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New Jersey-based electro hip hop trio Triangle Offense have embraced HipTronik with this remix of their second single "Alarm," from their mixtape "The Courting."  Taking inspiration from favorite producers like Diplo and A-Trak, the aspiring HipTronik artists teams up with NYC's DJ Nano to revamp the party track's electro sound.  "We wanted to produce a track that took a step further into the hiptronic genre," says Finesse, one-third of Triangle Offense. "We have that hard hitting electro sound while still staying sharp lyrically." Listen or download the Alarm II and tell us what you think.

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Dutch DJ and electro-hip hop producer Don Diablo has remixed or collaborated with the likes of Diplo, Gorillaz, Sidney Samson, and The Chemical Brothers, to name just a few.  As much as we like Don Diablo's new, recently released original tracks like "Hooligans" and "Who's Your Daddy," we favor the globe-trotting, fast-rising artist for his versatile remixes, like his take on Moby's 1994 single "Feeling So Real."  We expect big things from this up-and-coming DJ. Also, check out Don Diablo's remix of The Chemical Brothers' "Swoon" here:

Electronic Dance Music (or EDM for short) was the sound of revolution in the music scene during the late 90’s to early 2000s, particularly in the West Coast underground party scene. Muffled rhythmic sequences of melodies and bass lines could be heard in the streets of the downtown warehouse district, on Indian Reservations, and in abandoned fields.

The most popular sound at the time was probably trance music, heavily stigmatized for the use – and abuse – of drugs, and more specifically, ecstasy. Law and drug enforcement agencies banded together to start regulating these underground dance events.

Soon the smaller events that lacked permits and corporate financial backing disappeared. The days of map points and hotlines were gone, giving way to the commercialization of the scene, which rose from the ashes of the underground. Massives became king and had the money and corporate sponsorship to take on any city official threatening to shut down these events.

Slowly the scene which was once “A SCENE” became more a collection of mainstream-influenced kids – kids who wanted to be counterculture but, in fact, ended up turning former counterculture into a huge media monster moving at about 130 BPMs. House and Electro House music have taken over the airwaves and are quickly becoming accepted as mainstream music in America, just as it has been in Europe for over a decade.

Flash forward to the present. To last week, actually. A few of us from Hiptronik.com ventured out to the deserts of Las Vegas for the weekend and discovered that LA Riots were slated to play at Surrender on Friday – a night dubbed “Aoki’s House.”

HipTronik fans know that the name Aoki is iconic -- synonymous even -- with Indie Electro. The indie electro scene in LA is known for being the most recent resurgence of this underground vibe that continued on into the mid to late 90s, albeit with a completely different sound, emerging on “off nights” at nightclubs and bars throughout Hollywood, Downtown LA and Silverlake.

LA Riots were a huge part of the Indie Electro resurrection as well as the DIY and Blog House party scenes in Los Angeles. So seeing them headline a new major venue in Sin City was a shock – and an exciting development for electro fans everywhere.

We admit, it was completely strange to hear a sound that you’ve grown up with and learned to love played for a crowd we weren’t used to seeing. Despite the fact that it was formerly shunned by the masses, LA Riots’ electro performance was now palatable for general populations’ pleasurable listening palettes. A small part of us appreciated the fact that this completely heterogeneous crowd was able to groove to the same grimy beat!

Special thanks go to David and his team from Surrender for their hospitality at the event, as well as to Brett Fischer from UNDOCUMENTED Management, which not only represents the LA RIOTS – they also have some of the most incredible and innovative DJs and producers on their roster right now (some of which we’d love to interview: Wolfgang Gartner, Harvard Base, MSKTRKRFT…the list goes on and on). Be sure to check out last month’s HipTronik interview with LA RIOTS.

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Wolfgang Gartner is steadily building a reputation for everything from his success on the Beatport charts to his Top 40 remixes (BEP, Britney Spears, Timbaland) to his extensive DJing resume. Meanwhile, Deadmau5 adds his own Grammy-nominated, Juno award-winning, Beatport-dominating skills to the mix.  We love seeing the Austin-based electro-house DJ team up with the legendary Deadmau5 to create hot new tracks like "Animal Rights."

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"Hurricane Venus" is BoA Kwon's second single off the upcoming Korean album of the same name, and she's holding nothing back. Embracing the same HipTronik sound she brought to the US just last year, "Hurricane Venus" is a highly addictive track which sends her voice through the vocoder and into our hearts. The visually stimulating music video also features the 23 year old's fantastic dance moves which have never failed to wow us. The album, which just dropped last week, is the first in five years for BoA to be released in Korea and has already hit the number one spot on the charts.

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Pharrell ventures out into HipTronik territory again with this amazing track by Swedish House Mafia. "One (Our Name)" is the first official single from the Swedish DJ trio, and it's already paved its way through the UK charts. That's not much of a surprise: the combination of Pharrell's eery vocals on top of a layer of house is too much to handle. And the video? It's just as mesmerizing as the song itself. If the rest of Swedish House Mafia's upcoming tracks are this good, we're in for one heck of an album.

by SonyaB

Toronto-based production duo AutoErotique are known for their ability to transform themselves -- and their music projects -- effortlessly from electro to techno, to house, rave, indie-rock, and back. They are one of the newest additions Dim Mak's roster and have done remixes for HipTronik favorites like Diplo and Laidback Luke.  They took a quick break from pushing their new EP "Bubonic" and work on their upcoming fall album to sit down for a Q&A.  Read on for more.

