Jenny Tan’s Minitek Festival hit a bit of a pothole on Friday night at New York’s Penn Plaza, when the fire and police department shut down the all night event at around 2:30 AM, with a line of approximately 1,000 techno enthusiasts stranded outside waiting to get in.

Blog posts on RedBeatle.Wordpress.com, Basstown.Blogspot.com and Jaskim.com describe confusion that ensued. Someone also posted their to the Resident Advisor forums. Of course, RA haven’t posted any updates about the festival on their home page in both their news and blog section, even though they’re the online ticket broker.  No wonder why electronic music can’t get out of it’s own way. Not a good look. It’s like everyone took the weekend off to party, forgetting their esponsiblity to communicate with their audience.

One person overheard that Minimoo only had a 300 person permit for a 3,000 capacity space, however, that’s just hearsay for now. We haven’t learned the real reason, but it doesn’t really matter much today. When the authorities decided to shut down the party at 3:30 AM, Minimoo quickly regrouped and moved the event to the nightclub, Rebel. However, that change was not reflected on their web site, nor was an email sent out the list by their PR company or Minimoo themselves. Granted, it was three on the morning, but if you are going to throw an event of this size and scale, you must have your communications on point.

For a technology festival to not utilize tools such as Ning, on which you can build your own social platform, or Facebook, where they’ve set up a group already is kind of strange, no?. The last time Minitek posted to their Twitter account was on September 3rd. There were no Twitter posts last night to inform anyone who purchased a ticket what was happening at the venue or to notify them where the show would move.

Of course, the Minitek site lacks the one thing they should have had in the first place, a simple blog. Why that is, I don’t know. Everyone has a blog today. If they have podcasts on the site, why no blog?

Fortunately for Jenny and Minimoo, today’s event on Coney Island went off without a hitch. I checked it out for a bit and was impressed. A number of record labels set up booths, including Clink Recordings (we love their branding and design), Ghostly International, Catalog Records, Hidden Records, and Confined Media, a DIY operation who trekked out east all the way from Seattle, Washington. The venerable Halcyon had a booth. Shawn Schwartz and Ricardo were manning the booth. And an interesting company, Fractalspin.com, had a variety of transistor based jewlry, watches and other interesting products for sale. The only problem was that the booth’s had no electicity, which meant that the labels couldn’t set up their listening stations.

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Let’s get to the music. Adultnapper and Alexi Delano were both on point. Clink Recordings label owner and DJ/Producer, Camea, warmed up the crowd nicely with a very, very deep techno set that really took you down into that tantric place. You know that vibe, where the bottom heavy bass lines inject a moodiness into the air. We don’t know what her set list was, but there was one track she played that was just super dirty. As it chugged along, spitting its rawness out of the speakers, you kind of felt like you needed to take a shower afterward! Definitely a dope track. Wish we knew what it was.

I left around 4:30 to head over to Nathan’s for one of their world famous hot dogs. I don’t know if they provided electricity to the booths after that and I’m not sure if tonight’s rain affected the event, but we hope that Jenny has better luck at Webster Hall tonight and the event schedule tomorrow. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Anyway, let me cut this short because I have somewhere to be. Tonight’s event has been moved from Penn Plaza to Webster Hall, just in case you’re wondering. I may head over there to check out it out.

– Tony Zeoli

Minitek Festival Flyer

The summer is just about over. What’s one to do?

PVD on the pier is history. Ibiza is shutting down. Burning Man is kicking off, but we certainly don’t have gas money for the RV this time around. Our prodigal American DJs are returning stateside to residencies that pay them 1/4 of what they’re actually worth; to a battered economy and and a country frozen by fear-factoring Republicans.

Where can one find inspiration and creative dose of liberal relief? Minitek! That’s where!

Perfectly situated at the end of summer parties on the Hamptons and the influx of thousands of NYU students returning for the Fall semester, the first ever Minitek festival kicks off between September 12 and 14th at various venues and locales throughout New York City. Home base, where all the exhibits will be on display, is Penn Plaza. If you don’t know Penn Plaza, think Madison Square Garden and the surrounding streets

The festival organizers are on an ambitious effort to organize a celebration of elecontric arts, culture, technology and music. Innovation Pavillion is the epicenter, where the festivals installations, exhibits and vendor booths for companies the digital media and music spectrum will be contstructed.

According to the festival organizers, projects on display will “explore new technologies to create sounds and visuals, with emphasis lying on interactivity. The pavilion will be present at the day site and the original creators have been invited to present their work to you live; sometimes you will even directly or indirectly become part of the art presented.”

DJ sets will take place at various venues throughout the city. Confirmed are Richie Hawtin, Magda, Audion, Heidi, Tiefschwarz, M.A.N.D.Y. and more. Record labels will also have booths set up to promote the latest electronic beats.

For more information on installations, vendors, DJs and locations, visit MiniTekFestival.com. For tix, visit ResidentAdvisor.net.

