October saw the Dance Music World move en masse to Amsterdam, Holland for the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE): a week of meetings, seminars and the odd club night or two. Given that most of the traditional music trade fairs such as Midem and Popkomm have suffered from dwindling numbers in recent years, it was great to see that ADE continues to go from strength to strength.
Whilst there, it was great to catch up with a few Orchard labels – Stealth, Vidisco, Fresco, Lifted House, Dojo, Seamless, Reverb and Balloon – as well as speak to some of the specialist dance stores such as Beatport, Bleep, Trackitdown and Juno. A plethora of club nights were available from the calm and serene Danish music Showcase featuring Music For Dream’s own Kenneth Bager, to the out-and-out huge party that was Stealth’s Roger Sanchez ADE closing party on the Sunday Evening.
Given that the event was sold out weeks before the date, it seems the Dance Music industry is as strong as ever and it certainly appeared that digital was where all of these labels saw their futures. Panels such as “Direct to Fan Marketing” hosted by Topspin, “The Album Returns as an App”, “The Killer App Panel”, “Labels in the Digital Age” and even a Q&A with our very own Boy George were all very much aimed at enlightening people into the digital arena – not that any of them needed much persuading! It seems most Dance labels are very much digital focussed, however we found some (non Orchard labels I hasten to add) that seemed to have extremely complicated set-ups with regards to their digital business – our aim was to help them simplify as much as possible.
The nature of ADE is very much laid back – no corporate stands or much branding. Superstar DJ’s would just mingle with major label reps, publishers, managers and even the odd distributor. A very relaxed outlook that hides a really productive working and deal making atmosphere.
After 3 days of meetings all day and club events all night I was glad to get back to London – can’t wait for the next one in 2012 though!
Danish downtempo dub-bers Lulu Rouge, comprised of DJs T.O.M. (Trentemøller’s touring partner and right-hand for the last three years) and Buda, have been busy since the release of their debut album Bless You on June 9th of this year. The duo that Trentemøller calls “the next big thing to come out of Denmark” played a killer set at the Roskilde Festival on July 6th, are gearing up to play at the Amsterdam Dance Event later this month upon special request, and today announce the release of two brand new remix collections. Each disc presents four different remixes of debut single “Bless You,” which features vocals by seven-time Danish Music Awards nominee Mikael Simpson.
The bonus version of Bless You Remixes Part I includes a nasty cut by Pilooski, calling himself PSKI here, along with a synthy club number from Minilogue that you can download below. The duo’s compatriot Trentemøller makes an appearance on Part II with his remix of the haunting track, while 16-year-old production prodigy Mike Sheridan adds his unique take to the second volume as well. Parts I and II are available in all digital stores today. Tracklists after the jump.
MP3: Lulu Rouge – Bless You feat. Mikael Simpson (Minilogue Remix)
