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Movin’ Units: Velcro City Records

Jason Schlosky has long had a thing for hooks and loops. Velcro City Records, the dance music label he founded with DJ Hero (no relation to the video game of the same name), benefits from nostalgia value associated with the patented “zipperless zipper” system invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral. Hooks and loops, an idea de Mestral ganked from Mother Nature (burdock burrs, specifically), are the functional foundation for the popular textile technology. They play a similarly essential role in the creation of electronic music. Where would techno and its related electronica genres be without hooks and loops?...
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Aural Pleasure: MGMT’s Grammy Nods

Alex Khadiwala deserves credit for first turning me on to MGMT. These days, Khadiwala is one of Beta's Noise Friday resident DJs. At the time, though, he played “Poptronica” on Beta's patio for the Beatport “Pool Parties”. One of his very first Poptronica mix CDs featured the MGMT track “Electric Feel”. I won't pretend that I was immediately blown away, but the tune definitely grew on me over time. Apparently, I wasn't alone....
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Aural Pleasure: Sydney Blu

Blu has come a long way in her day, gradually surpassing many of her female peers in both the production and performance departments. Inking a deal with Deadmau5 vanity imprint Mau5trap certainly didn't hurt, but Sydney has since launched her own label--Blu Music--and continued to perform well on Beatport.com's virtual stage sans Deadmau5 hand-holding in the studio....