DJ-Set, Progressive House | Weekend Mixes Year End Edition
Posted by Middy on December 28, 2012
It is that time of the year, when the calendar fast approaches a new year and DJs give us reflective mixes on the music that they felt were the biggest tracks of the year. It is only December 28th, so the pickings are somewhat slim on these sets, but I couldn’t leave you guys hanging on this weekend, so here are the sets out now. We start things off with the 2012 retrospective episode of The Drop that mixes in 56 songs in 2 hours including their top 5 of the year (spoiler alert we agree with 2 of the songs). Next up are not one but TWO year end mixes from Laidback Luke, one being his own famous year end mix with its dizzying quick transitions averaging packing 70 songs into 70 minutes and then his mix for his imprint Mixmash records that only has a pedestrian 44 tracks in 70 minutes. Next up is Moiez and his year end mix that takes us through some of the biggest tracks of the year ranging from W&W’s “Lift Off” to DubVision’s remix of Committed to Sparkle Motion”. After the jump we have mixes from First State that mixes in 76 songs in 2 hours, the December mix from Dannic that includes a whole host of unreleased and exclusive tracks, a half hour mix from Jakob Liedholm that includes his now IDed track with Henrix “Close Your Eyes” that has been haunting me for the past several months and the 4th edition of Dzeko & Torres Rave’N podcast with some exclusive bootlegs and edits.
Laidback Luke 2012 Year End Mix
Progressive House | Zedd Feat. Foxes – Clarity (Moiez Remix)
Posted by Middy on December 2, 2012
Ever since Zedd released the acapella to “Clarity”, the remixes have been coming in in droves. Now we present the remix from none other then the young Canadian producer Moiez. Moiez gives the Zedd & Porter Robinson co-produced track a total makeover, keeping the Foxes signature vocals, while adding a fast paced electro drop, subtle pitched synths and the choral element we saw in the original. Overall, a stellar remix in what should be just the beginning of many remixes for “Clarity” and yet another quality effort from Moiez.
Free Download: Zedd Feat. Foxes – Clarity (Moiez Remix)
Hip-Hop | Huey Mack – Clarity (Remix)
Posted by LoffyG on November 12, 2012
It’s has been a while since we last heard a new track from WV native Huey Mack. Wait no further because he’s back, and he brings us a remix dropping some relationship infused bars over Zedd’s recently released track “Clarity“, which featured Foxes. Grab the download below and catch Huey in select cities on the Nothing Back Mini Tour.
DOWNLOAD: Huey Mack – Clarity (Remix)
Events, Review | Zedd & Porter Robinson Poseidon Tour Makes Waves in NYC
Posted by Middy on October 7, 2012
The concept of this tour was unique to begin with. Back to Back sets seem to be a dying art as many DJs are given their set time, play it and let the next guy step up and do their thing. It is planned this way and there is little room for flexibility. There is always the surprise guest who hops on for a little, which may be more frequent in Ibiza or during events like WMC or ADE, but in general B2B is not too common, especially for a prolonged tour. I saw a B2B2B in Toulouse in January with Michael Calfan, Adrian Lux and Jesse Voorn where there as a relatively fluid change from one artist to but you could still tell the difference between each of them. With Zedd & Porter, they had the chemistry on stage of a duo who had been together for several years. They didn’t really play a traditional B2B, taking turns on the decks, instead they acted more as duo, both working the decks simultaneously. Porter seemed to be the dominant force choosing the majority of the songs, which made sense since Porter is a very skilled DJ, but Zedd still had his say throughout the night.
The night started with a good opening set from DJ Gian that gave way to OWSLA man Nick Thayer. Nick Thayer brought a eclectic array of different genres from trap to dubstep to electro and straight hip hop. He made the most of his 1:30, keeping tracks for only a minute or two before mixing into another, keeping the crowd on their toes. He started with a bang with the discovery remix of the year by Torro Torro of “Go Deep” that also saw a play later from Zedd & Porter and then moved through a heavy list of eclectic electro and dubstep. Towards the end of his set he played a trio of “Empire State of Mind”, much to the delight of the crowd, the classic “Party Up” from DMX and even “Baby Got Back”.
Albums, Review | Zedd – Clarity (Album Review)
Posted by Middy on October 2, 2012
German Anton Zaslavski, better known to the music world as Zedd has started off this October flush with album releases with his debut 10 track album “Clarity”. Zedd has been hailed as one the big innovators of complextro and creating his own unique niche within the EDM scene. With this album we see him depart from that a bit and move to what we had seen in the infallible June release “Spectrum” with Matthew Koma. The album features two tracks that we are already familiar with, “Spectrum” and “Shave It”, which we will see its grinding synth line in other tracks on the album including, fittingly “Stache”, “Epos” and vaguely in the opening track “Hourglass”. Artist albums recently have become a place to showcase new and old singles with additional tracks that have a tendency to not be as good as the singles. Zedd breaks that trend and keeps keeps much of his best work for the grand finale with 80% of the album being totally new and only “Shave It” being “old”.
The album is ripe with high profile vocalists from One Reupblic’s Ryan Tedder, known in the Dance Music community for his work on “Calling (Lose My Mind)”, Ellie Goulding (no doubt Skrillex hooked that up), Heather Bright who has worked with Laidback Luke and Savoy. The high proportion of vocalists is a marked and welcome change in Zedd’s sound, as it gives some of the more melodic tracks on the album more texture and a more balanced sound. “Lost At Sea” with Ryan Tedder combines Daft Punk influences with an infectious, uplifting melody and a euphoric topline, carried by Ryan Tedder and aided by a rising piano motif. The next track “Clarity” featuring the Foxes on vocals and Porter Robinson & Matthew Koma aiding in the writing, fits perfectly as the title track, taking the gorgeous melody and layering it over a subtle grinding synth line gives us the hint of we have always known from Zedd. Look for these two to become hits.
Dubstep, Progressive House, Trance, Videos | EDM Video Round-Up – August 2012
Posted by Spice on August 24, 2012
It has recently come to my attention that a number of important videos have dropped this month and we’ve done virtually nothing to acknowledge them. Well, it ends tonight. First up we’ve got one of the coolest and most innovative things I think I’ve ever seen — the video for Mat Zo’s “The Sky” — which gives you an insane, beautiful, jaw-dropping, stomach-clenching, how-the-hell-did-they-even-get-this-footage look into BASE jumping. This video is mind blowing from start to finish, and the fact that all of the gorgeously filmed madness is set to Mat Zo’s equally gorgeous showstopper of a track makes the entire situation that much better. If you do one thing on Fresh New Tracks tonight, watch this video. It’s absolutely incredible and you won’t regret it.
Moving on: see what Madeon, Zedd, Skrillex, and the rest of the gang have been up to after the jump… READ ON >>
Dubstep, Electro-House, Progressive House, Trance | Zedd – Spectrum EP
Posted by Spice on July 31, 2012
I hope you’re not sick of hearing “Spectrum,” because the full remix package is finally out and it delivers everything you could possibly want and more. So let’s just run right on down the list….after the jump, because there’s a lot going on here.