The Electrix Tweaker is an enigma. It isn’t quite laid out like a traditional DJ controller, with two jogwheels and a mixer section. It doesn’t quite have the form of an Ableton controller you’d expect from something like the Novation Launchpad or Akai APC40. So, what’s it for? That is entirely up to you. The Tweaker is, at its core,...

Will.i.am is, perhaps, the most repugnant person in the modern EDM cannon – even more so than David Guetta, whom the Black Eyed Peas rapper introduced to this side of the Atlantic. Bad lyrics supported by clichéd house beats and an undeserved spot on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Songs Chart give EDM negative connotations – but they’re...

The Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 is a compact and comparatively cheap mixing console and interface that packs a variety of well-considered features. The niche of the “Live mixer / DAW interface” device has not become so common that manufacturers are auto-piloting through and just copying their competitors. There’s still a lot of innovative...

For all the hoopla around dance music’s second mainstream ascent in the U.S., there’s one aspect that hasn’t returned: the clubbing movie. Sure, filmgoers have sat through painful efforts like those Step Up movies, but the confluence of culture and sounds of late ‘90s/early ‘00s efforts Human Traffic, Party Monster, and Groove are...

DJs’ long-time favorite Technics 1200 turntables are no more. Does that mean the “traditional” form of DJing has died out? As much as DJs gravitated away from turntables and toward CDJs, and eventually to laptops and controllers, over the past 15 years, many still have a soft spot for the original medium – and won’t use anything...