I came across this track earlier in the week whilst browsing Beatport and it stuck in my head. Now I know we’ve already heard ‘We No Speak Americano’ a million times this year but this struck a chord with me for some reason. There have been many copycat tracks over the last year in this vein but these records still keep getting played which I guess means that the public still likes them. Milk and Sugar ‘(‘Let The Sunshine In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3SHEgwq5lI) have been around for a while now, so they know what they are doing production wise and the track feels quite slick and bumps along nicely. Overall, I think it’s an easy track to hate and also like (not love) at the same time and is rightfully doing quite well in various sales charts.
We’ve all been there before asking ourselves ‘why is that track from Mr. A List DJ being hammered when there are lots of other records which are much better being overlooked?’ We all know the answer to this question and is usually why we all spend so much time researching new music that is much better than what we are force fed from the media and industry. I think this applies to ‘BPM’ by Marcel Woods. Marcel is a well known DJ in Europe, especially in the Netherlands, and has been making big trance productions for over 10 years now and can count the likes of Tiesto, Armin, Markus Schulz as his piers but in his latest offering he unleashes a riff that could see support coming from house community and beyond. Simple but deadily in it’s effectiveness is why it’s so good. Check it out below or head over to Beatport for a high res version.
6th December sees the release date of the first ‘proper’ artist album, from possibly one of the most innovative electronic producers we have seen over the last 10 years, with the unveiling of ‘4×4=12’ from Deadmau5. We’ve been lucky enough to have listened to the album over and over during the last 24 hours and had to write about it. Initially, the thought ‘where are the radio records’ on this commercially focused album entered my head, in fact there are only a couple of tracks that feature vocals and even then I wouldn’t think they would be daytime radio fodder. What we have instead is a well crafted artist album that delivers the live performance in a studio album. If you’ve ever been to a Deadmau5 gig then you will know they are an intense experience of beats, bleeps, distorted riffs with the odd piano thrown in to make up the melody and vocals are few and far between.
Highlights on the album include ‘Cthulhu Sleeps’ which starts off reminding me of Daft Punk’s ‘Rollin and Scratchin’ with a hint of Timo Maas’ remix of Azzido Da Bass ‘Doom Nights’ before dropping into the trademark Deadmau5 brooding chords on the first breakdown. It then kicks straight back into the pumping dirty electro sound that he has made his own. Another highlight is ‘Raise Your Weapon’ which lulls you with a ‘I Remember / Faxing Berlinesque’ intro with the wonderful ethereal vocals of Greta Svabo Bech, complimenting the uplifting piano melody before hitting us with a huge surprise at the top of the breakdown. It’s best not to say too much more since it really will spoil the surprise but it’s huge and shows us another side of Deadmau5s’ talents.
Deadmau5 is a true artist in that he has a definitive sound which he himself is constantly pushing forward. The musical thread running through this whole album can be traced back to the first productions we all heard on Beatport only 4 years ago now, and his subsequent development of his sound until now. Haunting and sometimes dark melody on his more progressive side and brooding and moody electro basslines when he’s in that way of thinking. The ‘pushing things forward’ happens towards the end of the album when Mau5 shows us his new tricks and new influences. Fans of Mau5trap recordings might already know what I’m getting at here. Overall we’re very happy with the first ‘proper’ studio album from Deadmau5. Be sure to check him out when he visits your nearest arena or festival for you will see an amazing show held up against legends such as Daft Punk and Kraftwerk. It’s scary to think but within a short period of time Joel Zimmerman who has defined his generation.
1. Some Chords:
Builds nicely, Trippy Riff. Quite dark and menacing. A lot of punch. 7/10.
2. Sofi needs a ladder
Kick ass bottom end, good vocal. 7/10.
3. A City In Florida
2006 sounding electro bassline, tough pounding. Quite relentless in it’s attack. One for his club sets. 7/10.
4. Bad Selection
Stabby, minimal sounds, obvious risers. Trying to be Swedish? Dated Rasta vocal. 4/10.
5. Animal Rights
Jumpy electro, 7/10
6. I Said (Michael Woods Remix) Quite driving and Moody.
Good production from Michael Woods. 7/10.
7. Cthulhu Sleeps
Simple drums but driving, Daft punk rollin and scratching riff. Azzido Da Bass, helicopter sound, nice breakdown, Alarm clock riff. Kick ass electro after drop. 8/10
8. Right This Second
Nice Chords, nice sounds, big beats. 8/10
9. Raise Your Weapon
As close to the old Deadmau5 sound we are going to get, great song and still shows everyone else how this sound is done properly. . After the drop, WOW! A nod towards future productions? Old sound evolves into a new direction? 9/10
10. One Trick Pony
Hip hop style dubstep. Growling and biting. Nice vocal 8/10
11. Everything Before
Proggy, dirty haunting menacing. 8/10
Ever since ‘One’ was dropped in Miami WMC this year until the very last closing party at their Masquerade Motel at Pacha in Ibiza this summer, the Swedish House Mafia have dominated audiences and sales charts alike with their live shows and trailblazing productions. So far we have heard the likes of Pharrell Williams and UK hot shot Tinnie Tempah feature on their album ‘Until One’.
To mark the release of their Movie Documentary this week, we at the Music Ninja have been given an exclusive new remix from of one of Miami’s finest Dubstep producers, Caligula, of ‘Miami 2 Ibiza.’ The production partnership of Caligula have been on a roll recently working on Kid Cudi’s ‘Marijuana’ (thx GDD), M.I.A. and Uffie. The secret I think behind why they are picking up so much attention is down to their ability to pull dubstep into the Hip Hop world whilst still appealing to a dubstep audience.
You may often find yourself wondering how can The B-52’s ‘Loveshack’ ever be sampled and used in something that actually works on the floor? Well here is your answer. Far East Movement & Roger Sanchez ft. Kanobby ‘2Gether.’ The US four piece electro rappers having been bringing the heat recently as their appeal has now spread to Europe hence the hook up with Roger makes perfect sense. However, to really give it that punch that it needs for the clubs, why not bring in one of the biggest names from the Dutch House sound, Sidney Samson. What you get is a huge hoover bassline which has a plethora of cut up and genuinely messed vocals jumping up and down, resulting in an obvious crowd pleaser. It would have been nice to have heard a little bit more of the B-52’s sample but Sidney knows best, (wow did I just say that?) It’s Friday, the weekend has landed so check this one out!!!!
Just over 20 years ago now Lil Louis, of Masters At Work fame, pushed the creative boundary of Acid House with his no.1 hit (in the UK at least) ‘French Kiss.’ The essence of the track and what probably made it so popular was the use of a vocal of a women, hmmm how can I put it, “receiving pleasure” which had never been done with this type of music at the time. Ever since then nearly every DJ worth his salt has at some point dropped a female screaming orgasm acapella over their beats at some stage usually to a rapturous reaction from a baying crowd. So that’s the history. UK producer Ant Brooks has brought ‘French Kiss’ up to date with an assortment of crispy hats, rattling snare and a brooding bouncing bassline and has picked up support from a selection of heavy hitters in the UK and Europe. Ant has created quite a few bootlegs over the last 12 months, all of which appear on his soundcloud page but for now Ant Brook’s XXL Rerub is here for you to download in high quality:
Big room bouncy electro house anyone? Zedd from Kaiserslautern Germany, has been bubbling away for the last year or so but now feels a perfect time to pay him some props. Having already remixed the likes of Armand Van Helden, Fatboy Slim and Wolfgang Gartner this year, he appears on the latest Skrillex EP (almost an album actually) with his remix of ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’ which is also released on Deadmau5’s ‘Mau5trap’ label. Big names for such an emerging talent you say? The reason is that he unashamedly brings all the big hooks and vocal elements to the front of stage whilst the beats, bass and glitches all perform a highly synchronised dubstep/fidget breakdance in the background. Both elements perfectly complimenting the other and jackin floors when dropped. If that wasn’t enough, he does exactly the same again for Skrillex (again, why don’t these guys just collaborate) on ‘Weekends’ this time making sure the dubstep ‘waah’ is pumped right up before letting go after each drop. Skrillex is undoubtedly an excellent producer himself but for me Zedd is making records as good or better than the likes of DM5 and WG. Both these tracks are on Beatport or on Zedd’s soundcloud page here.
We’ve all been there before asking ourselves ‘why is that track from Mr. A List DJ being hammered when there are lots of other records which are much better being overlooked?’ We all know the answer to this question and is usually why we all spend so much time researching new music that is much better than what we are force fed from the media and industry. I think this applies to ‘BPM’ by Marcel Woods. 
