Saturday, June 30, 2007

Second Fest - Day 2 - June 30th, 2007

Slim Warrior Performing at Chill Island


Matt Black of Coldcut:






I got to catch Slim Warrior's show which was great. But after I left chill island I couldn't find much spectacular going on. The mainstage had stream problems all day, the indie tent was just not my style of tune at all, another area just had someone just playing a full CD (I could hear the blips in between each track). The dance tent was pretty happening all day. I had a blast at Coldcut's show, even though the stream was dropping constantly. I don't know why they insisted on streaming with video quicktime instead of a shoutcast stream. The chill area's music was generally flawless, whilst all the other areas were having constant streaming problems.

It was also kind of a big drag when people started chatting about discovering that hardly any of the performers were playing live. Instead they were broadcasting live sets from days prior at shows in RL. The concept is cool, that a bunch of RL events just recently took place and they're streaming all those RL events into one large SL weekend festival. That's excellent!

But, the #1 key factor the organizers forgot to do was explain that they are previously recorded live concerts streaming in.... not LIVE MUSIC. I found it to be a hassle having to go around the event all day and basically defend the event and explain how this is a cool fest.... but people weren't really thrilled finding out the music (other than the chill island) wasn't live.

Friday, June 29, 2007

alienspeaking Zsigmond @ www.Alienspeaking.com - 6/29/07











Welcome to alienspeaking HQ. The alienstream happens every Friday when four aliens get together (and the fifth sometimes joins in live over the Internet) to scratch and spin, freestyle, shout out and make general hip hop electro breaks noise, LIVE from Outer Rim Studios in Canberra Australia.

Join the growing alien crew here for our Friday 2AM PST party, bring your dancin' shoes and a good attitude and get down with like minded aliens.

On stage is a replica of what we use during our live sets in the studio. All the objects (except the chair and table) here were hand built by the aliens, from 100% Australian electrons :)

Enjoy yourself, go easy on the sex stuff, no violence, take off your weapons, the aliens come in peace and so should you.

For more info check the website: http://www.alienspeaking.com/



Thursday, June 28, 2007

Second Fest - Presented by The Guardian & Intel - June 29th - July 1st



Secondfest is a virtual three-day music festival inside Second Life realised by The Guardian and Intel, featuring live music from offline and online performers, theatre, ballet, cinema, animation and general chaos. It kicks off Friday 29 June at 6pm GMT (10am SLT) and rocks and rolls until midnight (GMT) Sunday night.

Five mega stages!

Three arenas for exclusive performances by Pet Shop Boys, New Young Pony Club, Groove Armada, Hot Chip, Hadouken, Simian Mobile Disco and DJs Rob da Bank, Gilles Peterson, Sunday Best, Bugged Out, Ninja Tunes and many more.

Two stages for exclusive live music from Second Lifers, including Doubledown Tandino, Clayton Road, Slim Warrior, Tony Moore and Wiredaisies.

Two cinemas, featuring offline blockbusters, BBC Film Network short films and Second Life machinima.

Characters, chaos and wandering minstrels! Rocky Horror and Ballet! Theatre! Human Mazes! Secret Stages!

Nine sims of festival entertainment.

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondfest

DeepSexyCool @ Playboy - Tuesdays - 6pm-10pm (slt)

DEEPSEXYCOOL
Tuesday Nights
@ Playboy, Second Life

Upcoming Music Performances:

July 3 - Chill Sessions
Moshang Zhao Taiwan (asian chillout & trip-hop)

July 10 - Deep House Music
Brian Nicholas & Eltacubo Sol Minneapolis (deep house)

July 17 - ElectronicaFusion
Shad Raffke Chicago (progressive) & Jungle Vacano LA (liquidfunk)

July 24 - Soul, Funk &, Rare Grooves
Pedrada Pessoa Brazil (funk & soul)

July 31 - Culturebeats - Oyster bay art show with Morris Vig

weekly performance by Playboy’s Resident DJ
Doubledown Tandino Baltimore (sexy beats & nujazz)

hostess Zoey Witherspoon & the Bunnies

Plus plenty of contests, Playboy gear giveaways, & suprises in store!































