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Why Kappa FuturFestival Is Worth Making the Trip For

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Full disclosure: my first Kappa FuturFestival in 2012 didn’t take much traveling, but was nevertheless more than worth the trip. I lived in Milan then and reaching the nearby Northern Italian city of Turin (Torino) took less than two hours by train. By then the festival had undergone two editions and had changed format to become the first 10o% daytime festival in Italy, ranking as one of the top 5 electronic music festivals to attend in Europe.

I was surprised when I arrived at the venue of Parco Dora to be surrounded by tens of thousands who had come from not only just all over Italy, but also the rest of Europe. In a continent where you can find huge underground dance music events in every single corner, from the island of Malta that sits between Sicily and Northern Africa to quarries in Estonia and everything in between, it is sometimes a little difficult to understand how much Europeans travel in search of great music. Once you see it though, finding yourself surrounded by thousands speaking a myriad of different languages, you realize just how powerful the music is and how much draw certain festivals have.

Kappa FuturFestival is one of those events that attracts visitors from all over Europe. More recently though, it’s iconic location, seen in photos and videos that have been shared by the millions on social media, and quality-heavy lineups have been enticing crowds beyond the continent to make the trip to Torino to attend.

Earlier in the month festival organizers had announced that Carl Cox, Jamie Jones, Sasha & Digweed, Sven Vath and Tale of Us would all be playing the 2017 edition, all now receiving some star-studded company with the Phase 2 lineup announcement that came this week. Attendees at the futuristic Parco Dora will be basking in the sun come July 8th and 9th, enjoying sets by the likes of Seth Troxer b2b The Martinez Brothers, Nina Kraviz, Paul Kalkbrenner and the legendary Fatboy Slim.

More names will be added, of course, making music one of the focal points of this edition like all others in the past. The beauty of a trip to Kappa FuturFestival is the two-in-one deal you’re offered by the simple nature of its location. Turin is a majestic Italian city of industrial workers, the home town of automobile giants Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Rome, and also a city full of history and beauty. The city sits on the bank of the Po, Italy’s longest river, and under the watchful eye of the iconic Mole Antonelliana and the soaring Italian Alps, and is surrounded by some of Italy’s most significant and revered wineries.

A visit to FuturFestival means being able to choose from a variety of other travel options in Turin and beyond, beginning with the nearby alps, the nearby French Riviera or perhaps some of Italy’s northern lakes including the famous Lake Como. The cities of Milan, Genoa and Florence are also nearby and easily accessible by train, as are other locations in France and Switzerland.

Alongside you at FuturFestival there will be 40, 000 other techno lovers as well as the usual world class audio systems, high quality production and a real attention to detail including tickets through smartphones and Cashless payment technology on site. Always environmentally aware and with focus on sustainability, Kappa FuturFestival proves once again why it is one of the most heralded techno festivals in the world.

 

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Carl Cox, Sven Väth, Tale Of Us, Jamie Jones, Sasha & Digweed to Headline Kappa FuturFestival 2017

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Kappa FuturFestival is back on July 8th and 9th 2017 with a lineup chock-block full of heavyweights.

Turin’s Parco Dora is expecting 40,000 party revelers for the occasion, traveling from all over Europe to witness one of the continent’s most anticipated festivals of the calendar year.

The Italian festival prides itself on world class audio systems, high quality production and a real attention to detail including things like being the first Italian festival to sell tickets through smartphones and to offer Cashless payment technology on site. Always with an environmental awareness and focus on sustainability, KFF again offers top class selectors playing from noon to midnight.

Kappa Futur

Phase I has been announced, promising a selection of headliners that include King of Ibiza Carl Cox, the Paradise and Hot Creations hero Jamie Jones, as well as a sure to be historic set from the one and only Sasha & John Digweed on July 8th. July 9th will instead feature Cocoon label boss Sven Väth and Afterlife/Life & Death Italian duo Tale Of Us.

Phase 2 and more info will be released in the coming weeks.

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Sasha b2b John Digweed Headline Ultra Music Festival Phase 1

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Ultra releases a promising phase one lineup for the event taking place on March 24th through the 26th of 2017.

Remember our April Fool’s post about Sasha and John Digweed reuniting for a b2b tour? The joke became a reality and seems to have been extended into 2017 as they are included in Ultra’s lineup for a b2b set.

