TEMPLANZA is an enigmatic producer who is doing something revolutionary in the electronic music world.
Unlike other live acts and producers, this project shapes sound live using a revolutionary helmet called the D-Prototype armed with neural controllers.
The result is magnificent and mesmerizing, as the below exclusive video teaser demonstrates:
Let’s admit it. We’ve all done it. Even this person who’s writing this piece at the moment. We’ve likely all taken our camera out at concert or performance we’ve attended.
It may be a photo, at the least, or a video that lasts for a few seconds. Nothing wrong with those, to most. But lately, we’ve noticed things have gone way too far. Just take a look at almost any video of any major electronic music show posted on YouTube and you will see tens if not hundreds of phones up in the area taking videos.
Honestly, this is becoming a case of mass idiocy. Of course, some of you may say people are free to do whatever they want as long it does not harm the subject they are filming. But the problem is this adversely affects artistic substance and degrades the whole music experience that these performances provide. These people are busy taking part in the concert and living it, while others are somewhat killing the atmosphere and the fun. Some people think these performances as something like a cheap souvenir, a social media prize to be showcased to the world, rather than something to be experienced viscerally and joyfully. It is like going to Venice and just thinking about buying the plastic gondola or the sailor cap worn by the gondolier instead of relishing the journey itself. What kind of tourist would that person be?
It is all about respecting the atmosphere of the concert or DJ set and appreciating the talent and artistry the performers provide. Not giving that due respect reeks of idiocy, one that threatens the sanctity of music itself.
We were all guilty of it, so that’s all in the past. I did it. You did it. We all did it. But now is the time to put an end to this practice. It is time that we end this bad custom that is detrimental to music. The freedom of an individual ends up where the freedom of another begins. The truth is that allowing long filming of DJ sets on cell phones kickstarts a slippery slope that can have no end, a myriad of cell phones up in the are an the vibe of a performance lost amidst all the bright screen lights shining all around. And that is without even touching on the subject of those who aren’t level-headed enough to turn off their flash before filming in a dark room, the biggest “no-no” of them all.
Most events have professional photographers and videographers ready to capture the moments for you, all the while you get to enjoy what you’re there for: the music.
So the next time you see someone in front of you holding their phone up for more than twenty seconds to film a live or DJ set, kindly ask them to stop and let the music experience be given greater importance.
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In case you missed it, Pepsi made a 2-minute 39-second ad featuring Kendall Jenner giving a can of Pepsi to a policeman during a protest rally. In the commercial, the policeman accepts the can to the cheers of the protesters and the “fighting/protest” ends.
Since its release, the video has since been dragged and tarred through social media: Wired.com says, âThe message is clear: All those Womenâs Marches, Black Lives Matter protests, and demonstrations outside Trump Tower would be much more effervescentâand effective!âif someone had just brought some soda.â Slate.com, on the other hand, posed an interesting question: âIs it Pepsiâs view that the act of handing an armed police officer a can of soda should be the millennial generationâs version of putting a daisy in a rifle barrel?â NBC News on the other hand reported that “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding.”
But what caught the attention of dance music fans such as ourselves, was how similar this Pepsi ad was to a Chemical Brothers video from 1999.
On Friday night Gorillaz returned back to the live stage with a comeback performance at Printworks in London. The bandâs first onstage performance in five years came just twenty-four hours after the announcement of their new LP, Humanz. Damon Albarn and co. performed the forthcoming album in full, bringing out the many collaborators on it to the stage including De La Soul, Pusha T, Danny Brown, Kelela, Savagesâ Jehnny Beth, Albarnâs Blur bandmate Graham Coxon, and even former Oasis rivalNoel Gallagher
On top of playing each track on Humanz, Gorillaz also played some of their classic hits, such as âFeel Good Inc.â with De La Soulâ, âClint Eastwoodâ with Del the Funky Homosapien, âDonât Get Lose in Heavenâ, and âDemon Days.â
Glasgow, a city that truly knows how to party.
