Sometimes I think we should give this guy his own section. Every interview I see of him is a pleasure to watch, I’ve rarely seen such a force of character in a DJ.

I really wish one day I could sit down and have a beer with this guy. Until then, here’s the latest interview about Bal en Blanc 18, featuring Markus Schulz, Fedde le Grand and Steve Angello.

Also, for those who haven’t seen it, here’s an older interview with Markus Schulz gone wrong.

Seriously, gotta love this guy.

June 15th, we just can’t wait !

New free BOMB incoming from Arnej. You need to like his facebook page and share the link in order to be able to download it, but trust me it’s worth it. Enjoy !

Piknic Electronik announced their program a few days ago, and like every year, we’re sharing it with you. The following are the WPT recommended dates:

• May 21st: Dubfire – Moog Stage
• June 10th: Creator, Tazz – Moog Stage
• June 17th: Lee Burridge – Moog Stage
• June 24th: Mau5, SoundShaper – Moog Stage
• July 8th: Fred Everything – Jardin des Floralies
• August 19th: Blond:ish – Moog Stage
• August 19th: Groj (Live) – Guru Stage
• August 26th: – Gred Pidcock, Tone Depth – Moog Stage
• September 2nd: Mistress Barbara – Moog Stage
• September 3rd: Claude VonStroke – Moog Stage
• September 9th: Mateo Murphy – Moog Stage

In bold, the ones you should really NOT miss.  For the full program, checkout Piknic’s Electronik’s Official Website !

We’ve been pushing big names such as Markus Schulz, John Digweed, Sean Tyas and Raneem among many others. Today’s post however is about two guys who don’t own a record label or a private jet.

Blokc (Jean-Pascal Saint-Cyr) and  Cliché (Eli Levinson) are two regular Montreal-based dudes. We finished high school together back in 2004, I became a mechanic, they started producing music. We got in touch after a few years of each doing our own separate thing. I previewed their stuff, loved it, and I’m happy to share it with y’all today.

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Blokc is the type of guy who drinks poutine sauce on a tipsy night in the parc, and then denies it for years to come. When he’s not building bikes, he produces Techno. Working alongside Groj (who will be spinning at Piknic Electronik this year, article to come), Blokc has released 4 tracks on Beatport.

Jasper is my personal favorite. This track is also the 1st on Manual Music’s Manualism 5.0 VA compilation. Fourhorn is amazing as well, but I couldn’t find a direct play button for you guys, so you’ll have to visit his beatport page to listen to it. For more info, LIKE Blokc on Facebook !

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I see Cliché more as an experimental type of producer. He hasn’t locked himself to any definite style of EDM and I think this is the beauty of his work. House, Trance, Funky Trance, TranceDuro, Carnival Bass, Techno, Tribal, Dubstep, Kuduro and other EDM styles that I’ve never actually head of, he does it all. He hasn’t officially released anything (that I know of), and you can download most of his stuff for free on his Soundcloud.

Nightfall by Cliché

Thumpatron 5000 by Cliché

Gypt by Cliché

Escaderode (DL in description!!!!!) by Cliché

Do make sure to checkout his soundcloud page, as there is a lot more stuff on there

A few days ago I stumbled upon a very nice acoustic cover of a known trance track. I liked it. I liked it a lot. You see – I love all kinds of music, I also play a bit of guitar myself so the love for acoustic music has been around me since very long time… I started browsing YouTube and found quite a few EDM tracks covered by fans or the artists themselves. I am posting the COVER version and the ORIGINAL version – let us know what you think and maybe you can suggest a nice acoustic cover of an EDM track as well? Use our comments form

-  Armin van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa – Burned With Desire  – Acoustic Cover by Olga Belikova

The Original:

- Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli – “Concrete Angel” Acoustic Version by  Christina Novelli

The Original:

- Above & Beyond – Sun and Moon – Acoustic cover by Chantelle Truong

The Original:

- Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt – Waiting – Acoustic Version by Emma Hewitt

The Original:

- Armin van Buuren feat. Nadia Ali – Feels So Good – Acoustic cover by Tina Aura & PaulJ

The Original:

- Alex

Markus Schulz will be playing the Montreal’s legendary club Strereo on June 15th 2012. 6 hours of Markus Schulz? There is no way I am missing that The only problem is – tickets are selling out too fast so you should get yours ASAP. I called a few promoters and they told me they sold all of their tickets but should be getting a bit more this week.

You can contact Bianca  at 514-622-7099 or get your tickets online by clicking here.

