Ground breaking Percussionist, Sudha, an integral member of electronic band Faithless for the last 11 years, is to step into the spotlight with the release of her debut artist album ‘Anti-Freeze’ on 3rd March.

‘Anti Freeze’ demonstrates Sudha’s lesser known side; that of intelligent, talented and prolific songwriter / producer. Recorded in the cultural centres of London, Paris and Berlin with a host of collaborators, ‘Anti Freeze’ is an electronic concept album exploring the notion of ‘defrosting’, whether politically, emotionally or spiritually.

The album release will be preceeded on 23rd February by the single, ‘Leche’ with stunning remixes from Way Out West and Thomas Schwartz.

Sudha has enjoyed huge global success as part of Faithless, touring the world numerous times. Her unquestionable skills as a musician have also seen her featured as Percussionist on records and tours with huge mainstream artists including Dido, Kylie and The Spice Girls. Alongside this Sudha still maintains a credible underground status as one of clubland’s first ever Percussionists, holding down residencies at legendary clubs like Cream and The Hacienda.

Those expecting ‘Anti-Freeze’ to simply showcase Sudha’s skills as a Percussionist will be pleasantly surprised to find a rich collection of songs, crossing genres and moving through laid back grooves, uplifting, atmospheric tracks and funked up anthems. The songs feature intelligent lyrics and soaring vocal performances from guest collaborators such as Zoe Johnston (Faithless, Bent) and David Sanderson (The Hat) as well as Sudha herself.

Sudha’s Asian roots are beautifully woven into the album with melodies and samples from the likes of Shilpa Shetty and Lata Mangeshkar. These influences somehow sit easily alongside her love for old skool electro and simple yet beautiful, hook-laden songs.

Sudha has proven her skills as an accomplished writer and producer and has delivered a debut artist album that unarguably deserves love and attention.

Defected Records is the British independent dance music brand that regularly surpasses the majors with its releases. It constantly presents records that grow organically from the underground which later become huge universal hits. It has a vast online community that stretches to every continent and its events schedule takes in (almost) every major city making it truly global.

This year Defected will celebrate its tenth birthday. In that time there has been some unforgettable moments. Like when the No.1 was struck in the UK with Roger Sanchez ‘Another Chance’, or the time that Kings of Tomorrow ‘Finally’ was first played on a dance floor by Sandy Rivera, or seeing beautiful clubbers swimming in the pool at the Miami and Ibiza parties over the years. It is fair to say that there have been uncountable clubland adventures and signature tracks.

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Twice In A Blue Moon is the highly anticipated third artist album by trance heavyweight Ferry Corsten. The Dutch superstar has consistently shown his electronic talent through slick production and epic DJ sets, with his success being illustrated in the DJ Top 100 poll top ten where Ferry has had a residency for the past five years.

After the massive 2006-artist album L.E.F and prior to that Right Of Way back in 2003, Ferry Corsten has been anything but quiet. This year alone saw Netherlands’ most famous export remixing U2, Nelly Furtado and the new anthemic single Human from The Killers, putting on MASSIVE 12,000 capacity event Full On Ferry where eight hour sets don’t go a miss plus touring at mega raves around the world. Now back with artist album Twice In A Blue Moon, Ferry Corsten presents 12 upfront electronic cuts that will appeal to dance fans and clubbers alike.

The album includes uplifting trance tracks such as Radio Crash (that will also be the first single), Shanti and Twice In A Blue Moon, to the big electro sound of Brain Box that we all know Ferry for. A little wink to the 80’s can be found in We Belong, to the beautiful and fragile Visions of Blue and Gabriella’s Sky, an ode to his newborn daughter. The vocal productions Black Velvet, Feel You and Made Of Love are beautiful melodic creations that will soon be named as Corsten classics.

Twice In A Blue Moon gives a fine impression of the DJ sets Ferry Corsten plays today and perfectly illustrates his creative skills and abilities, showing why his sound really does appeal to all. Evolving his skills to match his signature style, this album shows why he deserves to be titled one of the best DJ-producers in the world.

