Compilation | FreshNewTracks 13 EDM Artists to Watch in 2013
Posted by Middy on January 18, 2013
The New Year has come and gone and we have recapped the madness of 2012, so now it is time to look ahead to 2013. Two music mondays have passed, so we have had a small taste of what to expect from this fresh year, but we are here to steer your wayward watches towards 13 bright stars who are going to be making some serious noise in 2013. These are in no particular order.
Hip-Hop | Jeff’s Top 10 of 2012 List
Posted by jeffwbaird on January 17, 2013
Back in September when I wrote the editorial “In the Rubble of Hip-Hop…”, I never intended to write a post like this—paying tribute to so many fantastic releases, and the current state of hip-hop. I’ve spent much of the past few years in fear that the kind of substantial, lyrical hip-hop that I cherish so much was on its way out—surely headed to the doldrums, with hip-hop publicly recognizable as one-in-the-same as pop music by the masses. Surprisingly enough, I’ve been proved wrong by a handful of emcees who have gained popularity through creating authentic, powerful music. The majority of the songs on this best of 2012 list (and the impeccable full-length projects that they were selected from—I elected to only choose one song per artist) were released in the final quarter of 2012, and as a result I look back on 2012 as a rather impressive return to vigor for a deteriorating genre. The following songs are just a selection of music I assiduously enjoyed this past year—an amalgamation of hip-hop’s two primary worlds: the blogosphere and the mainstream. Hopefully this introduces you to some new favorites, and helps you feel reinvigorated by this collection of artists we have supporting our beloved genre in 2013. Note: These songs are in no particular order.
10. Captain Midnite — Ashes Rising (feat. Kyle Lucas & OnCue)
I first heard this song back in October when it was released as a single from Captain Midnite’s EP, and was immediately attracted to it. Rarely do I hear a hip-hop song without recognition with such powerful and rich opening chords. I remember hearing that beat drop right before the 1:00 mark for the first time, and knowing right then that Captain Midnite was something special. Don’t let me forget the phenomenal features here by two terrific emcees, Kyle Lucas and OnCue, whose charismatic performances are largely responsible for making this song have the lasting appeal that it has.
9. B.o.B — Where Are You (B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray)
Though I am a longtime B.o.B fan, I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of Strange Clouds. It felt like (and really was) an abandonment of his early sound in favor of the electro-pop style that his new fanbase had grown to embrace him for. Regardless of the unimpressive singles, I got the album on release day and listened through looking for something to catch my ears. Luckily enough I waded through to the album closer, a fantastically unfitting track for this pop-oriented LP. “Where Are You” is an introspective, piano-driven track in which he touches upon many perceived bitter emotions that his friends, fans, and family may have towards him at this point in his career. His acknowledgement of the departure of his sound shows maturity, but it doesn’t really make up for the album being what it is, and doesn’t give any insight to his thought process behind the album’s direction—but it is a reminder of just how talented he is. Hopefully, as the last piece of writing we receive on the album, it also serves as an acknowledgement that the B.o.B of old isn’t gone for good.
Dubstep, Preview | Underworld – Rez (Bassnectar Remix) [Preview]
Posted by Spice on January 16, 2013
Well, happy effing Wednesday. Bassnectar may be off the grid at the moment, but we’ve still got an exciting preview of what to expect from him next month. In the midst of all the blowout shows he treated fans to at the end of 2012, it seems he managed to find time to polish off a monster remix of Underworld’s 1994 tech-trance epic “Rez”. If you’re a fan of Lorin’s explosive, mind-melting soundscapes, heady builds, ferocious low-end bass and unparalleled usage of drums, you’ll be all over his treatment of this track — it’s a slow, spacey journey through many of his trademark sounds. Look for it to drop bass in your face on February 12th.
Hip-Hop, Review | Grubeats’ Top 12 of ’12
Posted by Grubeats on January 14, 2013
Grubeats; fashionably tardy as always. I can’t promise I’ve saved the best for last, but hopefully this eclectic mix of tracks tickle’s at least party of your fancy. I’d enjoy hearing from you in the comments section if you have opinions on any of these songs!
12.) Skizzy Mars – Sirens
This young star didn’t sound my radar until late spring of ’12. I had heard the name and few scattered verses, but overlooked the true talent Skizzy Mars was bringing to the table until I first heard “Sirens”. With sounds similar to a young Cudi, Skizzy himself only recently graduated high school and has only begun to lie the brick and mortar for long, prosperous career.
11.) Skrillex & Damian Marley – Make It Bun Dem
As you probably know, I’m not a die heard EDM head like many writers and followers of this site. No kandi for this kid. I do however, enjoy just about anything Skrillex lays his hands on. Couple the addictive production with Damian Marley’s rasta raps and you have pure gold. If and when hip-hop and EDM cross paths, this is the type of execution I expect. [Watch video HERE]
Continue reading for Top 10!
