Paul Oakenfold
Photo: Perfecto

Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish, Gorillaz and more than 100 other electronic music acts from around the world will perform at a massive Miami Beach, Florida, party on March 23.

The fourth annual Ultra festival will kick off the Winter Music Conference, a yearly five-day electronic music gathering that has been transforming Miami Beach into the epicenter of DJ culture for 17 years.

Paul van Dyk, Carl Cox, DJ Skribble, Timo Maas, Goldie and Roni Size with MC Dynamite are among the other artists who will perform on six different stages at a yet-to-be-announced location.

Also on the bill are DJ Craze, DJ Dan, Christropher Lawrence, Rinôçérôse, Tall Paul, Josh Wink, DJ Rap, Dieselboy, DB, George Acosta, DJ Icey and Liquid Todd.

Gorillaz will perform live with Del the Funky Homosapien, the voice behind their massive single "Clint Eastwood."

Tickets will soon be available online at www.coolworld.com and www.ultrafestival.com.

The Winter Music Conference, scheduled from March 23 to March 27, will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Last year's Ultra festival featured many of the same acts, along with John Digweed, Pete Tong and BT (see "Winter Music Diary: The Beats Go On With Bukem, Bahamadia, Digweed").

• Paul Oakenfold
• Deep Dish
• Gorillaz
• Paul Van Dyk
• Carl Cox

Paul Oakenfold
Photo: Perfecto

Electronic music stars Paul Oakenfold, BT and Deep Dish will headline a massive outdoor New Year's Eve party on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

The second annual Center of the Universe on Hollywood Boulevard will feature three stages showcasing those DJs and others, including Sander Kleinenberg, DJ Sneak and Marques Wyatt. BT, whose profile rose this year after producing 'NSYNC's "Pop" (see "BT Earns 'King Of Dirty Pop' Title With 'NSYNC, Britney Tracks"), will be performing a rare live set, according to organizers.

This year's event will be held on seven city blocks between Vine Street and Whitley Avenue and is expected to draw 20,000 people, twice the number who turned out for last year's Paul van Dyk-headlined festival.

Dance music promoters Spundae are hosting the event, and profits will be donated to local youth charities. Tickets are $80 and available at Ticketmaster outlets.

BT, who has been hard at work on his next album (see "BT Working With Roots, Sarah McLachlan On New LP"), said recently that more uplifting music should be recorded in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"The music I make has always been sort of positive," he said. "It's important to express a lot of different emotions in music, but if it's a constant anger, rage, and frowning and negativity, I just don't think people wanna hear that anymore. I'm starting to hear more Travis songs and Coldplay and good music [on the radio]. And hopefully that will keep happening."

• Paul Oakenfold
• BT
• Deep Dish

Deep Dish
Photo: Carlos Amoedo

'NSYNC just keep digging deeper into the dance music community. First they recruited BT to produce Celebrity's first single, "Pop," and now they've hired Deep Dish to remix it.

The Washington, D.C., house duo, who remixed Madonna's "Music" and were nominated for the Remixer of the Year Grammy, sought to give the song a wide range of emotions.

"It sounds like Basement Jaxx on estrogen," Deep Dish's Sharam Tayebi said Thursday (June 14). "It has all these crazy elements, but it's tough. It has dark elements to it, but it's kind of a happy song." Deep Dish's remix, which was done in just two days, will be included with the single when it is released on June 26, according to their publicist. Los Angeles producer Pablo La Rosa and U.K. group Terminalhead provide the single's other remixes.

"It was interesting to take one of those groups and make a proper house song out of it," Sharam said. "We had fun doing it and actually ended up liking the song. The melodies sound cool to me." Deep Dish have also been busy with other projects. On their remixing plate, they are working with an Italian group called Planet Funk and are reworking Depeche Mode's "I Feel Loved." On Tuesday, the pair, which also includes Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia, will release the much-delayed second volume of their Yoshiesque series. The album, promoting their label Yoshitoshi Recordings, features tracks from Spiritualized (remixed by the Chemical Brothers), Delerium (remixed by Deep Dish) and Faze Action.

