Question: If you should name a singer/band to describe what generation you belong to, who/what will it be?
Me: The Stone Roses.
While the band I was in during junior college years played mainly Teenage Fan Club, RHCP and some blues, none of my bandmates shared my devotion for this little known British band in the early 90’s. I learnt about this band from Singapore’s pioneer indie rock magazine BigO. The first of its kind at that time, the music of The Stone Roses were both rockable and danceable. Before there was digital rave music, there was the Stone Roses. My favorite were I Wanna Be Adored and I Am the Resurrection.
... an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1984. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Manchester indie music scene that evolved during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band’s original lineup consisted of Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Andy Couzens (guitar), Pete Garner (bass) and Alan “Reni” Wren (drums).
Bands influenced by the Stone Roses include Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Suede, Coldplay, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, The Bluetones, The Charlatans and The Verve. The first album of the same name “The Stone Roses” was a big success. It was the first and last prominent album. This was followed by the a series of unfortunate events including changes of the original members in the line-up, and a long legal battle to terminate their five year contract with Silvertone before the second “Second Coming” was released.
Though still in his early 20’s, owner of Enhanced Recordings Will Holland is revolutionalizing the new era of trance. Styled mostly in progressive trance, he has a particularly keen ear for quality sound and his sets are as spell-binding as the likes of Paul van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten.
Here are some of my favorite tracks from the Master Series Volume One album. It’s my current favorite running buddy… Makes me fly!
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual 3-day rock festival held in Naeba ski resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Each year, this festival features more than 200 local and international musicians making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. More than 127,000 turned up for this festival last year 2007.
Some of the photos taken during the Fuji Rock Festival 07 last year…
Though Naeba is nowhere near Mt Fuji, the event is named so because the first Fuji Rock Festival was held on the footslopes of Mount Fuji in 1997. Inspired by Britain’s Glastonbury Festival, and the line up focuses on international and non-mainstream modern Japanese music.
This year, the Fuji Rock Festival 08 will be held on 25th, 26th and 27th July. On each day, there will be live band and electronic music performances throughout the days and nights. The line-up for the 3-day event features great bands and musicians like My Bloody Valentine, Underworld, Primal Scream, Jason Mraz, Ian Brown, The Vines, Mono, Bloc Party and the Asian Dub Foundation. In addition, there will also DJs like Paul Van Dyk and Denki Groove spinning on the first night all night.
Hotel packages to this festival starts around US$1,200. If you’re interested, get the ticket now from Ganban. Overseas ticketing for the event ends 30 June 2008. Hurry!
Episode 55 of The Gareth Emery Podcast in association with Audiojelly.com
With so much hot music around right now, we only thought it was fair to delve into the exclusives and provide you with a 70 minutes episode this week, packed full of upfront tracks. Ranging from the likes of TIESTO, DAVID WEST and SOLARSTONE. Jono Grant from ABOVE & BEYOND is on the phone in this episode as he leaves us a message and tells us his ‘Podcast Player’. You can bag yourself a copy of Airwave’s hotly tipped new album ‘Touareg’. It’s all in this episode – grab it now!
Tracklist:
1. Tiesto feat. Julie Thompson – Do You Feel Me (Roger Martinez remix)
2. David West vs. Inkfish – Hello Piano
3. F-Dive – Random Girl (Jerome Isma-Ae remix)
4. Delerium – Silence feat. Sarah McLachlan (Niels van Gogh vs. Thomas Gold remix)
5. Jaytech – Groove Nova
6. Tiesto feat. Maxi Jazz – Dance4Life (Fonzerelli remix)
7. Inkfish & Davester – Rejections
8. Tiesto – Bright Morningstar (Andy Duguid remix)
9. Daniel Wanrooj – Avalanche
10. Genix – Piranha (Re-Ward remix)
11. Bolier & van Riel – One (This mix)
12. Push – Into My Sound And Music
13. Glockenspiel feat. Backfeel White – Anny (Fred Numf dub)
14. Joris Voorn – Incident
15. Solarstone – 4Ever
16. Jon O’Bir – Ways and Means
17. Firewall – Reflections
Wow! Love the sounds in #7 Rejections by Inkfish & Davester. Pumps my endorphins even when listening in the office.
Coming soon to MOS Singapore on 21st July, 2008. Shuffle presents YOJI (formerly known as Yoji Biomehanika) from Japan. If you remember my introductory post on Yoji here, he’s one of the most innovative, if not the greatest, hard trance DJs in the world.
He was just here for the XLive @ Genting this month. Good to know he’s back for another NRG performance.
Don’t miss it!
FTOTD (Favorite Track Of The Day):
Soothing tune. Not too busy. Nice as an intro for a set:
No, it’s not the machine that helps run your heart. This is actually a pocket-size DJ system developed by Tonium.
The device has a 120 Gb hard drive, multiple file format support (MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA Lossless, WAV, VBR and Ogg format), an SNR of 103, and many basic DJ audio tools. The DJ tools include a Line out Crossfader, a Headphones Crossfader, Bend, Pitch, DJ Pause, Cue, Loop, EQ, Filter, Sound FX, Headphone Jack, Line out jack and a USB 2.0 connector. Any mix that is created can be saved and legally shared with the rest of the world.
I’m not a DJ and I don’t have the mean to invest on a full deck set. If the functionalities are as feasible as featured in the tutorials on Pacemaker’s official website, this will be a great alternative for DJ-wannabe n00bs like me.
It’s important to note that the Pacemaker is not meant to replace the conventional bulkier vinyl/CD DJ equipments. It is designed to mimic the functionalities of the professional equipments in a miniature scale so you can test/trial your ideas on the go without being restrained on the location of your DJ equipments.
Trance trio Above & Beyond extended their famed Anjunabeats series with the latest Anjunabeats 100.
The name ‘Anjunabeats’ origins from Anjuna, which is a village in Goa. Renowned for its beaches, temples and world heritage architecture, Goa was a favorite hippies destination during the sixties and seventies, and Anjuna was like the hippie capital of Goa. Today, Anjuna is still a hot spot for beaches and is often called the birth place and home of Trance Music by many renowned DJs, including Above & Beyond.
Anjunabeats is not exactly as vocal/dramatic as Tiesto and not filled with anthem-like tracks like Gatecrasher. It’s rather melodic and relaxing at some points. If you like Tiesto’s ISOS series, you will like Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats.
This is CD2 of Anjunabeats 100. Tracklist:
1. Anjunabeats – Volume One
2. David West feat. Andreas Hermansson – Larry Mountains 54
3. Above & Beyond vs Andy Moor – Air For Life
4. Aalto – 5
5. Maor Levi – Reflect
6. Signalrunners – Aria Epica
7. Luminary – Amsterdam
8. Endre – Kallocain
9. OceanLab – Clear Blue Water
10. Smith & Pledger – Believe
11. Nitromethane – Time To Die
12. Above & Beyond pres. Tranquilty Base – Surrender
13. OceanLab – Sky Falls Down
14. Jono Grant vs Mike Koglin – Circuits
15. Matt Hardwick vs Smith & Pledger – Day One
Some of the photos taken during the Fuji Rock Festival 07 last year…
