DJ Azsa – Floral Freeform

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 2, 2009
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 9 comments

Thanks again for about the millionth time to Decion, this time for letting me know about a nice mix of freeform from around the world that includes a few Japanese tunes. It starts off with Eternal Cannon….it’s tough to find anything to follow that, but the set has a lot of energy and would definitely be a good one to hear live.

Decion found it in a thread on the Hullabaloo forums, which also very kindly bigs up my mixes and Decion’s Metaform.

RaverRoseTF – Eternal Cannon
Dok & Ponder – Ribcage (Oli G Remix)
Nomic – Holocaust
MINAMOTOYA – Miss You
Betwixt & Between – GENSHI KURAGE
Mark Smith – Bring On The Noize
Oli G – Cordelia
Ephexis & Seventy-7 – Psymbiosis (Blistering Breaks Mix)
EFM-7 – Dream Machine
Kevin Energy & K Complex – Suck My Rock
Tazz vs. Digital Anarchy – Kickin It Ruff
EFM-7 – Pulse 2
Addiction – Senselessness NRG
Oli G – Gir (Arkitech Remix)
Ephexis – Nan Chuan
Teranoid vs Betwixt & Between – AYAKASHI

Download here

NRGetic Romancer, February 21st

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 26, 2009
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

I’ve finally seen some photos from last month’s NRGetic Romancer, so time for a round-up of what happened there. Of course, the venue and other DJs were nothing new to me, but to be actually playing alongside some of my best friends in the scene at the most famous event of its kind in Japan was, well…you can imagine, can’t you?

First thing was the pre-event meet up, and being shown the staff ropes by Guld – I’ll be helping out on the reception etc next time, all the stuff that the other DJs have to do too (until Hard NRG smashes into the mainstream and we can afford to pay reception staff, that is). There isn’t too much decor to put up at NRGetic Romancer, but this time there was some kind of problem with the flyers and they weren’t printed. A shame, as I wanted one for myself – but the front of the DJ booth is usually covered with them too, to obscure the rummaging for records/messing around with gear that goes on at most events.

After the sound check, gokuraku & Yuusuke started off their epic 1hr 50min set, running through a lot of their usual crowd pleasers, even if the floor was practically empty for the first part of the set. I was away with Guld at the reception for a lot of the time, but still heard some of the set through the speakers they have down there. A great thing about schranz as a warm up is that the bpm is pretty high from the start, and so the crowd were ready for more of the same by the time 12.50 rolled around.

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Hardcore Tano*C / Drum & Bass Sessions 2009, 21st March

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 23, 2009
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Events, Japanese, UK. Leave a Comment

I’ve just recovered from a busy Saturday, where for the first time I managed two events in one day – it nearly killed me, but I’m glad I didn’t miss either of them, especially after I couldn’t make it to last Thursday’s Tokyo Hardcore Construction.

First was Hardcore Tano*C, and I had to be there for the start to see Alabaster’s set. The night before he received some FINRG promos (entirely legally, I might add), and I was hoping, he played Voices of Babylon about halfway through. I have to say, I was really really impressed with his mixing and track choice, we’ve got very similar taste in tunes – as well as some of his more recent tracks, like Void and Ziggurat, he played Grimsoul’s Synthetic Paradise (still one his very best tunes, I reckon), Angel of Hell and a few other quality tracks. It was only a 45 minute set, but one of the best I’ve heard for a while – the mix combinations were very very good.

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Recommended mixes

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 18, 2009
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes. Leave a Comment

Time for another mix round-up, I think. My own mix is very very slowly coming together, but I won’t be setting a date for it….picking the first two tunes has taken me about a week (!).

Anyway, first up is Decion’s newest Hard NRG set, Scum of the Earth. Dark and nasty NRG is the thing here, with a fantastic intro that is genuinely one of the best I’ve heard for a long time. It might be Decion’s best Hard NRG set so far, so make sure to download it here, right away (clicking on kuuntele, as usual).

Next is Meke’s Japanese freeform-themed set, Freeformed. This one is really impressive, with some quality selection and nice mixing. The set has the atmosphere of a Japanese event from a couple of years ago, as the sound has changed quite a lot since Invoker and Nightmare Freak were getting regular play. A lot of people here miss some of those retro tunes though, so this was definitely a nice listen. Download here.

