Markus Schulz Breaks Down 10 Quintessential Ibiza Tracks

The global dance music community could be defined by any number of different touchstones: the massive festivals, the regional scenes, the different DJ

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Complex Original

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The global dance music community could be defined by any number of different touchstones: the massive festivals, the regional scenes, the different DJs, and of course the the cultural landmarks. For the world of trance and the more European side of things, Ibiza is no doubt a hallmark. It seems anyone worth their salt in the trance, techno, and house worlds at one point or another goes to the White Isle and participates in the madness, with the select few getting to host their own dose of specialty. German-born, America-residing trance DJ Markus Schulz is joining those ranks this summer as he hosts his first residency ever.

Over eight dates (which kick off on July 6 and ends on September 7), Schulz is taking over Ibiza's famous Amnesia club and is sure to bring special guests like Paul Oakenfold, Cosmic Gate, Cedric Gervais, and even turn one night into a special New World Punx night alongside Ferry Corsten! You'll find him doing seven of those dates in the main room, and one on the terrace, and the August 3 date will be a special Markus Schulz open-to-close set. Now ahead of his residency, Schulz has given us 10 quintessential tracks for Ibiza in 2014 to get us all in the right state of mind. Check out his selection, and his words on each tune.

Markus Schulz ft. Lady V - "Erase You"

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When comparing each chapter of my Scream artist albums, the one common track theme found in both is the fan-acclaimed "stalker anthem." "Nothing Without Me (featuring Ana Diaz)" on the first album attained an overwhelming amount of goodwill and attachment, which may be a good or bad thing as far as my fans are concerned when the whole stalker thing is based on a true story!

And you know that they say, every good story needs a sequel to match, and Lady V delivered in immense fashion with "Erase You." When I heard the vocal for the first time I got goosebumps. That chorus line of "I can't erase you" is so dark and haunting when you begin to ponder its meaning. It's one of the most requested tracks from my album in all my livesets and it'll be a big single coinciding with the Ibiza season.

London Grammar - "Hey Now (Arty Remix)"

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One of my 2014 jams! I was instantly hooked when discovering Arty's remix of this track and it led me to buying London Grammar's album If You Wait, which is excellent. I have probably played this track more times on my Global DJ Broadcast radio show than any other throughout the year and it has become a huge fan favorite. It works well at any time of day and for a lot of my open to close solo sets it has acted as the final track of the journey.

I should also mention the bootleg remix Judahmade of "Strong," which is amazing, too.

Capital Cities - "Safe and Sound (Markus Schulz vs. Grube & Hovsepian Remix)"

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This was a project that came around quite quickly between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Tim Grube and Mike Hovsepian are part of my Coldharbour family and have started to make a name for themselves over the past couple of years with their productions and remixes, in various styles. They were working on this remix of "Safe and Sound" but couldn't quite get the structure right, so I took over the project and started to shift a few things around. We got it ready just in time to debut on New Year's Eve and the track hasn't looked back since.

Capital Cities' record label Capitol Records loved the remix so much that they wanted to release it. The chorus is so powerful and emotional and it has provided the soundtrack to two wedding proposals at my gigs this year - at Ministry of Sound in London and at Stereo in Montreal. It may happen again at some point during the Amnesia shows!

Markus Schulz presents Dakota - "CLXXV"

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My Coldharbour Recordings label recently celebrated the milestone of 175 releases, something of which I am very proud. Traditionally, we try to signify each 25th pillar with a production of mine, so after working relentlessly through both Scream albums for nearly three years it was nice to don my darker, clubbier alter ego Dakota for the occasion.

I was touring in China the week before Winter Music Conference in Miami, and I got the phone call that the Amnesia residency in Ibiza could become a reality. It was part of the excitement that prompted me to begin working on this track. I'd work on the plane, in the hotel, and continue working after my gigs were finished that night. And for 175, it was appropriate to name the track its Roman numeral equivalent–"CLXXV." It'll be an essential for the summer.

KhoMha - "Afterall"

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My boy KhoMha! The kid from Medellin, Colombia that will become a worldwide superstar. He has probably fuelled my livesets more than any other producer in the past few years and his development as a DJ has been wonderful. He supported me throughout the duration of the Scream 2 Bus Tour across the United States in April and he'll be with me for several shows at Amnesia this summer.

"Afterall" is another of his latest masterpieces, with that typical swagger bassline and big melodies to match. I have been using this track quite a lot as the opener in my headlining and festival sets and it has never let me down.

Mauro Picotto - "Lizard (Solis & Sean Truby Remix)"

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I have been really impressed by the work of Solis & Sean Truby over the past year in particular but I really think they hit a home run when they made this bootleg last summer. Remixing classic tracks is always really difficult, because it will be forever frowned upon in comparison to the original, but I think they gave it a very classy interpretation.

It is a huge track at all the festivals, especially in the UK where the original did well commercially. It has served me very well and continues to inject energy into the livesets, whether I am playing on my own or as New World Punx with Ferry Corsten.

Coldplay - "Sky Full of Stars (Beat Service Proglifting Bootleg)"

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Coldplay are one of my biggest musical influences of the past decade and I am still immersing myself in the quality of their recently released Ghost Stories album. Their melodies continue to astound me. "Sky Full of Stars" will most likely be the big attention grabber from the album.

Estonia's Beat Service is one of my go-to guys when it comes to getting great originals and remixes and he took it upon himself to have a go at remixing the track. It was a blessing for me, because now it's a version that suits my livesets. I can see this being a big singalong moment throughout the season.

Nifra - "Athena"

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Flying the flag for female producers on Coldharbour, Nifra has the knack of delivering some big peak time anthems for me. She did it with ‘Dark Harbour’ a couple of years ago and now comes up with the goods again in the form of ‘Athena’. I was really proud to see her have the chance to perform at the recent Transmission event, which took place in her home country of Slovakia and ‘Athena’ ended up being a big moment of that night.

The track is one of those essentials to get a dancefloor moving and one that will provide plenty of ammo during the Amnesia sets.

Cosmic Gate & KhoMha - "Tormenta"

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KhoMha yet again but he has some good company alongside him. I have been quite close to Nic and Bossi for many years and they have established a big legacy throughout their career timeframe. So to see them specifically seek out KhoMha to work on a track for their artist album made me very proud.

I can easily see this being a big track for lots of DJs on the island throughout the summer. It's dark and unrelenting, and has been tried and trusted on the dancefloor in my sets during the spring.

Ben Gold - "Departure"

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I can't believe Ben gave this track away for free, otherwise I would have signed it to Coldharbour if he wanted to! Ben is someone whose name I have always looked out for when searching for new material.

"Departure" is a monster. Reminds me a little of Fisherman & Hawkins' "Apache" and will no doubt have the same effect on the crowds in my sets.

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