Trance, Rave, House Music, Progressive...

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KASKADE

 

Though he was born in Chicago, this DJ found his spiritual and musical home in San Francisco by way of Salt Lake City and New York. He is currently one of the most influential people in the San Francisco house scene, as well as one of the hardest-working: By night he's Kaskade the house music producer/DJ; by day he's Ryan Raddon, A&R director for OM Records. As a producer, Raddon has contributed to several OM compilations including Sounds of OM (Volume 3), which he both contributed tracks to and mixed, and Sound Design. Two standout tracks Raddon wrote, produced and released through OM are “Gonna Make It" and “What I Say". As an A&R man, he has helped kick-start the careers of many artists including much-touted twosome Ming & FS and beloved SF soul-house act Soulstice. OM's current roster also includes J Boogie, Afro Mystic and King Britt, among others.

 

In the early days, Kaskade familiarized himself with the rapidly changing electronic music scene wherever he went, eventually finding that house music was the subgenre he loved best. He started out as a DJ in New York and Salt Lake City clubs. During the tail end of his stay in Salt Lake City, his first attempts to produce tracks were released on his own tiny label Mechanized Records. He also sold a few tracks to Chris Smith, A&R director for an up-and-coming house label in San Francisco. Though no one could have predicted it, this ended up being the precursor to Raddon's most important career move thus far. When family matters initiated a move to San Francisco, Smith hired Raddon to assist him at the label -- which was, of course, OM. He has been there ever since. Kaskade/Raddon's latest efforts as a producer can be found on Om Lounge 6. From behind the A&R desk, he's helped to release Ming & FS's Subway Series as well as the latest volume of the acclaimed Mushroom Jazz series

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CARL COX

 

A perennial favorite as the best DJ in the world according to fans as well as the major mixing magazines, Carl Cox has been a part of Britain's dance scene from the heady days of disco through to the global clubland of the '90s, with temporary pit-stops covering hip-hop, the rare-groove movement and the immense rave revolution of the late '80s. That large span of time has undoubtedly affected his choice of records, since Cox routinely detours through breakbeat, Italian house and the dance mainstream during his usual sets of hard techno. Perhaps the best testament to his mixing skills is his immense popularity despite his focus on music much more intense than the brand of arena trance spawned by Oakenfold, Sasha, Digweed, and others.

 

Cox was born in Manchester in 1962, to parents originally from Barbados (they later moved back, after he grew up). Cox began DJing family get-togethers at the age of eight, selecting records from his parents' stack of soul 45s. He was buying his own records soon after, and owned his first pair of turntables at the age of 15. The rest of his teens were spent making spare money at any event he could DJ; though Cox studied electrical engineering in college, he quit after six months and began working various jobs until he could become a full-time DJ.

 

Cox had followed the musical trends from disco to rare-groove on to hip-hop during the late '70s and early '80s, but the introduction of house into Britain during the middle part of the decade convinced him that he had found his niche. After moving to Brighton in 1986, his reputation bloomed during the acid house explosion of 1988-89; Cox played the opening night at Shoom, one of the defining club nights of Britain's house revolution (as well as other legendary hot-spots like Land of Oz and Spectrum). In front of 15,000 at the 1989 open-air event Sunrise, he unveiled his use of three decks on the mix; that signature technique built him into one of the top DJs of the late '80s and early '90s.

 

By 1992 Cox had signed an unheard-of long-term production deal with Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Records and hit number 23 on the British charts with his debut single, "I Want You (Forever)." His second single "Does It Feel Good to You" also reached the Top 40, and he quickly diversified by setting up his own record label (Worldwide Ultimatum) and an international DJ agency (Ultimate). The onset of a more hardcore rave sound (and the fact that he was increasingly becoming pigeon-holed within it) forced Cox to spend several years re-establishing his niche. In a bit of irony, commercial successes like Cox's own steered him away from high-BPM candy-core and towards the still soulful house and techno scene.

 

Three years after his hit singles, Cox returned with the first volume in what became a genre-defining mix-compilation series, F.A.C.T.: Future Alliance of Communications and Tecknology. After the first volume dropped in 1995, surprisingly high sales figures earned a second two years later (released in America as well). One year later, Cox released his first studio full-length with 1996's At the End of the Cliché. Mix album The Sound of Ultimate B.A.S.E. followed in 1998, with another studio album, Phuture 2000, appearing in 1999. One year later, he released the self-explanatory Mixed Live, recorded at Chicago's Crobar. A second edition of Mixed Live appeared two years later along with the mix CD Global. The DJ's next busy year was 2004 with the Pure Intec mix CD appearing in August and Cox's entry in the Back to Mine series dropping in November.

