Great New Site About Proper Techno Music

It is a rare chance to present a new site dedicated to real techno sound. No bullshit here, no "EDM", no celebrity "DJ's", just the real stuff. The site covers all the aspects of techno music: release reviews, dj mixes, interviews, production, gear reviews and so on. If you have techno music in your heart, be sure to check it out:

tekkno.info

Mr G And His MPC, Live!

Its enough to say MR G live! One of the most recognisable figures on the scene. His unique sound is seting him apart from the other house and techno artist, that are mostly blending into the current trends. If you have listened this man live, you will sure remember it. Me G's raw sound, hipnotic voice samples and bass riffs will make anyone understand what underground dance music should feel.

Another fascintaing thing is the simplicity of his setup, modified Akai MPC 2000SL, and a ten channel mixer is all that you need, if you have the right samples in the opscure memory of such an old machine. No laptop, no controllers, effect processors, and all the bells and whistles that are used today is needed.

The thing is that, in my opinion, today we see more and more sophisticated equipment and the sound just keeps getting colder, overproduced and generic. I like to hear some distorsion and noise from time to time. This was a nice way of saying that so much music today "lacks the balls". Too many young producers try to make their track sound perfect comparing to industry standards, and they dont realise that the earlier version had more spirit in it, and that those "imperfections" can be what separates them from the hole bunch of others.

There is just no way to say this too many times: You need to have your own, unique sound.

The video is found on this channel.

Petition For Restarting The Production Of Technics SL-1200

There is no other piece of DJ gear that has reached the cult status over the years as the Technics turntable SL-1200 (and the variations of it like SL-1210, and different revisions).
Panasonic company decided to end the selling of 1200 in October 2010. Many turntable lovers were shocked to hear the news.

As an iconic piece of gear that has been sold in a millions, I believe that it had only one flow. Yes it is true that digitalisation of music made things different, but its also true that vinyl is on the rise again due to its physical value, graphical artwork potential, long lifespan and the ability to make a bond with the music collectors.

The only mistake Technics engineers made was that they made this turntable modular and almost
indestructible. In today's counter economy the companies need to make products that will be exchanged in a few years, and I have seen 1200s that are working for twenty years and still going.

So, I understand the Panasonic side of the story, and there are different brands of DJ turntables, but I think that this kind of equipment must be available to buy. I don't know exactly how big is the demand for this product, but I hope that its big enough to keep the production of this great piece of engineering. I like to think that they should keep making the 1200, if not for the direct profit, than as a marketing tool for the other products. It seems to me that the product that can work under heavy usage for twenty years is a good statement for the company making it.

The other approach that comes to mind is to add features to the product. Maybe its just a fantasy of mine, but I always wanted a turntable that has 100% vinyl on a Technics 1200 feel, but can play digital media as well, and without the computer and additional interfaces such as Serato or Traktor. Would you love the 1200 turntable that can play the music directly from the USB stick? 

The point of this whole article is to inform you, if you haven't already heard, that there is a petition going on an change.org to continue the life of Technics 1200 turntable. It has reached the 18,000+ signatures, and still counting. I don't know if the petition can change anything, but it won't hurt to spare a minute of your time for this. Lets see how far will it go.

Sign the petition here

Dennis Ferrer @ Mixmag Lab, What a Mix!

Great mix by house legend Dennis Ferrer. A selection of very funky deep house and tech house tracks. This New York based DJ and a producer does a set in his own style that is a mixture of underground house music, ranging from disco house to some much harder tech sound. The thing that brings all tracks together is the overall funky and jazzy feeling that you can feel in every track. As we can hear Dennis is avoiding much of the today's cliche deep house sound that contain just a bassline and some looped chord, and is very boring to most of the more experienced crowd that is used to older, more complex deep house. Also in this mix you will not hear any of that trendy tech-house tracks that we see in the charts every day, but are basically a hyper-produced cheesy party music.

So, another one for the real house music lovers, from the man that worked with Masters at Work, Little Louie Vega, The Martinez Brothers etc. He also founded his own label Objektivity, that hosts some of the best producers globally.

Click "Read more" to see the partial tracklist, some of the tittles remain a secret for now.

More mixes at: mixmag TV   

Speedy J @ Time Warp

Great set by one of the pioneers of techno. Speedy J at Time Warp, Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam. His well known style, dark, hard and percussive. For all of you who hasn't been following the techno scene for the last 20 years, Speedy J is a Dutch producer who had his first breakthrough with the track "Pullover" back in 1992. After that his debut album "Ginger" followed, then his second one called "G-Spot", both on Ritchie Hawtin's label "Plus 8". Live album "!ive" followed, and in the years to come he goes more experimental, as he influenced the development of  IDM (intelligent dance music). During that period he released albums "Public Energy No.1" and "A Shocking Hobby".

In 2002 he released "Loudboxer", the album that takes him back to his minimalistic techno style.

Since 2008 he started releasing on his own label "Electric Deluxe", continuing his huge list of releases on many other labels as well.

Video by: DanceTrippin

Lecture: Richie Hawtin (New York, 2013)

The original plastik technocrat in New York at the 2013 edition of the Red Bull Music Academy. Richie Hawtin has always pushed the envelope: he started Plus 8 Records with John Acquaviva at the turn of the ’90s, formed the M_nus empire, and helped develop Final Scratch. His works under the F.U.S.E. guise, the delicious desolation of Plastikman, countless remixes, and his groundbreaking works with the Concept series and the Decks, EFX & 909 compilation are all firmly planted in techno’s history. A fierce advocate of developing technology as long as it doesn’t detract from the physical experience of community, Richie Hawtin lives in the moment, on the cusp of the future.

View the lecture at:

 http://vimeo.com/66559488

For more lectures from the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy in New York, visit redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures

Great House Mix by Roger Sanchez

Great mix by Roger Sanchez, even if you don't like vocal house, you will like his mixing technique. He even broke the mixer, now that's passion.

New Serato Itch 2.0

The sync engine is re-optimized, it is easier to use now. The SP 6 sample player is also improved, you have four sample players and each of them has six sample slots, so that ads up to twenty-four samples that you can use. You can also choose which options of the sample player you want to be displayed.

Great piece of mixing software.

New Debuger is out! This time presenting Broadcasting System. Two great tech-house tracks with a groovy remix from Vuk Smiljanic.
This is a must-hear.

Cover design by: Katarina Kostic.

Beatport

DJ GrujA - What Happened To Great Music - FREE MIX!

01. DJ Koze - Blume Der Nacht
02. Andreja Z - Que Pasa (soon on Debuger)
03. Thyladomid - The Voice
04. Kaiserdisco - Chordalia
05. Dibby Dougherty - Movement (Jay Lumen rmx)
06. Kevin Saunderson - Bassline (Joris Voorn 07 rmx)
07. Gary Beck - Enough Talk
08. Tim Green - Old Sunshine
09. Edwin Oosterwal - Scrub The Tub
10. DJ GrujA - Slap
11. Axel Karakasis - Broken
12. Paul Kalkbrenner - Sky & Sand

http://hotfile.com/dl/68457610/ddbe071/DJ_GrujA_-_What_Happened_To_Great_Music.zip.html

Mixed by DJ GrujA

http://www.myspace.com/djmarkogrujicicakagruja
http://soundcloud.com/djgruja
http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/djgruja
http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-GrujA/60795406820

Basic review of Denon DN-S3700 by DJMag

This is a quick presentation of Denon DN-S3700, done by DJ Mag, that will give you the idea on features of this CD player. Vary interesting choice for ex-vinyl DJs. Also very good price.