Well, folks, 18th edition of Montreal’s White Party “Bal en Blanc” has hit Montreal this weekend! Over 15,000 people attended this long awaited event, many others listened to the live broadcast via Afterhours.fm however if you missed out on both, you still have a chance to hear most of the sets from the trance (labeled “TECH”) room! Unfortunately Armin van Buuren and Markus Schulz refused to be broadcasted since they want to use these sets for their radio shows (or something like that). I presume both will make their Bal en Blanc sets available in the near future so keep your ears open, we’ll let you know!

Bal en Blanc 18 time sets:

09:00PM – 10:30PM – Insomnia
10:30PM – 11:30PM – Omar El Gamal
11:30PM – 01:00AM – Beat Service
01:00AM – 02:00AM – Jochen Miller
02:00AM – 05:00AM – Armin van Buuren [Not Broadcasted]
05:00AM – 08:00AM – Markus Schulz [Not Broadcasted]
08:00AM – 10:00AM – Ferry Corsten
10:00AM – 12:00AM – Ben Gold

Download Insomnia @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Download Omar El Gamal @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Download Beat Service @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Download Jochen Miller @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Download Ferry Corsten @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Download Ben Gold @ Bal en Blanc 18 (08-04-2012) – LINK 2 – LINK 3

Ben Gold Tracklist:

1. W&W – Shotgun
2. Heatbeat – Rocker Monster
3. Tritonal – Slave (Ben Gold & Tritonal Club Dub)
4. Omnia & IRA – The Fusion
5. Gabriel & Dresden vs. Secret Panda Society – No Reservations (KhoMha Remix)
6. Gareth Emery – Tokyo (Ben Gold Remix)
7. Ben Gold & Tritonal – Apex
8. Gareth Emery & Ben Gold – Flash
9. Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli – Concrete Angel
10. Ernesto vs. Bastian – Dark Side Of The Moon (Alex Fisher Remix)
11. Ben Gold – Profile
12. W&W – Invasion
13. Pascal Feliz & Nenes – Platinum (Ben Gold Remix)
14. W&W vs. Ben Gold – Nexgen
15. Orjan Nilsen – Legions
16. John O’Callaghan Feat. Audrey Gallagher – Big Sky (Ben Gold Remix)
17. Angger Dimas & Bassjackers – RIA
18. Marcel Woods – The Bottle
29. ID – ID
20. Orjan Nilsen – Viking
21. Cold Blue – Coconut
22. Rafaël Frost – Channel 4
23. Gareth Emery Feat. Mark Frisch – Into The Light (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
24. Hammer & Bennett – Language (Phynn Remix)
25. DJ Tiësto – Adagio For Strings
26. Rank 1 – L.E.D. There Be Light

Other tracklists are coming.

Download links are taken from here and here.

This is one of those rare releases that I simply couldn’t wait to get my hands on! Finally it is out today on Beatport, TrackItDown, Audiojelly and many others. I purchased it as it was announced on Raneem’s Facebook page. Over 7 minutes of pure 134 BPM pleasure will keep you pushing the replay button for a long time. I am not very familiar with Emdee but after listening to “La Tizi” I will surely keep my eyes (and ears) on this producer.
La Tizi’s got an original trance sound and Raneem signature all over it, a great production – just as I expected. No wonder it got support from Armin van Buuren, Gareth Emery, Bobina and many others.

Check it out:

Get you copy here:
Beatport: http://tinyurl.com/canx7h5
iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/cjt9b8z
Audiojelly: http://tinyurl.com/d9b7lev
JunoDownload: http://tinyurl.com/crwfkfh
DJDOWNLOAD.COM: http://tinyurl.com/7audusk
djshop: http://tinyurl.com/cmr8r46
Trackitdown: http://tinyurl.com/bw5a6km

Image: http://geeks.thedailywh.at/

By Abdullah Alhomoud.

Piracy. It sounds very sinister, but we all participate in it. Whenever a new album or hit single is released, instead of going to a record store and buying it, we often type away on our keyboards, and within a few clicks, the music is downloading on our computers, without a single penny spent. But not only consumers do it, even musicians download pirated music. Today it’s easier than ever before to sample, mix and remix music. All one needs is access to a computer and a DJing software, many of which are available to download for free. And that’s exactly how Andrew Ross started his career.

