After emerging onto the scene in 2013, WEISS has ascended through the dance music ranks at an impressive rate, receiving support from a host of legends ranging from Armand van Helden, Eats Everything and Carl Cox to Elton John along the way. His 2018 hit single ‘Feel My Needs’ took the world by storm, reaching #1 in both the BBC Radio 1 Dance Chart and ARIA Club Chart (also being voted the #1 track for the year), and winning ‘Best Track’ at the DJ Mag ‘Best of British’ awards.
WEISS has circled the globe countless times to complete tours worldwide, in the latter part of 2019 he embarked on his biggest ever tours of North America and Oceania covering 30 dates across 7 weeks. It is this connection that brings WEISS and his experiences to CULTR. We present, WEISS’ Around The World.
Los Angeles
California
The mad thing is I wasn’t originally the biggest fan of LA but I’ve fallen in love with it more and more over the years. The restaurants are incredible and if you’re lucky & get an offer to party at someone’s house in the hills, then take it!!
Ibiza
Spain
It’s always a No.1 go to place for me to party with my friends during the summer. Not only is the nightlife amazing but Old Town is a real mix of old & new with a chilled atmosphere and beautiful restaurants.
Barbados
Carribbean
Barbados has a special place in my heart: I went there as a kid and love the beaches & crystal clear water. Waking up in the morning and finding yourself surrounded by red crabs and swiminning with the turtles is a memory I’ll never forget.
OTR has just embarked on his most fulfilling venture in his young career thus far. With the release of his debut album “Lost At Midnight” via Astralwerks, it is exciting to see the artist’s vision finally coming to fruition. Featuring artists like Panama, Shallou, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Au/Ra, and more, the 12-track LP serves as a digital embodiment of the talent rooted in the 26-year old aerospace engineer-turned-producer.
The captivating project will throw you into a whirlwind of emotions as you are captured by the records alluring atmosphere. Offering enchanting soundscapes, melancholic chord progressions, and catchy toplines along the way, “Lost At Midnight” evidently reaches the peak of electro-pop. Pulling you by the heartstrings, OTR effortlessly transports the listener into a pit of vulnerability which is the very essence as to why the album is incredibly addictive to listen to in the first place. Finally showcasing his genius to the world, we can safely declare that this is OTR’s moment.
“Writing the album over the last two years was an incredible experience. Now that it’s out, I’m happy to see people empathize with the raw emotion I put into each track, signifying different points in my life.” – OTR
With all that being said, what better way to pinpoint the significance of this album than to hear it from the artist himself. Hear the story of how he put this all together in the track-by-track breakdown below.
Shawn Mendes and Cuban born Camila Cabello released their joint single, “Señorita,” last week via Island Records. The song achieved instantaneous success worldwide rocketing to #1 on Spotify’s Global chart as the biggest single-day debut of a male/female duet ever. The video garnered 50 million YouTube streams in the first 48 hours of release while trending #1 around the globe. Other notable chart #1s include Spotify US Chart, iTunes, Apple Music Pop and Apple Music’s Top Videos.
GRAMMY nominated Toronto born multi-platinum singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes released his highly anticipated self-titled third album in May 2018. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as multiple additional worldwide markets, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Holland & more and shot to #1 on iTunes in more than 80 countries immediately upon release. The album became one of the top best-selling album debuts of 2018 and made Shawn the third youngest solo artist to ever have three consecutive #1 albums.
Multi Grammy nominated Cuban born singer/songwriter Camila Cabello (Epic Records / SYCO) released her debut solo album, CAMILA in January 2018 to rave reviews. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart at the same time as her single “Havana” Reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Camila the first solo artist in nearly 15 years to reach the #1 spot on the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Artist 100 charts in the same week. The RIAA platinum-certified album, CAMILA, launched its debut at #1 on 110 iTunes charts around the world, breaking the record for most #1 positions for a debut album in iTunes history. Camila also became the #1 artist on global Spotify.
Ferry Corsten is back with his latest ‘Unity’ collaboration, after releasing the last one with Ilan Bluestone back in December – Ferry has teamed up with BT for a special collaboration in ‘1997‘.
Ferry Corsten has been busy with solo music in the first half of 2019, releasing ‘Freefall‘ – which feels like a more commercially viable release. He also returned to his Gouryella alias with ‘Surga‘.
