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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

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

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 .

Night Noodle Markets 2011

That's it for now, check back soon for part 2 and hopefully some photos from my Asia trip.

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

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aqua - Doctor Jones

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aqua - Cartoon Heroes

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

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 .

Click here to view the embedded video.

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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mike Foyle and X-Vertigo Ft. Rapheal Pujol remix:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hit 'Continue reading' for the lyrics:

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach so
She ran away in her sleep
and dreamed of
Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise
Every time she closed her eyes

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
and the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd fly

and dreams of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
She'd dream of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh

lalalalalalalalalalala
And so lying underneath those stormy skies
She'd say, "oh, ohohohoh I know the sun must set to rise"

This could be
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
This could be
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
This could be
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh

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 .

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

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:

1. Roasted garlic sauce (concentrated)
2. Whole egg mayonnaise
3. Hot chilli sauce (not the Asian variety)
4. Tomato ketchup
5. Onions
6. Potatoes

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.

Tracklist:

1. Cirez D - Mokba
2. Afrojack & R3hab - Prutataaa
3. Arty - Kate
4. Super8 & Tab ft. Anton Sonin - Black Is The New Yellow (Protoculture Remix)
5. Kyau & Albert - A Night Like This
6. Sasha - Xpander (Funkagenda Remix)
7. Ernesto vs. Bastian Rework - God Is A DJ (Dub Mix)
8. First State ft. Tyler Sherrit - Maze
9. Arty - Rebound
10. Ummet Ozcan - Reboot
11. Kyau & Albert - Be There 4 U (Mat Zo Remix)
12. Arnej - Dust In The Wind

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

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:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• 2 small/medium brown onions
• 5 thin carrots, chopped into small cubes
• handful of frozen peas
• handful of frozen corn kernels
• 500g minced lamb
• 3tbs plain flour
• 500mL beef stock
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1tbs tomato paste
• Salt and Pepper
• 5 potatoes
• 50g butter
• 60mL milk

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.