We’re looking forward to this event and are planning to provide some coverage here. So stay up with Netmix and we’ll bring you a little slice of the Minitek Festival.

When you’re talking about techno and house, the seminal “Chord Memory” by Frankfurt’s Ian Pooley took the world by storm 1996. One of the first tech house records, “Chord Memory” followed Pooley’s 1995 monster “Celtic Cross.” This single cemented Pooley as one of the most prolific house music producers of the era. And, he continues to release music on his own label, mainly fusing Brazillian rhythms with house music.

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Okay…so in all my years of working in and around DJ culture, I never got the chance to hear Richie Hawtin spin. I wasn’t much into rave culture or Techno. I was mostly into the house sound with DJs like Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo and Danny Tenaglia. Boy, now do I know what I’ve been missing! My favorite DJ is Terry Lee Brown Jr., who is the bridge between the former and the latter. Terry Lee Brown Jr brings the flavor of house, but also the sounds of Hawtin’s techno. I’ve now connected the dots and hope you will too.

For those of you who don’t know Richie Hawtin, he’s a legendary DJ/Producer who made music under the pseudonym Plastikman. Recently he’s been producing under his own name. He’s also responsible for input into the development of DJ tools like Stanton’s Final Scratch and–correct me if I’m wrong–has a hand in the online music store, Beatport.com. I think that’s true. Need to check my sources.

On this day, the crowd of young people who follow Richie showed up and were rewarded with an incredible performance. Hawtin created such energy with his music, it leaned into the spiritual realm all DJs who operate in Techno and its many offshoots. The minimal pounding beats, staccato fills, clicks, mind numbing leads and all sorts of intelligent sounds took your breath away. Everyone in the place, face forward toward the stage, hands slicing and fisting pumping in the air. On this day, it was Richie’s tribe of followers seeking the elements of life, love, joy and pain in his music.

Our new friend, Tiphany Parker, who’d we’d met the day before during the Underworld event, had also never experienced a Hawtin set. She was blown away as well. Richie just earned himself another new fan. I know she’ll be scouring Beatport and the other services for the rest of the week looking for Hawtin’s Plastikman tracks, while hoping to learn more about his history and the legacy he’s built in the DJ culture and Techno genre. I’m a new (renewed?) fan as well.

I thought I knew before, but I really didn’t. Even though I’ve heard Carl Cox spin at the long defunct Twilo, seeing Richie in the tent at the Virgin Mobiel Festival was a different experience altogether. Now, I can honestly say that I know why they use the term, “This IS Techno!” Because, with Richie…this REALLY IS Techno! It’s a way of life, just like Rock or Alternative. It has its roots, fashion, dance moves…everything. It’s a genre that will come and go but never die. We see new genres, like Electro, becoming the fad of the moment. But the contributions of Techno makes the sounds of Electro possible. A parent child relationship if there ever was one.

One final note. I have to personalize apologize to Richie, or anyone who reads this blog for that matter, for never making the effort, until now, to hear him tear it up. As someone who’s been in the electronic music scene for some 25-years, I should know better. I guess now, I do.

No, we’re not talking about the Light Funky Ones. We’re talking about LFO, an English techno group that dropped this track on Warped Records around 1990. It’s a seminal techno record that sounds as fresh today as it did 18-years ago. Unfortunately, the crazy, deep bassline is hard to hear in this YouTube offering. If you get the chance, you can get it on iTunes, which will give you a much better listening experience.

Many, many years ago, a friend of mine was living in Chicago to complete his medical residency. It had to be the sometime in the early to mid-90’s. Over one of the holiday breaks, he came back to Boston with a cassette tape recording of a B’96 radio mix show by Bad Boy Bill and “Jumpin” Julian Perez. On that tape was the first time I’d heard Magic Orchestra, a techno/house track by producer, Frank De Wulf. For years, I searched high and low, finally finding the track on 12″ at Caril Mitro’s, Vinyl Connection, a 12″ import dance shop formerly located in Boston’s Copley Square.

For some time now, YouTube users have been posting songs as videos on the popular Internet video service. Here is a YouTube video of Magic Orchestra, a track that I just had to have. Take a listen and you’ll see why.

Rave Party

From big, block rocking beats to a marathon of lush strings, synth stabs, speedy beats and beautiful vocals, the Netmix Hot 100 Class Rave Tracks iMix brings back the energy of the 90’s through the 2000 and beyond. Break Beat, House, Techno, Drum N Bass and Trance are all represented here. You can either page through the widget featured here, or click this link to go to the iTunes store to purchase the list.