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After originally starting life in the Northern Clubbing Mecca of Manchester, Metropolis has worked and partied its way through the ranks to become the UK’s biggest Drum n Bass brand, and has diversified its original image and vibe to encompass all aspects of the music scene. With guests along the way including huge legends such as Groove Armada, Dizzee Rascal and Soulwax, there’s no doubting this brand has reached infamous heights.

Now also a fixture on the international party scene, taking in legendary party hotspots throughout Spain, USA, Australia, Holland and of course, Ibiza, Metropolis is fast becoming the name on everyone’s lips in Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Hip Hop, Breaks and Electro.

After an incredible NYE party which saw the likes of Erol Alkan, Marky, Plump DJs, Hype, Paul Woolford and Shy FX perform for 2500 guests, and to celebrate the launch of the brand new website in Jan ’09, Metropolis brings you the first party of the 2009 at Leeds Stylus, and this is going to be one unmissable event….

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Smashing their way through the doom and gloom, Cr2 are proud to present their 100th release – ‘The Fly’ from Cr2 Head Honcho Mark Brown and bosom buddy Steve Mac. The single also kicks off Cr2’s 5th Anniversary celebrations with this relentless techno monster.

‘The Fly’ is a driving, techy little number, with noodly nuances that creep in your system… perfect for those sweaty, dark dancefloors. Coupled with haunting, rolling bass, this is techno at its best! Simply made for the main room floor, its full potency and capability was shown when Steve Lawler dropped it at the Space Closing this year to devastating effect.

Mark & Steve have called in some remix heavyweights for the momentous release resulting in some amazing remixes to suit all pallets. Hot, young producer de jour Tim Green provides a superbly dark and broody mix, whilst Andy Chatterly of Skylark/Buick Project fame, serves up a clean, techy take on this buzzing track. Andy is currently flying high with ‘Access the Future’ which is also out on Cr2 Records. DJ Wady & Patrick M, flex their mighty production skills with their ‘Mosca Remix’, with their chunky, chuggy, tribalesque take.

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Are bars the new clubs? Not quite, but it’s safe to say that bar culture in Britain is now the envy of the world. Why else would premier league DJs be so keen to spin in your local? It’s because today’s bars contain the sort of classy, receptive and clued-up audience who once populated every dance club.

This is where Bargrooves comes in. It’s a celebration of the last ten years of DJ bar culture, featuring tunes that were made for the dance floor but work equally as well in more intimate surroundings.

It’s music for your head, as much as for your feet, and captures the intimacy and warmth of your favourite bar in one cherry picked package. Every town in Britain has an exciting, glamorous and accessible bar scene where people love to get involved. It would not be incorrect to suggest that bar culture is now bigger than club culture and has developed its own sound and scene.

This sound of the bar scene is perfectly captured in bargrooves due to its unique selections. This is the fourth release in this new series specially designed for the long winter months. bargrooves ‘Over Ice’ brings you a smooth taster of the deeper more down tempo sound of the bargrooves label as well as uplifting vocal and deeper mixes. This is a perfect selection to chill out, get ready for a party or play anytime on your i pod.

Expertly crafted to take the edge off these cold Winter months, ‘Over Ice’, eases us in with trademark bargrooves beats, San Fran maestro Miguel Migs shakes off the cold with a deep ‘n’ funky number. Vintage Louie Vega in his Hardrive 2000 guise rears his head alongside a forgotten remix of Jon Cutler’s ‘It’s Yours’ from NY don Frankie Feliciano. Outstanding producers Julien Jabre, Blaze, Sandy Rivera and Copyright also spread the bargrooves special vibe.

The second cd contains a much more sublime and deeper mix, smooth, sophisticated and melodic. It features brand new releases from Ben Watt, Loco Dice, Sebo K plus an exclusive Marlon D remix of Roach Motel’s classic ‘The Night’.

Lastly CD3 lives up to its ‘Over Ice’ Title as this is the chilled mix. Perfectly compiled for the cold months of 2009. It embodies the down tempo and eclectic side to bargrooves. Featuring Afterlife, The Ballistic Brothers, Kings of Tomorrow, Mood II Swing and Ultra Nate this is the choice of cd that will fit that ‘back to my place’ vibe.