The extensive list also includes Carl Cox, Dubfire, Jamie Jones, Maceo Plex, Marco Carola, and Tale of Us amongst others.

General admission tickets are still on sale for $324.95 + fees.

See the rest of the lineup below:

miami-lineup-phase1

Jamie Jones and Paradise Return to DC-10 for the Summer

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Paradise Jamie Jones

DC-10’s summer schedule is once again filling up quite nicely. While Mondays will forever remain Circoloco‘s sacred ground, Wednesdays are now firmly dedicated to Jamie Jones and his Paradise brand.

Starting on June 22nd and ending on September 14th, the 15-week residency spearheaded by the Hot Natured producer will once again have a designated theme throughout the season, “A Virtual Trip” which is essentially “animated artwork based on a 1980s virtual reality world.”

The lineups for each night have been released. The residency starts strong with an opening party that features Dubfire, The Martinez Brothers, KiNK and Nicole Moudaber and ends with Hot Since 82, Mood Swin II, Skream and Eats Everything. In between, a collection of top-tier names will be joining the 80’s themed madness including Luciano, The Black Madonna, Cassy, Ryan Elliot, Âme, Sasha, John Digweed and many, many more. See the full line-up below.

Tickets to Paradise 2016 are available directly on Resident Advisor.

Paradise Ibiza

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Relive CRSSD Fest Through Pictures and Live Set Recordings

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The Ocean View Stage - Photo by Felicia Garcia

The Ocean View Stage – Photo by Felicia Garcia

This past weekend San Diego saw the return of CRSSD Festival for an entirely Sold-Out weekend. An estimated 15,000 attendees packed out the city’s Waterfront Park for a two-day of music bonanza that featured the who’s who of international house music as well as eclectic acts from the indie electronica world.

Colder-than-usual temperatures didn’t stop the festival from reaching peak attendance, leaving everyone to wonder if CRSSD will expand to three days in the near future or will continue as it has done for the past three editions. It is nothing short of remarkable that the team behind CRSSD has built a sold-out festival in merely a year, in no small part thanks to well-curated line-ups and one of the most beautiful festival setting in the United States.

CRSSD Sunset magic - Photo by Glen Silva

CRSSD Sunset magic – Photo by Glen Silva

Things started strong on Day one courtesy of Crosstown Rebels chief Damian Lazarus who took over the City Steps stage with a two hour set of powerful house peppered with tribal sounds.

 

Next up, it was the turn of Skream , who played not one but five sets over the weekend including a back-to-back with Tom Trago subbing in for a late Loco Dice on Day 2, a surprise back-to-back with Jamie Jones at an after-party and a set each on both Friday and Saturday.

Skream at The City Steps - Photo by Skyler Greene

Skream at The City Steps – Photo by Skyler Greene

Elsewhere, as the sun begun to set attendees were treated by beautiful performances by Lane 8 at The Palms stage and Ryan Hemsworth at the Ocean View Main Stage.

GESAFFELSTEIN DJ Set at the Ocean View Stage - Photo by Felicia Garcia

GESAFFELSTEIN DJ Set at the Ocean View Stage – Photo by Felicia Garcia

As the sky turned dark and a blanket of drizzle began to fall, Tiga took over at The Palms with a set that blurred the lines between techno and house while France’s GESAFFELSTEIN delivered with a powerful DJ set of personal production favorites that had the crowd wanting for more.

 

Depending on your taste, you could choose to end Saturday with Hot Creations boss Jamie Jones at The Palms stage, Cirez D and his signature progressive techno at The City Steps or the increasingly popular Odesza at the main stage. Despite the rain the crowds remained strong to close out the first day of CRSSD.

City Steps - Photo by Skyler Greene

City Steps – Photo by Skyler Greene

Overall, things went fairly smoothly throughout the first half of the weekend. Admittedly, large crowds caused some bottlenecks at the bathrooms which CRSSD worked to handle (and only partially did) by adding more porta potties on Sunday and it appeared that sound could be improved at both the City Steps and Palms stages by adding more stacks for those in the back. These are understandable and easily solvable growing pains for a festival that has perhaps expanded more than anyone could have ever expected in such a short period of time.

Sunday started strong, as blue skies took over welcoming thousands back to close out the weekend in style. Dirtybird faithful J.Phlip and Ardalan went back-to-back in front of a large crowd early in the day as Tom Trago handed over the decks to Swiss duo Adriatique at the City Steps.