Juel And Doubledown party at last week's "Get to Know the Bunnies" party

Moshang Zhao @ Mood Lounge - 6/28/07

Asian trip-hop & chillout master Moshang Zhao (Taiwan) plays a 10am Thursday weekly show @ Mood Lounge. This is a MUST LISTEN! Moshang is on my top 3 favorite SL musicians of all time. His sounds are immaculate, pristine, and warm, blending eastern sounds with electronica.

Check out more info on Moshang, and also download his music at:
http://www.moshang.net/

Be sure to also check out Moshang & Doubledown performing Sunday July 1st at Second Fest & then again July 3rd - 6pm - DeepSexyCool @ Playboy







Tuesday, June 26, 2007

2ndThoughts Brando @ Club Vega - 6/26/07

Loved this whimsical set by 2ndThoughts @ Club Vega. He takes you on a journey within progressive electronica, sculpting the flow, direction, and intensity manually throughout. I was particularly impressed with his ability to take the music through ups and downs, like waves.... sometimes pulling back and allowing the music to be internal, then bringing in a 2nd track's elements to progress you through the multi-dimensional mix.

I also must mention Club Vega as being one of my favorite club builds in SL. I'm a sucker for neon and glowy stuff. Club Vega is IMPRESSIVE with midnight set and the lights on.







Help Save Internet Radio - 6/26/2007 - Day of Silence

You may have noticed a lot of internet radio is silent today, This is due to a protest of silence. This protest is against the proposed new internet radio fees and royalties.

This may just sound like whining over a little price change except these changes are far from small. Royalty fees going from the current 300% upto a staggering 1600% Plus new yearly fees. This affects all true radio stations on the internet including the larger staions such as the yahoo radio service. Goto www.savenetradio.org now!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Funk Soul Brotha: Pedrada Pessoa @ The Jazz Link - 6/25/07

I got to catch Pedrada's funky soulful set! Brazilian funk comin' at ya! The Jazz Link was a packed party. I dug his style, and the whole vibe of the event.





















Christy Cosmos and Doubledown Tandino hangin out:

Wanted: Live Electronic Musicians & Turntable DJs at Playboy


I am searching for Live Electronic Musicians and Turntable DJs to perform at my upcoming Tuesday night events.

"Deep Sexy Cool" @ Playboy - Tuesdays 6pm-10pm

Music must be adhered to: Deep house, funky house, nujazz, acid jazz, triphop & chillout, atmospheric and chill drum-n-bass, 70s & 80s funk & disco, 90s hiphop, relaxing trance, and electronica.

Please contact Doubledown Tandino asap if you are interested. Excellent Pay with benefits. I MUST see/hear you play live to be considered.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Blog Love from Pixel Pulse Magazine

Thank you Pixel Pulse!!
DJ Doubledown blogs SL’s music scene

DJ Doubledown blogs electronica scene
Posted by Cheri Horton
Has Second Life’s search feature got you down? OK, that’s a stupid question. Of course it has. Well, if you want some guidance on where to go see a band, where to dance, who’s spinning the coolest tracks, or all of the above, then DJ Doubledown Tandino may be able to help you out.

He’s been blogging about all sorts of music-related entertainment in-world, including posts about DJs (eg. when, where and what they spin), band performance dates and venues, and even some tidbits about SL dance clubs. Visit his blog here if you want a more detailed peek at what’s stirring in the realm of electronic music events in SL.

