By now you’ve no doubt heard about the controversy surrounding Leona Lewis’ track “Collide,” but now that some of the smoke around the original story has finally cleared, we’re back with more food for thought. We all know that Avicii legally secured the rights for the original sample from Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and when Leona’s camp approached him for rights to the track, Avicii was in no position to license it as the release was already scheduled and complete. Even after sending Leona a completely finished track with the Autumn Rowe “Fade Into Darkness” vocals over it, Syco was ruthless in its intent to use the track, and when AtNight refused even more generous offers, all lines of communication between the two camps were torn down.
That’s mostly a rehash of what we’ve heard up to now, but what we’ve really been curious about is what Avicii planned to do next. Keep reading for a look at the situation.
There’s no denying that DJs are a hot commodity right now, and connecting with their fanbase is an easy way to harness support. Yesterday we caught Afrojack’s EDC wrapup video, and today we present one from Max Vangeli during Miami Music Week. This “mini-documentary” features Max giving some great commentary over video footage taken at various parties and locations over the sunny seven days. Cameos from Kaskade and AN21 make it even more worth the watch, but the production quality alone is really impressive. If you’ve got six minutes to spare, be sure to click that play button above — and don’t forget to watch our own videos on YouTube for even more similar content. Shouldn’t it be required of all DJs to do one of these?
R3hab has been crushing it this year with huge remixes to Koko, Champagne Showers, Bounce, Give Me Everything, Bl33p, Bl33p, Bl33p, etc. Here’s another remix to Luciana’s I’m Still Hot, which R3hab just served up on his Soundcloud. Once again, R3hab has a giant breakdown with his signature bl33py synths. Check it out and stay tuned for the official release.
Heavy hitters Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano come out with a dark progressive tune that cuts deep into the soul of your speakers. The tempo of the track reminds me of something Eric Prydz style creation with the heavy bassline and spirtual rolling sounds. Sunnery and Ryand are known for their high energy sets and emotional style of play, you can expect big things to come from this duo as their highly anticipated release of “Markuzza” is set to come out on Steve Angello’s Size Records in the very near future. N-JOY!
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*DA Video removed at the request of Insomniac Productions*
As you know, the Dancing Astronaut crew traveled to Las Vegas for the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival. Enjoy the sights and sounds as we capture the best moments of this amazing 3-day festival in the video above — just make sure you remember to watch it in HD.
Update: We were asked by Insomniac Productions, the folks behind EDC, to remove our video. We weren’t given an explanation, but maybe they just want to sell more tickets to their upcoming “EDC Experience” film. Either way, we didn’t want to leave you hanging so we’re replacing the video with Afrojack’s Insomniac-approved recap instead. Or you can just head over to YouTube where there are hundreds of other lower-quality cellphone videos that have been available for weeks.
There’s something inherently different about a trance show from house, progressive house, or any other kind of EDM out there. It’s the deep synths, the gradually building chords, and the over-exaggerated drops that travel through your entire body, rather than just through your ears. Pacha NYC is one of our regular hangouts for big name DJs, but this weekend trance duo Cosmic Gate came to the hard-house inclined club, and delivered a marathon set that had everyone entranced. Whether it was the head-bobbing beats or well timed multicolor lights, you know you want to click past the break for details.
The Swedish duo just released their July mix a couple days ago and contains mostly new tracks. Dada Life beings the mix with their latest remix of Mustard Pimp’s “ZHM”, which is currently tearing up nightclubs and festivals worldwide, if you havent heard the new banger make sure to Asap and do the Dada. Overall, its a solid mix be sure to download the podcast and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments!
We don’t think it’s easy to get more talent into a studio than Avicii and David Guetta, but that’s what the two heavyweight producers have done for an upcoming track on Guetta’s next album, Nothing But The Beat” The track, “Sunshine,” has the signature Guetta big room qualities to it, but with all the subtleties and nuances that make an Avicii production so infectious and enjoyable. The album is scheduled for release August 29th, but from what we’ve heard promo discs have begun circulating at top music firms, so it’s very possible that a copy leaks out ahead of time. We’ll keep you in the loop, but for now just bookmark that YouTube video you see above.
Identity Festival is taking it once again showing its fan appreciation by launching a pretty awesome contests for up and coming DJs and producers. The folks behind the show are giving one lucky winner the chance to perform at an ID Festival date to be determined, get featured in a web piece for SkullCandy, and even receive a one-year supply of headphones. Runners’ up can receive tickets to the show, special meet-and-greets, and free headphones to top it all off. Winners will also be featured in the official playlist of the festival, and that’s some real promotion that money can’t buy. All it takes to throw your hat in the ring is an original track that’ll be judged by Identity’s top DJs, including Kaskade and Steve Aoki. If the volume of promos we get regularly is any indication, this should definitely sound appealing to many DA readers — so crack open Logic and fire up Ableton, you have until July 24th.
