Produced by Feelslikefriday // the make it happen collective, a collection of media professionals who specialize in television, DVD, internet and mobile cross-media, Dancetrippin brings you videos of popular electronic clubs and DJs. Created in 1999, Dancetrippin is based out of Amsterdam, but travels all over the world, particularly to Ibiza, to document today’s electronic music scene. It’s director, Will Johnston, is also a resident DJ at Bora Bora Ibiza, an infamous beach bar club in the heart of the party scene in Ibiza, Spain.
Most Dancetrippin episodes are live recordings of DJ sets at clubs, which last about 30 minutes. They are primarily comprised of upward facing shots of tan girls in bikinis, kind of like those MTV spring break specials. There are a few attempts at editing, but, for the most part, videos are long, uncut DJ sessions – the nature of this particular genre of music. Check out Bushwacka on his way from Ibiza to Formentera and back, or Roger Sanchez at club Panama in the Netherlands. Dancetrippin also features interesting interviews with DJs like Carl Cox from Great Britain, Laidback Luke, who has created his own sound of live remixing, and Masters at Work, a remix team native to New York. Interviews generally don’t last longer than a few minutes and are cut with shots of dancing girls. Content in “Bonus videos,” which doesn’t fit into the category of DJ set or interview, ranges from scratch battles in Amsterdam, to an instructional on a mixer, to hot dancing girls, and are about two to five-minutes long. While watching good-looking people party and interviews from established DJs has its share of entertainment value, in a site devoted to showcasing music, the sound quality could definitely use some improvement.
I like the segment on Sister Bliss, a popular DJ and remixer who was one of the first British female house DJs when she started her career in 1987. She was also a member of Faithless, a well-known group of UK musicians who combines dance and hip-hop styles in its music. This episode is really just a short recording of one of her live sets with shots of her cut with shots of her dancing crowd.
