Electro-House | Blasterjaxx – Puzzle, Show Me Remix & Faith
Posted by Middy on August 9, 2013
Alright it is time we give you all a proper introduction to one of the hottest duos coming out of, guess it, Holland. You have probably heard of them by now, and if not have almost surely heard their tracks at some point or another, either at a festival or in a live set. The duo have become understudies of Laidback Luke, Hardwell and Tiesto, seeing support from your rank and file big name DJs, with tracks like “Miami”, & “Loud & Proud” being played by DJs all over the world. They released two tracks on Monday and another not 3 weeks ago, which you can all find below. Blasterjaxx have become masters of the big-room, festival sound, but manage to make it so you know it is Blasterjaxx. They have a billion new tracks and collabs on the way, including “Fifteen” on Revealed, “That Big” with Yves V, and many more. These guys are being booked for quality European festivals and are only getting better. Look for more from them and their prodigious production rate in the future.
Events | Five Things We Can’t Wait For At Electric Zoo 2013
Posted by Spice on August 8, 2013
Summer is flying by, which is bittersweet on one hand but totally amazing on the other. Why? Because it means that we’re getting closer and closer to Electric Zoo’s blowout fifth year. If you’re not up on your EZoo life, check out our official recap video from last year and see what you missed. Yeah — it was pretty killer. Fortunately, this year is already shaping up to be bigger and better than ever for many reasons, not least of which are:
1) Two mainstages (count ’em, TWO) and an expanded festival site on Randall’s Island. More on that later.
2) A new 18 and up policy. Sorry, youths (#YOUTHS) of the world — I’m too old for your shenanigans and look forward to mingling with an older and wiser crowd. *Wheezes; testily gestures for you to GET OFF MY LAWN.*
3) A totally killer lineup — which is par for the course by EZoo’s standards. There’s lots to be excited about here, but we’ve come up with five things that we’re especially stoked for. Check ’em out after the jump.
Electro-House | Hardwell & W&W – Jumper
Posted by Middy on August 5, 2013
Will the exception of “Never Say Goodbye“, we are seeing a shift in Hardwell’s taste from a more melodic sound from years past, to something more built to the mainstages he is being billed to play. It makes sense he would sign music that would work for that type of audience, since his label is the music he wants to play. He has one of the strongest and loyalest fan bases in dance music and they will go anywhere with him, even if he decides to start making generic festival-styled house.
This collaboration between Hardwell & the unstoppable Dutch duo W&W, has been in the works for a long time and been one of the most requested IDs from both Hardwell & W&W’s sets for many months. “Jumper” relies on potent grinding saws, a thumping kick and big room interludes. With the “1,2,3, JUMP!” vocal already built in, there is no need to use some other similar vocal to implore the crowd to do what they probably were going to do anyway. It is nice to remind them that it is their job to jump though.
Beatport: Hardwell & W&W – Jumper
FYI | The DJ Mag Top 100 Poll Is Live, Thank God
Posted by Spice on July 16, 2013
Has it really only been five minutes nine months since the results of the 2012 DJ Mag Top 100 Poll? Wow. That totally flew by.
The DJ Mag poll is more than just a poll, of course; it’s an increasingly dominant internet sideshow that is about to become a larger part of your life than you’d probably like. How we’ve missed the pageantry of it all — the fervent sense of camaraderie that gets expressed through status updates (see above); the earnest pleas to our finer sensibilities (“a vote for Steve Aoki is a vote for pandas!”); the reliable kvetching from @Deadmau5 (“lol fuk this poll…even though I always crush the top 5 #whatever”); and, of course, the overwhelming sense of inevitability anticipation (spoiler alert: Armin wins in 2013). The only thing better than Shark Week is the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll!
In truth, this year’s poll is already shaping up to be even more unbearable than ever, due to two very distinct forces coming together to create a veritable perfect storm of awfulness:
1) Hashtags over everything. (Case in point: Ferry Corsten is now a hashtag on his own Facebook page.)
2) The EDM Explosion of 2010-Present — or whatever phrase du jour you, your grandmother, and/or The New York Times are using to refer to this awesome/terrible watershed moment in our musical metanarrative.
So if you think you’re in for anything more than a whole lotta this for the next three months…well, LOL, bro. That’s adorable.
Events, Videos | TommorowWorld Releases Trailer, Tickets still on Sale
Posted by Middy on June 19, 2013
It is old news now that Tomorrowland has expanded its reaches worldwide, first to the United States and possibly in the future to other parts of the world. The festival taking place between September 27-29 in Georgia has been slowly revealing its lineup, with names like Hardwell, Axwell, A-trak, Alesso, Ferry Corsten, Jamie Jones, Tiesto, Porter Robinson & Sebastian Ingrosso set to take the stage. They have just released the trailer for the festival, drawing on footage from last years Tomorrowland and using tracks from the official ambassadors, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, including two unreleased songs. Is it just me or does the last one “WeHa”, set to be the Tomorrowland anthem, sound awfully similar to “Wakanda”? Tickets are still on sale for a much more reasonable price than the $500 you will be dropping for GA at Ultra right now, so go ahead and purchase those now.
Electro-House | Autoerotique & Felix Cartal – The Alarm (Charlie Darker Remix)
Posted by Middy on June 8, 2013
Canadian producer, Charlie Darker has been slowly rising in fame and stature since he was taken under the wing of Wolfgang Gartner last year with his “Atlantic / Pacific” EP signed to Kindergarten Records. He has been busy releasing a slew of remixes and originals since then, padding a growing discography, but few compare to what he conjured up here.
Charlie Darker keeps the “alarm” sound from the original, while adding a driving low end, to give the track the power and stamina that it lacked originally. This remix saw its fair share of plays during WMC and has been heavily supported by Hardwell. This remix has already seen its fair share of support, but look for that to increase this summer. The remix will also be featured on Hardwell’s Revealed Records 4 Compilation, set to release June 21st.
Events, Review | Hardwell, Dyro, Audien & Henrix @ Governor’s Island 5/26/13
Posted by Middy on June 2, 2013
Looking back on last weekend, I think about how time flew from graduating college on Saturday afternoon, to a whirlwind celebration afterword into the wee hours of the morning, then struggling to move out entirely a few hours later to get home and make it into New York for this show on Governor’s Island by 4pm (was never going to happen). The lineup starting with Hardwell, then Dyro, Henrix and Audien was golden and if you were in New York, you had to attend this event. The city had “officially” kicked off the festival season with overpriced, lackluster EDC New York in the parking lot of Citi Field and really needed a proper start to festival season. Why not a holiday weekend like Memorial Day weekend that is the beginning of summer for many, on the beaches of Governer’s Island, with a lineup led by possibly the hottest DJ in the world right now, Hardwell.