Best Partying and Drug Movies

Best Comedy Partying and/or Drug Movies:

1) The Big Lebowski
2) Swingers
3) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
4) Fast Times at Ridgemont High
5) Human Traffic
6) Half Baked
7) Dazed and Confused
8) Up in Smoke (Cheech and Chong)
9) Friday

Best Action/Drama Partying and/or Drug Movies:

1) Blow
2) Boogie Nights
3) Requiem for a Dream
4) Goodfellas
5) Go
6) The Doors
7) 24 Hour Party People
8) Trainspotting
9) Scarface
10) Blue Velvet
11) New Jack City
12) Groove
13) Kids
14) Robocop 2
15) Prayer of the Rollerboys

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Second Life 4th Birthday Party - Full Live Music Lineup


Binary Finary @ Second Life 4th Birthday Party - 6/23/2007 - 12pm (slt)

Binary Finary to perform at Second Life 4th Birthday Party presented by Ganesha Xi, their inworld event producer.

Preshow Equipment Check:






Spacefest #1 - 6/24/07


6/23/07 - Vital Festival #1 - 3am-12pm

Please note this event is 3am-12pm SLT. The times below are in JPT.

--TIME TABLE--

CLUB VITAL
(culture style)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Harajuku/79/154/30
20.00-22.00 JPT ........DJ Grag Flanagan(Ger)
22:00-00:00 JPT ........DJ Reck Fride(Jpn)
00:00-02:00 JPT ........DJ radi Roffo(Chn)
02:00-04:00 JPT ........Nü vs STiFF (LePressinG)(Fra)

FORBIDDEN ISLAND
(trance)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/forbidden%20island/121/113/23
19.00-21.00 JPT ........DJ Shusaku Rhode(Jpn)
21:00-23:00 JPT ........DJ Ligaya Hax(Jpn)
23:00-01:00 JPT ........DJ Angi Fargis(Ger)
01:00-03:00 JPT ........DJ scann Auer(Ger)

FUTURE CLUB
(minimal)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Templegreen/72/208/53
19.00-21.00 JPT ........DJ IONIC Benton(Spn)
21:00-22:00 JPT ........DJ Jeff72 Mills(Ita)
22:00-23:00 JPT ........DJ Bowyer Hawks
23:00-01:00 JPT ........DJ Missys Arkin(Spn)
01:00-03:00 JPT ........DJ 01 Raymaker(Spn)

--ARTIST WEBSITE LINK--

DJ Ligaya Hax
http://www.metaeden.com/

DJ radi Roffo
http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/radiateur

DJ Shusaku Rhode
http://myspace.com/shusaku81

Nü vs STiFF (LePressinG)
http://nu.quadbyte.net/
http://virb.com/nubroduction
http://myspace.com/nubroduction
http://quadbyte.net/

DJ IONIC Benton
http://www.myspace.com/djionic

DJ Angi Fargis
http://www.esnips.com/web/Angis-Livesets

Friday, June 22, 2007

Mankind Tracer sets up fund for aspiring SL live musicians - (SLNN)

Thank you SLNN for this info

Mankind Tracer sets up fund for aspiring SL live musicians
by by Esther DeCuir
June 20, 2007

Mankind Tracer
ADEN- Those disturbed at the prospect of paying to hear music in Second Life are not alone. Mankind Tracer, Second Life musical composer and performer is just fired up enough about it to start the Mankind Tracer New Artist Program (MTNAP) to counter what could become a ticket-charging trend in SL.

Tracer’s first foray into fundraising for the MTNAP is to organize a multi-site musical event. Tracer plans a two hour live concert, which will be performed at the Guard Den of Aden, and will be simulcast to several other locations on Saturday, June 23 from 2-4 pm SLT.
The concert has two purposes. First, to raise awareness of the rising cost of seeing live music in SL, and the second is to raise funds for the MTNAP. Tracer envisions that the MTNAP will help new artists promote themselves in SL, which can be very intimidating to new residents.

"The MTNAP will…provide promising new SL musical artists help…in the many aspects of live streaming, instrument procurement, production, engineering, even musical arrangement if need be," Tracer said.

He is not only organizing this event, but he is donating all his time and out of pocket expenses because "there are so many worthy and talented artists who deserve the same results I have achieved," he said.

