Let There Be Cake: Winter White with Steve Aoki

   
     On Thursday January 31st the Winter White Tour will hit the Turning Stone Events Center in Verona, NY, headlined by the one and only Steve Aoki, founder and head of Dim Mak Records. He is infamous for his stage presence, and if you haven't been to a show headlined by Steve Aoki you are definitely in for a treat. Have you ever seen another DJ throw cake into an eager crowd and follow it by spraying multiple bottles of champagne? Trust me when I say that the crowds at Steve Aoki shows go crazy and this one is sure to be exciting. I've even seen him ride around the crowd in an inflatable yellow life raft, so you really never know what will happen!

     There are three opening acts supporting Steve Aoki on this leg of the tour. Mat Zo, a Trance and Progressive House producer on the Anjunabeats label, has put out two chart topping singles recently, "Easy," a collaboration with Porter Robinson, and "The Sky," featuring the vocals of Linnea Schossow. DSK CHK and his infamous Guy Fawkes mask are fresh off the Cirque Du Rage Tour to play at this event, and DVDJ Dread: The Remixx Kidd is also on the lineup.

     Doors open at 7:30 P.M. for this event, and attendees are required to wear white attire to help create the atmosphere of the Winter White Tour. Tickets are $28 before the day of the event, and they can be purchased from the NV Concepts Website. This event is sure to be exciting, and we hope we see you all there!

You can find further information on these websites!
NV Concepts
Dim Mak Records
Turning Stone Casino and Resort

P.S. Our new website is coming soon! Stay tuned for information about the new site and a radio show!

Dash Berlin at SoundGarden Hall

Picture Courtesy of @RageHound!!! Find her on Twitter!

We'd like to welcome to Spinning Decks our newest addition to our group of writers, @FinderKind! He attended Dash Berlin's show at SoundGarden Hall in Philadelphia on 9/12/13 and here is his review and first post to our growing blog! 

     If I had to use one word to describe Dash Berlin's set in Philadelphia this past Saturday, it would be intense. Or maybe it would be unexpected. Either way, the show that he put on at SoundGarden Hall was one of the more interesting ones that I have been to in the last couple of years.

     When I finally made it inside the venue after freezing my toes off in the line outside, Tyler Sherritt, the main opener, was just dropping the Heatbeat remix of Armin Van Buuren's Suddenly Summer, a track that had the club going nuts and was the perfect song to start my night with. I'd had the experience of seeing Tyler Sherritt at Santos Party House in NYC before, but his set that night was nowhere near as good as this one. He played almost entirely trace, including some of his own tracks and one ID that he had never played live before. Although this is probably largely due to who he was opening for, I appreciated it greatly and he set the mood perfectly for when Dash took to the decks at twelve-thirty.

     Just before Dash came on, hundreds of foam light sticks were thrown out into the crowd, creating a sea of moving LEDs inside the club. As the lyrics of "Disarm Yourself" filled SoundGarden, Dash appeared, and when he dropped it into W&W's "Lift Off" everyone went absolutely crazy. Over the next three hours, Dash took us on a complete trance journey. He played "Better Half of Me early on in the night, along with "Waiting." He went through favorite heavy hitters like Ummet Ozcan's "The Box"and played more of his signature 'DashUps' than I could count. Particularly emotional parts of the night for me were when he filled the club with the melodic tones of "'Till the Sky Falls Down and "Go It Alone." Towards the end of the night, he dropped the mashup of Above & Beyond's "Sun and Moon" with "Disarm Yourself" which, in my opinion, was one of the best songs of the night. He had the entire place screaming out the lyrics.

      What stood out in Dash Berlin's set was that it really felt like he took some risks. His sets of late have become fairly formulaic, but his set at SoundGarden was relentless. He kept true to his trance roots and while he played the tracks that everyone was expecting, there were a whole lot of songs that I had never heard before that were a lot heavier than I was expecting in the best possible way. When a lot of DJs play three hour sets, they tend to slacken off on the creativity a bit, but Dash continued to surprise me with the layout of this set and the sheer level on intensity that he was able to keep up throughout the entire night. This was all increased by the fact that SoundGarden Hall is probably the best club that I have ever been to. Huge props to them for organizing the event so well and providing a place for one of the most raver filled crowds that I have ever been a part of.

     It was an amazing night and I look forward to seeing Dash Berlin again in the future.

