A SILVER LINING

Firstly we would like to thank you all for your overwhelming vote of support over the last week and we’re happy to say that every cloud does, in fact, have a silver lining. Whilst we are sorry to announce that the site at Petrcane can no longer be used for the festival, we are also excited as we are on the verge of securing a stunning location local to Zadar/Split. It surpasses even the location of Petrcane, and retains the ethos of a sun-kissed musical odyssey on the blissful Croatian coastline.

So, please bear with us over the next week or so as we finalise the details. Rest assured we're doing this with your best interests at heart and will give you more information as it becomes available.

If you have any questions please email us at info@stopmakingsense.eu

If you have already booked accommodation in Petrcane please email info@thegardenzadar.com for further assistance (checking your general terms & conditions for deposit payments first).

BIG NEWS RE THE GARDEN, PETRCANE

Hi all,

We're sorry to be writing to you like this, but something has happened which we feel you have to know about urgently & hear from us first.

The Garden in Petrcane have just issued a statement, which you can read in full below. They are currently facing problems securing the operations license for the site in Petrcane, due to issues with neighbouring Hotel Pinija.

Negotiations are continuing and we all hope that Stop Making Sense will take place as usual in Petrcane in 2012.

We are working closely with The Garden team and all the other promoters using the festival site and are flying over tomorrow for further discussions. We all hope that 2012 will be the same magical experience in Petrcane as usual. Please bear with us over the next week as we try to resolve these issues. We will be in Croatia until the weekend & of course we know how frustrating this is for you, so we ask you kindly to bear with us until Monday 28th November when we will be in a better position to tell you exactly what is happening. Please feel free to drop us an e mail us on info@stopmakingsense.eu & we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We thank you for your kind understanding & patience during the tricky next few days, but we remain hopeful of a happy ending.

Chris & Alex

The Garden Statement :

"After 6 great years in Petrcane, we have unexpectedly come up against problems with Hotel Pinija, whose permission we need to secure our annual operating license for the festivals. Negotiations with the hotel are still ongoing & we truly hope we can solve all issues with them. Over the past few days we have been looking at numerous stunning locations local to Zadar/Split and have earmarked a few that fit the Garden bill, should a move be necessary.
If we do find we have to move to a new location what will certainly never change is the ethos of our Garden, the week long program, the beauty of the coastline, the sunshine & good times, and of course most importantly - the people.

Please bear with us until next week when the picture will be a lot clearer and we will issue a further statement and if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us at Garden HQ.
info@thegardenzadar.com or call us on 0038523364320.
(9am - 3pm UK time)

Big Love & see you in the sunshine.
The Garden Family xxx"

WARM ticket giveaway w/ OPTIMO (ESPACIO) // ALL NIGHT LONG

Our friends at Warm have given us 2 PAIRS of tickets to giveaway to their shindig with Optimo starters at Bussey Warehouse this Saturday 19th November.

In celebration of the incoming chills, courtesy Autumn and Winter, the Optimo's founders, Keith McIvor (AKA Twitch) and Jonnie Wilkes, entertain all night long.

In Warm's words: "Unpredictable, genre-defying, and endlessly knowledgeable, the sounds that the pair brought to Glasgow’s Sub Club caused Optimo to become an institution, a haven for music-fans tired of blinkered music policies, eager for new sounds and wide-ranging booking policies."
Couldn't say it better.

All you have to do to stand the chance to win a pair of tickets to Saturday night is email us on info@stopmakingsense.eu and we'll announce the winners by the end of the working week.

Floating Points - Sais

A cracker from Floating Points. Check it out. Taken from their forthcoming Shadows EP. Visuals created live in realtime by Will Hurt as part of their ongoing live A/V collaboration. Super.


Floating Points - Sais from Will Hurt on Vimeo.

COMPETITION! SUB CLUB THAMES BOAT + XOYO AFTER PARTY WITH FK...

If you are in London this Friday 7 October, we have 3 pairs of tickets to give away to a boat party on the Thames + an after party at XOYO, featuring FRANCOIS K, HORSEMEAT DISCO,
BILL BREWSTER and DOM CAPELLO.

Presented by our good friends from Glasgow the SUB CLUB, its sure to be musically spot on even though we cant promise Croatian-style weather and dress code...

This is what last year's boat party looked like...

And check out a great mix by BILL BREWSTER right here...

