DMD #032 - IMS Hot Topics and Album Drops š£
Plus this week's track selections and the city's best looking events
Hello readers and welcome to the sun of šŖ DMD, a bi-weekly Dance Music Digest, featuring:
The 4, 3, 2, 1 of Dance Music | A countdown of four key happenings, and our take on them
Hot Tunes For DJ Sets | Four new tracks weāre loving
Livinā For Live | A curated guide of upcoming events in London
Creative Wisdom | Words to boost your week
The Four, Three, Two, One of Dance Music
International Music Summit Spotlight
4. FROM GEN TO GEN
The theme of this yearās IMS Conference was āIntergenerational Exchangeā, something which could be felt at all touch points, programmed or accidental. From Fat Tony sharing his tales of scandal and chaos via āThe Price of Successā discussion to Eats Everything playing inside Pikes with newcomers the Mas Que Nada Brothers launching their residency out on the terrace. DJ Flight and Sherelle also came together to explore four decades of Jungle and Drum and Bass. Flight who has long been one of the pioneers of the genre, began her career on 1Xtra and founded EQ50. Sheās been heralded by Sherelle and Nia Archives, amongst others, as a key influence. Itās one of the beautiful things about the electronic music industry, that it can offer longevity for those who want to be a part of the scene and struck an optimistic note for 2025.
3. CHINOIS NIGHTS
Chinois was the surprising addition to the key IMS party line up this year, with seemingly everyone heading there post Thursday at Pikes. The evening was curated by Appetite, an underground party from Londonās Elliot Schooling & Liam Palmer, increasingly known for itās āAppetite on the Farmā festival. The club also hosted the official Dalt Villa After party with Paco Osuna on decks, joined by Melanie Ribbe, Manu Gonzalez and Cristina Lazic. Now in its fourth season, Chinois is smaller than most of the well known offerings on the island, with just a 1000 capacity. This space is supported by a curation, which offers some of the key names from the super clubs but in a more intimate and boujee tables-for-all environment. May headliners include Butch, Dennis Ferrer and Sam Divine.
2. WOM IS THE ONE
WOM Radio CafĆ© has been bubbling as a vibrant space for music heads to gather, with something of the original Balearic essence in its woven lamps. During IMS 2025 it picked up a little steam as they announced the arrival of Mark Broadbent to refine and develop their musical offering. Somewhat of a legend on the island, Mark made his name co-programming the iconic āWe Loveā parties at Space, helping shape the sounds of Ibiza today. DMD hosted our first IMS moment there this year, serenading the sunset of the Santa Eulalia coastline and a week later Defected founder Simon Dunmore hit the venue too. WOM to watch ;)
1. WHATāS IN A NUMBER?
One of the most circulated parts of IMS is itās annual IMS Business Report which looks to offer a comprehensive and data-backed snapshot, at how the Dance Music industry is performing. Some of the key findings from this yearās edition showed that:
The global electronic music industry expanded by 6% in 2024, reaching a total value of $12.9 billion
In 2024, 18% of artists booked at the top 100 festivals were from electronic genres, up from 16% in 2023 and 13% in 2021
The number of events per venue in Ibiza has declined slightly and ticket volumes have dropped, but higher average ticket prices have maintain revenue growth on the island
Enough evidence for the New York Times to announce that āDance Music Is Booming Again.ā
In non-IMS news we were piqued at the news that Armin van Buuren is releasing a new Album: āBreathe Outā. Out on June 27 this will be the artistās ninth studio album, and is released on his label, the indie-giant that is Armada music. The project includes endless collaborations with artists including David Guetta, Gryffin, D.O.D , Pendulum, and Moby. Because who else?
Hot Tunes For DJ Sets
Four new tracks weāre loving
This week our four for the floor selections are:
Ghost Orchid - Nick LeĆ³n ft Ela Minus [out on TraTraTrax]
Chase The Light - Djomood [out on Nervous Records]
For The Money - Lex Hearth [out on Freeborn Records]
Like Bass - Maik Jhnoy [out on LouLou Records]
Livin For Live
A curated guide of upcoming events in London
England is heat heat heating up, and here are some ways you can get celebrate it and make the most! Eats Everything is hosting at Number 90 on Thursday, joined by Storm Mollison, Paige Tomlinson and Tibasko and on the sae evening Arnie Wrong is soundtracking Blue Marlin. Come Friday, Voigtmann is hosting at The Lion and Lamb, and on Saturday night Swimming Paul is taking the decks at HERE. The following week, you can keep it summery with Claptone whoās on at KOKO, you can go ravey at The Greyhound for the GALA afterparty or you can light up your afternoon at Field Day on Sat 24th šŖ©
Creative Wisdom
Words to boost your week
āIt was a culture shock for me to come to Europe and see how people played recordsā¦ This seamless from one record to another. It was too clean and polite. It wasnāt physical, it wasnāt emotional, it wasnāt dirty, it wasnāt rough, it wasnāt raw. I was in shock about how that happened. I was in shock that people faced the DJ. Thatās not how I had experienced dancing.ā - Honey Dijon, 2021
PS. Soundtoys have released a new plugin for creating āexperimental reverbā. Watch out Valhalla! Spaceblender is free until 22 May. You can grab yours from here.
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