"We weren't happy with it and kept taking it in different directions," Sharam said of Yoshiesque 2, which was originally due last fall. "We finally came up with something that we are OK with. We wanted to get away from the dark progressive sound that is the norm these days — go back to the housey and more song-oriented vibe." Yoshiesque 2 boasts an eclectic mix of dance music styles, from techno to house to breakbeat.

"What we do with that label is pick out quality songs regardless of genre," Sharam said. "The whole concept behind it is a mishmash of all genres. It's everything. That's our policy for the whole label: genre bashing!" Deep Dish, who met while on deck duty at the same party in 1991, have another mix album due later this year. They will be the first duo to release an album for the famed Global Underground series. Their album, Global Underground 21: Moscow, will be based on a set they mixed on June 2 at an opera house in Moscow.

The duo will continue to tour this summer, playing several high-profile parties and festivals. Deep Dish are on the bill for the Mekka tour and both U.S. Creamfields dates. They will also spin at Centro-Fly in New York on June 21 as a release party for Yoshiesque 2, at the Versace Haute Couture fashion show in Paris on July 7 and at Jason Priestley's birthday party in New York in late August.

They will play seven other North American club shows this summer. Here are the dates, according to their publicist:

• 6/16 - Montreal, QC @ Sona
• 6/21 - New York, NY @ Centro-Fly
• 622 - Columbus, OH @ Fabric
• 6/23 - Las Vegas, NV @ Luxor
• 7/3 - Miami, FL @ Space
• 7/13 - Toronto, ON @ System Soundbar
• 7/14 - Windsor, ON @ Platinum
• 7/18 - San Francisco, CA @ Release

• Deep Dish
• *NSYNC

Timo Maas
Photo: Reprise

Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Deep Dish, Seb Fontaine, John Kelley and Dave Seaman can't all be wrong. Timo Maas is undeniably hot.

The Düsseldorf, Germany, techno, house, trance and breaks DJ/producer has given tracks to mix albums by those top tier DJs and at least 20 others in the past two years. He's also been commissioned by BT, Green Velvet and Madonna to remix their high-profile singles — "Never Gonna Come Back Down," "Flash" and "Don't Tell Me," respectively.

As the centuries turned, Maas was everywhere. Now, dance music aficionados who have grown accustomed to what Maas calls "wet and hard funk" are asking: Can Timo keep up the pace? "Well, the truth is, last year I did four remixes and everything else was a re-release from the last four years [dug out from the vaults] as my name got bigger, so I never had that pace to begin with," Maas admitted Friday. Still, 2001 is shaping up to be another landmark year for the über-producer as he plans to release his first true mix album and first true production album (his debut last year, Music for the Maases, was a combination — a mix album of his catalog of singles and remixes). Maas, who was introduced to American audiences with a residency at New York's famed club Twilo, will also soak the rest of the country on Moby's Area: One tour.

His mix album Connected, released May 15 on Kinetic, gives fans a hint of what to expect when he comes to a festival tent near you.

"It is the sound of exactly now for me," Maas said of the double-disc release. "Mixing compilations is very similar to mixing a set, as you need†to choose the right records, and the right balance between very new and records just breaking as the compilation arrives in the stores. And you have to build the music like a whole night out." Connected includes a collection of underground dance ditties and mainstream club hits. Maas' own remix of Fatboy Slim's "Star 69" kicks off the second album, while Deep Dish's "Gladiator Remix" of Delerium's "Innocente," featuring Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer, is a highlight on the first album. DJ Dave Clarke also appears on the album, with a remix of Midfield General's "Coatnoise." Maas contributes a new track, "OCB," and a remix of Placebo's "Special K." "The album needs to appeal to a broad cross section," Maas said of Connected, which flows from freaky breaks to hypnotic trance. Maas, who scored Top 40 singles in Europe with his own "Der Schieber" and "Ubik," and a Top 10 hit with his remix of Azzido Da Bass' "Dooms Night," will venture into all sorts of dance music territories on his production debut, Loud, due in October.

