Beatportal

When is a DJ mix not just a DJ mix? Probably when it's something like John Digweed's 'Structures'. Like all of his mixes, it's a showcase of the Bedrock sound, a portrait of his tastes as a DJ, and even a state-of-the-art address describing his vision of today's underground house and techno. 'Structures' also might be the most monumental release of Digweed's career to date. Not only does the package include two full album-length mixes, along with full-length versions of all 33 tracks used in them; the majority of the tracks are themselves previously unreleased and exclusive to 'Structures', or new versions of material included on last year's 'Bedrock 11'. (The Beatport release of the album also includes six additional tracks not included on the mix.) There's also a third mix, recorded live at Bedrock's WMC party at Vagabond Miami last March; in fact, it's Digweed's first ever commercially released live session. Rounding out the package, the Uruguayan director Pablo Casacuberta filmed Digweed's 2009 tour of South America, turning the footage into an intimate portrait of the artist as he's rarely (if ever) been seen. (Purchasers of 'Structures' on Beatport get a 50-minute edit of the documentary by downloading Bedrock's special interactive sleeve; go here to get it, or check this tutorial for more information on how to use it.) We caught up with the workaholic producer in a rare moment of downtime to find out how 'Structures' came together. Read on for the full interview.

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The entries have been uploaded, collected, and put into round-the-clock rotation, and at long last, we're happy to announce that Mark Knight has selected a winner in the co-production competition! But before we unveil the name, in addition to the grand prize winner, there's more. Due to the overwhelming number of submissions—more than 700, in fact—Mark and Toolroom Records have decided to pick four runners-up, whose co-productions for the contest will be featured on a remix package at a later date.

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Riva Starr's Snatch! label launches a comical video teaser with Thomas Schumacher's 'Bandera'. The musically diverse Schumacher exploits his talents once again by working a classic Cuban sample that has fiesta written all over it!

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Ame are back, and it's about time! It's been a well-toasted minute since the duo of Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann have given us something to salivate over. The last proper release was their bruising 'Setsa'/'Ensor' single of over a year ago, and since then, all we've had to go on have been remixes for Newworldaquarium and The Machine, along with Innervisions releases like 'A Critical Mass Live EP' (featuring Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, and Ame) and the 'Secret Weapons EP Part 4' (featuring a fresh Dixon edit of Âme's 'Fiori', originally released on Ostgut Ton's excellent 'Shut Up and Dance! Updated' compilation alongside cuts from Sleeparchive, nsi., and The 7th Plain). But the new single, featuring the dreamy 'Rrose Selavy' and the harder hitting 'Junggesellenmaschine', turns out to have been well worth the wait.

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Given the title and the breezy, psychedelic vibe of Caribou's 'Sun', it would have been easy enough to turn out a trippy set of visuals (using kaleidoscopes, blurry Lomography, even lava lamps) that suited the music just fine. But Caribou and CIty Slang didn't opt for "easy". Instead, director Simon Owens came up with a slow-motion spectacle of geriatric expressive dance that suddenly, inexplicably turns into a multi-racial, multi-generation rave. Someone, clearly, has been watching David Lynch... In other Caribou news, his remix of the band Oh No Ono was released yesterday (along with further mixes from Efterklang, Higamos Hogamos, the Phenomenal Handclap Band, and others), just a week after his magisterial rework of Four Tet's 'Angel Echoes'. Check out embedded players for both releases after the jump.

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Ibiza's summer season is in full swing. Whether or not you're planning a trip to the White Island, you can take a vicarious vacation with these Ibiza-themed compilations. And for this week only, they're 20% off. For about the price of a bottle of water in the mega-clubs, you can enjoy every brand of Balearic beats, from house to progressive, trance to chillout, from Toolroom, Space Ibiza, Cocoon, Armada, and more. Check out the full list after the jump. And while you've got the Baleares on the brain, don't forget to enter to win a trip for two to Ibiza, courtesy of Pacha Recordings, American Airlines, and Beatport—the August 7 deadline is drawing near!

