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
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 
.
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:
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
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.
Ready to be DJ ntranced
So I've finally done it, I've bought some decks to finish off my first bedroom DJ setup. A pair of Pioneer CDJ 400's later and now I'm set to start mixing. I've had a quick play with it all and it's definitely not as easy as it looks. The most difficult part for me at the moment is to make sense of my vast collection of music and organising it in a way which is sensible.
The setup
Haha yes, it is the dreaded long exposure trail, haven't done those kind of photos in a long time, but there it is in all its glory, 2 CDJ 400's, a DJM 3000 mixer and a set of aiaiai TMA-1's (on my head an not pictured). Had it on my main desk for a few minutes just to plug it into my PC to see how it all goes and it does Traktor pretty well, but that will be for later .
The final piece
Hopefully I can pick it up fairly quickly and start cranking out some mixes .
Getting warmer…
Getting closer to unleasing dj ntranced 
received an early present yesterday while at work, a set of new headphones. These are known as aiaiai's TMA-1, set of DJ headphones produced by a Dutch company. Strange brand name, but quality product. Only did some rough research before buying them (used) and they seem to fit the bill in every aspect and it does seem like it was indeed made for DJ's as far as their marketing goes.
Stealthy look, single sided cable as well as being removable from both ends, perfect for my needs.
aiaiai TMA-1
Important question is, how do they sound? At first, I thought they were a bit too bassy and overpowering but after a few hours of listening, I kinda enjoyed it as it has a very smooth sound. While the bass is strong, it's very clear and punchy, but as soon as you put them on, you'll notice its sound stage, not sure how to describe it, but it's very 'big room' and warm.
Pretty happy with them and one step closer to DJ'ing. Just need some decks now.
Pryda – 2night
Eric Prydz is the man and he's done it again with another amazing tune under his Pryda label. I have no idea how this man pumps out some epic tunes (and be the same guy that released Call On Me, although that had a sweet video clip). Amazing piano riffs once again and a little more mellow than his last song, Pjanoo. Love it.
It's a damn shame he's got a fear of flying because he'd because it'd be an epic show. Hope he's still releasing gems like this when I get the chance to see him, in Europe or something.
Coldplay – Every Tear is a Waterfall (Swedish House Mafia Remix)
Woke up this morning to listen to ASOT 523 and this headbanger comes on as the first track and it's a beauty, something about mashing Coldplay and electronic beats which always seems to work. Swedish House Mafia have done it again with another tune to be played over and over at festivals all over the world.
So catchy and funky, brings a smile to my face .
Lyrics:
Masif Saturdays present Simon Patterson
Saturday night was one of some bangin' trance with tech trance giant Simon Patterson coming down under to Space Nightclub. Late start to the night with Simon scheduled to come on at 2am, but not actually arriving until 2.30. Not neccessarily a bad thing as I had later discovered with a DJ by the name of Jordan Suckley ripping up the decks.
Was very impressed by his style and his manic ways of creating a storm via Traktor and cutting up beats like a samurai, even bringing some scratching along. Simply stunning and I was gobsmacked.
Jordan Suckley
Simon Patterson came on with his thumping style shortly after and he seemed to love every moment of it. His set was the usual hard and fast and unfortunately I didn't stick around for the whole thing, so not sure how he progressed later on into the night, was pretty tired by 4am.
Patterson on the decks
He seemed to loved the crowd with smiles all round and and strange addiction to the camera.
Patterson and the camera
For the rest of the gallery, click the image below.
More pics here
Eco – m (you) sic
Although the album has been out for a few months, I've only just recently discovered it. Eco, previously known as DJ Eco (and the man responsible for the smash hit Borealis) has delivered the goods with the album entitled "m(you)sic". I find it a little hard to describe what this album is, as you listen through the whole thing, it has a very nice progression from start to end with a few very downbeat and chilled songs, like part 1 and 2 of architextures but building slowly to some more melodic and slightly driving tunes such as "The Light In Your Eyes Went Out". It's a perfect Sunday afternoon album for lazing about or perfect for a long drive.
m(you)sic
One of the tunes is a collaboration with Eller Van Buuren (yes, it's Armin's little guitarist brother) called My Name is You(th)
Definitely worth a listen if you're a bit more relaxed about your music choices as it's not quite as smashing as Borealis and a little strayed from your regular club trance (the album as a whole).
Other tune I'm loving from the album is "The Light In Your Eyes Went Out"
Ferry Corsten presents. Full On Ferry Ibiza
New compilation out by one of my favourite DJ's, Ferry Corsten, it's entitled Full On Ferry Ibiza, it's got a decent sound to it and from what I've listened to so far, progresses rather nicely and has nice appeal to a wide variety of trance lovers. I must warn though there is a bit of commercial sounding stuff but I think it's quite well balanced overall.
Full On Ferry Ibiza
As the title suggests, it's a representation of the music he's played on his Full On Ferry shows in Ibiza and being the summer time over there means the compilation has a love vibrant sound it. Great for casual listening and I rate it.
Tracklist below:
DJ ntranced is coming*
(*Ok, close but not really)
No idea when I'm actually going to make DJing happen but I've started off with a single piece of equipment, a mixer. Picked up a lovely Pioneer DJM-3000 4 channel professional mixer from a GraysOnline auction this morning and fired it up to make sure it all works and it does!
Pioneer DJM-3000
Don't have anything to compare it with really, but on first impression, it was heavier than I had expected. The rotaries feel nice and solid and the faders are quite loose but don't feel cheap. Pretty happy.
It's a shame I can't do much with it at the moment as I don't have any CDJs. But nonetheless it's a start . Check back in the near future when I'll hopefully get a pair off CDJs and a set of headphones and can start mixing up some trance.