Being back in blighty and with our feet under our most creative spot in the world, our own study desk, we are revving up our motors with a whole host of reviews to celebrate our trip away in unforgettable sunny South Africa, but before all that, we had to try and get back up to date with our music motions, especially given the names coming up, many who have been busy making music while we have been away soaking up the rays in Belitto & Cape Town. And, when you see who we have chosen, you will see that this a selection of the cream of the scene, some who have been delighting the dancefloors for many moons, but who can still strut their stuff in style, while others are more recent entrants to our crème de la crème list, but take their place with pride. But it’s not just about the music, but about the makers too, so brief news slots will compliment the tracks & comps choices and hint towards things to come from our favoured few.

So, with the scene set, lets hit the ground running and in the best possible way as top of the tree slot simply had to go to Steve Pitron, the spinning star that has been making our musical waves since the days of Crash, huh hum years ago and sent us off to South Africa in style with a scintlating set at Beyond four Sunday’s ago. So, arriving back in London on Wednesday, we had our eye on a return to Beyond, although not before checking out Room Service where he stole the show & entertained us to more of that Pitron perfection. However, not three days after we stepped on that plane to Durban, Steve was in the studio finalising his latest podcast, which we were itching to download while away, but have saved ourselves to give it full justice back here in London, which we are doing right here right now, rocking around our study while the sun is shining.

But by golly did we wish we had popped it onto our iPod in Cape Town, as it is a sunshine splashed collection of terrific tunes, which gets you in the mood for smiling in the sunshine, with a glorious mix of new tracks & oldies rehashed, including a fab Madonna remix, a re-work of “Make Your Move”, a brilliant rendition of “Upside Down” & the amazing “Missing” from Everything But The Girl in amongst many others new & newly re-made if you know what we mean. Indeed, with one track after the next sending us into a spin, we could go on & on (and will in a special post – watch out for that) but simply say, go get your copy now by heading to http://stevepitronsessions.podomatic.com and feel that Pitron perfection once again and as one track within this 142 minute mix suggests, “Get On The Dancefloor”, as this magnificent mix will surely inspire you to do,  not least at Beyond where Steve is forever at his brilliant best.

Hot on Steve’s heels is another D.J. who has been filling our musical boots with banging beats since those Crash days and never fails to get us ”Doing The Disco Matt” these days, whether it be at Industri, down in Lo-Profile, across at Lovechild or even away from the sling at Hard On! (oops that’s cousin Crisco Matt!) and more often than not, when we are peddling around London’s roads. Indeed, while we were away in South Africa, Brent’s compilations were filling our ears by the poolside, down on the beach & even up on Table Mountain, not least his latest & third creation of 2011, harping back to his “No Americano” release a few months ago, but this one crammed with up to date Latino beats. Indeed, when you think of Latino music mixed in the modern way, there is no better exponent of this art, Brent?, well Brent Nicholls of course.

So in “Casa Latino” (full title includes “No Americano Two”) he pulls of the Latin beats brilliantly and we simply couldn’t resist downloading it while in Cape Town and bouncing along Seapoint’s main road laughing, grinning & getting weird looks as a result, that’s how entertaining we find this compilation. And from the off, Mr Nicholls gets you in that Latino mood with a catchy number “Swing Time”, although it was (and still is) “Mi Cha Cha” that caused those hilarious outbursts in Cape Town, although with a full 18 tracks to choose from, all brilliantly blended by Brent, this departure from the dancefloor norm is amazingly addictive. So rather than succumbing to substances, slide into this substance of a set ala compilation style, by going to http://djbrentnicholls.com/web/2011/03/04/podcasts-casa-latino-2011-no-americano-two/ and download or stream to complete satisfaction.

