I've just published all the info on this year's London installment of our festival - you can grab it in our festival section directly at:

indianelectronica.com/festival/uk

This year's line-up is a refreshing blend of artists whose styles of music are varied and have never before been showcased in a single event... We've got lush downtempo grooves, dub, new and old school breaks,a touch of drum'n'bass and  I'll even be laying down a progressive set of house melded with world-electronica before Sonny Ji takes the decks over and performs a signature multi-deck set of killer bhangra-house.

The full line-up includes musicians and DJs from the UK, France, Canada, the USA.

It all goes down next Saturday - the 25th of August 2007 - at 333 on Old Street, which is where we did it last year; again courtesy of Friction - Bobby Friction's monthly shindig.

If you're on Facebook, do a search for the event or our various groups - we'd love to see you online more often, and please help us get the word out by logging into Facebook and forwarding invites to the event to your friends!  Of course, you can also just email people the URL above or simply a flyer image (save this link).

Till then,

Qasim (Festival Director), aka. Abdul Smooth

Photos are online in the gallery section from our Toronto installment of the Indian Electronica Festival '07!!!

Also, I've put together a video clip from footage shot that night by Lori Smith - our new media liaison :)  You can view the video on the Toronto Festival page.  Its hosted by youtube so be sure to spread the word :)

The video clip's soundtrack is actually a killer new tune by Dj Spooky and Talvin Singh, which will be available September 17th on our 'Indian Electronica volume 001' compilation!  Check out the records section for more information on that. 

Here's the direct youtube link incase you want to blog it etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvG1XVCG6-Q

A quick line about the Indian Electronica Festival here in Toronto this past Friday:

The event was fantastic and mid-way through the night I realized that last year we actually threw the Festival *on the very same night!* - Funny then to see how much has happened in just 1 year and what strides both the Festival and http://www.indianelectronica.com have taken in that time.

The 2007 series of International Indian Electronica Festival installments launches this Friday, July 20th, in Toronto Canada and its going to be an amazing event!

The performance roster includes artists from around canada - including Cassius Khan; a fantastic Ghazal singer who plays tabla whilst singing!  Cassius will be performing a solo set and then supported by the live electronic stylings of the Omnesia ensemble - who you may know from our Dishoom monthly.  In addition, v:shal kanwar returns to Toronto for the night before heading back to the States to open for the Theivery Corporation; he'll be playing effected tabla LIVE alongside Abdul Smooth's turntable stylings and much more! 

This is a unique event - both in the range and depth of performance as well as because we'll be officially releasing our debut compilation for sale!!!  Its a 2 disc compilation featuring tracks by DJ Spooky and Talvin Singh, Abdul Smooth, Transglobal Underground, Up Bustle and Out, Tattva Kundalini and many many more artists from around the globe.  The CD will be available at the venue for a discounted price of just $25CDN !

You can check out all the info in our events calendar or directly in the Festival section of the site; here are the basic details to get you there if you'll be in the city this weekend:

Venue: Dragonfly (1279 Queen Street West - just west of Dufferin)*When: Friday July 20th, 2007 (8:00PM - 3:00AM)
Cost: $15 (tickets available at door)
Info: http://www.indi...onica.com/festival
Email: festival@indianelectronica.com

See you on Friday!!!! 

Last night's Dishoom gig was great fun; through the night we had a bunch of folks coming in and out of Bird - a really nice intimate lounge space on College/the main Little Italy strip in downtown Toronto.

Photos are online and you can check them in the gallery section of the site.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and to Zakhm & v:shal for hanging out and dropping some delicious beats.

For anyone who missed the gig, no worries, I'll be spinning again alongside v:shal kanwar and a host of other acts including LAL, Omnesia, Natak, Alkmst and the DubSlingers at the Toronto installment of the Indian Electronica Festival on July 20th - definately DO NOT miss this one!!! :)

check out the show from 2AM GMT this Sunday for a broadcast of my very special 11 track 20 minute World Odyssey Mix; exclusively recorded live for Pathaan to broadcast on the BBC Asian Network this Sunday!  I also did a short interview with Pathaan which will be aired alongside the mix... :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/pathaansmusicalrickshaw/ 

You can of course listen anywhere in the world online - live or on-demand for the next week! 

This is just a quick note to say that the venue for Dishoom has been confirmed for next saturday, July 7th - we'll be at Bird (503 College St, just above Xacutti resto); whcih is an amazing little lounge.

As usual, there's no cover charge.

We have some *amazing* artists lined up including v:shall kanwar all the way from DC plus Zakhm from New York City!

See you then,

q./ 

Though our original venue fell through at the last minute, our line-up is confirmed and we'll be announcing our new super-fabulous spot here tomorrow! :)  This month we have very special guests in Toronto to perform: DC's V:Shal Kanwar and Manhattan's Zakhm (Mutiny, NYC) - who will be joined alongside on the decks by our resident DJ Abdul Smooth. 

