Holy Recommended Batman!

Our new recommended feature has left me speechless and excited.

I take a lot of pride in keeping up to date with the music on the site. I thought that I had heard most of the tracks on the site that fit my taste (house, deep house, electro house). Then I decided to check out the new “Recommended  Tracks” feature that I found after logging in on the top right of the site near the ‘my account’ button and media player.

If you have made a purchase before with Play It Tonight we will personally choose and recommend similar popular tracks to you that you will like. If you haven’t made a purchase then nothing will show under recommended tracks.

When I logged in for the first time yesterday as a customer and checked the recommended section I was a little concerned that I didn’t recognize any of the tracks shown. I pressed the new ‘Play All” feature (which is also awesome) and started listening while I did other work. Surprisingly, the first song was really good and I had never heard it before. I thought it might have been a fluke and that the rest might be songs that don’t suit my taste, and there ended up being a few of those but the second song was even better and the third song rocked.

Of my recommendations from Play It Tonight, I would have bought 9 of the tracks. Thats 9 tracks generally from lesser known labels and artists that a) aren’t played as much by other DJs and b) I spent almost zero time to find because Play It Tonight did the work for me. Nine tracks is almost an entire short set!

I strongly RECOMMEND that you make a purchase so that you can see all of the hidden gems that Play It Tonight has to offer in the Recommended Tracks section! 

Aside from having dance music play everywhere, one of the largest differences that I have found with the English culture is that people seem to keep to themselves a lot. In a lot of smaller towns people will greet each other on the street and generally look forward to meeting new people. On the flip side, in the big cities people keep their heads down and generally mind their own business.

As I mentioned above, dance music (mostly house) is everywhere here. Even today I was having lunch in an amazing Chinese resteraunt and heard the following track:

Make Your Move (Dare Me) Club mix

Dave Armstrong

Boss Records 2007-04-06

8:58

$1.48

This is not exactly your typical Chinese restaurant music.

I was pondering why dance music took off so fast and furious over here in the 80s and it wasn’t really making sense. There is so much heritage and culture in England but that doesn’t explain it. People have their own musical tastes in all areas of the world, so that doesn’t explain it.

It didn’t click for me until I was walking down the street in London and someone bumped into me and didn’t say a word. One word jumped out at me “ecstasy”. With such a lack of friendliness and togetherness in day to day street life in the super-cities like London, its no wonder why the feeling of oneness that the combination of dance music and drugs like ecstasy caught on so quickly and took the highly-populated nation by storm.

You will see it in the clubs here in London; kids freaking out with each other, hugging, smiling, laughing and letting all of the stresses and the self mindedness go. People party together when dance music is present and the feelings that it brings up can defiantly be addictive, especially when you are raised in a culture where the people keep a ‘stiff upper lip‘ and their heads down in the big city.

Last week I came over to London to do some business [to meet with dance music labels, distributors and magazines] and to check out the scene here. Coming from Vancouver it has been a shock to say the least! Its like Vancouver’s music scene but on steroids.

As soon as I landed at Gatwick I knew that something was different. Even at the airport I noticed that every shop there played house music over their loud system. In Vancouver it is extremely rare to hear dance music anywhere but in specific clubs on specific nights. Coffee shops, clothing stores, pubs, resteraunts, internet cafes, corner store and many other fine establishments were all playing songs that I recognized from being a Dj. Some of the songs I heard were:

Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away) Famous Radio Edit

David Guetta, David Guetta vs The Egg,

Ministry Of Sound 2006-10-27

3:15

$1.48

My Freedom Original Mix

David Guetta, Joachim Haraud, Chris Willis,

Peace Bisquit/Curvve 2006-08-03

3:59

$1.48

Tropical Soundclash Original Mix

DJ Gregory

Defected 2007-09-23

8:34

$1.98

On my first night in town I decided to check out Sneaky Soundsystem and Nic Fanciulli at Turnmills in Central London. Even though there were some hassles at the door I was in and had a blast. The club was huge! I got lost in it multiple times. I kept finding myself back in the hip-hop/pop room of all places. There were tons of people packed shoulder to shoulder. It was hard to move.

I have never been in a club with so many people and have never seen so many people going off to house music. People were freaking out everywhere!

So far I have been taken back by the size and strength of the scene over here and I look forward to getting into it more and more as the days go on! If you haven’t been to London and love dance music I highly recommend that you come over and check it out!