 

Oliver Heldens took over the Ocean View stage for  one of the day’s most anticipated sets under his Hi-Lo moniker, drawing an unsurprisingly large crowd. A quick walk elsewhere as Green Velvet gave The City Steps his Chicago house treatment and Gorgon City went back-t0-back with Kidnap Kid highlighted just how busy the festival was at sold-out capacity: all three stages were busy with thousands of dancing crazy festival goers.

The evening at The Palms began with a Hot Since 82 two-hour set while Skream and Tom Trago filled in for Loco Dice who arrived thirty or so minutes late for his set. Having witnessed two of Skream’s three sets so far that weekend, it became clear just how versatile the Croydon-born DJ is in adapting to different crowds and settings. He was able to fill in for Loco Dice masterfully by steering away from the sound he had previous delivered with his scheduled sets.

Diversity was the name of the game as the festival came to an end. With Chet Faker main stage, those still looking for DJs divided themselves between Maceo Plex – who replaced Tale of Us who couldn’t travel due to sickness – and Dirtybird chief Claude vonStroke, who brought Green Velvet on for a surprise Get Real set. The former, just like during the inaugural edition of CRSSD a year earlier, seemed to attempt to to play past the allotted 10pm noise curfew but was unfortunately shut down.

Maceo Plex closing out The City Steps - Photo by Glen Silva

Maceo Plex closing out The City Steps – Photo by Glen Silva

 

Regardless, as thousands poured out of Waterfront Park and began to make their way to their chosen after-parties, it became clear that CRSSD Festival has undeniably cut itself a large slice of the pie that is the American festival scene. We look forward to seeing how the festival handles the amazing prospect of expansion in the coming years.

Connect with CRSSD Festival: Online / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

TIME WARP Returns To New York – PHASE ONE LINEUP ANNOUNCED

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TimeWarp-Live

Time Warp, the ultimate techno festival, is coming back to New York after making an iconic debut last year at the 39th Street Pier. This year, they will be hosting the weekend marathon event at the historic Bedford Armory, a 108 year old historic monument, in Brooklyn from November 20-21. The two floor, 138,000 sq. ft castle is the perfect venue for what techno legend and Time Warp staple Sven Väth dubbed “the best indoor event on this planet.

Phase one line up has also been confirmed by Time Warp featuring Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Joseph Capriati , Chris Liebing and many more to be announced soon.  Time Warp has built its reputation by fusing dark, dance floor aligned techno with visceral custom stage production and lighting that is comparable to none making this the most anticipated parties of year. 

 “Our mission is to make people dance and we’re delighted to do that again in NYC” – Steffen Charles, Time Warp founder

 Over the years the global event has become well-known as the meeting place between a festival and warehouse party. Built by artist collectives, technicians, and interdisciplinary creatives from all over the world, the “Signature Floors” such as the Cave 1.0 and 2.0 are large-scale installations which transport visitors through various optical worlds. The space transforms from a cavernous ice cave to an menacing inferno depending on the colors and rhythms of more than 400 lamps and lasers.

Time Warp’s organizers Cosmopop (Sonus Festival in Croatia, Love Family Park and Stuttgart Electronic Music Festival in Germany) are joining forces with world-renowned festival promoter ID&T and New York’s TCE.

Tickets for Time Warp US are on sale via private presale. Fans must register to get a unique access code that will allow them to participate. (guaranteed best prices and a very limited supply).

Jamie Jones and Lee Foss Announce New Label

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Emerald-City Art

Jamie Jones and Lee Foss are embarking on another new project with the launch of their new label, Emerald City. Over the years we’ve seen their success with Hot Creations and Hot Trax, so it’ll be interesting to see their new vision unfold with Emerald City.

Emerald City will see it’s first release from Serge Devant and Damiano a month from today on April 6th. The release will play host to Fearing Love, a track from Serge and Damiano, with featured vocals from Camille Safiya and a remix from Jamie Jones and Lee Foss. No official previews have been released, but needless to say our curiosity is heightened with the announcement of their new label.

