Daleri’s Epic Mashleg and the Tragedy of Beatport Top 100

Posted by Middy on July 10, 2013

There is a decent chance by now that you have heard this mashup by Swedish duo Daleri of the some of the latest hits sweeping festival main stages and gracing the top of the Beatport charts. Upon first listen you may think, well wow isn’t this a convenient little minute of noise that takes out all of those pesky and boring builds and is just straight huge, dope banger anthem drops. But when you actually listen, you see just how everything sounds the same.

The recently expanded mashup (and I hope it continues in the future) serves almost as a name and shame mechanism for those who make the same generic “festival drop” garbage that is peddled out by artists and labels as a way to quickly manufacture hype and make them desirable for top dollar festival crowds. While sure there are the trailblazers who have brought the hardstyle kick into play and some artists having their own unique sound, like W&W, but the copycats who appeal to a popular sound because of it does well are those who deserve to be called out. It highlights those who crank out the same generic triplets, layered over a heavy kick and bass as a way to appeal to the masses that want it.

This may come off as a jaded blogger rant, and it is true I have become rather annoyed seeing this repetition take over dance music, however I know there are plenty of people who are tired of these types of tracks and it is fueling the deep house explosion that is happening alongside the more commercial dance music explosion worldwide. It is clear that all of these songs have a distinctly similar sound, however the most egregious offense is that almost all of them use Eric Prydz’s “Miami To Atlanta” snare. The snare has been added for effect, showing just how overused it is, but the point is made. The snare has been commandeered by everyone and their mom for their tracks and if Eric Prydz got a dollar each time his snare was sampled, man he might be able to get the check for this guy.

The problem is that artists do it because they know the tracks work in the live venue and it charts well. 5 out of the Beatport top 10 are these “festival drop” tracks and 13, arguably 14 out of the top 100 are the same type. That leaves plenty of other quality tracks in the Beatport top 100, but the trendy style of the moment is associated with the top of the Beatport charts and now these tracks are it. Beatport charts aren’t always reliable since some labels and artists buy themselves position (just look, you can tell), but they are a good indication of what is popular. It is probably just a fad like those god awful Avicii piano copycats in 2011, early 2012, or at least I hope so, but it still represents the popular sound of the moment and it just gets less original by the day. Until fans stop dancing to these songs, until people stop buying them, until blogs (including us) stop posting them because it will drive traffic and it leads to cushy press passes, until DJs stop copying others, until label A&Rs start to pursue originality in their releases instead of just looking for what will chart well, then this continuous stream of unoriginal tracks will keep on coming and this apparent adderall fueled rant of a madman will be for naught (don’t worry I am not on adderall).

One last point that can’t be ignored turns to the creators of the mashup. If Daleri are going to dole out some heat on others, it must be known what they sound like as well. They have a varying sound, which touches on big room, complextro and some funky elements that if you look at it in a broad sense, can be put into the more commercial side of dance music with these types of tracks. Not to say they are the same, but it is no deep house. It was time that an artist stood up and said something other than a little twitter rant because blogger editorials or fan messages and comments only go so far. So its smart, but also sly of them to make this as a way of getting their name out there and show their disdain for the popular dance music of the moment. Really surprised one of the these artists hasn’t demanded soundcloud take this down, since it is making them look bad.

Tracklist:

1. Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike – Wakanda (Original Mix) [Intro]
2. Alvaro & Moti – NaNaNa (Original Mix)
3. Pyero – Genesis (Original Mix)
4. Chuckie, Dzeko & Torres – Down To This (Original Mix)
5. Makj – Springen (Original Mix)
6. Sini – Razz (Original Mix)
7. Pelari – Cango (Original Mix)
8. Krewella – Alive (Hardwell Remix)
9. Shermanology – The Only Way (Original Mix)
10. W&W – Thunder (Original Mix)
11. Gta, Henrix & Digital Lab – Hit It! (Original Mix)
12. Sultan, Ned Shepard, Fedde Le Grand – No Good (Extended Mix)
13. Henrix, Wayne & Woods – Jumangee (Original Mix) [Tiesto Club Life Rip]
14. Alvaro & Mercer feat. Lil Jon – Welcome To The Jungle (Original Mix)
15. Klauss Goulart & Mark Sixma – Rio (Original Mix)
16. Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike – Wakanda (Original Mix) [Outro]