"The direction will be something of a surprise to people," Maas said. "It's quite varying in styles, with a lot of guitars, a bit of rapping and very funky, as well as some quite rough techno tracks on it." Maas experimented with rock on "Ubik," which featured Martin Bettinghaus from German funk group Spice on vocals, and will dabble in R&B later this month when he remixes a track from Kelis' new Wanderland. Come July 11, when Area: One opens in Atlanta, expect to see Maas not just behind the decks, but in the crowd, taking in music that ranges from Nelly Furtado to Outkast to New Order (see "Area: One Festival's Details Come Into Focus").

"Obviously, clubs are my roots, but I'm looking forward to seeing something new, especially since the album is heading a little in that direction," Maas said. "[Area: One] will help me represent myself to a more live audience rather than club, which I'm excited about." Area: One, which also includes fellow DJs Oakenfold, Cox and the Orb, will hit 16 cities across the U.S. this summer.

Maas will also play the following club dates, according to his publicist:

• 6/16 - Miami, FL @ Crobar
• 6/17 - New York, NY @ Centro Fly
• 6/20 - Las Vegas, NV @ Ra
• 6/21 - Houston, TX @ Hyperia
• 6/23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Circus
• 6/24 - San Francisco, CA @ Spundae

• Timo Maas
• Paul Oakenfold
• Carl Cox
• Madonna
• Kelis

Roni Size
Photo: Island

The world's top tier of electronic music artists — including the Crystal Method, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Tenaglia, Armand Van Helden, BT and Roni Size — will gather in August for a 10-city North American tour called Mekka. The outing, which kicks off August 4 in Montreal and wraps up September 2 in Los Angeles, will celebrate the launch of Mekka, a global entertainment company focused on the promotion and development of electronic music culture, according to the tour's publicist.

Acts from various genres of electronic music will be represented, from hip-hop to techno to drum'n'bass to trance. Deep Dish, LTJ Bukem, Mix Master Mike, Sandra Collins and Junior Sanchez are among Mekka's other top names. Several hip-hop acts will be announced later this month.

Mekka will include a rare live set by Detroit techno legend Carl Craig. BT, the Crystal Method, the New Deal and Überzone will also be performing live. Working the many turntables on the tour will be DJs Jimmy Van M, Derrick Carter, DJ Rap, Doc Martin, Dave Ralph, Stacey Pullen, Christopher Lawrence, Dieselboy, Mark Farina, DJ Craze, DJ Dan, Terry Mullan, Bad Boy Bill, Misstress Barbara, Andy C, DJ Hype, Grooverider and Mr. C.

Halo and Hipp-E of the Chicago DJ collective H-Foundation, who will also be spinning at Mekka, and Sanchez will mix separate CD compilations in conjunction with the tour. Release dates have not been announced. The tour will be the summer's third major tour featuring electronic music. Moby, Oakenfold, Carl Cox, the Orb, Timo Maas and others will be part of the Area: One tour on July 11 in Atlanta (see "Area: One Festival's Details Come Into Focus"), while Perry Farrell's Jubilee festival, headlined by Jane's Addiction, is also expected to feature top DJs and producers (see "Jane's Addiction Touring In August"). Details for that tour have not been released, though publicists for several electronic music stars, including Size, have said they have been invited to join the outing. Mekka will be held in outdoor venues, such as large fields and fairgrounds. Venues will be announced at a later date. The artists will perform on multiple stages and in tents. Mekka, the company, will specialize in artist management, wireless applications, magazine publishing and music distribution and publishing.

Mekka Tour dates, according to the tour's publicist:

• 8/4 - Montreal, QC
• 8/5 - Toronto, ON
• 8/8 - Dallas, TX
• 8/10 - Jacksonville, FL
• 8/11 - Miami, FL
• 8/18 - New York, NY
• 8/25 - Chicago, IL
• 8/30 - Seattle, WA
• 9/1 - San Francisco, CA
• 9/2 - Los Angeles, CA

• The Crystal Method
• Roni Size
• BT
• Paul Oakenfold
• Mix Master Mike

Paul Oakenfold

MIAMI — South Beach holds the dubious honor of having the highest concentration of dance clubs in the country, and all of them produced snaking lines even on Friday, the night before the start of the Winter Music Conference.

