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Art Department To Play at VOLAR

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Art DepartmentThe music scene in Asia is steadily on the rise. The Canadian duo Jonny White & Kenny Glasgow, better known as Art Department, will be a making a quick stop in Hong Kong before coming back to Miami to reunite with other talented artists for WMC. Right now they are tearing it up at Future Music Festival in Australia along with Apollonia.

On Friday, March 13, their sounds will be heard at the well recognized club, VOLAR, on the busy streets of Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong.  This is the perfect timing for the duo to visit as Hong Kong is celebrating their annual art festival that showcases exhibits, art performances, and of course music.

March 13th- Art Department @ VOLAR, Hong Kong

https://soundcloud.com/no19music/art-department-live-bpm-2014

Preview: It’s Time EP on Asia Music

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Album Art Asia Music Release

Asia Music is a record label that specializes in serious dance floor affairs. Look no further than having support from artists like John Digweed, Sasha, Dubfire, Jimmy van M, Danny Tenaglia and Guy J to name a few. Their releases encompass a spectrum of sound that feels so rich and full, resulting in a fantastic catalog with very talented artists. Soon to be released on Asia Music is Satoshi Fumi’s EP, It’s Time, with NiChiFanLeMei and our own Tenten One and J. Sanders on remix duty. Here’s the preview to the forthcoming release.
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Field Trip Series: DJ Sneak at Origami, Tokyo

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Origami Japan

Japan experienced a phenomenal year in regards to dance music. For starters, Japan’s cabinet removed the “anti-dancing” law providing a major boost for the nightlife environment in the country. But even prior to the ban being lifted, that didn’t stop Japanese clubs from hosting world-class talent such as Loco Dice, Delano Smith, and an arsenal of their own residents. This week is no different, with Origami Nightclub hosting the Original House Gangster, DJ Sneak.

DJ Sneak will be making his debut at Origami this Sunday December 28th, and like always he’ll be bringing his world-renowned house grooves. It’s a good thing that the law was lifted, because I anticipate that the dance floor won’t stop moving during his set. Sneak will also have support from local artists Iori Wakasa (Deep Tech Records, eMBI Music), You Forgot, and U-T before the madness of his set ensues.

Origami may not be the biggest club, but nonetheless it is still a hot spot in Tokyo amongst the likes of Air and superclub Womb. An intimate setting that provides quality bookings that help progress a scene with much room to grow. Some quality house music sounds like a perfect way to prepare for the new year in the amazing city of Tokyo. This one comes highly recommended to anyone that finds themself in the Eastern part of the world.

DJ Sneak on Facebook | Soundcloud | Resident Advisor

Field Trip Series: Wonderfruit Festival, Thailand

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Rabbit Art

For this weeks Field Trip feature we travel (figuratively of course) across the world to Thailand for Wonderfruit Festival. But this isn’t your ordinary music festival. To be honest, it would almost be insulting to pin this down as just a music festival. Wonderfruit is a celebration of art, architecture, film, health, sustainability, and of course music. The three day festival will be taking place this weekend in Pattaya Thailand, and will showcase talent from a variety of genres. There are a tremendous amount of great live bands, but for the electronic fans they’re in for quite a treat.

In the months leading up to Wonderfruit Festival they’ve added heavy hitters such as Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Subb-an, Francesca Lombardo, Damian Lazarus, and many more notable industry names. So from an electronic music standpoint they’re obviously in good hands, but again this festival is so much more than just music. Wonderfruit strives on a collective experience that fosters creativity, health, and self-expression.

Soi StageOn their website they state that they are dedicated to practicing sustainability, and are taking many efforts to ensure that they follow through with their ethos. To exemplify this, look no further than Shrine On, one of the artists that will be designing the SOI Stage. The image to the left is one of his previous installations. His description on the site explains that he “is arriving at the festival site before anyone to single-handedly build his land structure from found objects and reclaimed materials around Chonburi”. Sustainable architecture to build a beautiful enclosure for one of the stages sounds like a great start in achieving their goals.