The new look bargrooves brand is now one year old and has firmly established itself as the definitive sound of the world bar scene.

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War Child announce the full list of artists and songs that feature on their new album “Heroes”, released on Parlophone on February 16th .

The album concept is that the biggest legends in music history select one of their personal favourite songs from their own songwriting canon, and nominate a music hero from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song. The album is in support of the real heroes – children who live with the brutal affects of war.

The tracklist in full:

1. Beck (Bob Dylan: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat)
2. Scissor Sisters (Roxy Music: Do The Strand)
3. Lily Allen (The Clash: Straight To Hell)
4. Duffy (Paul McCartney: Live And Let Die)
5. Elbow (U2: Running To Stand Still)
6. TV On The Radio (David Bowie: Heroes)
7. Hot Chip (Joy Division: Transmission)
8. The Kooks (The Kinks: Victoria)
9. Estelle (Stevie Wonder: Superstition)
10. Rufus Wainwright (Brian Wilson: Wonderful/ Song For Children
11. Peaches (Iggy Pop: Search And Destroy)
12. The Hold Steady (Bruce Springsteen: Atlantic City)
13. The Like (Elvis Costello: You Belong To Me)
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker)
15. Franz Ferdinand (Blondie: Call Me)

Guy Garvey of Elbow commented: “War Child do exactly what it says on the tin. These kids shouldn’t be in such circumstances in the first place, but they are, so thank god someone’s doing something about it.”

Sir Paul McCartney said: “I have been supporting War Child since 1995. Their work with children in war zones saves lives and their work with those who take decisions that help them to do something about it saves even more lives. The breadth of talent on this project is amazing; it’s great that so many people gave their time, energy and support to this initiative. I urge everyone to support War Child.”

EMI has made a substantial upfront payment to War Child, and will release the album on its Parlophone label.

Parlophone are donating all their profits to War Child’s work to protect the most marginalised children in war zones, who would otherwise be overlooked: street children, child soldiers and children in prison.

www.warchild.org.uk/heroes

Lady GaGa is celebrating being the UK new Number One.

The 22-year-old New Yorker hit the top of the charts with her debut single, Just Dance, which outsold the number two record by more than three-quarters.

Lady Gaga reckons she wouldn’t be half the artist she is if she hadn’t written songs for other artists.

The singer has written songs for Akon, Pussycat Dolls and New Kids On The Block, among others and says the process has helped her to hone her songwriting skills.

She told The Daily Mirror: “There’s something very humbling about being able to write for a powerhouse group like The Dolls.

“So it’s been an incredible influence. It’s like Akon – everytime you work with someone that’s better than you are you just become greater.”

With artists like Eric Prydz and Fedde Le Grand, you can always rely on Data Records to spot the biggest dance tracks of tomorrow, and 2009 is no exception. Rudenko is the 23 year old wunderkind from Russia, and a young producer who is tearing up dance floors across the world with his big room electro.
A future star with the weight of the underground behind him, his current bomb, ‘Everybody’, has grown from being the most talked about record of Amsterdam’s Dance Event, into one of the hottest dance tracks on daytime radio. Radio 1’s Pete Tong, Zane Lowe, Sara Cox, Vernon Kaye, Scott Mills, and Judge Jules are all championing ‘Everybody’, while Kiss’s Steve Smart is giving it his full support. Already a major club record; expect this to be a peaktime anthem across the party season. Born and raised in Moscow, Leonid Rudenko is already a household name in his native Russia.

He began producing at 10 years old, experimenting with software and samplers, before forging a successful production and DJ career in his teens. He counts Pete Tong and Judge Jules as his biggest UK fans, and his last track, ‘Star Disease’, was hammered on Jules’ Radio 1 show for 7 weeks in a row and enjoyed 4 weeks at No.1 on the Beatport sales chart.   Remixes come from Morjac, who deliver a string laden piano anthem, Dabruck & Klein who step up with a main room tough electro monster and a twisted cut up from Don Diablo, amongst others…

Rudenko ‘Everybody’ Download & In shops 16^th February 2009

Denis A is one of Russia’s most exciting DJ/Producer prospects for 2009.