Tracer came up with the idea of simulcasting the event in multiple locations to combat the annoying problems associated with overcrowded sims during an event.
Tracer is a real life musician, performer and composer and has written some new compositions for this event, and will also be playing some of his past work. More information on Tracer can be found at his web sites, http://sethregan.com and http://desktopwidgets.org.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Machinima & Music at Oyster Bay - 6/21/07 - 5:30pm (slt)

Oyster Bay - 6/21/07 - 5:30pm (slt)
Black Tie and Blues gets bigger!

Just added DJ Doubledown Tandino to the roster for Thursday night, which thrills me beyond belief. Doubledown and Komuso live on the same night at the same place? Can’t get better unless there was a Kronos Machinima premiere thrown in….oh, got that too!
- Morris Vig



Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Guardian gets a Second Life - Wednesday June 20th, 2007

The Guardian gets a Second Life - Wednesday June 20th, 2007
By Aleks Krotoski / Events/ Virtual worlds 03:40pm

Yes, and it's about time too. Weekend after next, after the throngs have recovered from Glastonbury, The Guardian and Intel are hosting SecondFest inside virtual world Second Life, a three-day music and performance festival chokka block with big name real-life bands and in-world talent.

Headlining on the Main Stage are exclusive performances from Pet Shop Boys, New Young Pony Club, The Aliens and Hadouken, plus many others. On the Indie Stage are exclusive sets from Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip and Rob da Bank's Sunday Best. In the Dance Tents you can tune in to Gilles Peterson, Ninja Tunes and Journey Through the Light, and more. Secret stages host Ibiza-style chill out sets from Love Supreme and Sorcerer, among the rest.

Second Life bands are strutting their stuff too, with two stages exclusively for in-world talent. Top names signed up include Slimwarrior, Clayton Road, Wiredaisies, Doubledown Tandino and Tony Moore. And the nice thing is, you can leave the music playing while you do something else. Like play a game. Or clean the house. You get to have a hot bath too.

If you get bored and don't want to leave, there's plenty to explore around the 144 virtual acres of the festival. Catch the ballet or the theatre, blag your way into the VIP area to chat with the bands after their sets, get lost in the human maze and check out the exclusive game trailers and interactive stages with personal appearances by top-name clans. Over on the cinema screen, you can catch blockbusters, BBC shorts and a special machinima animation programme. There's plenty to see.

Check out MySpace. If you're so inclined, you can sign up for twits from the SecondFest feed too.

The Guardian Unlimited:: We are the (virtual) world: Music in Second Life

We are the (virtual) world: Music in Second Life

Kristan Hall
Guardian Unlimited

Second Life is a stage for many different pursuits. The ways in which the virtual world is used is as varied as the residents themselves, from education and social experiments to commerce and fundraising. But one of the first ways it was used was as a showcase of art and music talents.
Brad Reason, known as Doubledown Tandino in-world, created his Second Life account in March of 2006 and found the thriving music scene within his first month. "I saw the potential, and also saw an entirely new way to perform," he explains.

Now his time is split between performing, going to in-world gigs and helping anyone he can with music, audio, and events. His style is unique: "I do live electronica and blend that with sampling and turntablism. My sound is all over the map," he says.

There are ample musical genres in Second Life, from folk, rock, punk, rap, opera, country, blues, jazz, electronica and pop. But the big draws for so many musicians are the ability to perform for anyone who wants to listen, and the ease of collaboration.

Reason says that becoming successful offline by marketing music in Second Life is possible. "It's a start. In real life it's tough to make it big, so playing in Second Life can lead to bigger Second Life stuff, and it does create opportunities for me offline." It's happened for Frogg Marlowe, one of the pioneers of live music in the virtual world. Marlowe, who plays acoustic folkjazz, was profiled on MTV's You Hear It First.

Michael Kohl is ZeroOne Paz in-world. He owns and operates The Bluffs Centre for the Arts in Second Life. He also performs live music and collaborates with various Second Life artists as a composer. He got involved in early 2006, when he realized the potential for artists inside the virtual world. The Bluffs has two music stages, the Art Walk gallery and features one artist per month.

Kohl says artists can use Second Life to showcase their work to the entire internet-connected world easier and cheaper than hosting a web site. "And they can interact with their viewers to a much greater extent," he adds.