Onward and to our next big star, our Parisian pal no less, whom we spent three fabulous days with in the French capital in February, we walking away having secured the place & our pal a special slot in our heart. But, whilst we didn’t indulge in some of his music while in Paris, our Leo Leo proved the perfect guide to the gastronomic delights & the scenic sights of this awe inspiring city, leaving an indelible impression on our minds & souls for which we remain eternally grateful for. And who was better to show us Paris in such a superb way but resident of the French capital, Leomeo Carandang, our three day frolic allowing us the time to get to know each other even better than we did before, so thus cementing an already burgeoning bond of friendship between us. But that’s not what we are here to talk about, rather that music that this magnificent maker creates and by golly does he do so at a rate of knots, on average one a month, very much matching his exhaustive gig schedule that takes this amiable & adventurous man right across the globe.

So, what’s this latest Leomeo mix then? Well, “Me Gusta” has all the elements that tend to make up this man’s music compilation, banging beats, the odd drench of vocals to keep you focussed & staying on track (check the lyrics of one of the tunes), although with a minimal amount of tribal influence which is usual for Leo, this 60 minute marvel is much more in the house music vein, a selection of sounds that would easily fit a Lovechild main room, a Beyond second space or even a SuperMartXe showing. So, with this latest production of his, our Mr Carandang displays his diversity & ability to hit the mark within a wide range of house genres and “Me Gusta” had our feet tapping & hips swaying from the off, so should you too by going to http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/me-gusta-mix-by-dj-leomeo. Plus, if you are into your skiing and have made the European Gay Ski Week a date, then you will catch him playing similar sounds to supplement all that snow, the man fresh from a trip on the sunnyside of the world, Miami no less, while watch this space for news on a re-work of his track “The Sound Of C”, which has just been given a 2011 make-over by a big production star.

Next up and we kind of hop over the border from France to Spain, well in respect of the fact that Spain, Seville to be exact, as this is the home city of the long time London based Spanish superstar D.J. Gonzalo Rivas, who, like Brent & Steve, has been entertaining with enthralling music for well over 10 years. Indeed here in the capital, there is hardly a major club that hasn’t benefitted from his talents, the list extending to biggies, Trade, Salvation, Orange, Beyond, A:M, Juicy, Action, Heaven, the list goes on & on, Mr Rivas having to sort of fervent following & resounding reputation that has meant he has remained one of the hottest properties across the scene for as long as he has. But what really stands Gonzalo out from the crowd, is his amazing ability to match the club, the atmosphere & the mood with his music style, which ranges from disco, to electro, from tech to techno, from pop to progressive & virtually every genre in between, hence why he features at such a wide range of clubs & events, so many both at home & abroad that we could take another paragraph just to list them.

Yet, it is his music that does the most of the talking and Mr Rivas is just as prolific in the recording studio as he is out in the clubs, a regular set of compilations coming our way on a regular basis, his love for deep tech & progressive house, displayed through his series of “Deep” podcasts, this love most likely coming from those legendary slots in the Trade main room at Turnmills & the RAW room at Orange. And in his latest March offering, Gonzalo continues the tradition of hitting the mark with his music selections, 12 terrific tech tunes that would be no strangers to his sets at either events, so for those of you that have not been witness to his performances, going to http://gonzalorivas.podomatic.com/ is the next best way to receive some Rivas rapture, the man also serving these recorded sets up via Soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/gonzalo-rivas. Over & above all of that, we are right pleased to include him here as a mini birthday treat as his big day is tomorrow & is a biggie too, but you can also join in wishing him well by turning up to his regular gigs for Orange “RAW”, A:M, and particularly Beyond, where he has become a feature of the main room, one so well deserved.

Next in our cream of the scene selections and the second special birthday inclusion, is Hifi Sean Dickson, a scot by birth but who has made London his home, virtually immediately making an impressionable impact at the then superb Saturday weekly wonder that was Juicy, Sean’s musical magic also extending to Hard On!, Barcode & Beyond, more recent conquests including DTPM and the mighty Orange, where he was welcomed to the hallowed turf that is the RAW room, starring alongside original’s Gonzalo Rivas & David Jimenez. So, with this sort of pedigree, it is no surprise that he is part of our special selection, not least as he is just as prolific in the recording studio as he is behind the decks, his future, deep & tech fuelled house winning him hoards of fans wherever he goes, international dates no stranger to the Sean schedule, San Francisco having already featured & summer dates across Europe looming.