DJ Ross is a well-known name in the Montreal trance scene. He has been into electronic dance music since he was a teenaged boy: attending shows, downloading music and making mixes. One day, after several months of practice, he decided to go pro. With the right equipment, and a few connections, he managed to secure himself a few gigs in the local trance scene. Today, three years later, he is a resident DJ at Circus Afterhours in Montreal, and recently closed for Aly & Fila, the world-renowned trance duo, after their show in the city.

The Copyright Modernization Act, in its current reincarnation in the Parliament of Canada as Bill C-11, seeks to undermine the ability of aspiring DJs to mix music without having to pay for it. Since DJ Ross went from spinning in his own home to spinning at shows, he has been paying for the music that he uses. “I try to support artists that I like,” he says. “It means a lot to me to actually buy the music and support those artists instead of just downloading them illegally.” But the fact remains that it’s not always possible for an aspiring artist to spend a significant amount of money on what is, so far, a hobby. And the question is: should a teenager downloading music and mixing it in his room be regarded as a criminal?

Mark Corwin doesn’t think being unable to afford music should give you the right to obtain it illegally. “It’s difficult for many people to own a car, but you can’t go out and steal one,” he says. Corwin is a music professor and the Director of the Electroacoustic Studios at Concordia University. He is also a music producer and has released music spanning many genres, from folk to pop to orchestral. He is vehemently opposed to piracy. “It’s been terrible for the arts, because a lot of the artists who normally get paid for the use of their songs are no longer getting paid, so they’re losing revenue.”

He admits, however, that piracy has its positive side, saying, “It allows for the distribution of an artist’s work in a very, very wide fashion.” But he’s quick to add that “it’s not the piracy so much as the mechanisms for getting data around the world.”

Concerning raves and DJing, he says that it’s not fair for a person to make money by simply mixing and mashing other people’s original content, especially when no credit is given to the artist.

DJ Ross, on the other hand, asserts that electronic music producers generally allow their music to be played at gigs without them profiting. “As a DJ, you can play whatever you want,” he says, arguing that there’s a common understanding among electronic musicians that most of the profit is made not in production, but rather in playing live shows.

But what will the consequences of Bill C-11 be to the world of electronic music? “[It] will make it easier for those who do not want their sounds to be used to take action,” says Corwin. But Ross sees more of a negative effect. He believes that the bill will make it harder for underground producers to make it big, because it will be more difficult for DJs to gain access to their music and promote it. “The trance scene will lose its quality in that respect.”

As Corwin says, however, musicians who wish to provide their work for free can share it in the Creative Commons, a non-governmental organization that  enables artists to waive some of their copyrights.

But whether musicians wish to protect their work or share it freely for everyone to enjoy, one thing is for sure, and it’s that Bill C-11 will make electronic musicians more conscious of their rights, and give them the power to decide what to do with their own work.

p.s. For the very first time we’ve got a guest post on PlayTechno.com. Thank You, Abdullah Alhomoud!

What do YOU think about this bill? Let us know by commenting below or on our Facebook page.

This article might come out a bit late since I had to recompose myself and really think this through before I wrote something that I will regret later on. So after 3 days of looking through forums, wallposts, other articles, I’ve come up with my own thoughts on this whole situation.

I’ve been personally following DJ Fei-Fei since pretty much the beginning of her career back when her Facebook page had less than 500 likes and YouTube views were a measly 1000 or so. To be honest, it was just a random click while looking for obscure talented trance artists. Anyhow, she definitely intrigued me since she produced some pretty good tech trance stuff and seemed like she had what it took to make it onto the scene. She’s a girl, Asian descendant, young, talented, lives in L.A. and depending on your criteria, pretty. In other words, a type of character or looks that the trance community lacks and let’s face it, there are more boys than girls who listen to trance and goes raving. Hence, from a purely marketing point of view, it is a gold mine. And boy oh boy did she market herself. Once upon liking her page, I shit you not I got updates on her page 4 times a day, pushing her own invented word “feided” at every opportunity possible and feeling extremely proud that Tiesto himself dubbed her the “Bad girl of EDM”. As time went on, the dubstep movement aided strongly by Skrillex took the rise and I started noticing certain changes in her podcasts and productions. Fei-Fei has made the slow transition into Dubstep thus ending pretty much my interest for her.

A few months back, Circus afterhours booked her for a show for an all girl night event with part of the proceeds going to Breast cancer research. Unfortunately, I was tied up at the time so I couldn’t make it. However, a good friend of mine told me that once she hit the decks and started dropping uneven basslines and distorted highs, the floor simply cleared and almost everyone headed to the House room. You see, people were expecting her to play some Trance because well, she was still producing trance tracks back at the time and they we’re pretty good! But nope, she played what she wanted and if I was her; I’d feel pretty awkward playing in front of 10 people.