Art in the virtual space encompasses a wide scope. "With visual art, I find there are two different types of artists in Second Life: one type imports their offline art into Second Life. The second type uses the multimedia tools in Second Life to create art," said Kohl.

Art lovers who wish to collect will find a wide range of prices, starting as low as a few pounds like Carl Metropolitan's offering of classic reproductions or as high as US$375 for an original piece by Dancoyote Antonelli. Antonelli follows a uniquely Second Life artistic path, hyperformalism, which combines real and digital art.

So how do aspiring artists and musicians use Second Life to show off their talents? The first step, after joining and creating an avatar, is to find the appropriate enthusiasts group, which will provide an instant connection to those who can help.

The art and music scene in Second Life continues to thrive, and almost every live music event is filled to capacity. The time is ripe for any artist or musician who wishes to reach for digital fame, a goal that can be realised with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Groups to join inside Second Life

Live Music Enthusiasts Art & Artist Network Arts Council of Second Life Creatives, Artists and Musicians Second Life Music Virtual Artist Alliance Second Life Musicians

Useful links on the web

http://Second-Life-art-news.blogspot.com

http://wordpress.com/tag/second-life-art/

http://secondlife.com/community/music.php

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Streaming_Audio

http://wordpress.com/tag/second-life-music/

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Welcome to Vibration Institute

Welcome to Vibration Institute Label HQ.
electronic :: IDM :: ambient :: experimental :: jazz :: industrial :: techno
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kitsune/11/101/681
check out our artists and music on the web at http://vibrationinstitutemusic.com/

The mission of Vibration Institute is to maximize musical innovation by leveraging the power of rapid and radical technological change. We act as a networking and information center for those seeking to improve the human future by using music technology. We specialize in live performances of electronic music. By this means we hope to expand the possibilities of human life, augment intelligence, optimize psychology, improve social systems, and get our groove on.
During off-hours we are playing an exclusive in-house music feed, the Vibration Institute Research Stream, featuring electronic music artists and labels from West Coast USA. and beyond.

Feel free to drop in anytime and enjoy the ambience...
Audio and visual artists interested in performing at Vibration Institute please IM director Johnvon Watanabe in-world and send links to your material online.

DJ Doubledown @ Maximus Minimus & Scope Clever Merger Celebration


Scope Cleaver and Maximilian Milosz joins forces!􀀂
You are hereby kindly invited to the opening of Max and Scope's new joined stores.
When:Saturday June 16th at 12:00 noon PDT/SLT

Shared vision:

The best way to predict the future is to build it. Virtual worlds are that of an infinite blank slate with endless possibilities, it's a playground where imagination meets reality. We will seek beauty, style, quality and ideas through design integrity, determination, patience and hard work. Our mission is to create and lead a community where we can share our vision with like-minded residents. Our collaboration and cooperation will rest on these principles.

What's new:

Scope will open his sim to the public for the first time and unveil his magnificent new store. A sleek new line of furniture will also be made available for the first time.Maximilian will be releasing a whole new range of various furniture, home accessories and the surprise first release in a line of new products.

Our future plans:

As a result of outstanding support, positive feedback and accelerating demand from our loyal customers, we will reveal more details regarding our joint effort in the time to come: A Modern Virtual Lifestyle Community. Six additional sims have been reserved that will be able to expand up to at least 44 regions. We want to meet, engage and stimulate the people in Second Life who are ready to live and lead this world in design.
􀀃
Hope to see you thereBest regards
Scope Cleaver, SCDA

Maximilian Milosz, Maximum Minimum

Friday, June 15, 2007

The Chemical Brothers Land in Second Life at Illusion Factory


The Chemical Brothers will feature their new video "Do It Again" at the Illusion Factory Concert Pavillion June 19th at 4pm.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Binary Finary to perform at Second Pride

Binary Finary to perform at Second Pride

Thank you http://www.slpixelpulse.com/

Binary Finary to perform at Second Pride
Posted by Cheri Horton
Organizers just announced that the real-life British trance duo Binary Finary will be performing during the Second Pride Festival 2007. The group will take the virtual stage from 4-6 p.m. SL time on the final day of the festival, June 30, which is a Saturday.

