Room 1
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♦ LOCO DICE
♦ Hector
♦ Franco Y Gael
♦ Deg
Room 2
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♦ Raw District
♦ Geoff Wichmann
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♦ LOCO DICE (DE, Desolat Music Group)
Loco Dice is someone who can puzzle together intangible moods with a direct approach. Via his DJ sets or his productions on labels like M_nus, Cadenza, Ovum, Four Twenty and Cocoon, he merges perspectives in his delicate sense for sounds and reflective atmospheres, underpinned with solid, physical grooves inspired by the hip hop that was his early sonic stomping ground in the mid- to late ‘90s. There’s something there for the dreamers, as well as for the 9-to-5ers who just want to lose everything in a moment of abandon on the dancefloor.
Don’t think that merging of perspectives is accidental. This Loco Dice, with his mercurial temperament, may let his thoughts run away with him, but he tends to chase those ideas and make them into an artistic reality. His DJ sets, whether at Germany’s biggest rave Timewarp, Cocoon in Ibiza or a beach party in South America, are spontaneous orchestrations fueled by the nuances of a night/venue/crowd.
In that sense, Dice’s innate understanding of people: what they sense, what they feel, what they want to imagine, is a part of what distinguishes him from other DJs. He’s very aware when playing in Ibiza of the multiplicity of nationalities that are gathered there, the morass of different desires to be catered to. His inner film scriptwriter makes him capable of translating sounds and kicking it like a local, whether it’s in Naples or in New York. Loco Dice is similarly capable of inspiring, of creating that heady atmosphere that can only be experienced in a crowd of thousands. This skill of his, first cultivated at DC-10, is also no doubt informed by his experiences touring with big name hip hop artists in the ‘90s.
Mark Spoon used to promise him that at some point Loco Dice would shuffle sideways from his beloved house and hip hop to “come over and be one of us”, one of the techno believers. In a sense, he was right, though Loco Dice never leaves anything behind: he still brings out classics, whether classic techno from Maurizio to Basic Channel or gritty boompty house by DJ Sneak, and he’s still fond of composing music, as linear as it may be, that draws on hip hop song structures and basslines. At the end of the day, as Loco Dice sees it, everything runs in loops, and it’s his job to trace a line, to sketch out the next scenes in this soundtrack. Even if life tends to be unpredictable, a little chancey, the next move doesn’t have to be a gamble. In fact, Loco Dice shows via his compositions that it can be very well planned. Listen to his music, imagine the cinematic accompaniments, and you’ll understand how something carefully constructed can begin with a flight of fancy, or a roll of the dice.
www.locodice.com
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♦ HECTOR (UK, Desolat)
From Fabric London over to Playa Del Carmen via Ibiza back to Berlin, Hector is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most exciting young producers and DJs on the planet, effortlessly balancing his will to experiment with commitment to the founding spirit of house. Mixing up styles and moods but always focussed firmly on the dance-floor’s needs and desires, Hector’s selections nod to house music’s past but engage fully with its future; his sets have energy, precision and soul.
He’s no slouch in the production department either with a string of high profile releases to his name. Most recently “Piano Hispano EP”, a release he produced with Pablo Cahn, and his own EP “Hispanic Causing Panic’ on 8bit have caused a stir among high profile DJs worldwide. As well as having an exclusive track included on the ‘5 Year Anniversary’ Mobilee compilation released in the summer of 2010, Hector is mixing the first compilation for Ibiza’s biggest new party, ‘The Zoo Project’, for which he recently became a resident. He is also developing a new alias ‘Los Vatos’, through which he wants to experiment with different genres of music from disco to hip hop and to work more with live singers.
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♦ RAW DISTRICT (BE, Homecoming Music)
Raw District is the new house project from Belgian duo Vernon Bara and Massimo DaCosta, which debuts on their own label Homecoming Music. Having met in a Mons record shop in 2000, under the Vernon&DaCosta name, they have released music on labels such as OM Records, AMA Rec, Robsoul, Aroma, OFF, Icon, Doubledown and many more of the world’s finest underground house labels. They have remixed for artists such as Brett Johnson, Fred Everything, Style of Eye, Miguel Migs and JT Donaldson and have garnered a reputation as important international producers and DJs with respect paid by great DJs like Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, Jamie Jones, Mark Farina and DJ Sneak.
Vernon and Massimo pair set up their own imprint Homecoming Music in 2010, in order to release music by themselves and their friends. The label has released music by artists such as Brett Johnson, DJ W!LD, Chris Carrier, Djebali, Gulivert, Phil Weeks, Tripmastaz and Inland Knights amongst others.Early in 2013, they decided to start a new side project called ‘Raw District’ which will see them focus on the darker and deeper side of House music. In their own words, “Raw District tracks will feature fewer samples and more organic influences. However, the trademark soul, funk and disco influences will still be evident, mixed up with the fresh European sounds coming from Berlin.” Future vocal collaborations are penned with artists such as Ingrid Hakanson for their first single on Defected, Ellipsis (who worked with Brett Johnson on his last Visionquest release) and Texan Red Eye (known for work with Phil Weeks and Demarkus Lewis).
2014 will see a lot of fresh music to be released such remixes for Systematic or Isgud Recordings and of course a couple of single on Homecoming.
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♦ GEOFF WICHMANN (BE, Lessizmore, Danza Macabra Records)
He started in Belgium with a House style at the age of 16 in the 90s and has been in the world of Electronic music for more than 10 years. He has become a professional DJ and he’s today focusing on electronic sound music. Geoff Wichmann has become a regular at Fuse and knows how to take control of the Motion Room.
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♦ Price at the door: 18 €