DJ-Set | Weekend Mixes 1/10/13 Year End Edition Part 2
Posted by Middy on January 10, 2013
It is time for the weekend and since I missed last week, there is going to be A LOT of mixes in this post. I have about 24 hours of music and all of it good. We start things off with Hardwell’s yearmix that goes through his accomplished discography from this year and a selection of tracks from his label, Revealed Recordings. Next up is from yearmix from Nicky Romero that includes his numerous releases from this year and the unreleased “Symphonica”. Hook N Sling provides us with his take on 2012 in a high energy, bootleg heavy mix. Young Polish Dj Tom Swoon goes the extra mile and gives us 61 tracks in 2 hours for his year end mix, traversing genres from electro to trance to progressive.
After the jump we have the two latest episodes of The Drop that include exclusives from both guest mixers, Qulinez & Synchronice. Next week they are celebrating their 50 episode with mixes from Djs like Leon Bolier, Lazy Rich & Maor Levi all week so head to their Facebook page for full details. You will also find year end mixes from Dannic, Inpetto, who mix 50 songs in 1 hour, Dzeko & Torres who mix 40 songs in 10 minutes, Gregori Klosman and N3AKO. Lastly, included are a various assortment of other mixes and live sets from the past week or so, notably from NYE celebrations.
Preview, Progressive House | Rune RK ft. Andreas Moe – Teacup (Michael Brun Remix) [Preview]
Posted by Middy on January 10, 2013
Michael Brun finished out 2012 riding a massive tidal wave of success from his “Burn Forever” remix and “Rift” charting well and getting support far and wide across the Dj community. He enters 2013 looking to stay on top of that tidal crest of success and this latest remix of “Teacup” using vocals from Andreas Moe, who you may recognize from John de Sohn’s “Long Time”, looks to set him up nicely. Look for this to be released January 22nd on Spinnin Records.
Compilation, Electro-House, Featured, Progressive House | FNT’s Top 25 Big Room & Electro Tracks of 2012
Posted by Middy on January 9, 2013
2012 was a year of explosive growth for dance music worldwide. We have seen increasing influence from the United States in dance culture, with the “bigger is better” ethos evident in everything from sound and visual production to the massive convergence of electronic music with pop music (a charge led by top-40 radio stars like Rihanna, Chris Brown, Usher, and even Taylor Swift, who made a brief but notable foray into dubstep this year). In other words, dance music has literally and figuratively blown up. Of course, with the “mainstream-ization” of dance music comes the inevitable backlash from traditionalists who’d prefer it to remain as it was in the 80s and 90s — confined to small clubs and warehouses with little attention from the general public. This rift is notably present in the trance community, where purists who prefer the higher BPMs of the 90s and early 2000s often look down upon newer listeners who have quickly latched on to what Above & Beyond famously described as “trance 2.0.”
While there are valid arguments to be made for both sides of this growing dance music debate, at the end of the day we think you should listen to what you like, and that producers should be free to evolve artistically without fear of being branded sellouts. Of course, it is important to acknowledge and respect the long (and occasionally troubled) road that electronic music has taken to get to where it is today, just as it is undeniable that 2013 has very exciting things in store for the genre — regardless of whether you’ve been a fan for twenty years or twenty minutes.
In keeping with this theme, we bring you this list in addition to our own personal lists — a list which we think sums up the year in dance music, from the clubs to the festivals to what you played on your car speakers. We all have our own tastes, but we still must pay our respects to the EDM anthems that dominated the year. So without further adieu, a few words on how this list was decided. First and foremost, this is our list, not the definitive list from the dance music gods, so no matter how hard we try to be objective we’re sure there will be some debate. Secondly, we are talking about the biggest and best tracks of the year — so tracks that were absolutely dynamite but which failed to garner support and playtime from other DJs will not make the cut. Third, remember the genres we’re covering. No hard feelings to Sasha’s remixes of “Flutes” and “Benediction” — both crushed 2012 — but this isn’t the time or the place. We also must note that we are American, so our list will mainly represent the tracks we heard at US festivals and clubs (even though some of us spent substantial time in Europe). Finally, we must give a quick nod to all of the amazing songs that were released just before 2012 but which still had an enormous impact on the year — like Nicky Romero’s “Toulouse“, Knife Party’s “Internet Friends”, Bingo Players’ “Rattle”, Swedish House Mafia & Knife Party’s “Antidote” and the ever-enduring “Epic”. At the end of 2013, we’ll give the same acknowledgment to tracks released in December 2012, like “Easy“, “I Could Be The One“, “Like Home“, “Clash” and possibly “Rift“.
Whew. Now that we’re done with that, let’s get on to The Top 25 Big Room & Electro Tracks of 2012.