The summer is almost over, but the beat doesn’t stop! This week, there’s a bunch of different stuff for you to enjoy, orbiting the Stoney Roads universe, but from all over the dance music spectrum. If you’ve got a favorite, feel free to blow up the comments. And if you absolutely hate one of them, blow up the comments as well!
Off of Stoney Roads Records, this mellow, warm deep house tune is exactly what the bright shining day needs. Piecey delivers a smooth, round, delicious vibe is an exceptional offering from down under. The build is almost imperceptible, with the drop pulling you back into that effortless groove. Great job as always Stoney Roads.
Porter Robinson! Madeon! Together! That’s really the only thing you need to know about this track. For everyone still reading that hasn’t jammed on the play button, it’s a soulful, sonic journey. The kind you wish was associated with a SNES RPG and/or a summer from High School. Gorgeous, rippling indie progressive, washing over you, as only Porter & Madeon can provide. Are they touring back to back yet? Cause that needs to happen.
There’s a lot of generic party jam stuff out there, but I find The Partysquad (yup, that’s their name) actually stuck the landing on this one. While lots of tracks in this tier are gimmicky, this one never fails to innovate and actually makes for an enjoyable grind of a track. It’s sweaty, bass-heavy, pulling into some surprisingly competent syncopated bass. Great pick up off Rebel Yard for anyone still hitting up big festivals for the year.
Delamare really hits it out of the park with this LissA remix. The hopeful, indie bass shines forth as LissA‘s original vocals are celebrated, never drowned out. It’s given a jolly, lilting feel that seems at home with the Piecey from earlier. The bouncey, syrupy bass that slaloms through the piece is a welcome distraction from the “Future House” rumble strip that’s streaked across the dance music community. This Zimt remix rolls along, delivering without overwhelming. Great work.
Kllo rounds out this week, keeping the indie bass train going. This blossoming, gorgeous tune drifts along, bobbing chords and shimmering back beats mixing so effectively. There’s a lot of good stuff going on in this track, and it really rewards obsessive listening. This group most certainly deserve more of your attention, as it’s earned quite a bit of mine.
Tag Archives: Porter Robinson
Midnight Music: Nero – The Thrill (Porter Robinson Remix)
Nero – The Thrill (Porter Robinson Remix)
Yea, this collab needs to happen way more often. The track of today could only be Porter Robinson’s stunning remix of The Thrill by Nero. The remix hits this apex when it comes to production, stupendous production values, respect of the original work & blowing the lid off of it at the same time. The arpeggio work is second to none, with Porter reminding everyone he creates soundscapes, not songs. This shimmering remix is one of the first true post-Big Room offerings that aren’t gimmicky. This type of Future Electro really has a shot at unseating the idiocy of Brolectro & Big Room. The power goes crazy, but he never loses control. Porter has shown he can be a master at the massive yet crystalline & this new release is no exception. Put it into your face post haste. At this point, it’s so good & good for you it might as well have Vitamin C in it. (via This Song Is Sick)
Playlists Of The Weekend: EDMTunes/Spinnin’ Records & InDeep 30!
Super glad that I can bring this out to share for y’all. A bunch of my peeps at EDMTunes put together this fantastic 90min of dance music for you. New illness from The Chainsmokers, deep gorgeousness from Matt Lange off Anjunabeats, Bassnectar’s summer jam & 17 more tunes. From trap bangers to progressive anthems, if you want to know what Electric Zoo sounds like right now, you’d be hard pressed to find a better sampling of tunes that are big right now. Strong by Arno Cost & Shadow of the Sun’s Mako remix are highlights as well. Hit up EDMTunes and thank them for making this happen with Spinnin’ Records. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you know when the next one comes out as well.
Over on Soundcloud, there’s the next session of InDeep. These cats are quickly becoming my go to source for deep, future, tech & “insert sub-genre of house here” house. The list comes in at a manageable 72min and with new Hot Since 82, Amtrac, a fun little snippet from Marcapasos, a FANTASTIC deep house remix of Bittersweet Symphony (must listen), a joint from Mixmag featuring Jody Wisternoff & a whole lot more. If the EDMTunes playlist is your Turn Down For What list, this is your grooving, deep dark set that happens later in the night. Or now while you’re walking around cleaning the house on the long weekend before shenanigans later. Or yachting, elephant polo’ing or jousting, whatever you’re into. The tunes are quality so enjoy the almost 3 hours of music between these two playlists and rock out your weekend!
Mix Of The Weekend: Porter Robinson’s Essential Mix [Smooth Vibes, Insane Feels]
Porter Robinson is having a stellar year, with this Essential Mix being a highlight. This two hour sonic voyage brings in the sensibilities of the music nerd with the inventive imagination of every crazy boy genius you’ve ever read about. The mix is lush, full, inventive and masterfully mixed. I approve of all uses of Chrome Sparks, the Clint Eastwood he drops is incredible, and there’s even a Kingdom Hearts shout out 28min in. The Flume remix of Lorde and about a dozen other great tracks are highlights. He’s got the time to really work with his sounds and it goes swimmingly. He also features a bunch of tracks off his hotly anticipated new album, so there’s another reason to put it into your face. Listen to this in the sun.
Frisson Alert: Porter Robinson – Sea Of Voices (Video by Justin Aberon ft. Charlie Chaplin)
Someone needs to give this kid (Justin Aberin) a video editing job. Like now. This stunning combination of exhaustively researched video clips and the close to perfect “Sea Of Voices” by Porter Robinson needs to get as wide of a viewership as possible. The juxtaposition of the most important speech ever given in the history of cinema (Yes, it is, sorry), the melody and the visuals provide a beautiful and heart-wrenching commentary on what it means to be human. These kinds of experiences remind us what it means to be human. It’s enough to give you a shiver down your spine (Hence the use of “Frisson” in the title) Push it into people’s faces, and get excited for Porter’s new album which should be here this Fall. Also, freaking buy Justin Aberon a drink.
Seven Lions & Porter Robinson Melt a Frozen NYC with Epic Bass.
There he was.
I could have probably hit him with my shoe or the plastic cup in my hand if I wanted to, but that would have been in poor form as he was absolutely obliterating the crowd at Roseland Ballroom. Seven Lions, my absolute favorite aural discovery of 2012, had the crowd in the palm of his hand and he was barely halfway into his third track. The space shook with every beat drop and chilled out with every vocal sample. I’d had an inkling of how badly he was going to kill it but I couldn’t quite picture the enormity of the space rocking out to his entire discography. The stage was ringed with staff to prevent the throbbing mass of 21st century club kid, braver (bro-raver), hipsters, skaters and cornucopia of tri-state area stereotypes from tumbling past the safe area and sweeping through the performance space like a tidal wave of flesh and excitement.
Ferry Corsten, Deuce Stenstrom & the Obliteration of Dance Floors
The two break-dancing gentlemen right in front of the DJ booth at Sullivan room had amassed quite a crowd considering it was only 11:30 PM. Deuce Stenstrom was spinning another one of his infectious “funhouse” sets (as his girlfriend lovingly refers to them), and the rapidly growing crowd was loving every second of it. As I sipped my Amstel Light, the deep bass & creeping melodies pulled person after person out of their seats, away from the bar and onto the dance floor. Deuce, opening another one of the Friday night SOUP parties, is one of the few DJs in the city I bust my ass to never miss. We go back years, and his work never disappoints. The wobbly,jolly sound, infused with old school house & techno tracks, is unique among the DJs I know in NYC. It reminds me of Falstaff because of its gregarious, bouncy, bubbly feel. But, back to the breakdancers.
Two smartly dressed black guys were popping, locking & breaking back and forth, turning the floor over to each other after they pushed out routines of increasingly complex & ridiculous moves. They kept tempting each other, baiting each other into doing crazier shit, and before long, the front third of the dance floor was devoted to people standing around in awe of the twin Nubian cyclones of fashion & footwork. Deuce kept the energy building so eventually, exhausted and to thunderous applause, they stopped, took a bow, and headed to the bar to get some congratulatory drinks a few people rushed to offer to purchase for them. As the dance floor repopulated and Deuce’s set finished up, I headed to the door after congratulating my boy on crushing it for the dance floor before midnight, a skill in serious demand these days in the Gotham Underground. I had a date with Ferry Corsten, and my only concern was whether the club he was spinning at (PACHA NYC) would let him work his magic on the decks without interference.