Already resident at Es Paradis (Ibiza), NEO (Moscow), and presenter of the very popular radio show “Diamonds Of Dance Music” aired on MGPS 89.5 FM (Moscow), owner of jewellery house “Alentieff”. He is now launching his own DAR label, and is very much a man on the rise. Denis Alentieff is a striking example of the fact that if you find talents in yourself, then don’t bury them – dare to live your dreams.

Denis Alentieff became DJ Denis A on April 14, 2007, when he played his set at a party with Christopher Lawrence. The crowd went wild, appreciating the quality music, which in turn made him believe in himself. As a result, Moscow promoters immediately started to speak about this new highly-talented DJ playing sets full of amazing beauty. The radio show “Diamonds Of Dance Music” drew a great response from electronic music fans from early beginning, as Denis’ talent for finding the tracks which become the hits tomorrow was recognised.

Another interesting fact is that Denis still DJs mostly with vinyl (80%), which has been very important in his decision to make sure that DAR releases are available on 12” vinyl (via Splinter, UK) in addition to the usual digital music outlets.

In the summer of 2008, Denis A went down in the history of Russian dance culture as first DJ from Russia to become a resident at “Es Paradis” in Ibiza, it looks like 2009 will be an amazing year too. Now that Denis has hooked up with Plastic Music to manage his new label, a series of superb DJ Denis A productions are forthcoming on DAR, featuring hand-picked remixes by Style Of Eye, Solaris Heights, Wally Lopez, Pig & Dan, and Robert Babicz. Watch out!

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Modern day drum and bass is more popular than ever before. With new producers constantly raising the bar on production techniques and next-level engineering, it’s hard to keep up with an underground scene that is constantly moving and evolving. The Drumsound and Bassline Smith Artist Series Sample CD from Loopmasters is designed to give you the tools and inspiration to write a D’n’B classic and take your production levels to the elusive next level and hopefully straight into the drum and bass hall of fame!

Drumsound and Bassline Smith have spent the last ten years working together, building a huge musical library, tweaking their production values and using their combined experience and musical knowledge to create an awesome eclectic collection of samples so you can be sure, as always, that the goods are delivered.

The Leads are fierce, with Rich Pads and Deep Bass sounds and the Drums are so big, bad and heavy they will cut through and put the finishing touches to any mix, making the perfect recipe for a DeeBee dancefloor destroyer! Each section provides an intelligent approach to tune arrangement with sections for Drones / SFX / Pads / Leads and of course Drums and Bass, all mastered carefully to Loopmasters’ high, professional standards to ensure you can start working with these awesome sounds without delay!

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Putting two fingers up to the recession it’s launching a 12 month campaign of ultra-hedonistic and inflation busting events that not only save people’s precious party pounds, but prove Tidy fans are the best when it comes to knocking economic gloom on the head. Can Tidy make 2009 the Year of the Party? YES IT CAN!

Kicking off the campaign they return to the Magna Centre on 7th March. The last Tidy event to be held at this structurally spectacular converted steel works in Rotherham was three years ago. Now, its steel girders are bracing themselves for TIDY… The Homecoming; and Tidy hope they are sturdy as it’s bigger than ever. Enlisting a 40 strong DJ cast of hi-energy musical minsters representing the whole of the dance music spectrum this is one heavy-weight line-up.

Topping the bill is  Technoboy, the Italian hard style DJ who has been selling out gigs across the globe within minutes of tickets going on sale. Lab 4 lovers are in for a rare treat as the duo get back together to rekindle a LIVE show. EXCLUSIVE TO TIDY clubbers won’t see them anywhere else before March.

Meanwhile Captain Tinrib displays his commitment to the cause by travelling 12,000 miles from New Zealand to present an credit crunch busting LIVE performance.

Agnelli & Nelson vs Solarstone give it a big oi oi for the the Department of Trance while the front bench representatives for hard House include Lisa Lashes, Lisa Pin-Up, Rob Tissera, BK, Ilogik, Andy Whitby, Alex Kidd, Technikal & Andy Farley; to name a few.