But like our first four, it is the music that we hone in with Hifi, checking out his latest two compilations, not known as podcasts, but “Hifi casts” (we love it), which are issued now on a monthly basis. So, with February finding us here, there & everywhere, but March finding us back on track, both month’s releases get our attention, each one crammed with a-typical Sean sounds, elements of the future house he has become so well known for, funky, deep, soulful & tech toned tunes that have made him so popular not just at RAW (one of his most favourite gigs) but also at Beyond, where just yesterday he had The Chapel Room rocking well past 10 a.m. in a 3+ hour set showing. Having danced under the mirrorball of happiness to Sean’s sets in the past, his Hifi casts evoke exactly the same feelings, so we cannot recommend them enough, by going to http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/dj-hifi-sean-psychedelic-house/id374015604 where ALL the downloads are offered by Sean for free (what a generous man!) and our small token of appreciation of this generosity is to wish Sean a very happy birthday on this the 21^st March 2011.  

So to selection six and a guy that never fails to entertain us through his music, through his appearances and through his party attitude that is un-paralleled with any of our entrants so far, a man that generally spells trouble for us, as it is this awesome attitude that so often drops our guard and sees us let go with gusto. And just hours ago at Area was yet another example when Nick Tcherniak’s attendance & influence had us in stitches of laughter and moments of madness, dancing, drinking and delighting in his company. Yet Nick stands for so much more, from being the face of Trade way back when, through regular appearances for clubs like Discotec, Fiction & DTPM, to masterminding the music for Trade’s more recent parties, back-to-back sets with studio partner Steve Thomas, often stealing the shows, that studio work gaining incredible momentum last year with hits “My People”, “Deep Water” & “The Answer” hitting the big time in both download charts & dancefloors.

So, we simply had to mention his music here and his latest two podcasts, which were (like many) released while we were on our travels, the first his February session and very much evoking his sets for DTPM, where tech tones are neatly mixed in with vibrant vocals to produce a irresistible mix of genres that so often see him filling floors wherever he goes. But the second is a real corker and one lifted from his live performance at SuperMartXe just over a week ago and marked the first ever (yes ever) set on new club Pulse’s main room, this special recording also including the live PA of Abigail Bailey, so a memorable mix to add to your choice collection for sure. So where do you grab these two gems, well by going to http://nicktcherniak.podomatic.com/ and clicking on the relevant two, plus keep your eyes peeled for Nick’s next DTPM & SMX gigs coming up in April, among appearances at Barcode, as well as more of that studio work, news of which we will bring you in forthcoming posts.

So to number seven of eight (yes we are nearly there!), this prestigious player hardly ever failing to hit our newsletters in some form or another, whether it be through his tracks or his compilations. Indeed he was part of our first music catch up post of this month, although we didn’t have enough space to mention his studio works on tracks in the pipeline as well as already laid down & doing it. And it is his studio work that Danny Verde is perhaps best known for, although you should know by now (especially from our last post) what these smash songs/tracks are, although 2011 has already marked the resurrection of one of his biggest “Pushin To The Top”, this collaborative track with producer Halmadaxx, originally released in 2008, which had been brought bang up to date with four remix treatments by Hector Fonseca, Pagano, and the two original’s, Halmadaxx giving it a trance feel, while Danny adds his “Miami 011 remix” (our favourite) to the pile, all which you can grab at https://beatport.com/it-IT/html/content/release/detail/335060/pushin-to-the-top-2011-remixes.

