Moody ambient swelling into some lilting, bassy house from Bizaar Bazaar, one of my favorite niche blogs here in NYC, from a mysterious writer with exceptional taste.
Ten Questions With Terry Gotham: Shogun
(In case you haven’t heard, Shogun’s new album is tremendous & he was able to answer a couple of questions for ElectronicNightLife. Enjoy!)
1. How was 2014 for DJ Shogun? Any cool stories or crazy experiences? It was a busy year for me, mostly finishing the album was my main focus. I bought my lambo, and ate Blowfish for the first time!
2. What made you stop and do a full length album this year? How long has this been in the making? It’s been in the making for four years. After so many singles and remixes, I wanted to put my main focus on making my album as good as possible so it felt right to really give people something special like an album.
3. Skyfire was such a massive favorite for so many trance fans in 2011/2012. Do you have a favorite memory or performance associated with that song after it became the huge hit that it deserved to be? I did my first sit down in Buenos Aires, Argentina with Skyfire. There was a crowd of 15-20k that all sat down and jumped up during the breakdown of Skyfire. That was an awesome sight to see.
4. Are you ever mistaken as a foreigner even though you’re an American DJ? Have you ever dealt with discrimination on the road or trying to make it? I’m pretty Americanized so I don’t run into discrimination that often. But I’ve had it happen once or twice, because even though I’m an American, I look Asian. It’s not a big deal though and it’s rare, a lot of my fans come to my shows are Asians so it’s all love.
5. You’ve mentioned that one of your influences is The Prodigy in interviews. Have you ever thought about remixing a Prodigy track? They are a big influence, I’d like to do a massive remix for ‘Firestarter’.
6. Do you feel it’s still necessary for producers to have training or experience playing conventional instruments? I think it always helps to get the creative juices flowing, but it’s not necessary. The most important thing is how to translate what you hear in your head to a song.
7. How does it feel to be a Beatport #1 with Dragon ft. Adara? It’s incredible, Dragon is a very personal track to me and the title of my album so seeing it doing so well is an amazing feeling!
8. Do you have a favorite size of party? Some DJs really like small events, while others crave the stadiums.I like both festivals and clubs, they are both special and I like a balance between them. Festivals are amazing to play at but I like the intimate vibe of clubs.
9. If I could wave my hands and pay for a national tour with you as a headliner, who would you have as your opening act(s)? Prodigy!
10. You’ve been in the trance game for a while now, how has it changed in your eyes? Any thoughts on what to expect from Trance in 2015? It’s become a lot more progressive and big roomish. I hear a lot of influence in different genres like electro house, but I think it’s a good thing to have some changes. Trance in 2015 will be big, and always here to stay.
Bonus: Favorite Trance Track or DJ Mix of the year?
Shogun – Laputa!
Steve James Returns To Indie. Rejoice & Be Glad.
So, the progressive wonder Steve James has once again decided to go the Indie route and we are all the better for it. Pulling down a fun little tune called Karaoke by Smallpools, he puts his signature, yet evolving style on it. The infectious beat combines with some excellent re-working of the vocals to make this just as anthemic as we need right now in gray January. Apparently this tune was started in my city, so you know it’s got a bright future. I’m gonna keep saying it. This is what you’d expect to hear halfway between the indie & dance stages at Governor’s Ball. Like, if you stood in the exact right spot. The break at 3:40 is everything that post-big-room can be. Can’t wait for people to complain of how tired they are of this sound. (via the always on point Michelle Chu of EDMTunes)
Midnight Music: Photographer – Airport Shivers (Armin van Buuren Mashup) [Stupendous Trance]
Just in case the January gray has been getting to you, Armin van Buuren drops a potent mashup of two driving, powerful trance tracks for your listening pleasure. I’m not sure when this was done, but it’s definitely a standout reason why Photographer has been showing up in mix after mix. The trance really needs no explanation or introduction. The anthem vox nestles right into the 138 hard trance vibe and doesn’t let up. If you can’t get enough of this punchy, energetic trance feel, but want some more scintillating trance chords with your lady vocals, get at his most recent remix, taking a Dash Berlin tune and giving it some more of that delightful euphoric, driving beat that us trance heads can’t live without. Don’t worry, you got this. Rest up, the week’s coming for you.
Playlist Of The Weekend: Origami Sound All-Stars Vol. 2
Origami Sound is this dope collective of artists and labels dedicated to quality releases you don’t get on the standard EDM blogs. Dark Clover Records, Origami & many others come together to support amazing releases and projects from artists all over the globe. This release is no exception, with quality oozing from every speaker in my house while I listened.
