A bit of an oldie here from 2014; the faultless Hercules and the Love Affair shine once again on a full Defected digital release with the 7 track EP - Do You Feel the Same. The track pulses with an acid tinged bass-line, and throwback chords, featuring shimmering vocals from Gustaph.
Highlights of the E.P include the Purple Disco Machine Remix, who slow the tempo down and give the track a deep disco swagger. The atmosphere builds patiently until eventually some divine piano chords create a celestial crescendo at the bridge.
Elsewhere, the Todd Terry remix brings a techno nastiness to the fray and 6th Borough Project strip back and add some ghetto - acid charm. The real talent here is HATLA's ability to consistently refresh classic house sounds and make them sound as exciting and relevant as ever.
T Williams here, with a heavy garage remix of, Louisiana singer-songwriter, Mikky Ekko's 2012 track.
RACKNRUIN - Mark Two
Black Butter Records have just uploaded a heap of tracks, all in one place, on soundcloud. A lot of the tracks are FREE. Check out the sound of Black Butter here. A favourite out of the batch is Mark Two from RacknRuin,a deep house cut from the jungle producer. Although different to his older Zinc-ish, nu-jungle releases, Mark Two still brings a big bassy swagger.
2012 has had some serious tunes and some seriously exciting producers coming to the forefront. I've particularly enjoyed the British contingent; producers like Huxley and Julio Bashmore and labels like Hypercolour and Wolf Music have crossed over and brought the British bass scene to new listeners. I'm throwing in a few end of year lists throughout the month, which highlight the tracks I couldn't get enough of this year.
TOP 5 REMIXES
1. STORM QUEEN - Look Right Through(MKDON'T TALK TO ME DUB)Released - February Quite simply, a TUNE. Released on Defected at the start of the year, MK worked his magic and produced his best work of the year IMO. Old school, distinctive, and classy. MK is the house master.
2. Jessie Ware - Running (DISCLOSURE REMIX) Released - April
A massive remix that made 2012 Disclosure's year. Uplifting and unique; the throwback chords and funked up rhythm make the track impossible not to enjoy.
3. Maxxi Soundsystem - Stella's Way(HUXLEY REMIX) Released - October
A bad-ass descending bass-line, subtle chords and a touch of class from Huxley.
4. JUSTIN MARTIN - Don't Go (DUSKY REMIX) Released - October Dusky transforms the delicate, twinkly original with a deep, pulsating bass-line that fuses house and garage to maximum affect.
5. JESSIE WARE - No To Love (GEORGE FITZGERALD MIX) Released - November Driving, peak time techno tinged bomb
Runner's Up
Lana Del Ray - Video Games (Joy Orbison Remix)
Kim-Ann Foxman - Return It (Populette Remix)
Shenoda - Moments (Huxley Remix)
Justin Martin - Ghetto's and Gardens (Bachelors of Science D&B Remix)
Justin Martin/Leroy Peppers - Riding Spaceships (Shadow Child 'In Search of 94' Mix)
Lana Del Ray - Ride (Photek Remix)
Clean Bandit are a DIY electronic, instrumental group from London with a really fresh, unique sound. A&E is fantastic swagger-pop; completely British sounding and delightfully eccentric. All the instruments are played by REAL MUSICIANS (saywhat?!), there is no Ableton or Logic as far as I know and the vocalists are members of a community singing group who the core band members found. Oh, and they also made this brilliant video themselves. Lovely.
Proving once again, why Zinc is still at the top of his game in providing dance-floor fillers, Only For Tonight is just that. Although Zinc has his detractors for his slightly more commercial tracks, you can't deny the catchiness and simple joy gained from his wobbly, dance-floor bombs. Sure to be everywhere; proper festive banger.
If you've not listened to Justin Martin's Ghetto's & Garden's album yet, then please get on it. It's a unique fun-filled journey through booty-bass, dn'b, dubstep, deep house and everything in between. A remix album dropped in October, which I featured on here. It included the bumpin' house remix of Don't Go by Dusky which has topped a few charts recently. Well, Justin Martin is set to drop another remix album pretty soon. This remix by Shadow Child is going to be on there, but we will have to wait for the full track because this is only a snippet. The original was a slow booty bass burner, but Shadow Child has gloriously dropped a HUGE breakbeat line throughout, giving the whole track a mad, atmospheric old skool sound
Fresh off the back of last months successful ZYLO E.P, Woz offers up a huge tune as a FREE DOWNLOAD. Download Origin and get a taste of Woz's fresh, big-bass vibes.
Lana Del Ray - Ride (Photek Remix)
First off, I really, really like Lana Del Ray. I like her drama, and her videos; her voice and style. Ride is a track featured on the re-release of her Born To Die album, with a fucking brilliant video reminiscent of an 80s road movie. There are several remixes floating around by high profile DJ's but it's, original dub-stepper, Photek's re-work that has caused the most of a stir. He strips back the track with a simple piano line and gentle bass and makes it sound like it should have sounded to begin with.
Jessie Ware - No To Love (George FitzGerald Remix)
George FitzGerald
Berlin based British DJ, George FitzGerald had added himself to the list of quality producers remixing Jessie Ware tracks recently. Disclosure's remix of Running got the ball rolling and now FitzGerald has produced a brilliant, Chicago-infused club banger. Ware's vocals are emotive and intense, and the production has a bumpin', techno darkness to it; it's going to be huge. FitzGerald is surely going to be one to watch in 2013, after cementing his name in 2012. He started out producing 2-step tracks for Scuba's Hotflush label, but his latest material, such as the huge Child E.P, has a depth of sound that embodies Chicago, garage and house.
Dirtybird release Ghettos & Gardens received a lot of hype over the summer, and deservedly so. Justin Martin's ability to twist through different styles in such a playful way, has led to this first remix instalment, with big names in house, bass and dn'b chomping at the bit to put their own stamp on Martin's eclectic tracks.
Dusky gives the gorgeous, stripped back "Don't Go" more bass and bite, and Danny Daze is on hand to give standout deep house track "The Gurner" a mean bassline. Elsewhere, title track "Ghettos & Gardens" gets an excellent dn'b makeover from Bachelors of Science, who utilise that big, big bassline drop to maximum effect. Dirtybird release Ghettos & Gardens Remixes Vol.1 on Oct 16th.
Ghetto's and Garden's (dirtybird) is officially amazing. A full-length album worth listening to, all the way through; the soundtrack to your summer. The way Martin combines twee little harmonies and melodies, with bad-ass booty bass is killer. The sheer range of styles is so refreshing; from the excellent dub-step n' string infused remix of Goldie's classic Kemistry, to the classic hip-hop sound of Lezgo VIP, to the deep-funk vibes of The Gurner, a collab with ultra-cool VisionQuest dudes PillowTalk.
This cool bundle complete with 40oz liquor bag, only available in America. Damn!
There are a lot of great remixes floating around at the moment and this, from MJ Cole, is no exception. This track is equally intense, dramatic,blissed out and soulful. A pulsing beat becomes a platform for Woon's smooth vocals and some dramatic staccato strings.
