Paul Van Dyk

2008 Vonyc Sessions World Tour

Thursday October 30th, 2008 @ Plush Nightclub, Downtown, Vancouver
Cost: $60
Tickets: Clubzone
 Presented by: Twisted Productions

Where: Club 23 West - 23 West Cordova, Vancouver, BC 
When: July 18, 2008 - 10-3am

$20 at the door, Limited Capacity

Eskimo (aka Junya) is one of the most promising of the new generation of trance producers out there. Having released his debut artist album “Can You Pick Me Up” aged 17, Eskimo was almost immediately catapulted amongst the trance elite, add to this his scorching DJ Sets as DJ Junya, that he had been playing worldwide since he was 13, Eskimo is without a doubt one of the most exciting British artists today.

His unique production skills and ability to put together a class-A belter saw Eskimo’s tunes begin to show up in the sets of psy trance DJs across the globe. By the time he performed his first live set 6 months after the album dropped his repertoire had trebled and so had his ability. Landmark remixes, many still unreleased due to copyright wrangles, from this time included some of the scenes biggest players such as Infected Mushroom and Skazi, but it was his unofficial remix of The Prodigy “Voodoo People” that sealed his reputation on the global dance floor. When this struck everyone knew who Eskimo was.

By the summer of 2004 Eskimo dropped his second artist album “Take A Look Out There” a mind-altering collection of tunes let loose on an unsuspecting world including the near legendary “Party Pooper” a track sampling the police shutting down a free party. In November 2005 the release of Balloonatic Part One, a genre busting masterpiece redefined the standard of studio trickery yet retained a firm grip on the dance floor.

With the release of Balloonatic Part Two, Eskimo looks set to seal his already unassailable position as the most original and one of the most popular artists working in dance music today.

Tunnel ElectroCity Lubiąż 2007, originally uploaded by marcus.s.

Tunnel ElectroCity is a massive electronic music festival in Poland. This laser-lightshow picture is from last year’s show. This year Tunnel ElectroCity will be on August 14, 2008 featuring headline DJs Mauro Picotto and Marco V among many others. Chicane and Booka Shade will perform live electronic sets. If you can read polish check out the Official Tunnel ElectroCity Website

What better gift for Father DJ than a trip to the record store. After starting a family I’ve been spending a lot less on records, but the owner at the record store still remembers me as his best Trance customer. I buy almost all my vinyl second hand. I believe if a track is really worth owning it should be timeless. 

After listening to a stack of about 75 trance records – 3 made the cut and came home to be added to the collection. Here are the worthy tracks:

Nick Sentience – Nick Sentience EP

A1 – Nick Sentience – Transcender
AA1 - Nick Sentience - Bring It On
Riot! Recordings - 2006 - RIOT!018

Both sides of this record are brilliant. Most of the time I’ll buy a record just for one track so when I get two playable tracks on the same record it’s like a 2 for 1 discount!

DuMonde aka JamX and De Leon – The Mixes Volume 02

A – Talla 2XLC – Love’s Coming Down (DuMonde Remix)
Access Tunes – 2000 – ACCESS-04-12 (Germany)

This is the money track. The flipside features JamX and De Leon Remixes of Harem Doctors – Heartbeat and Terra W.A.N. – Who’s Gonna Ease the Pressure, which might be okay tracks (I can’t remember) but I rarely play tracks that only run for half a record. I need as much time as I can get for the mix (and I hate it when I forget and the track plays over into the next song). 

Last but not least is another 2 for 1 deal with a Tribal-Trance sound…

Spider & Marc Van Bekkum – One

 
A – Spider & Marc Van Bekkum – One (Original Mix)
AA – Spider & Marc Van Bekkum – One (Tribe Tech Mix)
2Play Recordings – 2004 – 2PLAY007  (Netherlands)

A great Father’s Day Weekend trip indeed! You can hear all the new records in this Sunday’s Trancendance Podcast.

Well, I thought last nights set went a lot better before giving it a second listen. I was a selfish DJ to begin with, always playing the tracks I wanted to hear. I get bored of the music easily, so if I’ve played the same records a few weeks in a row I tend to mix things up, but unfortunately that means playing on the fly with little or no practice before the show. Before starting a family I used to play at least a couple hours a day. Now, I play a couple hours a month! It’s like riding a bike, but I’m pretty wobbly if I haven’t practiced much – and it shows. I always had an appreciation for DJs that pulled off long mixes – with at least two records playing more often than not. I’ve been able to do it before, but without the steady practice I should probably stick to shorter mixes. But like I said – I’m a selfish DJ. Part of the reason being, when you hit the mark and two records peak together the result is 1000 times cooler than any short mix will ever be. It’s consistency that demands the practice.

I will work on introducing a rating system, both for me and for you guys, so that good sets can be separated from some of the derailed locomotives.