Deadmau5 at Earls Court
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Annie Mac Review
It's been a while since I've uploaded anything on here. Here's a fairly recent review I wrote of a gig I attended. Enjoy.
Written by James Grant
As the dance floor swells uncontrollably there is a sense of anticipation in the air. The internet bloggers would debate the hype mans presence at such a gig as he screams “Annie, Annie, Annie Fucking Mac”, but the punters generously answer the call.
For such a large and compact venue The Stannary has that Ibiza atmosphere that Annie is used to, the venue begins to fill with groups of revelers buzzing for the night ahead, all waiting for the Radio One DJ. Before too long the crowd are rewarded with the sight of Annie’s now almost iconic disheveled curls as she gets ready to take to the decks.
Moving onto the stage, she wastes no time getting the crowd going with her unique blend of electronica. Everything from Duck Sauce’s latest; Big Bad Wolf to Netsky’s remix of Everyday by Rusko blast from the speakers and the head nodding begins to take over. But the song that really makes the evening is Azealia Banks’ expletive heavy ‘212’ that proves to be not only Annie’s tune of the moment but also the crowds, it stands up as one of the edgier songs of the night and reaffirms her position regarding song selection. It falls perfectly in to place between the eclectic mix of electronica and the crowd accepts it with hands raised in the air.
With good, new electronic music being hard to find with any regularity in Cornwall it’s no surprise that Annie’s set causes such excitement. The night continues as expected, the bass got louder, the revelers more excited and the drinks flowing. The dubstep begins to build as Annie conducts her bass symphony. While continually mixing songs with such ease and grooving along in her own way it’s hard to understand how a place in the DJ Mag Top 100 has still eluded her.
After dropping the hard wobble-infused electro of Knife Party and Swedish House Mafia’s; Antidote, the night is wrapped up with the crowd pleasing ‘Levels’ from Avicii that offers a touch of summer, progressive house and leaves everyone shouting for more.
The first few rows of the crowd are treated to a shot or two from Annie’s own store of vodka as she moves towards the exit, the rest nurse their wounds from the mosh pits and the night comes to a successful close, all that’s left now is finding the most suitable after-party.
Photographs by Chris Wilkins
For such a large and compact venue The Stannary has that Ibiza atmosphere that Annie is used to, the venue begins to fill with groups of revelers buzzing for the night ahead, all waiting for the Radio One DJ. Before too long the crowd are rewarded with the sight of Annie’s now almost iconic disheveled curls as she gets ready to take to the decks.
Moving onto the stage, she wastes no time getting the crowd going with her unique blend of electronica. Everything from Duck Sauce’s latest; Big Bad Wolf to Netsky’s remix of Everyday by Rusko blast from the speakers and the head nodding begins to take over. But the song that really makes the evening is Azealia Banks’ expletive heavy ‘212’ that proves to be not only Annie’s tune of the moment but also the crowds, it stands up as one of the edgier songs of the night and reaffirms her position regarding song selection. It falls perfectly in to place between the eclectic mix of electronica and the crowd accepts it with hands raised in the air.
With good, new electronic music being hard to find with any regularity in Cornwall it’s no surprise that Annie’s set causes such excitement. The night continues as expected, the bass got louder, the revelers more excited and the drinks flowing. The dubstep begins to build as Annie conducts her bass symphony. While continually mixing songs with such ease and grooving along in her own way it’s hard to understand how a place in the DJ Mag Top 100 has still eluded her.
After dropping the hard wobble-infused electro of Knife Party and Swedish House Mafia’s; Antidote, the night is wrapped up with the crowd pleasing ‘Levels’ from Avicii that offers a touch of summer, progressive house and leaves everyone shouting for more.
Photographs by Chris Wilkins
Sunday, 25 December 2011
I Remember Rework
Just a quick one today, seeing as it is christmas day. Deadmau5 obviously hasn't got much to do, he uploaded this to soundcloud and its then been moved over onto YouTube. Very BOC and stripped down sound to it thats pretty epic. Enjoy.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
A Few Tunes
Been a while since I've been on here. Thought I'd put up a few of the songs I've been listening to recently. Here goes:
Ada's cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (a band that always annoyed me until I heard this version) is perfect for chilling out to. And for a change, it has some vocals, so who knows. I might not be the only one who enjoys this.