HipTronik: Please introduce yourselves to our readers.

Keith: Hello I am Keith Lite.

Dave: Hello I am Dave.

When did people start calling you the Autobots? How do you feel about the nickname?

Dave: At first we were embarrassed because of the lackluster movie franchise. But I hope our new album and the upcoming Transformers 3 movie will change that. I like AutoErotique better.

When you guys took a break from the group, what was the time on your own like? What brought you guys back together?

Dave: It was good to take time off.  I worked on a bunch of projects with other artists; Keith traveled and DJ’d just about everywhere.  When we came back to things, there was a lot more creativity and respect.

What was it like to be producers for EMI? How did that come about?

Dave: It sucked. Labels are social clubs nowadays, but it was fun to be around during the end of an era, when labels were getting completely f*cked by the Internet. It's much better to be working with Dim Mak, where it's about the music and your friends.

What is it that sets you apart from other artists? What makes a track an “AutoErotique” track?

Dave: We don't know yet. But I'm sure we'll all figure that out when the album drops.  14 songs of “wow.”

What steps do you take when you’re remixing? Do you have a specific style and technique or do you change it up depending on the track?

Dave: It really depends. There is no set formula with us. One thing is certain though – the drums.  The drums.

What can we expect from an AutoErotique set when you spin live?

Dave: I've seen Keith play very hard sets – techno sets, planned sets, unplanned sets. Haha, even commercial sets. There's no way to determine what's going to go down. It's heavy though. Bonkers.

You guys are coming out with a new album in August. What can we expect from it?

Dave: Ahhhh, the "Leather" album. Yes.  Finally.  It will be completed in mid-august, but won't be out until after summer. We had so many demos dating back almost four years – over 170 songs. So it was really fun and really hard to go through them all and make selections.   I think the demos we picked for the album are dope.

You recently released your new EP “Bubonic.” Why “Bubonic”?

Dave: It was completed in 2006, but we sat on it for some reason. We were working on the album when we came across it as an old demo, and decided to touch it up and release it.   Keith actually played it by accident in Miami at WMC in 2008 and people went nuts.

Coming from Toronto, how do you think that scene has affected your music?

Dave: It has and it hasn't. Toronto is very diverse.  We like just about every local producer and DJ from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa.  But we don't sound very "Toronto."

What was it like performing at EDC?

Keith: Life changing.

We read on your Twitter that you’ve accumulated some interesting wall decorations (click HERE to see what we mean). How did that start?

Dave: I have no idea what that means. Keith’s the Twitter man. I don’t have Facebook, Twitter … I never had a Myspace. I barely have an email, and I like that.  But yeah, there's some weird stuff up in the studio.

Do you have any other upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

Dave: We just completed a collaboration with Sonicc.  It has remixes from Eli Escobar and our friend Rynecologist and comes out in early September. It's called "K M A."

Our blog is called HipTronik, which is a blend of hip hop and electro. What are your thoughts on the HipTronik scene and what is your place in it?

Dave: Rap sucked from 2000 until 2009 and still sucks most of the time.  We are really happy rappers realized posing in fancy cars isn't cool.  Electro has been good to hip-hop and hip-hop has returned the favor.

For more on AutoErotique, check them out on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

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It’s not all fun and games for Adonis, Sci and Finesse. The Triangle Offense trio hailing from New Jersey brings some depth to the table with “Thank God I’m Fresh” – a feel-good song where “being fresh is what you make it.” With “Thank God I’m Fresh,” the group hopes to inspire a positive self-image, breaking the perception of dance music as a shallow medium. With the success of “The Courting” and a new mixtape in the works, it looks like Triangle Offense is living up to their HipTronik potential.

Download Triangle Offense's "The Courting Mixtape" here.

Download their new single "Cricketz Freestyle" here.

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HipTronik gets a taste of South Africa in “Too High” – a vibrant collaboration between Germany’s Schlachtofbronx and South Africa’s Big Space and Spoek Mathambo. The track's blazing energy combines Schlachtofbronx’s heavy electro bass with the sprightly rhythms of Mathambo and Big Space. The colorful mesh of distinct cultural flavors is mirrored in the song’s playful video, shot at the 2009 Oktoberfest. Schlachtofbronx, Big Space and Spoek Mathambo each have their own distinct characters, but “Too High” displays their perfectly quirky chemistry.

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Tiësto is arguably one of the world's best DJs, and he's back with a HipTronik venture alongside Canadian artist Kay. "Work Hard, Play Hard" is an anthem for working men and women, perfect for that Friday night out. You can download the track free as part of Tiësto's virtual mix CD "What's Next," available through SanDisk's Wake Up Your Phone promotion when you purchase a mobile SanDisk memory card. SanDisk will also be sponsoring select Tiësto concerts worldwide, encouraging fans to record concert footage on their phone and submit it for use in an official video. New tracks from Tiësto are always amazing. But an entire free Tiësto album? That's on a whole other level.