Highlighting singles have long dominated on here. We’re coming up on our thousandth post, this will make 999, and we’re slightly shifting from singles towards playlists. We really just no longer have time or the writing prowess to cover every single track we love.
Pop remixes especially have fallen back from the spotlight, but we’ve collected quite a few over the past few months and a playlist of the best seemed like the perfect way to share. We may not have much to say about every single track, but they all have taken their original and slapped a new style (usually better than the original).
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/143929366" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]So I’ve got a running playlist of what I want to talk about next on here and these three tracks were coincidentally placed one after the other on it. All of which subtly use “baby” beautifully. They’re all good individually, but better as our baby trio.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/143303784" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]I don’t know why, but everything went electro over the years on here. I remember when Silence was nothing but hip-hop. Then I had that nagging bitch in the back of my head telling me to switch it up. Almost 5 years later and the emcee has faded away for a hot mess of other vocalists. But despite our lack of featuring it, we do find good hip-hop in the most random places.
Freddie Gibbs is someone maybe I should know, but I’ve had an odd path when it comes to hip-hop, and all music. The Cookin Soul pair, however, has been a favorite for some time. The two gentlemen made the top slot in our favorite Jay-Z mashups & remixes (or at least the top two).
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/142574316" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]And now we’re posting disco with anime in it… if we only knew what this blog would turn into.
I wasn’t much for the overly cheerful vocals in some of my favorite anime movies, I choose the English dub, but it sure does sound good stylized to disco-house. Hopefully more foreign tracks fall into our laps like this, but any other language is a hard sell — only other one I know of right meow.
Also, check out YEARS’ rainbow vector thrill ride if you’re into this.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/138418207" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]Shiny Toy Guns reminds me of a few different music influences all rolled into one. First off, Chad Petree’s vocals sound a helluva lot like Damon Albarn’s of Gorillaz and Blur. A similar inflection in their voices, which seemed like a British thing but Chad’s from Oklahoma.
Other influences include Last Lynx and their ‘Killing Switch‘ song. It’s that male // female duet against a lighthearted, upbeat beat that lump the two songs together. It also reminds me of Shallow Hal’s club montage with that 90’s perception of what 70’s disco sounded like — but I’m not even gonna try to attempt to convince or prove it to you.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/132078641" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]I need to see this in a much more massive way. Whether it’s at a huge festival or on a movie that depicts it better, this one has bigger than ballroom potential. Luminaire doesn’t change it up much in his remix of GOLDSTAR, but a little bit in a lot of ways and really flips shit towards the end.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/142070198" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]The first comment that pops up on this song’s SoundCloud page is “deep.” I had my doubts at first, but Jade Blue & Frequency get pretty heavy with the textured bass.
Vocals sound like they’re coming from Disclosure’s infamous ‘White Noize,’ or more specific the one word lyric “lately.” Mind you, this rendition as well as Disclosure’s ring too well in my ear not to be from the same singer.
The world may never know (and I don’t want to).
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/138373718" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]When I post a remix it’s usually because I’ve found the most impressive vocals in a sound more my style. In Lxury’s case though, this ‘Benediction’ remix is more about his sound than Ali Love’s borrowed vocals. Lxury’s take on London’s new style in house blended with Japan’s vaporwave sound is rich, bold & a nice step forward for EDM.
Make sure to check out Lxury’s collab with Disclosure as well – a top number in our favorite EDM of 2013.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/136484279" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]Aeon Magazine just released an article on the role of repetition in music. I haven’t quite read it all yet, but I gotta believe our love for repetition in music comes down to simply knowing the next note, especially when dancing.
I’ve given a lot of shit to musicians that make their music too repetitious, but if you’re talking about a melody so catchy repetition is exactly what it needs. I play songs over & over again and isn’t that really the same thing just on a slightly larger scale?
In the article, they also give an example for you to test out yourself. Check out the two sound bites sequentially and see if a regular sentence can turn into a chorus (though not the best you’ve ever heard).
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/130668819" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]Malinchak was my man in 2012 with his deeply touching ‘So Good To Me.’ And although his 2013 was far better than most, it took til 2014 for us to realize the massive amount of hits he has. Malinchak supplies some melancholic disco and there’s really nothing we love more right now.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/139418504" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]