It is well known that a DJ can set the mood for an evening. You can watch the crowd respond to the mood of music that the DJ is playing as he mixes.

When I was playing last week at the Red Room, one of the clubs I have a residency at here in Vancouver, I accidentally-on purpose played a string of songs with really sexual and dirty vocals. The girls reacted to the sexual vibe and started freaking out and dancing differently and of course the guys followed the girls (as always).

The vibe of the entire room shifted and everyone could tell. Couples started making out and getting down on the floor. Girls rushed up to the dj booth to say “I love this song. Its hot!” with a look of lust in their eye. Have I said that I love what I do?

Below are just a few of the many songs on Play It Tonight that have a dirty / sexual vibe that works so well with the dance floor:

Bilingual Dirty Mix

Jose Nunez feat. Taina

Subliminal Records 2004-10-05

7:26

$1.48

La Discotek Original Mix

D. Ramirez

Underwater 2007-01-01

8:36

$1.48

Lipstick Original Mix

DJ Timeline

Live to Tape Recordings 2005-11-17

6:51

$1.48

Pick up these and other dirty dirty tracks today to shake things up in your next set!

This is a video blog of the two owners of Play It Tonight, Dan and Sean, doing what we do in the 10 hours a week when we’re not in the office.

Sean is doing the majority of the talking at the camera but there are shots of Dan talking on the phone & DJing and our financial guy Brent dancing at a party.

Let us know your thoughts or anything else that you would like to see us get on tape (More girls? Gigs? Office stuff? More of our friends and staff?)

I always feel anxious before hearing tracks for the first time on a big club system. The tracks never sound the same as they do in my room or in my headphones at home or in the office. Different aspects of each song become more obvious and some get downplayed and are barely noticeable.

As a worst case scenario, a track with what you thought was a sick bassline will sound week in a club or that mid-ranged chugga chugga loop is way louder than you remembered it being killing the dance floor that you have created.

Other times, songs that sound average and bland can come to life on a club sound system. I have seen countless tracks that I would pass up from artist and labels that I didn’t recognize destroy dance floors and have me shaking it.

I was given the opportunity to play at a nightclub called the Red Room this weekend in Vancouver. It is one of our city’s biggest and busiest clubs.

I was playing at the Red Room at the same time when Dan, the other owner of Play It Tonight, was playing at a new Vancouver club called The Modern.

I opened for one of the bigger Vancouver DJs and my set featured two tracks that I was using as ‘fillers’ that surprised the hell out of me and everyone else in the club. Girls were pushing their way through to get to the dance floor and the entire club was heaving.

Here are these two “sleepers” that made my night:

Artefact original

Ale Avila

Portamento Records 2007-09-04

7:19

$1.98

La Discotek Original Mix

D. Ramirez

Underwater 2007-01-01

8:36

$1.48

I recommend picking up these bombs asap!

Once again, as requested, we have taken the time to work through the hundreds of new releases on Play It Tonight this week and have picked the hottest tracks for you to rock this coming weekend.

Click on the play button to listen to samples of these new releases:

Inescapable Sean Miller Big Room Dub

Fishhead

Klik Records 2007-08-28

8:17

$1.98

Lick My Decks Original Mix

Sebastian Ingrosso & John Dahlback

DOS OR DIE 2007-08-28

8:08

$1.98

Urban Minds Dreyer & Layton Remix

Pacjam

Klik Records 2007-08-28

6:50

$1.98

The Voice Spirit Catcher’s Re-Interpretation

Alex Flatner feat. Deafny Moon

Klik Records 2007-08-28

6:38

$1.98

Eternity Original Mix

James Flavour

Klik Records 2007-08-28

8:32

$1.98

Silverlake Pills Gui Boratto Remix

Adam Freeland

Global Underground 2007-08-26

6:13

$1.98

Moods Feat. Lemon Original

Shlomi Aber

Renaissance 2007-08-26

7:11

$1.98

1981 Original Mix

Joel Zimmermann aka Deadmau5

Klik Records 2007-08-28

6:03

$1.98

We hope you enjoyed our picks from this week’s new releases. Let us know what you think.

This past weekend I played another gig at Ginger 62, Vancouver’s hottest club for House Music. It was the most fun I have had DJing in some time and I thought I would share a few pictures and a bunch of the tracks that I played to share the experience.

