Digital Dreams Headliner Announcement!

The Digital Dreams Festival has just announced two headlining acts.  Canada Day weekend (June 29th and 30th) at the Flats at Ontario Place, you can expect two of the biggest names in djing and dance music EVER to be taking the stage.  Electronic Nation, Uniq Lifestyle, Capture, Balance, and Destiny have all teamed up alongside Bacardi to bring you Toronto's finest, cutting edge dance music festival.  

First up is Dutch sensation Tiesto; known for a lengthy list of hits and a breakneck tour schedule spanning the globe, and someday the galaxy.  Tiesto is a veteran of almost 20 years, travelling and producing music to an ever growing audience of adoring party goers.

Known the world over for his Club Life podcast, and for being the first dj to be invited to be a part of the Olympics opening ceremonies, this show is not to be missed.  We will truly be in the company of legends...

Here's a quick taste of some of Tiesto's most recent work:

Preview - Tiesto - Chasing Summers (R3hab and Quintino Remix) by Tiësto

Preview - Tiësto & Swanky Tunes ft. Ben McInerney - Make Some Noise (Dyro Remix) by Tiësto

The second headlining act announced today is none other than Richie Hawtin.  The English-Canadian techno innovator lived in Windsor, and became an integral part of the Detroit scene and is now taking that music further than most have dreamed possible.  With his recent CNTRL tour aiming to share some of his expanse of knowledge and experience (alongside some of his incredibly talented friends like Victor Calderone and Loco Dice).  Each stop on the tour offered a seminar in addition to the show, so that fans and up and coming talent could benefit from these musicians giving back to the dance music community.

To trace back through Hawtin's extensive discography, one would need to search for a variety of monikers including the ever famous Plastikman, to the older titles like F.U.S.E. from the days of the formation of Plus 8 Records with John Acquaviva.  There's absolutely no predicting where the show will go when Hawtin is at the helm.  He possesses such a unique mastery of the intersection between technology and creativity, one really needs to see it to believe it.  We have been fortunate enough to see Hawtin a few times before; each performance is incredible and very unique.

Check out some Plastikman classics:

Plastikman: Recycled Plastik (1994-04-11) NOMU30 by RichieHawtin

With the announcement of these two acts as headliners Digital Dreams puts itself at the forefront of the Canadian dance music festivals.  There's no denying that after an announcement like this there is nowhere to go but up.  There should be no hesitation or debate about this, if you aren't itching to get your tickets now, you should either check your head or your pulse.

For more to listen to from these two legends check out Richie Hawtin and Tiesto on soundcloud.  For more information on the festival, stay tuned here; we're definitely going to be keeping up with this, or check out DigitalDreamsFest.ca.  Watch the teaser video below, or click here for the short documentary telling the tale of Digital Dreams 2012.  You can also get VIP, or general admission tickets to the festival now.  Click here for Digital Dreams on Ticketmaster and we will see you out there Canada Day weekend!

DJ Sneak chats with Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice and Carl Craig (Video)

This is definitely an interesting video to check out, DJ Sneak joins Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice and Carl Craig on the CNTRL tour bus to chat about the Toronto scene and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.  Nice to hear legends speak on the current state of things in electronic music, we all have a lot to learn.  Also, love the Artfusion shoutout for the London show.  Enjoy.

Artfusion @ CNTRL

Yesterday we joined Ryan Mahy, the founder of Artfusion as he embarked on a new and unique project.  Live art, performed, created, as part of London, Ontario's stop on the CNTRL tour.

CNTRL is tour combining seminars and live shows by dj's Ean Golden, Victor Calderone, Loco Dice, and Richie Hawtin.

 

The legendary dj's have a unique approach to this tour, and Artfusion's installation added a creative element.

Over the course of the day, and the amazing sets at night we got over a hundred photos and a select few videos of the transformation of this painting.  Check out more on Artfusion.

Richie Hawtin LIVE!

Tonight Richie Hawting and his stellar lineup of Loco Dice, Ean Golden, and Victor Calderone bring the CNTRL tour to London Music Hall.  They've taken a different approach from so many EDM tours out there, with seminars on electronic music and technology preceding the shows in each city.  

Check out this interview Richie and Loco Dice did last week with Sennheiser.  They explain what their motivation was behind the CNTRL tour and how the concept for the seminars came about.  

Richie Hawtin himself is no stranger to Ontario.  The British born artist moved to Ontario when he was 9, his father worked in Robotics at General Motors, and introduced his son to artists like Kraftwerk.  Minutes from his home, techno was born in Detroit and Richie Hawtin has been involved ever since.  He's made records with countless, incredible artists, founded Plus 8 Records with John Acquaviva.  Hawtin's aliases are quite plentiful and Plastikman is the most famous moniker.

We had the extreme pleasure of catching a Richie Hawtin set a few years ago.  The Virgin Music Festival in Baltimore, 2008 featured a small dance stage with an absolutely out of this world lineup that included the Plastikman himself.  Hawtin is one of those artists that is so creative he excels far beyond the hype is legendary status earns.  Tickets are available here for $30.  Don't miss this one.

Photo of the day: Richie Hawtin