Where do you best enjoy hearing your loud music? Big nightclubs? Lounges? Concert halls for bands?

They all have a few particular things associated with them that might scare, hurt, confuse, amuse, entice, or defer you. I’d like to share some of these facts with you:

Large nightclubs usually pump out about 3 to 5 watts per person, based on the number of people they’d like to accommodate in the room. If the in-house audio-tech is a good one, he/she will scale the volume of the system to the size of the crowd over the course of the night. If he’/she isn’t so good, they just leave it at a somewhat nominal, but over-necessary volume level.

These large nightclub sound systems can hit decibel readings of 140dB .. equivalent to a jet engine standing 2 meters away from you (this would cause deafness within 30-45 minutes of exposure!)

Your ears ringing after being at a nightclub is caused by a poorly tuned system. This is NOT the DJ’s fault. Most lounges and small-sized nightclubs try to compensate for their size by pumping their sound systems louder by up to 6 or 7 watts per person. This is not only wasteful, but makes people deaf much faster than they ought to be.

If the venue has paid for a really decent sound system, it will in essence delay how fast the bass and treble come out of the speakers to make it sound better. This could be a delay between .1 milliseconds and 1 second depending on the room and speakers.

The disco ball is easily the ONLY lit item necessary in a good venue (non-substantiated, but I don’t care)

Some more interesting facts:

• The lazers at the venues that have them for light shows, CAN blind a person VERY easily.
• You can cook an egg on an amplifier that has been running in “bridged mode” for 6+ hours.
• You can cook an egg on an amplifier that has been fed poor-quality music (by technical measures)
• There is no sex in the champagne room (Thank you Chris Rock)
• Coat check staff can and sometimes do try on your jackets in shady nightclubs
• It is said that most girls that go to nightclubs with their friends are ALWAYS sharking
• It is said that most guys that go to nightclubs with their friends KNOW that the girls are sharking
• Bouncers can always be paid off. Every person has a price
• There are few and possibly no number of DJs that enjoy taking requests, unless they are wedding, top40, hip-hop, or radio DJs. We are not your personified iPod.

Chances are you’re intimately familiar with Lola’s Theme, the classic disco-soaked anthem that propelled the duo to super stardom back in 2003 (also re-edited back in 2008). Since then the duo have been a venerable force, releasing on highly respected labels such as Defected, Hed Kandi, and their own Nocturnal Groove imprint.

Really, unless you’ve been living under a rock or aren’t particularly interested in house music, these two gentlmen shouldn’t be new to you. I tweeted a link to their Mar 2010 Defected Mix earlier this week but thought I’d highlight it here as well. This mix captures everything I love about the current state of house music: Strong ties to the themes and concepts that gave birth to the genre in the first place (disco baby!) combined with modern tech-house percussive elements REALLY get me going.

But, don’t take my word for it, listen for yourself:

Tracklist:
1. UGLH & Federico Locchi – Meraviglioso  (Original Mix)
2. Tapesh – Chicago Groove (Original Mix)
3. Maximiljan & Tapesh – Play  (Daniel Dubb’s ‘It’s Alive!’ Remix)
4. Tapesh – 5 Days (Original Mix)
5. EDX – Party  Of Politics (Mark Mendes Remix)
6. Pitto – Feelin’ (Joris Voorn ‘Can’t Click This Feelin’ When It Hits’ Remix)
7: Pigi & Pirupa – Sweet Devil (Original Mix)
8: Michael Gray – I  Will Follow
9: Su Su Bobien – You Don’t Know (Muthafunk The World Remix)
10: Unknown – Unknown
11: South Street Player – Who  Keeps Changing Your Mind  (Daniel Bovie & Roy Rox Remix)
12: Wippenberg – Pong (Extended Mix)
13: Candi Staton – Musical  Freedom (The Shapeshifters ‘Big Fish Little Fish’ Remix)
14: Los Chicanos – House Of God (Chocolate Puma Remix)

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More often than not, some of the best Electronic Music tunes have less than average music videos, if at all. However from time to time some gems shine through. Here is a compilation of some of my picks for best EDM music videos of all time! Enjoy the sights and sounds!

10. The Knife – Silent Shout
The music syncopation and animation quality is beautiful. Very visually enticing.

9. Pendulum – Slam
The man has some seriously dope moves. Pure energy!

8. Basement Jaxx – Where’s Your Head At?
I’ve always had a weakness for monkeys… especially ones that play massive tunes.

