Editors’ Selections is an opportunity for your favorite Dancing Astronaut contributors to talk about some of the music they’re listening to that we might not always get an opportunity to post about from week to week. Sometimes it’s out there, sometimes it’s obscure, but you’ll always get a peek into what we’re loving behind closed doors.
Last weekend – as the summer season kicked into high gear – Space Ibiza enlisted Sasha to christen the 2013 season with a gripping set of deep tech and atmospheric electronica. While not as rage-friendly as the sets his US-contemporaries were playing in Las Vegas, Sasha’s opening set on the White Isle is dynamic, subtle and equally exciting. A perfect hour to re-initiate you into the real world on this Tuesday morning, the legendary producer features cuts from Uner, Timo Maas, Kaiserdisco and Nicole Moudaber – not to mention three incredible IDs. So sit back, sip your morning coffee and get re-acquainted with Sasha at Space Ibiza.
Radio 6 is dedicating part of their May broadcasting to “pioneers,” and as Sasha explains himself in the introduction to this mix, he took his own two hours on air to play some “beautiful music.” This mix will make you feel like you’re curled up on a living room rug next to your favorite speakers or over at Sasha’s home for dinner listening to his choice tunes of the moment. Much like Involv3r, Sasha pays homage to quality indie music of this day and age, highlighting his own progressive spin or that of his army of protégés. There’s even unreleased Involv3r material in here (!) It’s also just inviting to have the man himself whispering quips about his selections into your headphones as time passes along.
New York’s underground party brand Verboten has quite the summer in store for the New York dance music faithful. Kicking things off on the Fourth of July, they plan to throw a festival style event on the waterfront of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, with the opening event to feature Sasha, Maya Jane Coles, Davide Squillace and Bill Patrick. The second event will take place on July 27th and will host Luciano, Carl Craig, and Moodymann. These names are some of the biggest and best in the underground world, and we can’t wait to see what else Verboten has in store for the duration of festival season.
You’ve seen photographs online after parties that were absolutely bananas. Most likely, you’ve also seen the ones taking those photos, or you’ve seen the flash, and the one responsible has vanished. Camera in hand, I’m one of the many dark figures running through nightclubs, squeezing through groups of people packed in like sardines, trying constantly to find the best spot to capture that one moment when the pyrotechnics erupt and the crowd goes wild. Often times, these seemingly endless treks across clubs are fruitless, and we feel compelled to move again…and again…to chase the perfect shot. It’s always a challenge; every venue is different in its own unique ways. Having just wrapped up photographing some incredible shows during Miami Music Week 2013, here are some of the ways I’ve learned to navigate the insanity that has become EDM photography on the ground and on assignment.
Sasha & John Digweed have been creating music together in the UK since as early as 1993 with the release of their triple CD mix Renaissance: The Mix Collection. They continued their superstar rein on the dance music scene with album releases like Northern Exposure 1 & 2 in 1996 & 1997, which heavily influenced the progressive and trance genres we hear today. Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s they toured internationally while holding a coveted residency at New York City’s Twilo nightclub, until the popularity of dance music waned in 2003. In 2008 after a six-year tour hiatus, the duo decided to kick off a North American stint at WMC by throwing a sacred Yacht party, which evolved into an annual tradition.
We have posted their set from 2009 but feel free to divulge and explore their incredible journey through the decades. If you’re curious as to what’s running through Sasha’s head nowadays, check out our interview posted yesterday discussing his upcoming album release. Tracklist after the break.
As dance music enters a new era of global prominence, its first magazine pin-up seems well situated in his elder statesman role.
There’s not much that hasn’t already been written about Sasha and the enduring impact he has had on the scene. In headier days with partner John Digweed, the Welsh DJ/producer pioneer paved the road to dance superstardom with his iconic albums and marathon extended sets, conquering America during its first rave wave in the process. The blueprint he helped establish remains revered and replicated by a new crop of artists who are far too young to remember the rise of Renaissance Records. (more…)
Heading down to Miami but still not sure what to do? Well, Dancing Astronaut and Wavefront presents want to send you and a friend to Sasha’s Never Say Never party on March 23rd at the SLS Hotel. Featuring the legendary Sasha as well as, Adam Beyer, Guy Gerber, Lee Curtiss, Dusky, Thugfucker and Dino G, the Never Say Never party is poised to be one of the premiere pool parties of the weekend for those of you seeking refuge from the mainstream.
Enter the contest below the break.
It’s a fair to say the dance music world as we know it would not be quite the same without Sasha. From the late 80s on, Alexander Coe worked his way up from a comfortable Welsh upbringing to quickly represent the best of UK DJs in early 90s rave. In 1991, before teaming up with John Digweed and his legendary Mixmag cover hailing him as the “Son of God,” Sasha took up residency for a short couple of months at Shelley’s Laserdome in Stoke-on-Trent — a city due south of Manchester. The club scene was directed by different norms at this time: DJs were defined by their record collections and a club’s clientele was dictated by who could line up earliest to get in before doors opened. This particular set from Shelley’s, one of many during Sasha’s residency, is dominated by big room piano house, wailing a cappellas, and non-stop feel goodery. The quality isn’t necessarily what we’re used to, but it’s worth a listen if only to understand what ravers were listening to twenty years ago.
If you’re anything like us, you probably spent much of the last ten days avoiding social media for fear of mention of BPM, an event quickly becoming dance music’s greatest amalgamation of (largely deep house and techno) talent at once. The sixth annual festival took place this year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico — far away from the cold winds and boring cubicles many festivalgoers left behind for a glorious combination of beaches and beats. None of us over at Dancing Astronaut were of the lucky to attend, but we did catch some of the many killer sets that went down on the playas and in the clubs. Not all of these sets are complete and they’re definitely not a replacement for actually attending, but we hope this roundup will offer even the tiniest bit of solace. Click below for our choices from Andre Crom, Nicole Moudaber, Tale of Us, Ellen Allien, Sven Väth, Dubfire, Eats Everything, Cassy, Sasha, and Seth Troxler b2b Guy Gerber.
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