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DEEP DISH

 

Initially pigeon-holed as deep-house producers though their blueprint for house music sweeps across trance, techno, and sub-basement dub, the Iranian-American duo known as Deep Dish produced a multitude of club staples during the 1990s while harvesting a stellar series of productions for their labels (Deep Dish, Yoshitoshi, Fast Food, and Middle East) by members of the ever-growing Washington, D.C. dance community. While most of Dubfire and Sharam's productions have the epic, grandiose feeling that ties many a house track to its disco forebear, the duo's knack for tight programming and genre-blending have carried them above many of their dance-chart compatriots.

Both Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi were born in Iran, though their paths first crossed at a 1991 dance event in Washington, D.C.; both were immersed in the local DJ scene and working part-time at retail jobs they hated. They set up Deep Dish Records in 1992 and debuted with the production "A Feeling" by Moods. In 1993, an old schoolmate of Ali's named Brian Transeau recorded "A Moment of Truth" and "Relativity" for the label; both singles spread the Deep Dish message on dancefloors, and a link with Detroit producer Carl Craig (with whom they swapped mixes) helped the pair's street credibility. By 1994, Dubfire and Sharam were ruling as kings of the D.C. house scene, and had set up the sub-label Yoshitoshi for releases by like-minded compatriots Submarine, Satori, Alcatraz, and Hani. That same year, DJ legend Danny Tenaglia convinced Tribal UK Records to sign Deep Dish for its new Tribal America subsidiary, and the duo hit the dance charts with productions like "High Frequency" and "Casa de X." Deep Dish also made their full-length mix debut in 1995, taking charge of compilations for Tribal America (Penetrate Deeper) and Slip'N'Slide (Undisputed).

 

The 1995 single "Hideaway" by De'lacy practically made Deep Dish's career on a commercial and mainstream-dance level; their remix stormed the pop charts and earned them boatloads of additional remix work for Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Kristine W., Everything But the Girl, the Beloved and the Shamen -- Deep Dish even reworked Brian Transeau's collaboration with Tori Amos, "Blue Skies." Dubfire and Sharam added to their mix-album résumé with another Tribal America collection (1996's In House We Trust) plus one for Deconstruction (Cream Separates) one year later. Just when Deep Dish appeared to be content with releasing a mix album or two each year, the duo recorded their proper studio debut, Junk Science, in 1998. Resuming the schedule, Deep Dish released mix sets in consecutive years: Yoshiesque, Renaissance Ibiza, and a second Yoshieque by 2001.

 

2001 also saw the duo earn their first "Remixer of the Year" Grammy nomination for their work on Madonna's "Music" and Amber's "Sexual (La Da Di)". A remix of Dido's "Thank You" won them the Grammy a year later, the same year their Global Underground: Moscow mix-CD won the Dancestar USA's "Best Compilation" award. A third volume of Yoshiesque followed in 2003 along with three different editions of Global Underground: Toronto, one with the duo spinning together and one solo set each from Dubfire and Sharam.

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ARMAND VAN HELDEN

 

Until he began branching out in 1996 with a barrage of album productions and remix classics (several of which were heard by more people than the originals), Armand Van Helden was one of the best-kept secrets in house music, recording for such labels as Strictly Rhythm, Henry St., Logic and ZYX. Afterwards, he became one of the top names in dance music altogether. As one in the steady progression of top in-house producers for Strictly Rhythm during the early '90s, Van Helden joined such names as Todd Terry, Erick Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Masters at Work and George Morel to record scores of club hits. By the late '90s, a clutch of crucial remixes and several albums made Van Helden's name as one of the most popular producers around.

 

Van Helden spent time in Holland, Turkey and Italy while growing up the son of an Air Force man, and listened to music from an early age. He bought a drum machine at the age of 13 and began DJing two years later, mostly hip-hop and freestyle. Based in Boston while attending college, Van Helden proceeded to moonlight as a DJ; though he settled into a legal-review job after graduation, he quit his job in 1991 to begin working on production for the remix service X-Mix Productions (founded by his future manager, Neil Pettricone). Van Helden also owned a residency at Boston's Loft, and soon made it into one of the most popular nightclubs in the city. After playing one of his production demos for the dance A&R guru Gladys Pizarro in 1992, Van Helden released his proper debut single, Deep Creed's "Stay on My Mind," for Nervous Records.

 

Later that year, Van Helden released "Move It to the Left" by Sultans of Swing, his first single for the premiere American dance label Strictly Rhythm. Though a moderate club hit, the single was eclipsed by another Strictly Rhythm offering, 1994's "Witch Doktor." It became a dancefloor hit around the world and introduced him to a larger club audience. Although he had remixed Deee-Lite, Jimmy Somerville, New Order, Deep Forest and Faithless, a reworked version of Tori Amos' "Professional Widow" hit the clubs with the same impact as his "Witchdoktor" single. During 1996-97, Van Helden became the name for forward-thinking pop artists to recruit for remixing duty from the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and Puff Daddy to Sneaker Pimps, C.J. Bolland and Daft Punk. His own-name singles productions continued unabated, with hits like "Cha Cha" and "The Funk Phenomena," plus the release of his first album, Old School Junkies. Following a 1997 Greatest Hits retrospective, Van Helden returned to his old-school rap roots with the party breakbeat album, Sampleslayer...Enter the Meatmarket. The 2 Future 4 U EP followed in 1998, and in mid-2000 Van Helden returned with Killing Puritans

