Friday, September 30, 2011

Above and Beyond - I'm Weak in the Knees


I can safely attribute my current infatuation with the electronic dance scene to Above & Beyond.  Back in 2010, I witnessed Tony, Paavo, and Jono control the hearts of 60,000 people on the main stage at Electric Daisy Carnival.  Not many acts of any kind can make a crowd feel as connected to each other and to the performers as Above & Beyond did that night.  Also, they completely blew Armin out of the water who had the unfortunate duty of playing afterwards.



They boys of A&B recently announced they will be releasing the 9th volume of their iconic Anjunabeats series in November.  Considering that I've listened to Volume 8 all the way through (that's two discs, mind you) at least 20 times, I'm giddy to say the least.  According to the announcement, the compilation will include "predominantly unreleased" material.  I'm hoping they include the new Mat Zo and Arty collaboration they dropped at Electric Zoo.  The last Mat Zo - Arty collab, Rebound, is still a staple of my trance sets and continues to wreck dance floors all over 6 months after its release.  Keep an eye on this one, it's gonna be big.

You can check out the full announcement here: Anjunabeats Volume 9 Announcement

In honor of the announcement, here are a few new uplifters from some Anjunabeats artists.  Enjoy responsibly.

Mark Eteson Feat. Audrey Gallagher - Breathe On My Own (Daniel Kandi Remix)
When I wake up in the morning, i roll over, open my laptop, and put on this song.  I'm a trance nerd what about it.

Mat Zo - Frequency Flyer
Mat Zo is one of Anjuna's prodigy kids.  He's a motherfucking wunderkind.  This is his new single which just got its release on the label.

Jaytech - New Vibe
I'll admit, I never really liked Jaytech much.  But the chord progression on this one is tasty nom nom nom.

If you like this kind of music, check out Above and Beyond's Trance Around The World podcast.  2 hours of trancey goodness each and every week of the year.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Meowingtons!!!


Pictured above is the most famous kitty cat in all EDM.  It's name is Meowingtons, and Joel Zimmerman AKA Deadmau5 is his proud owner.  Joel is just getting underway with his new tour, appropriately named The Meowington's Hax Tour.  He's unleashing a whole new live set up featuring more cubes, a full LED wall, and not to mention new jamzzzz.  I had the pleasure of seeing Deadmau5 and his Meowington's Hax set up at Outsidelands Festival in San Francisco back in August, and let me tell you it is incredible.  He threw down a mashup of Harder Better Faster Stronger and his new epic, Professional Griefers, accompanied by some brutal industrial visuals, that smashed my brain into the dirt.  A couple weeks ago he dropped an EP on beatport with a few of the songs that he and his supporting acts (Excision, Zedd, and Tommy Lee and DJ Aero) will be playing on their tour.  I've included a few here.  Enjoy.



Deadmau5 throwing down Professional Griefers / Harder Better Faster Stronger.  Can't wait for him to release this one.


Rave Bear Bonus!!!

Wolfgang Gartner - The Way It Was
Listen to this and try and tell me Wolfgang isn't channeling Deadmau5.  It's straight up Mau5-steez.  Doesn't mean it doesn't slap.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Making a shitty song better


Coldplay's new song, Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, is dismall.  Viva La Vida was a big guilty pleasure album for me, but after hearing a couple songs from the new album I can say that my excitement for its release has reached an ultimate low point.  Luckily, two of house music's heaviest hitters, SHM and Avicii, took it upon themselves to remix this pile of shit and turn it into something beautiful.  The SHM remix will be coming out on their upcoming live album, "One Night Stand," and who knows about Avicii's.  Considering that he still hasn't officially released Levels, I wouldn't be surprised if it never comes out at all.

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (Avicii Tour Remix) - Coldplay

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (Swedish House Mafia Remix) - Coldplay

Monday, September 26, 2011

X-Treme Mainstream RemiXXX Mondays


Each and every monday I'll bring you a refreshing dose of easily enjoyed remixes of top 40 tracks.  Luckily you'll know all the words to the tracks already, because you'll have heard them over the weekend and either been drunk enough to sing along, or sat in the back with your too-cool friends and talked about how shitty they were.  Either way, you're sure to enjoy these productions now that they've been put through the electro meat grinder.

Sexy and I Know It (Mord Fustang Remix) - LMFAO
Mord Fustang lays of the complextro for a minute and takes some inspiration from Deadmau5.  Deep bass and some syncopated synth accents lead nicely into mord's signature melodies.  this one is rockin.

Someone Like You (Jonathen Gering Remix) - Adele
I love the original.  Adele is probably the most deserving of popular artists on the radio right now.  The relative unknown Jonathen Gering takes this track and gives it a slightly progressive feel, combined with the electro side chained melodies I haven't heard since 2008.

Without You (R3hab Remix) - David Guetta ft. Usher
D Guetta's orginal is a huge guilty pleasure of mine at the moment, and I actually opened with it in a set I played this weekend.  Afrojack's protegĂ© and Wall records signing R3hab destroys it (in the best of ways) and turns up the dirty.

All Black Everything (Jay Fay Remix) - Soulja Boy
Soulja gets a moombahton rework

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Electro House Yum Yums



Electro House reminds me of the candy of the electronic music world.  It's easy to like, it comes in all shapes in sizes, it's got chewy tones.  And you can digest lots and lots of it and still want more.  Here's a few new ones I've been nomming on lately from the likes of Porter Robinson, Dada Life, and Knife Party. Keep an eye out for Knife Party in the coming months, as I'm sure they're destined for big things.  They recently had their first show at Space in Ibiza opening for the Mau5.  Their first show.  And now they're putting out a collaboration with Swedish House Mafia.  Talk about a meteoric rise.


David Guetta - Little Bad Girl (Dada Life Guerrilla Fart #13)
As Dada Life described it, they put this track through the meat grinder.  Nomnomnom.


Lady Gaga - Edge of Glory (Porter Robinson Remix)
This one is best listened to on enormous speakers.  And make sure you listen all the way to the second drop, it gets injected with pcp.


Knife Party - Internet Friends
This song is still unreleased, so this download is for some shitty rip/edit that someone made, but its defintitely a good preview.


Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party - Antidote
SHM does some wobble.



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Steve Angelloooo


As far as I can tell, this guy is a huge dick.  First off, he just looks like an asshole.  Secondly, he's always stroking his own ego during Swedish House Mafia shows yelling for people to cheer for the Swedish House Mafia.  Thirdly, if you've ever seen the short documentary Take One that was featured on the Until One Compilation, he's always being an entitled bitch to everyone he talks to.

That being sad, he makes some rad music.  He helped to produce arguably the biggest house track of the current electronic boom (SHM's One).  He slays it live, both by himself and as a part of Swedish House Mafia.  He's got a smorgasbord of Beatport chart toppers under his belt including the anthem KNAS that tore shit up last spring.  And to top it off, he's head honcho at Size Records, which has been putting out killer house tracks from the likes of AN21, Max Vangeli, and Tim Mason, and himself.

He recently dropped his edit of Kendo for free on his facebook, but you can just download it here instead and you won't have to give that asshole Steve all your e-mail information.

Nari and Milani - Kendo (Steve Angello's Size Matters Edit)

Rave Bear Classic Pick Yo:

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Steve Angello Edit)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Weekend In America


Wolfgang Gartner, the reigning champ in Electro House music, released his debut album today.  I'm giddy.  After productions like Undertaker and Illmerica, it's pretty clear that whatever Wolfgang touches will be golden.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the album includes a lot of tracks I have yet to hear.   Here are a few early winners, and one of Wolfgang's tracks from the vault that refuses to stop smashing your brain against the interior of your skull.

Wolfgang Gartner - Shrunken Heads

Wolfgang Gartner - The Champ

Rave Bear Classic Pick Yo:

Wolfgang Gartner - Clap

The Rave Bear at Electric Zoo



I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce a good friend of mine, the rave bear, who will be accompanyinng me on this journey to uncover and share dilectable electronic songs.  Hopefully he'll be joining me on trips to raves and clubs and festivals far into the future.  Recently, we found ourselves on Randall's Island in new york surrounded by college kids and guidos all raging on mdma to a ridiculously stacked lineup of dance music vets and new comers, including the likes of Armin, D Guetta, Tiesto, Afrojack, A&B, Porter Robinson, Rusko, Calvin Harris, Moby, Sidney Samson, Fake Blood, Jack Beats... the list goes on and on.  The rave bear and I had an great time to say the least.  Considering how good the lineup was, we had to get there early every day and dance late into the evening, and I rarely stopped jumping.  Unfortunately, I know have shin splints.  But it was well fucking worth it.  After much discussion, the rave bear and I have decided that these were our favorite (and oftentimes most overplayed) songs of the festival.

Arty - Kate

Dada Life - Happy Violence

Alesso vs. Coldplay - Fix You(r) Pressure (East and Young Mashup)

Alesso and Sebastian Ingrosso - Calling

Porter Robinson - Unison

Unleash The Scary Side - Felguk Mashup

Monday, September 19, 2011

Introduction


If you didn't already know, we are currently in the midst of a second renaissance in electronic dance music.  Between the infiltration of dance music into music genres as diverse as indie rock and pop, 100,000 person mega raves, and incredible leeps in the quality of the music, it is undeniable that electronic dance music is a phenomon that will not be going away any time soon.  Personally, I find the culture fascinating and the music hypnotizing beyond anything I have ever heard.  There is something about the 4/4 beats, the dity, bit-crushed bass lines, the uplifting chord stabs and the brain shattering builds that takes you to a place no other music can.  Not only is the music beautiful, it brings people together for cathardic experiences and downright human interactions that deserve serious investigation and contemplation.  Humans have created something truly remarkable in modern electronic dance music.  Something that is so far from natural - a type of music made using computers, listened to and experienced over speakers and in the company of lights, lasers, and designer drugs - but what this manifests from this concoction is one of the most human things I have ever experienced.  This is a brand of music made to celebrate life.  Fuck yeah humans.