DJ Ron's Dance Music / Electronica Blog

During WMC, I had the luck of running into Nick Warren during the Global Underground party for Sasha's upcoming Involver CD. Always the friendly DJ, Nick chatted about his upcoming projects, his respect for Sasha, new music from Way Out West, and his long-term relationship with Global Underground.

From dancer to stylist to actor to up-and-coming popstar, the path of Duke Christian George has brought him in contact with the biggest of stars. Dancing with Britney Spears and Will Smith and styling Kanye West has given Christian a glimpse of what makes a star a star. With the release of his debut single "Strangers" flying up the charts, we get a glimpse of Christian's white boy soul and a taste of his upcoming debut album...

We were introduced to Leana, the Swedish Diva, with a photo her walking away from us on the cover of her debut single "Dance With a Stranger." No longer a stranger to clubland, her string of club hits – "Embrace Me," "I Just Died in Your Arms," "Faith" and "Pack Your Bags," have all stormed the Billboard Club Chart. Her new CD, Feel Me, is a great club soundtrack featuring remixes by Stonebridge, Eric Kupper, Soul Seekerz, Chris Cox, and more. From Sweden to cabarets to the dancefloor, clubland has Faith in Leana.

Today marks the US release of our favorite CD of the year, Robyn's self titled masterpiece. The Swedes make the best pop music and Robyn updates the tradition with a fresh taste of electro. Known in the US for her '90s hits "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What it Takes)," Robyn's made a huge comeback in Europe with the emotionally-charged "With Every Heartbeat." With incredible songwriting and production (Teddy Bears, Bjorn from Peter, Bjorn and John, and Kleerup), Robyn's latest CD is in stores today.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual brewing outside Pacha the recent Friday night David Guetta held a few thousand clubgoers in the palm of his hand. The lines customarily snaked down 46th Street in both directions, which meant my companion that evening and I needed to run the guest list gauntlet to avoid an hour-long entrance that had all the visible movement of grass growing. We made it inside without distress, although a subsequent line of people waiting inside to be confirmed could have tipped us off to the spectacle unfolding behind the final set of doors that remained our final barrier to entry.

Numark's USB TTi is a revolutionary way to convert your vinyl to your computer, or even better—directly to your iPod. This is quite a feat when you consider that when Apple debuted the iPod in 2001 it didn't hit the mainstream until 2003 and not many people, even in 2003, truly knew the longevity of, let alone the massive ways the iPod would have firmly integrated itself into the mainstream.

After a few weeks, the experience that was Winter Music Conference is not much more than a memory. The good times that were shared, the great music we danced to, and the fun people we hung out is what I aim to write about. I've already blogged the day-to-day experiences, so now, with hindsight, it's time to summarize it into a brief synopsis. Last year, I did my own set of awards - which seemed to work really well - so let's stick with that. And with the International Dance Music Awards, Club World Awards, Freestyle Music Awards, etc - there simply weren't enough...

When I first heard about the Winter Music Conference maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I made it a life goal to somehow attend before I left this old world. The fact that it took me all this time to finally achieve that goal was a bit of prolonged foreplay that made quite the feeling of euphoria as I stepped off the plane into the warm salty air. At the sound of some older Cuban women talking to one side of us, Reggaeton music playing outta someone's car, and the sight of guys with suitcases with headphones hanging on them just here at the airport, my traveling companion Brother McWilliams grinned at me, knocked the fists friendly and stated, "We're here, dude!" Yes, we were!

Femme fatale DJ Samantha Jane took on the 2008 Winter Music Conference and tells the tale of boat cruises, 24 hour partying, and surviving the fate of train-crashing DJ tragedies. Read about the adventures in her Winter Music Conference 2008 wrapup.