Now moving on to year two of the festival created by Made Event in 2009, which was unsurprisingly a success its first time around. The 2010 is no revolution or major change, the artist line-up is still cross genre and presents many talented artists across the spectrum of electronic music from The Chemical Brothers to Claude VonStroke.

There is a lot of diversity in the sound and appeal as could be expected to draw out the 50k plus fans they hope to bring out. In other words the lineup not only offers musical variety, but you can expect a diverse crowd, from the bridge & tunnel crowd, candy ravers, trance loving i-bankers and of course the “techno” scene.

For the most part the artist selection, set times and stage selection does not shock. Though I was a little surprised by the selection on the Red Bull Music Academy stage with both Flying Lotus and Joachim Garraud, which strike me as 2 very different vibes, but I guess it does have the advantage of getting people to move around from stage to stage and not just stay at lets say… the Sunday School Grove..

The festival is coming up very quickly and is taking place at Randall’s Island again, which is a great location. Close to the city, easily accessible and if the weather stays favorable can make for an amazing experience. Get your tickets on the Made Event website here.

Hot picks for the festival:

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We have been yearning for a special mix from Mr. Alland Byallo for a while and we can say this right here was clearly well worth the wait!

While the man finishes the last touches of his move from San Francisco to Berlin, packing up his life into one suitcases (or two), he still managed to find some time to put this mix together for us! Be on the lookout for Alland playing close to you in Europe as he will be operating his tour this fall from September to November. Get in touch with us for more information.

In the meantime, here is an hour of purely magnetic mid-summer 115 unhurried bpm grooves! Enough to leave you completely strapped to your reclining chair, grilling by the cool pool.

Kick back some more…

Text : Chinua D. Green // July 16th, 2010

Yes, I know, Sónar was a month ago, but a 10-day Euro trip (you try hand-writing a review when you’re in a train that passes through the most picturesque German landscape you’ve ever seen) and a Transatlantic move (if you’re in New York holler at me) seriously got in the way. Yikes, P has already written the Sundae review, which took place a whole week after Sónar… this is awkward. Annnnnyways—

My Jamaican punctuality aside, This year’s Sónar once again put Spain right up to date on the gamut of European electronic music festivals. This year, for the first time, Sónar held a smaller, simultaneous festival in another Spanish city that corresponded to the base event in Barcelona. Sónar chose earnest yet beautiful coastal A Coruña in the region of Galicia. The next time you check out a map of Europe, look for that block of Spain that sits snugly on top of Portugal – yeah, that’s Galicia.

Cool, but why A Coruña? Xacobeo, that’s why. Any year in which July 25th falls on a Sunday is called an Ano Santo Xacobeo, or ‘St. James Year,’ in recognition of the region’s patron saint. For the Galician people, this is a time to be extra proud of their regional culture, and for the rest of us (esp. Catholics) it’s a time to feel extra guilty if you don’t make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. So, in case you were wondering, that’s what the two ghosts are doing in this year’s Sónar theme movie — an epic pilgrimage of sorts.

Whether Sónar Galicia was Catalonia’s cultural salute to Galicia, a profit-fueled perversion of one of Spain’s most significant religious rites via its official affiliation with the Xacobeo tourism campaign, or a great shindig in a petite city is for you to decide, but all-in-all, Sónar delivered. The Thursday and Friday tickets sold out days in advance, and by Friday I was told there were no tickets left. As for the event production itself, well, that’s to be discussed later, but overall there were no major flaws.

Cora Novoa

Let’s be clear- Sónar Galicia is no Barcelona party mayhem. A Coruña saw only a couple of ‘off-Sónars’, and the ‘Sónar by Day’ concept, an annual attraction in Barcelona, was not elaborate enough to be it’s own event. That being said, there were some perks. Aside from the much smaller price tag (50€/weekend, 25€/Saturday), you could also squeeze in some unique coastal sight-seeing— the greener, northern coast of Spain is quite different from the rest of the country. Just be sure not to party too hard at night.

I can’t comment on Thursday night, which I didn’t attend, but in general the atmosphere doesn’t become genuinely ‘festive’ until around midnight— six hours after the venue opened. But Sónar always was about more than the party, and SonarComplex was usually a good pre-rave option. SonarComplex, the room dedicated to experimental musicians, staged the most interesting acts of the festival. My biggest regret of the weekend was that O.M.E.G.A. was the only act I saw in SonarComplex, effectively missing U.K.’s Broadcast, Labrador + P.M.A. from Portugal, and anbb (Alva Noto + Blixa Bargeld), the latter I couldn’t experience as the room was beyond full. Nevertheless, if you arrived between 8 and 9 PM, you didn’t miss much.

