Weekly Reviews: Week of 15/02/09

This week I would like to praise last Sunday’s initiative of SLeek’s management and also fellow DJs Tasty Hax and Analogue Voom. As a last minute cover for an empty DJ slot when the club was packed with people we decided to do a “Jam Session” or “Gangbang”. It consisted originally in 3 DJs (Vitor Urqhart joined us later after a RL gig) spinning 5 tunes each and rotating and happened to be a success, lasting for more than 7 hours with the traffic levels never dropping under 40 people on the Sim.

I personally think that this sort of event can be a very interesting way of making some venues successful. I have been doing Jam Sessions for a while with “The Jam Rock Addicts” (Kayla Boxer, Vitor Urqhart, Ephram Magic and Mischief Portland), but always in each other’s homes and never at the club level. The event was very well received, I suspect that in the future other clubs will follow this type of model.

Talking about the club life it is a pleasure to refer two of the biggest names in the electronic music’s scene in Second Life. One started DJing on the grid and is one of those names you cannot miss. The other one was already a big name in Real Life when featured in the metaverse.

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Tasty Hax is with no sign of doubt the most famous female DJ in SL and one of the biggest names when it comes to nightlife and its innovative projects in world. Tasty started as a DJ on the grid with no previous RL DJing experience. Her desire to learn, practise and explore new sonorities made her one of the best DJs around. Her versatility allows her to spin a variety of styles, I personally had the opportunity to listen to her live mixing at three of them (Electro House, Funky House and Dn’B).


Tasty's commitment and love for the music as well as her ability has opened the door to RL opportunity, with future plans well in development. Tasty is founder of the Radiant Bliss Music Project, a group that intends to congregate various DJs, clubs and fans together. The group represents a very active link between the DJ’s projects or gigs and the whole community.


It was with the DJs in mind that “the project” opened a new venue. The club was built by Cat Carfagno, Lenne Larkin, Halriasa Aeon and Yenta Semyorka and aims to be “the house of DJs” in Second Life. It is an Open Stage venue where any Radiant Bliss DJ can pop in at anytime, send a notice via the group and throw a party. No schedule, no stress, 100% fun is the result.


It is located at Haad Rin, a Thai island and the decoration is oriental inspired with a statue of Buddha dominating the DJ booth. In the future Free Tekno Squat will also have a stage here open to any and all SL DJs.

The grand opening happened last Thursday and the music was brought by some of the best DJs on the grid as; Frederick Heberle , Coggy Nikolaidis, Jobe West ,Nox Larsson, Tasty Hax, Artec Amat and Doubledown Tandino. After party DJs included Claude Fizz and Nath Jonesford.

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Talking about the very opposite way (from RL to SL), Mantis Oh is the avatar name for Cari Lekebusch, International DJ, producer, Gothic B-Boy knight and praying mantis (as he defined himself). Born in 1972 and based in Stockholm, Sweden, Cari (Mantis) is a sound architect who also can be known by other alter egos as; Mystic Letter K, Mr Barth, Fred, Shape Changer, Vector, The Mantis and Braincell only to name some.

Since a very early age Cari developed a very intimate relationship with music, in the late 70s he was already collecting records and doing music edition. Being inspired by styles as Funk, Hip-Hop, Electro, House, and Techno, Cari assembled his own production studio in the 80s while studying Graffiti, Break-dance and Martial Arts. The 90s and the new century revealed to became a very productive period for Cari with hundreds of releases, DJ and live performances, and media (Radio and TV) coverage. It was thanks to Cari alongside with names as; Adam Beyer, Robert Leiner, Joel Mull and Jesper Dahlback that the Swedish underground music scene emerged into the international map.

Cari’s early influences are from Sweden, USA & Germany; James Brown, Ralph Lundsten, Herbie Hancock, African Bambaata, Egyptian Lover, Chris "The Glove" Taylor, Kraftwerk and Mantronix, amongst others... His various productions and remixes can be found on; Drumcode, Truesoul records, Code Red, Railyard recordings, Heroes, Corb, Harthouse, Loop/Plumphouse Records, Missile, Jericho, Proper, Tortured, Electrix, Primevil, Telephatic, Svek, Planet Rhythm, Tronic music, MB Electronics, Subvoice and Superstition.

H - Productions (aka Hybrid productions, Hybrid or H-Prod), his own independent label, also includes projects as; KaunTrax, Djupt, Grundtakt, Trainspotters Nightmare, AudioMekanixc, Audio Pollution, KGB, Direkt and Spirit Fuel. It originally released Electro/Hip-Hop inspired tunes that unfortunately had to be shortened in number due to the lack of commercial self sustainability and therefore funds. However around 1992 the label launched a proper 12" inch vinyl with the collaboration of Glenn Wilson and Planet Rhythm Records and few years later the international acceptance in the electronic underground scene.