The Synkro remix of Borealis is a massive track that needs to get as much exposure as possible. While I’ve spoken about Borealis before, this is one of those ethereal, garage tracks that is everything I think future bass can be. The soft padded bassline pushes through the heavily reverbed vox perfectly. This is a must-listen track, and a great way to kick off the release. Ilya Wazuhiru (who is plenty an artist, his Soundcloud description be damned) follows that with some cyber-Bjork-infused bass that ebbs & flows along, keeping the foggy, but gorgeous production going.
Naono’s Abandoned mix of Soun by Averos is some moody bass that deepens the vibe the compilation puts forth delightfully, with quality guitar work & heavily modified vocals. Madelin combines some dope bass guitar & soulful vocals into a dark, but emotional track that stands on its own, pulling in a great indie sound that is definitely welcome on the compilation. Parade by Dusty Corners is a bassy, stutter-step track that fuses future garage beats with a deep house feel that I can’t wait to hear more out on the dance floor late at night.
Miajica lays down a vibrant, funky, tune that makes me sad Stevie Wonder isn’t in the room to remix it. This is a classic feel that gets everything right and almost seems out of place in a somewhat more maudlin album. Aebeloe’s “Manon” is an interesting, IDM-infused sandy house piece that glides along effortlessly. Altrice gets the name of their track exactly right with Stillness Ennui. The shifting bass work combined with soaring chords give it a Sigur Rios vibe, that shudders to life 60% into the tune, demanding your attention.
Kitkaliitto stuns with the final track on the album. The smooth bass pads melting into the classical guitar and ambient sounds, create almost a “Snow in Kyoto” feeling, but it’s even better than that. This kind of work is what I believe needs to replace so many genres of music that are used for mundane activities in life. This needs to be on the soundtrack to my life, as I’d imagine NYC would be way more serene if I could hear something like this instead of some hipsters arguing about Uniqlo on the L train. I’m re-posting it here just in case you didn’t make it to the end of the playlist. This is a dope compilation, and I can’t wait for Origami Sound to kick ass & take names in 2015.
Midnight Music: Danny Stubbs ft. Issa – Voices In The Dark (Remix By Scott Bond)
I had to break up the Drum & Bass streak when I found this in my inbox. Scott Bond continues his hotstreak, pushing out a hard remix of Voices In The Dark, off of the REBOOTED label. This is my kind of trance, with Armin agreeing, dropping it on ASOT690.
The remix pack is delightful, with some quality work being done by Magnus. This smoother re-working of Danny Stubb’s fantastic original work got some love the next week on ASOT. This dreamier, softer, but still intense remix has a gorgeous build around 1:40, and it’s those types of chords I really think need to come back into trance. It’s a sound that flirts with psy, and will keep everyone on their feet.
The package, with the original & 4 remixes drops on Jan 19th, so rock it when it shows up on Beatport eh? It’s going to be a big one in trance sets for 2015, so don’t sleep on it. Especially these two remixes.
NeuroSoup, Krystle Cole & The Need for Information.
This week, I want to tell you about a resource you’ve probably overlooked. Krystle Cole runs a site called NeuroSoup. It’s very similar to Erowid, in that there are informational hubs based around drugs and places to discuss things. But instead of being stewarded by veiled, noble guardians, Krystle came out from behind the shadows and told her story, which frankly is utterly astonishing. If any of the readers out there know their history, in 2003, an underground missile silo was raided by the DEA. Two chemists lived there, producing (allegedly) 90% of the world’s LSD. Krystle was in that world for 3 years, and it utterly changed her. There was a stunning VICE segment done on this, in case you’re interested in where all the acid went.
She could’ve spent the rest of her life ruminating on her experiences, but she struck out and decided to try and help people make sense of the experiences they were having, just like she did. Going into psychology, she’s spent her life not only educating people, but really just trying to make sure people didn’t get as lost in that world as she did. I think this kind of wounded healer needs to be celebrated. She walked the walk, unlike the dozens of authority figures that wag their fingers at ravers but haven’t ever done drugs. She is better than you at drugs. If she wasn’t, she’d be dead. She’s spending her life getting better at it, and in doing so, creating one of the only repositories of usable information about these experiences that exist on the internet, besides Erowid & Pill Reports.