Laurent Garnier – Live

20-person experimental collective O.M.E.G.A. was definitely a personal weekend favorite, though they weren’t very well attended. Laurent Garnier’s live show was also a festival highlight, especially during the brief improvisational sections the musicians were allowed between the big basslines. Local DJs Ino and Viktor Flores proved that you can still enjoy a set based solely off of mixing merit. 2ManyDJs’ live set ran on a gimmicky yet effective visual concept, which is worth seeing (even if for 5 minutes for those of you who think you are above bloghouse). And, out of the 33 musical performances, 5 mixed some concoction of dubstep and bass music, with the only non-Spanish set coming from the Portuguese duo Octa Push (‘Wegue Wegue’ remix included). It’s safe to say that dubstep has landed in the peninsula.

My main complaint would concern the unfortunate-yet-inevitable sound-clashing that occurred in an enclosed venue that hosted such a variety of events. The O.M.E.G.A performance was perforated by F**k Buttons’ grinding screeches each and every time someone opened the door, and the SonarCinema movie-watching audience was constantly treated to a muffled-yet-still-very-audible stage noise coming from the SonarVillage stage on the other side of the walls.

At the end of the day, in the midst of big festivals, the details are what make them memorable. Take for example during the screening of ‘Sónar Around the World,’ a documentary on the history of Sónar, in which the projector abruptly cut off just as Sónar’s co-director Ricard Robles was going on about the festivals high production standards. Then there was the obligatory mindless dance among a batch of improvised friends with Garnier & co as the soundtrack. On another occasion I ran into Pablo, a native Galician and one of the conductors from O.M.E.G.A, where we talked about the festival and his one year stint in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Before we both got distracted, I asked him whether he feels at odds about the Galician government including events like Sónar as apart of the Ano Xacobeo celebration. He shrugged and said that St. James never visited A Coruña.

WHEN
Saturday July 24th 2010 | 20:00

WHAT
On Saturday the 24th of July, Parisian crew Popcorn invades the infamous Peniche Concorde Atlantique to receive Argentina’s finest, el señor Franco Cinelli who will perform for the first time in the capital and alongside his best friend Andrés Zacco. Support comes from french rising producer Yakine.

FRANCO CINELLI (Esperanza / Airdrop)
ANDRES ZACCO (Greener / Airdrop) ARG
YAKINE (Eklo / Supplement Facts) FR
LUCA CASTILLO (Fancy Frogs Rec.) FR
PAULO (Airdrop / Aux-Rec) FR
DIMA DB (Fancy Frogs Rec.) FR
SILER (Fancy Frogs Rec.) FR

WHERE
Peniche Concorde Atlantique
23 Quai Anatole France
Paris – France

ORDER 12″ VINYL | PRESS RELEASE

On the occasion of Martin Eyerer’s North-American debut, Airdrop comes up with “In My House”, a blockbuster of a track like only this one man can craft. Literally showing the rest of the world how he gets it done in his house, or studio rather, Martin blends house vox and chords with his signature technique and groove.

Maetrik pushes the staggering effect even further with a remix that will stay carved in dancefloor history! Also on the record is NYC’s Crazy Larry, bringing his very personal analog interpretation to the “In My House” theme. With a new vinyl coming out on Hallucination Ltd, Three’s label, and new Glacier productions
- with partner Pier Bucci – profiling on the horizon, Larry is the man of the situation!

Two bonus versions come rounding off a full package. Punisher, Detroit’s princess delivers a roaring remix using all of Martin’s elements, processing them through her crazy machines and adding up her raging touch. Finally, Boston’s techno vet,
Mr. Pat Fontes brings his famed shuffles into the game.

Punisher, Crazy Larry and Pat Fontes will all be welcoming Martin Eyerer for his first NYC date on Saturday May 22nd – the “In My House” release party will be hosted by Airdrop Records at the city’s best system, Club Love.

–

More info on:
www.airdrop.com
www.martineyerer.com
www.discogs.com/artist/Martin+Eyerer

WHEN
Saturday July 10th 2010 | 23:00

WHAT
On the 10th of July, Fondation Gutzwiller invites the subtle flutters emanating from the heart of Andrés Zacco‘s creative power to sidle into the notorious walls of the Kaufleuten Hof.

Considered by his peers as the most fascinating up-and-coming electronic artist originating from Argentina, the Greener Records top-dog, Andrés Zacco, will be introducing his engineer technique and perfect selections in Zürich.