Ferry Corsten has brought in another big name into the Unity project, with the legend that is BT. After remixing BT’s track ‘Suddenly’ in 2010, the pair are familiar with each other’s prowess in the studio, and that united vision is showcased in abundance. The team-up sees both artists strengths utilised to their best potential to create a track that is greater than the sum of its parts. As it should, the production leans heavily on the killer uplifting melody – which is a prominent throughout the entire track. The mix of each artist’s styles is present and concludes in an epic collaboration.
Ferry launched the UNITY project in 2018 with his collaboration alongside Paul Oakenfold titled ‘A Slice Of Heaven’, and continued working with artists within the Trance community throughout the year, such as DIM3NSION, Jordan Suckley, Saad Ayub and Ilan Bluestone, and after the success of 2018 has more releases in store after making his first donation to project partner, VH1’s Save The Music Foundation, an organisation launched to reinstate music programs in public schools, which to date has raised over $53 million and helped over 2,100 public schools.
If you’re anything like us, you find yourself on the move often and know there’s nothing worse than not being able to listen to your music, podcasts or movies in peace or stuck using the dreaded plane headphones!
If you’re wondering what will make your music always sound its best in transit, we’ve got you covered with these top-performing wireless Bluetooth options based on sound quality, battery life, style, and durability. So whether you’re looking to turn it up on a plane, or turn it down while in the office these are the best on the market to drown the sound of the word out that you should consider.
We prefer On-Ear options when taking long haul journey’s, they fit comfortably and firmly, do a better job at muffling out the sound and don’t fall out when you fall asleep, they also have longer battery life and being bigger are much harder to lose or forget.
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
Sony’s noise cancellation is among the best thanks to their QN1 chip. Packed with High resolution audio with technology and features to give truly authentic sound. The battery life of 30 hours gets you through even the longest of journeys and even if you do run out it has super quick charging, so you’re rarely ever without your headphones. The Improved design on the unit make the XM3’s even more comfortable and lightweight for those long haul flights. As a bonus if you’re using it around the house it’s optimized for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for seamless hands-free control.
Variations: Black, Silver Battery Life: 20 hours of wireless, 40 hours of listening in wired mode App Enabled: Yes, Bose Connect
Bose is one of the industry leaders and this is their most refined product. You can adjust the level of noise cancellation to suit your environment and it’s Bluetooth and NFC pairing is hassle-free wireless connections allowing you to switch between devices at an instant. They come with volume optimised EQ, and Noise rejecting dual microphone system which means crystal clear phone calls without background noise.
And as a bonus, the device was recently given an update so you can talk to Amazon Alexa. They come with a micro-USB to USB to use with your laptop or phone charger as well as a standard audio jack and airplane plug so you can enjoy the inflight entertainment too.
Variations: Titanium Black, Navy Blue, Gold Beige Battery Life: 36 Hours with ANC App-Enabled: Jabra Sound+
The Jabra features Smart Sound, Audio that automatically adapts to your surroundings you can also use their app to customise music profiles, choose your voice assistant, track battery usage and more. These epic headphones can block out all the unwanted background noise with Smart Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). They also recognise when you remove them from your ears, auto-playing and pause which help to save battery and make things a bit easier when you need to hear an announcement or speak to flight attendants.
Apart from the releases listed above, here is some additional music that is essential listening. With the return of Dyro, a banging new Armin release, a great new Blasterjaxx record, a lethal track from a trio on Dharma and more!
Dyro – Bombai [STMPD]
Dyro is back! The highly anticipated production, originally through to be a collab with label owner Martin Garrix is out now. The track leans on Dyro’s signature sound and shines with an aggressive lead that will get you moving.
Arman van Buuren & Luke Bond feat. Karra – Revolution [Armind]
This high energy release from Armin and Luke is ‘Revolution‘. Vocals from Karra are always great and that’s shown in this song. The big room trance esque drop will definitely have an impact at music festivals this summer.
Mosimann & Leandro Da Silva – Horizon [Protocol]
This production is banging, with a unique progressive and electro house fusion that is guaranteed to be heard at many clubs and festivals around the world this summer! Another heater from Protocol!
