For the first time, Play It Tonight will be heading to Amsterdam to check out the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). The event takes place in the downtown core of Amsterdam from October 18th until the 20th.

The ADE has taken the place of the Winter Music Conference (WMC) Miami as the ‘go to’ dance music event for music industry business, djs, producers and for great music. Rumor has it that the ADE is a great mix of business and fun which is what the WMC used to be all about 5 years ago. Now South Beach is flooded with party kids from all around North America that go down to get fucked up and party. Thousands are there just because it is the place to be and because they have money and they are not there for the actual conference or for the business. It is the wrong crowd heading down south and less and less business gets done each year.

Navigating the streets, alleys, and water ways of Amsterdam can apparently be a nightmare. Aside from this we have not heard one negative thing about the event or the city itself.

The conference features many different business networking events and conferences along with performances at night from some of the biggest and best artists in the world including:

David Guetta

Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away) Joachim Garraud & David Guettay F*** Me I’m Famous Mix

David Guetta, David Guetta vs The Egg,

Ministry Of Sound 2006-10-27

6:22

$1.48

Erick Morillo

Dance I Said Touche Vocal Mix

Erick Morillo, Erick Morillo feat. Puff Daddy,

Subliminal Records 2006-08-28

6:20

$1.48

Fedde Le Grand

Couldn’t Love You More Fedde Le Grand Remix

The Factory

Toolroom Records & Traxx 2007-05-08

6:40

$1.48

Dirt Crew

Big Bad City Original Mix

Dirt Crew

Dirt Crew Recordings 2007-06-25

8:25

$1.98

Stonebridge

SOS Ortega & Gold Mix

Stonebridge

Stoneyboy.com 2007-02-22

8:49

$1.48

Tiesto

Lethal Industry Richard Durand Remix

Tiesto

Magik Muzik 2006-12-14

8:42

$1.48

If anyone would like to meet the Play It Tonight staff at the ADE please feel free to click here and email us with your contact info and we will set up a meeting with you over a pint or some lunch.

We look forward to seeing you there!

No matter what song, no matter how many times, when that kick drum drops, people loose their mind. I love witnessing this over and over. The kick drum unites everyone. It is as ancient as music itself… some of the first music was banging on a drum.. in every culture, in every corner of the world, people dance to the drum. Thankfully we are pre-disposed to move to the rythmic pattern of the drum. It can’t be denied. It’s fascinating watching even the youngest of children dance around the second their hear the drum. It is in every one of us. In our blood, our soul.

Bang on House Music, Bang On.

If you’re an up and coming producer looking to get your music signedl, one of the best methods out there today is to create a blog. Many emerging artists today are getting picked up by labels via their blog. A certain tall, long-haired DJ has been plowing through blogs to find new artists for his label. And it’s working. Giving your music away and creating hype is a contemporary way to working your way to the ultimate goal. And… creating a blog is free. There are number of free services that let you create and host your blog… check out blogspot.com and blogger.com Both are great.

The days of walking into a record label and begging the A&R staff to listen to your tracks has gone the way of the dinosaur. Innovation has taken over. Push your blog. Link it to every relevant source your can find. And as always, persistance is key.

The label heads are looking for you… make sure you’re out there.

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.

Hip hop stars drop liquor & sneaker brandnames, so why shouldn’t it be okay if Danton Eeprom decides to score some free software swag for himself?!

– Well, I’m pretty sure thats what Nelly was doing when he wrote “Air Force Ones”, but its probably isn’t really the reason why the new release from Eeprom is called “Ableton & Screaming”.

Make sure to check this one out! The single includes two techy tracks, and a nice minimal/tech track aswell.

The Williams remix really shines on this:

Ableton & Screaming Original Mix

Danton Eeprom

Love Triangle Music 2007-08-06

6:58

$1.98

Ableton & Screaming Williams Remix

Danton Eeprom

Love Triangle Music 2007-08-06

6:21

$1.98

Slow Blow Original Mix

Danton Eeprom

Love Triangle Music 2007-08-06

6:48

$1.98

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:

“Untitled” - Jorgensen [Toolroom Records & Trax]

Untitled Original Mix

Jorgensen

Toolroom Records & Traxx 2007-08-08

6:13

$1.98

“Untitled (Deadmau5 Remix)” - Jorgensen [Toolroom Records & Trax]

Untitled deadmau5 Remix

Jorgensen

Toolroom Records & Traxx 2007-08-08

6:12

$1.98

“Time After Time (Yoruba Soul Mix)” - Soul Central [Defected]

Time After Time Yoruba Soul Mix

Soul Central, Abigail Bailey,

Defected 2007-08-05

6:40

$1.98

“Wonderful (Part Sixx [Underdog Dub]) - Terisa Griffin, Terry Hunter [Soul Heaven Records]

Wonderful Part Sixx (Underdog Dub)

Terry Hunter, Terisa Griffin,

Soul Heaven Records 2007-07-23

7:24

$1.98

“Beautiful, Rich and Horney” - Mellee Fresh, DEADMAU5 [Lab Recordings]

Beautiful, Rich, & Horny Original Mix

Mellee Fresh, DEADMAU5,

Lab Recordings 2007-08-03

5:33

$1.98

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

Underworld front man Rick Smith was rushed to hospital in Athens, Greece after a local gang started a riot at the Ejekt Festival at the end of June.

30 men that claimed to be “anarchists”rushed the festival with tear gas, iron bars, baseball bats and masks. The thugs broke through security around the time that the Beastie Boys were set to preform.

