The only thing that puts me out… is the drive inside me!
Oh yeah I must be crazy.
But I believe it's my destiny.
What am I on about? Marcel Woods is what I'm on about coming down to Australia for a short club tour. Was privileged enough to be covering this event and I must way I was impressed by what the Masif Saturdays and Genesis guys did to the venue. Quite a bit of effort into the production with LCD screens, more lasers and lights, walking into the main room, you know it's gonna be a good night.
Start of the night
Marcel Woods, I know him for being a little bit dark, driving and rather electric, a few of my favourites would be Advanced, Inside Me and The bottle.
Here's inside me:
In short, I had some pretty big expectations and when he started off it was amazing, but a few songs later and I'm thinking no way... (not the good no way either). I start to hear the lyrics of something rather familiar, something rather cheesy. I hear 'I turn the music up, I got my records on...' and think what the fuck. Now don't get me wrong, I love Coldplay and the remixes of Every Tear is a waterfall, but this was Marcel Woods! How does a guy that produces songs like Advanced and The bottle play this crap in his set?!
He makes up for it by dropping some killer darker and electric (note electric, not electro) and faith in humanity is restored. See the video below:
But not for long a familiar intro comes a long, it builds a lot slower than usual, I'm thinking oh no... but then it starts to shift and change and I'm thinking perhaps Funkagenda's What The Fuck, but I'm wrong. Turns out, it was LEVELS and I'm standing there with the biggest what the fuck look on my face. Some more wtf is him dropping Warp by Steve Aoki, see video below:
We're in a club gig here not an Aussie festival, I expect hard driving trance from this man, look at the photo on his album... that does not look like the face of a man who plays LEVELS!
Cover for reference
Overall it was an okay night, definitely some highlights during the night, some remix of 'hardcore vibes' definitely brought out the kid in me, definitely never thought I'd hear that one out live.
The extra production at Space made for some nice photos and many thanks to the techs there for helping me out by adjusting the par cans pointing at the DJ from a horrible blue wash to something more neutral. Made the photos a million times better.
Click here fore the rest of the Marcel Woods photos
Older photos – part 2
Next up we have my partial attempt at Sculptures by the Sea at Bondi Beach, partial in the fact that I only got half way before having to leave to head to dinner. Definitely need to make more of an effort to go, more than once preferably as it's one of those events that is always so much fun (photographically). So much choice of subject and in varying environment makes it a challenge to capture something different.
Would love some comments on this photo, bit of an experiment with the composition and the post (and funnily enough, not even a sculpture itself!)
Below is my take on Sculptures by the Sea 2011.
Click for the rest of Sculptures 2011
So the reason the photos from above were cut short was the need to attend Steve's and Janet's birthday at Hurricanes in Darling Harbour. Photos from the night below, nothing too fancy seeing as I only had my 35mm f/2 and no flash with me (I've been pretty lazy these days).
Click for pics of Steve and Janet's 23rd
Older photos – part 1
So I have a whole bunch of photos in the backlog that I never went through and figured I should put them up before touching the photos from my Asia trip. These were from back in October of last year, quite a few months ago, this is part 1 of 2, I'll have a couple of more galleries for November as well.
First up we have some photos from Jimmy and Winnie's 23rd at Encasa where we delighted ourselves a raft of various Tapas and Spanish dishes. Quite liked this restaurant and the food was pretty amazing, so good I attempted at making my own. That dish was the potatas bravas, basically fried potato cubes with a spicy tomato salsa and garlic sauce/mayonnaise.
Click for Jimmy and Winnie's 23rd B'day pics
Second is some photos from out little night out at the night noodle markets. It was a fun night involving a whole variety of Asian foods from noodles to seafood, buns and even Japanese pancakes! Mix in a little wine and good company and it was a lovely evening. To top it off, we did a sugar hit at Spiedo inside Westfield Sydney, quite tasty 
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Night Noodle Markets 2011
That's it for now, check back soon for part 2 and hopefully some photos from my Asia trip.
First the Vengaboys, now AQUA!
What has Sydney become? It's like the 90's is coming back again and we're able to relive those childhood hits. Just to refresh your memory (in case you've forgotten or you're in denial) they were the ones that made 'Barbie Girl' and a whole suite of other lollypop pop songs (see what I did there?)
Aqua - Aquarium
I know you're all shouting, tell me more! I want to know when and where they're coming. Well their first show is sold out! (cue sounds of sadness and disappointment) but you'll be glad to know there is a second show up for offer!
When? 16th & 17th of March
Where? The HiFi, Sydney
How much? $60.50
Want to know more?
http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/aust/52000/Aqua_sell_out_announce_more_shows
http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=53728&ref=moshtix&skin=
And just to re-live some memories, here's a couple of YouTube videos:
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Aqua - Doctor Jones
Aqua - Cartoon Heroes
What I got up to this NYE…
Thanks to Martin Bui for finding this epic video on YouTube of Markus Schulz' epic performance at the Metro on New Years. Most of you will remember this song as 'that Russian space song' which went pretty high up the pop charts back when we just started high school.
