Happy Friday everyone!

As we’re sure that you’ll be waging war on dance floors all weekend long, we figured that proper ammunition is in order. That, of course, being our new ROKTRONIK mix titled, “Slick Nasty.” Remember, drop beats and not bombs

Presenting something new and different, we decided to explore yet another genre and overall feel with this particular house-heavy compilation. Along with highlighting some great new tracks, we’ve also incorporated quite a few custom mash-ups to keep things interesting. Whether you think those are good/bad, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Enjoy and have an insane weekend!!

Φ – Slick Nasty

[mp3 download: Right Click, Save Link As...]

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Beat those beats and slaughter them dance floors!

phives

With 5 different artists collaborating on this single remix, we were a bit skeptical at first as to what the outcome would be…especially considering the fact that three different styles of music were involved with this crossover track.

But, just as the Swedish House Mafia/Pharrell/Caspa successfully executed an incredible version of “One (Your Name)”, the quintuplet responsible for the LA Riots remix of the song, “Warrior”, will dispel any doubt whatsoever upon first listen of their cohesive masterpiece.

The variety definitely works for them as the sick vocals of Anjulie meld seamlessly with the melody while LA Riots steps out of their box to splice a dub step cameo in their electro rendition of this jam.

J.O.B – Warrior (LA Riots Remix) by LA Riots

And to top it all off, we’ll include the brand new LA Riots “Summer 2010 Mix” for free download as well!

LA Riots Summer 2010 Mix by LA Riots

TRACKLIST

1. Homework – Fissa Tune
2. Wildlife! – Jumbie
3. Djedjotronic – Bit This Thin Part 2
4. Vhyce – Basement Horns (Yolanda Be Cool Remix)
5. Marco Lys – Mombasa
6. LouLou Players, Kolombo – Wap Bam
7. Camel – Boogie Nights
8. LA Riots – The Drop (TJR Remix)
9. Bart B More – Romane (Gucci Vump Remix)
10. Tim Green – Old Sunshine
11. Jahcoozi – Namedropper (Solo Remix)
12. Riva Starr – I Was Drunk (DJ Sneak’s Drunken Main Mix)
13. LA Riots – Control Your Tuba (Teaser)

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Enjoy and ROK it out!

phives

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yeah, pure DJ gadget awesomeness…

Offering incredible tactile feedback and a unique interface for live performances, it’s no surprise that more and more artists are incorporating these new midi-controllers into their sets.

Here’s another video from a couple years ago featuring a custom VCI-100 arcade controller:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re looking to embrace the audio nerd within, DJ TechTools offers the fully customizable midi-fighter kit and the custom VCI-100 arcade controller for purchase now.

Game on!

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phives

Hey gang–We’re off and away to the Dominican Republic for a week but don’t worry, the beats will continue flowing as we’ve got our good friend and masterful mixologist, DJ Martinson, stepping in with his newest mix titled (appropriately for us), “Chasing The Sun.”

This is by far our favorite mix at the moment and we haven’t stopped pissing off our neighbors with the continuous blaring of it from sunrise to sundown. We can only hope that it brings you as much joy and as many noise complaints as we’ve received thus far

DJ Martinson – Chase The Sun

[mp3 download: Right Click, Save Link As...]

Find out more about DJ Martinson and listen to all of his other mixes here: DJMartinson.com

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phives

More developments in the world of Daft–

Last year, we first mentioned that the electronic duo had been commissioned to compose the entire soundtrack for Disney’s upcoming sequel to the Tron series. We’ve been eagerly waiting for news and at last, based upon a listing from Amazon.com, Walt Disney Records is slated to release Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy album on November 23rd of this year!