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With the year halfway over, we thought it was time to highlight some of the year's top downloads on Beatport. We've sifted through all our top sellers and put together 10 charts designed to represent the year's most popular picks across house, progressive, trance, tech house, deep house, techno, and more. We've loosely—and we do mean loosely—divided them into two catch-all categories: one aimed at more popular, "overground" tastes, and one representing the underground. But they all share one thing in common: every track here has been tested and proven by some of the world's best DJs. Whatever style you play, there's plenty in these selections to give your sets a crucial boost of energy as we head into those lazy dog days of summer.

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I'm not exactly sure when Joris Voorn became man of the moment, but that he is. The Dutch producer has been putting out records for eight years now, building up a solid underground fan base for his Detroit-leaning productions. But in recent months, he's become a regular fixture in the upper regions of Beatport's charts as well as one of the most searched artists in our catalog. For fans of Voorn's work, the most gratifying thing about his newfound popularity is that he hasn't changed or compromised in the slightest: he's still turning out the same sleek, sweeping, coolly emotional techno that he's been known for from the beginning. Voorn's new Beatport top 10 offers a killer selection of likeminded work, showcasing a wide variety of underground house, techno, and tech house that's perfectly suited for DJs of a deeper persuasion. Read on for highlights. (For good measure, we've re-posted his June 2010 chart, also a killer.)

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The initial shock has worn off, but the horror lingers and the death toll continues to mount: yesterday, Loveparade's 20th victim died of injuries sustained in a stampede at the festival, held Saturday in Duisberg, Germany. German police report 511 injured, one of them still in critical condition. By this morning, photographs of the victims covered the front pages of Germany's major newspapers; they ranged from 18 years old to their late 30s, and came from all over the world—Italy, Australia, China, the Netherlands, and Bosnia—as well as from many regions in Germany. Two young women from Spain who were among the dead had spent the year on an Erasmus program in Münster; they were part of a group of friends visiting the Loveparade as a farewell celebration. Meanwhile, the controversy over who should be held responsible continues to grow.

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Continuing to expand its tech coverage, Resident Advisor has launched a new series of producers' tutorials. The first installment, by Jono Buchanan, addresses the sticky issues related to EQing kicks and bass. With audio examples, explanatory illustrations, step-by-step exercises, and clear prose that doesn't require a degree in rocket science to understand, it's well worth a read for pros and amateurs alike. While you're there, check out other recent RA tech coverage, including a studio-centric conversation with cosmic man of the moment Oneohtrix Point Never. Of course, there's no better way to test out your newfound knowledge of the science of bass than to enter one of Beatport's own remix contests. The competition to remix Guy Gerber's 'Timing' closes on Monday, August 2—giving you just under a week to get cracking!

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Now in its tenth year, the Exit Festival, located in a historic fort perched above the river Danube, brings a wealth of music and culture to the little town of Novi Sad, Serbia. Originally instigated as a party to rebel against the oppression of the old Yugoslavian regime, the festival has grown to attract thousands of revelers from across Europe. For those still yet to experience Exit, imagine Sonar in the East. It's a true festival-goer's dream: picturesque setting, easy access, cheap drinks, brilliant set planning, and friendly locals. The lineup itself is a diverse and rich mixture of contemporary and classic, electronic and rock. The main stage itself switched between the likes of Faith No More and The Chemical Brothers to DJ Zinc and the Foreign Beggars.