6AM Group’s Favorite DJs

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decksElectronic music has undeniably influenced the entire world in an amazing way.  Behind the music, there is a DJ who can masterfully orchestrate sounds that hypnotize and captivate the audience.  Everyone in this community has a certain sound or a certain DJ that makes them tick; we all have a favorite.  Has a DJ ever made you dance so much that everything around you just melted away?  Was there a moment when the DJ got you dancing like there’s no tomorrow?  We asked the 6AM Group team members:  “Who’s your Top 5 Underground DJs?”  It’s a very difficult question to answer.  There were some phenomenal DJs listed in the answers, but there were a few DJs that stood out a little more than the others.  Below are some of the DJs that were named more than once from our results:

Ben Klock:  You might see this German techno DJ and producer play at the Berghain in Berlin and all around the world.  Ben ranked 6th on RA’s Top 100 2014.  He also runs a label:  Klockworks.  Check out this set from Berghain:

Dubfire:  You might also know him as 1/2 of Deep Dish.  Label boss to SCI+TEC, he’s a techno DJ with a polished sound.  You can always count on Dubfire to kill the dance floor every time with his rolling bass lines and that signature Dubfire effect.  Hear what I’m talking about below:

Martinez Brothers:  These brothers from the Bronx have made one hell of a mark on the industry.  They have been on the road since high school and are definitely emerging leaders in the global house scene.  They have held a residency at one of the world’s best clubs, DC-10, since 2011 and show no signs of slowing down.  Check out this set from Ultra 2014 Sunday Underground Stage:

Paco Osuna:  The man behind Mindshake Records and Club4,  Paco is no stranger to the underground.  Below is a link where you can listen to this Spaniard throw it down at the Monegros Desert Festival:

D-Nox & Beckers:  The German DJ duo consisting of Christian “D-Nox” Wedekind & Frank Beckers have been making their mark in the global electronic music community for the past 7 years.  Check out their set below:

Adam Beyer:  The family man behind the epic techno label, Drumcode, it’s not hard to see why this DJ was on a few people’s Top 5.  Check out his set from the legendary Berghain on Drumcode Radio:

Slam: “Slam instigated Glasgow’s underground house music scene in the late 1980s, going on to be instrumental in the explosion of the UK techno scene, and their quarter of a century exploits have seen them travel far and wide, leaving scorch marks on the dance floor everywhere while taking their uncompromising vision of techno around the world.”  Check out this special 4 hour set by Slam:

The next 3 DJs you can consider 6AM Group’s top 3.  These next particular DJs were tallied several times.  They have influence several members in 6AM Group.

Jamie Jones:  The man behind Hot Creations, Jamie Jones has been credited for creating an iconic sound paving the way for a warmer, melodic, deeper side of techno.  Jamie Jones was ranked 12th on this year’s RA Top 100.  Below is his set from Timewarp:

Cajmere:  Curtis Jones goes by several aliases; you might be familiar with Green Velvet, that’s one of them.  Hailing from Chicago, Cajmere is a much respected veteran DJ in the electronic dance music community.  Click below to hear his set from the Electronic Playground Podcast:

Marco Carola:  This Italian DJ had the most votes from 6AM Group team members.  Label boss of Music On and leading the biggest underground party in Ibiza, Friday nights at Amnesia.  RA ranked him at 17 on this year’s Top 100.  At the top of his game, Marco is not going anywhere.  Check out one of his sets below:

The above DJs were just a drop in the bucket.  There are still several DJs that have not been mentioned that are followed closely by 6AM Group members.  DJs like Dixon (RA’s #1 DJ), Claude VonStroke, Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, Hernan Cattaneo, and much more.  In addition to all these DJs, there are still DJs out there that have not been discovered.  So keep your ears, minds and hearts open.   We’ll see you on the dance floor!

Wonderfruit adds Jamie Jones, Damian Lazarus, and more to line-up

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Wonderfruit.jpg

The inaugural Wonderfruit Festival produced by Scratch and Secret Productions recently added steam to their electronic music line up by confirming Jamie Jones of Hot Creations and Damian Lazarus of Crosstown rebels along with Francesca Lombard, Seth Troxler, Soul Clap, Subb-an, PillowTalk [live], Ali Love [live], Craig Richards and more. The 3 day festival will take place from Dec 19-21 in Chonburi, Thailand a 1.5 hour drive from Bangkok, the country’s capital.

The concept of Wonderfruit goes well beyond music as health and overall well being is the center point focus. Their mission to promote sustainable living, self-expression, and a nurturing environment for creative growth and inspiration. Wonderfruit promises to be different than the typical Asia festivals where attendees are merely spectators; they encourage participation, collaboration, celebration, and creation. For more information and tickets for Wonderfruit please check out their official website. 

 

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