Again, nothing official has been released directly via the Daft Punk camp but we’re sensing that there to be some big announcements on the near horizon…

phives

In case you were one of the very few who missed out on last Friday’s (July 2nd) Deadmau5 show at Soldier Field, our friends at RECTv have put together a visually-stunning highlight reel of the performance. Clearly not even close to being there in person, but you’ll get a good enough feel/vibe of the insanity.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It would have been that much better for Chicago to fully experience the new stage setup, but aside from the absent LED mau5head due to technical malfunction, thus prompting the use of many replacements, it was yet another wicked performance in line with all of Joel’s other shows this year. Regardless, he’ll be back soon enough and when he does, rest assured that the show will be bigger, better and technically flawless.

As an added bonus, we’re including an exclusive interview of deadmau5 by the UK Guardian’s, Paul Morley. Love the part where Joel talks about how he never wants to be typecast and tied down to a specific genre of music…

(We opted not to feature the full article follow-up by Morley as it was just a bunch of unjustified slander most likely stemmed from being lost in translation)

phives

Between a sold-out Deadmau5 show at Soldier Field, Armin Van Buuren at Vision, and a raging 12-hour party at Green Dolphin featuring Mark Farina/Audiofly along with 18 other local DJ legends, this was definitely a Chicago 4th for the books.

Chances are that you’re probably hurtin’ pretty bad today, so we’re hoping that this new Monday Morning mix eases some of the pain…

Φ – MONDAY MORNING V [to download: right click, save as...]

Have a good one and here’s to blowing shit up in honor of our country!

Click here to view the embedded video.

phives

Unless your name is Helen Keller or have been living under a rock for the past two decades, surely you’re aware of the French electronic music tag team known as Daft Punk.

Despite a period of lull and quiet since their most recent tour-of-epic-proportions titled, Alive 2007, there has been a recent surge of buzz surrounding Daft Punk’s involvement with the upcoming rendition of Disney’s cult-classic, Tron (Tron: Legacy to premiere 12/17/2010). One particular rumor that we, along with everyone else and their mothers, have been actively and eagerly tracking is a potential Daft Punk World Tour in conjunction with the Tron: Legacy movie and the 24 tracks they were commissioned to compose for the score.

While the details we’ve come across regarding this tour have yet to be confirmed by Daft Punk officially, the leaked tour dates seem fairly legit considering that the movie has been in post-production since February of this year. That said, check out the unofficial-official 2010 Daft Punk World Tour dates below!

In addition, we came across a ticket link for one of the shows at Heineken Music Hall’s website that happens to be in accordance with the rumored location/date (August 1st in Amsterdam)–so that’s got to account for something, right? Regardless, you’d be silly not to put ‘em back on your radars…they’re definitely touring either this year or next so no matter what, it looks as though we’re in for a very Daft treat in the near future

JULY
30 — Le Zenith, Paris, France

AUGUST
1 — Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, Netherlands
3 — Allianz-Arena, Munich, Germany
5 — The O2, Dublin, Ireland
7 — Parc Des Sports, Nice, France
15 — Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
22 — Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia
28 — Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia

SEPTEMBER
3 — Wembley Arena, London, UK
6 — City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, UK

…and with that, we’ll leave you with a great Hell-Ektrik remix of Daft Punk’s, Digital Love.

Click here to view the embedded video.

phives

Hey all…hope your weekends were incredible and thanks for your patience between our posts. We’ve had quite a lot on our plates since we’ve returned from overseas including a couple joint ventures with various local artists/producers and a brand new music festival taking place in Union Park, Chicago (more info on that later).

For now, we’re sure that you’ve got plenty to do as well, so we’ll let ya get back to work with this new Monday Morning mix…have a good one!

Φ – MONDAY MORNING IV [download: right click, save as...]

As we depart for the Cannes Film Festival, we’d like to leave you with our latest project that has been in the works for the past couple of weeks, TANGER BANGER.

Φ – TANGER BANGER [download: right click, save as...]

Have a listen and let us know what you think about the newest mix (which songs did you love? which ones were your least favorite? any that made you want to stab yourself in the ear? etc.) by shooting an e-mail to feedback@roktronik.com…any and all input is greatly appreciated as we are planning to release this as the first Roktronik Promo CD ever! Stay tuned and we’ll let you know how to go about getting your free copy of the new CD…as always, many thanks for all the continued support!!

