Yoshitoshi

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japanese: 月岡 芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi 大蘇 芳年; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese artist.

He is widely recognized as the last great master of the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock printing and painting. He is also regarded as one of the form's greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of Edo period Japan, and the first years of modern Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Like many Japanese, Yoshitoshi was interested in new things from the rest of the world, but over time he became increasingly concerned with the loss of many aspects of traditional Japanese culture, among them traditional woodblock printing.

By the end of his career, Yoshitoshi was in an almost single-handed struggle against time and technology. As he worked on in the old manner, Japan was adopting Western mass reproduction methods like photography and lithography. Nonetheless, in a Japan that was turning away from its own past, he almost singlehandedly managed to push the traditional Japanese woodblock print to a new level, before it effectively died with him.

Eddie Amador

Eddie Amador (born 1967) is best known as an international house music producer, remixer and DJ. He penned the Infamous song HOUSE MUSIC in 1999 and is an established icon in house music.

Amador's productions in 2011 included "Spirituality" on Erick Morillo’s Subliminal label and 10 Lil Indians on Amador's imprint, Citrusonic Recordings. Eddie's records are supported by well-known DJs including David Guetta, Kaskade, Annie Nightingale, D.O.N.S., Robbie Rivera, Thomas Gold, and others. His record "We Are the Beautiful Ones" is co-produced with Harry "Choo Choo" Romero, and vocalist Countre Black released on Subliminal. A new remix of "We Are the Beautiful Ones" by Sympho Nympho (Erick Morillo, Harry Romero and Jose Nunez) will appear on the latest Subliminal Compilation for WMC 2012. Eddie also teamed up with Automatic Panic on "Morning After" the current single on his Citrusonic Recordings imprint supported by Mark Knight, Steve Aoki and Judge Jules.

Amador's fame started in 1998 when he penned the "not everyone understands", "house music, it's a spiritual thing, a body thing, a soul thing". He set them to a hypnotic pulsating beat and the seminal dance classic "House Music" was born. It went on to become a global hit and secured Amador an album deal with Deep Dish's Yoshitoshi label. However, it was his next single "Rise" that proved his appeal as entered the UK Top 20 giving him exposure as an international class DJ with him performing at famous club venues like Ministry of Sound, The Queen, Centro Fly, Crobar, Stereo as well as Pacha & Space in Ibiza. Based on his success, he set up a second studio in Amsterdam in 2003 where he continued productions for Defected, Nero, and Yoshitoshi.

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in Chicago, circa 1984. House music quickly spread to other American cities such as Detroit, New York City, and Newark – all of which developed their own regional scenes. In the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as major cities in South America, and Australia. Early house music commercial success in Europe saw songs such as "Pump Up The Volume" by MARRS (1987), "House Nation" by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987), "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express (1988) and "Doctorin' the House" by Coldcut (1988) in the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic, and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. House music in the 2010s, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies widely in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house to the more minimalistic microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as euro house, tech house, electro house and jump house.

Yoshitoshi Recordings

Yoshitoshi Recordings is a dance music record label which is owned and operated by (Washington, D.C.) house producers Deep Dish. It was founded in 1994. While pigeonholed as a progressive label, its releases in fact cover a broad spectrum of modern dance music, reflecting the eclectic tastes of its owners. The first release on the label was Submarine's self-titled single.

Deep Dish developed offshoot dance labels Deep Dish, Shinichi and Yo as well, each catering to a slightly different genre of house music. In addition, they owned and operated a retail store (also named Yoshitoshi) in the Georgetown area of D.C. The store sold an extensive selection of dance records of all genres including drum n bass and breakbeat, as well as clothing, mixtapes and record bags. The store closed in 2003, although their labels continue to release music, mostly in digital format with occasional CDs and vinyl projects.

Notable Album Releases

Sharam

Sharam Tayebi (Persian: شهرام طیبی‎‎) better known as Sharam (born 12 January 1970 in Tehran, Iran), is an Iranian-American progressive house DJ and producer, forming one half of the Grammy award-winning duo, Deep Dish. On October 28, 2009, DJ Magazine announced the results of its annual Top 100 DJ Poll, with Ultra Records artist Sharam placing #73.

Biography

Solo (2006 – present)

On May 5, 2009 Sharam released "She Came Along", the lead single from his debut studio album, Get Wild (2009). The song, featuring American hip-hop recording artist Kid Cudi, charted for 15 weeks on the Bulgaria Singles Top 40. It entered the chart at position 40 in week 30/2009, and its last appearance was in week 44/2009. It peaked at number 11, where it stayed for one week.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Singles