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Long-form listening
Jun. 30th, 2016 04:58 pmI have a surprising number of sets in my open tabs. Usually I listen to a set a couple times to decide if I like it, because every set is going to have better and worse bits. That's true here as well. Not only are the sets quite varied in style but some of them contain a variety of EDM and related modern tracks that I'm sure won't be to everyone's taste. The first person who implements a "skip forward" button for streaming music is likely to make a substantial sum of money. That said, though, these are solid sets from familiar names and well worth your time.
https://soundcloud.com/westwoodrecordings/sets/defunk-stepping-out
Defunk's "Stepping Out" EP is a glitchy, thoroughly modern, interpretation of classic funk and mid-80s hip-hop ideas. For my money, "Fire in her Eyes" is the best for its melodic pieces and rhythmic variations around a common theme. Defunk is still somewhat new on the music scene, having debuted last year. If, like me, you missed his earlier work I recommend going back and picking that up, as well. I love how he drops in little samples of this and that. Some are sufficiently close to original that I can recognize them but I'm sure there are many more I'm missing.
https://soundcloud.com/djroastbeatz/shindig-2016-mix
This is DJ Roast Beatz's actual set from the Shindig weekend. You may recall my adoring the warm-up set that he did. This one is not bad but it is more hip-hop and glitchy than the other set. It's OK, but I think I had my expectation bar set pretty amazingly high by the last set.
https://soundcloud.com/djmayajakobson/sunny-deep-poolparty-maya-jakobson-dj-mix-2016
DJ Maya Jakobson put out her summer pool party set and it's worth a listen. To be honest I don't think of deep house or electro-house as particularly pool party music but maybe that just means I go to the wrong pool parties. (different pool parties?) I'm on my third listen-through and I still haven't picked out a specific favorite from this set. I'm leaning toward the Aretha Franklin remix from Sam Halabi - I'm sure you're all shocked, but I love the way she snaps that "Aye" (I) and the remix supports the vocals quite nicely.
https://soundcloud.com/michamoor/house-sounds-radioshow-may-2016
This is exactly what it says on the label - a set of European house sounds. Micha Moor is from Cologne and this set gives his take on what's hot in the house right now. I like most of what's in this set and I like getting a non-US-centric view of things but I'm unlikely to link many of these sets unless something comes along to set them apart from the standard. On this set my favorite is "Fearless" from Matt Nash, despite the annoying promo in the set. If you want to get it without promo (and with bonus lyrics) go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eE63jg9Y2A
http://www.djsteveboy.com/voiceofthemoon.html
DJ Steveboy is back with a so-called "drone" mix. I wish he'd pick a better label because drone isn't something I'd normally like listening to, but here we have about an hour and 20 of very relaxing aural wallpaper, mostly prog-house. Because the point of a drone mix is to keep the tempo and sounds similar it's hard to pick out one favorite. In addition, I've learned over the years that Steve mixes the tunes as he builds his sets. He's not just playing one track after another. You can find most of the component tracks on Beatport, but don't be surprised if they sound subtly different there.
https://soundcloud.com/westwoodrecordings/sets/defunk-stepping-out
Defunk's "Stepping Out" EP is a glitchy, thoroughly modern, interpretation of classic funk and mid-80s hip-hop ideas. For my money, "Fire in her Eyes" is the best for its melodic pieces and rhythmic variations around a common theme. Defunk is still somewhat new on the music scene, having debuted last year. If, like me, you missed his earlier work I recommend going back and picking that up, as well. I love how he drops in little samples of this and that. Some are sufficiently close to original that I can recognize them but I'm sure there are many more I'm missing.
https://soundcloud.com/djroastbeatz/shindig-2016-mix
This is DJ Roast Beatz's actual set from the Shindig weekend. You may recall my adoring the warm-up set that he did. This one is not bad but it is more hip-hop and glitchy than the other set. It's OK, but I think I had my expectation bar set pretty amazingly high by the last set.
https://soundcloud.com/djmayajakobson/sunny-deep-poolparty-maya-jakobson-dj-mix-2016
DJ Maya Jakobson put out her summer pool party set and it's worth a listen. To be honest I don't think of deep house or electro-house as particularly pool party music but maybe that just means I go to the wrong pool parties. (different pool parties?) I'm on my third listen-through and I still haven't picked out a specific favorite from this set. I'm leaning toward the Aretha Franklin remix from Sam Halabi - I'm sure you're all shocked, but I love the way she snaps that "Aye" (I) and the remix supports the vocals quite nicely.
https://soundcloud.com/michamoor/house-sounds-radioshow-may-2016
This is exactly what it says on the label - a set of European house sounds. Micha Moor is from Cologne and this set gives his take on what's hot in the house right now. I like most of what's in this set and I like getting a non-US-centric view of things but I'm unlikely to link many of these sets unless something comes along to set them apart from the standard. On this set my favorite is "Fearless" from Matt Nash, despite the annoying promo in the set. If you want to get it without promo (and with bonus lyrics) go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eE63jg9Y2A
http://www.djsteveboy.com/voiceofthemoon.html
DJ Steveboy is back with a so-called "drone" mix. I wish he'd pick a better label because drone isn't something I'd normally like listening to, but here we have about an hour and 20 of very relaxing aural wallpaper, mostly prog-house. Because the point of a drone mix is to keep the tempo and sounds similar it's hard to pick out one favorite. In addition, I've learned over the years that Steve mixes the tunes as he builds his sets. He's not just playing one track after another. You can find most of the component tracks on Beatport, but don't be surprised if they sound subtly different there.
