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thenextgeneration is the DJ/production duo of locals Mikkel Dankner and Aaron Feld, a partnership formed in 2004. Mikkel started out cutting and mixing tapes at age 12, and has since gone on to play at some of the most renowned nightclubs around the US, including Limelight, Tunnel, and Palladium in NYC, and Ohm in Chicago. Additionally, he has some serious production credits under his belt, including a remix of "Change For Me" by Eric Roberson and Osunlade on the esteemed Yoruba label, plus "Hypnotize You," as Soulscience, an original on Lars Behrenroth's Deeper Shades Recordings. Aaron, meanwhile, is the more business-savvy member of the duo, matching a higher education in marketing and PR with plenty of charisma to go with his musical leanings. The duo specializes in classic soulful deep house infused with Afro-Latin flavors, and can be heard regularly on Wednesday nights at Sushi Samba and on Saturdays at Beer and Burger Joint in Miami Beach. Catch them at Samba tonight, or on Thursday and Friday nights of this week at Hakkasan in the Fontainebleau Hotel. Meanwhile, you can get a feel for their deep vibes on this two-part DJ mix.

Click here to download "White" (part one of the mix).

Click here to download "Black" (part two).

At her tender young age, Inbal Lankry is already something of a scene veteran. At age 15, the Brooklyn native was promoting for legendary NYC clubs Limelight, Tunnel and Paladium, while helping out older brother DJ Baby Sean with his residencies at various hot spots all over the city. In 2002, Inbal and her family migrated to South Florida where they opened Sonar nightclub in Hollywood, voted Best Club of 2004 and 2005 by New Times and City Link. A natural progression into DJing followed, making her one of the only female DJ/promoters in Miami's local underground house music scene.

In 2006, Inbal and Baby Sean started the weekly Retox party at club Blue in South Beach, which has since provided locals with some of the finest underground house music from around the globe in the most intimate of settings. While she continues to spin at Retox every week, Inbal has also gone on to play at Ultra Music Festival and has shared the bill with the likes of Christian Martin, Vincenzo, Sunshine Jones, Roland Clark, and Scott Wozniak. Inbal's new DJ mix is one hour and nine minutes of pure unadulterated groovy deep goodness, and if it gets your juices flowing (and that it will) be sure to catch her spinning in the flesh tonight at Blue along with special guest DJ Greg Cuoco of Aqua-booty NY.

Click here to download Inbal's new Curling Beats mix.

DJ/producer Michael Christopher is a Boston transplant who moved to Miami in 2004 to pursue a college baseball career, and soon became a mainstay of the local underground dance scene, playing various weekly residencies and parties throughout the years at local venues like Blue, Laundry Bar, White Room, and PS14.

He has since become affiliated with the local PL0T collective (headed by DJs Alejandro Sab and Basti) spinning in support of artists like Adultnapper, Ryan Elliott, Seth Troxler, Butane, and most recently Matt Tolfrey and Crazy Larry. Christopher additionally has some collaborative productions in the works with local artists Tucson, Basti and Pedro Zanetti, with expected releases in the near future -- in the meantime you can check out some of his dark, atmospheric minimal stylings on Myspace.

Here is an exclusive recording of Christopher's opening set for Matt Tolfrey and Crazy Larry at the last  PL0T party at Electric Pickle on Friday, September 18. A mix that perfectly encapsulates the sultry and hypnotic sounds of minimal techno and microhouse that have taken over the Pickle's upstairs room at PL0T's Friday night sessions.

Click here to download Michael Christopher's opening set from that party.

The knock on the door came late; too late for most folks. But DJ Heron was working in a recording studio, where work often doesn't start till the witching hour. And the cat doing the knocking said he was a friend of a friend who'd been working in the studio earlier that night, and that he was supposed to meet him. Was the friend still there? He asked Heron. No? Did anybody know where he'd gone?  

Heron couldn't really see the would-be visitor's face, but his story sounded legit. So he unbolted the door -- and knew it was a mistake the moment he did it. At once the knocker had a gun to Heron's face and an accomplice by his side. Quickly, the two ushered the DJ back into the studio where they tied him up, wrapped a gag around his mouth, and left him to listen as they proceeded to clean out his entire studio.

