Locodice in Boston from CNTRL Bus

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Mixmag launch poll to find greatest dance track of all time

(Music-News) It's well over 20 years since acid house transformed the way clubbers live, love and party. And since then, countless classic tunes have touched millions of dance music fans around the world.

Today Mixmag ' the world's biggest, longest-standing and most respected dance music and club culture magazine ' poses the toughest question of all.

What is the greatest dance track of all time'

Was it that sunrise special from a first trip to Ibiza' A festival banger that tore the roof off the tent' Or that 'one more tune', end-of-the-night anthem from a life-changing clubbing experience'

To help dance fans along, Mixmag has made a shortlist of almost 300 timeless records ' encompassing all genres of electronic dance music from house and techno to dubstep and drum'n'bass ' that they think could be in contention to win. Go to www.greatestdancetrack.com now to browse the list, listen to each of the tracks and then cast your vote. A favourite track not found on Mixmag's shortlist' Not a problem ' users can simply input their choice manually and pick any track they want.

Users can also get a 20% discount from Beatport to buy any of the tunes on the shortlist by using a special Mixmag code, found on the poll's homepage.

The poll will run until December 21, 2012. The winner will be revealed in the February issue of Mixmag, on sale January 17, 2013.

Mixmag editor commented "Of all the polls we've ever run at Mixmag, this one has caused the most office arguments! Picking one greatest dance track of all time seems almost like an impossible task to many. So to help people along, we've created a list of 300 timeless records that we think could be in contention to win. You can listen to all of these tunes on our bespoke Facebook App and then make your choice. Just be careful, once you start browsing you may find that you've lost a day!"

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TIESTO HAS BACK PROBLEMS FROM DJING SAYS CALVIN HARRIS

The toweringly tall DJ from Scotland, Calvin Harris stands at a mere 6 foot 5 inches and has scored massive hit songs in 2012.  Nevertheless, he's not worried about keeping pace with his ability to make mainstream hits or meet the demands of his home based progressive house fans.  Rather the artist is worried about his health, in particular his back.

In an interview with The Sun, Calvin Harris spoke of the dangers of being tall in the DJ game.  He pointed to Tiesto, who recently had to take the entire month of October off because of major back pain.  Calvin elaborated that Tiesto has incredibly injured his back because of DJing

“He did his back in and he’s been warning me,” Harris said of Tiesto, “if you’re a tall guy and you DJ you really need to watch that.”  If you were wondering Tiesto is mere inches shorter then Calvin Harris.  Calvin proceeded to explain that it is no longer of his interest to perform on improper equipment not suitable for his height. “There was one gig somewhere in Japan where the desk the mixer and CD changer were on was 3ft off the ground, ” he complained. “I was squatting and bending over just to get to the mixer — it wasn’t the best workout and I’m not taking any more chances.”

If your worried about not seeing Calvin Harris anytime fear not.  A simple addition to his rider contract, a request sheet an artist makes of a venue he plays at, for proper height tables.  He said in the interview, "a good tip is on my rider — I ask for a very tall desk so I don’t have to bend down.”

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Three Die during Steve Aoki performance in Madrid

(LA Times) At least three women died Wednesday night at a Steve Aokiperformance in Madrid when a tightly packed dance floor turned into a dangerous crowd crush. The three were attending a massive Halloween party called Thriller Music Park at the Madrid Arena, and, according to a report in El País (via Spin), police were called around 4 a.m. after being informed of unconscious revelers. 

Aoki was the headliner at the Madrid festival, which was approved to be a 10,800 capacity event.

Attendees later told El País that there were as many as 20,000 on hand, and one photo of the party published on Spin's website showed a vast, untended mass of people on the dance floor. A recently uploaded YouTube video identified as being shot at the event showed Aoki coaxing energy out of the jubilant crowd by showering them with Champagne.

The Los Angeles-based Aoki is one of the top dance DJs in the world, and he has built a reputation for  ferocious live shows -- he stage dives and head-bangs along to the tracks he's playing. Last week in Puerto Rico he was hospitalized after he injured his neck while jumping on a trampoline during one of his concerts.

Aoki has thus far been silent on the Madrid deaths. His most recent tweet was from Wednesday, in which he reached out to his followers with typically frenzied enthusiasm: "MADRID!!!!! HOLA! IM HERE IN YOUR CITY! READY TO PARTY WITH U! SOLD OUT TONIGHT! WOOHOOO!"

Witnesses told El País that passages and exits became overwhelmed during Aoki's set as people tried to move on and off the dance floor. 

"There was a human bottleneck at the only exit, because all the others were closed, sealed," one person told El País. "There were people crying, crushed; security personnel dragging away those that were trapped." 

Such concert tragedies have occurred before. Eleven Who fans were killed at a 1979 concert in Cincinnati, and, in 2000, nine died during a Pearl Jam concert at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. More recently, 21 died after a similar crush overwhelmed the crowd during Germany's huge dance event the Love Parade in 2010.

Updated, 12:10 p.m.  DJ Steve Aoki has issued the following statement regarding the tragedy in Madrid: “After my performance last night at Thriller Music Park at the Madrid Arena in Spain, I was devastated to hear that three people had died during a crowd rush at one of the exits.  The safety of my fans has always been my top priority and had I known that there was any distress putting people in jeopardy within the venue I would have ended my show immediately.  My show in Bilbao, Spain tonight will be cancelled out of respect for those who lost their lives and those who are injured. I would like to express my deepest condolences and heart felt prayers to the families and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Update, 1:05 p.m. The promoter of the Thriller Music Park event has also issued a statement expressing condolences for the loss of life, as well as details about the apparent cause.  “The triggering of events was apparently launched by an assistant flaming a flare in one of nine vomitory access, not on Centre Court,” the statement reads (albeit in awkward English). “This action caused panic and isolation in this part of the venue.” The promoter stressed that the Madrid Arena was not filled beyond recommended capacity, saying, in part, “The capacity certified by the foreign company access control was below the required capacity for this event.”

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Kaskade Kept Touring Despite Broken Foot

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