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We live and breathe music here at Beatport. Whether it's the newest crowd-rocking anthem, the heads-down underground house cuts, or soundscapes found in headphone-centric ambient compositions, we love music. With a incredible group of people working behind the scenes at Beatport, between two offices spread across the Atlantic ocean, Beatport is a company full of vibrant music lovers who not only help present the best music to you, but spend day and night obsessing about the electronic sounds keeping the people moving and grooving across the world, for their own personal enjoyment. Simply put, music continues to drive us and help us wake up early in the morning to come to the office, pour a fresh cup of coffee, turn on the computers, and get to work. In a new series, entitled 'We Know The Feeling,' we take a quick look into the diverse and wonderful folks inside these office walls, and give our music-loving friends around the planet a chance to get to know us a bit more. Our first feature is with Michelle Owen, an Australian turned Berliner who thinks Elvis is the best member of the Beatport staff. Read on!

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Booka Shade's latest video, for their new single 'Teenage Spaceman', is the winning entry from a contest the duo held with Genero.tv, a hub for user-created music videos. Produced by New Zealand's Matthew Harris, it's a lighthearted (even uplifting) view of the power of music and technology to bring people together. Booka Shade praised the winner thusly: "The narrative is held together with amazing special effects from Fergus Jack-Hinton and Fred Marshall and a fantastic performance by Scott Orr. The video is freaky, funny, a little trashy (in a a positive, Dee Lite circa early 90s, way). We've never had a video with a sense of humour before and our initial reservations were slowly quashed as something kept making us return to watch it over and over." Keep reading for links to all the finalists, plus audio of the single (including Sei A and Tim Deluxe remixes) and Booka Shade's July Top 10.

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Booka Shade's latest video, for their new single 'Teenage Spaceman', is the winning entry from a contest the duo held with Genero.tv, a hub for user-created music videos. Produced by New Zealand's Matthew Harris, it's a lighthearted (even uplifting) view of the power of music and technology to bring people together. Booka Shade praised the winner thusly: "The narrative is held together with amazing special effects from Fergus Jack-Hinton and Fred Marshall and a fantastic performance by Scott Orr. The video is freaky, funny, a little trashy (in a a positive, Dee Lite circa early 90s, way). We've never had a video with a sense of humour before and our initial reservations were slowly quashed as something kept making us return to watch it over and over." Keep reading for links to all the finalists, plus audio of the single (including Booka Shade, Sei A and Tim Deluxe remixes) and Booka Shade's July Top 10.

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The GlobalGathering festival lives up to its name, producing events in Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Australia, the United States, and the UK, where it was founded in 2001. Held in Stratford-upon-Avon, and winner of DJ Mag's Best UK Festival award for the past two years, the UK event entertains crowds of up to 80,000. Nic Fanciulli, Jerome Isma-Ae, Funkagenda, and Simian Mobile Disco give us a taste of what they have planned; check out their answers, plus artist charts and the 63-track 'Global Gathering Festival Anthems' compilation, after the jump.

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Our condolences go out to the victims, their families and friends, and all those who were affected by the tragedy at today's Loveparade in Duisberg, Germany. As many as 18 people were crushed to death, and dozens more wounded, in the midst of a mass panic at the entrance to the festival grounds, a tunnel leading beneath an underpass. As many as 1.4 million people were estimated to be at the event, but its effects have been felt by members of the electronic dance music community worldwide. Twitter exploded with posts tagged #loveparade as first reports surfaced, and continues to be flooded with comments. They range from expressions of sadness and shock to re-tweeted pleas attempting to relocate missing friends. Boys Noize, scheduled to play this evening, wrote, "15 people died and about 50-100 got hurt. knowing this i just cant go up there and play for the rest 500 000 people". Early reports in English have appeared in the New York Times and on CNN. The Rheinische Post's RP-Online has been liveblogging Loveparade since 9:40 this morning, and has continued reporting throughout the panic and its aftermath. (You can read it here in German, or find a Google automatic translation here.) Der Spiegel continues updating an in-depth photo gallery. It's a tragic day in the Loveparade's long history, and for anyone who feels a part of the culture it represents. We mourn together.

