Melbourne Techno Collective

The answer of course, is increasingly quite a lot. And it’s not just limited to DJing either, electronic musicians of the feminine persuasion are having more of an impact on what is historically a lads only scene, than ever before. So why state the obvious, well while female DJs and producers are more than mixing it with boys across all genres, the truly talented DJs and producers still face certain challenges to be accepted as just that – truly talented DJs and producers.

While it is arguably true that being a female may open the occasional door, there is a lot of crap that female DJs/producers put up with, that their male counterparts would never have to endure. Compounded by cringe worthy inventions such as Pioneer’s “She DJ” and the emergence of topless DJs of various persuasions, being a female in the boys club that is the underground music scene, must at times feel like being in an episode of Mad Men.

In this article from The Electronic Farm, Poly Lavin tackles this very issue and asks the question are women really perceived differently than men in the electronic music sector?

Read it here

Pinksilver stalwart and label co-owner Markojux (Mark Baumann) has delivered his first full EP on Pinksilver Music’s Digital imprint with the sublime “Too Little Too Late” EP. The Melbourne based producer known for his work as one half of Duke & Duke and Forty6&Two, has turned out 4 lush house numbers on the digital only label including a strong remix from Miguel Colmenares.

The EP is out now exclusively from Beatport

01 – Markojux – Tech My Jazz Feat. Colin Snape
02 – Markojux – Just One Minute
03 – Markojux – Walk With Me
04 – Markojux – Tech My Jazz (Miguel Colmenares Remix)

First release tickets have gone on sale for Hardware’s Creamfields festival which will take place at the Melbourne Showgrounds on May 3rd. Among the artists billed to perform at the festival will be UK legend Dave Clarke, the enigmatic Green Velvet and techno’s man of the moment Joris Voorn.

First release tkts are available from Ticketek, In the Mix and Moshtix for $79+booking fee and the local line up will be announced in the coming week’s.

On March 5 Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky will give an exclusive live performance at Shed 4, Melbourne’s iconic Docklands warehouse. Fusing a large scale video installation with a digital DJ set, Miller will also incorporate a string quartet into this arresting multimedia performance. Thanks to our friends at Shed 4, the Melbourne Techno Collective have 2 double passes and 1 single pass to give away to this amazing show.

To go in the draw all you have to do is subscribe to the Melbourne Techno Collective newsletter on or before Feb 28 and answer one simple question. “What’s something SPOOKY that’s happened to you?” most interesting responses win!

Enter the competition

View event details
Visit the official website

Mathew Dear’s Ghostly International label has put together a compilation of unreleased and rare music from it’s mighty stable artists and is offering it up as a free download from their website ghostly.com. All you have to do to get the album is sign up to their email newsletter (which will also keep you in the know when they run limited vinyl releases and other cool Ghostly Int things).

Here’s what they had to say about it:
A compilation of rare, unreleased, and hard-to-find music from our vaults. Highlights include Matthew Dear’s “Don’t Go This Way”, a tasty leftover from the Asa Breed sessions; Michna’s “Quadruple Gold Dipped”, an alternate version of the Magic Monday album-opener; and The Sight Below’s “Blown”, another piece of perfect melancholia from the prolific producer.

Ghostly Essentials: Rarities One
Various Artists
1. AEROC – DAISY CHAINS
2. AUDION – BEND HER
3. BEN BENJAMIN – DESK HAS BEEN TABLED
4. MATTHEW DEAR – DON’T GO THIS WAY
5. MICHNA – QUADRUPLE GOLD DIPPED
6. MIDWEST PRODUCT – BELGIAN
7. MOBIUS BAND – THE LOVING SOUNDS OF STATIC (JUNIOR BOYS REMIX INSTRUMENTAL)
8. OUTPUTMESSAGE – METTLE
9. THE SIGHT BELOW – BLOWN

Following a year in which he put out a celebrated double mix CD, earned accolades for his live sets and released one of Ibiza’s biggest anthems, Resident Advisor’s Todd L. Burns sat down with the Dutch DJ/producer to take stock.

There’s a lot of words to describe Joris Voorn. But let’s go with unpretentious. From his humble beginnings in a small Dutch town, Voorn’s rise to superstar DJ status has been a measured process. A big remix here, a quality single there, a beloved mix CD, a fantastic live gig: His is not so much the stuff of legend as it is the stuff of hard work and dedication. Nonetheless, 2009 seemed to be the year when it all exploded. His Balance 014 mix has already gone down as one of the finest in the series, “Sweep the Floor” swept Ibiza and he garnered enough of your votes to hit the top 10 in both our live act and DJ poll at the end of the year. We caught up with him in January to speak about the accolades, his start as a DJ and why Ibiza has become credible again.

read the full interview here

In this fantastic interview on Skiddle, Thomas Schumacher speaks openly about the trick he played on Get Physical in order to get them to sign him. He also touches on digital Djing, the music which inspires him and what it’s like to be making music for a new generation of party goers.

read the full interview here.

The Melbourne Techno Collective’s Craig McWhinney has rocketed into the Beatport bestsellers charts with his remix of local icon Christian Vance’s Chase the Night. The track which was featured on Carl Cox’s new Global Underground mix is – at the time of writing – number 42 on
Beatport’s Techno Top 100 Downloads. Chase the Night was originally released on Haul Music in 2009 and has received strong international support, with McWhinney’s mix adding extra punch to what was already an epic track.

McWhinney has a string of releases and remixes planned for early 2010; and with support from the likes of Carl Cox and many other big name jocks, 2010 could be a very big year of our Craig.

Preview and purchase on Beatport

Download or Subscribe with iTunes | Download – right click save as

Segment 1 – Craig McWhinney [mix-up]
Redshape – Dark & Sticky
Unknown – Unknown
Room 10 – Maxwell (Horacio remix)
Telefon Tel Aviv – Immolate Yourself (Ben Klock remix)
Any Hart + Mike Buhl – Hacienda (Craig McWhinney mix)
Delta Funktonnen – Silhouette (Marcel Dettman remix)

Segment 2 – Sam McEwin [mix-up]
Minilogue – Arb Almub Almoh
Lemos & Kreon – Lookwhoshere (Wighnomy Bros remix)
Butane – Inferno Jack (Anja Schneider remic)
Butane – Mutation (Sety Circus Remix)
Sam Smart – Quarts (Sam McEwin’s Unreleased mix)

Segment 3 – Sam and Craig [Tracks of the week]
The Chain – Geo
Jamie Jones – Summertime
Solomun – Somebody’s Story
Gabry T – Le Blank
Maetrik – Paradigm House (Mike Shannon Remix)
Gaiser – After Colors

Martin Buttrich the silent partner and genius behind the likes of Loco Dice and Timo Maas, will release his debut album Crash Test at the end of next month. The Hanover based studio wizard who is usually content to leave the limelight to others, came out in his own right in 2004 with his Meeting Dave Dish / Mr. Medicine Man 12″ release on Four:Twenty Recordings. This was followed by releases on Pokerflat, Planet E and Cocoon in 2006 and 07, however Buttrich has been anything but prolific under his own name.

The 11 track Crash Test album will be released on Loco Dice’s Desolat label at the end of March and will represent 15 months of production for Buttrich.