The baseball stadium where the dance music festival was being staged had to be evacuated by police because people were being beaten, cars were set on fire and the stadium was being heavily destroyed.

As mentioned above, several people were injured including a number of security staff, volunteers, performers and attendees. Smith was kept in hospital for a number of days in Athens before returning home to England for further treatment.

—-

Anarchists taking over a dance music event?

I find it so interesting that as a dj you have to start off by opening nights for bigger and more established DJs and yet so few DJs actually know how to open properly.

Time and time again I walk into nights where other DJs are playing and, in typical dj fashion, I think ‘what is this DJ doing? He should be playing this track and not that one’. It is standard for all DJs to think that they can do a better job than whatever DJ is playing, I think it is part of human nature to think you have better taste in music than everyone else.

That being said, there are a few important “what not to do” points that an opening DJ should keep in mind when opening the night:

- Do NOT play tracks of the DJ/Producer that you are playing before. If you are opening for Dubfire DO NOT play any tracks that Dubfire produced or that he has been playing recently.

-128 BPM at 11:00pm is not acceptable when opening for a house dj. A DJ is suppose to read the crowd and play accordingly but the old industry rule is 124 @ 12pm. This means that you should not be playing anything too far over 124 bpm before 12pm. This is so that the headline DJ will have room to speed it up and bang it out if he wants.

-Just because you are playing the right speed (124 @ 12) does not mean that you can just pitch down big name tracks. Big peak time tracks are suppose to be played at peak time. A Richard Dinsdale track or anything that is usually played at 2am and at 128bpm is not opening music. There are always some exceptions to the rule but generally deep house, tech house and even some minimal make for great opening music. Here are some examples of opening music:

I Try AN-2 Remix

François DuBois, An-2,

Urbantorque Recordings 2007-05-14

5:40

$1.98

I Try Original Mix

François DuBois

Urbantorque Recordings 2007-05-14

7:51

$1.98

A Thousand Nights Original Mix

Gregor Tresher

Great Stuff Records 2007-07-30

7:39

$1.98

Seven of Nine Original Mix

Andrew Macari

Nordic Trax 2004-07-13

4:36

$1.48

What God Has Chosen Jimpster Dub

The Rock Solid All-Stars, Pete Doyle,

Defected 2007-04-29

6:52

$1.98

Strategy Original Mix

Joshua Heath

Salted 2007-07-24

7:06

$1.98

Warm, deep, and grooving tracks are what opening is all about.

-Do not hang around in the DJ Booth after the headliner has started playing. If you want to sit back and learn, cool! If you want to have a chat with him or her for a bit, also cool. Do not jump around, play with the eqs or the effects on the mixer or make requests when you are done.

-Do not let all of your friends hang around in the booth with the headliner. There is no reason for them to be up there. Bring them up, show them around, introduce them to whoever but after a few minuets lead them back down to the dancefloor.

-Ask the promoter and even the headlining DJ what style and tempo you should play. Ask the headliner when he is coming on what type of a track he would like to be left off with.

The ironic thing about this industry is that it is generally the DJs that know how to open properly that end up making their way to playing the peak time slots. If you want to be playing to big crowds at decent times, watch the pros, take my advice above and learn how to open.

Best of luck!

More than a million partiers, young and old, are expected to take to the streets for the 2007 Zurich Street Parade.

This event has been taking place since the rave days in August 1992. The event was made in honour of and was modeled after the Berlin Love Parade.

Sander Kleinenberg, Paul Van Dyk, Nic Fanciulli, Richie Hawtin, James Zabiela, and Sander van Doorn will all spin sets on the huge main stage at Bürkliplatz.

The festival will last for two days starting August 10th 2007 and will be held as a celebration for Dance Music.

“The music, In changes…” These are the lyrics from one of my favorite House Music tracks by Sandy Rivera.

Dan (my business partner in Play It Tonight) and I recently got into a discussion about dance music genres and at the time it got somewhat heated. “Deep house is such a dated sound” said Dan to me - the deep house DJ.

Strategy Original Mix

Joshua Heath

Salted 2007-07-24

7:06

$1.98

“Electro is played out man” I said to Dan - Vancouver’s biggest and best Electro house and tech house DJ.

Road Kill Cedric Gervais Remix

Dubfire

Toolroom Records & Traxx 2007-07-25

7:49

$1.98

Eventually cooler heads prevailed and we came to the agreement that in dance music, some genre is cool in some part of the world at any given time. It is all cyclical. I have been told that as a backlash to the minimal movement in places like Berlin, Deep House is “it”. Whereas over here in Vancouver, clubbers are still losing it to the tech and electro house.

After our coversation I thought about it some more and realized how great it is that the ‘in sub-genre’ changes so much . This almost monthly cycle of the cool sub-genre keeps things fresh and prompts creativity becuase the cool genre is always changing.

Furthermore, this phenominon does not happen in other genres of music. In the hip hop world there are different genres of rap music but there isn’t any changing. If you are a fan of underground hip hop, then you will listen to underground hip hop and that is it. When you go to hip hop clubs you hear mainstream rap and it sounds the same as the hip hope that was being played in clubs 5 years ago. I am not in the hip hop scene as much as some of my friends but it seems to me that the genres are static and that everything is stale. There is no new sounds, there is no “in” genre of hip hop. The radio dictactates what is played and that is considered cool (I guess the same could be said for Pete Tong and Dance Music).

In the end I am glad and excited to be a part of a genre of music that is constantly dynamically changing. It is exciting and refresing to hear new sounds and to hear songs that cross sub-genres but still rock the dancefloors. I look forward to the next cool genre this month and a new genre for the following month.

The music, it changes…