This year I traveled again to Lviv for Remolino. I will not present the festival as I did it last year. I will just present some element of the festival and I will begin with the DJs, maybe the key stone of this DJ Festival.

As usual, the selection of DJ cover most of European country and a good part was given this year to the DJs of Berlin with 3 big nights. But let’s go directly to the DJ presentation.

31/12
Semeon Kukormin (Russia) Night milonga – it is already the third time I hear this DJ this year. Last time was just 2 weeks before. As the previous time I enjoy the music, a nice mix of orchestras, a soft and romantic side but with a good energy. I like it. I will not detail more as Semeon is well known and considered as one of the best DJ at the moment. But everybody has not the same opinion about his music. We could speak about tastes but I think we can see here a difference between West and East in the perception of the music. For the second time in a short laps of time, I found disappointed dancers from Belgium and Germany when most of Ukrainian and Polish dancers were complety on the side of the DJ.

Gabriele Sabato (Italy) Afterparty – after more than 10 hours of bus travel during the day and a good night milonga, I went to the afterparty just to have a look (the space was prepared especialy for the afterparty with extra sofas and it created a cozy atmosphere). Even complety tired/broken, I stayed 2 hours there to dance as the music kept my energy high. A good selection of music for this moment of the night. My mistake was to sit to rest and as you know, it is already too late to realise it was not a good idea. Gabriele played for the night milonga of the 7th January and I miss it. Too bad because I would like to hear his selection for another time of an after party.
01/01
Birger Haugdal (Norway) Day milonga – I don’t remember well the music of this DJ but he kept me on the floor all the afternoon. As it was the first afternoon milonga for me, I was more focused on trying to discover new dancers than hearing the music of the DJ.

Yury Cherenkov (Ukraine) Night milonga – I didn’t like the music of this DJ, too many drama and sleeping tandas. Definitively not my style. But it is his style.
02/01
Antti Suniala (Finland) Day milonga – I arrived only for the second half of the set of Antti and I was surprised by his afternoon music I found completely different of the last time I heard him last year (night milonga). Less swingy and cozy music, more dancing and energetic music. Too bad I miss the beginning of the milonga as I would like to compare it.

Daniel Rossi (Belgium) Night milonga – Daniel put the fire at the dancefloor during the night. The style was completely opposite of the previous night. A very dynamic music who keep the dancers on the floor. For the last 2 hours, the rythm calm down a little but the energy is still here. I think everybody was satisfied by the night. Even if some people would appreciate more soft tangos, they were dancing with his music.

Jenni Valli (Finland) Afterparty – I was not at the afterparty but I hear Jenni in La Cita de los Amigos few weeks before and I like it.
03/01
Fabio Iocco (Italy) Day milonga – an italian touch in the music (or Brazilian touch now ?), this touch who fill you with a positive energy to invite the dancers you like to dance with and new one. At the end of the milonga, you are like leaving a good party. I like this feeling.

Frank Seifart (Germany) Night milonga – not here to here, resting time.
04/01
Sergey Markov (Russia) Day milonga – I don’t remember, sorry…

Monika Suteu (Germany) Night milonga – At first, I should take this night to sleep and rest as the previous one. But I didn’t dance enough during the afternoon and I wanted more. I was not disappointed by Monika’s music and returned to my bed happy (even if I felt something was missing during this night but not because of the music).
05/01
Mariko (Ukraine) Day milonga – I think Mariko was the DJ I dislike the most last year with 3 hours of singer and romantic/pink tango for one hour of correct music. I was seriously bored… But this year, it was a good surprise as something I felt an energy in the middle of the singers. I was maybe just more receptive. It was anyway a lot of singers, an instrumental Biagi in the middle of the singers and a really nice milonga.

James Bates (Germany) Night milonga – I had low energy during this milonga but James did a good job to keep me on the floor. A good energy in the music and a nice balance between the tandas.
06/01
Inês Tabajara (Portugal) Day milonga – I already heard Ines in Porto and I like his music. But for this milonga, I was just not in the mood. I found the set really sad and I had a real difficulty to begin to dance. I think I was tired by the milonga or maybe it is the fado music before the beginning of the milonga (this music is terrible for me and has a real bad impact on me). For a more objective view from a DJ I really appreciate it was “one of the best set he heard since a long time, perfectly constructed since the beginning until the end, a real pleasure”. By the way, maybe it was me but I heard a lot of “remolino” in the lyrics of the tangos.

Jasmin Muranovic (Austria) Night milonga – a set with a good mix of orchestras, some funny and tricky musics. I liked it. His special tanda was completely built for “Pasional”, Pugliese version with Moran. At the end of the 3rd song I said – Pasional – and pasional came at 4th song… I left early as it was the end of the festival for me and I had to travel the day after.

Next part coming soon – Part 2 circulation.