In the future Cari aims to work in music and sound effects for video-games as well as more production for several other artists and solo projects. Some plans for film and television are already on the way, with some of Cari’s video production (some within Second Life) available on his MySpace, YouTube and website.

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That is all for this week, feel free to leave any comments or suggestions, stay tuned and remember... Size Matters!

Cari Lekebusch images compiled via his MySpace.

Weekly Reviews: Week of 08/02/09

As I promised last week in this review we will go through some rather interesting topics. So here I am making good. This week we have some RL production work from a famous DJ on the grid, an exclusive venue with a spiritualizing atmosphere that is saying farewell to Second Life, and also the new “must have” in terms of media innovations.

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Azufr3 Catteneo (aka DJ Azu) is one of the most famous DJs and “crowd movers” in the metaverse. Although it’s nothing new for most of the readers that “the Latino Jetsetter” is probably amongst the biggest ten names on the scene, there is an interesting element that should not pass unnoticed in his work. Azu Catteneo moved onto something bigger.

It is a phenomenon that keeps happening in Second Life; those who were not RL DJs before they were “rezzed”, and developed their ability on the decks inside the grid know what I am talking about. We can’t help it, can we? Once you start doing it you just want to get better and better. And when you find that “there are no more worlds to conquer”, what will you do?

Alexander the Great gave up after finding out “he couldn’t conquer any more worlds”, but times have changed and perhaps because Azu didn’t find a role model in such character he decided to create a new world. His own world of beats, bass lines, loops, samples; his own musical production!

Azu Catteneo’s greatest influences are Tiësto and Allure (one of Tiësto’s alter-egos), however his RL productions have been more focused into experimenting with easy-listening/electronic, as Azu says, “I always wanted to give it a try and I thought it would be a good place to start since I just began working on my productions in last December”. "Meant to me" was his first work and is clearly an easy-listening/electronic track. "Dos y Ocho" followed; “it's a little more upbeat and electronic compared to the first release”, he says. Both songs are available on iTunes and have been well received.

Currently, Azu is working on the remix of Fricker Frequency's – Emergence; “I wanted to experiment with the drums and Fricker's soul melodies, I am very happy with how it has been received and how it has incorporated into some of my sets”. Also experimenting different ideas and styles with some electrohouse tracks and a so called “trance-ish” track to be released sometime this year, Azu says; “I am quite excited to keep working out ideas and diversifying the sounds. I would like to leave a big thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, helpful and inspiring in this journey”.

Azu’s production work can be heard on The Sixtyone.com, and also on Azu's own Website, where you can find his podcasts.

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Some good things come to an end, and rumours were around that The House of Deizha is on the verge of closure. It was with huge sadness that we will see one of the most spectacular and beautiful venues in the metaverse disappear.

It was at least shocking to me when I acknowledged that, even though at first was just a rumour, I felt a tremendous sadness inside. Not only because it was already decided that The House of Deizha would be one of my choices for this week’s post, but also because was the place where I headed straight after partnering Anessa and where we “goofed” with some very close friends. I was also looking forward to play there being that club a major positive point in my DJ portfolio of clubs.

Deizha closed Saturday 14th Februray with a Valentine's Day Party, at the decks was Devee Voom, while on the dance floor a crowd of Deizha’s friends gathered to send the club out with a proper bash, final song was Groove Is In The Heart, a fitting choice.

The House of Deizha was the exclusive home to RL dance labels; Hed Kandi and Stereo Sushi as well as some of SL's hottest house DJs. People gathered there from all corners of the world because it is exclusive, very selective musicwise, and the greatly achieved building and landscaping.

Deizha’s resembled a lost piece of the ancient world (perhaps Egyptian but also touches of Maori or Sumerian), the surrounding landscape is a jungle that grew up after those civilization’s decline. It seems that the house music community discovered that lost paradise and made it an exclusive, stylish and at the same time innovative place.

The idea behind couldn’t be better, using a SL stage to promote the portfolio of two underground music RL labels. Albeit the good intentions and avant garde project, we all know that clubs are not financially self sustained in SL. Often they are linked to brands or real estate developers as a “traffic magnet” or as a complement amongst a development’s offered infrastructures.

The idea is viable and I don’t think it is my duty to discuss each other’s financial or strategic options and decisions whatever they are, these sorts of projects require a lot of dedication from the people involved and is not always compatible with some other RL factors. It is understandable that sometimes people can’t give more than it is in fact possible to it.

Let’s at least hope The House of Deizha can be re-introduced to SL again in the future.

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To conclude this week’s post, I would like to talk about a new “must have” in terms of gadgets, the Eishpod. Brought into SL by Bruno Loon and available at his store, Eish, the Eishpod is the 1st music player able to play music video clips everyplace in SL.