WHERE
Kaufleuten Hof
Pelikanstrasse 18
Zürich | CH

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AIRDROP’ED 04 FOR FREE

Airdrop’s free download series continues onto its 4th episode. After inaugurating our string of free releases with an exclusive remix by Berlin-based Tech-House maestro TILL VON SEIN, three R’n'B edits by Boston House duo SOUL CLAP, followed by a full length album by Argentine duo, FASE, we send you today Sakura, track taken out of our latest digital release: the Maquetas EP by BRANDUB – young Argentine producer from the city of Cordoba.

Very much involved in the local scene, Exequiel Brandan aka Brandub started playing in Cordoba’s main clubs such as La Macarena or Dorian Gray in 2007.

In those walls, he already engraved numerous sets with his friends and influences, such as Lexdinamo or Simbad. In 2008, the latter invited Exequiel to play the mythical annual summer night in Cordoba, at La Cantera (a magical mountain spot under the stars) along some of the countries greatest : Franco Cinelli, Jorge Savoretti or Gurtz were all part of it.

‘Sakura‘ exemplifies the interesting blend of deep house incorporating substantial dub-grain, that Brandub created in the ‘Maquetas EP‘ – an intimate release showing pride to its inspiration.

This time around, fellow Argentineans Andres Zacco & Lucas Mari lit the spot on fire, with the help of duo Childhood ’87 (aka Le Loup & Funkalicious James). Definitely one for the books…

Photos : Dimitri Barclais / eyeknow.blogspot.com

Click here to view all photos

BUY DIGITAL | PRESS RELEASE

Brandub – aka Exequiel Brandan – is a young producer and DJ, who has his roots in the city of Cordoba – Argentina. Very much involved in the local scene, Exequiel started playing in his hometown’s main clubs such as La Macarena or Dorian Gray in 2007.

In those walls, he already engraved numerous sets with his friends and influences, such as Lexdinamo or Simbad. In 2008, the latter invited Exequiel to play the mythical annual summer night in Cordoba, at La Cantera (a magical mountain spot under the stars) along some of the countries greatest : Franco Cinelli, Jorge Savoretti or Gurtz were all part of it.

Creating an interesting blend of deep house, which incorporates a substantial dub-grain, the ‘Maquetas EP’ is an intimate release showing pride to its inspiration. ‘Sakura’ will be available for download on airdrop.com as part of the Airdropped series.

Previously to this new direction Exequiel Brandan also appeared on various occasions : in 2008 his track ‘Flying’ appeared on Richie Hawtin‘s ‘Sounds From Can Elles’ compilation and in 2009 he released the ‘Momentous EP’ on Spanish spearhead label Esperanza.

GET ON VINYL ONLY | PRESS RELEASE

Artist: Canu & Franco Cinelli
Title: The Glass Re-Edition
Format: 12” – Grey Vinyl
Cat.No.: AUX 03
Style: House / DJ Tools

VINYL RELEASE : 07th June 2010

TRACKLIST:
A1 – Canu – Glass (Original 2000 Mix)
A2 – Canu – Glass (Franco Cinelli Hatapella)
B – Canu – Glass (Franco Cinelli 2010 Remix)
X – Canu – Glass (Franco Cinelli NYC Bass Line Mix)

Adrian Valenzuela, also known as Canu, is one of Argentina’s most versatile musicians. Residing in Mar Del Plata, on Argentina’s oceanline, he began his career in various early 90′s bands. It wasn’t until ’95 that Canu settled as the composer and singer of the famous rock band Altocamet.

After the release of Velada Bristol Casino – their first album – in 1997, the band came up with a house hit celebrated by all, Pasion Descalza, released on Shinichi in 2000 and remixed by Swayzak.

At that point, Canu decided to take his solo career to new horizons, releasing his first album that same year – Corriente de Aire – on the legendary Argentine label Estatus Disco. Glass was actually the opening song to Canu’s album.

Ten years later, Franco Cinelli decides to come back on his friend Canu and on Glass, this track that he loved and played so much at the time, bringing a complete lift to it, with three versions that will leave all of you DJs in awe…

From Franco Cinelli’s main Remix to his NYC Bass Line Mix going through the Hatapella tool, the man in charge takes all the Glass original elements remodeling them to higher grounds. Franco Cinelli’s genius blend of dubby techno with original ’90s NYC house synths and bass lines proves once again to be the perfect balance .

This Re-Edition record follows up on two brilliant edits on Aux-Rec, Baker Man by Soul Clap and Caught Up by Childhood ’87. By Aux-Rec criterion, it will only come out on 12″ vinyl. Franco Cinelli’s NYC Bass Line Mix will be accessible as bonus to record-buyers only.