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A Groovelectric selection
Feb. 23rd, 2018 11:35 amI had some time to go through back archives of Groovelectric and picked out three mixes for a special music post. DJ Steveboy does a lot of things and like any sets there are going to be better and worse tracks but I wanted to highlight the consistently high quality of his production work. He's doing a lot more than just sticking tracks together end-to-end, and the styles vary quite a bit. I'm still most drawn to the "new old funk" material that got me listening in the first place, but there's a lot more here and I encourage you at least to sign up for his newsletter to get notified of new mixes being released.
www.groovelectric.com/trancegressive.html
Trancegressive is just what it says on the label - trance, trance, and more trance. High energy, low vocals, great driving background music for working out or just getting through the workday. I tend to favor more vocal trance in general but that can be attention-grabbing as I follow the voices - particularly some of the operatic-trained singers that European DJs work with. This mix has some vocal elements in tracks, but they're all harmonics, down in the mix, and don't call out for attention. It's just BPM and move-with-me-now urgency.
http://www.groovelectric.com/circuitjam.html
Circuit Jam is a tech-house set. Given Boyett's preference it leans heavily on the funky side of tech, which is just fine by me. This leads to a less-energetic, lower-BPM feel than the trance set, but also gives it room to play around with more styles, instruments, and vocal passages. There are definite Afro-tribal influences in places, and where the trance set used vocals mostly for harmonies, several of the tracks here use chopped and styled vocals as an instrument in its own right. I particularly like the ending of this one - it's got a 'sunrise' feel to it that I find uplifting.
http://www.groovelectric.com/truenorth.html
True North is a much more atmospheric piece than the previous two. It's not exactly "weird" electronica but where Circuit Jam has tribal influences, this one has extended passages of electro-tribal stuff. It's obvious knob-twisting in places, but it doesn't descend into the annoying bleepy-bloopy things that turn me off with a lot of electronica. That may be because it keeps the core rhythms going and lets the electronica sounds float above them, rather than just being harsh noises to my ears.
www.groovelectric.com/trancegressive.html
Trancegressive is just what it says on the label - trance, trance, and more trance. High energy, low vocals, great driving background music for working out or just getting through the workday. I tend to favor more vocal trance in general but that can be attention-grabbing as I follow the voices - particularly some of the operatic-trained singers that European DJs work with. This mix has some vocal elements in tracks, but they're all harmonics, down in the mix, and don't call out for attention. It's just BPM and move-with-me-now urgency.
http://www.groovelectric.com/circuitjam.html
Circuit Jam is a tech-house set. Given Boyett's preference it leans heavily on the funky side of tech, which is just fine by me. This leads to a less-energetic, lower-BPM feel than the trance set, but also gives it room to play around with more styles, instruments, and vocal passages. There are definite Afro-tribal influences in places, and where the trance set used vocals mostly for harmonies, several of the tracks here use chopped and styled vocals as an instrument in its own right. I particularly like the ending of this one - it's got a 'sunrise' feel to it that I find uplifting.
http://www.groovelectric.com/truenorth.html
True North is a much more atmospheric piece than the previous two. It's not exactly "weird" electronica but where Circuit Jam has tribal influences, this one has extended passages of electro-tribal stuff. It's obvious knob-twisting in places, but it doesn't descend into the annoying bleepy-bloopy things that turn me off with a lot of electronica. That may be because it keeps the core rhythms going and lets the electronica sounds float above them, rather than just being harsh noises to my ears.
