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| Beatportal’s Top 10 Albums of 2008 Posted: 19 Dec 2008 03:39 PM CST There isn’t much we can say that hasn’t already been said about this little lot. As with our Top 10 Singles of the year list we argued long and hard about how to put together our Top 10 Albums of 2008 and, in the end, we gave up trying to please everybody and thought we’d just tell you what we liked. If we’re honest, this isn’t an all-embracing selection of LPs from right across the electronic music spectrum; rather these are 10 albums that pricked up our ears, from artists whom we felt made a difference this year. The dance music album has been a notorious stumbling block for so many producers over the years. Countless artists have tried unsuccessfully to break away from the tried-and-tested dance single format, but we felt in the case of the artists we have selected this year, they all did so effortlessly. We sincerely hope these albums made you feel as sweaty and excited as they did us, but if not, be sure to leave your opinions noisily in the comments section below. |
| Image Line Software releases Gross Beat Posted: 19 Dec 2008 01:00 PM CST Image Line, makers of FL Studio, recently announced the latest entry in their line of plug-in effects, Gross Beat. Designed for stutter and scratch-like effects, Gross Beat stores audio in a 2-bar rolling buffer controlled by 36 time and 36 volume mapping envelopes. What’s that mean in plain English? Basically, take a shot of BT, add a dash of Q-Bert, shake vigorously and pour all over your tracks. |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2008 10:37 AM CST Eric Prydz’ many producer aliases have one thread that binds them all – superior sound quality. Whether it is the epic progressive house of Pryda, the gritty electro of Cirez D or the catchy house of Eric Prydz himself, all of his releases jump out of the speakers screaming professional. With ‘Pjanoo’ topping charts, ‘Rakfunk’ doing the business in main rooms and ‘Läget?’ getting the respect of the underground, Eric Prydz’ assault on electronic music in 2008 was on all fronts, but if anything, it wasn’t surprising. |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2008 07:52 AM CST Ricardo Villalobos has been placed at #1 in Resident Advisor's DJ Poll of 2008. As we mentioned a few weeks back, RA placed the decision of their annual vote in the hands of their users this year in an attempt to better represent their community as a whole. The list is predominantly 'underground' house and techno based, reflecting the nature of the online magazine. |
| Joris Voorn mixes 102 tracks for Balance Posted: 19 Dec 2008 06:04 AM CST Dutch techno producer Joris Voorn has been lined up to mix the next installment of the popular Balance series, and has managed to blend no less than 102 tracks over two discs. The patchwork approach taken by Voorn has echoes of Richie Hawtin's groundbreaking De9 series where, similarly, he fused together a vast quantity of loops and samples to create the mix. "Some of the tracks listed here have been reduced to a 2-bar loop, with some I only used the break or the intro," commented Voorn on the mix. "The process of making this mix has been more like painting with sound rather than mixing the end of one track with the beginning of another." |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2008 08:52 PM CST Based on a sample of the song ‘D Lake’ by Claudio Pelissero, ‘Cygnes’ is the latest offering from thriving remixer Mr Sam. With the help of Andy Duguid, Mr Sam has given the original record more of an edge, making it the ideal tune to get any trance rave going. |
| The End’s Layo announces Shake It! warehouse raves Posted: 18 Dec 2008 04:42 PM CST When London's famous The End nightclub revealed back in September that it would be closing its doors forever in January 2009, part-owner Layo Paskin said at the time, “We’ve got to the point where some of the key people are ready to move on...On the one level I want to do other things with my life, and it’s a good moment to start embarking on that." It turns out those other things that Paskin wanted to do are not too far from running an electronic music nightclub. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2008 01:00 PM CST Trance as a genre gets an unfair amount of criticism, and much of that is to do with ignorance: it's all giant breakdowns, obvious chord changes, cheesy vocals and DJs with a 'van' in their name, isn't it? That's the cliché. But in 2008 there were a number of trance producers who proved that the genre could evolve into new and exciting sounds, whilst still retaining the core element of trance that its followers find so intoxicating: hypnotism. German DJ Martin Roth did it better than most, and that's why he's our top trance artist of the year. |
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