JETFIRE x Reggio x Wasback – Cathedral [Dharma]
This monster three way collaboration is super catchy and deserves attention! You can hear key components in this production that have come from each of the trio. This fits right in at home on Dharma, KSHMR is sure to play this in his upcoming sets.
Drew Wilken feat. Gabriella Jacobs – Found Me [Lowly]
After his incredible track in ‘Beautiful‘, Drew Wilken is back with another killer release. This time on Trap Nation’s ‘Lowly‘ it’s a bubbly production with energetic drops and great vocals, with a super solid sound design overall.
Blasterjaxx feat. Envy Monroe – Never Be Lonely [MAXXIMIZE]
The build on the latest Blasterjaxx single is incredible, the introduction of the key melody is incredible. After announcing their album earlier this year and releasing 4 single since – it looks like the album may not happen, with the tracks just being releases as singles.
Alok & Quintino – Party Never Ends [Spinnin]
The newest from Alok and Quintino explores each act’s signature sound with a mix of Brazilian and Dutch influences. This one would definitely get the crowd moving with it’s lively vocals.
Julian Jordan – To The Wire [STMPD]
Julian returns to good friend Martin Garrix’s label with a refreshing new sound from the Dutchman. With vocal chops sprinkled throughout the production and no heavy drops like his most recent releases, this track seems like an attempt to explore a more commercial crowd with his music.
Jauz & Axel Boy – I Dare You [Bite This!]
Jauz returns to his own imprint, this time together with Axel Boy for their debut collaboration. ‘I Dare You‘ includes catchy vocals and brings to light a fresh take on Jauz’s iconic sound.
Blaze U & Dexum – Oh Baby [Strange Fruits]
Blaze U & Dexum’s introduction into Strange Fruits is with ‘Oh Baby‘, a banging “future bounce“ record. The track feels like it would fit right in over at Don Diablo’s Hexagon label. The track is well well produced and features great vocals!
Afrojack – It Goes Like [Wall]
Very reminiscent of Steve Angello’s track ‘Knas’, Afrojack’s new one is a 2019 re-take of the classic. So much so that it was originally thought to be a bootleg or rework. The similarities aside, this is a great record with the perfect elements to garner a positive crowd reaction at either a festival or a club!
John Gibbons – Hotstepper [Blindsided]
After smashing over 165m+ catalogue streams and achieving platinum selling singles in Australia, UK and Ireland, DJ John Gibbons is back with a bang to get you dancing this summer with his new single ‘Hotstepper’ a fun, refreshing spin on the much-loved classic ‘Here Comes The Hotstepper’ by Ini Kamoze bound to get you in the mood for the sunshine.
Netflix offers a surprising range when it comes to dance music related content, with multiple documentaries as well as their own Netflix original film ‘XOXO‘.
I’ll Sleep When Im Dead
This Netflix Original Documentary focuses on Steve Aoki and how he grew to where he is today. It was nominated for the ‘Best Music Film’ at the 2016 Grammy’s. It delves into Steve Aoki’s upbringing, his family, his friends as well as other associated artists. If you’re not a fan of Aoki, this may change your mind.
This follows Tommie Sunshine around the world focusing on a different location and DJ’s each episode. He goes from Ibiza to Los Angeles, talks with DJ’s like Hardwell, Krewella, Dirty South and more, with each episode having a different story. Showing how the rave culture has impacted todays dance music scene.
A behind the scenes look at Martin Garrix and Carl Cox, focusing on the past three decades. It also includes other individuals such as Erick Morillo, Moby, David Guetta, Steve Angello, Afrojack, Tiesto, as well as pop artists Usher and Ed Sheeran. The film delves into how dance music has integrated with pop culture. It’s a good look into the differences and similarities between Carl Cox and Martin Garrix who are arguably on different end of the dance music spectrum.
This documentary marks the ten year anniversary of the great music festival known as Tomorrowland. Here you learn the impact of music festivals and what electronic dance music means to the people in the business and those that part take in these festivals like Tomorrowland. It follows many individual’s experiences, featuring some artists such as Afrojack, David Guetta, Steve Angello, Armin Van Buuren and many more.