With the Derby this past weekend, chances are that you’re like us and still feeling the effects of all those damn mint juleps. Knowing how rough that must be on everyone’s Monday workday, we hustled upon our return from Louisville and put together this new Monday Morning creation to help ease the working pains…

Φ – Third Monday Morning [download: right click, save as...]

Have a Rok’in week!!

There is no doubt that Coachella is one of the greatest music festivals ever known to mankind. After experiencing such an epic event, we felt that it was necessary to pay homage to the three-day bender of beats by dedicating our next mix to it. In doing so, it only seemed appropriate for the compilation to include artists that we actually saw and heard while at the festival. With that said, please enjoy our “chellie treats” mix featuring scrambled sound morsels from Mike Snow, Little Boots, Rusko, Passion Pit, Phoenix, deadmau5, the XX, La Roux, Muse, Benny Benassi, Kaskade, Tiesto, and Bassnectar.

Φ – chellie treats [to download: right click, save as...]

Bon Apetit!!

Aside from a small hiccup due to an unorganized day 1 at the entrance (they ran out of wristbands mid-day), we hit the Coachella grounds sprinting…straight to the Sahara tent. As Coachella newbies this year, we made sure to exploit all that the festival had to offer and made a valiant attempt at seeing a little bit of everyone at every stage but alas, nothing could quite compare to what the Sahara was dishing out that Friday.

While we missed out on Proxy because of the whole entry mess, we made it just in time to catch Aeroplane. It was the first time we had ever seen them live and they were nothing short of spectacular. Wolfgang Gartner came on right afterward and followed suit with an incredible set which included his most recent hit, Undertaker. After bouncing around a bit following Gartner, we got a chance to hear some other notable performances from Passion Pit, La Roux, Imogen Heap, and LCD Soundsystem. Of those, we’d have to say that La Roux put on the most impressive showing albeit that their tent was utterly packed beyond toleration. Thus, we inevitably found ourselves back raging at the Sahara tent for the end of Erol Alkan and Benny Benassi. This, of course, culminated to the mind-blowing performance by deadmau5.

Although there were a few close competitors, we’d have to say that deadmau5 came out on top as our favorite performance of Coachella 2010. All personal biases aside, our reasoning behind that claim is because he signed, sealed and delivered the full package. Not only did he work in a handful of brand-new songs and unique improv beats, but what really stole the show was the unveiling of his new stage setup. As the very same individuals who were responsible for the lighting in Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark Tour and the infamous pyramid from Daft Punk’s 2007 Alive Tour, Lighting/Set Designer Martin Phillips and Catalyst/LED technician John McGuire stopped short of nothing in the creation and premiere of deadmau5′s new DJ podium/cube, stage lighting, and revolutionary LED mau5head. What makes this all the more epic is that Daft Punk’s pyramid also happened to debut for the first time at Coachella in 2006. As mentioned in a previous post, rumor has it that deadmau5 has a set of virtual reality screens within this new mau5head that allows him to view all of his monitors at one time. We’ll have to confirm this and get back to ya.

There were no port-a-potty lines from 11:30 onwards since no one wanted to miss a beat of what Joel and his new LED mask had in store. Throughout the entire show, different patterns and images flashed across this new helmet in sync with both the music and the lights shown on the cube. At one point, the Disney-like mouse outline of a head suddenly came to life and started wickedly singing along with the song, “Sometimes Things Get, Whatever.” Needless to say, deadmau5 successfully captivated and enthralled a tent full of beat-hungry electro heads for an incredible close of the first day at Coachella. We’ve compiled a few of the best videos from across the web for you to get a true sense of how awesome it really was…

Wait for 3:23 when “Sometimes Things Get, Whatever kicks in…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Moar Ghosts N Whatever”/”Ghosts N Stuff” feat. Rob Swire

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Sophie Needs a Ladder” (tentative name) feat. vocals by Sofia Toufa (Tommy Lee’s GF…both of which performed live with deadmau5 at Ultra Music Festival this year)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Strobe”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Arguru” (closing)

Click here to view the embedded video.