Email us for the chance of winning one of three pairs. We will draw someone at random by noon Thursday 6 October.
Also...
VERY LIMITED SUPER EARLY BIRD TICKETS TO SMS 2012 (Thursday 2nd August to Monday 6th August) are on sale now HERE for £90... THIS INCLUDES A FREE TRANSFER TO AND FROM ZADAR AIRPORT TO SMS (worth £20) VIA OUR TRANSPORT PARTNERS SHUTTLE TOURS (valid any time between Wednesday 1st and Wednesday 8th August).

Best Overseas Festival? Us?

We've been nominated for Best Overseas Festival! Woohoo! But now we need some votes. So, please vote. It will take two seconds of your time. I think these people would vote:

Be cool like them.

Reliving the Melodica/Mixcloud boat party.

Fancy reliving some of Chris Coco's mixes from the legendary Melodica/Mixcloud boat party? Well you got it. Joining him, competition winner, True Jazz Child. For a little more insight - check out Chris Coco's blog.

Melodica 22 August 2011 (live SMS boat party mixes) by Chris Coco on Mixcloud

SMS 2012 SUPER EARLY BIRDS ON SALE + SURVEY COMPETITION WINNERS

So... this month, apart from pining and generally being off our feed, we learnt from our survey that...

* 70% of you thought SMS 2011 was good value

* 30% of you flocked in groups of 6 or more

and crucially...

* 50% of you got lucky ... (10% up on SMS 2010 survey "love action" findings... now that's a result... oh yes!)

And speaking of lucky, the following 4 survey respondents, picked at random, get a pair of tickets each to SMS 2012. Step forward:

ananova6@hotmail.com

jasmin-asoubar@arcor.de

kamenskai@gmail.com

rachel.harling@hotmail.com

And now for the best news ever...

VERY LIMITED SUPER EARLY BIRD TICKETS TO SMS 2012 (Thursday 2nd August to Monday 6th August) are on sale now HERE for £90 ...

THIS INCLUDES A FREE TRANSFER TO AND FROM ZADAR AIRPORT TO SMS(worth £20)VIA OUR TRANSPORT PARTNERS SHUTTLE TOURS (valid anytime between Wednesday 1st and Wednesday 8th August) !

Can't say fairer than that...

We will announce crews on board early November 2011, and full line up early 2012.

Love you... at least 50% of the time!

C & A

Early birds and winners...

Do you want to be here next year:

And be happy like her:

Hanging out with guys who wear this:

On one of these:

Do you?

Well, you jolly well can. So for your last chance to win one of 4 pairs of tickets to SMS 2012 just answer a couple of Qs on...

our survey ...

And as an after thought - super early bird tickets go on sale come Friday (the same day we announce winners of the survey giveaway). They're going to be super cheap, super fantastic.

Get involved!

And another review...

Test Pressing journo came to Croatia for a little sun and summer sounds. If you thought it impossible to recreate the SMS vibe, well, perhaps not. Grab a bath, salt, bottle of Jack, and read on...

(Image: Antony Price)
Find his words here.

Resident Advisor Review

Great review from the folk down at Resident Advisor - apparently our "close-knit community feel will surely transfer into another solid, sun-drenched showing for 2012". We like.

(Image: Antony Price)
Read it here.

Festival Snapshots

And our blog is back! Where it's been, who knows. Perhaps an extended Croatian holiday.
If you haven't already - I recommend you take a look at SMS2011 snapshots here. Huge thanks to the skills of Antony Price.

SMS 2011 DEVIATION BOAT ADDED

With under 30 days to go and fantastic reports streaming in regarding great weather, superb sound and outrageous party action at The Garden (the festival site we share with Electric Elephant and Soundwave), we are delighted to announce that Deviation are taking over the sunset boat party on Saturday 13 August with their full crew: Benji B, Floating Points, MC Judah & Moxie.

This replaces the Hybrid Life boat featuring Keith Worthy, who unfortunately cant make it for reasons beyond our control... not great, but hopefully you will agree this cloud has a silver lining (...and will be the only cloud you will see in Croatia this summer!)

To mark the swap, we have a pair of tickets to Deviation @ Cable in London THIS Saturday 23 July featuring Martyn, Karizma, Artwork,Jam City, Benji B, Moxie, Seb Chew + Rustie. Just tell us which radio station hosts Benji B's weekly show. Answers by 18.00 this Friday to info@stopmakingsense.eu with Deviation comp in the subject line.