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CHICANE

 

Chicane is the group name for British trance musician and remixer Nick Bracegirdle, who first attracted attention under the name Disco Citizens with the Top 40 U.K. hit "Right Here Right Now" in 1995. Changing to Chicane, he reached the British Top 20 in late 1996 with "Offshore." He then enlisted Clannad's Maire Brennan for a remake of the Clannad hit "The Theme From Harry's Game" under the title "Saltwater," which reached the U.K. Top Ten and became an international hit. The first Chicane album, Far From the Maddening Crowds, was released in 1997. As a remixer, Bracegirdle transformed Bryan Adams' "Cloud #9" for another major hit in most Western countries. Employing Adams as an uncredited vocalist, he then topped the British charts with "Don't Give Up." It was featured on the second Chicane album, Behind the Sun, released in Europe in the spring of 2000. This disc reached the Top Ten in Britain and charted across Europe and in the Far East. Behind the Sun was released in the U.S. in August 2000. Visions of Ibiza appeared the next summer.

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PAUL VAN DYK

 

From early Berlin techno and house through to progressive trance, producer/DJ Paul Van Dyk has soundtracked the German electronic dance scene ever since he moved to the city and began mixing in 1988. A native of a German town near Frankfurt, Van Dyk first heard house music on the radio during the mid-'80s. Soon he was experimenting with a rudimentary turntable setup, and after hitting Berlin, he gigged around the city. By 1991, he had appeared at the legendary Tresor club; he later set up his own E-Werk club, and debuted on record as Visions of Shiva, with fellow trance wizard Cosmic Baby. He remixed for New Order, Humate, Sven Väth, and others, then signed to the German MFS Records for his first album, 1994's 45 RPM. By the midpoint of the 1990s, Paul Van Dyk had become a globe-trotting DJ and remixer. His second album, Seven Ways, resulted in British and German dance-chart entries for the singles "Beautiful Place," "Forbidden Fruit," and "Words." While both of his albums were issued in America during 1998, Van Dyk added a remix collection (Perspective) and mix album (Vorsprung Dyk Technik) to his discography. 2000 saw the release of the single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)," the album Out There and Back, and the EP We Are Alive. As a follow-up to global club dates in support of those releases, Van Dyk released another EP, Columbia, in mid-2001. After a relatively quiet 2002 (on the recording front), Van Dyk returned with a mix-album/greatest-hits/DVD (Global), the soundtrack to a film (Zurdo), and a new production album (Reflections).

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DJ ENCORE

 

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, DJ Encore is a Danish producer, engineer, songwriter, and mix master who is known for his partnership with vocalist Engelina (who is also Danish). Encore, who was born Andreas Hemmeth in Copenhagen in 1979, specializes in a high-tech, club-friendly style of dance-pop that is unmistakably European. Growing up in Scandinavia, Encore was exposed to a great deal of music and his music-minded parents can take some of the credit. Encore's mother is a music teacher, while his father is a classical musician and a music consultant. Encore was only a child when his parents encouraged him to study piano and guitar; he also learned to mix music on a computer at a very young age. The Scandinavian artist continued to study music as a teenager and when he reached early adulthood, Encore got into producing, engineering, and DJing. Encore was in his late teens when he became a regular DJ in three of Copenhagen's dance clubs, where he was admired and respected for his mixing skills. As a club jock, the Dane was flexible and broad-minded. He could get into abstract, rave-friendly forms of electronic dance music -- trance and techno, for example -- but he could also spin and mix more accessible and melodic dance-pop and Euro-dance recordings. Encore was serving as an engineer at a studio session for the dance-oriented Funkstar De Lux when he met a representative for Sony Music Publishing; that person asked to hear a demo of Encore's songs, and the Sony employee felt that he would work well with the Copenhagen-based singer Engelina. Encore and Engelina had different musical backgrounds; he was spinning various styles of dance music in Copenhagen's clubs, while Engelina had a history of singing jazz and R&B. Nonetheless, Encore and Engelina hit it off musically and, at the suggestion of the Sony rep, formed a partnership. Recording as the duo DJ Encore featuring Engelina, they provided their first single, "I Can See Right Through to You," which was a major hit in Denmark and other European countries and became the theme for the Danish television show Big Brother. Scandinavians who heard that single and other melodic Encore/Engelina material realized that the Copenhagen residents did not get into the more bubblegum styles of European dance-pop. Their songs tend to be haunting, dreamy, and intoxicating instead of cutesy, sugary, or bubblegum. Like so many Scandinavian artists, Encore and Engelina write in English exclusively; although they grew up in a country in which Danish, not English, is the primary language, both of them fluently speak English. In 2001, DJ Encore featuring Engelina recorded their debut album, Intuition, which MCA released in the United States in January 2002. "Walking on the Sky" was released as the album's second single in North America, as well as in Europe.