That song... If you never knew was called ResuRection by a (now disbanded) group called PPK. This version's remixed by Setrise and has this wicked darkness to it. Love it.
Here's a photo from the night, taken by Martin!
Markus Schulz NY Sydney
Happy Welcoming of a New Year (2012)
2012 has come and I'm still a lazy ass at updating my blog, despite this I have actually gotten a few things done as we welcome the new year. Hope everyone had a great NYE celebration, I sure did and what better way to do it than with some pumping trance music and hectic lasers (well also a house party for some pre-drinks). Not sure about everyone else, but 2012 isn't going to be a big bang of change, I don't have many complaints about 2011 and I'm going to take what I started last year and make it even better this year. Here's a pic shamelessly stolen from the Sydney City Council NYE website, NY fireworks are always bound to impress, at least in Sydney anyway.
Sydney Midnight Fireworks
Main things for me for 2012 will be more photography and DJ'ing, so keep an eye out, hopefully I'll be doing some bigger and better things with photography and getting a major kick on in regards to learning how to DJ.
For everyone who's got a resolution for 2012, good luck with it 
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Coldplay – Paradise
While I should be dumping my holidays into Lightroom for processing, I can't be bothered at the moment so instead I'll do a post about a song discovered while I was overseas and that song is Coldplay's Paradise (as well as a couple of its remixes). The original is simply a lovely tune and the video clip is definitely something to watch. The song was also played a couple of times while I was in Thailand and the remixes make for a great party tune .
Like most of Coldplay's music, it lends well to being remixed and this tune is no different with Fedde Le Grand putting out a lovely but dark (and somewhat trancey) tune and Mike Foyle in conjunction with X-Vertigo making a very light and cheerful version of the song. Check them out below!
Fedde Le Grand remix:
Mike Foyle and X-Vertigo Ft. Rapheal Pujol remix:
Hit 'Continue reading' for the lyrics:
2011 Asia trip – Day 1
The first day has come and gone and I'm sitting in a hotel room in Hong Kong as I write this. Not much to write about, nor are there many photos of the action from today as we haven't really done much.
Departing Sydney at 9.30 in the morning, we had an 8 hour flight to Singapore with Singapore Airlines which was comprised of eating plane food and soaking up alcoholic drinks when possible, quite nice to be able to unwind with a Singapore Sling or a Alspiritzer on a long flight. We stopped for about 3 hours in Singapore (Changi airport) and just checked out the place. Quite a nice airport with a few things to do to kill time while you're there. There was a butterfly sanctuary where you could go in and experience tropical weather and see butterflies flying around freely.
Flying towards Hong Kong was a short rinse and repeat of the flight to Singapore, eating plane food and more booze, good fun. By the time we landed, it was quite late so it was just a case of checking into our hotel in Mong Kok and roaming the streets for a bit of food before resting up for the next day's action.
Will try to blog a bit more on this trip unlike my last trip to Japan where the blog posts were delayed by about 3 months 
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Defqon.1 2011 aftermovie
I'm not the one usually posting hardstyle videos, but the after movie for the 2011 edition of Defqon.1 is up. Watch below, and do it in HD. Pretty cheesy with the the Toneshifterz segment, it's a bit like a documentary.
Reason I've posted this is because of how this was shot (and what it was shot on). All that needs to be said is 'Epic', maybe I should reprhase, RED Epic. Yes, the after movie was shot with a Red Epic camera and from what I could see, completely solo (bar any crane shots). If you're still not sure why I'm going on about this, well it's a $50k camera and the guy shooting probably had about $80k worth of kit to shoot this.
Here's what the camera looks like...
Red Epic
If you want to know a bit more about the camera, hit up www.red.com
Patatas Bravas
I actually made this a while ago but haven't gotten round to putting up a post about it. Coming back from Encasa and having this dish, I simply had to have more, but I wasn't going to the city just to get some. Instead, I decided I'd make my own, I mean how hard could it be? After all it's just potato cubes with a garlic mayonnaise with a spicy tomato salsa.
When I had it though, I felt it was missing something, sauteed diced onions!
Patatas Bravas
Being the lazy guy I am, I made the recipe as follows:
Ingredients:
- Roasted garlic sauce (concentrated)
- Whole egg mayonnaise
- Hot chilli sauce (not the Asian variety)
- Tomato ketchup
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Dice up the potatoes into cubes
- Heat up some oil in a saucepan (to deep fry)
- Place the potatoes into the saucepan and cook until golden*, meanwhile, cook the diced onions on a low-medium heat until brown and soft
- Remove and strain
- Mix the roasted garlic sauce with the mayonnaise to taste
- Mix the hot chilli sauce and ketchup to taste
- Place onions on the potatoes and cover with sauce. Enjoy
Ultimate Ears Triplefi 10
I've had these Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10's for about one and a half weeks now and seriously, I can't put them down! $195 for a pair of earphones may seem ridiculous (but the RRP of $499.95 is even more so ) but I seriously think they've been worth every single dollar. Each time I listen to a song, it's like a new experience, even if I've heard it for a hundred times, these earphones just make it a whole new experience.