So, fast forward to the present time, or should I say 3 days ago, Fei-Fei was invited to play @ Beyond Wonderland in which ASOT is also a part of the event. For those who don’t know yet, Beyond Wonderland is organized by Imsomniac, the same guys who brought to you the famous EDC, otherwise known as Electric Daisy Carnival. I won’t bother explaining what she played but here is her set with all the tracklist:

So, I’ll be honest guys. My first reaction was, WTF! What’s happening!? This must be a joke! No! Holy Shit! Why!? How!? DAFUQ!? Then I calmed down a bit and really sat down and analyzed the whole situation. What’s my reaction now? Hmmmmm…. The same.

So here are my arguments and reasoning to what is going on within the EDM media community

Arty and Gareth don’t play trance either. Why should Fei-Fei?

Arty and Gareth might not play much Trance anymore but they don’t play dubstep either. What they play is what I call commercial “Trouse” which shares many roots with trance and doesn’t give me a headache after listening to it for 10min unlike certain other type of music.

Beyond Wonderland is an EDM event so all types of EDM is allowed to be played.

True. All these huge events are not just about Trance. House, Drum n Bass, Techno, Dubstep are all part of the EDM family. HOWEVER, this was the “A State of TRANCE” tent. I repeat, a state of T R A  N C E therefore only Trance or what has become accepted by the mass as trance (even though it isn’t i.e. Trouse) should be played. Dubstep is at the completely different end of the spectrum and I blame none other then Fei-Fei for playing that kind of music mostly throughout her set. She knew exactly what was expected of her and if she didn’t, then she doesn’t deserve to be where she is right now. She completely disrespected ASOT and the Trance community. Shame on her and this is where her “Don’t give a F*ck attitude” and Bad Girl image isn’t good. Great marketing on a usual basis but when it’s time to respect your peers and elders, don’t play the bitchy teenager who needs a dose of Ritalin. You will get crucified.

Don’t blame her! It was Armin that booked her!

First off, she could’ve have just been forced unto Armin by Insomniac since she’s originated from L.A. and she has good connections in the industry. But let’s just say Armin did book her knowing she is L.A. local just like Shogun. Did you really think Armin knew what he was getting himself into? No. I am pretty damn sure Armin had no idea and if you’ve listened to the set, whenever Armin speaks, he sounds very surprised, hesitant and I quote “I think it’s… you know…this is dubstep right?… pretty interesting”. “Tell us what you think on Twitter”. Do you expect Armin to know she changed styles and that she will play Skrillex, Tyga and Avicii/Flo Rida on ASOT? Hell I’m pretty sure if you asked that question a week ago, most people wouldn’t even think that she’d be foolish enough to do it.

“I can play whatever the fuck I want” – Fei-Fei
“Don’t be a prisoner of your own style” – Armin Van Buuren

Really? You’re going to use this argument? If everyone played “whatever the fuck they want” and ASOT has no more border limits or identity then we should just rename this radio show to ASOWTV.

What has really bothered me throughout this whole fiasco is what people wrote on her FB wall. From “Get off the stage!” to well… much harsher comments and also rebuttals from Fei-Fei’s faithful blaming trance fans to be narrow minded and no love and respect at all for other genres.

I believe in constructive arguments that have certain logic behind it so I do not like people blasting away at someone without explaining themselves the reasoning behind it. It’s disrespectful and destructive for the EDM scene. As for being Trance biased and no love and respect for other genres, I have you noted that I listen to all types of music that I find pleasing to the ears. Hell, I even listen to certain dubstep artists such as Feed Me. I love listening to commercial house when I am in a club and blues is just oh so awesome with a glass of whiskey after a long hard day. However, I will admit there are some real stuck ups out there who think Trance is the only music available and worth listening too.

Each event has its own right style of music and at an ASOT event; well… it’s not rocket science to know what kind of music should be played. By the way… isn’t it the job of a DJ to play what the crowd wants to hear?  There, I’ve opened a can of worms. What’s your take on this? Don’t be shy, I love a good debate!

P.S. One thing she’s got going for her is the amount of attention she got for trolling ASOT. I can imagine the Dubstep community with their arms open ready to take her in… and if that was the plan all along, kudos Fei-Fei – You’ve made it. Now leave us in peace before my eardrums implodes.