 

(Ganda ni Engelina!)

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JUDGE JULES

 

Jules Oriordan was born in London on 26th October 1965 in North London. While still a law student at LSE, Jules began his long time association with Norman Jay. Together they promoted Shake n Fingerpop and Family Funktion which established them as a central figure of those Rare Groove days, breaking into abandoned warehouses to stage "warehouse parties." It was Norman who applied the JUDGE title to JULES "It was Jays preconceived thought that here was a student hed met doing a degree in law that could only turn out to be a judge. When the police turned up at their illicit gatherings, it was Jules who had to provide outrageous legal blags to put them off the trail. Judge Jules sounded appropriate, so the name stuck and thus Judge Jules DJ career was born.

 

Jules got into the House scene in 1986 and started traveling to New York to buy records and it was here he experienced the incredible atmosphere house music was producing. Although Jules was into the music before this, he had never experienced it in its full glory. As house turned to acid, he remained a prominent figure in the rave scene, playing at many of the legendary orbital raves, including Energy, Back to the future and Sunrise. Together with his longtime friend Roy the Roach Jules started his prolific remixing career with a mix for the then Virgin Records based Bas` Noirs "Im Glad You Came", early remixes also included Soft House Company, Big Audio Dynamite and Fat Man.

 

In 1987 Jules premieres on pirate radio station Kiss fm and in 1990 when the station goes legal Jules rapidly becomed one of their top jocks. In 1991 he re-aquatinted himself with an old school friend ROLLO. They set up a studio together, and learnt how to produce and engineer, an aspect they'd previously bluffed their way through. A studio was slowly established in the basement of his house and about this time he struck up an extremely sucessful partnership with former Reggae drummer Michael Skins. Jules and Skins arrived on the scene with a devastating version of M PEOPLES Excited. Other notable remixes include T-Empos house classic 'Saturday night, Sunday morning', Winks 'Higher State Of Consciousness', Ruffnecks 'Everybody Be somebody', plus the big money spinners Doop and Reel 2 Real (I like to move it), on the Positiva label.

 

In 1994 Jules was appointed A&R manager at Manifesto Records and that is a story in itself. Voted no 1 dance label of 1996, possibly the fastest growing dance music label ever and maybe one of its greatest successes, with over 25 national top 40 successes to date, plus numerous critical accolades. In 1995, with brother Sam, Jules formed SERIOUS ARTIST MANAGEMENT, who manage JUDGE JULES exclusively. Other Djs managed include Sonique, Norman Jay,Graham Gold and John Kelly.

 

In September of 1997 Jules signed for Radio 1 and now has has two top rated shows on a Friday and Saturday which transmit to most of the UK.He has also made numerous television appearances including the Big Breakfast and the South Bank Show and at one time presented 'JUDGE and the JURY' on KISS T.V which appears on Sattelite in the Men & Motors Section. DJ magazine voted JUDGE JULES 8th in the top 150 djs in the world, the Uks number one club DJ in 1995, and more recently in a Muzic magazines survey of the most influential people in house music, Jules came second only to the manager of Paul Oakenfold. Along with his numerous other accolades, combined with his huge popularity as a dj worldwide, it shouldnt be to difficult to hear him at a club near you.

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PAUL OAKENFOLD

 

Paul Oakenfold is the DJ, remixer, and producer who did more than anyone else to break house music in Britain during the late '80s. During 1987-88, Oakenfold hosted a series of crucial club-nights which introduced thousands of Brits to house music. Just a few years later, he helped push the new dance crossover into the charts by masterminding hit productions by Happy Mondays (among others) and forming one of the most successful dance labels of the 1990s, Perfecto Records. Even well over a decade after his emergence, Oakenfold remained, quite simply, dance music's most popular DJ.

Born in London in 1963, Oakenfold began mixing at the age of 16, and hooked up with friend Trevor Fung to play soul and rare-groove at a basement bar in Covent Garden. He also spent some time in New York during the late '70s, working for Arista Records and soaking up the disco scene through Larry Levan's genre-spanning sets at the Paradise Garage. Back in England by the early '80s, Oakenfold worked as a club promoter and British agent for the Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. He continued DJing as well, and eventually ended up at the Project in 1985-86, one of the first venues for house music in England. With Fung and another friend named Ian St. Paul, Oakenfold was introduced to the exploding club scene on the vacation island of Ibiza (near the coast of Spain) during 1987 and imported the crucial mix of house, soul, Italian disco and alternative music later dubbed the Balearic style.

