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10 Electronic Music Documentaries That Will Make You an Expert

By Wanz Dover

Jul 19, 2019

The world of electronic music is dense and varied with more genres, subgenres and non-genres than most other types of music. To the uninitiated, it can be intimidating. To those who just discovered dance music in the last decade, there is a common pitfall of lumping it all under the...

Feezy, a versatile scene veteran, curated this week's mixtape.

Dallas Observer Mixtape With Feezy

By Wanz Dover

Jul 3, 2019

After a long break, we are back to wrap up the final run of Observer Mixtape. We are almost to mixtape No. 200, and this week we feature Feezy, a scene veteran with two decades behind the decks. Feezy walks the fine line between the pop sounds of crowded Deep...

Danny Tenaglia heeded advice from the Governator and became a world-famous DJ.

The DJ’s DJ: Danny Tenaglia Looks Back on His Origins Ahead of Dallas Appearance

By Elvis Anderson

Jun 13, 2019

Danny Tenaglia has a yellow sticky note on his refrigerator, “3 p.m. interview with Elvis from Dallas Observer.” A 3 o’clock call to Tenaglia is unanswered. A text from Tenaglia comes over about 45 minutes later, “Hey Elvis, so sorry, I’m just waking. Had an unexpected marathon in the studio...

Hip-hop producer Tha Kracken is making his own music genre.

Dallas Hip-Hop Producer Tha Kracken Brings Beat Battle Performance to the EDM Scene

By Roderick Pullum

Jun 6, 2019

Hip-hop album sales reached commercial supremacy in the mid-'90s. It was the most decadent era in hip-hop culture, and music producers took home a substantial share of profits. It's the era that made Kanye West, Just Blaze, The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz household names and filthy rich. Even the original...

Asian Da Brat is actually very grateful to her mentors, like Gucci Mane.

Meet Asian Da Brat, the Dallas Rapper Who Gucci Mane Is Betting Hard On

By Garrett Gravley

May 29, 2019

Hip-hop is a genre where established artists become talent scouts and use their bully pulpit to develop the careers of younger artists, continually filling the genre with rising stars. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, for instance, rose from obscurity after Eazy-E took them under his wing. Kanye West got his feet wet as...

Jeremy Word makes his grand return to the Dallas scene.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Jeremy Word

By Wanz Dover

Jan 24, 2019

Jeremy Word has been a trailblazer among Dallas dance music promoters. He's been a behind-the-scenes player responsible for countless electronic acts coming through Dallas and the infamous Meltdown Festival, which was the city's premier electronic music festival for most of the '00s. On top of all that, he remained a...

Dallas Observer Mixtape: The Year in Dallas Dance Music 2018

By Wanz Dover

Jan 10, 2019

Dance music has always had a contentious relationship with mainstream Dallas culture. Going out in the city’s nightlife hot spots like Deep Ellum and Uptown, you might think this is the land of trap, top 40 and hip-hop with not much room for anything else. But underneath the surface, local...

Dallas Observer Mixtape with DJ Santa

By Wanz Dover

Dec 25, 2018

For the fifth year in a row, we are pleased to have DJ Santa drop a set for the holidays for the Dallas Observer Mixtape series. He's out once again to prove that Christmas music does not have to suck. It can come in the form of punk, funk, dance...

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Chrs Roze

By Wanz Dover

Dec 13, 2018

Between a consistent stretch of residencies and dipping his toes into the production realm, Chrs Roze has come a long way since he last popped up on Mixtape three years ago. Roze has a long history as a musician but has focused on expanding his craft as a DJ the...

Samuel L Waxin DJing from the Treehouse.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Samuel L Waxin from Tree House Collective

By Wanz Dover

Nov 2, 2018

Samuel L Waxin is a regular face at Tree House Collective's Drum Djam every Wednesday, where he has nurtured his percussion and DJ decks approach to bass-driven tech house. With less than two decades behind the decks, Waxin has seen every side of the club music business, from video, lighting and...

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Sauro Sale

By Wanz Dover

Oct 19, 2018

Dallas is a long way from Italy, but Sauro Sale is yet another import from overseas bringing his talents behind the decks and in the production studio to Dallas — a migration that is becoming increasingly more common. With techno dominating the digital DJ music sites, it would seem that...

Jeff Plunk dropping Drum and Bass from the atmosphere.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Jeff Plunk

By Wanz Dover

Sep 20, 2018

Jeff Plunk has earned his DJ veteran stripes with more than two decades of service to dance floors as one of the pioneering drum and bass DJs in the region. Plunk's love affair with the thunderous sounds of jungle-related breaks goes back to when the sound was in its infancy. His...

Dallas Observer Mixtape with DJ Tums: 2018 DMC Dallas Regional Champ

By Wanz Dover

Sep 7, 2018

Chris Esquivel, under his alias DJ Tums, is one of the special few among DJs who still loves the art of playing vinyl and is adept at the turntable. He's skilled enough in his craft that he won the DMC regional battle this past July. He has been behind the...

Aaron Merges is young in the game, but strong in the techno.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with DJ Aaron Merges

By Wanz Dover

Aug 9, 2018

With only a year into the DJ game, Aaron Merges is the epitome of a rookie, but don't let that fool you. Merges has taken to the craft like a fish to water. He's a natural talent with a deft ear and the required amount of hustle that comes with...

DJ Megalomaniac takes the zen approach to Techno.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with DJ Megalomaniac from Move

By Wanz Dover

Jul 26, 2018

Washington Charcopa is humble and zen, which is the exact opposite of his alter-ego, DJ Megalomaniac. In an environment where techno is once again topping the DJ charts and an increasing number of younger DJs are genre hopping over to techno every week, Charcopa is a bonafide veteran among the...

Stetra is leaving her mark on Dallas dance floors.

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Stetra of LOLO

By Wanz Dover

Jul 12, 2018

Stetra has been in the DJ game for just under a decade, but in the last year, she has left her footprint all over Dallas nightlife, helping to move dance floors from The Statler to Beauty Bar to The Nines. As a member of the LOLO crew, she has become...

Dallas Observer Mixtape With Jim Pasant, a Producer of the Starck Club Documentary

By Wanz Dover

Jun 28, 2018

Jim Pasant has a distinguished spot in the upper echelon of Dallas DJ vets, with just short of three decades in the DJ trenches. Along with being a veteran crate digger, he also has a producer credit for the infamous Starck Club documentary that will finally be available for public...

Dallas Observer Mixtape With Redsean: 'I Need a Beach Vol. 4'

By Wanz Dover

Jun 14, 2018

Redsean has been a staple in Dallas' weekend DJ nightlife for the past decade. He's most often spotted dropping tunes ranging from the underground savvy to unapologetically pop music at various residencies in Uptown. Redsean rides that fine line, but when pressed on the subject of his preferred genre, he...

Dallas Observer Mixtape: Flunked Records Label Showcase

By Wanz Dover

May 10, 2018

Flunked Records is the brainchild of Ryan Butler and his continuing quest to keep house music an active concern. Club music trends come and go in Dallas only slightly less frequently than the changing of the seasons, but house music has been a constant. Even with the recent uptick of...

Dallas Observer Mixtape with PVLMS

By Wanz Dover

Apr 19, 2018

Alexus Sacco and Frank Stevens' mutual interest in synthesizers and electronic music has brought them together as the ambitious electronic duo PVLMS, a pairing that happened at a chance meeting at a Baths concert five years ago. They reconnected soon after in college and have been making music together ever...

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