And the winning ASOT 600 cities are....

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The State of Trance 600 live broadcast on Youtube just announced the winning cities that will be visited by Armin and his Armada army as part of their ASOT 600 world tour. Next year's ASOT 600 will be branded as 'The Expedition - let's turn the world into a dance floor!' and will span from February 14th, 2013 to April 6th, 2013. The first winners are:

February 16th​, 2013: Mexico City, Mexico
March 1st, 2013: Sao Paulo, Brazil
March 9th, 2013: Beirut, Lebanon
March 15th, 2013: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
March 30th, 2013: New York City, United States
April 6th, 2013: Den Bosch, Netherlands

Please note that these are only ​the 'very first' 6 cities announced as Armin promised there will be more cities revealed in future ASOT broadcasts. Armin also stated that his team are in the process of finalizing various ASOT 600 events with promoters around the world. I certainly hope that is the case for a Canadian city because hosting an ASOT 600 in this country would be a slam dunk.

I honestly thought a Canadian city would have been announced as one of the first 6 cities but fear not Trance fans, there is still hope that 'The Expedition' will land in Canada in 2013. ​

Note for New York: Made Event, the organizers of the Electric Zoo festival in NYC, will be the official organizers for ASOT 600 in New York City. Armin was very excited to announce venue but was held back as it seems that the venue deal has not been finalized. Could they be holding at Madison Square Gardens or the new Barclays Center? That would seem like a strong possibility.

(Picture Source: ASOT Website)​

Die Antwoord - 'Fatty Boom Boom' Video

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The new Dada Life 'The Rules of Dada' Album is now out - Here are the reviews

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​Dada Life released their much anticipated album 'The Rules of Dada' yesterday on iTunes:

Here are some initial reviews from various music blogs: ​

​Dada Life's 'The Rules of Dada' is an astonishingly good album from the Swedish duo which blew out all of my expectations and more. Prior to the release I was ready to give this album a good dressing down as I found Dada Life's 'Feed the Dada' track fell short of other Dada Life classics like 'Kick out the Epic M**********R' and even 'Rolling Stones T-Shirt'. Thankfully this album delivers all new anthems that will be sure to light up the dance floor. Which ones you ask? Here are my two stand out selections:

The track 'So Young So High' is evocative of what the Dada Life style is all about​ - fun, unpretentious, hands-in-the-air, euphoric musical tune that will get the entire place singing in unison to the comically high pitched vocals. This track is so playful and fun that I catch myself smiling and putting my hand in the air whenever the sing along vocal chorus comes on, even after playing it over a dozen times.

'Boing Clash Boom' is what I believe to be the best track in the album. If you've ever seen any Dada Life live concert footage you'll know that the Swedish duo lives to put the dance floor into a frenzy​ and 'Boing Clash Boom' will help take everyone to the next stratosphere with the hardstyle infused drop. Make no mistake, this track is the very definition of a banger that can turn the most mild mannered kandi kids into heavy metal mosh pit converts.

Dada Life really shows off their range as artists as they demonstrate that they are capable of creating more intricate and deeper tracks which are really showcase by 'You Will Do What We Will Do' and 'Don't Stop'.

'You Will Do What We Will Do' immediately sets it apart from the rest with that deep and sinister vibe at the beginning to a slow buildup which leads to a heavy drop and then eases you off with  'Daft Punk'esque' robotic vocals that remind me of Boys Noize 'Ich R U'. Brilliant. 'Don't Stop' is the final track on the album and one of their best thanks to its chill vibe, goose bump worthy vocals that shows off Dada Life's more soulful and sensitive side.

Dada Life's 'The Rules of Dada' is a musical triumph with no noticeable weaknesses that illustrate their diverse range of styles. With any luck this album will propel them to even further heights up the DJ Mag Rankings and future festival headlining tours around the world. Dada Life sets the standard for what an EDM album can and should be.

The ASOT 600 Toronto Campaign Video....Is it indication of big news headed our way?

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​Armin will be unveiling the first cities that will host ASOT 600 events on October 18th.

There's a lot that's interesting with this video which has nothing to do with the video itself but rather the people behind it. According to the credits the video was made by Different Levels, a professional video company, and was sponsored by DJ Mag Canada and Ink Entertainment (Guvernment).

​But wait it gets better. Beginning on Oct 14th there was mounting pressure on the owner of the Twitter account '@ASOT600TORONTO', who actually doesn't live in Toronto but in the Ukraine, to hand over the account to local campaigners. There was a lot of drama that ensued that ultimately lead the account to now be shared between a few locals. It's not quite clear who controls what but it does seem strange as to why all of the last minute activity to control an account that will become considerably less important unless Toronto is selected as one of the ASOT 600 cities.

Is it possible that someone out there might know some key information about an upcoming ASOT location which could explain this professionally made video and last minute power struggle to control a Toronto ASOT600 Twitter account? Maybe. We'll find out in approximately 31 hours. ​

Update: The owner of the @ASOT600Canada account tweeted this a few hours ago: ​

Is it wrong to get excited for the possibility of an ASOT 600 date in Canada at this point? All indications are pointing towards a positive news announcement tomorrow for a Canadian city from the Netherlands. ​

Hardstyle sound is starting to gain traction in mainstream EDM music

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​As you listen to new music from multiple genres all day you start seeing some musical trends gaining influence. Sometimes when you hear a track you can tell it was inspired by another genre or a certain producer. If this is done correctly these type of cross-genre tracks can help expose fans of either genre to start exploring music beyond their usual brand of EDM; but it also can go all wrong if a producer creates a track which fails to attribute a sample from another producer which then causes a public outrage. That being said I have noticed a strong trend develop in my recent listening experience that suggests that the genre known as Hardstyle, which is absolutely huge in Europe, is starting to make waves into wider mainstream EDM music. Here's the proof:

The new Dada Life album ​will feature a Hardstyle inspired track called 'Boing Clash Boom':

Flosstradamus recently released part 2 of their latest EP that features hardstyle influenced trap music:

These 3 tracks could be a sign of more Hardstyle infused tracks to come. It couldn't have come at a better time as I feel producers have already pushed what the progressive house sound to its limit and some of the savvier artists are starting to experiment with what works best from other genres and implement it into their own tracks.  ​

Hardstyle is already well established in Western Canada with many of the top DJs in the game like Headhunterz, Zatox, Psyko Punkz being booked on a regular basis in places like Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary​. Hardstyle is on the rise in North America so make sure to brush up on your Hakken, Melbourne Shuffle, and Jumpstyle moves so you'll be ready to move whenever a hardstyle styled track is dropped at a future event.