 

During 1988-89, house music and the Balearic style gestated at several Oakenfold-run club nights (Future at the Sound Shaft, then Spectrum and Land of Oz at Heaven) before emerging above terra firma as a distinctly British entity. Oakenfold and Steve Osborne had been working with new dance converts Happy Mondays, and their production for the 1989 Happy Mondays' single "(W.F.L.) Wrote for Luck" was voted Dance Record of the Year by the NME. The duo's production for the Happy Mondays' break-out full-length Pills 'n' Thrills 'n' Bellyaches placed them squarely in the vaunted territory of other new dance producers like Andrew Weatherall (who achieved similar success with Primal Scream's Screamadelica from the same year). Soon, major labels were lining up to have Oakenfold and Osborne remix their biggest pop stars including U2, Simply Red, New Order, the Cure, Massive Attack, M People, Arrested Development, the Shamen, the Stone Roses and even Snoop Doggy Dogg (some as Perfecto, the combination remix service and RCA-connected record label founded by the pair in 1990). The Oakenfold/Osborne team were nominated by BPI as Best Producers from 1990 to 1993.

 

By the mid-'90s, dance music had reached the mainstream of British radio and culture, with Paul Oakenfold at the front of a new wave of globe-trotting DJs; he toured with U2 and supported live gigs by INXS, the Orb, Simply Red, Boy George and Primal Scream. On Britain's ever-growing club circuit, he inaugurated the London super-club Ministry of Sound early in the 1990s and became a resident at Britain's other super-club, Liverpool's Cream, instead of taking big money for independent gigs. He also cut down his remix schedule to less than five per year, concentrating instead on the release of half-a-dozen mix albums, including several volumes in the Journeys by DJ series. Oakenfold left Cream in 1999, after which Virgin commemorated the occasion with the release of Resident: Two Years of Oakenfold at Cream. Perfecto Presents Another World arrived the following year. A monumental U.S. tour and the fresh Voyage Into Trance appeared in early 2001

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UNDERWORLD

 

Underworld became one of the most crucial electronic acts of the 1990s via an intriguing synthesis of old and new. The trio's two-man frontline, vocalist Karl Hyde and guitarist Rick Smith, had been recording together since the early-'80s new wave explosion; after two unsuccessful albums released as Underworld during the late '80s, the pair finally hit it big when they recruited Darren Emerson, a young DJ hipped to the sound of techno and trance. Traditional pop song forms were jettisoned in favor of Hyde's heavily treated vocals, barely there whispering, and surreal wordplay, stretched out over the urban breakbeat trance ripped out by Emerson and co. while Smith's cascade of guitar-shard effects provided a bluesy foil to the stark music. All in all, the decision to go pop was hardly a concession to the mainstream. The first Underworld album by the trio, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, appeared in late 1993 to a flurry of critical acclaim; the trio then gained U.S. distribution for the album with TVT. Second Toughest in the Infants, the group's sophomore LP, updated their sound slightly and received more praise than the debut. Unlike the first, the LP also sold well, thanks in part to the non-album single "Born Slippy," featured on the soundtrack to the seminal film Trainspotting.

The roots of Underworld go back to the dawn of the 1980s, when Hyde and Smith formed a new wave band called Freur. The group released Doot-Doot in 1983 and Get Us out of Here two years later, but later disintegrated. Hyde worked on guitar sessions for Debbie Harry and Prince, then reunited with Smith in 1988 to form an industrial-funk band called Underworld. The pair earned an American contract with Sire and released their debut album, Underneath the Radar, in 1988. Change the Weather followed one year later, even though little attention had been paid to the first. By the end of the decade, Underworld had disappeared also.

 

As they had several years earlier, Hyde and Smith shed their skin yet again, recruiting hotshot DJ Darren Emerson and renaming themselves Lemon Interrupt. In 1992, the trio debuted with two singles, "Dirty"/"Minneapolis" and "Bigmouth"/"Eclipse," both released on Junior Boys Own Records. After they reverted back to Underworld, 1993's "Rez" and "MMM...Skyscraper I Love You" caused a minor sensation in the dance community. Instead of adding small elements of techno to a basically pop or rock formula (as many bands had attempted with varying success), Underworld treated techno as the dominant force. Their debut album, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, was praised by many critics upon release later in 1993 and crossed over to the British pop charts. Hyde, Smith, and Emerson impressed many at their concert dates as well; the trio apparently relished playing live, touring Great Britain twice plus Japan, Europe, and the annual summer-festival circuit, where their Glastonbury appearance became the stuff of legend.

