Phazz

Free Download: Twista & Erika Shevon – Wetter (Phazz Remix)

The party you wanted to go to, but never could because it was always over in Europe (unless you are European), last year made made that dream come true with its debut in the US, at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York. After a successful launch last year with some arguably overpriced tickets it returns to the US for a second year, expanding the tour from one city to four cities. It will remain in New York, while also hitting dance music hotspots, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Dates have yet to be announced, but the tour will be this fall. Watch the trailer below and sign up for a special pre-sale here. Sensation is a one of a kind experience you do not miss, so make sure you sign up and pay attention for further announcements.

It has been a great pleasure watching Konec grow as an artist over the past year and even more exciting to see what the future holds for this young talent. After months of hard work he is on the verge of his new EP release entitled ‘Futures EP’ on Datsik’s label, Firepower Records. It’s great to see an artist work so hard and receive the credit they deserve for the countless hours they spend working on their craft. Up until now we have been getting little glimpses of Konec’s EP through mixes, but with the EP release in four days we finally get a free download of what I consider to be one of the most emotional dubstep tracks I have heard thus far this year. Anna Yvette has clearly been busy working with some of the best producers around and she deserves her recognition just as much as Konec does. With the EP release soon approaching, I recommend everyone listen to the iTunes previews of the tracks and Pre-order the EP right after, because it is going to be worth the purchase. Up to this point I have only see positive responses about the EP and imagine only better things to come. Check out the previews below as well as the exclusive interview with Konec about writing the EP and other matters.

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FREE DOWNLOAD: Konec – The Void (Ft. Anna Yvette)

iTunes Pre-Order US: Konec – Futures EP

iTunes Pre-Order UK: Konec – Futures EP

Interview BELOW!

Konec Interview

Q: Where did inspiration first start for the EP?

“I felt that the last release I did, the free track ‘Aztek’ really tied up the whole Aztec culture theme I’d gone with on most of my tracks through 2012 so I decided to go with something that would completely contrast with that. I spent a month or so pursuing what I decided were dead ends before coming up with a plan for an EP. I came up with the idea of a global urban dystopia set 30-40 years into the future and then wrote 4 songs that I imagined could soundtrack different scenarios and events that I imagined occurring in the era.”

Q: Which track has been getting the best response thus far?

“Definitely The Void. I’ve had big names hit me up on twitter every few days since the promo went out telling me it’s beautiful which means a lot to me and Anna. The UKF support for it has also been great; I’m really pleased with how that went down.”

Q: ‘The Void’ is one of the most emotional 140bpm tracks of 2013 so far (IMO), what drove you to write a track of this sort? Talk us through the writing process for it.

“Thanks man. I wanted to write something a bit more expressive and emotive than what I’ve previously done so I decided to ban myself from using any of my bass sounds. As I said earlier, I was working with the idea of writing for 30-40 years in the future, however taking into account the fact that artists seem to draw on the past for inspiration. So the track sounds quite futuristic and stuff but underneath all of that there is a lot of influence from trance and house music in the 90s, there’s airhorns and crowd samples worked into the mix as well as breakbeats and 909 snare rushes.”

Q: Who came up with the lyrics to the track? How was it working with Anna Yvette?

“Anna wrote the lyrics with some input from me. She was absolutely great to work with, I sent her a very basic 4 bar chord sequence of what the track is now along with the concept I wanted to go for and she already had the basis of what you can hear now in about 24 hours. As someone that can take a month to write a track that was pretty awe-inspiring.”

Q: This EP showcases many different sides of you, which track was your favorite to produce? Which is your favorite overall?

“Kill City was my favorite track to write and my favorite overall. It was the quickest for me to write, I worked on it for 8+ hours a day for 7 days straight. It combines a lot of inspiration from different music I’ve listened to over the years, from UK Grime heard over school kids phone speakers to video game soundtracks of my childhood. I like to imagine it’s the anthem of street gangs in a world where technology and computing is completely synchronous with our day-to-day lives.”

Q: Where did the idea of calling it the ‘Futures EP’ arise?

“I wanted to write a record that was more than just 4 different songs with quirky names so I spent a while away from music just thinking about what I could do. One night I got mad inspired on a long car journey with a friend, imagining a global urban dystopia 30-40 years in the future and decided to write each song based around that. At first I started out with just ‘Future EP’ however I pluralized it to make it clear that the tracks explore separate ideas as opposed to being one narrative.”

Q: It seems as though more and more big name are starting to notice you, who has given the best feedback on the EP thus far?

“I think Datsik. He gave me a ridiculous press quote that went out with the promo e-mails.”

Q: I know you haven’t really had a chance to dive into live gigs much yet, but what cities if any are you hoping to maybe be booked at in 2013 if given the opportunity?

“This year I’ve already played near Venice in Italy, which was a great experience. I’d love to fly out to the US and Canada to play some shows because that’s really where the scene seems to be rooted nowadays. I’ve always found the culture there fascinating and I’d really like to visit anyway, playing shows would be a massive bonus to that. I’d also like to play in the UK, something which is unfortunately relatively alien to other British artists making similar music.”

Q: ‘Railgun’ seems to be part of a new style of four-to-the-floor fusion in the 140bpm range. Do you see this more fast paced style emerging more in the near future?

“I’d love to, me and Matt (xKore) have definitely felt a lot of influence from hardstyle recently, which will also be evident when his next Inspected EP comes out later in the year. The two seem to be a perfect match which hasn’t been properly explored yet and I hope I get to hear other people’s interpretations of it.”

Q: Describe this EP in two words.

“Electronic & Cinematic”

Q: What do you want people to walk away with when listening to this EP?

“Some kind of interpretation of the tracks beyond what you hear on first listen.”

About to have his EP released on Inspected this Monday, Culprate was feeling generous on this amazing Friday afternoon. Mach and I have been talking about this remix for almost 3 weeks now and how anxious we are for its release. Well wait no more, this is going to be one of the better free downloads you guys are going to see as far as crazy tunes go. Cuplrate is known for outstanding mixing and mastering and we see a great example of that in this remix. This track shows us why many people regard him as one of the greats when it comes to creativity and sound design.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Neosignal – Planet Online (Culprate Remix)

It’s Friday.  It’s Memorial Day weekend (thank you troops).  Don’t let overcast skys kill your vibe.  Major Lazer x Mack & Ryan x Ray Dalton.  Boom.

Fresh New Track’s favorite emcee, Jetpack Jones, hits us with his latest masterpiece, Solar. Solar is different than most Jetpack tracks, but instead of leaving you all to struggle trying to find out what that special something is, I’ll just tell you. Jetpack recruited a singer to sing his hook. Usually, Jetpack sings his own hooks, but I think that this is a nice change up and let’s him focus on purely rapping. “Solar” is my favorite Jetpack track to date, and I’m sure his upcoming mixtape, Beyond Infinity, will have plenty of songs just like this for me to vibe to. Grab the track for free courtesy of the man and be on the lookout for the next single off of “Beyond Infinity”

Ex FNT blogstar, SeñorScoop, pushed this track in front of me a couple weeks ago.  He said dude, “Listen to this chick.  She’s the next Rihanna.” I took it with a grain of salt (as I usually do) and gave it a listen.  Decent, good at tops.  I was wrong – this song is magical.  The 22-year old Cuban-American boasts vocals equivalent to Rihanna’s deeper notes, continuously delivering honest, edgy lyrics over a slow piano driven production.  This is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs.  Oh, and if it’s any indication that she’s destined for success, Sylvia Rhone (arguably one of the most powerful women in the music industry) was the one who gave her a platform and eventually signed her to a new division of Epic Records, Vested in Culture.

As a bonus, check out two additional tracks below!

I’ve finally washed ashore from the sensational tidal wave that was Kaskade’s It’s You, It’s Me Redux Tour. Everything you heard about drowning in sweat, auditory immersion and house deeper than the Mariana Trench was no exaggeration in reference to what I experienced that Tuesday night at his kick off show in Dallas. I’ll do my best to recreate the atmosphere (hehe) from that show but when it comes down to it, you just have to close your eyes in dive into the music yourself. Conveniently, I’ve provided the San Diego set in it’s entirety for your listening pleasure so all you need to do is press play and come with me on my journey to the most intimate underground electronic show you’ve only seen in your wildest dreams.

Kaskade caught the attention of his fans down in Texas one morning via Twitter by addressing the people of Dallas directly and retweeting pictures from their favorite shows. He kept us at the edge of our seats, biting our nails for hours until he finally dropped the bomb, tweeting the link to purchase tickets for his first Redux show to be located at It’ll Do, a warehouse disco club in East Dallas. As you can imagine, those 200 tickets were gone in a single breath, and to my surprise, one of my best friends purchased just enough for a group of us to go. I was in such a state of shock and excitement that the only thing I could do was curl up in a ball on my bed and indulge in his vintage albums, Love Mysterious and It’s You, It’s Me (naturally). I was preparing myself for something that I could have never been prepared enough for.