And last but not least…here’s some footage of Danny DeVito trancing out with some topless girls at the deadmau5 performance (compliments of TMZ):

Here’s a great compilation of lessons learned at Coachella this year (Thanks Craig C. for this!)

IMPORTANT: Do not read this if you did not go to Coachella, for you will only end up frustrated and confused…

* 22 Things I Learned At Coachella 2010 *

1. Golf carts are the new Bentleys, helicopters the new G5, and “Backstage” wristbands the new black card (until security informs you yours is fake and you are out 1200 bucks)

2. Two blackberry batteries are better than one

3. Battery saving tip: change bbm status to “No, I do not have any extra tickets”

4. Once you are “wristbanded” for a party you MUST keep it on all weekend, even if the party is over, and even if it’s Saturday and the wristband says “Friday” on it

5. If you are male – A cute 19 year old girl from Simi Valley, CA will ALWAYS be able to get a cooler, larger, and more powerful collection of wristbands than you can

6. If you are female – You MUST upload a picture of all of your wristbands on Facebook to make your guy friends jealous

7. At parties people with uniform-looking t-shirts will try to hand you free bottles of juice made by companies you have never heard of. This juice is generally not good and should be avoided.

8. Girls must dress “bohemian-chic”, headband mandatory, guys must dress hipster, striped tank-top mandatory

9. Extra bonus if your sunglasses feature some form of neon

10. There will always be someone with a bigger, badder and more hipster beard than yours

11. Someone named “Mollie” will get with almost all of your friends

12. If you meet girls from Hollywood in the VIP area and they seem to be pissy, don’t take it personal, they are just angry about not having cell service to Twitter

13. When all of your friends are dancing and singing along to a supposedly-popular song that you do not know, just clap, move your lips, and take off one article of clothing

14. If hippies are sitting on the grass with 100 yards of the stage during a high energy song it is totally ok to step on them

15. If you are not time-stamping your text messages you are doing something wrong

16. It is ok to eat that extra slice of pizza because you will be walking 15 fucking miles every day

17. Thou shalt not put on a wristband so tightly that it cannot be slipped off and loaned to a friend

18. Thou shalt not refuse a free ride back to your hotel from the Festival grounds

19. Thou shalt check that the restroom has toilet paper BEFORE thou sits down

20. Thou shalt proceed with caution when offered a brownie

21. Thou shalt ask what *exactly* is in the bag BEFORE putting it in thou nasal cavity

22. Thou shalt drink lots of water, and live to tell about it.

Happy Coachella, you crazy crazy fools.

–See you all next year for Coachella 2011!–

We’ve been diggin’ the tunes from 32 year-old English vocalist, Luciana (Caporaso), for quite some time now. Although she’s been hustling around the industry since ’94, her music career didn’t fully take off until 2006 with the release of the song, “Yeah Yeah” — a collaboration with the English house DJ duo known as Bodyrox. Aside from being a great jam, the uncut version of the video (below and NSFW) also happens to be one of our favorites. Grimy and sexy…can’t ask for much more than that.

Bodyrox feat. Luciana – Yeah Yeah (Uncut)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now that we’ve got your full attention, it’s worth noting that Luciana made her foray into the music industry by creating posters and album sleeves for record companies. With a design style similar to that of Andy Warhol, she utilized the elements of photography, painting, and silver/gold leaf to create her most notable (and first) compilation by the name of “Icon,” which was unveiled in 2004 in Soho, London. Luciana is considered and will will continue to be a significant presence within the realms of contemporary art and of course, music. Here are a couple other great videos featuring Luciana including one of her hit song from last year with Richard Vission & Static Revenger.

Super Mal feat. Luciana – Bigger Than Big

Click here to view the embedded video.

Richard Vission & Static Revenger feat. Luciana – I Like That

Click here to view the embedded video.

Can’t wait to hear what she has in store for us this year!