The plague rave is a blight that I've mentioned on this page numerous times in recent weeks. My opinion is well known - I think they're irresponsible, often have links with the criminal underworld, potentially dangerous and they do a disservice to those trying to persuade politicians to listen to them. One particularly interesting phenomenon that I have noticed is plague DJs doing plague raves. None more so than The…
I'm not a fan of the very modern practice of playing a song once and then just leaving it on your hard drive for the rest of eternity. I think it's a waste of everyone's time, frankly, and it just feeds into this idea that music isn't the same as it used to be. Think of the facts. An MP3 these days costs somewhere between £1 and £2 on average.…
This isn't going to win me any friends at Traxsource, but am I the only one truly questioning their independence nowadays? The business was originally set up in 2004 by Marc Pomeroy and Brian Tappert. Back in the 1990s, less so in the 2000s, they were a production and remix duo called Jazz N Groove. Bloody good they were, as well. They also ran a label called Soulfuric Records. Its…
It was inevitable that the Defected Records cash cow was eventually going to start looking at afro house in the way Bernard Matthews used to look at turkeys. They've launched a brand new record label, called Sondela. The African sounding name is, of course, nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The label will be based in London, just like the rest of Defected's empire - and the collaborative effort with…
Before I get my turn on the ducking stool, I ought to say I have a lot of time for Simon Dunmore, the boss man at Defected. He ran Cooltempo for a number of years. AM:PM was a beacon of quality house music when he ran it. And the success of Defected is wonderful to see, especially in this age when many of the labels we used to know are,…
I see that David Morales isn't happy with the state of DJing and music at the moment. In doing so, he joins a list that's been increasing in size since day nought. As much as I'd to be able to dismiss David Morales as a boring old fart who need to get with the times - because frankly, he does sound a bit like one here - I can't. Because…
This tweet by Simon Dunmore, the big boss man at Defected Records is doing the rounds. I couldn't agree more with him, as it happens. It truly defies belief that no one has been sued over this. Some of the tunes you see in the jacking house section on Traxsource or the house charts on Beatport are nothing more than someone sticking a couple of drum elements on top of…