And finally, if you already bought a ticket to the Hybrid boat party OR if you chose it as your free boat party as part of the early bird ticket offer, your ticket remains valid for the Deviation boat. If you'd like a refund or to choose a different boat instead, please mail us asap here: info@stopmakingsense.eu

C & A

OPTIMO + DALSTON SUPERSTORE + HORSE MEAT DISCO = : -)

Zadar Day Weather Max. DayTemperature (°C) Min. NightTemperature (°C) Wind Direction and Speed (mph) HumidityPressureVisibility Mon Day weather Sunny 36 22 W 10 26%1014mbVery good Tue Day weather Sunny 38 21 W 10 29%1012mbVery good Wed Day weather Sunny 37 22 WSW 11 25%1011mbVery good Thu Day weather Sunny Intervals 35 21 S 8 27%1008mbVery good Fri Day weather Sunny 33 22 SW 6 35%1010mbVery good Oh yes, its hot out in Croatia ... and with only 30 days to go, we are positively incandescent with excitement... you too? Thats good! Spreading some of the SMS love this weekend in London are the mighty Optimo, and we have 2 pairs of tickets to two of their parties (100% guaranteed sell outs)... the first on Saturday 16th July at the superb Dalston Superstore, and the secondat the legendary Horse Meat Disco on Sunday 17th July. The first two of you to let us know the name of the club where Optimo held their long term residency get a pair of guest list spots each to either Saturday or Sunday's party. Please specify DSS or HMD. Answers by noon on Wednesday 13 July to info@stopmakingsense.eu please. AND if you are still thinking of joining us by the seaside .... there are still some great value Ryanair flights to Zadar (which is an easy 30 minute transfer to the festival site) from Stansted... Wed 10 or Fri 12 to Mon 15 for £201 and Wed 10 or Fri 12 to Wed 17 August for £229.

SMS MIX 26 .... DJ PARK RANGER

Park Ranger has been a resident for South London clubbing institution Trouble Vision from day one. A utility Dj that can warm up for a huge variety of artists. From Deep house to 90’s Hip- Hop, future garage to tech house. Depth of knowledge is the main factor for Park Ranger in creating sets which compliment lots of styles of music. This means he is a versatile dj who is very competent at warming up, but definitely has the qualifications to bang it out when needs be. Always one to think of setting the mood for a night. And it’s these factors that have lead him to play at some of the best clubs throughout the UK and further afield with sets at Space in Ibiza. And SMS 2011 of course... Yes!

Here's the mix . Here's his RA Page and Soundcloud shizzle.

SMS AT GOTTWOOD ... SATURDAY 2 JULY

Before we set off for Croatia, we are delighted to be running a stage at the perfectly formed GOTTWOOD electronic jamboree, nestled in an idyllic Welsh forest with a fantastic line up (featuring SMS 2011 favourites THE CORRESPONDENTS and MIDLAND) and host to a super discerning and very up-for-it crowd. Our line up on Saturday 2 July features DAN BEAUMONT, CHRIS COCO, NICK AGHA, COUNT CHOCULA, ROYALTY, GRINGO DA PARADA & SMS residents MADERA VERDE & ALEX NEED2SOUL (click on highlighted djs for mixes). And we have a pair of tickets to give away. Just e mail info@stopmakingsense.eu. Winner picked at random by noon Friday 24 June. Voila!

Mr Scruff // Jamie XX // Lee Foss

Round Table Knights // 
Dan Beaumont

Phil Kieran (Live) // Zeds Dead // Jack Sparrow

The Correspondents // Max Cooper (Live)


DJ Format & Friends // Matanza (Live)


Chris Coco // Perc // Mr Thing // Midland

Monkey Safari // Dark Sky // Deadbeat

My Panda Shall Fly
 // Lorcan Mak // Dom Chung + more...

WE HOST FABRIC ROOM THREE

Yes... we are dead chuffed to be hosting Room Three at Fabric on Saturday 18 June, with none other than Marcus Worgull, Jerome Sydenham and Nic Agha.

And... we have three pairs of tickets to give away. Simple question: what is the name of the record store Marcus runs in Cologne? Answers here by 6pm, Friday 10 June please.

(whilst you are thinking about it, why not listen to Marcus in the mix exclusively for us and Fabric?)

YES... Ryanair have just announced MORE cheap flights to Zadar from Stansted... Wed 10 to Mon 15 or to Wed 17 August for £179 and Fri 12 to Mon 15 or to Wed 17 August for just over £200.