A lot of artists use the name "Dakota".
01. A pseudonym of Trance DJ Markus Schulz
02. An English Pop/Rock band (Ben Talbot, Aaron Whealen, Tom Davison, Robert Armitage)
03. A melodic rock band active from the late 70's to early 80's (Bill Kelly & Jerry G. Hludzik)
04. A collaboration of German progressive trance producers - Marc Engemann, Tobias Beyer & Daniel Torhoff (early 00's)
05. A German progressive rock / experimental band (Andreas Brüning, Rüdiger Klose, Tonio Scorpo), 90's
06. An alias of UK trance producer Dave Conway, a member of duo Sadie Glutz with Laurence Elliott-Potter
07. Hip-hop / downtempo producer from Wissembourg, France on Milled Pavement Records
08. Noise / punk band from Austin TX (90's)
09. Breakbeat/dub/experimental project from Pennsylvania, US (10's)
10. A Latvian country band
11. Blues-rock band from Colchester, UK
12. Progressive rock band from Massachusetts US (from mid 00's)
13. Female indie rock collective from Amsterdam, Holland. www.dakotamusic.nl
14. Metalcore band from Santa Rosa, CA (Harley Stears, Brandon Campbell, Michael Tishler, Jan Pechbrenner)
15. Alternative rock band from Cd. Obregon, Sonora, Mexico (Luz Haydeé Valenzuela, El Bran, Luis Cañedo, Clarissa Espinoza)
16. Los Angeles based country-rock / classic-rock band, founder - Bill Rotella
17. Female pop singer-songwriter from Jersey City, NJ
18. Indie-rock band from Auckland, New Zealand
19. A Norwegian country band originated with its roots from Ålen in Trøndelag municipality
01. Back as far as its turn-of-the-millennium origins, Markus' alter ego was always conceived as a channel through which he could explore the darker and more devoutly club side of his mind. "To me the audio that Dakota presents and the music which I put out under my own name stand totally apart. It's an entirely separate set of tempos, sound-ranges and FX rules. To have this studio 'other self' with which to produce this type of music is more important to me than ever", he says.
The first 'Thoughts' long-player proved nothing short of a revelation, drawing Schulz's productions into the CDJs of an entirely different type of DJ. Two years on and its sequel is on final approach. A fully floor-equipped, 14 track album, 'Thoughts Become Things II' again explores every cleft and crevasse of the prog/trance/techno/house panoply.
Stylistically 'Thoughts II' picks up precisely where the first album left off, in the deeply trenched progressive of 'Gypsy Room'. From there the unmistakable churning, techno glint of 'Red Star' and the shadowy atmospherics of 'Where It Went Wrong' continue to build the bridge between the two albums. Each one a Dakota device purpose built to send strobe-lit underground dance spots unrelentingly towards critical mass.
Expanding its style sheet further is the house-led thematic of 'Terrace 5AM. Recalibrating Moroder's immortal, discofied 'I Feel Love' bassline to 2011 levels, its set to become a much-demanded spin at Schulz's new Space Ibiza residency. Equally 80's inclined is 'Tears', who's poignant, film-noir channels Vangelis' enigmatic 'Blade Runner' theme.
Every bit as redolent is the low-tempo industrial roll of 'Katowice's dystopian main line, the flowing transcendental melod-prog of 'In a Green Valley' and 'Apollo' – the expansive, epic album dénouement.
Dakota fans' first contact with 'Thoughts II' will inevitably have come through the propulsive twin-turbines of its first two singles… Together, over the last three months, 'Sinners' and 'Sleepwalkers' have nitro-injected Schulz's sets time and time again. The latter has already developed its own early cult status, when its emergence during his set at ASOT500 pushed Schulz into Twitter's worldwide trending top 10.
'Thoughts Become Things II' holds back its toughest sonic punches till last, with a closing track triumvirate. The gated synthery of 'Miami', the hard-ratcheting white-knuckle-tension of 'Cape Town' and stridently riffed, big-room suspense of 'Saints' all collectively producing the album its mighty endgame.
As with its first instalment, 'Thoughts Become Things II will have resonance with DJs of numerous electronic dance disciplines. With barely a track over the 130bpm mark and referencing many a dance sub-genre, it is this summer's most intrepid, creative long-player.
02. A Brief History of Dakota
by: Rick Manwiller, Dakota Keyboardist and Unofficial Historian
The strange saga of Dakota begins WAY back in the early 70's in Northeast Pa., with a band called The Buoys and a million-selling single called Timothy. The song, written by Rupert Holmes (The Pina Colada Song), was supposedly about the local Sheppton mine disaster, during which cannibalism was rumored to have occurred. Years later, another Holmes song, Give Up Your Guns, became a European hit and is still played on Euro-radio to this day. The band was spearheaded by lead singer/guitarist Bill Kelly, and also featured Jerry Hludzik on guitar and vocals. The two eventually broke off from
