After a bumpy start to last summer's Ibiza party season which saw most of the island’s top venues closed for any number of legal violations, the party island roared back into action. Leading the way, DJ Sven Vath and the entire Freakshow/Cocoon Ibiza residency which went on to record one of the craziest seasons in recent history.
The penalties seemed to only stir up anticipation for the onslaught of events, and by the time the month-long prohibition ended, crowds of mad-for-it clubbers were once again lined up, ready to party. By end of summer 2007, Cocoon Ibiza's Freakshow parties emerged as one of the most successful residencies of the season once again solidifying the popularity of minimal techno. Musically, the sound of minimal has itself morphed through adept use of newer, funkier and jazzier sounds and samples. Cocoon founder Sven Vath recently released a dual mix CD capturing some of the musical highlights of the summer as he has done for the past 8 years of holding events on the island.
Sven Vath: In the Mix - The Sound of the Eighth Season picks up where the previous series of seven mixed compilation CDs left off -- with a smooth flow of minimal techno and electro with jazzy underpinnings, which builds in energy through it's two-and-a-half hour duration. The compilation draws upon many of Cocoon's own artists as well as unleashing some massive, licensed hits such as Carl Craig's remix of Junior Boys' Like a Child, voted by club DJ magazine Resident Advisor as one of the year's best tracks.
The Cocoon Recordings label has also won accolades again as one of the year's best labels, and it is under the steady eye of Sven Vath that the Cocoon empire continues to grow without forsaking the quality in the process. Cocoon, which was started by Vath over 8 years ago, continues to expand into new areas beyond the core music to include restaurants, a full-fledged booking agency, events planning, sponsorship and all aspects of music recording, distribution, promotion and merchandising.
The Sound of the Eighth Season World Tour has already brought Vath to Madrid, Athens, Rotterdam, Lausanne and he returns to Shanghai for 1 night before continuing the on tour with stops at Tokyo, Jakarta, Singapore before returning to Frankfurt.
His shows in Shanghai have been consistently packed, having played Club Bonbon for the first time last January. A previous visit to Shanghai by techno DJ/producer friend Richie Hawtin set the stage for an entire series of minimal techno performances by the very top of the field of artists, mainly from Germany. Besides Vath and Hawtin, Bonbon has hosted Cocoon artists Frank Lorber and Loco Dice, International Deejay Gigolos Records founder DJ Hell, and Get Physical Music founders DJ T and M.A.N.D.Y. further satiating Shanghai’s techno fans and newcomers alike.
Win Sven Vath’s latest mixed compilation 2xCD Sven Vath in the Mix - The Sound of the Eighth Season, and free tickets to the event at Club Bonbon this Friday night! Visit http://www.urbanon.com for details.
Sven Vath in the Mix - The Sound of the Eighth Season World Tour 2008 featuring Cocoon founder DJ Sven Vath at Club Bonbon, Shanghai on Friday 1.25
- Club Bonbon
- 2F – 3F YunHai Tower, No. 1329 – 1331, HuaiHai Road
- Reservations: 133 2193 9299
- www.clubbonbon.com
Minimal techno continues to enjoy healthy popularity. The style is characterized by having tracks that are stripped-down to only the most essential elements of the groove -- the beat. The most skillful DJs deconstruct tracks and then rebuild them adding new sounds and layers in real-time, in the mix, basing their sound and track selection on the crowd’s apparent ability to take it. And for decades, the party island of Ibiza has been the proverbial testing ground where the world’s top DJs and clubbers alike can determine just how much each other can take.
