Darude Prsents Label This!
Trance Music
RELEASE Date: Out now!
Label This! is the new artist album from Finnish trance dj Darude. Ville Virtanen better known by his stage name Darude is a trance producer and dj from Eura, Hinnerjoki, Finland. Label This! consists entirely of his own material, mixed together as a full dj mix to reflect both sides of his talents as a dj and producer. Having been djing since 2003, Darude lays claim to this having affected his production giving him new angles and perspectives on how his music works on a dance floor. And all this new found knowledge is evident in this new album. With a variation of styles and sounds, the tracks career between simple and melodic sounds through to more uplifting trance, fusing elements of tribal, progressive and more rocky elements.
The tracks on the album include banging club singles like ‘In The Darkness’ and ‘Bad’, catchy and hooky energetic floor fillers ‘Tell Me’ and ‘My Game’ and the new chart busting single ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’ (featuring American Idol star Blake Lewis) and it’s sure to give as much for a new Darude-listener as for an already seasoned Darudian.
Darude Label This! Tracklisting:
01• MY GAME
02• TELL ME
03• I RAN (SO FAR AWAY) featuring Blake Lewis
04• STARS (HERE WITH ME) (TECH MIX)
05• GOOD GROOVES
06• IN THE DARKNESS (TECH MIX)
07• BAD
08• LABEL THIS!
09• LOST
10• FOR THOSE I LOVE
11• DREAMS
12• IN THE DARKNESS (TRANCE MIX)
Darude Biography:
To date Darude remains one of dance music’s most influential stars. At the age of 24 and at the height of the trance boom of the early 00’s Finnish DJ / artist / producer Ville Virtanen created the milestone single ‘Sandstorm’ under the pseudonym Darude. The track went on to become one of the biggest selling dance singles in the history of electronic dance music with globe sales of over 2 million units’ and to date featuring on over 200 compilations world-wide.
What started out as a national release in Darude’s native home of Finland went on to become a world-wide phenomenon taking ‘Sandstorm’ to #1 on the Finnish Dance Chart; a spot that it would dominate for 17 weeks. Released in the UK in June 2000 by Neo Records the track would see Darude became the first Finnish artist ever to reach the top 3 positions on the UK singles chart – a landmark achievement he still holds today. Following this, ’Sandstorm’ went on to sell Platinum in Scandinavia, Ireland and Gold in the UK and Germany which led to it being the world’s best selling 12” vinyl of 2000. The track attained cult like status and gained strong support from industry heavyweights such as Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, Pete Tong, Judge Jules and Ferry Corsten, as well receiving phenomenal radio support from national stations in over 70 countries around the world.
The following up single “Feel The Beat” found similar success by going straight in at #1 on the Finnish Dance Chart, the UK Club Chart, Mixology Dance Chart, the UK and the Australian Dance Chart. Altogether it conquered the Top 3 in ten countries around the world.
The success of these two singles led to the release of Darude’s debut artist album, “Before the Storm.” The album would go on to sell double Platinum in Finland and Gold in Canada. Its world-wide sales to date are over 800,000 units.
The album was supported by a gruelling 9 month world-wide tour taking on countries in Europe, Australasia and Asia. In the spring of 2002, and with interest at an all time-high, he followed up his world tour by embarked on a seven week live show across North America titled ‘Tour de Trance’. A daring project but one that paid off as the series of events would solidify the name Darude in North America giving him a solid fan base in this vast region of the globe.
In 2003, Darude would release his second artist album, “Rush”. The first single off the album, titled ‘Music, went on to conquered the #1 position on the Finnish Singles Chart, Finnish Dance Chart and the Polish Dance Chart. The second single, “Next To You,” would follow in the footsteps of its predecessor by once again taking the #1 position on the Finnish Singles Chart on its release. Both singles received wide support from the biggest DJs on the planet such as Tiesto, Ferry Corsten and were play-listed on countless dance radio stations around the world. The album itself capitalised on the profile presence of Darude in the US by reaching #11 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums Chart.
In addition to his impressive live shows Darude’s talent as a DJ are uniquely flexible with his sound appealing to audiences of many styles of electronic dance music. Whilst his sound is a mix of progressive and euphoric trance, his sets infuse heavy influences of tech and electro laced basslines, whilst combining elements of breaks and house to create atmosphere and drama within his music.
His resume of accolades is a testament to the exponential growth of his profile as an international artist, a feat that has often left his contemporaries nervous of his success. In under 10 years, both as a dj and producer, Ville has appeared on TV channels such as Top of the Pops, MTV and CD:UK as well as having won a number of prestigious awards such as two German Dance Awards (2000), Swedish NRJ Radio Award (2000), Dance Star Award (2001),USA Golden Turntable DJ Award (2002), and is a three time Finnish Grammy Award winner. His name has also appeared in numerous public-voted polls with previous entries in DJ Magazines Top 100 Poll (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), BPM Magazine’s Americas Favourite DJ list (2004, 2005, 2006), all of which confirms that his presence as a prolific figure in the world of electronic dance music remains an ever present one.
With appearances globally across radio and TV, the sound of Darude is a familiar feature in the modern era of club culture. Featuring across a variety of media, the signature sound of Darude can be found in Hollywood movies such as ‘Ballistic’, ‘Ecks vs. Sever’, ‘Like Mike’ and the recent Jim Carey hit film ‘Fun With Dick and Jane’, Playstation games and popular sports broadcasts like the Ice Hockey World Championships, Wimbledon, Euro 2000 and the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Having risen from the small village of Hinnerjoki, Finland, Darude has gone on to perform in front of audiences up to 100,000 people strong, sweeping across continents and rocking clubs the world over. From appearing at prestigious festivals such as Electronic Music Festival (LA), G! Festival (Faroe Islands), Utopia Electronic Music Festival (Australia), Laserpoint (Finland) to headlining some of the world best clubs including Spundae (Hollywood), Giant (San Francisco), Government (Toronto) and Slinky (UK), his dj diary encompasses the entire global platform of dance music.
Over the years Darude has also taken part in numerous industry leading conferences, such as the Amsterdam Dance Conference in Holland, MIDEM in France, Billboard Dance Music Summit in Las Vegas and Winter Music Conference in Miami.
For the past three years Darude has been fronting his own weekly radio show, Darude Presents Finland, on the North American radio network SIRIUS, as well as hosting a monthly show, Salmiakki Sessions with Darude, on ETN.fm.
The debut single, “Tell Me” from his much-anticipated third artist album, “Label This!”, smashed its way into the charts Finnish Singles Chart by going straight in at #1.
The album is a fresh venture into the broader more innovative reaches of the modern sound of Darude. This upfront perspective, demonstrates his cross-genre talents as a producer with the album encompasses progressive and electro elements, whilst highlighting distinct influences of breaks and techno.
Eight years on from Sandstorm and with three artist albums, numerous awards and multiple world tours under his belt, Darude remains an ever present figure in the world of electronic dance music, a position which continually sees him pushing the boundaries and igniting audience around the globe.