It doesn’t stop there though. Wonderfruit Festival encompasses so many different areas of life that I’d find it difficult to fully experience everything. However, that being said, it is a true testament to how special this weekend will be for the attendees. Wander into the lotus garden for a massage and meditation, or perhaps take a mountain bike ride through the beautiful landscape of Thailand. See what I mean about being more than a music festival? Wonderfruit is a festival of life and living it to the fullest. I would normally say that the music is always first, but Wonderfruit proves me wrong. In this case, the music is only a lovely compliment to a beautiful weekend experience in the beautiful country of Thailand.

But don’t get me wrong
after a day of hiking, boating, or visiting the festivals flee market…dancing the night away to the sounds of Francesca Lombardo and Subb-an sounds like a perfect way to continue the experience. Damian Lazarus also seems like he’ll be right at home in his element. From the temples in Mexico to the lush landscape of Thailand he’s certain to bring an eclectic mix of deep and spiritual dance tracks. Lovers’ Eyes seems to be appropriate for the occasion.

So much can be said about Wonderfruit Festival. Many festivals claim to be all about “innovative ideas” or “the headliner” and talk of being a unique experience, but at the end of the day they still just feel like music festivals. Wonderfruit appears to deviate from that, and looks like it will truly be the experience of a lifetime. To anyone in Thailand or in surrounding countries, this is a weekend not to be missed.

Obviously we can’t cover everything about the festival. It’s just so expansive, so for the comprehensive list of information head on over to their awesome website. How much is a flight to Thailand again?

Wonderfruit Festival: Official Site | Facebook

 

D’Julz at Womb, Tokyo

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Djulz Womb Flyer

When it comes to getting the dance floor wild, leave it to non other than French house star D’Julz. To get our Monday started on the right foot here is D’Julz live from one of our favorite Japanese clubs, Womb. He brought the finest blend of house and techno to the clubbers at Womb for quite a journey on Halloween night this year.

The mix starts with classic house pads and atmospheres, and it sets the mood perfectly for the remainder of the mix. After the first track I was hooked. The groove transforms as a single percussive hit changes everything, and moving forward it is a true house music experience. To be honest, quite envious of those who were on the dance floor for this one.

The event was promoted and organized by prominent music group Tresvibes, and included Point G (Live) and many Japanese residents to complete the lineup. Japan is starting to become a focal point for the ever growing house and techno scene in the world, and nights like these show that there is an incredible amount of promise moving into the future.

Human Sized Synth in Tokyo

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Synth featured

Those walking the streets of Tokyo may have stumbled upon a fascinating synthesizer display recently. It would certainly be hard to not catch the eye, considering the synth is about twice as tall as most people. This amazing human sized synth was developed by Daito Manabe and Rhizomatiks in conjunction with Red Bull Music Academy and iconic audio manufacturer, KORG. Take a look at this brief video to see what happened when they took a piece of studio gear and transformed it into an instrument of the public.

 


The human sized synth manages to include many great features that are desirable in any normal sized synth such as a keyboard with arpeggiator, X-Y effects unit (similar to that of KORG’s Kaoss Pad series), and a step sequencer for drum patterns. All the power to make a full track available right in the middle of Tokyo, that’s pretty incredible. Manabe kept the user interface relatively simple to encourage all members of the public to participate, even small children. But at the same time included enough options to allow the synth to function normally, and more knowledgeable audiophiles could manipulate the synth to their liking. Below you can find two diagrams provided by RBMA explaining the layout of the synth and functions.

layout

schematicsThe top picture illustrates what the user sees on the synth itself, and the picture below that is a visual explanation of the features and signal path. Section 1 is the part of the synth with the various parameters commonly found in most synths such as the sound wave oscillators, filters, and envelope adjustments such as attack, sustain, decay, and release.  Sections 2, 3, and 4 are touch screens on the human sized synth, including the specific features such as: the arpeggiated keyboard, the X-Y effects pad, and the drum sequencer.

Music technology exhibitions such as these are a great way to get the public involved and somewhat informed about the gear and processes that go into making music. The human sized synth displayed in Tokyo did just that, and appeared to have people of all backgrounds experimenting with different sound textures and patterns. Probably not the most practical new piece of gear for a home studio, but maybe people will start getting creative and reinvest some time and interest in analog gear.