7. RUN-DMC vs Jason Nevins – It’s Like That
Classic hip-hop house + sick break dancing. Nuff said.

6. Free Agents ft DJ Kemo – Clash of the Titans
Although the tag at the start of the video says “rapcity”, this is as much electronic music as any of the other videos. Break beats, turntabilism and sick break dancing on a f*ckin’ bus! Can’t go wrong.

5. The Chemical Brothers ft. K-OS – Get Yourself High
Very clever editing of old martial arts film “2 Champions of Shaolin”. Love the edits to include turntables, records and boom boxes.

4. The Prodigy – Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)
Some people go to the race track for some excitement… but what’s the fun in that? Nobody gets hurt. The general concept of this race is awesome.

3. Fatboy Slim – Weapon of Choice
Christopher Walken. Dancing. The End.

2. Justice – Stress
Shot with such realism, this music video gave me chills. Also, ever since watching this, whenever I’m walking in a group of people wearing black jackets, I’m reminded of this video. Bad-ass.

1. Royksopp – Remind Me
As a Master of Architecture student, I was automatically drawn to this video. No surprise that this is number one on the list. Entertaining to watch every time. Axonometric diagrams FTW!

What are some of your favorite EDM music video picks? Let us know!

Clubopoly: Click to Zoom

Tired of your boring family life having nothing to do with your awesome party life? Clubopoly has got you covered.

Challenge your friends! Take a ride on Pacha railroad. Build your empire by owning Armin Ave. & Tiesto Terrace – The price of admission goes up big time if you’re able to get residencies (like hotels but way more awesome) on your properties!

Why bore your friends and family with a tired old board game? Clubopoly is proper education!

Vital Radio Special Guest: John Dahlback

John Dahlbäck was born in 1985 in a small village not too far away from Stockholm, the Swedish capital. Since everyone in his family was in some way involved with music, it was no surprise when John started making his own. By playing around with his fathers Atari computer, John learned the basics and after several changes in setup he finally found his sound.

His First demo went out at the age of 15 without any luck, but the second demo did pretty good. With a track out on Route 33 and his first 12″ out on Deep4life, John was heading for the big league. After “Music So Sweet” the releases kept coming, and Johns first label was born together with cousin Jesper. As Hugg & Pepp, the cousins have established a worldknown superduo.

So the releases got more and more and John started to become quite a well known producer. By starting the label Pickadoll for the Plantage 13 labelmanagement, John finally had his own imprint. And what an imprint. With artists like Özgur Can, Sebastien Leger, Dada Life, Zoo Brazil, Robbie Rivera, Laidback Luke etc showing up on the label, John Dahlbäcks little baby Pickadoll has grown enormous.

There’s nothing stopping this superstar, with more releases than any other on some of the biggest labels. Who knows what will happen in the future but one thing is for sure, John Dahlbäck will be there – and he’s set to join us on Vital Radio this weekend, for Episode 090!

Recognize the name, but can’t place the sound? Check out some of John’s biggest chart-toppers:

John Dahlback: Autumn

John Dahlback: Pyradmid (Dirty South Remix) [One my all time faves!]

Its mid March, which means there’s one main focus in Dance… The yearly Winter Music Conference in Miami. House music is currently riding high in the USA, notably thanks to the award winning DJ turned popstar- David Guetta. Admittedly his sound is unashamedly commercial, but due to his success, the spotlight is shining brightly onto a fundamentally underground music. In layman’s terms- you can expect a huge Miami Conference as House Music is currently HOT!

Onto the music, one thing you can’t help but notice is this kind of common ground that’s combining together the tribal toms & dramatic breakdowns of the Bigroom, with the cooler, rolling sub-bass tones of Tech House. Tracks are grooving with such swing..! Jim is right into it & its a surefire winning formula that’ll take over Ibiza in 2010. As Miami acts as a musical test-drive for the summer season ahead, we won’t have to wait long to hear, but for now- Here are Jim Breese’s choice tracks for Miami 2010…

01. Funkagenda Feat. Big Ed – Afterclub (Riva Starr Remix) – Toolroom
02. Lake & Lys – La Tromba (Riva Starr Remix) – Rising Music
03. Prok & Fitch Feat. Nanchang Nancy – Walk With Me (Axwell VS Daddy’s Groove Remix) – Axtone
04. Ridney – At Night – Defected
05. Dirty South & Mark Knight – Stopover – Toolroom
06. Paul Harris, Michael Gray, Jon Pearn Feat. Amanda Wilson – Caught Up (Daley Padley Miami Dub) – Phonetic
07. Lissat & Voltaxx – It’s Not Over – Creme Royal
08. Afrojack & Bobby Burns – Ghettoblaster – Spinnin Records
09. Afrojack – Pacha On Acid – Size
10. Chris Lake & Michael Woods – Domino’s – Rising Music
11. Miike Snow – Silvia (Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South Remix) – CDR

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Aren De Jong is easily the best “sleeper” musical artist in his hometown of Toronto. This Canadian house & progressive talent is among the top rising producer/DJ/engineer combos in the past decade.

