Hot off the presses! This year's Ultra Music Festival lineup is so large that it seems like the entire electronic dance music industry will be in Miami:
That ASOT lineup is absolutely stacked! I'm looking forward to that live stream.
Coachella also released their EDM infused lineup tonight:
EDM names aside, the fact that the Postal Service and Wu-Tang Clan will be at Coachella is pretty freaking cool.
To read the reason of why Jeff Mills, one of the pioneers of Techno from Detroit, is retiring 'The Wizard' alias in a Beatport interview is a little heartbreaking:
"I thought it went well, but from what I heard afterwards many people were not satisfied with hearing an eclectic set [At Movement Detroit last year], or at least an eclectic set from me. This was unfortunate to hear because Detroit had always been a place where the mixing of music styles was common—and infamous for."
'The Wizard' alias was used by Jeff Mills in the 1980s era where more experimentation in Detroit was permitted. Since he believes that there weren't many in attendance that was from this generation and due to the "way things have progressed", he has made the decision to declare 'The Wizard' a "historical concept" that will never return.
I hope he changes his mind one day because some of my favourite DJs, like Diplo, are the ones that do not belong to any strict EDM genre and are free to experiment with so many more interesting influences and sounds.
Beatport has found 'The Wizard' set from Movement last year so you can come to your own conclusions:
Two interesting videos involving Tiesto have come under my radar that are great to watch if you are a fan of Tiesto.
CNN International has done a great job at interviewing Tiesto while in Asia:
(VIA doandroidsdance)
How can you not like Tiesto? He seems like such a happy-go-lucky type of guy who understands the amazing position he's in. I don't think he takes himself too seriously which makes him a very likable guy.
Here's a video briefly showing the hard work involved in organizing a Tiesto show in Arizona during Tiesto's College Invasion Tour. This video is mandatory viewing for future promoters:
(VIA Dancing Astronaut)
Yesterday was a big day for new music releases as Oliver released the 'Mechanical 'EP while Birdy Nam Nam also put out their new EP titled the 'Defiant Order' on the same day. Here are my two favourite tracks from each:
Oliver - MYB:
Birdy Nam Nam - Defiant Order (UZ Remix):
You can hear the full stream of Oliver's new EP on Soundisstyle, and Birdy Nam Nam's new EP on Dancing Astronaut.
Huge news out of New York today as one of the largest A State of Trance events ever organized in North America was sold out in less than one hour! The Armada team along with Made Events sold out all 12,000 tickets at the iconic Madison Square Garden which is a massive accomplishment and a major stepping stone for the Trance genre overall.
Just heard we sold out #ASOT600NY at Madison Square Garden in New York in less than an hour!!! #TheExpedition twitter.com/asotlive/statu…
— Armin van Buuren (@arminvanbuuren) January 23, 2013
Hopefully this is a signal of bigger things to come in future ASOT tours. The Swedish House Mafia also sold out MSG in record time a few months prior to the announcement of their massive One Last Tour which has seen jaw-dropping sell out crowds. Could ASOT do something similar for ASOT 650 in 2014? I hope so.
This year's ASOT 600 'The Expedition' is traveling to far off places like Minsk, Guatemala City, Kuala Lumpur, and Beirut which will create many new Trance fans all over the world. But ASOT 650 should think bigger in 2014 by targeting huge venues in North America just like the Swedish House Mafia did. Cities like L.A, San Francisco, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Chicago should all be put on the calendar. I don't see any reason why A State of Trance cannot sell out the Air Canada centre, Shaw Conference Centre, or BC Place in Canada.
I hope Armin views this sell out at Madison Square Garden as an opportunity to take ASOT 650 and the entire Trance genre to the next level in 2014.
*Not everyone was happy with the news of a sold out show at MSG, read @TranceInNY's reaction for a different perspective.