                                                                                                            - Finley Bomer-Lawson

The phase that has been taking the EDM world by storm - "DAMN SON, WHERE'D YA FIND THIS?" 2012 has proven to be the year in which Trap Music has emerged as a major force in the Electronic Music world. With thanks to the Don of new music, Diplo, and his MADDECENT label, it appears that Trap Music is here to stay.

We're happy to present you with our choice of the top 10 Trap Songs of 2012! Keep tuned in to our blog, because soon we'll be doing a series on the Future of Trap in 2013! Our first interview will be with two friends, gLAdiator!

And here's the Top 10:

10. Rollup (Baauer Remix) - Flosstradamus
9. Up and Down - gLAdiator and CRNKN
8. Dum Dum - Baauer
7. Molly (LOUDPVCK Remix) - Ree$e
6. Trap Shit v13 - UZ
5. Trap on Acid - RL Grime
4. Kambuja - gLAdiator
3. Higher Ground - TNGHT
2. Harlem Shake - Baauer
1. Original Don (Flosstradamus Remix) - Major Lazer

ASOT 600 Preview

All sorts of New going around this week. First, a big shout out to Rachel Port for the design on our new logo! It's plain, simple, memorable, and we love it. You can find her work on her website at Rachelport.webs.com. Let us know how you feel about the new design!

Yesterday on Armin Van Buuren's weekly A State Of Trance radio show, thousands of listeners tuned in, eagerly awaiting news on the lineup of #ASOT600 in New York City. Unfortunately, it seems that Armin forgot to tell us who would be gracing the stage at this enormous event at Madison Square Garden. However we did get a little treat with the world premier of Expedition, Armin's collaboration with Markus Schulz and the anthem of #ASOT600 around the globe. The tour kicks off on the 14th of February in Madrid, Spain and moves around the world, concluding with the final stop at Den Bosch, The Netherlands on the 6th of April.

#ASOT600NYC (along with the shows in Madrid, Miami, Beirut, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, and Den Bosch) will be a live performance broadcast around the world. We will be there in full force with many friends to give you a full review of the night of festivities. If you are anywhere in the Northeastern United States near the end of March, we urge you to join us for what is set to be one of the most amazing nights in Trance music history! You can find more details at the official A State Of Trance website.

And here to tide you over until we have more information are a few tracks that you'll almost undoubtedly hear if you decide to join us on the 30th of March at Madison Square Garden.

A State of Trance 595 (includes The Expedition - Armin van Buuren and Markus Schulz)
Lift Off - W and W
Love Rain Down - Markus Schulz ft. Seri

Top 20 Tracks of 2012

Here's a list of our top 20 songs for 2012! Sorry it took so long to get up here, but enjoy! Links are to Soundcloud!

1. The Sky - Mat Zo ft. Linnea Schossow
2. Allein - Pryda
3. Easy - Mat Zo and Porter Robinson
4. Language of Promises (Gabriel and Dresden ASOT 550 Mashup) - Porter Robinson vs. Andain
5. Isla Margarita - Sunny Lax
6. Five Finger Death Punch - Norin and Rad
7. Alchemy (Myon and Shane54 Redemption Mix) - Above and Beyond ft Zoe Johnston
8. DJ Ease My Apollo Road (Dash Berlin Dashup) - Dash Berlin and ATB vs. Niki and The Dove
9. The Fusion Tonight (Chris Schweizer Mashup) - Above and Beyond ft. Richard Bedford vs. Omnia and Ira
10. Turn Up The Sound (Gabriel And Dresden Remix) - Andain
11. Not Coming Down (Dash Berlin 4AM Remix) - Ferry Corsten ft. Betsie Larkin
12. Stranger (Michael Jay Parker Remix) - Jaytech ft. Steve Smith
13. Keep Your Secrets (Myon and Shane54 Summer of Love Mix) - Andrew Bayer ft. Molly Bancroft
14. Slave (Tritonal and Ben Gold Club Dub) - Tritonal
15. Atom - Nari and Milani
16. Here We Go - Hard Rock Sofa and Swanky Tunes
17. Must Be The Love (Shogun Remix) - BT, Arty, and Nadia Ali
18. Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin
19. Spectrum (Arty Remix) - Zedd ft. Matthew Koma
20. Feed The Dada - Dada Life ft. Daniel Gidlund