drwex: (VNV)
Been a while since I did a music post. There are a few open tabs - mostly different kinds of house tracks - but the real reason for doing this post now is the last item on the list. Yes, I'm making you wait, or encouraging you to jump ahead, as you wish.

https://soundcloud.com/housemusic/audio-bastardz-lets-git-ill
Audio Bastardz serve up a thumping electro-house track.with hip-hop vocals over high-energy dance rhythms. It's been a while since I was motivated to blog a straight-up house tune but this banger caught my ears at the right time.

https://soundcloud.com/the-homognic-chaos/epic-california-centuries-mashup-by-the-homogenic-chaosmp3
The Homogenic Chaos (yes, that's what he calls himself) offers up a California-themed mash. I can't count the number of tracks in this short mix but all have some connection to the state of CA, either by lyric, song theme, or identification of the artist with the state. It's an interesting conceit and a fun mash.

https://soundcloud.com/deejaytrademark/through-the-storm-alesso-x-tritonal-x-bastille-x-mako
Another new name - deejaytrademark from Chicago - offers up a very smooth four-way mash. I like this particularly because it's built around "Anchor" from Tritonal (https://soundcloud.com/tritonalmusic/anchor) a nice prog-house/vocal track from last fall that gets sampled a lot but not really well used in most of the mashes I've heard so far. This track uses a lot of the Anchor vocals and mixes them up and down through the other three tracks. It ends up with a really uplifting feel.

https://soundcloud.com/demslackers/elastic-heart-dem-slackers-bootleg
Dem Slackers contribute something they call a "tropical house" dance track version of Sia's "Elastic Heart". THe original is much more electro-pop and sparser. Dem Slackers have filled in the spaces and though the track still respects Sia's vocals it doesn't ride solely on them.

https://soundcloud.com/beatsantique/we-swarm-the-glitch-mob-beats
After I posted the Beats Antique cover last time, MizA sent me a list of related tracks that included this gem. It's B.A. remixing The Glitch Mob's "We Swarm" which is from their debut album. It's interesting to listen to it now and hear again how the Mob's style has evolved. Meanwhile, this track has those luscious horn sounds and dance beats that I love from Beats Antique. Two great tastes that taste great together.

https://soundcloud.com/mashupgermany/mashup-germany-promo-mix-2015-reboot-summer
If there was anyone among you who still doesn't know why I think Mashup Germany is the best, most underrated mashup artist playing today, give this a list. This is nothing less than a 100-minute flying, swirling mixing mash set. Like any set it has stronger and weaker moments but I'm amazed Mashup Germany is able to keep the transitions and mixes going for that long. I can't imagine trying to do something like this in real time and I wonder how long it takes him to plan it out. It's utterly brilliant.
drwex: (VNV)
I never managed to get the second music post done before heading to Arisia (about which more in a separate entry). Here is the second post, collecting some of the better electronic dance tracks from the past year. This is all going to be house, trance, and vocal dance. Most of these are independent artists who sell through Beatport and don't have big label support. If you like their stuff please buy the tracks.

https://soundcloud.com/nervomusic/r3hab-nervo-ummet-ozcan-1
First of two from Ummet Ozcan (https://www.ummetozcan.com/) who has been working with some of the biggest names in house music. I've heard a couple mixes of this "Revolution" and I like this vocal mix best. It's not terribly sophisticated in either the music or vocals, but it's a good solid high-energy dance track.

https://soundcloud.com/ummetozcan/ummet-ozcan-superwave-original-mixout-now
Second Ozcan track for compare-and-contrast. This one lacks the smooth vocals and has a more energetic high-BPM style. I like it for its variety of styles - it's almost a sampler. I also like that Ozcan is willing to drop the volume and not try to blast everything out as loud as possible. There are plenty of loud passages, but it's not all the same thing.

https://soundcloud.com/vicetone/united-we-dance
Vicetone's "United We Dance" was apparently written for a movie soundtrack, so it's more ?compressed? tonally than a full club mix would be. That's not bad - you get a sense for how music can be built to leave spaces others can fill in. This is also prime remix material.

https://soundcloud.com/protocolrecordings/tritonal-paris-blohm-ft
Speaking of remixes you can find probably dozens of remixes of "Colors" - it was one of the bigger tracks of 2014. This version is more spare and really features the piano bits more than most mixes. I am not as fond of the non-vocal thumpa-thumpa bits but it's worth giving a listen.

https://soundcloud.com/porter-robinson/lionhearted-arty-remix
Continuing our theme of interesting piano and vocal bits, here is the "Arty Remix" of "Lionhearted" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgKDu5pp_fU). The original is much rougher and louder - this remix keeps the underlying track's energy but smooths and mellows the edges.

https://soundcloud.com/doornrecords/sander-van-doorn-firebeatz
I was intrigued by this track because guitars usually don't feature in EDM tracks. To be perfectly honest they're not all that big a deal here, either. Not in the way you'd hear guitars taking most of the load in a rock&roll track, for example. That said, there are some interesting bits where you can hear the guitars doing their thing and it's nice to see people trying different approaches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhkD47AauNQ
Here is AVB spinning Dash Berlin's "Shelter" at the Amsterdam Music Festival. This is the Photographer remix, which makes much better use of Roxanne Emery's vocals than any other mix I've heard. Unlike the Revolution track I started this set with, the vocals here are much more complex and interesting - this sort of thing is what first got me into vocal trance and I'm glad some people are still making these kinds of tracks.
drwex: (pogo)
Another cancelled meeting, another music post.

https://soundcloud.com/florrie/florrie-live-a-little
I was fond of Florrie's single when I heard it last month; unfortunately much of what she has uploaded on Soundcloud so far is pretty bog-standard dance tracks with typical pop beats and catchy riffs (see for example "Shot You Down" - https://soundcloud.com/florrie/shot-you-down). This one, "Live a Little", is at least somewhat different, with a nice horn sound and some scratch in the mix as well as pacing changes.

https://soundcloud.com/sebwax/kavinskyversusphoenix
I've been listening to Sebwax's stuff off and on trying to find something to pick out and this one keeps coming back to me though it's a year old. He's doing the same trick of taking one instrumental and one acapella track and overlaying them. The orchestration and richness of this mix appeal to me - the vocals are played way down in a way that makes me think of a movie score.

https://soundcloud.com/djschmolli/shut-up-brooklyn-sandman
I keep thinking I've heard this mash before - it was first put out in 2009 - but if so I forgot to post it. The elements are classic Schmolli - Beastie Boys and Metallica - with help from Ting Tings and a few samples. It's a little rough around the edges, but a lot of fun.

https://soundcloud.com/tritonalmusic/colors
This track has appeared in a couple of DJ sets lately and I can see why - it's beautiful vocal trance but featuring a male vocalist rather than the more traditional female voice. If I have a complaint it's that the instruments aren't up to the quality of the vocals. Tritonal and Paris Blohm throw in a few prog-house riffs but really don't do much with the track. I want more drops, swoops, sustains... something. I'm sure there are remixes out there; I just need to find them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkvOLB7Yzhs
I've played this almost daily since I saw their show and it's still great. Glitch Mob, featuring Aja Volkman (of Nico Vega), doing "Our Demons". They did this track as part of their show, with some great improvised drum riffs thrown in. The video doesn't capture how thunderingly awesome this can be in person.

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