This gets to the central stupid thing about the War on Drugs. At this point, because research on these things has only just started again in the last decade, people wanting to have these experiences could only rely on other lay-people’s experience. Which causes giant problems when it comes to reproducible dosages & variability in effect, especially with a new drug. This is preposterous. NeuroSoup should be celebrated, but the fact that it needs to exist makes me scared for the kids out there diving headlong into a lot of this stuff. This is what the community has created to protect itself. Just imagine what could be done if people actually helped or made the stuff legal such that we could figure it out instead of scrolling through forums hoping.
I’m so glad that Krystle is there to actually focus on helping people. We’ll be talking about her on Twitter using #bioDFF from 4:30-5:30pm, so come on in and learn from one of the best fighters we’ve got out there.
The Prodigy’s New Album Was The Best News of 2014. Here’s Why.
(This is a repost of my EDMTunes feature article about The Prodigy. Show them some love for giving me the platform to write about talent that either no one’s heard of yet, or no one cares about anymore. Here’s to hoping I’m right and The Prodigy remind everyone in 2015 why they’re the best at what they do. The Wolverine of the Main Stage as it were.)
We’re at the precipice of another major shift in EDM. No, it’s not big room finally dying, or progressive house returning to center stage. It’s a little more base, a little more primal than that. The Prodigy are releasing a new album, and with it, an entire industry will pivot, as they say it will “wipe the floor with dance djs.” It’s easy to forget how crucial The Prodigy is to American EDM. Whether they’re headlining Lollapalooza (1997), Coachella (back in 2002) or being one of the biggest acts to play Ultra Music Festival twice (2006 & 2009), all the way back when it was only a 1 Day/weekend festival, most DJs you hear today draw inspiration in one way or another to The Prodigy.
In case you need a refresher, The Prodigy was formed by Liam Howlett in 1990. Maxim & Keith Flint are two of the more visible faces of the group (the two guys yelling and having crazy body modification in every video). This group was one of the ones there, pretty much at the beginning. To note, MDMA had been illegal for less than 15 years when this group showed up on the burgeoning UK open air & warehouse rave scene. They pioneered a sound called “big beat” which is the genre you’re thinking of when you think of The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers & even The Crystal Method. This hard-hitting, aggressive & at times, terrifying (especially if you lived in the UK/US suburbs) sound was essentially the brostep of the 90’s. This sound, roughly approximating the halfway point between a rave and a soccer riot, took the UK by storm. This early work didn’t make it over the pond, but as they got bigger, they moved decidedly toward the soccer riot end of the music spectrum.
Midnight Music: Urbandawn – Words To Say [Drum & Bass]
To keep the week of amazing soulful drum & bass going, Urbandawn pushed out this relaxed, piano-driven tune all the way back in March 2014, but since it’s new to me, you get it now. This is definitely a track I want to hear on positional sound systems. This producer out of Sao Paulo is going to be huge, just you wait and see. He was signed to Hospitality and has put out tracks for Med School before, but this one is really a stand-out. I think this kind of sound should be played in public spaces or in areas where people travel through. I think the use of this kind of chilled vibe for the benefit of all could like, decrease travel stress and aggressive behavior. I know it’s crazy sounding, but tell me you’re not breathing just a touch more slowly after that track. Weird right? 😀
Two Daft Punk Remixes Worthy Of The Name.
It’s rare that I find a Daft Punk remix that stands. Daft Punk really does amazing work, so it’s really hard to remix their tracks and come up with anything better than the original. In addition to that, their rabid fan-base will obliterate any sub-par or disrespectful attempts. However, I have been lucky enough to stumble across a couple of remixes that even I cannot deny are legit. Interestingly, they’re both remixes of Voyager, one of the most underrated tracks not only on Discovery but of their entire library of work (in my opinion /hipster).
The first, a remix by someone only known as Revolte, starts out like you think it will disappoint you, but then adds enough crunchy electro, confident organic synth work & massively Daft-sounding auto-tuning to earn the full listen. I have no idea where to find anything else by this artist, so all I can do is enjoy the interludes and hope they yell at me through the internet.
Thankfully, I was able to track down the artist behind the second remix. Domenico Torti’s Wild Style edit features the best beat-remixing work I’ve heard from anyone who has attempted to use Daft Punk source material. Period. This is incredible, and borders on DMC championship level turntablism. The remix lets you breathe, pulling you back into familiar territory, then plays with you for the rest of the time. It’s a hip, upbeat, sophisticated remix that I expect to see attractive people drinking & wearing expensive things dancing to. In that “this is too well tailored, I really not trying to move” way. Dope vibe, so kudos, to both of our remixers, and will the first one please show themselves so I can thank you for being dope?
Terry Gotham 