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New Zealand’s not the spot I think of when I want to hear some fresh hip-hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop appeal to it, but today I might have to reconsider that notion. Bringing some something jazzy, classic, and yet altogether new to the table is New Zealand’s own Ladi6 (Karoline Tamati). The video for ‘Walk Right Up’ is but a tidbit of the sounds captured by her debut full-length album, 'Time Is Not Much.' Alternating between dropping rhymes and exercising her lovely vocals, Tamati is like the Kiwi Lauryn Hill. But don’t take my word for it, check the video and the album to see for yourself.

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Keeping up with the deluge of new releases is never easy. That’s why we’ve put together this handy cheat sheet to some of the week’s biggest releases from all corners of the dance-music spectrum. Keep reading for hot new releases from Felix Da Housecat, Booka Shade, Moguai, The Martin Brothers, Funkagenda & Dave Seaman, and more. Plus: Border Community, Planet Mu, and Wolf + Lamb!

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When is dubstep no longer dubstep? People have been asking that question for virtually as long as the genre has had a name, but it's become more pressing in recent years. As the music has soaked up influences from techno and drum & bass, and as the rise of UK funky has offered a counter-narrative for British bass music, dubstep's rhythmic signature has blurred and its features have become less definitive. Mount Kimbie might be the archetypal dubstep-not-dubstep act. Signed to Scuba's Hotflush Recordings, their earliest releases bore obvious traces of dubstep's DNA, particularly in their syncopated rhythms. But the timing was far more off-kilter than dubstep's usual purpose-driven wallop; their lopsided grooves often felt like old nu-dark swing records that had been left to bubble in the sun. And instead of buzzsaw wobble and overdriven drum sounds, they utilized a soft, almost vaporous sound set—guitars, helium-bright voices, naptime rustle and murmur. A year and a half since their first EP, Mount Kimbie finally release 'Crooks & Lovers', their debut album, and with it, they moot the whole dubstep question. (My colleagues at Beatport have wisely tagged the record as "electronica", which is as good a descriptor as any in the case of a record like this, which subscribes to no particular genre.) You can compare their tics and techniques to Burial or James Blake or Boards of Canada, but they ultimately sound unlike anyone but Mount Kimbie. And, happily, rather than settling for a stock set of tricks, they've used the album to push themselves—broadening their sound, trying out ideas that you suspect even they don't fully understand. It's a wonderfully cryptic record that just keeps you coming back for more. Check out selected highlights from the album after the jump.

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2010 marks Chile's bicentennial—a fact that might pass unnoticed, if the world of electronic music didn't owe such a massive debt to the long, skinny South American nation. But of course we do. Due in no small part to the country's tumultuous political history—specifically, the Pinochet regime's violent overthrow of Salvador Allende's democratically elected government in 1973, which forced thousands of families into exile—Chilean culture has had a surprisingly global reach. Chileans like Ricardo Villalobos, Dandy Jack, and Luciano grew up with one foot in Europe and the other in their mother country, and after the return to democracy in 1989, they began forging closer ties between the two worlds. The results were two-fold: a palpable "Chileanization" of the minimal house and techno milieu of Europe and North America, and the birth of a dynamic underground scene in Chile itself. If you're in Berlin this Saturday, you can celebrate 200 years of Chilean independence at the Arena Club, with Ricardo Villalobos, Pier Bucci, Chica Paula, Dinky, Andres Bucci, Felipe Valenzuela, and Los Updates. In honor of the occasion, we've put together two charts featuring two generations of Chilean electronic musicians. Our "Escuela Vieja" chart features the likes of Villalobos, Dandy Jack, Luciano, and Matias Aguayo, while our "Escuela Nueva" chart highlights the new-school talent that's been tearing up the charts: names like Felipe Valenzuela, Felipe Venegas, Francisco Allendes, Marcelo Rosselot, and more. You'll find them after the jump, along with photos of Villalobos, Luciano, Dandy Jack, and friends, taken at MUTEK Chile in 2004. Viva Chile, mierda!

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