Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Preview | Reso – Tangram Remixed EP
Posted by Mach on January 23, 2013
2013 is already turning out to be an awesome year for electronic music in my opinion. Reso has an awesome line up of remixing artists for his upcoming remix EP of his recent EP release “Tangram.” The remix EP features KOAN Sound, Om Unit, Billain, and Doshy. KOAN Sound’s remix is a lot more abstract than I am used to hearing from them. Their remix of “Axion” is a very deep, bassy Drum & Bass track that transitions into a kicked up Midtempo jam. Om Unit has my favorite remix of the whole EP. The way they remixed “Simple Pleasures” creates the emotion that the title is so deserving of. The track is very chill and still with the same deep bass that carries out through all the remixes. Billain made a dirty Neuro-Dubstep remix of “Half Life,” making my ears convulse in the craziest ways. The last remix from Doshy is the only one of the EP that does not have its own clip. Doshy’s remix of “Coronium” is what I would call an abstract take on Trap. Oddly enough the idea works, and Doshy’s remix provides a cool-temperatured finish to the EP. The remix EP is set to release March 11th.
Reso | KOAN Sound | Om Unit | Billain | Doshy
Skip to 4:11 for Doshy’s remix of “Coronium”
Albums, Compilation, Moombahton | Review: Moombahton Forever
Posted by Spice on January 22, 2013
As some of you may already know, I tend to get unreasonably fired up about moombahton. This is in part because I’m a D.C. native, like the genre itself, and in part because I like to shake my ass (and there’s nothing more conducive to ass shaking than Dutch house bouncing along at 110 bpm above a funky riddim). Happily, it would seem that I’m not alone in this regard; with moombahton-centric stages cropping up at major festivals and heavy support for the genre coming from some of electronic music’s biggest names, it’s clear that Dave Nada’s “Moombah” MacGyver job has officially taken on a life of its own.
Moombahton Forever is therefore exciting for many reasons. First, it’s a panoramic shot of the genre as it stands at this exact moment. Moombahton has evolved a fair amount since that fateful homecoming party in 2010; it’s a niche subgenre of electronic music, to be sure, but over time it has come to contain its own diverse elements. In other words, there’s more going on under the moombah hood than you might expect, and it’s all on display in this very thorough 20 track compilation. There are tracks that pay homage to the genre’s midtempo roots in cumbia and global funk. There are deep, sexy tracks that are better suited to the after party than the the club. There are rollicking bangers that recall the halfway mark of a Knife Party set. Hell, there’s even Dillon Francis. Which brings me to my next point: most of moombahton’s most stalwart players are represented on Moombahton Forever. Nadastrom, Tittsworth, Sazon Booya, Bro Safari, ETC!ETC!, Ayres, Torro Torro, Sabo, Craze, Gent & Jawns, Munchi, the aforementioned I.D.G.A.F.O.S. poster boy…the gang’s quite literally all here, and it truly feels like a big creative culmination for everybody involved.
Admittedly, there are people who may find Moombahton Forever repetitive at times, as moombahton, with its fundamental structure of high synth leads and a reggaeton bassline, can get a bit subtle in its intricacies. In fact, there is something nuanced and almost house-esque about moombahton at its very deepest — and it’s a testament to the production level on display that elements of that particular side of electronic music meld so seamlessly with elements from its more primal cousins. I personally find Moombahton Forever smoothly textured and incredibly well organized; the tracks fit together beautifully and as compilations go, it manages to establish an omnipresent unifying theme without feeling redundant. The best part? The bonus continuous mix is all you need to set off a wild, sweaty dance party in your basement.
Rating: 4/5. For best results, add Natty Boh and really good speakers. But remember: there’s only one U Street Music Hall.
Beatport: Moombahton Forever
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.
Electro-House | Delerium Ft. Michael Logan – Days Turn Into Nights (Seven Lions Remix)
Posted by Mach on December 4, 2012
Lucky Beatport to have this awesome exclusive midtempo release of Seven Lions. Seven Lions stated that Delerium has actually been a big inspiration to him, even before he was interested in electronic music. He always seems to have the best layout on his tracks for the vocals. Not that he doesn’t do a a good job on the instrumentals, it’s just his vocal placement always is that cherry on top of something already delicious.
Beatport: Delerium Ft. Michael Logan – Days Turn Into Nights (Seven Lions Remix)
Albums, Review | Rusko – KAPOW EP
Posted by Spice on November 5, 2012
And thus begins Rusko’s pledge to release all of his music for free in the wake of some very public complications with Mad Decent. Kudos to the dubstep don — always something of a rabble-rouser in the electronic music community — for taking an aggressive stand and choosing to operate outside of the system. KAPOW comes on the heels of Rusko’s rather disappointing collaboration with Cypress Hill and navigates us back to more familiar territory. However, this isn’t his best effort. There’s a funky, fizzy vibe to these tracks that at times gives fresh life to those trademark glitchy womps and wobbles (“Yeah”) but at others seems unfocused and chaotic (“Booyakasha”). The latter two tracks are fresh and bouncy — he even toys with a rollicking moombah bassline on “Like This” — but lack the measure of oomph that would otherwise take this EP to the next level. (Okay, to be fair, I’m also automatically comparing this to Bassnectar’s recent Freestyle EP, and that was a brilliant mind-melt that totally blows this out of the water.) This is a 6.5/10. Possibly a 7.
Fortunately, KAPOW is free if you “pay” with a tweet/Facebook status or sign up for Rusko’s newsletter, so there’s not really any reason not to download it. And his goal of self-promoting his music without label assistance is certainly worth supporting; if he is successful, it will be a clear indication that times are officially changing.
Download Free: Rusko – KAPOW EP
Bootleg, Progressive House | Alesso – Years (Jakob Liedholm’s Open Your Eyes Edit)
Posted by Spice on May 16, 2012
When it comes to electronic music, is there anything the Swedes can’t do? Jakob Liedholm is a 15 year-old Swedish producer whom we previously featured for his big room-ready adaptation of “Some Nights” by indie band Fun. Now, he takes Alesso’s progressive house monster “Years” and deftly ties in the vocals from “Eyes Wide Open” by Thomas Gold and Dirty South. The result? An epic, uplifting jam to get you in the right mindset for EDC this weekend (fun fact: Alesso, Dirty South, and Thomas Gold will all be there!)
If Mr. Liedholm’s past work is any indication, we can definitely expect to see big things down the road. Keep an eye on this young Swede; I’ve got a feeling he won’t disappoint.
Electro | FTampa – Time Police Ft. Troll
Posted by Mach on May 3, 2012
I believe that FTampa is one of the more underrated producers in electronic music, this bumping Electro tune is further support of that statement. This track goes hard, making for an epic dance track. Troll’s vocals remind me of the lead singer from The Killers, which is a huge plus for this track. FTampa never disappoints in my mind, get to know him.