With the С09 and С10 installments having focused on new dance republics in North America, 2011 sees Markus SchulzТs city-hopping compilation series make its return to mainland Europe. Last visiting in 2008 with СAmsterdamТ, this new outing sends the series in the opposite direction and homes in on one of Eastern EuropeТs most awe-inspiring capitalsЕ

Just over a month ago, during the final stages of his set at Transmission Ц Future Cities, Markus Schulz held a poster up to the audience. Caught by the cameras feeding the O2 arenaТs video screens the image went stage to ceiling. That poster bore the front cover of СPrague Т11Т and in holding it aloft Schulz had announced that the Czech capital would be the destination for his 2011 city compilation.

Having played there twice a year, every year for the last five, itТs certainly a place heТs developed a strong association with. His regular visits over the period have positioned him well to see the explosion in the popularity of trance and progressive Ц a rise Markus gauges visit-on-visit has being Уclose to exponentialФЕ

He continues: Уseeing music scenes expand, no matter what style they are, isnТt something a DJ ever tires of. Going to and from Prague in particular, but also to other Eastern European countries Ц Poland, The Ukraine for example Ц over the course of five years, and witnessing whatТs happened with the music there, has made for an incredible collective experience for me.

Personally СPrague Т11Т is designed to reflect not only whatТs happening in the city in the hear-&-now, but also my many musical experiences in the Czech Republic at large. Underground spots like Mecca, multitier super-clubs like SaSaZu & world-class arena events like Transmission have all cumulatively played their part. The clubbing population has embraced trance & progressive music on a grand scale and this is me holding a mirror up to it.Ф

With his fifth Transmission event played in early November, Schulz has spent the intervening 6 weeks on a comprehensive mission to find fresh-off-the-production-desk electronic music from around the world to create PragueТs profile for the release. On Saturday February 12th, he will return to the city with the music to play a special one-off night at the spectacular SaSaZu club.

Background about Markus SchulzТs City Albums Series:
Touching down in new metropolises is almost as much a part of being a DJ as working the turntables themselves Ц a fact thatТs never been lost on Markus Schulz. In the last six years alone his always-rolling World Tour has taken him to more of them than many will see in a lifetime. ItТs this ever-transforming melting pot of sound, sight and musical taste that fed his desire to encapsulate them musically. And in 2005 thatТs what he started to doЕ Since then they have shuttled us between some of the most iconic and best known clubbing cities in the world with Miami, Ibiza and Amsterdam, Toronto & Las Vegas Ц all of whose clubbing credos Schulz has captured in mix form.