 

Dubnobasswithmyheadman was released in the U.S. in 1995 after being licensed to TVT Records. During the rest of the year, Underworld were relatively quiet, releasing only the single "Born Slippy." Finally, Second Toughest in the Infants appeared in early 1996 to much critical praise. The trio gained no small amount of commercial success later in the year when "Born Slippy" was featured on the soundtrack to Trainspotting, the controversial Scottish film that earned praise from critics all over the globe. Underworld also remained busy with Tomato -- their own graphic-design company responsible for commercials from such high-profile clients as Nike, Sony, Adidas, and Pepsi -- and remixing work for Depeche Mode, Björk, St. Etienne, Sven Väth, Simply Red, and Leftfield. Emerson continued to DJ on a regular basis, releasing mix albums for Mixmag! and Deconstruction. Though Underworld's 1999 LP Beaucoup Fish was a bit of a disappointment critically and commercially, the band continued to tour the world. The live album Everything, Everything followed in 2000, after which Emerson left to continue his DJ career. A Hundred Days Off, Underworld's first LP as a duo since 1989, was released in mid-2002

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GROOVE ARMADA

 

London's dance duo Groove Armada consists of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato.The group formed in the mid-'90s after being introduced by Cato's girlfriend and soon started their own club, also named Groove Armada (after a '70s discotheque), which featured their spinning. By 1997 they released a handful of singles, including "4 Tune Cookie" and "At the River;" their debut album Northern Star followed the next year. 1999 saw the release of Vertigo, which made the top 20 of the British charts and silver status the UK. The album's singles achieved similar heights, including "I See You Baby," which was remixed by Fatboy Slim. The group followed this success with a stint as Elton John's opening band and the US release of Vertigo in early 2000. An album of remixes followed shortly after, featuring post-productions by DJ Icey and Tim "Love" Lee. After releasing a mix album, Back to Mine, the duo returned with a sophomore production effort, 2001's Goodbye Country: Hello Nightclub. The sassy style of Love Box appeared in early 2003, highlighting a new kind of funk for Groove Armada. Collaborative efforts with Neneh Cherry, Nappy Roots, and R&B chanteuse Sunshine Anderson added to the kitschy cultural vibe found of Groove Armada's finest release to date

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STONEBRIDGE

 

There's a right time and place for everything. And it would seem for Swedish DJ and producer StoneBridge that his time is now. The success of his anthem Put 'Em High, which garnered him a No 6 in the UK Top 40, No 1 in the dance charts and no end of rave reviews has only heightened expectations of what else StoneBridge might have stored in his tank. Yet when you're an internationally acclaimed DJ jetting between London's Pacha and El Divino in Ibiza, playing regular sets all over Europe, US and Russia, while running a house label from NY, remixing No 1 hits for the likes of Enrique Iglesias and Texas; finding the time to make your first solo album as a producer can be hard. Luckily fate intervened and brought StoneBridge and ultra-hip UK dance label Hed Kandi together to produce one of the year's hottest and most critically acclaimed debut albums, Can't Get Enough, that not only consolidates the impeccable track record of both, but pushes the boundaries of their unquestionably high standards even further.

 

StoneBridge had his first DJ experience in 1983 at his sister's graduation party followed by her friends' parties and StoneBridge found DJ'ing a consuming passion. He started his own night called Fellini in Stockholm and soon other DJs frequented the club and there were talks of setting up a remix service. In 1986 StoneBridge alongside four other DJ's established SweMix and by 1989 the reputation had spread throughout Europe and StoneBridge began international remixing for artists like De La Soul, Rebel MC and Titiyo.

 

His first UK club hits were his own Jazzy John's Freestyle Dub and Ann Consuelo's See The Day in the early 90's, but it was with his remix of Robin S Show Me Love, which subsequently became StoneBridge's first UK top 10 and a worldwide hit 1993, that he moved on to become a major force. Other big remixes and productions followed like Robin S 'Love For Love', Chrissie Ward 'Right & Exact', Indo 'R U Sleepin', House of Virginism 'There For You', Shawn Christopher 'Make My Love' and Donna Giles And I'm Telling You to mention a few.

 

After years of solid remixing, StoneBridge reinvented himself as a DJ and Producer in 1997 with a manic DJ tour across the US and Europe and started up New York based label Stoney Boy Music, which presented a more clubby sound. StoneBridge also continued to produce a wide variety of artists including Tatyana Ali & Will Smith and the single 'Boy You Knock Me Out', with which he scored his second UK top 10, but this time as a writer and producer. This new direction paid off in 1999 when Coco & StoneBridge The Beach became an Ibiza anthem and when he scored No 1 club hits with his remixes of Texas 'Inner Smile', Mel C's 'I Turn To You' and Enrique Iglesias 'Escape' in the following years. In 2002 StoneBridge began working on his debut album, Can't Get Enough, which was released end August 2004 and so far has given Stone his third UK top 10 hit, this time as the artist, writer and producer with the single Put 'Em High featuring Swedish Therese. The second single to be lifted of the album is called 'Take Me Away', again with Therese. It is scheduled for a 17 January UK release and has been serviced to clubs and radio mid-October. The remix package includes versions by StoneBridge himself, Rhtym Doctors, D-Bop & Mauve. StoneBridge looks set to have a fantastic year in 2005 with the album licensed to all corners of the world and an impressive DJ schedule.