Leeds house brand, Kissdafunk celebrates five years of partying will will also have its own house arena headed up with by Space, Ibiza resident Jonathan Ulysses.

TICKETS

This will also be the cheapest dance event at Magna ever. Early bird and saver tickets have already been snapped up by the hardcore Tidy faithful there are plenty of standard £25 tickets are still available.

If you fancy being a V.I.P. you’d better be quick, there is only a handful left. The £35 tickets earn you entrance to the VIP areas, a free lanyard, and an M8/goody bag which includes some exclusive DJ mixes. Secure yours at www.tidy.com

Come and join the Tidy Troops and let’s show people how to party!

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Mashed up, house music madness meets street tough, lyrical badness in a tune set to rewrite the dancefloor rulebook. out now the ever reliable Eye Industries bring you the meeting of musical minds that is ‘Another Dimension’ by Timmy Vegas & Bad Lay-Dee. Fusing elements of Crystal Waters and the Beastie Boys with a funked up house groove and a sharp urban edge, ‘Another Dimension’ is all set to kick off 2009 with a speaker-blowing bang…

Already receiving support from the likes of Pete Tong, Zane Lowe, Sara Cox and Scott Mills on Radio 1, Footloose and MistaJam on 1Xtra, Steve Smart and D’n’B maestro Gerard on KISS, Sarah Main and David Dunne on Galaxy, there is no doubt that love for ‘Another Dimension’ is cutting a swathe through DJs and genres. Timmy Vegas and Bad Lay-Dee are walking a perfect line between cred and crowd pleaser.

Timmy Vegas is a man with serious house music credentials, alongside poker playing skills that could empty your wallet faster than a round of drinks in Ibiza! As one half of Soul Central he crashed into the Top 10 at #6 with the anthem ‘Strings Of Life (Stronger On My Own)’. His productions have been snapped up by some of the world’s best house music labels and his musical skills saw him tour as guitarist / keyboard player for Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant.

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Richard Dinsdale, a pioneer of delivering driving underground sounds to clubs worldwide now arrives at the plate to release his debut album to the global following of Toolroom Records. Dinsdale’s fine tuned offering showcases his well honed dancefloor sound, cleverly incorporating ingredients of multiple genres, both in and around the dance music spectrum, a skill rarely found in the over saturated market of dance music artist albums. Since the release of Dinsdale’s own Toolroom Knights volume, remixes for the likes of Lot49 and Renaisance and Global Underground, Richard now returns to his well polished platform of all things deep and driving, this time delivering the masterpiece that is U-Turn.

We caught up with Richard to get the lowdown on the album…….

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Having recently climbed in the famous DJ Top 100 to number 13 in the world, the accolades and achievements just keep rolling in for Dutch dance music hero, Sander van Doorn. It only feels like yesterday that we were sending out Sander’s first single and have felt like a proud parent watching him release his killer debut album Supernaturalistic, touring the globe and becoming famed for his epic sets on the white isle.

Now he returns to the Nebula HQ to unleash another dancefloor bad boy in the form of new single Close My Eyes – a crafty mash up of We’re The Pet Shop Boys (a Robbie Williams – Pet Shop Boys collaboration that was originally written by My Robot Friend). Sander turned the track into a thumping tech-trance monster and thankfully for everyone he got the blessing from the Williams – Pet Shop Boys camp for an official release.

With its distorted claps and kicks, driving bassline and arpeggiated riffs, Close My Eyes is a no holds barred, peak time destroyer. Sander’s tight production skills set the perfect background for Robbie’s vocals, proving why the lad from Eindhoven is at the top of the game. With a Radio Edit and Club Version, there’s also an Alternative Club Version that highlights the dramatic build-ups and if you prefer your tunes a little stripped back, there’s also a Dub sans Robbie.

So there you have it – one of the biggest DJ / Producers on the planet reworking one of the most famous vocals in pop music history to MASSIVE effect. Catch Sander in action touring across Europe, North America and the Middle East over the next couple of months and find out why he is worshipped in clubland.

http://www.nebula.mu/

http://www.sandervandoorn.com/