Progressive House | Bee Gees – Tragedy (Forever Kid Remix)
Posted by A on September 12, 2013
I don’t take submissions anymore. When I receive them, I usually trash them. This new Forever Kid remix caught my attention, and rightfully so. While little is known about Forever Kid, what I do know is that they’re a Swedish production duo that are taking the blogosphere by storm with their infectious nu-disco tunes. Their take on the Bee Gee’s “Tragedy” is no exception, showcasing a nostalgic summertime sensibility that is worming its way into the mainstream. Feel the groove. Cool? Cool. Hat tip to Aaron Harper.
DOWNLOAD: Bee Gees – Tragedy (Forever Kid Remix)
Progressive House | EDX – Live My Life (Extended Vocal Mix)
Posted by Mel on August 4, 2013
Branching off slightly from his typical production style, EDX gives away a track that he made for last years EDC NY that he says crowds love. “Live My Life” is a lot more mainstream than his usual songs but it’s still a fun and catchy tune.
Free Download: EDX – Live My Life (Extended Vocal Mix)
Electro-House | Ummet Ozcan – The Cube
Posted by Middy on July 23, 2013
Living in the Netherlands, but from Turkish descent, Ummet Ozcan has found his way to forge a path in the increasingly crowded dance music landscape, where the saying “imitation is the highest form of flattery” is taken waaay too literally. His relatively new bombastic style that has helped catapult him to larger mainstream success is what you now know to be Ummet Ozcan. With “The Code” still a prominent track this summer, he has wasted no time resting on his laurels with efforts like “Here & Now“, “Airport“, and now “The Cube“. As a follow-up stylistically to “The Box“, with some updates in his current sound, Ummet Ozcan goes 3-dimentsional with this track, as he upgrades from boxes to cubes bringing his full-bodied bass lines and thunderous synth leads to this heart-racing single.
Beatport: Ummet Ozcan – The Cube
Chill, Compilation, Indie | Teen Daze – Lost Songs (30 track compilation)
Posted by Mel on June 30, 2013
I am well aware that progressive house has become generic, overplayed, mainstream, and incredibly formulaic (also stupid and fat), but I still love it. With that said, I also really enjoy slower, chill sounds. Songs that you can play while knitting a sweater for your grandmother or even just while you stand at the stove stirring that damn macaroni and cheese for 8 minutes. Songs like these are very different from house. They also aren’t as mass produced and oversaturated as house is. It is for these reasons that I was very pleased to find Fraser Valley native, Teen Daze giving away 30 of his unfinished, or “lost” songs for free. I have listened to all 30 and, for the most part, they’re all great. I will say though, I’d go with “Lost Songs 3” as my favorite compilation. The download links to the three compilations are below as well as arguably the top songs from each respective pack on Soundcloud, just to give you a taste. If the redundancy of whatever your preferred genre provides has got you looking for a breath of fresh air then this is it.
Lost Songs 1 ||| Lost Songs 2 ||| Lost Songs 3
Featured, Hip-Hop, Mixtapes | Logic – Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever [Mixtape]
Posted by Grubeats on May 7, 2013
It’s been one hell of a year for Visionary Music Group/Def Jam crooner, Logic. When you’re junior mixtape exceeds 500,000 downloads in a short years time, it’s not easy to maintain the same charisma, confidence, and quality and delivery it cohesively in a full bodied 20 track mixtape. Logic is that minority statistic, disproving critics that were convinced a major deal would lead to “sell out records”. Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever epitomizes the intersection of fluent lyricism and major mainstream production. Yes, he signed to Def Jam, but it should be noted that his core is still VMG. Logic has not changed. The team has not changed. The music has not digressed. The bank account….may have gained a few fruitful commas.
“Everybody talk about logic, no sell out
Bitch I had a deal for you before it fell out” – Logic (Tim Westwood Freestyle)
I’d give you a track by track analysis of this project, but quite honestly if I committed to that, I would be sitting here for more hours than I have. Ultimately, I’m a fan just like you. We share the same passion when listening to the music. From here I can only hope those who haven’t opened their ears to Logic do just that. Listen. I won’t tell you to play this record or play that record because it’s all personal preference. The substance and depth is consistent track to track. Yes, there are some notable features, but to be quite honest, Logic outshines them all. Enjoy the music, you’re witnesses the come up of a legendary figure.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Logic – Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever [Mixtape]
Hip-Hop, Videos | Thoughts On Drake, “Started From The Bottom” [Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on February 10, 2013
http://vimeo.com/59303531
Drake’s awareness of the divide between the substantive hip-hop of the underground scene he came up in and that of the mainstream (which he’s currently immersed in) has always fascinated me, and his success is largely due to how he’s been able to perform so well in both realms. But his ideals are changing fast. I fear that we may never get another record as honest, introspective, and meditative as So Far Gone. His first two LP’s highlighted his complexity as an artist as he produced ultimately thoughtful records, inter-spiced with pop jams that didn’t fit the rest of the album’s tone — a trend that is replicated in the majority of major releases in the present day. But with the release of “Started From the Bottom,” Drake has finally given us a single that harshly abandons his beloved idiosyncrasies and fortes—a record where his delivery is so determined to be gruff that it is unceasingly stagnant and unimaginative.
When he was starting out, he knew that in order to gain credibility he had to provide something different, so he presented himself as a beacon of honesty, and as a genuine storyteller—which, for the most part—he lived up to originally. But while he wanted to unite a passionate fan-base around this self-image, he also wanted to attract consumers of pop radio and commercial hip-hop, and it’s no secret that gangsta hip-hop has dominated the mainstream for the past two decades. Drake’s concerns have become less about his originality, and in reality, have turned to the opposite—fitting the portfolio of a hip-hop artist that has led to respect and stardom for much of the current genre-toppers. With his third album, we may finally receive the Drake that told Kate Couric that Lil Wayne was the “voice of our generation,” and whom seems more interested in what the hip-hop community thinks of his childhood than making music he can be proud of.
Drake’s new album is slated to come out this year, and I’ll be waiting to see what kind of a move he makes on his new single, but from where I stand, “Started From the Bottom” is a bold step in the wrong direction. The direction I’ve feared he’s been heading in for quite some time.
Progressive House | Paul Oakenfold & Project 46 ft. Daphne – Higher
Posted by Middy on February 8, 2013
Paul Oakenfold made his fame with heart facing, high bpm acid, psytrance, but also had the ability to successfully cross over into more mainstream genres with more of his album material. With “Higher” we see him do just that and work with Canadian producer & Dj duo Project 46 on this melodic, uplifting big room track. Daphne’s vocals are the icing on the cake for this sublime melody put together by Paul Oakenfold and Project 46.
Free Download: Paul Oakenfold & Project 46 ft. Daphne – Higher