Every machine, every microphone, every wire was carried out and loaded on to a waiting truck. Most devastatingly, though, the robbers stole Heron's hard drives, which were loaded with untold beats and rhymes. Beats and rhymes he could never get back. 

Ready for the weekend? Well, you might think you are, but not until you download this DJ mix by local mix-master Sean Drake, also known as Mister Drake. Formerly a resident DJ at Pawn Shop Lounge, Drake has been away from the music game for a while. He made his return a few weeks ago when he celebrated his birthday at Back Door Bamby at the Vagabond, dropping plenty of house-y grooves and indie-dance staples.

Maybe that short stint reignited Drake's passion for DJing because he returns tomorrow night at the Vagabond with Heidi and Audiofly. The Get Physical beauty should be reason enough to stop by the Overtown locale, but for those of us with fond memories of partying between Pawn Shop's trailer and thrift store knick-knacks might appreciate the extra nostalgia.

Still, if your expecting a open format set from Drake these days you'll be sorely disappointed. He has successfully abandoned the middle-of-the-road "genre" for deep groove and house. Check it out!

MP3: Mister Drake Gets Deep Sept. '09

PL0T resident DJ Alejandro Sab has been quite active in the last couple years, playing along some of the finest underground EDM talent we've had in Miami, such as Konrad Black, Ryan Elliot, Alexi Delano, and Camea. Besides his DJ accolades, Sab has also delved head-on into collaborative production work with the world-renowned techno producer Alexi Delano (the preview of which you can currently check out on his Myspace page). Despite his reputation as our preeminent local proponent of minimal techno, Sab's latest mix embraces a far headier melodic sound, much in tune with the current international deep house revival, but without straying far from his signature stripped-down minimal style.

Click here to download Alejandro Sab's "Sentience" Mix.

What to say about local DJ Danny Daze that hasn't been said before? Daze has been one of the most in demand DJs around the country for the last few years and he keeps busy with side projects like DiscoTech and Seor Stereo. Is it any surprise we picked him as this year's Best Club DJ?

Well if you got to hear it to believe it, check out Daze's contribution to the White Light mix series. The mix includes tracks by PNUA, Kraak & Smaak, Holy Ghost!, Tiga and the aforementioned Seor Stereo.

MP3: Danny Daze "White Light Mix, Vol. 9"

A Sunday afternoon barbecue on South Beach is probably not the best place to interview a DJ, especially if the spinner's been knocking back mojitos for a couple hours before you pose your questions. Then again, this is the Magic City, and a large part of its allure comes from the fact that pleasure almost always supersedes business. But after a curiously slurred preliminary, everybody sobers up to get to the matter at hand --to let it be known that we've gotta another hot chick head spinner in our midst. Her name? DJ Elle.

That's right, Miami's lured down another New York DJ. She's been shuffling back and forth between the two cities for a while now, but this time it looks like we've got her for keeps. Elle's first Miami spin was at Buck 15, which put her right in sync with the all the right locals. And since January, she's been holding court every Thursday at the Catalina, where she switches off with Miami's own Self Born.

DJ/producer Sebastian Silva a.k.a. Basti is an Argentinian transplant and former indie rocker who relocated to Miami in 1999 to pursue a career in music. Basti has since established himself as a regular in Miami's underground techno scene, and as a PL0T resident DJ he's played alongside some of the most talented international artists they've hosted in recent years, including Mark Henning, Seth Troxler, Damian Schwartz and Robert Dietz. He has also made the leap to incorporate live elements in his performances, using hardware MIDI controllers and analog beat machines, and demonstrating a forward-thinking approach to his live sound. Basti will be playing a set this Saturday night at the "Leisure Pleasures" party in North Miami, in support of NYC's No Regular Play and a lineup of local artists. His new mix gives us a taste of the minimal grooves we can expect to hear on Saturday night.

Click here to download Basti's "Together is Better" mix.