The largest city in Scotland is known to be a hot-bed for skillful DJs and producers, in large part thanks to a thriving nightlife scene with several world-renowned clubs the likes of Sub Club, La Cheetah and SWG3.
But beyond the clubs, there’s a deep underground after-hours scene that is rapidly becoming one of the most talked about in the world. i-D has decided to explore this late-night/early-morning world through a mini-documentary that dives deep into the city’s underground scene and the players that are making it shine.
“Discontent with the current political climate, they are artfully rebelling, reclaiming the city and throwing illegal after-hours parties. In this love letter to inner-city Scottish misfits, we discover more about the ripple effects of regeneration on Glaswegian youth culture.” â i-D
Watch the documentary in full below:
Welcome back to our weekly appointment with Throwback Thursday, our feature series that travels back in time to look at some of the most iconic, thought-provoking and nostalgic moments in dance music scene history.
This week our time machine takes us back to the early to mid 90’s, the span of years that some still consider to be the heydays of the rave revolution. New York City had already gone through its disco years, Chicago House was being played all over the world and Detroit had soon followed suit in the late 80’s to early 90’s with techno. Across the pond Ibiza fever was taking over and, influenced by the Balearic parties and the sounds coming from the States, the rave scene in the United Kingdom was truly flourishing.
There was no Facebook, no Instagram, no Snapchat and definitely no way to tweet the night away during those years. Just the music, the crowd, a likely illegal venue, your mates and, let’s be honest, some good old ecstasy or MDMA.
The video below, which has been making the rounds on Facebook and already has almost 170,000 views, depicts those years perfectly. Enjoy it and learn a thing or two from those dance moves!
On April 21st, the world learned of Prince’s death at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
The property has remained practically untouched since. Today the public was given a first sneak-peek of the estate thanks to exclusive access granted to the Today Show. Al Roker got the first look inside the mansion, as the video below shows, while he toured the sprawling complex that served the artist’s home and recording studio.
For the better part of the last 10 years the dance music world has been anxiously waiting for the return on tour of French duo Daft Punk. The usually effervescent festival lineup rumor mill hasn’t been disappointing this fall either, with the usual speculation, obvious trolling and fabricated leaks doing the rounds of the internet via Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and who knows what other social networks.
Although we heavily debunked the latest of such Daft Punk hoaxes, some continue to believe that 2017 is the magic year that will see the helmet-clad producers and DJs back performing in front of their fans. Adding to the excitement is a video that recently re-surfaced on the group’s very own Reddit thread, showing Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter playing live without their iconic headgear at The Carros Festival.
The video shot in Paris in the distant 1995 appears to be the oldest recording of the two performing without helmets, featuring a blend of acid, tech house and the style of electro that characterized the early Daft Punk sound that gained them notoriety world over during the 90s. In the video, which you can watch below, they perform Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” as well as their very own “Da Funk.”
Last night marked the highly-anticipated reunion of Sasha and John Digweed behind the decks together.
The two legendary producers and DJs have remained at the forefront of the ever-changing spectrum of electronic music for the last three decades, all thanks to strong personal integrity, unwavering focus on music quality and undying passion for dance music. For one reason or another however, over the years they decided to move on from the iconic back-to-back sets that characterized their careers in the 90s and early 2000s, deciding instead to concentrate on their solo work when DJing live.
There is no denying that Skrillex makes for the perfect cartoon character. Be it the hair, edgy yet cool personality or the music that has infected the lives of many since he took over as one of the worldwide faces of EDM, Skrillex is a visually ideal person to translate into animation.
This latest cartoon sees Skrillex featured alongside Juaz and Fatman Scoop as part of their latest track “Squad Out!”  Directed by Adam Fuchs, who has previously directed for major artists the likes of Flying Lotus and Neon Indian, the highly stimulating video depicts animated Skrillex and Juaz losing their minds to a crazy and angry elephant-like version of Fatman Scoop who proceeds to torture them with a variety of odd sounds and scenarios.
You can watch the video through Adult Swim’s YouTube channel below:
