Sweet Jam Alert! This slapping bass track is here just in time for self-tying shoes, hoverboards & the ridiculousness that was 80’s futurism. Azeem pushes out some amazing vocal work, with some retro synth guitar coming up behind like a soundtrack interlude in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Beverly Hills Cop. The high energy sound that seems to split the difference between electro & 80’s synth rock is fantastic, and I’ve gotta give it up to Myrone for it. It’s a great little interlude that will get your week off to an amazing start. (via FreshNewTracks)
Oh man, Faded. If you have ears, you’ve heard the mysterious ZHU’s masterpiece, Faded, essentially everywhere. I heard a deep house remix at a party in Brooklyn, the same day I heard a more dance-friendly remix on the radio (KTU occasionally knows the score. Not often, but occasionally). However, I’ve gotta say, I like this one a lot. The depth of the electro stabs, combined with the ethereal synth work insulating the vocals works well. There’s a retro stabby electro bass thing going on which I’m all about, and you gotta wait for like 4/5 of the track to go by to get to the real meat. Because Tommie Sunshine makes you fucking work for it. Something I can respect. It’s a great Free DL and Zac Waters puts out a great offering here, with the help of one of the best in the business, Tommie Sunshine. A gem, and a zero dollar gem at that. Get at it, and bomp it before you go to PACHA. Or may be you listen to it before you go rock out to minimal techno at Resolute, whatever man, it’s cool.
This is the kind of pad work I love to hear in my prog-lectro. The piano chords echo throughout the playful remix of Azealia Banks, giving her soaring vocals wings made of euphoric major chord energy. This two-drop track is going to be a summer standard, especially if it gets picked up for Ultra like I’m expecting. The breaks, especially the one at 3:40, bring some powerful low-end without overpowering your senses or getting too bro’y. While the era of big room is over, the world of big melodic, or the return of progressive, heralded by many, is seemingly upon us. Kudos to Apocalypto & Mr. Fluff for doing some great work on this remix and can’t wait to hear what they’ve got up their sleeves for when the winter thaw finally comes.
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?
Firstly, dope 80’s style electric guitar work definitely needs to come back. And if this kid is the one to do it, so much the better. Cole Rolland takes the electrostep remix of Krewella’s Alive by Pegboard Nerds and drops it live, on his axe. This is a massive accomplishment & further reinforces my hypothesis that dubstep is the synthetic equivalent of a whammy bar, especially when he plays dubstep…largely with his whammy bar. I am a huge fan of the technical skill involved in this cover, and would love to see more guitar YouTube people get into this kind of cross over work. Shit, Infected Mushroom sounded dope with a live guitarist. What are you doing to cross boundaries while expressing yourself on Monday huh? 😀
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. DJ Karmakanik is one of the first DJs who ever really just exploded my face. I’m talking like, that kind of night that takes you on a journey that you’re not the same afterwards. One of the mystical forces behind the fabled PSI events in the Pine Barrens forests, this guy knows exactly what he’s doing. I know times have changed because he is in my mind, a psytrance DJ of legendary proportions, and I just spent the last hour grooving to a dope selection of electro, progressive & tech house. The track selection is impressive & I am definitely hoping this kind of musical output becomes a regular thing. And he wants to drop some 6 am psytrance as well, I certainly won’t complain. Picture is from BM 2006, you know it’s a good party when Jesus spins psy-trance. Tracklist below the tunes because he’s a gentleman like that, and it’s a Free Download to boot. He literally couldn’t give you anymore, so show him some love.
dataworx – flight 1605 (manuel de le mare intro rmx)
mason – exceeder (umek and mike vale rmx)
andrea bertolini and motel connection – allegro
weekend heroes – killer bitch dj dealer
alter breed – panther
ido ophir and miki litvak – shnorkel (dousk rmx)
piatto and luigi rocca – higher feeling
umek – cvile mi jaja
phunk investigation – u know
shiloh – cafe del mariachi
perfect stranger and captain hook – perfect hook (riktam and bansi rmx)
easy riders – easy dubsteps (captain hook rmx)
sideform – personal jesus (rmx)
This indie dance rework of Water Gun by Popeska is surprisingly euphoric. 30 seconds in, the chords slap you with the chorus pushing back into your awareness. Brass Knuckles provided a wonderful indie track to remix. With John Ryan providing on point vocals & Brass Knuckles pulling into some fun poppy dance, Popeska takes it and runs with it. It’s got a “Bomping it in your Camaro in the sunset” kind of feel to it, and doesn’t really try to get too heady about it. Does what it says on the tin, and I really want Popeska to get that water gun now. Or a platform for more of that smooth electro gorgeousness.
In case you’ve been on the moon, there’s been some shit going down in my city the last week. People made the decision to not indict a cop for chokeholding an asthmatic, obese black father of six to death. This has resulted in demonstrations, protests & non-violent civil actions all over the city. Tommie Sunshine has been a consistent source of news from the streets, because, he’s actually out there protesting with his fans. His 10th edition of his podcast is heavier than normal, mirroring the mood of the streets. Pushing the heaviest of releases out is a strong statement, one that’s hard to execute. He does so, in an almost menacingly competent way. There’s a strong reminder that not all the performers out there forgot that dance music used to be counter-culture, and a place for those pursued by the various authorities. They end with a mini-mix of tracks off their Brooklyn Fire label, another facet of the city he supports. Consistency is important y’all. After this rocks your face & causes gratuitous fist pumping and possible shame, Mr. Sunshine also released a chill Elvis remix with Wuki this week. When he told me he was going to be busy, he wasn’t kidding.
A friend of mine turned me on to this track and I am so thankful. This is the type of crossover work I can respect, even though I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of either end of this collab. This heavy pop electro smacks of where a lot of that crowd that used to listen to Simple Plan or Sum 41 needs to be hearing these days. With Blink182 being essentially classic rock these days, the “fuck your ideology & aesthetic” streak within us needs to go somewhere. I’m a big fan of Fall Out Boy’s choices here, and the anthem break at 2:31 makes me really curious to see what a dance floor hearing this would do. I kind of want to see moshing ravers.
I’ve been talking about Fox Stevenson since he ran by the name Stan SB, so seeing the maturation of his sound and his success warms my heart. Tonight, I bring you a delightful, upbeat tune he dropped last week that I’m just going to dub Sunkist EDM. This orange soda-flavored goodness is fun, popcorn dance that will get you grooving in your chair (or walking around if you’re reading this on your phone. Don’t read music blogs & drive!). The electro jam is a departure from his drum & bass bread and butter, but he can do whatever he likes at this point. When not only the headliners but the rising stars are able to jump genres with ease, it’s a good time to be alive.
Sweet Jam Alert! This slapping bass track is here just in time for self-tying shoes, hoverboards & the ridiculousness that was 80’s futurism. Azeem pushes out some amazing vocal work, with some retro synth guitar coming up behind like a soundtrack interlude in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Beverly Hills Cop. The high energy sound that seems to split the difference between electro & 80’s synth rock is fantastic, and I’ve gotta give it up to Myrone for it. It’s a great little interlude that will get your week off to an amazing start. (via FreshNewTracks)
Terry Gotham 