Current and forthcoming releases on several international labels in just the past few months are keeping him busy both in and out of the studio. Experience in the city’s better-known venues have led the path for him to know how the next best music should be delivered.

“Nothing short of power and quality” is one of the many ways to describe his work in DJ booths, and studios alike.

Tracklist
1. Dec D – Cold Drop (Original Mix)
2. Signal Six & David Akermanis – Cassie’s Law (the Signal Six mix)
3. Chris Micali – Schiphol (Santiago Nino Mix)
4. Chris Memmo & Andree Eskay – Affectation (Dousk Dub Electro mix)
5. David Akermanis & Signal Six – Casino Nights (the Signal Six mix)
6. Mobbing – Open Legs (Original mix)
7. Melleefresh & Deadmau5 – Afterhours (Smoothy House mix)
8. Tarkan – Start the Fire (Mouusse T. Abi’s Club mix)
9. Michael Quinn – Who Knows (Sara Galli & Francesco Belais remix)

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Gareth Wyn is taking clubland by storm. Mixmag Future Hero, Cream Ibiza Resident, he’s part of the nu breed, and his unique style combined with the ability to read and interact with the crowd is fast earning him a reputation as one of the scene’s rising stars.

Gareth mastered his DJ skills at Cream in Liverpool, where he’s become a steadfast in the main room for the clubland institution, developing a huge following with the superclub’s faithful. He’s been recognised as Best Breakthrough DJ at the Mixmag Ibiza Dance Awards and 2010 sees him return to Ibiza with Cream bi-weekly resident at the mighty Amnesia.

Gareth’s production skills are also gaining serious recognition. As a DJ producer his appreciation transcends genre, signed to the legendary Maelstrom Records for his up tempo productions and the market leader Cr2 for his house output, he also releases more underground music on his own label Beat That.

A classically trained musician, Gareth writes, produces and engineers from his own studio and his demand as a remixer has exploded in the last 12 months. He’s worked on the last two Beyonce singles ‘Broken Hearted Girl’ and ‘Video Phone’ for Sony, as well as remixing Leona Lewis’ latest single for Simon Cowell’s Syco label. Add to that his huge remix of BT’s ‘Flaming June’, signed to Tiesto’s label Blackhole for a 2010 release, and remixes for The Gossip, Junkie XL and the house re-work for the huge DJ Mujava ‘Township Funk’.  Well, he’s here tonight, inside the Vital Radio Guestmix.

Tracklist
1. Gareth Wyn – Shine [0:00]
2. Sted-E & Hybrid Heights – En El Momento [5:58]
3. John Shelvin – Welcome to Paradise [10:22]
4. John Dahlback – Autumn [16:30]
5. Gareth Wyn – 707 [22:08]
6. Luventina – Nightshift (Nikola & Groovenatics) [27:42]
7. Janika Team – Make This Groove (Mark Mendez Main Room Mix) [32:07]
8. DJ Mujava – Township Funk (Gareth Wyn Remix) [36:38]
9. John Shelvin – Sparta [42:24]
10. Pegasus (White Label)
11. Gareth Wyn – Chrome

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Remixing the Classics. New Spin, or Sacrilege?

We really noticed this trend start to gather steam in 2008. Artists, inspired by past floor-fillers, take it upon themselves to update and modernize old classics. Sometimes it’s the original artists who revisit their past hits (M.I.K.E.’s continual reworks of Strange World and Universal Nation come to mind), sometimes reworks are done by up-and-comers looking to gain some momentum, and other times it’s done by artists who are looking to cross genres or revive their old favourites.

Check out the list of reworks compiled by myself and M2J after the jump!

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You should be aware of ChatRoulette by now. You should also be aware of the viral piano-improve video that has been floating around for the past week or so.

Completely unrelated to house music, but – here is Ben Folds getting in on the action, performing an ode to ‘Merton’ – the original guy – at one of his shows, in Charlotte, North Carolina a couple of days ago. 2,000 people apparently.

Awesomeness.