Other live bands also will be performing at the June 24-30 festival, which will span the six mainland sims of Ruthenium, Rhodium, Osmium, Iridium, Platinum and Palladium. In fact, an entire list of events has just been released, although organizers have yet to finalize locations for a number of them.

Second Pride will kick off at 5 p.m. SL time with a parade, followed by opening ceremonies and then a celebration, with entertainment provided by DJ Wesley Spengler, singer Grace McDunnough, and comedian Random Stine.

In the coming days, you’ll be able to check the right-hand sidebar here at PixelPulse for calendar listings, which will include times, dates and places of Second Pride events, as well as brief descriptions of what will be happening. Meanwhile, you can browse the Google calendar listings (it seems you need a Google account) that are currently up and running.

For more details on the festival, you can read a recent PixelPulse story, or check out the official Google groups site for the Second Pride Festival 2007 Committee.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

DJs Chosen for the Second Life Community Convention

DJs chosen for the SLCC

Hey everyone! There has been a lot things dealing with DJs for the SLCC - and while I had hoped to have this list earlier, due to complications I was not able to announce everyone! I am glad to announce that everything has been cleared and here are the announcements of those already chosen to DJ’s for the SLCC and a tentative schedule.

Radio Style DJ’s (Friday Night)
Originally these DJ’s were to DJ during the conference on Saturday, but because of major complications, we bumped it a day early, and are going to have the radio style DJ’s perform on Friday (which works out better time wise as well). In the case of several DJ’s from a radio station wishing to perform, rather than having each DJ perform, I’ve assigned a time slot for that particular radio station, and they can do what they wish with that slot. On Friday, this event is tentatively timed to happen from 8pm to 2am. Each grouping would be an hour long. Currently, the groupings are:
Radio Radio
Stormy Wilde
Naydee McGettigan
Ganesha Xi
Chelle Moore
Danielle Ferguson

Performance Style DJ’s (Masquerade). Those performing at the Masquerade are performance style DJ’s, and will be performing from 8pm to 2am, each roughly an hour. In no order those performing for the Masquerade are:
DJ Doubledown Tandino
Nexeus Fatale
Nala Galatea
Maxx Monde
Nitron Xi

Podcasters before the DJs perform on Friday, SecondCast will be hosting their podcast live from the SLCC on Friday at 7pm. Additional performers during the Masquerade, Slim Warrior and Flaming Moe will be accompanying performances during the beginning of the Masquerade with a DJ performing with them.
There will be an upcoming meeting for all of the DJs, stay tuned!
Thank you for your patience and your understanding and I can’t wait till things get started!
- Nexeus Fatale

Monday, June 11, 2007

Playboy is Coming to Second Life - June 12th and 13th



The event you've all be waiting for is finally here. Beginning June 12th and not stopping until the next day will be the grand opening of Playboy 10236. Come and see for yourself what the fuss has been all about and stick around to hear the awesome sounds from these talented artists;

June 12
4pm SLT Cylindria Rutabega
5pm SLT Slim Warrior
6pm SLT Dexter Ihnen
7pm SLT Hali Heron
8pm SLT Doubledown Tandino

June 13
3pm SLT Alazarin Mondrian
4pm SLT Silas Scarborough
5pm SLT Blue4U Nowika
6pm SLT MidKnight Auer
8pm SLT Doubledown Tandino

Come celebrate the Playboy way and help us get this started right.