It includes some interesting features as; 20 cool music video clips included, repeat mode, colour change by HUD menu, modifiable adjustable headphones, and your friends can access it when permissions are given by you.

Some other interesting articles like furniture, footwear and clothing, gadgets, and DJ/Club equipment can also be found at Eish. At the moment the brand is preparing a new collection of female wear as well as skins.

There is an update group you can join by visiting the store or requesting straight to the staff. Good shopping!

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And that’s all for this week, stay tuned, have fun, and remember... SIZE MATTERS!

Weekly Reviews: Week of 01/02/09

One month of “Size Matters”, (the aftermath).

Blogging, in general, requires some curious predicates. Blogging about Second Life and most in particular about the electronic/dance music scene in Second Life require not only those predicates, but also passion, abnegation, and a lot of work with an extremely high level of consistency. In the first month of existence “Size Matters” have had over 400 visitors, three DJs have seen their work promoted, one of them made his first international appearance (away from his nationality’s community) after being reviewed at the blog.

Two clubs also featured in the blog with the right to be reviewed, Toontopia is now consolidated as a 24/7 live DJing club, being also the most eclectic in SL. I am proud of introducing Jungle and Dn’B in the “menu” of styles “Toon” has to offer. In fact some of those style’s fans in the grid have been seen “shaking” at “Toon”. AMICI House Club has been considered by some people in the mainstream as the new house music’s hotspot. Is fresh, new, has a pleasant atmosphere and very dedicated and responsible management. I had the pleasure of being there on the decks and I can tell that there is such a feeling about spinning at that club.

During the following weeks I will bring up some other DJs featuring in the grid, who has been piloting now RL career experiences. Some came from out world into SL’s scene Doubledown Tandino, Mantis Oh , AnuAmun Alchemi, some others did the opposite way Azufr3 Catteneo, Tasty Hax, Sensei Milena. I’ll also keep an eye on what’s new about clubs, events and also do some DJ and club equipment reviews.... But because this week’s review is not only about the aftermath or the grid, I think it would be interesting to review some RL new beats.

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From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have the pleasure to introduce to my fellow DJs and residents the work of Derf.X. Fred Bucci A.k.a Derf.X began like many DJs in the middle of 1992 playing house in clubs, in 1998 fell in love with electrohouse ever since it started to perfect his technique. His mixings are extremely consistent and full of harmony with solid basslines and intense grooves. The way Derf.x applies the effects when live can provoque a delirious effect in the crowd.

He has already played alongside names such as; Rinkadink, Kore, Solead, Ferbi Boys, Jokke Ilsoe, True to Nature, Dimitri Nakov, Gbu, Psycraft, Timelock, Antidote, Glocal, Mad Hatters, Burn In Noise, 220V, Life Style, Flow & Zeo and many others.Derf.x released his 1st two EPs "The Beginning" (PEAK HOUR MUSIC of UK) and "In Doubt" - title for one of his tracks – (SOLID FABRIC of Greece) and some of his compilations are already available at the largest online stores of the world as: Beatport - Release Records - Juno Downloads - DJ Downloads - Traxxsource and others; as well as a top 1 feature at the Progressivehouse.com.

(Derf.X images sourced via MySpace.)

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This week’s post wouldn’t be concluded if I wouldn’t mention some names. Some of them anonymous people who always go to the gigs, or even though are not present all the time, always presented me with massive support, friendship, advice, care or attention. Some of them would never imagine being in the spotlight, some others are used to.

Here’s a list of those who I can immediately remember (not necessarily in this order); Anessa Stine, Bluesky Blaisdale, Ana Vhargon, Dhani Ella, Dan277 Baxton, Doubledown Tandino, Ephram Magic, Eve Petlyakov, Joaoluis5858 Foden , Kayla Boxer, Lolly Sciarri, Monyka Mai, Stephen Levenque, Sensei Milena, Tasty Hax, Be Lyle, Bankinha Papp, Blair Fizz, Alegria Garden, Barbie Chase, DjBlacky McMahon, Marvie Forzane, Franco Amat, Erin Messmer, Ashlynn Yuitza, Jase Vuckovic, Gil Aker, Gwyneth Llewelyn, Janine Cummings, Java Clip, Jackson Vantelli, Belle Lefavre, Kari Kesten, Kalii Lykin, Charlee Chantilly, Life Charron, Michele Freiman, Summer Dupree, Tpglourenco Forcella, Tradgedy Kidd, Trinity Tiger, Tristan Micheline, Vitor Urqhart, Tommy10 Xue, Ylena2 Igaly, Len Canning, all the staff at Toontopia and Sleek and some others. I apologise if there is anyone who happened to be forgotten, but there are so many names...

That’s all for this week, next week I expect to bring an exclusive about one of the most famous DJs in the grid and also present some of his RL production work. Stay tuned and remember, Size Matters!