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BENNY BENASSI

 

Benny Benassi was born in Milan on 13 July 1967. He is 35 but claims to look 25. He lives in Reggio Emilia, a fine Italian town about 100km south of Milan, where the food is great and the Dance music is even better. He works as a producer in collaboration with his cousin Alle Benassi, who has been a musician and arranger at Off Limits, the internationally successful production unit run by Larry Pignagnoli. After producing KMC feat Dhany (N? 1 club charts UK) last year, the Benassi cousins started work on the BENNY BENASSI presents THE BIZ project, a ground-breaking mixtured of electro, techno and house dosed with minimalist flair. The first single SATISFACTION has made its presence felt in the main charts all over Europe.

 

The album HYPNOTICA is still in the top 20 in the Official Album Sales Chart in FRANCE after over a month, having reached the TOP 5. The single SATISFACTION is currently back n? 1 spot in the Official Dance Chart in FRANCE again!!!!

 

Benny Benassi's crucial remixes include Tomcraft's "Loneliness" and the latest Sonique track. Also look out for the Benny Benassi remix of the new Electric Six single, Dance Commander, and the new Outkast single, Ghetto Musik.

 

Benny and Alle have recently produced Benassi Bros, a project designed to shine the spotlight on the two Biz vocalists, Paul French and Violetaɮ. and the product features on the playlists of various French Dj's. Benassi Bros. feat. Sandy "Illusion" now in the Top 20 Official Dance Chart in France. In Germany ABLE TO LOVE has just been released went straight into the Official Dance Chart at number 2! Benny is currently touring around Europe, in particular France, Germany and Ibiza, with his inimitable dj sets. Benny has toured extensively round France this summer, with dates in Germany and Ibiza, too. He made his UK debut at The Gallery in Turnmills alongside Tall Paul in September and has Queen in Paris lined up alongside Crobar in Miami and other hot stuff this autumn.

 

His dj style is easy to describe... it's kinda electro, sort of house-tec, dirty and cool, sweaty and smooth.

[hitman531ph]

SASHA

 

When an ordinary person is recognised at a young age for doing extraordinary things, it is easy to be misunderstood. Sasha, a musician in every sense of the word, may have fallen into that media led trap in the past, but now at 30 years young he forges ahead with projects that will finally allow people to understand who the man behind the myth really is.

 

The best DJs know that Djing is first about being able to read people and then about being able to tap into that human experience and take it on a journey. Sasha has always been noted for being a master at this, and although his style is described as "Progressive Trance" with a good presence of House and break beat elements; his music has always reached beyond those record store titles, thus separating him from his contemporaries. Sasha creates and plays music that gives emotion a chance to speak. It is this universal appeal that he has tapped into that has established his strong fanbase around the globe.

 

This ability to capture sounds on a universal level was most recently called upon when he was asked to write all the music for Sony Playstation¹s biggest game release of 1999, "Wipeout 3". Sasha wrote 5 original tracks to soundscape the game. "Wipeout 3" won not only the best racing game award, but best game of the whole show.

 

His special touch has also recently been called upon by The Chemical Brothers, who singled him out as the only artist asked to remix a track ("Out Of Control") from their new album. "I just dubbed it out to a style like I would play, the elements and sounds that the Chems used were so good that I didn't want to change them at all", Sasha reports on making the mix. Sasha's resume of chart topping remixes also earned him a request from Madonna in 1998 when he was asked to remix "Ray Of Light" and "Substitute For Love/ Drowned World".

 

Do not be mistaken, this kind of recognition does not happen overnight. Born and raised in a small town in Wales, Sasha was exposed to Motown records when he was just a baby and it was in the home that his talent for playing the piano was developed. His first exposure to house music was at Manchester's Hacienda; just as dance music exploded into the summer of love. This impact encouraged his move from Wales to Manchester. His first exploration into Djing was when a DJ in a local pub announced he was looking for people to play club dates. Sasha volunteered and now says that he "had about 30 records and basically just blagged it".

 

After honing his deck technique, Sasha's first big break came when he was offered a residency at Stokes legendary club Shelly¹s. When all the other DJ's were playing US House, Sasha's style was much more uplifting, and he encapsulated clubbers with his mixture of piano led Italian House whilst playing acapella tracks over the top. This combination alongside a wide variety of anthems kept dancefloors full and elevated Sasha to hero status.

 

Shelly¹s was the launch pad for the residency at Renaissance, where Sasha created his niche and helped forge a new style in UK house music. At Renaissance two major things happened; Sasha mixed the first ever UK DJ mix album and he met John Digweed which cemented the partnership known as "Northern Exposure". Over the past couple of years, Sasha and John have played together on five continents, have mixed 3 "Northern Exposure" albums which have sold to over 1 million people worldwide.

 

This special brother like relationship that Sasha and Digweed have on the decks, is what landed them the monthly residency at New York¹s "Twilo", following in the footsteps of Vasquez and Tenaglia. This residency has reached cult status in New York, and after going strong for over two years, it will continue well in to the millennium.

