Jane Fitz at essaim: Deep Grooves and Analog Rotary Warmth Sept 2026
Stepping through the doors of essaim just before 10 PM Sunday, meant walking straight into an exercise in patient, hypnotic pacing. Arriving early allowed the room’s unique energy to unfold naturally, giving space for the night’s sonic narrative to build from the ground up. Taking a closer look at the booth, the setup immediately established…
The Weight of the Deep: DJ Nobu All Night Long at essaim September 2026
There is a distinct kind of patience required to witness a true master at work, a quality that has grown increasingly rare in an era dominated by instant gratification, relentless peak-hour drops, and algorithmic tracklists. In a culture increasingly obsessed with viral moments and fleeting digital trends, the art of the extended set has become…
Paris Techno Parade 2026 Review: Underground Heavyweights, Detroit Legacy, and the Fight Against Loi RIPOST
After a forced hiatus that left a glaring, echoing void in the capital’s cultural calendar, the Techno Parade roared back to life on September 19, 2026. Drawing an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 participants onto the streets, from Bastille to Nation, the 26th edition proved an undeniable, thumping truth: Paris still hungers chaotic cacophony of the…
ABTH Invites Koboyo X Paula Sanz X Sam Ama at La Cité Fertile review – Sometimes Good Can Be Great
There is a charm to an early night gathering that mainstream clubbing often overlooks. When the music starts earlier, the energy shifts away from late-night endurance toward something lighter, more relaxed, and naturally social. The Abth Invite Koboyo X Paula Sanz X Sam Ama on Thursday, September 17, 2026 at La Cité Fertile delivered precisely…
Hadra Trance Festival 2026 Review: Collective Effervescence, Heavy Policing, & We Are Still Living in the Age of Aquarius (on Steroids)
There is a distinct kind of magic that happens when a community gathers under an open sky, united by a shared devotion to sound and dance. At Hadra Trance Festival, that magic is palpable. The collective effervescence is terrific at all times, proving once again that the people who gravitate toward psytrance events are among…
Navigating the Humidity and Hypnotism at Donato Dozzy’s Extended Set at FVTVR, July 2026
We headed down to FVTVR on the Quai d’Austerlitz with high expectations, drawn by the prospect of an immersive musical journey that would take us deep into the night. Having spent countless hours replaying his Rome Boiler Room set (below) from last year and witnessing his incredible outing earlier this season (as explored in The…
Astropolis 2026 Review: 30 Years of Subcultural Rave Resistance
Here is our review of Astropolis 2026, where the electronic music universe converged in Brest for a weekend of intense rhythm, generational communion, and a few unexpected twists. The Mega-Festival Illusion and the Astropolis Exception Regular readers of this blog know we have long been critical of the massive, over-commercialized events dominating the modern circuit.…
The Fall of the Jet-Set Dancefloor: What the Cercle Crisis Teaches Us
For a decade, Cercle was the undisputed poster child of electronic music’s cinematic age. They gave us breathtaking, pristine imagery: Carl Cox at a French château, Nina Kraviz at the Eiffel Tower, FKJ on the Bolivian salt flats. It was high art meets high production, the ultimate translation of electronic music into viral luxury. But…
EDM PR Networks: How They Buy the Dance Music Press
Behind the headlines of major electronic music platforms lies a marketplace dominated by Sponsored Content. If you are an independent producer pitching to commercial EDM PR Networks like We Rave You or EDM.com, you are no longer seeking editorial coverage – you are purchasing space. Curation has been replaced by a commercial real estate market…
Can Psychedelics at Raves and Ceremonies Help Heal Childhood Trauma?
When we think of places where deep psychological healing happens, a quiet, sterile therapist’s office or a high-tech clinical research lab usually comes to mind. We don’t typically picture a bass-heavy, neon-lit electronic dance music (EDM) festival or an all-night communal ceremony. Groundbreaking new research suggests that for adults living with the heavy, lingering echoes…
Manifestive and the Fight for the Free Party Movement June 2026 Paris
Electronic music has always been a tool for reclaiming space, but right now in France, dancing has become a literal act of political resistance. On Saturday, June 13, 2026, the streets of Paris transformed into a massive, mobile underground dancefloor. This wasn’t a commercial, heavily ticketed corporate festival—this was a manifestive. For those unfamiliar with…
Richie Hawtin at Mia Mao: A Night of Mixed Signals June 2026
It is an inevitable truth of the electronic music landscape: even the most revered veteran DJs are prone to experimentation. Sometimes, those shifts lead to a transcendental breakthrough, and other times, they simply miss the mark. Our recent evening at Mia Mao to see Richie Hawtin fell firmly into the latter category. Richie Hawtin remains…
Hypnotic Endurance: Rødhåd and A.mo at essaim June 2026
There are nights that ask you to dance, and then there are nights that demand you surrender to the rhythm entirely. Our latest venture into the dark, immersive confines of essaim was firmly the latter. Stripped of distractions and focused entirely on the communal energy of the floor, the room was primed for something deep…
Navigating Tension and Patience Quelza All Night Long essaim May 2026
tribalism – Quelza – all night long There is a point in an all-night set where the music stops being a collection of tracks and becomes a psychological negotiation. When an artist takes control from doors to close, they aren’t just playing records; they are constructing an ecosystem. Berlin-based producer and DJ Quelza took us…
Top Techno and House DJs – 2026 (So Far)
This List is a work in progress and it will change … Best: Oscar Mulero, DJ Nobu, Wata Igarashi, Jane Fitz, DVS1, .Vril, Juan Atkins, BASHKKA, Rrose, Marcel Dettmann, Jeff Mills, Nørbak, Voices From The Lake (Donato Dozzy and Neel), Koboyo, Laurent Garnier, Colin Benders, Kenny Larkin, Ben Klock, Misstress Barbara, Perc, Miley Serious, Rødhåd, Elli Acula,…