At the end of the 2013 summer season, Armin van Buuren kicked off a fresh ‘Armin Only’ world tour, based on his ‘Intense’ album. ‘This Was Intense‘ follows Armin around the world, showing the ups and downs of being a worldwide touring artist playing sets up to 6 hours long in most cases. If you’re a fan of Armin you’ll love to see what goes on behind the scenes.
This is not officially a documentary, but it’s an EDM themed feature film. With an aspiring artist having booked at gig at a large festival the main plot point being a music festival, it’s quite heavily themed around dance music. The official synopsis reads; “The lives of a budding DJ, his loyal pal, a hopeless romantic, a jaded has-been and a troubled couple intersect at an electronic dance music festival“. It really is a bad movie that tried to over commercialise the already commercial aspect of the EDM scene in America. The reviews have understandably been poor. Still worth a watch if you want Hollywood’s take on dance music culture and what it takes to become an artist.
DISCLAIMER: This list was created using Australian Netflix. Netflix’s content changes due to territory. If you are outside Australia you will likely experience different dance music related content.
Today, Beatport has officially entered the market for the next-big-thing in DJ technology with the release of their highly-anticipated streaming service, Beatport LINK. The release follows their acquisition of DJ streaming service Pulse-locker last spring, which paved the way in developing the in-performance streaming technology. Beatport LINK includes the beta release of Beatport CLOUD – a suite of features for the store’s loyal customer base, including full track previews via new Needle Drop Player, unlimited re-downloads of previously purchased tracks and an all-new My Library section.
Read below to find out about the integrations with Pioneer, Pricing and more.
“The launch of Beatport LINK exhibits our commitment to creating the best possible experience for our expanding ecosystem of DJs, and we can think of no better partner than Pioneer DJ for the service’s first software integration. We are particularly excited to introduce the upcoming Offline Performance Mode, which firmly sets Beatport LINK apart from its competitors in the DJ market,”
— Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels
Currently in beta, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of the subscription service and Beatport Cloud is $4.99/mo and LINK is $14.99/mo, however for now you are only in luck to try out the in-software streaming capabilities if you happen to use Pioneer DJ’s WeDj App – a smartphone DJing app geared towards beginners, for iOS and Android.
It goes for in an attempt to land ahead of the curve by rolling out the service for smartphone DJs, Beatport has kept the DJs that still prefer to carry their laptop waiting, at least for the time being. The service will integrate with Pioneer DJ’s redkordbox this fall, with more software integrations to be announced later this year to cater to the serious club market.
Beatport LINK is not the first on the scene, however, as DIY-centric streaming service, Soundcloud, as well as TIDAL, distinguished for its high-fidelity files, have partnered with Serato in offering in-performance streaming since December. Despite this competition, Beatport has put all their cards in revamping their site as a one-stop shop for DJs. Some of their most notable developments in the past year include the launch of Beatport Hype (aggregated charts showcasing underground/up-and-coming talent), and their partnership with DJcity in relaunching their essential digital store, Beatsource. With these resources in tow, as well as their notorious name and veteran status in the community, Beatport LINK is sure to make waves in the way fans consume and DJs utilize music on the cloud.
Google is quickly becoming a leader in the music streaming game, with YouTube Music and Google Play boasting 15 million total subscribers.
According to an article from Digital Trends, this number makes Google the fourth largest paid music streaming service. This puts them just behind Spotify at 100 million subscribers, Apple with 50 million, and the ever-popular Amazon with 30 million. Though Google has disputed the claim, many sources suggest that YouTube has been struggling in the past to gain subscribers, as most YouTube members only come to the service for influencer videos, regular daily vlogs, and occasionally music videos.
Though Google Play and YouTube coexist currently, there is a plan in place to eventually transition users to only YouTube Music. This could be a smart decision in boosting subscribers for YouTube’s paid services, or it could cause more confusion and frustration among users. That remains to be seen, but it is interesting to see Google making waves in streaming and gaining on its competitors, and it will also be interesting to see what all they have in store next.
Though Google Play and YouTube coexist currently, there is a plan in place to eventually transition users to only YouTube Music. This could be a smart decision in boosting subscribers for YouTube’s paid services, or it could cause more confusion and frustration among users. That remains to be seen, but it is interesting to see Google making waves in streaming and gaining on its competitors, and it will also be interesting to see what all they have in store next.