I still can’t believe that I get paid to drink for free, play awesome tracks from Play It Tonight and have girls come up to meet me while I play. The girls were loving the tracks from our site.

Here are some the tracks I played in the club this night that had the girls shakin’ it and the guys groovin’:

Didn’t Mean To Turn You On Kaskade’s Extended Mix

Colette

OM Records 2005-11-29

6:18

$1.48

Ain´t Nothing Personal Christian Alvarez Bling Bang Hype Mix

DJ Marmol

Diamondhouse Records 2007-04-27

7:41

$1.48

Warrior Andy Caldwell’s Electric ReRub

Andy Caldwell

OM Records 2007-04-13

8:10

$1.48

Lei Lo Lai Original Mix

The Latin Project, Jez Colin, Matt Cooper, Robbie Nevil, Vancho Manoilovich,

T.L.P Musica Records 2006-11-28

4:19

$1.48

Can’t Get Through Original Mix

Miguel Migs

Salted 2007-03-20

5:19

$1.48

A Thousand Nights Original Mix

Gregor Tresher

Great Stuff Records 2007-07-30

7:39

$1.98

2 Doors Down Sax Mix

Kelvin K F. Dom Thompson

Nordic Trax 2006-08-15

6:09

$1.48

Once again, as requested, we have taken the time to work through the hundreds of new releases on Play It Tonight this week and have picked the hottest tracks for you to rock this coming weekend.

Click on the play button to listen to samples of these new releases:

Red Dust (Dust N Ashes Dub) - 4Mal [Bellarine Recordings]

Red Dust Dust N Ashes Dub

4Mal

Bellarine Recordings 2007-08-15

8:08

$1.98

Dancing With Strangers - Rossell, Dave Robertson, Kaveh Soroush, Gold Ryan [Brandnewvibe Recordings]

Dancing With Strangers Kaveh Soroush Mix

Kaveh Soroush, Rossell,

Brandnewvibe Recordings 2007-08-14

5:24

$1.98

All Woman - Skwerl [Defected]

All Woman K2’s Deepah 1ne Dub

Skwerl

Defected 2007-08-12

6:35

$1.98

Roller Coaster - Erika Jayne, Moto Blanco, Eric Kupper, Mark Knight, DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious, Dave Pezza, Mike Rizzo [RM Records]

Roller Coaster Mark Knight’s Toolroom Remix

Mark Knight, Erika Jayne,

RM Records 2007-08-14

7:01

$1.98

Something From Nothing Featuring Suki - Layers Of Sound [SoulHeat]

Something From Nothing Featuring Suki LOS Tribal Re-Touch of Paul Deighton

Layers Of Sound

SoulHeat 2007-08-15

6:10

$1.98

We hope you enjoyed our picks from this week’s new releases. Let us know what you think.

A lot of you may be confused by the title of this post. How does a reference to a toolbox fit into the realm of a dance music MP3 download store?

All around the world people lack motivation and inspiration. There are few things in the world that inspire more than music. As Dan said in his post “Right Time Right Place“, when that song comes on at the right place and at the right time, few things can be more moving.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that music (especially Dance music) can be used as a tool to get yourself motivated for anything. Music evokes emotions and when you can put emotion behind a task or a goal, it gives you that much more power to reach for that goal or to get things done.

For example, as lame as it sounds, when I am setting goals or making important decisions I will play music that will make me feel like I am important. Some examples are:

“Leftorium”- Anil Chawla, Dale Anderson [Global Underground]

Leftorium Original Mix

Dale Anderson, Anil Chawla,

Global Underground 2007-01-28

8:49

$1.98

“I try” - François DuBois [Urbantorque]

I Try Original Mix

François DuBois

Urbantorque Recordings 2007-05-14

7:51

$1.98

If I need to get motivated to do something high energy I will throw on a track like this:

“Warrior” - Andy Caldwell [OM Records]

Warrior Andy Caldwell’s Electric ReRub

Andy Caldwell

OM Records 2007-04-13

8:10

$1.48

The best thing about using music as a source of motivation is that it is always available. Any time you want, 24-7, you can throw on your Ipod or your home speakers and play that beautiful song that gives you chills.

To summarize, the next time you are feeling down or need some motivation and inspiration, (legally) download a sick MP3 of a song that makes you FEEL something, fire it up on your system and let the beautiful melodies and baselines inspire.