“What happens in Vegas will no longer stay in Vegas...” – Markus Schulz, Jan 2010.
Touching down in new cities is almost as much a part of being a DJ as working the turntables themselves - a fact that’s never been lost on one of the world’s biggest DJs, Markus Schulz. In the last five years alone his always-rolling World Tour has taken him to more of them than many will see in a lifetime. It’s this ever-transforming melting pot of sound, sight and musical taste that fed his desire to capture them musically. And in 2005 that’s what he started to do…
Since then they have shuttled us between some of the most iconic and best known clubbing metropolises in the world; Miami & Ibiza and Amsterdam & Toronto have all had their clubbing credos encapsulated in mix form.
Markus, himself explains further: “Many people say that you see great differences moving between countries – that’s natural. I actually think though that you experience some fairly major ones just going from one country’s city to the next. That’s long been a source of fascination to me. The City compilations are a great way for me to document a place through music, by picking out and turning the spotlight on exactly which tracks & sub-styles are working particularly well in specific cities that I’ve played & loved. ”
Now at the start of the new decade, for the next instalment of his audio-travelogue, Markus is dedicating the ‘10 edition to a place not only increasingly close to his heart, but one that resonates with hundreds of thousands of clubbers worldwide… Las Vegas.
“Vegas has undergone nothing short of a revolution over the last 4 years; one that’s been driven, as much as anything by the casinos”, say Markus. “I don’t think it’s overstating it to say that it’s becoming - or maybe has already become - a new world clubbing Mecca. From the outside looking in, people previously perceived that Las Vegas has been all bright lights, ‘bling, bling’ & lane upon lane of slots. Through leading nights like Rain at Fabulous and Moon at the Palms (to name just two), that’s changing very fast. For people who are seriously minded about music and clubbing, it’s going to become a place they have to say they’ve been. Hedonism has never been in short supply there – it’s why they call it Sin City! Come this new decade it might very well start to put the squeeze on Ibiza.”
From the first electrostatic sizzle of the opening seconds of Clinch’s elegy to Rain, ‘Las Vegas’10’, clips the city under the microscope and begins its DNA decode. Interwoven in its genes is the deep, house-ish overture of Dakota’s ‘Sin City’ (its title self-explanatory); the skittering electro squall of Arnej’s ‘They Need Us’, the super-fluid melodica of Rex Mundi’s ‘Opera of Northern Ocean’ and the attacking, rapacious bass of Phynn’s remix of Mike Foyle & Statica’s ‘Deadly Nightshade’. Each track that comes to ‘Las Vegas’10’ discs has either been successfully test-fired by Markus in L.V. or comes with the awareness of a man who knows exactly what will find the centre of the dancefloor there.
Las Vegas ‘10’ is out on the 22nd of February (iTunes 15th) and will be available from the Armada website and all good retailers.
Disc 1
01 Clinch - Rain
02 Torin Schmitt feat. Ryan Merchant - Follow
03 ElSandro - Style Fusion (Jessus Progressivo Mix)
04 Dakota - Chinook (Afterhours Mix)
05 Rex Mundi - Opera Of Northern Ocean
06 Mike Foyle - Blossom
07 Veselin Tasev - Pacific Waves (Evgeny Bardyuzha Remix)
08 Mr. Pit - Simplicity
09 Karanda - On Hold
10 Arnej - Ping Pong
11 Phynn presents Binary Star - The Halo Effect
12 Norin & Rad - Always A New Day
13 Thomas Cresine - Daimyo
14 Anton Firtich feat. Victoria Mazze - Meant To Be Free
Disc 2
01 Dakota - Sin City (Intro Mix)
02 Skytech - Comet
03 Julian Vincent feat. Cathy Burton - Here For Me (Mark Otten Extended Mix)
04 Re-Ward vs Dr Willis - Maaybe (tyDi's Stadium Mix)
05 David Forbes - Katsu
06 Arnej - They Need Us
07 Max Graham feat. Neev Kennedy - Sun In The Winter
08 Trilucid - Departures (Yuri Kane Remix)
09 Robert Burian feat. Zdenka Predna - You (Club Mix)
10 Mr. Pit - This Room Is Not Big Enough
11 Wilson, Smallwood & Ingram - Koko
12 Ummet Ozcan - Next Phase (Phase 1 Mix)
13 Mike Foyle presents Statica - Deadly Nightshade (Phynn Remix)
14 Beat Service meets Tucandeo feat. Manon Polare - Waiting For The Sun
15 Shogun - Connected
With the annual Miami Winter Music Conference just around the corner, nominations for the 2010 IDMA (International Dance Music Awards) have been announced, with the ceremony set to take place during WMC week.
Blake Jarrell