011 - A retrospective - Day 3

On Sunday I started with Joy Orbison, followed by Kode9 at the Roller Disco, really enjoyed both sets. The left to go to the main stage to see Bjork, who was the last before the closing ceremony. She played really well, again you could really feel the dynamic in the crowd, everyone was dancing and singing. She looked amazing on stage and had a chorus with her. After the ceremony with the fireworks, balloons and these weird massive balloon men walking around the crowd and with some strange choices for music to go with the whole thing, I went back to the Roller Disco, where I briefly saw Joker and then moved on to Bollywood, where Tensnake was playing. I didn't like his set much, it a bit too funky for my taste, so I left to go for a walk in the Ambient Forest, it was magical! Loved it in there! I then rushed to the Big Top to see Derrick May, but to my dissappointment had changed times with DJ Shadow. I think I saw him playing 3 maybe 4 tracks, it was actually quite good, almost drum and bass, and the visuals pretty impressive! Then back to Bollywood to see Paul Kalkbrenner. This was exactly what I needed at that moment! Kalkbrenner played like always most of Berlin Calling which I love and the lights were super cool! And finally Derrick Carter, which for me was pretty dissappointing. We then left and were hoping to find somewhere else with good muysic to go, but we failed. It would have been great if they had organised a little after partty somewhere hidden for those of us still wanting a little bit more techno!.. Finishing at 2am is just too early... Hightligh for Sunday Bjork and Paul Kalkbrenner!

Bestival 2011 - A Retrospective - Day 2

On Saturday I started my festival day at the Red Bull Music Academy with D/R/U/G/S, then October, Al Tourettes and Appleblim. I briefly saw Crystal Castles, but didn't enjoy it, her voice doesn't agree with me... I then went to Rizlab to see Hannah Holland, who played an amazing set, mixing techno with electro and really great visuals. It's so great seeing DJs that enjoy what they do and dance with the crowd! The atmosphere was so positive! At Bollywood I also heard some really good techno from Bok Bok and Claude Vonstroke, even got a CD from Vonstroke, which I still haven't listened... At the main stage I saw PJ Harvey, who was amazing, although I felt like I wanted something more dance at that moment and of course The Cure, that were unbelievably good! They must have played around 2.5hrs, they went off the stage and back twice, you could see how much they were enjoying being there and this energy was projected to the crowd. And i think the last thing I saw on saturday was LFO, who played quite hard and noisy. It was really good, though I don't think I would have been able to have seen them any earlier than last.

For Bestival 2011 videos click here.

Bestival 2011 - A Retrospective - Day 1

What an amazing time I had at Bestival 2011!!! I was there from Friday until Monday and then stayed an extra day at the beautiful Isle of Wight, it's always better avoiding the returning crowds after a festival... While at the festival we were quite lucky with the weather, it was raining a little bit here and there, but it could have been much worse. Overall it was a great experience!

I saw so many good acts! On Friday passing from the main stage I briefly saw Public Enemy, I don't think hip hop goes with festivals... My night continued with some really good techno from Justin Robertson and Lone at Rizlab, then an amazing set from Loefah at Roller Disco and ended up in Big Top to see Groove Armada. My highlight for the evening has to be Loefah! Although I did dance non stop throughout the whole time I was at Rizlab.

For Bestival 2011 videos click here.

Real Scenes - documentaries on the music scene in Bristol, Detroit and Berlin

Resident Advisor and Bench have teamed up to produce a series of documentaries on the musical, cultural and creative culture in some of the key destinations in today's music scene; Real Scenes. The first of the series; Real Scenes: Bristol, was out in July. It focuses on the influential electronic music scene in Bristol. The second one; Real Scenes: Detroit, out in August, explores Detroit, the birthplace of techno. And the latest one; Real Scenes: Berlin, came out today and focuses on the techno scene in Berlin.


Real Scenes: Bristol from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.


Real Scenes: Detroit from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.


Real Scenes: Berlin from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.