About our Guest DJs: 

Zakhm hails from the legendary Mutiny NYC crew that broke the Asian Electronic sound in the United States over 8 years ago and is currently a cornerstone member of the worldwide Kollektiv crew. He has collected a long list of credits as a DJ and Producer and his music appears on Six Degrees records. In addition to performing at numerous venues around the globe he has performed alongside Karsh Kale, Talvin Singh, Midival Punditz, Cheb i Sabbah, Nitin Sawhney and many others. From that base Zakhm has become a force to be reckoned with in the Asian Underground scene worldwide and he continues to incorporate the values of community, collaboration and experimentation into his artistic vision. Prepare yourself for a dynamic set that journeys from raag-infused breakbeats to glitchy electro to psy-influenced world electronica - and all that rocks in between. ( http://www.mutinysounds.com )

- - - 

v:shal kanwar began his explorations into visual art & music nearly 20 years ago.  as a performance installationist he has created paintings while sharing the stage with the likes of Freq Nasty, DJ Goldie, Karsh Kale, MIDIval Punditz, Sub Swara and Dhamaal Sound System.  as a musician, he often plays live tabla, guitar and latin percussion over his dj sets, and has been a long-time resident selector with the worldwide Kollektiv crew, as well as founding DC's Global Groove and Sutra residencies.  v:k's tastes in music range from deep house to raag-fueled electronica, to hard drum & bass, with a healthy dose of glitch and bhangra, and his dj sets feature irresistable underground electronica gems, collected from many journeys across the globe. 

A couple of quick notes about the Indian Electronica Festival in London, UK on August 24th:

• Last week Diamond, aka, DJ Swami joined our team!  He's a fantastic producer of many talents who's worked with a diverse array of artists including Apache Indian and Shania Twain!

• We have another member aboard the Indian Electronica Express: I'd also like to warmly welcome Reju to the UK Festival team; some of you may know her as the Producer of Friction, Bobby Friction's Sony Gold-winning daily show on the BBC Asian Network.  She's been in the Radio biz for as long as indianelectronica.com's been around and is pepped to use her experience and talent to add momentum to our Festivals and Compilation!

One thing that always shocks me is how there are always some silly fellows who want to screw up people's technology - case in point was how Indian Electronica ended up offline for the past day or so....  Apparently some hackers messed with our server company and deleted/replaced some crucial files we need for this place to work properly!!!

Luckily I had a site backup and was able to restore everything - so you should be able to login etc as normal. 

:)  phew! [yes, I'm reaching for a nice cold Leffe Brun to celebrate]

q./ 

The ball is officially rolling on this year's 5 International installments of the Indian Electronica Festival!

If you're a member of the Press and seeking info about the Festival - its history and vision for the future, we now have an Electronic Press Kit ready for download as a PDF or read online in our festival section.

Also, if you would like to find out how your company/organization can get involved in the festival, we've just uploaded a Sponsorship Information Kit - also available in the festival section.

DJ Rekha's a fixture on the North American Bhangra scene - she's been throwing parties and DJing in NYC for over a decade and her regular monthly event called Basement Bhangra just celebrated its 10th year with an amazing lineup of performers including Jonny Kalsi and the Dhol Foundation, Panjabi MC, Bikram Singh and more...  Check out this clip on myspace: 

Indian Electronica Radio will hopefully be broadcasting the first-ever desifest LIVE tomorrow, all day long, from Dundas Square - in the core of Toronto, Canada.

Be sure to tune in and check out live performances by over 20 artists/groups from around the Toronto area!

As part of a special 'Summer Festivals' edition of the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's daily show, Q, for Victoria Day, Festival Director Qasim Virjee was briefly interviewed about the Indian Electronica Festival.

The broadcast aired today nation-wide in Canada - you can check out a sample of the broadcast using the player below:

For all of you who want to learn a little more about the music that we are so concerned with, as well as what the vision behind indianelectronica.com is, be sure to check out the new video interview I did recently - which is permanantly in the about us section.

Alright, so festival planning is in full swing and we're working with some amazing music producers, promoters and creators to make is a truly unique experience happening on 3 continents! :)

Full bios of the Advisory Committee and regional planning team members will be posted here next week but in the meantime you can check out who everyone is by clicking here. 

Yikes - Adrian from Beats without Borders in Vancouver just let me know that our registration system here on the site was acting crazy... it seems like the bloody thing's been broken for like a month!!

If you've tried to register and couldn't, please accept my apologies - its all been fixed and is working again, so come join our community! :)

q./ 

You'll be kicking yourself (all all your friends will also be kicking you) if you live anywhere near NYC and don't make this gig tonight:

DJ Rekha's Basement Bhangra party has been rocking manhattan with the freshest Panjabi wickedness since 1997 peops - tonight Pnajabi MC, Johnny Kalsi, Bikram Singh, Rekha, Eddie Stats and more epic chaps and lasses will be bloody rocking it yaar - so get your ass down there and yell buuuurrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! all night long.

Deets: http://basementbhangra.com/ 

For anyone interested in developments of the Asian Underground scene in London through the 90s - I *highly* recommend checking out Vivek Bald's film, Mutiny, Asians Storm British Music.

The film is a documentary showcasing the musical efforts of young South Asians in the UK at a time when pursuing such artistic endeavors was frowned upon within the community and South Asians were in a more precarious social position.

You can find out more about the film @ http://www.mutinysounds.com and if you're in NYC this weekend I urge you to head over to NYU for a special screening - details are below. 

The heavily Turkish influenced London UK based world-electronica group Oojami is looking for dancers.

They're hosting auditions on May 27th so mark it in your calendars people!

The full details re: auditions are below....