Blog: Big Shot Magazine

It's not even Memorial Day, but the team behind Ultra Music Festival are hard at work, announcing this morning that Ultra Music Festival 2014 will take place March 28-30, 2014 in Miami. Following its successful 15-year celebration in 2013 that was spread out into two separate three-day celebrations that drew over 300,000 dance music fans to Bayfront Park, dates for the additional weekend are pending the approval of the City of Miami Commission and will be released if they become available. It's too soon for any announcements regarding UMF 162s lineup, but given UMF's track record [...]

★★★☆☆ The Black Dog mark their territory with an hour long warding off of intruders. For bark and bite, the veteran unit’s ambient techno, IDM and interstellar ordinance still doesn’t have to come at you in a blaze of teeth and slobber. The collection of astro bric-a-brac, as if to verify their whereabouts (and title), is intentionally charged with jolting the LP’s flow, but the unannounced changeability of sound does as good a job by itself anyway. "Atavistic Resurgence" grunts through electro with confrontation on its mind, representative of the sparse shunting together of [...]

Mr. Jones' Top 10 for May 2013 1. Pfirter - "Ahora" (MindTrip) 2. Chris Finke - "Don't Try This At Home (Black Asteroid Remix)" (Hidden) 3. CWS - "Somewhere Else (Makaton's The Reckoning Mix)" (Singularity) 4. Mike Dehnert - "Drehimpuls Live Act Cut In Paris" (Fachwerk) 5. Flug - "K1 (Truncate Remix)" (Sleaze) 6. Shifted - "Unveiled" (Our Circula Sound) 7. Sleeparchive - "A Man Dies In The Street #33 (Tresor) 8. _Unsubscribe_ feat. BearWho? - "Spek Hondje" (Houndstooth) 9. Mr. Jones - "Apogeum (Audio Injection Remix)" (The [...]

★★★★☆ The photogenic sound of synth-surf LA brought to you by Michael David and Tyler Blake reaches a convergence point of '80s saturation — from under a rather prosaic moniker — and something you should live your life and be free by. Where "I’ll Get You" doesn’t make good on its cheery promise of ‘do you like bass?’, and "Long Lost" is either gorgeously dreamy or sickly sweet, the rushes of sunshine and neon in many ways fit the stereotype of bashing hexagon-shaped drum machines and keyboards manned by hair gel models. Far from [...]

What do you do after you've attained most of your career goals before you're 40? If you're Danish DJ/producer Anders Trentemøller , you dream up new ones for yourself. From the mid '90s through the mid '00s, Trentemøller dominated global dance floors with his sound comprised of shards of minimal and tech-house, forging sinewy club tracks for labels such as Audiomatique, Tic Tac Toe and Poker Flat and presenting a cavalcade of superb remixes (the Knife, Röyksopp, Moby). He played all the right clubs and high-profile festivals and was enjoying a successful career that many mixers would [...]

New York City-based Austrian DJ/producer Peter Rauhofer died on Tuesday, only a few weeks after he was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a brain tumor . The news was announced by Rauhofer's manager, Angelo Russo, via the artist's Facebook page. His passing at only 48 is tragic. I had the pleasure of interviewing Rauhofer early on in his career, just as Club 692s "Let Me Be Your Underwear" was morphing from underground European sensation into international club hit. Rauhofer was still living in Vienna, and I remember during our phone conversation [...]

★★★★☆ The ten-year anniversary of the Pukka Up imprint acts for the acceptable side of mainstream clubbing. Forget a backhanded compliment; it’s a gratifying boost to court tracks that have held their own to a widespread audience after working their way up from the underground or clubbing outskirts in a pleasingly natural advance. After ruling Ibiza waves and lighting up London — leading to a ten-party/country birthday jump-off — PU’s 24-track document will set barbeques a-sizzle, pouring plenty of recognizable arm-raisers into a funky sing-it-back punchbowl, served by a crew of get down-guarantors. Boarding [...]

Insomniac has partnered with L.A.-based hospitality company SBE to launch Create Nightclub in   Hollywood. The opening night will take on May 11 and will feature Dutch trance star Dash Berlin. While Create's Facebook page only features the club's logo and no images of the club, the venue located in the former Vanguard space is promising state-of-the-art technology with a heavy emphasis on bottle service and big-name DJs. Entrance to the club won't come cheap: General admission is $50 and tables range from $500 to $5,000 for the night. Though we don't know what [...]

Rituel is the blossoming musical collaboration between Parisians Christophe Monier (The Micronauts) and Thomas Regnault (Dew Town Mayor). This month duo will release of their second EP, aptly dubbed Deux , featuring floor burners "Club Zanzibar" and "Nirvana Dance." We're pleased to debut the Extended Instrumental of the former, especially because Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey holds a special place in our heart — it's the place where we popped our house music cherry way, way back in the day and got to watch legendary resident Tony Humphries work the decks on a life-changing DJ set until the [...]

Ace Detroit DJ/producer Stacey Pullen 's new track "Any Which Way" goes deep on the tech-house tip with a bit psychedelic added to the mix for good measure. Known for his lengthy discography brimming with sublime techno recordings and remixes, Pullen's latest and greatest is complimented by two fresh mixes from Pullen and a pair of re-rubs from Martin Buttrich. "Any Which Way" is already being supported by the likes of Solomun, Joris Voorn, Huxley, Marco Carola, Magda and DJ T, and it can be all yours when Pullen releases the track via his Blackflag label on May 13.