Pacha generates very strong opinions among clubbers in NYC. A long standing institution in Ibiza, the NYC off-shoot on the west side in midtown is generally treated harshly in the eyes of the community, especially those in the lower-income brackets. The main room turns into a stifling, churning amalgam of sweat, alcohol and stays that way until sunrise. Despite this, Pacha devotees swear by the sound system, the lighting and the imported talent that creates parties that approximate the bastardized love child of Ultra Music Festival & the Meatpacking District, crammed into a not-quite-large-enough warehouse a few blocks from the Hudson river. Thousands of Gothamites have sworn to never set foot in the club, due to the fact that it’s usually a total clusterfuck by 1 AM. While I usually don’t inflict that kind of environment on myself, tonight I was on the VIP Press list.
After skipping the regular line and being treated wonderfully by Pacha’s front of house staff, I picked up a jack and coke and found a spot on one of the comfy leather couches that ringed each of the absurdly priced tables next to the railings. The tables allowed for a birds eye view of the main dance floor, the DJ booth, and provided a handy way to empty your bank account in under 6 hours. While I had no intention of spending upwards of three to five hundred dollars on a bottle of champagne or vodka, others were snapping the tables up like a cheap HDTV at Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving. The openers for Ferry were doing a tag-team set, switching off between big room house and some mildly interesting trance that kept the (already packed way past capacity) dance floor throbbing in preparation for Ferry. The names of the duo escape me at the moment, but they were competent enough that I managed to stay entertained until Ferry hit the decks right around 1:15.
He broke into some of his bigger anthems immediately, with his track “Feel It” reminding everyone in the club that he was now in control and serving up a serious dose progressive & uplifting trance. I was delighted to see Ferry had been given free reign on the decks, and wasn’t pressured by the Pacha management to modify his sound to fit the feel of the club. After seeing Ferry spin electro and house at Electric Zoo and being severely disappointed, I could not have been more pleased as the trance continued, occasionally accenting the set with a more poppy crowd favorite, such as “Language” by Porter Robinson, or “The Force of Gravity” by BT.
While the set was building I started chatting with a gentleman who was dancing to the sweet-ass trance music that was oozing out of the speakers, and he invited me back to his VIP table. Apparently he’d purchased “six or seven” bottles of champagne (he couldn’t remember which) and needed some help consuming them all. Never oneto be impolite, I graciously accepted his offer and introduced myself to the Brazilian soccer players that shared the table with him. I sipped my champagne, leaned back on the couch, felt the bass and listened to drunk Brazilian guys aggressively hit on every girl that walked past them in their exceptional Portuguese (and total lack of English).
The epic set continued for hours, with most people not moving off the floor, especially when a personal favorite of mine “One Thousand Suns” ft. Chicane, hit. Girls screaming, people dragging their friends up and down stairs in heels, racing to make sure they didn’t miss the drop. “Trigger” by Marcel Woods & W&W could not have come at a better time, and “Live Forever” (another of Ferry’s tunes featuring Aruna on vocals) ensured that the entire first floor of the club reached face-melting status. The track absolutely killed and even the VIP peeps stopped hitting on things for 5 seconds while the beat and trancey breakdowns had them shaking like Beyonce. Around 3:30 AM he managed to tear himself away from the decks and we beat a hasty retreat before the proletariat downstairs realized that there wasn’t going to be another encore. After many glasses of gratis champagne, I bid my new friends adieu and disappeared into the night, high on bubbly and the fact that Ferry absolutely killed it. Can’t wait to see what he has in store if he comes back for A State of Trance 600 with Armin Van Buuren.
This is Terry Gotham, see you on the dance floor.
Terry Gotham 