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In-depth articles
Tech house explained: the BPM range, where it came from, how it differs from house and techno, and why Dom Dolla is playing Singapore and EDC Thailand Phuket three weeks apart.
Organic house is deep house built from live percussion and kalimba, not drops. Lee Burridge invented it, barely tours Southeast Asia, and Savaya Bali's Sunday series is the closest the region gets.
The six-piece has folded Isaan folk instruments into dub and psychedelic rock since 2012, playing Glastonbury, Boiler Room, Cafe Oto and Berlin's Humboldt Forum along the way. The Bangkok bar built around the same revival closed this year; the band predates it and never depended on it for bookings.
Hanoi duo Limebócx and the label Thang Long Records have spent two years turning 19th-century Vietnamese poems and folk songs into electronic singles, the latest out October 2 on Bandcamp.
Three different melodic techno headliners played Singapore and Malaysia inside two weeks this fall. What the genre actually is, where it came from, and what Argy, Anyma and Enrico Sangiuliano's sets had in common.
Moon Mountain turns 25 in a Kanchanaburi jungle in February 2027, and Koh Phangan's Halfmoon Festival, founded the same year, now runs every two weeks. Southeast Asia's psytrance scene actually lives in both places, and the rest of the region never built one.
Sara Landry played Kuala Lumpur and Singapore back to back in September. BLAK Arena's first Kuala Lumpur night alone drew 5,500 people. The genre behind Southeast Asia's hardest booking streak of the year, and what's actually driving it.
On opening night, Pontoon's floating dancefloor took on water under the weight of its own crowd and sank into the Mekong. It got hauled out, moved onto dry land, and kept booking international DJs through Phnom Penh's best and worst years, including a three-time DMC world champion this month.
Midnight Shift started as a reaction against Singapore's EDM-chasing clubs: house and techno parties that refused to announce headliners. More than a decade on, its roster, its Modal nights and its newest tattoo-and-techno crossover are still running.
Savage Hanoi lost its villa to a government redevelopment, and Saigon's longest-running club closes this month too. What's replacing them, and where to actually hear house and techno in Vietnam right now.
Savage shut down on New Year's Day. The Observatory in Saigon closes at the end of this month. Hanoi's Di Linh built her whole career inside those two rooms, and she's still booked.
Southeast Asia's first hyperclub opened in Bangkok with ARTBAT, Kölsch and CamelPhat inside seven weeks. It's been dark since mid-February, with no reopening date given.