 

Although Sasha has clearly reached a celebrity status, it¹s his generous personality, his love for his peers and of course his completely candid humour that has enabled him to maintain such a likeable high profile in the often-fickle world of club culture. Always one to share what comes his way, Sasha invited long time friend and collaborator BT to take part in what he called "one of the most amazing musical experiences in my life". He is referring to his experience out at Peter Gabrielle¹s Real World studio in 1998 where Sasha explains in a mixer article, "we were in there for a week and were just going to do one track (during Real World¹s annual recording week where artists from all over the world are invited to Bath to record at the famous studios). "There were so many talented musicians around and the vibe down there was incredible. People were walking in, hitting things, strumming things, and slapping their goats! There were mad African people everywhere. We ended up recording five tracks and finishing four".

 

Since then of course, Sasha has gone from DJ to superstar status in America, where "Sarsha" is a household name for many teenagers and his and John's residency has continued to provide the launchpad for British dance music into New York and beyond. The sound of Twilo: deep, pumping late night .h.o.u.s.e. is encapsulated on 'Communicate', Sasha and John's joint mix album for INCredible. Modern club anthems like Trancesetters 'Roaches' and Trisco's Muzak all blended in the late night, early morning way that New York's clubbers have come know and love.

 

Earlier this year, a gruelling three month tour has taken their sound further out into deepest America, preaching a gospel of repetitive beats and imaginative mixing from coast to coast, and right through the mid western heartland of the States. A punishing gig-a-night schedule that must make nights like the opening of Space in Ibiza in June seem like a holiday by comparison. This summer has also seen Sasha move back into releasing his own music, collaborating with the former Underworld mainstay, DJ Darren Emerson on 'Scorchio'. A fast, deep pulsing tech-house track with a cheeky hint of Latin summer carnival, 'Scorchio' sums up everything that's best in Sasha's music: deep, intelligent music that still retains a sense of fun and works best out in the middle of the sweaty dancefloor.

 

For Sasha, music is his first love, and what gives him a buzz is being able to share his music with others. From his presence at those all too talked about after hour parties where his special impromptu sets are heard, to his signature always present child like antics that leave people wondering if he has modelled his life after Peter Pan, to his DJ sets at clubs around the world, all lined with the backdrop of his own productions, Sasha leaves trails of memories, melodies and stories wherever he goes. These are the things that have been, and will continue to be remembered and passed on for years. And that is what legends are made of.

[hitman531ph]

AXWELL

 

The last couple of years have been fantastic for young Swedish producer Axwell (real name Axel Hedfors). Leading the way has been Mambana, his collaboration with Isabel Fructuoso (of Afro Medusa fame). Signed to the highly respected Soulfuric Recordings, they have released 2 huge tracks since April 2002. "No Reason" was their massive debut single that hit the top spot in all the Hype/Buzz charts that Summer and featured in the sets of all the top DJ's including Louie Vega, Danny Rampling and Ben Watt. The follow up "Libre" was released last summer and was arguably bigger than its predecessor. "Libre" was licensed to more than 12 different territories and featured on compilations that sold in excess of half a million copies. Isabel was in Stockholm recently working on the new single "Felicidad" that should be out this summer.

 

Other big tracks that Axwell has been responsible for over the last 2 years include Jetlag “So Right”, which came out in September 2002 also on Soulfuric. Featuring the vocals of Noel McKoy this track had a guitar hook to die for and was backed up with a peak time dub mix that saw Axwell and Brain Tappert at the controls together. At the tail end of 2002 Axwell went back to his roots and did a track under his own name • “Lead Guitar” was released by fellow Swede Stonebridge on his Stoney Boy imprint and was again well supported.

 

2003 saw Axwell record for London based label suSU (the UK home of Master’s At Work) under the guise of Starbeach. The track was called “Get Naked” & featured the vocal talents of D’Empress (Mutiny). This was followed up last Summer by Axwell's update of Evelyn Thomas' classic "High Energy" which rocked dancefloors again some 20 years after its original release. In the autumn of 2003 Axwell's "Wait A Minute", featuring the vocals of Nevada was released on Soulfuric related label Device. This peak time party anthem was a club smash that duly gained support from the likes of Pete Tong, Junior Jack, Kid Creme & David Guetta.

 

In between all this Axwell has managed to lend his considerable talents to other Artists - recent mixes have included Usher "Burn" (BMG), Room 5 “Make Luv” (Positiva), Clipse ft Faith Evans "Ma, I Don’t Love Her" (RCA) &. Stonebridge "Put 'Em High" (Hed Kandi). He's just finished a remix for N*E*R*D's single "Maybe" due on Virgin next month.

 

At the end of last year Axwell set about dismantling his studio ready for a complete refurbishment. The job was finally completed in February since when Axwell has been working on some new productions - apart from the aforementioned new Mambana single he's finished a new solo track called "Feel The Vibe" that's out on promo through Sweden's Nero Recordings this month, and the reactions has been stunning so far...