UE Triplefi 10
So, how do I describe these headphones in more detail than simply 'eargasmic'? Hard to say, I can't really find any flaws with them. The highs are very nice and crisp yet never ear piercing. The bass is very tight and punchy and it's seriously like you can hear the bass wind up into a sharp punch. They're very sensitive so they're easy to drive meaning they go plenty loud, and loud without distortion. If you do hear any distortion, it's the song and not the headphones. The mids are detailed and vocals do come alive bringing a very nice sense of depth. Only down fall I'd say is that the sound is so punchy and dynamic that it makes it hard to sleep with while they're pumping away.
Sexy case
Packaging of these things are similar to the UE700's but the case is a lot bigger and sexier with a nice metal finish. These earphones are large and they do stick out a fair bit, but it's definitely worth it as the sound they produce is simply phenomenal. Highly recommended and I believe thelogitechshop's ebay account is doing them for $199. They're probably best sounding in ear monitors (IEM's) you can get for that kind of money (well from what I've read at least). There's also accounts of them not fitting well if you have small ears, but they've been perfect for me and the Comply Foam makes it stay quite firmly lodged and sealed in my ear (and if you read my review on the UE700's, you'll know how much I love the comply foam stuff.
DJ ntranced – First ever mix!
So since I'm at home all day recovering from my wisdom teeth removal surgery, what better thing to do but hit the decks and trying to get a mix together. Still learning at this stage but thought I'd try putting something together for the sake of it. Some pretty dodgy transitions in there, but I'm working on it. Hope you enjoy (comments would be great )
Tracklist:
- Cirez D - Mokba
- Afrojack & R3hab - Prutataaa
- Arty - Kate
- Super8 & Tab ft. Anton Sonin - Black Is The New Yellow (Protoculture Remix)
- Kyau & Albert - A Night Like This
- Sasha - Xpander (Funkagenda Remix)
- Ernesto vs. Bastian Rework - God Is A DJ (Dub Mix)
- First State ft. Tyler Sherrit - Maze
- Arty - Rebound
- Ummet Ozcan - Reboot
- Kyau & Albert - Be There 4 U (Mat Zo Remix)
- Arnej - Dust In The Wind
Godskitchen 2011 – Photos
The long weekend in Sydney means a night of trance music under the Godskitchen banner. This year was to be a trance odyssey with the journey being led with locals VLN and Thomas Knight before blasting off with Binary Finary and continuing forth with Ben Gold, Marco V, Richard Durand and finally with John Askew to end the journey.
Godskitchen 2011
Had an absolute blast that night and probably one of the most fun I've ever had while taking photos at an event like this. Great atmosphere and all the international DJ's seemed to just love it, was lovely to meet them and got a few snaps with most of them .
Me and Ben Gold
Me and Marco V
Me and Mr. Durand
Event was a bit smaller then it has been with the side seating curtained off, but with that done, the venue looked quite full. Production was pretty good (much better than the woeful 'Angel in White party' for those who were there ) with plenty of coloured lasers with lighting extended to the rear of the crowd (as opposed to just on stage).
Decent production
Only thing would probably be the lack of theme, personally I think if you're gonna give the event a name like a 'trance odyssey', there should be some effort into incorporating it into the night. All in all, quite happy with the night and pretty happy with the photos this time.
Click the image below for the full gallery.
Click here for the rest of the photos
Shepherd’s pie
So for lunch tomorrow (and until I finish it) I'll be having shepherd's pie, was a bad idea starting it at 9pm as it took a lot longer than I had expected. Modified the recipe on taste a little bit to add some more veges and it turned out pretty good.
The base of the pie
Doesn't look too crash hot before the mash and going into the oven but it smelt pretty good.
Adding the mashed potato
After putting it in the oven, the final result is below, and I think it's a success. Mash was nice and crispy on the top and just broke through when you dig in with a spoon.
The end result
Looked so good and tasted great, almost felt bad putting it straight into the fridge (well not before taking a big spoonful to 'taste').
Recipe for this is below:
Cirez D – Mokba
Another Eric Prydz tune and O.M.G. it's awesome! Very simple and proggy but damn so funky at the same time. Simply love the bassline, just epic to get any big night going.
I know I've heard this live somewhere but I can't put my finger on it, thinking A&B but not too sure... Give me a shout if you remember! Definitely gotta incorporate this into a mix some how/some time.