Hot 97 old-school DJ Mister Cee has been arrested and charged with soliciting sex from a male undercover cop in Brooklyn. According to the Daily News , Mister Cee (real name: Calvin LeBrun) was taken into custody after he solicited sex from a man who he thought was a prostitute at Madison Street and Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The 46-year-old DJ/producer, who has worked on records for Notorious B.I.G. and Big Daddy Kane, was issued a misdemeanor and released on his own recognizance. This isn't Mister Cee's first brush with the law. In [...]

Acclaimed Rhode Island-based hip-hop producer and MPC whiz AraabMUZIK (a.k.a. Abraham Orellana) was shot yesterday during an apparent robbery. The producer is currently hospitalized and his publicist stated he is "currently alive and well." George Moore (a.k.a. DukeDaGod), AraabMUZIK's manager, shared an image of the producer in a hospital bed (see above). "Rumors have begun to circulate and first and foremost, we want to let everyone know that AraabMUZIK is currently alive and well," AraabMUZIK's team said in a statement. "He was out in his neighborhood last night with friends and unfortunately the victim of being [...]

UK label Anjunabeats has issued a statement regarding their assertion that Will.i.am's track "Let's Go" featuring Chris Brown sampled Arty and Mat Zo's "Rebound" collaboration without proper permission. The label issued the statement today to counter an interview Will.i.am gave to the Associated Press where he said, "You can't steal if you credited somebody. He and I communicated. ... It's not my fault he didn't tell me about the other guy. So who is to blame? I didn't know." The label didn't mention if they were in the process of seeking financial relief over the matter. Here is [...]

Event promotion company Insomniac has confirmed that Electric Daisy Carnival with return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on June 21-23. An array of over 500 acts (a.k.a. "creators") including DJs, artists and theatrical performers have been announced for the event taking place at the 1,000-acre complex (see lineup below). Obligatory press gush from Pasquale Rotella, CEO and founder of Insomniac: “Each year our fans’ inspire us to exceed their expectations - there’s truly something in it for everyone. EDC will feature a slate of original artwork, a Discovery Project featuring emerging names and collaborations within dance music culture. [...]

★★★☆☆ Sebastian Mullaert and Marcus Henriksson flicker, disappear then reemerge behind you on an ultimate in mind, body and soul disciplining, sounding so far away yet following you closely. The Swedes perform a synesthetic Morse Code backed by simmering swells. Minilogue don’t specifically aim for widescreen highs, preferring a degree of the grounded so they can dance and unwind to the light of neon-bulbed shapeshifting akin to a jellyfish lightshow. Deep house beats on "Everything is All You’ve Got" are gently touched, a marveling trust exercise seeing you cradled should you stumble in slow [...]

London's Cable nightclub has been forced to close its doors after a long running dispute with Network Rail. Known as a purveyor of quality bass, techno and grime as well as a stream of underground parties, the team behind the club said goodbye via a statement issued today on its Facebook. "This is not only a huge loss to the loyal fans and staff of Cable, but to London's clubbing community as a whole." See the full statement below. Dear World, It is with a huge amount of sadness that we announce [...]

After announcing the release of his upcoming album False Idols in February and giving away the splendid single "Nothing's Changed," Tricky drops another free track to his fans' delight. "Tribal Drums" features vocalist Francesca Belmonte, who also appears on "Does It" and the aforementioned "Nothing's Changed." The song features Tricky trademark vocal style that's complimented by Belmonte's effortless voice, all done over a wickedly subtle midtempo groove. Grab the track below and be sure to keep the album on your radar when it's released on May 27.

★★★☆☆ Soap operas, daytime dramas and ad breaks, Andrew Bayer is here for you. Should you not view his shoulder as a convenient one to lean on, prospects await from hitting notes and making feelings clear in all the right, digitally delicate places. The D.C. thought-processor’s chopped beats of "Opening Act" and trip hoppy brinkmanship of the gnarled "Doomsday" show the follow-up to It’s Artificial is not all sentiment and schmaltz. From an assertive start though, Bayer is never gonna be a badboy. Seeing the light, he analyses deeper and steadily starts [...]

★★★☆☆ The society pages should take note of a techno collection that sported a New Hat last year, leans to the left, and becomes more and more off the wall until there’s a free-for-all to pap down the runway. Striking posers throughout, you won’t be able to take eyes and ears off Gobby’s lights-camera-action that the dastardly Harlem designer is only too pleased to project through a mass of wires and plug-ins. Brash curtain raiser "Krylon Surf Magix" amps the analog and gives instant lift-off; a little scattershot, but with Gobby letting [...]

★★★☆☆ Olivier Mateu is in the Mobilee hotseat to referee a double-disc set of deep house best described as duking it out. Rounding up label highlights reaching deep, tech-tweaking standards, Ray Okpara and David Labeij provide firm fixtures, both in staying on the dancefloor and with their cast iron demeanours, seeing the club as one long strip it can fully extend into (unsurprising, given the press release’s mentioning of Rodriguez’ 10-hours-a-day studio habit). A stiff funkiness has And.Id attempting disco depressurization, one that pushes home the singular loop, whether riff or bass, to propel everything around [...]