The night came and went faster than a breaking wave, and I wish more than anything I could go back in time and relive it. Sprinting out of the cab, flashing my ID at the door and rushing to the DJ booth, I had the butterflies like it was my first show ever. The club had a long, rectangular layout; the walls were lined with elevated, cushioned tables and sound reverberated from every last corner, even the furthest back nook by the bar from where you could barely even make out the stage in the dark. There was a lone disco ball hanging from the ceiling, and apart from the reflection it cast across the club, the only other light source was grid light up dance floor straight out of Studio 54.

At about 11pm, Kaskade entered the DJ booth – right on schedule. There were no crazy theatrics, no lights, no added entertainment, just Kaskade and us. And by us, I mean the average, modern day yuppies, 60-year olds in cashmere sweaters (see: 3:01), raver dolls, and die-hard Kaskade fans who were having just as much fun as the newly introduced ones. “The audience was as cohesive as it was diverse. That’s rare.” Anyone and everyone in the world could have been in that audience, it was that varied. And yet, there was only a mere 200 of us, barely filling up half of the club at best. It felt so empty but that made it perfect. It was like Kaskade was throwing some casual get together and we were all his closest friends who invited along for the ride – which maybe is what was it was anyways, but you get the idea.

Now, for the music. Kaskade debuted with “It’s You, It’s Me,” melting every single heart in the audience. His hour and a half long set was a flawless compilation of classics like “Steppin’ Out” and “Step One Two,” his newer tracks like “Waste Love” and “Llove (ICE Remix)” (couldn’t get enough of this one), and a few surprises like Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” and of course, the already-iconic “Get Lucky.” Intermittent between the songs were deep house beats that turned your mind absolutely inside out, elevated by his lyrical tracks, creating a cascading, pulsating wave of tempos and sounds. At first, I tried squeezing to the front but when I realized Kaskade was crafting an auditory, not visual experience for us, I returned back to the light-up dancefloor where I encountered a dance circle with fans cheering on one another. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the abyss, where I drowned in the darkness and music, in bass so deep that no recording device could possibly capture the intensity. In a moment that I came back to the surface for a breath of fresh air, I turned around to find a young gentleman proposing to his girlfriend right in the middle of the dancefloor! Unreal. (She said yes, see below) Kaskade’s music brought about a positive energy that circulated throughout the club that night, uplifting and unifying us all. And it all came to a close as we sang along to the final song, my favorite, “4 AM.”  As Kaskade exited the stage and disappeared, I can confidently tell you I have never longed for encore as much as then. Alas, drenched and speechless, we cleared out of the club and listening to Kaskade has never been the same since.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how an artist goes about deciding on a venue or specializing a set within a given city. At the peak of my curiosity, Kaskade announced his Redux tour, a tour that retained purpose behind each city, venue, and fan base. As I reviewed photos and setlists from the other 6 cities, it became clear that each show was unique and tailored to the history of the setting and the tastes of the audience. This made me feel even closer to Kaskade and his music, knowing that night was a once in a lifetime experience and I was lucky enough not only to spend it with him, but with people who were as much (if not more!) passionate than myself. I’m lucky to be part of his memory looking back on how “Dallas baptiz[ed] this tour with their Texas brand of amazing.”

“There’s a famous Bob Marley quote that says, “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” I am so grateful to be surrounded by an audience that feels the rain. Ten years later, this music inspires a fan to fly from Sydney, Australia to San Diego, California then back home again just for a few hours to dance. Ten years later it connects people who want to assist each other in getting to a show. Ten years later, this music still exists and rings true that it’s you, then it’s me in love.”

If you missed the Redux tour, have no fear. Kaskade will be headlining at EDC Chicago next weekend and in addition, is putting on a showcase called “Summer Lovin’” all summer long at the Marquee in Las Vegas. The trailer is a must-see.

Until the next show, folks.

Excerpts taken from Kaskade’s Redux wrap up here. 

After listening to the remix package to Topher Jones’ “Save Me”, 21 year old Spaniard Josef Belani’s remix is without a doubt my favorite. I would be lying if I said it was unique because it isn’t. It’s what every good house song sounds like these days. Nevertheless, this is still a great remix. As well as featuring the catchy vocals of James Bowers and a build you could bathe in, this has everything you would expect from a great house track.

Beatport: Topher Jones feat. James Bowers – Save Me (Josef Belani Remix)