One such event, a re-creation of the famed Parisian party Respect Is Burning, took place at the enormous Opium Garden nightclub. A throng of hundreds waited to be let inside to hear DJ Deep, who mixed the third volume of the Respect Is Burning CD series.

The Winter Music Conference, an annual dance music networking orgy, provides a showcase for the newest sounds, and although house music — electronic dance music raised in Chicago from disco's ashes — predominates, drum'n'bass, hip-hop, electro and techno are all represented during the conference's five days.

At Respect Is Burning, house music, particularly the soulful, vocal-driven version championed in New York, was the main attraction. While DJ Deep played a set that ranged from Afro-Beat (a funky, politically informed dance music born in Nigeria) to minimal instrumental tracks, several of house music's most important producers flocked to the DJ booth to exchange "white labels," or unreleased test pressings of potential dance-floor hits.

"Little" Louie Vega (half of the Masters at Work production team, along with Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez), King Britt (the Philadelphia producer behind the Slyk 130 project) and Marques Wyatt (a veteran DJ/producer from Los Angeles) came armed with their latest test pressings to hand to DJ Deep for instant dance-floor feedback.

Limited to early-bird attendees, savvy tourists and eager locals, Respect Is Burning carried on until nearly 7 a.m., the legal closing hour of Miami Beach's nightclubs.

By the following morning when the conference officially got underway, the party machine was on full tilt, with several events taking place during the day. By noon, the third annual Electronic Dance Music Festival, a massive outdoor gathering, opened in Bayfront Park, away from the beach-and-beer atmosphere of South Beach. Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sasha and Digweed, Paul Van Dyk, and Deep Dish, high-paid international celebrities of dance music, shared 10 different sound "environments" with dozens of other lesser-known DJs.

Meanwhile, back in South Beach, avatars of Detroit techno, including "godfather" Juan Atkins, hosted a rooftop barbecue from noon onwards. Representing hip-hop, the "Infiltrate 3.0" event kicked off in the early evening with a smattering of independent artists, including female MCs Bahamadia and Mystik, local New York celebs Cannibal Ox, and several turntablists.

As the day progressed, still more attendees flooded Miami Beach, culminating in South Beach's main nightclub strip, Washington Avenue, turning into a sea of discarded club flyers. Street promoters kept their hustle moving into the early morning, stuffing invitations and promotional materials into any empty hand, while the DJs, producers, promoters and musicians that constitute the bulk of WMC's attendees, shuffled from club to club, taking in as many of Saturday's events as was humanly possible.

• Little Louie Vega
• Paul Oakenfold
• Paul Van Dyk
• Sasha & Digweed
• Deep Dish

Madonna is returning to New York City, as the actress/singer has announced plans for a one-off North American show to be held at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom on November 5.

Tickets to the gig, which will also feature a DJ set from Deep Dish and former House Of Pain MC Everlast, are free and will be given out via various radio contests in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Madonna won't be playing a full set at the Roseland concert and is viewing the show as "a chance for me to get my feet wet on the stage again and a way to say thank you to an intimate group of my fans for all their support over the years," according to a statement issued by Madonna on Monday.

"It's a party that 3,000 people are invited to," Madonna's missive continued, "and I am going to sing a few songs at my party."

Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said that the Roseland show was the only performance Madonna has scheduled for the U.S. and was not an immediate precursor to a planned tour.

Rosenberg did indicate, however, that there were plans for a similar Madonna gala to be held at London's Brixton Academy before year's end, although the date for that show has yet to be confirmed.

In related news, Madonna has selected "Don't Tell Me" as the second single from "Music," and she will reunite with photographer/director Jean-Baptiste Mondino to shoot an accompanying video in the next few weeks.

Mondino filmed the singer's clips for "Open Your Heart" and "Justify My Love," among others. He also shot the images of Madonna for her "Music" album, which SoundScan reports has already sold more than 883,000 copies in its first month in stores.

• Deep Dish
• Everlast
• House of Pain
• Madonna