Finally we have Kuruption’s Get Finergized Vol 4. His previous sets have been quality, and this one mainly focuses on Hybridize releases. Hell’s Gate and NRGetic Romancer ravers will have heard a lot of these tracks before (especially from the second half of the set), but for anyone else who wants to hear a good selection of the recently released tunes, then this is the mix to go for. Download here.

Click for the tracklists to each set> Continue Reading

Konemetsa 09 Trailer

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 17, 2009
Posted in: Events, Finnish. Leave a Comment

Thanks to Decion for pointing me towards this one – I’d been watching some videos from Konemetsa earlier today, as it happens. It looks like such a great event…I’ll be heading to Finland at some point, I’m 100% sure, but maybe I can’t make it to the ’09 Konemetsa. A Finnish raver I met at Energetic Trance the other week was telling me about the amazing sound of the music in amongst all those trees, kind of a ‘softer’ sound, or something like that. Seems like the kind of thing you have to be there to experience properly though, so time to start saving..

HARD JAM @ Chiba Club Revolution, 20th March

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 13, 2009
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

A quick note for any NRG fans in Chiba prefecture (just east of Tokyo) – DJ Minagi is playing a set at HARD JAM on the 20th March. His selection’s been getting better and better lately, and I’m keen to get to this one myself. Trouble is, Thursday is Tokyo Hardcore Construction, and Saturday is Hardcore Tano*C/LTJ Bukem…

The lineup hasn’t been completely announced yet, but Minagi is headlining, and it’s great to see him still getting sets after Hell’s Gate.

The event opens at 11.00pm, and here’s a map of the area, too.

NRG Monogatari 3 under construction

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 10, 2009
Posted in: Japanese, Mixes. 1 comment

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m now 100% trying to get the next NRG Monogatari finished ASAP. The next NRGetic Romancer is the 18th of April, so I’ll be aiming to get it done in the next few weeks and have enough time to come up with some decent track choices to play there. The next set will almost certainly be recorded, too, so hopefully there’ll be a couple of new mixes from me in the near-ish future!

Nomic – Delta Pavonis

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 10, 2009
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. Leave a Comment

This is one Hybridize tune that I’ve only heard very recently, and it definitely deserves a shout of its own. At 160bpm it doesn’t have the power of some of Nomic’s faster tunes, but it’s a genuinely beautiful track with an amazing atmosphere. Not hard trance and not freeform, it’s something new – and one of the best tunes I’ve heard for a long while. Nomic’s really been on top form for the last few months.

It’s now in the FINRG shop, by the way

Energetic Trance, 8th March

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 10, 2009
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

Not too much has been happening during the past week, but I made it along to Energetic Trance on Sunday, as planned. It was actually my first time at amate-raxi (for some reason I thought I’d been before..), and it’s ridiculously hard to find, through a little hidden/unmarked passageway. The dancefloor itself is tiny, too, and if there’s any air conditioning it doesn’t do anything useful…it was definitely too hot to stay for more than one set at a time.

Anyway, Guld’s set was really top quality, and the highlight of the event, for sure. A lot of the NRGetic Romancer crew were there, and the atmosphere tailed off after Guld and Nish finished their sets. Remo-con’s set in particular didn’t seem to get people going at all….

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Tokyo Hardcore Construction, Tano*C 9th Strike East, LTJ Bukem @Unit

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 1, 2009
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

March is a busy month for events, the first being Energetic Trance next weekend, and here are three more that I’ve been looking forward to. First up is Tokyo Hardcore Construction at Studio Cube – I’ll definitely be along to this one again, though Betwixt & Between isn’t playing this time. If you check the flyer you’ll notice that it’s on the 19th – a Thursday – but thank the gods I’m not working the following day, so all’s well.

Then, depending how NRGetic I’m feeling on the 21st, I’m thinking about a couple of ambitious trips to first the ‘East’ Hardcore Tano*C event (the ‘West’ version will be held in Osaka the week before), and then LTJ Bukem’s event at Unit. I’ll be free from work on Saturdays after next week, and so if my body/bank balance can take it, the early Tano*C start time might actually be a good thing….