Continuing with the ambient, experimental theme, it's Cornish man Aphex Twin. A classic blend of ambient and experimental bleeps and blips. Worth checking out his other stuff if this is your thing. Should fit right in your iPod, between Boards of Canada or something similar.
My last tune for now is a bit more of the usual. A Secret Cinema Remix of Alex Bau's Full Method Jacket, breathes some lovely techno vibes into it. The percussion is what really takes it away for me, with crisp hats and kick drums complimenting the bass throughout. And when it drops, it drops. The hook, is so simple but one that keeps me coming back for more. Probably one best kept for the minimal enthusiasts, like the majority of my music, and definitely one to listen to on some decent speakers, if only so you can feel the vibrations. Seeing as I'm done and dusted with uni for a bit, going to try and smash up as much as I can over the next couple of weeks.
Ada's cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (a band that always annoyed me until I heard this version) is perfect for chilling out to. And for a change, it has some vocals, so who knows. I might not be the only one who enjoys this.
Continuing with the ambient, experimental theme, it's Cornish man Aphex Twin. A classic blend of ambient and experimental bleeps and blips. Worth checking out his other stuff if this is your thing. Should fit right in your iPod, between Boards of Canada or something similar.
My last tune for now is a bit more of the usual. A Secret Cinema Remix of Alex Bau's Full Method Jacket, breathes some lovely techno vibes into it. The percussion is what really takes it away for me, with crisp hats and kick drums complimenting the bass throughout. And when it drops, it drops. The hook, is so simple but one that keeps me coming back for more. Probably one best kept for the minimal enthusiasts, like the majority of my music, and definitely one to listen to on some decent speakers, if only so you can feel the vibrations. Seeing as I'm done and dusted with uni for a bit, going to try and smash up as much as I can over the next couple of weeks.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Mixmag Non-Reviews
Recently got in contact with Mixmag about trying to get some work experience. They ummed and erred and I never heard back from them, no sweat but they did ask me to write two reviews to demonstrate any skills I might have had. Not sure if they wanted journalism students, if so don't know why. But I'm not bitter. Anyway here they are.
Eric Prydz)
2Night - (Original Mix)
Its been a busy year for Eric Prydz with his world premiere of EPIC back in April and more recently his Tonight residency with Annie Mac on the Amnesia terrace. However that hasn’t stopped the beanie wearing Swede from producing another elevating anthem to remind us summer wasn’t that long ago. Released on Pryda recordings the track has all the progressive hallmarks of his previous work with the string like leads complimented by crisp percussion. The melodic breakdowns build with FX rises are both classic Prydz but it’s the echoing piano riff that provides the real energy which will have party-goers reaching for the sky in no time. Already named as Zane Lowe’s hottest record expect to hear this getting played out when the DJ wants nothing more than to reminisce about Ibiza.
For such an uplifting song, I've seen happier people.
Wolfgang Gartner
Weekend In America (Extended Versions)
Ultra Records
California’s and Ultra’s golden boy of electro house let’s loose an aural attack with his first studio album. Since emerging onto the electronic dance scene Joey Youngman has proved to be at the forefront of experimentation with his unique blend of saturated basslines and glitchy leads. Weekend In America could very well be Wolfie’s love letter to analog with tracks like Menage A Trois almost falling apart with hard synth lines. The album also shows Gartner’s move towards the more commercial with vocals from Will.I.Am, Eve and Jim Jones amongst others. Unfortunately these add little excitement to the album and it the established bangers like Illmerica, Space Junk and The Way It Was that will really get the electro hounds going.