We've got some nice surprises too. Come celebrate only the way Playboy can.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

June 9th.2007 - Feedback - Dj Tonio(F), Skail MasterM(CH), Soulmate(UK), Electric Soulside(BE)

Feedback from 09.06.2007 party
BRAVE NEW SOUND PARTY (rl/sl duplex)
@ZOO Geneva Switzerland (VS) SH-3013 Club















Visit SH-3013 myspace to know about the next gigs: CYA THERE !!!!!!
www.myspace.com/sh3013
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Willers/92/202/601
ZOO Club Geneva Switzerland: http://www.lezoo.ch/
Booking: www.myspace.com/haribokiller

























Line up:
DJ TONIO (F), kobayashi, dancefloorkillers, mb elektronics.
http://www.myspace.com/toniodj


















LIVE-ACT: SKAIL MASTERM (CH), brave new sound. http://www.myspace.com/skailmasterm


















SOULMATE aka DEMETRA VOX (UK), brave new sound. http://www.myspace.com/demetravox


















ELECTRIC SOULSIDE (BE), ruff dog, flatout. http://www.myspace.com/electricsoulside




















Real party @ ZOO CLUB GENEVA




Doubledown Tandino in URB magazine!!!!

Taken from URB magazine - June 2007

It’s a typical Friday night at the club. You take your best helicopter, loweing it into the water, where it converts automatically to a submarine, before docking it on the roof of the night club. With a fl ick of the wrist, your ride has vanished, neatly put away until later, and your clothes instantly change to something more stylish for the evening–and then you head inside.The DJ, from New York, is spinning to a full house of people—the robot from Amsterdam, the seven-foot-tall werewolf from London, the ninja from Oakland, the angels on the bar from Tokyo. There’s a bouncer at the door, too. He’s a heavily tattooed Stormtrooper and he carries a big railgun.

If any of this sounds surreal, it’s not. For any of the 5.5 million people who log in to the virtual world known as Second Life, it’s another day at any one of the dozens of virtual nightclubs. The world, often called “the grid,” is a video game-like environment whose locations have been created entirely by its residents. Whether it’s a nightclub or a shopping mall, a war zone or a racetrack, the options available to socialize virtually are limitless. Nearly every interest is covered, from the sublime to the downright freaky—it’s there.Much of the difference between a virtual world and a typical video game is who controls and creates the content, as well as concrete goals and objectives. You’d be hard-pressed to fi nd a place where a real-life DJ can dominate the streets with a turntable in a place like Liberty City or San Andreas, the settings for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Having a virtual space to entertain, party and promote is something celebrated by many enthusiasts and pros alike. DJ Doubledown Tandino—the pseudonym of Baltimore-based DJ Brad Reason who spins at real life venues like XS Baltimore—is also in demand for virtual clubs inside of Second Life. One virtual venue where Doubledown performs is Club Republik, a year and a half old nightclub, whose musical offerings include a variety of electronic and rock genres. Republik’s staff is made up of real life music producers, promoters and avid club enthusiasts who work closely in this virtual space, while being geographically separated in the real world.

Elsewhere, in the massively futuristic and fictitious Saijo City, Club 2025, a private, for-hire nightclub set in a rundown warehouse, can be found just up the street from Talib Kweli’s official brownstone apartment. In the same neighborhood are large crates of music where visitors can listen to a variety of known and unknown hip-hop artists, such as Snoop Dogg, Blackalicious, Beeda Weeda and Planet Asia.

Could the future of clubbing take place in an imaginary place such as this? Could we learn to socialize in a place that’s a hybrid between MySpace and Xbox LIVE? With increasing appearances and performances by artists such as Jay-Z and Chamillionaire, and an increasing richness and variety in the soundtracks of traditional video games, the crossover could be happening right now.

We’ve seen the mix of music and video gaming with such titles like Def Jam: Icon, a street fighting title that fuses hip-hop music, culture and lifestyle into the gameplay. And in Second Life, a completely freestyle universe, the indies and majors walk and talk and club (or fly or parachute or swim) together.

Talib Kweli’s binary brownstone has five floors where guests can watch his latest video, play pool, shoot darts or head up to the rooftop where there’s a full stage and plenty of room to dance. And while you’re standing up there, take a moment and look off into the horizon. You might see someone else’s submarine-helicopter rising up out of the nearby river, as the pilot and their passengers head to the next jumpin’ club.