This fortnight is all about the Stereosonic Festival, which will be landing with a bang at the end of November. The anticipation is huge, and it’s got one of the best lineups of international dance talent we’ve seen in a long time. We’ll be chatting with Sweden’s John Dahlback ahead of the tour kicking off, and we’ll also be listening to a wicked selection of music from other acts on the lineup, including Laurent Garnier, the Bloody Beetroots, Chicane, Fedde Le Grand, Zombie Nation and more.

Feature artist

John Dahlback
Autumn

Sweden’s John Dahlback was one of the most heavily-hyped names on this year’s Stereosonic lineup. He’s had an interesting 12 months, because while he had an extensive history already as a techno producer, he reinvented himself last year as a house producer in the vein of the Swedish House Mafia – to massive success. As well as performing at Stereosonic, he’s also mixing the latest installment of Onelove’s ‘Mobile Disco’ series, which hits the shops around the time of the tour. ITM got him on the phone recently to talk about his visit with Stereosonic.

Also on this podcast

Umek – Work This Data
We’re gonna get things off to a pumping start with Slovenian tech house superstar Umek. He’s a shining example of consistency as he’s got more than 200 releases under his belt and he’s been at it since the early 90s. But he’s bigger than ever in 2009. The track we’ve got for you is called ‘Work This Data’, and it’s a massive slice of bigroom tech house. Check it out.

Bloody Beetroots – Butter
Just then we heard a track from Italian noise merchants the Bloody Beetroots. They’re known for wearing venom masks when performing on stage, and for creating absolute mayhem wherever they go, which is exactly what they did when they toured Australia earlier this year. The track we heard was called ‘Butter’, and you can find it on their debut album ‘Romborama’ which is out now on Ministry of Sound.

Laurent Garnier – Last Dance at Yellow
Right now we’re gonna hear a track from one of the real stalwarts who’s performing on the Stereosonic tour this year. We all cheered when Frenchman Laurent Garnier was added to the lineup in September, and this time he’ll be bringing his full five-piece live band. The track we’re listening to is an atmospheric piece off his latest album ‘Tales of a Kleptomaniac’, which was released earlier this year, and it’s called ‘Last Dance at Yellow’, a reference to the famous Tokyo club of the same name.

Chicane – Hiding All The Stars
It’s been nearly a decade since we saw Chicane in the country, but the wait is nearly over mastermind Nick Bracegirdle will be bringing the full show back for a performance at Stereosonic. Just then we heard Chicane’s new single ‘Hiding All The Stars’. You might recognise the melody in the chorus, because it’s taken straight out of Gary Numan’s 80s classic ‘Cars’.

Fedde Le Grand – Let Me Be Real
Fedde Le Grand will always be remembered for his smash anthem ‘Put Your Hands Up for Detroit’, but he’s moved onto plenty of success since then, not the least of which was becoming a resident of sorts for ID&T’s Sensation parties. Fedde finally dropped his debut album ‘Output’ this year, and there we heard a track off it ‘Let Me Be Real’. Of course, you’ll be able to catch him on tour with Stereosonic.

Zombie Nation – Filterjerks
Wrapping things up there, we heard a track from Zombie Nation called ‘Filterjerks’, which was taken off their latest album ‘Zombielicious’. It’s the fourth album from the longstanding German techno and electro producer, and you’ll be able to see him take his sounds to the masses when he tours with Stereosonic.