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Going Out in Seoul: A Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Guide to the Actual Scene
14 min readI’ve been DJing in Seoul since the early 2000s. Here’s the neighborhood guide I wish I had — from Hongdae’s chaos to the basement techno spots with no sign on the door.
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Dubstep: The Sound That Started in South London
2 min readOriginal dubstep was slow, sub-heavy, and minimalist. The version that conquered America had almost nothing in common with it except the name. Big Apple Records in Croydon stocked the records that mattered. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was the shop where DJs like Hatcha heard the dark, sub-bass-heavy instrumental tracks…
Seoul Scene
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Hongdae vs Itaewon: Two Versions of Seoul’s Night
< 1 min readHongdae and Itaewon are not competing for the same crowd. They are serving two different ideas of what a night out in Seoul should be. On a Saturday night in Hongdae, the streets around Sangsu station are packed from 11pm onward. The demographic is predominantly Korean, predominantly in their early twenties, and…
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Cakeshop: How One Club Defined Seoul’s Underground
< 1 min readBefore Cakeshop, Seoul was not part of the international underground circuit’s conversation. After it, the conversation could not happen without Seoul in it. The basement at 244-1 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu is not large. The capacity is somewhere around 200 to 300 people depending on configuration. There is nothing about the physical space that…
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How Korean Club Culture Developed Its Own Rules
2 min readKorean club culture is not a copy of European club culture. It developed under different social pressures and produced different norms. The differences are the interesting part. In a Berghain-model European club, tables are unusual and bottle service is absent. In a Gangnam club, the table booking is how you anchor your group’s…
Profiles
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Fred Again: What He Actually Did to Electronic Music
7 min readFred Again is not just hype. Here’s an honest look at why his production technique, live approach, and collaborations have genuinely moved electronic music forward.
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The Chemical Brothers: Block Rockin’ Beats & Beyond
3 min readFrom Manchester bedrooms to Glastonbury headliners — the full story of The Chemical Brothers, why their music still hits, and what they taught a generation of DJs about spectacle.
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The Accidental Rise of Deadmau5: From Obscurity to EDM Supremacy
8 min readHow Joel Zimmerman went from finding a dead mouse in his computer to headlining every major electronic festival in the world — and why his music still stands up.
Mixes
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Feeling Factor Vol. 46: Jazzy, Deep, and Soulful House
2 min readUnwind and elevate your mood with Feeling Factor Vol. 46! This mix seamlessly blends deep house grooves with soulful vocals and jazzy influences, creating a truly captivating soundscape. Perfect for relaxing evenings, focused work sessions, or cruising through the city. Press play and let the music take you away!
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Get Down Vol. 6: Soulful House and Disco Through the Cold Months
2 min readJoin DJ 4play on a sonic adventure with ‘Get Down Vol.6 House & Disco Mix’, showcasing the best in soulful house and energetic disco tunes.
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Get Down Vol. 2: A Live Disco & House Mix from Seoul’s Christmas Eve
2 min readChristmas Eve in Seoul is one of the best nights to play music in this city. The Koreans, who didn’t grow up with Christmas as a solemn religious occasion, treat December 24th with a genuine enthusiasm for the purely social elements of the holiday that can feel refreshingly uncomplicated if you’ve spent too…
Essays
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Dubstep: The Sound That Started in South London
2 min readOriginal dubstep was slow, sub-heavy, and minimalist. The version that conquered America had almost nothing in common with it except the name. Big Apple Records in Croydon stocked the records that mattered. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was the shop where DJs like Hatcha heard the dark, sub-bass-heavy instrumental tracks…
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UK Garage: The 2-Step Revolution
2 min readThe 2-step shuffle, played at 130 BPM on a sound system that can handle sub-bass, is still one of the most physically persuasive rhythms in electronic music. Todd Edwards recorded Saved My Life in 1995 in New Jersey, using a technique he developed for gospel music production: chopping vocal samples into tiny fragments…
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Drum and Bass and Jungle: The UK Underground Story
2 min readThe Amen break is six seconds of drumming from a 1969 soul record. It built an entire subculture and was never licensed. The Winstons recorded Amen, Brother in 1969. Gregory Coleman, the drummer, was paid a session fee. He never received another penny from that recording. The six-second break he played became the…
Dance Music Genealogy
50 Years of Genre History, Mapped
From Detroit techno to Seoul’s underground — an interactive tree tracing how every subgenre connects, splits, and evolves. 56 nodes. One continuous story.
Explore the Tree →