But, while Mexico, Brazil & dates in Europe have been stealing his time, just today, Danny confirmed that he is back in the studio working on finalising a new remix production for Ellie Golding’s “Starry Eyed” (more news on this soon) while his production for Eva Universe and their track “Ashes”, which was given the initial Soundcloud release a short while ago, is yet another Danny smash, plenty of lyrics & vocals making their mark that should see this appeal to a broad range of dancefloors & clubs, not to mention music loving ears. With heaps of the euphoric & uplifting tones that always mark a great Verde version of a track, “Ashes” is no exception, follows his last huge hit “Till We See The Sun” in the same vein and looks set to be the spring/summer sensation for sure, that initial sample release still available by going to http://soundcloud.com/eva-15/ashes-danny-verde-remix. As for Danny, well he will be right here in London next weekend for the Black Party at Area, followed by April dates across Europe, including the Delice Dream Festival in Barcelona, dates in Hawaii & The U.S. also penned, so as busy D.J’ing as he is in the studio.  

So to our final specialist selection and a chap that made such a big impression on both us and London on the first day of this year, playing a superb set for Salvation at Koko and then a spectacular set at Fire for As One, the marriage of minds brand that ended up being THE party of the NY celebrations in the capital, Guy Scheiman instrumental to rocking Lovechild’s room to its foundations. Having made such a splash, we then splashed out on a full-on focus at the back end of January and have been itching to include him in our posts since, such is the magnitude of his music mixing. Yet, while this impressionable Israeli boy struts his stuff on the Tel Aviv scene with regular residencies, like so many D.J.’s of his ilk, breaking into Europe has been quite tough, although his style of sounds are entirely suitable to the scene, this being suitably displayed in his latest compilation, “Winter Session 2011”, which he released while we were grabbing some summer in South Africa, the 80 minute mix crammed with corkers, not least that Danny Verde remix of “Pushin To The Top” we mentioned earlier, along with four of Guy’s own remix productions, truly reflecting this man’s talents, a compilation already in our collection and should be in yours by going to http://soundcloud.com/guysc/winter-session-2011-mixed-by.

But it is his studio work on tracks that we want to really shout about, a whole band of remixes already having made playlists around the world, a project with Jack & Joy featuring vocalist Belle, topping a long list of remixes that he has worked in just the last couple of months, “Break This Down” a stand-out selection which is out on Beatport & available via https://beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/336374/break-this-down#. But that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg as projects currently under a full head of steam include UK artist David Jonson’s single “Get Down & London Beat’s “Thinking About You”, while releases bubbling under the surface include Guy’s TLV mixes on Amada Morra’s “Heartbeat” and the track “Music Takes Control”, both which are set to make in big in The States & Canada where they are due to be published. So, this is definitely one prolific producer in the making, Guy as busy in the studio as anyone we know and with passion for music  running through his veins just as much that will surely see him crack that much need breakthrough into the European scene.

Right that’s it for this rather selective newsletter, the eight inclusions very much deserving their place as each have produced some truly magnificent music in the last few weeks while we have been on the other side of the world, so a major thanks to each & every one of them. Looking forward, the third in our catch up newsletters has already been formed and, unlike this, will be a quick fire affair, a list already extending to eighteen D.J.’s & likely to grow even further by the time it is released next weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for that, plus the next two in our “Focus” series, looking at D.J,’s Savin & Marco Gee.

We close with three quick mentions, first for the new Facebook group “iMIX – Podcasts For The People Form The World’s Best D.J.’s, which was created by none other than Brent Nicholls  and has, in the six or so weeks it has been going, has taken off amazingly, with daily posts from a whole range of D.J.’s. So it is well worth checking out by going to the group link http://facebook.com/php?sk=group_126968997375548, or by dropping an e-mail in to find out more at imixcast@groups.facebook.com. Next quick mention goes to Fidel Trotman, who celebrates his birthday today (March 21^st) and who is part of that 18 strong cast for our next newsletter, so happy birthday Fidel. Finally, for those of you, like us, that missed Alan K’s final set at beyond, fear not as in conversation, he has hinted to us that a podcast commemorating the event is due very soon and, of course, we will be the first to bring it to you.

So all that remains to say is, we hope you like our specialist selections here and of so you know what to do, “…sit back, select those sounds, turn up the volume & let them play as Music Is The Answer…” (DISCO MATT)