Tag Archives: electro

Mix of the Week: Change Will Come 2013 by MitiS

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MitiS is absolutely killing it this year.

In addition to the Open Window & Born EPs that he’s dropped over the last three months, his popularity and technical skill have both been skyrocketing. I’ve featured some of his tracks over the last few months on my monthly playlists, but it’s been a while since he issued a full-length mix. And boy does he need to do so more often. At once it sounds like a better version of stuff you’ve heard everywhere else. Mixed better, less cheesy and altogether much more enjoyable, even though it’s a mashup of electro, house and some tasty wobble, a recipe lots of people try, but few succeed in.

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DJ Ayesha Adamo Drops EDM-Related Knowledge

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http://www.alternet.org/culture/cant-tell-difference-between-witch-house-and-nu-disco-welcome-electronic-dance-music-101

For many of our electronica-related neophytes, the sheer volume of genres is mind-boggling. Whether you’ve spent years hitting up parties or if this is your first weekend out of doors, it’s easy to have no idea what you’re listening to. Thankfully, there are amazingly talented DJs who are here to help. Ayesha Adamo is a multi-talented beat Goddess who I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few times in the past and has been cleverly picked up by Alternet to create a run-down of the 11 most popular genres that are happening right now. House, Techno, Breaks, Dubstep, Nu Disco/Indie Dance, Electro (House), Prog House, Trance, Tech House, Trip-Hop & Witch House. I’m not sure the last one should be on the list but I’ll give it to her because she knows her shit.

Check it out, and the next time some fool is all “zomg wut r dubstepz?” you can just forward them this and get back to listening to your psy-trap-core compilations. Check out more of her cool stuff right here:

http://www.ayeshaadamo.com/
http://twitter.com/ayeshaadamo/
(Image property of Ayesha Adamo)

 

Earworm of the Month: Chronicles of A Fallen Love by The Bloody Beetroots (ft. Greta Svabo Bech)

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I have to make a public apology. I had the chance to see The Bloody Beetroots both at Electric Zoo and Webster Hall multiple times, and I passed on each occasion. I’m not really sure why, and frankly, considering the track that has been on daily/hourly rotation for a while now, means I need to ensure I don’t miss the next time they’re live in the tri-state area.

Greta Svabo Bech slides into the tune 20 seconds in, with a silky vocal line to compliment the smooth housey beat. It all plays along very nicely, almost drifting into top 40 realm, until a minute in, when the anthemic electro kicks on. This is definitely dirty, but there’s this major chord that would kick the ass of any dance floor it gets dropped on. It’s almost too hard to be progressive, but you only get 40 seconds until it pulls back into that silky fun piano, beat & vocal work. The oscillating between driving house & playful vocals hits a crescendo at 3:38, when the track’s vocals & chords sync, pulling you up and ensuring a potent frisson as long as you still have working auditory nerves.

Get it on Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/chronicles-of-a-fallen-love/978045
& iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/chronicles-fallen-love-single/id567556377?affId=1930871

And check out some more of The Bloody Beetroots awesome sauce right here:

EP of the Week – Leaving by Skrillex

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It seems that the majority of r/dubstep misjudged Skrillex and his big room dub focus. Skrillex got famous for playing the kind of hyper-aggrandized dubstep that I lovingly describe as “Transformer Porn.” When you take the sounds Michael Bay gave the Transformers and you imagine them having sex, BAM, Scary Sprites. While people can hate on it all they want, Sonny’s hard work, playing the heartland of America and irrepressible positive outlook & joy for making the music is undeniable. You can see this in his Rolling Stone interview or his acceptance speech at the Grammys. And this week, Skrillex reminded us very hard how much he respected his roots, in addition to shaking up our identity of him pretty fundamentally.

Leaving is straight up some American Future Garage. I specify as such because most of the Future Garage that people are rocking out to these days is UK-based. And the inspiration for this kind of sound and in fact a lot of other artists in the space Leaving explores is the one and only Burial. He was featured on a previous EP of the week, and Skrillex has thanked/named Burial & the rest of the Brixton Dub crew for the work they did to blaze the way for Skrillex to shine and bring this stuff to America’s heartland. The track not only pays homage to Burial, but it does so in a very American, Skrillex-esque way. The signature style that allowed him to shine so brightly is being put into this minimized, stripped down beat, groove & heavily modified sample which works perfectly. I can’t wait to see what effect this has on Skrillex’s approximately 4 billion listeners.

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Mix of the Week – Natural Drift by Yellow@theLight

Yellow@theLight is a project by a dear friend, Chris LaMear, who deserves as much credit and press for his work as possible. This stuff is freaking amazing. I was originally introduced to him over a year ago and could not ignore his attention to detail, perfect execution and absurdly good track choice. The mixes and produced tracks flow like wine, and even with what’s occurred in his home neighborhood of Breezy Point (one of the areas hit hardest by Sandy) there is a positive and joyous sound throughout his latest mix.

Flowing from deep house openers to some pretty fun disco & funky house, all in the first 20 minutes, followed by some progressive & electro’y goodness. This guy has range and I have no idea where he gets his tracks, but they all rock. One ridiculous groove after another. He knows how to create transitions and builds that lend a massive confidence to the dance floor. There is this aura of celebrity and fabulousness with a lot of his set work, and this is no exception. However, it’s got a huge heart, and there’s this really warm groove to where he goes throughout his mixes and live work. It’s never nasty or off-putting, and even the dirtiest of electro and dubby goodness still doesn’t grate at the senses. A very thin line to walk, and he dances along it.

This is central to where I think DJing is going to go over the next 5 years. Being able to maintain a recognizable sound, across different sub-genres & even genres of EDM. Flux Pavilion, DeadMau5, Skrillex and others all have a signature feel to them. They’re recognizable and you can get a sense on the dance floor of when you’re listening to one of their tracks or set work by them. Yellow@theLight is fast generating that same signature feel. 32min in is one of those moments. The massive, triumphant electro’y, dubby goodness makes me think of my man tearing it up behind the decks, to as large of a crowd as possible. The amazing breakdowns after 33ish combined with the mean as hell vocals & dubby build give way to some amazingly filthy electrohouse.

I still cannot understand how this guy hasn’t been picked up by Mau5trap or someone in LA. This sound remains absolutely ridiculous and I was given the extreme pleasure of living near a weekly residency he had in my hood for a little bit. This mix continues to win all over the place and you’re better off listening to it and the previous ones that have been put out all over the spot. Get at it. Tell em Terry Gotham sent you.

http://yellowatthelight.podomatic.com/
https://twitter.com/YellowTheLight
https://www.facebook.com/pages/YellowTheLight/125974349166