Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe.
A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, trance, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
Ellen Fraatz, known professionally as Ellen Allien, is a German electronic musician, music producer, and the founder of BPitch Control music label. Her album Stadtkind was dedicated to the city of Berlin, and she cites the culture of reunified Berlin as one of the main inspirations for her music. She sings in both German and English. Her music is best described as a blend of IDM and Techno music, which is dance-floor oriented and has noticeable experimental elements. She lives in Berlin and calls it the "best city in the world."
German electronic music is a broad musical genre encompassing specific styles such as Electroclash, trance, krautrock and schranz. It is widely considered to have emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades. Originally minimalistic style of electronic music developed into psychedelic and prog rock aspects, techno and electronic dance music. Notable artists include Kraftwerk, Can, Tangerine Dream and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. German electronic music contributed to a global transition of electronic music from underground art to an international phenomenon, with festivals such as Love Parade, Winterworld and MayDay gaining prominence alongside raves and clubs.
Margareta Pâslaru or Pîslaru is a Romanian-American singer, actress, composer, lyricist, TV producer, and artistic director. Debuting in 1958, Pâslaru celebrated the 50th anniversary of her career at The Romanian Union of Composers in Bucharest in 2008. Pâslaru was married to Gheorghe Sencovici, a former Olympic skeet shooter, until his death, and the couple had a daughter, Ana Maria, and a grandson, Luca. Pâslaru has lived and worked in the United States since 1983, splitting between Manhattan and Bucharest. She was formerly a resident of Summit, New Jersey.
Monika Kruse is a German techno DJ/producer and record label owner, with a career in electronic music spanning more than 25 years. She played an influential role in the early Munich rave scene during the early 1990s and was among the first wave of German techno artists to tour internationally, before moving to Berlin at the end of the decade where she founded her Terminal M record label.
Paul Kalkbrenner is a German musician, producer of electronic music and actor. Because he breaks down his tracks into elements that are reassembled onstage, Kalkbrenner is considered a live act, as opposed to a DJ. He is most known for his single "Sky and Sand", which sold over 200,000 copies, went platinum, and was highly charted in countries such as Belgium and Germany. He is also known for portraying the main character Ickarus in the movie Berlin Calling, written and directed by Hannes Stöhr, which ran for several years at Kino Central in Berlin.
"Sky and Sand" is a song by German electronic music producers Paul Kalkbrenner and Fritz Kalkbrenner. The song was originally produced as the title song of the German movie Berlin Calling written and directed by Hannes Stöhr. It was first released on the Berlin Calling movie soundtrack album in October 2008 and in February 2009 as a single.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Mark Reeder is a British musician and record producer. He grew up in Manchester, England. At a young age, Reeder became interested in progressive rock and especially early electronic music. In his teens, he worked in a small Virgin Records store in Manchester city centre.
Berlin Calling is a 2008 German tragicomedy film directed by Hannes Stöhr. The film depicts the events following DJ and producer Ickarus's institutionalization for drug abuse.
Fritz Kalkbrenner is a German DJ and music producer.
Austra is a Canadian electronic music band from Toronto, founded in 2009 by composer, singer-songwriter, and producer Katie Stelmanis. Stelmanis is the only permanent member of the project, with a rotating live band that has included Maya Postepski (drums), Dorian Wolf, and Ryan Wonsiak (keyboards). It previously also featured the twin backing singers Sari and Romy Lightman of Tasseomancy. The band has released four studio albums—Feel It Break (2011), Olympia (2013), Future Politics (2017), and Hirudin (2020).
Pan-Pot is the name of the Berlin-based techno duo, German DJs and music producers Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix.
Ana is a version of the female given name Anna meaning "favour" or "grace".
Teodora Enache-Brody is a Romanian jazz singer, songwriter and lyricist. She is considered one of Romania's foremost jazz vocalists.
Sea Star Festival is a music festival organized by the team behind EXIT Festival in Serbia. It was held for the first time on 26–27 May 2017 at the Stella Maris Resort in the City of Umag, while the second edition was held in 2018 on 25–26 May. The festival features rock, pop, electronic, techno, house, hip-hop, metal and punk acts performing on multiple stages. Some notable names who performed include Fatboy Slim, Paul Kalkbrenner, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hurts, Paul Van Dyk, Sven Väth, Wu-Tang Clan, Dubioza kolektiv, Amelie Lens, UMEK, Meduza, Onyx, The Prodigy, Robin Schulz and many more.
Hannes Stöhr is a German film director and screenwriter. He studied scriptwriting and directing at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin from 1994 to 1999. In 2006 Stöhr was a Villa Aurora grant recipient and lived for six months in Los Angeles, California. Hannes speaks German, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. Stöhr is member of the European Filmacademy, lectures film at Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin and the Goethe Institute. He lives in Berlin.