Fornicate wenches, Obtain currency
Eric Prydz)
2Night - (Original Mix)
Its been a busy year for Eric Prydz with his world premiere of EPIC back in April and more recently his Tonight residency with Annie Mac on the Amnesia terrace. However that hasn’t stopped the beanie wearing Swede from producing another elevating anthem to remind us summer wasn’t that long ago. Released on Pryda recordings the track has all the progressive hallmarks of his previous work with the string like leads complimented by crisp percussion. The melodic breakdowns build with FX rises are both classic Prydz but it’s the echoing piano riff that provides the real energy which will have party-goers reaching for the sky in no time. Already named as Zane Lowe’s hottest record expect to hear this getting played out when the DJ wants nothing more than to reminisce about Ibiza.
Wolfgang Gartner
Weekend In America (Extended Versions)
Ultra Records
California’s and Ultra’s golden boy of electro house let’s loose an aural attack with his first studio album. Since emerging onto the electronic dance scene Joey Youngman has proved to be at the forefront of experimentation with his unique blend of saturated basslines and glitchy leads. Weekend In America could very well be Wolfie’s love letter to analog with tracks like Menage A Trois almost falling apart with hard synth lines. The album also shows Gartner’s move towards the more commercial with vocals from Will.I.Am, Eve and Jim Jones amongst others. Unfortunately these add little excitement to the album and it the established bangers like Illmerica, Space Junk and The Way It Was that will really get the electro hounds going.
Fornicate wenches, Obtain currency
Big Bad Beats
Seeing as the main reason I'm writing this blog at the minute is because of 'the music' seems to make sense that I put up some tunes that I'm currently digging at the minute. Hopefully someone else, maybe you might appreciate them as well. Here goes......
I was a massive fan of Jamie Jones and his Azari & III remix of Hungry For The Power and didn't think that his next remix would be able to live up to it. But I couldn't have been more wrong. I think other than the pounding subtly of the bass drum and crisp snares it's just the fact that this man makes some cool fucking music. You can't help but put yourself in some smoky club while listening and the contrasting vocals fit together beautifully. Perfect.
Now don't expect everything that I put up to be completely contemporary. The way I look at it is that I've only just started this shit today so have a lot of ground to make up. And although Dubfire's Emissions has been around long enough to rack up about half a million views on the Tube (not bad for a minimal techno song I.M.O.) it's one that still gets my head bopping. It's minimal, crisp, clean and when you actually feel the bass through some decent speakers then you really get lost in the music.
I'm going to finish by pushing the latest release from Eric Prydz, his synth-tastic remix of Digitalism's Circles. The vocals fit perfectly with the trademark leads that make his progressive Pryda originals so individual. As usual there's enough time to savor the breakdowns before it builds into drop which is, as always with Prydz crisp, and elevating. Enjoy
Before finishing this blog I just wanted to mention something that pissed me off pretty recently. Although I'm linking Youtube I would like to point out that they annoy the fuck out of me with their copyright laws. Recently I had one of mine uploads (a great live remix of Deadmau5's Arguru, unsurprisingly) blocked by Black Hole Recordings, Tiesto's record label if I'm not mistaken. Now while they do have the rights to Arguru, what annoys me is I think it goes completely against the idea of music to shut everything down. The version I put up wasn't available to be heard anywhere else, I haven't and wasn't ever going to upload it to Mediafire, etc etc and as it's not an official version but a one off live performance that only deadmau5 will have a copy of (maybe not even him) so the record company isn't making any money from it anyway. My view is that good music needs to be shared and the video hadn't even got more than 1000 views, so I hope those few hundred enjoyed. The only question remains, should I upload it to Soundcloud..........
They witness me operating my automobile, they disapprove
Time To Blog
Having started this blog over a year ago merely to have an inane waffle about deadmau5 I thought it was time to take it up but with more of an objective viewpoint. Having lived with three advertisers now for the past three months I have a new found appreciation for the blog and plan to spend many long hours now uploading everything and anything to do with electronic dance music. IDM or EDM but not IBM is about the only thing I have a real passion about and definitely the only thing I enjoy writing about really. It also helps that I'm pretty opinionated about the whole scene as well. And whenever that gets too tedious there's always time for the odd meme ;)
Scrutinize thyself,
Before thou devastates thyself
Scrutinize thyself,
Before thou devastates thyself
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