We’ve also added links to iTunes for each individual track below:

1. Love U More (Original Mix) - Sunscreem
2. Lift - 808 State
3. Chime (New Version) - Orbital
4. Papua New Guinea (12″ Original) - The Future Sound of London
5. Brutal-8-E - Altern 8
6. Go - Moby
7. Energy Flash - Joey Beltram
8. LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix) - LFO
9. Charly (Alley Cat Mix) - Prodigy
10. Feeling So Real (Main Mix) - Moby
11. Everybody In the Place (Original) - Prodigy
12. Next Is the e (I Feel It) - Moby
13. James Brown Is Dead - Housebeat
14. Dominator (Original Mix) - Human Resource
15. Anasthasia (Out of History Mix) - T99
16. Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited
17. I Like to Move It (Erick More Club Mix) - Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman
18. Can You Feel It - Todd Terry
19. Witch Doktor - Armand Van Helden
20. Take Me Away (Little Louie Vega and Aldo AIM Marin) - 2 In A Room
21. Feeling for You - Cassius
22. Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld
23. Radio Babylon - Meat Beat Manifesto
24. More Beats and Pieces (Daddy Rips It Up) - Coldcut
25. Where’s Your Head At - Basement Jaxx
26. I See You Baby - Groove Armada
27. Block Rockin’ Beats - The Chemical Brothers
28. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Dub - Apollo 440
29. On a Ragga Tip ‘97 (Original Mix) - SL2
30. Thunder (DJ Die and Clipse Remix) - Photek
31. Pacific (808:98) - 808 State
32. Caterpillar (Original) - Keoki
33. Krupa - Apollo 440
34. Days Go By - Dirty Vegas
35. 3 A.M. Eternal - The KLF
36. Give It Up - The Good Men
37. The Climax (PCP version) - Paperclip People
38. Lifetimes (Silicon soul mix) - Slam
39. Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger - Daft Punk
40. Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Minimix) - Björk
41. Rock 2 House (Plastikman’s Acid House Remix) - X-Press 2
42. Submarine - Felix da Housecat
43. Jealousy (Original) - Keoki
44. On and On (Featuring Stamina MC) - Roni Size
45. Ready, Steady, Go - Oakenfold
46. Castles In the Sky (Extended Mix) - Ian Van Dahl featuring Marsha
47. Adagio for Strings - Tiësto
48. Where Are You Now? (Extended) - Ian Van Dahl
49. Sandstorm - Darude
50. Are You Ready (The Phone Call Mix) - ADRENALINE
51. He Never Lost His Hardcore (N.R.G. Original Mix) - N.R.G.
52. Ease the Beat Back Up (Club Mix) - DJ Icey
53. Hardfloor Will Survive (Club Mix) - Hardfloor featuring Phuture 303
54. The One - DJ Icey
55. Move Your Body (Elevation) - Basement Beatmix
56. I’m Not In Love - Olive
57. Set You Free (TTF Remix) - N-Trance
58. Everyday It’s 1989 - Moby
59. Outlaw - Olive, Ruth-Ann & Tony Foster
60. Falling Up - Theo Parrish
61. Darkness - Carl Craig
62. The Lost Souls - Hardfloor
63. Body Movin’ - DJ Baby Anne
64. Helikopter - Plastikman
65. Beauty Never Fades (12 Inch Cut) - Junkie XL & Tom Holkenborg
66. Dim the Sky - DJ Icey
67. Harder Better Faster Stronger (Radio Edit) [Live] - Daft Punk
68. Vicious Games (Art of Trance Remix) - Hardfloor & Yello
69. Positive Education (Carl Cox In Tec Mix) - Slam
70. Silver Screen Shower Scene - Felix da Housecat
71. 3.1.98 (Bedrock Remix) - Humate
72. Better Off Alone - Alice Deejay
73. Ecstasy (Clubb Mix) - ATB
74. Toca’s Miracle (Inpetto Remix) - Fragma
75. Take Me Away (Into the Night) [Original Vocal Mix] - 4 Strings
76. Northern Lights - Way Out West
77. Cafe Del Mar (Nalin & Kane Remix) - Energy 52
78. God Is a DJ - Faithless
79. Beachball (Extended Version) - Nalin & Kane
80. Apollo - Way Out West
81. Rhythm Is a Dancer - Snap!
82. Set You Free (Original 12″) - N-Trance
83. Strings of Life - Derrick May
84. Killa - Way Out West
85. Toca Me (Inpetto 2008 Mix) - Fragma
86. Children (Full Length) - Robert Miles
87. Saltwater (Original Mix) - Chicane
88. Greece 2000 - Three Drives
89. Right In the Night (Fall In Love With Music) - Jam & Spoon
90. Love Comes Again (Original 12″ Version) - Tiësto
91. For an Angel - Paul van Dyk
92. 9 PM (Till I Come) [Club Mix] - ATB
93. Flash In the Night (1998 Club Mix) - Calderone Inc.
94. Masters of the Universe (Eternal Basement Remix Version) - Juno Reactor
95. Harleqin the Beauty and the Beast - Sven Väth
96. Welcome to the Factory (Featuring Sally Cortes) [Angel's Journey Mix] - Angel Moraes featuring Sally Cortes
97. Are You There? (Size 9 Remix) - Josh Wink
98. Good to Be Alive (DJ Rap & Tyler Revata Remix) - DJ Rap
99. Angel - Goldie
100. Rainbows of Colour - Grooverider