One Night Stand at Madison Square Garden

No, I'm not insinuating that one should go home with a Knick and forget to leave their phone number. The return of Axwell, Ingrosso and Angello to New York is going to a world-saving event, taking place in the same venue as artists like Jay-Z, U2, Britney Spears and Paul McCartney.

This is big. Swedish House Mafia, the holy trinity of house, are set to be the first ever electronic music group to play the iconic Garden, colloquially known as "The World's Most Famous Arena" (according to Wikipedia, and I always trust them). Their announcement was made last week on their teaser site www.230911.com in typical sneaky SHM fashion. Of course, if this is the first you're hearing about it, it sucks to be you because it sold out this morning. If you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket, you can at the very least turn this music up:

Coldplay Vs Swedish House Mafia - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (live) by officialswedishhousemafia

This show could mean a lot for house music, which is already garnering a lot of media with the not-so-underground crowd. As the official teaser states: "The magic of this is while the scene is the biggest its ever been, it's still the best kept secret in the world. Yes sure, so many of the world's greatest electronic producers are now on daytime radio 'across the globe' [...] but the beating heart of the scene...the dancefloor, is still one for the brave of heart and the true of soul."

Honestly, how can you disagree with that?

And in case you forgot just what they're capable of, here's what happened a couple weeks ago when they took over for the notorious Pete Tong on BBC1 for the Essential Selection:




We come. We rave. We love.

xxx.

summer lovin' happened so fast

Well kids, today is my least favorite day of the entire year: the autumnal equinox. While the rest of New York goes boot shopping and sips pumpkin lattes, I sit home denying the end of all things summer and refusing to wear pants. This summer was a particularly good one, especially for house music. A friend of mine dubbed it the "summer of Alesso," and I think I'll let that stick.

Alesso has become a fixture in the music scene by instating himself as the adopted younger brother of Swedish House Mafia. Man, do they love this kid. And it's hard not to. The baby Swede is only 18 and he's already dropping hits like these:

Alesso - NILLIONAIRE by Alesso

DEVolution – Good Love (Alesso Remix) *Preview* by Alesso

LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem (Alesso Remix) by Alesso


And if you missed him at Ezoo, here's what he can do in the dj booth:


The Summer of Alesso may have come to an end, but I think the man himself is here to stay. So get into it, while I work on getting into this sweater without breaking down into tears. Summer days, driftin away... but oh those summer niiiiiightsss.... sigh. xxx.

The Wait Is Over: KASKADE Essential Mix

After theorizing for the past couple years about what was stopping Pete Tong from bringing the (debatably) best DJ in America on his Essential Mix show (perhaps a deep-seated feud between the colonies and the love of the queen?), we decided that perhaps it was because such a thing might cause the world to spontaneously combust. This Friday, we were happily proven wrong. The world's still here, and made a bit more glorious with the addition of two hours of the best progressive house music the world has to offer. Get into it:



And, Ryan Raddon, thank you for existing. xxx.

you can discover it

Dance to this immediately:



xxx.

EZOO: what you missed

Three days of nonstop dancing wreaked havoc on my body but did quite the opposite for my music collection. I made it to almost every artist I wanted to experience, and they all lived up to expectation, but there were definitely a few surprises.

My greatest fear at any music festival is that I will end up being subjected to remixes of the same 3-5 songs throughout the entire weekend. My friends and I managed to count 9 separate instances of "We Are Your Friends," which was surprisingly higher than "Save the World," which was my initial bet to be Most Overplayed. So naturally, my favorite DJs were the ones who stuck to their own guns and only borrowed when absolutely necessary. A notable favorite in this category was Bart B More, whose set I could only unfortunately find 5 minutes of:



The biggest surprise was Markus Schulz and Gareth Emery converting me to a full-on trance fan. My life-changing moment occurred at 27 minutes into this set when Schulz during a ground-shattering Fatboy Slim remix:


Finding myself at the Sunday School tent was not on my to do list, but I'm glad I didn't miss this amazing set from Dutchman Joris Voorn and UK's Nic Fanciulli, who tore it up:


Another big surprise came to me only yesterday, when I discovered that the mind-blowing set from Martin Solveig was not in fact the tennis-racket-wielding Frenchman himself, but a substitute set from Dirty South due to Solveig's last minute injury. Dancing to Dirty South three times in one weekend is not a bad way to go, and here's why:


You can find most of the Electric Zoo sets over at mixing.dj by searching. I could probably spend another entire weekend talking about this past weekend, but I think these should be enough to tide me over until the fall lineups start rolling in. I'm already looking at Kaskade and Deadmau5 in October... Don't stop dancing, kids.

xxx.

recovery mode

I totally get now why they call it the electric ZOO. Overall, an unforgettable, glorious and incredibly exhausting 3 days. At some point I am going to find my favorite sets and post them, because there were quite a few I'd love to relive.

In the meantime, relax to this:
Cassius - The Sound Of Violence (Franco Cinelli Version) by elkoo

xxx.

EZOO PLAYLIST Part 3: Sunday Funday

Sunday's got a pretty ridiculous lineup, if not the best of the weekend. It's also the only day that I actually have some seriously tough decisions to make (namely Hardwell vs. Calvin Harris).

The day begins on a perfect note with Alesso. The next big thing from Sweden, Alesso is following the same path Avicii did a year ago, and my bet is that next year he will not be playing at 1:15pm but closer to 9pm. Anyway, this is the tune of the summer, so if you hear nothing else, hear this:
Pressure (Alesso Remix Edit) - Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji by medallo

And he just dropped a new track with Sebastian Ingrosso:
Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso - Calling (FULL) by kevinkellerman


Up next is John Dahlback, yet another Swede. (Sidenote: was anyone else aware that H&M is also Swedish? Everything is Swedish. You learn this when you start spending a lot of time with Swedish people. They are actually taking over the world.) Like most Swedish things, he's also awesome:
Jovicii featuring Andy P - Don't Hold Back (John Dahlback & AVICII Original Mix) by WePLAY Music & Management


Then at 3:30 is Hardwell, who I've wanted to see live for AGES, but overlaps with Calvin, who holds a very special place in my heart. Decisions, decisions. You may remember Hardwell from his smashing collabo with Tiesto, Zero 76. His new jam is also pretty big:
Hardwell - The World by HARDWELL


Calvin. Oh, Calvin, it's no wonder you get all the girls. Calvin Harris's sound has grown up a lot since the days when he created disco. This one is sure to put a smile on your face, although the video makes the song feel less cute and a little more creepy:




After Calvin, head back to the Hilltop Arena for FAKE BLOOD. A longtime fave, Fake Blood has been dropping lots of heavy tracks lately, like this one:
DEEP RED EP Teaser by Fake Blood

Truth be told, I've always loved him much more for his remixes, like this baby:
Miike Snow - Animal (Fake Blood Remix) by mikeyboom


Next up, Jack Beats. Now some of you may wonder who is Jack Beats and what is it that they do? And some of you may correct me because that's not one of their songs. But this is, and it's pretty dang good:
All Night ft. John B by Jack Beats


Almost last and definitely not least is Afrojack. There's not much to say about him except that he has a song called "Pacha on Acid" so you know he is pretty serious.
08. Afrojack, Bobby Burns - Ghettoblaster (Original Mix) by DJ LachyM



Finally, you can all hate me if you want, but I'm foregoing Armin for Boys Noize, because let's face it, he's just more fun.
09 Chemical Brothers - Swoon(Boys Noize Summer Mix) by partymax
Just remember to fall in love, there's nothing else.



Alright everyone - time to put on the neon. Have a great weekend and stay safe! xxx.