There’s really not many electro producers who can go without vocals and pull it off. Tracks tend to get monotonous without at least a little vocal sampling thrown in (unless they have a killer melody). That said, Wolfgang Gartner pulls it off quite well.
In his latest beast, “There And Back” is six minutes of fist pumpin glory. It does go a bit long for my idle worship, but put me in a club setting and I’ll get lost in it for days.
[audio:There-And-Back.mp3|titles=There And Back]I wasn’t into the whole techno scene back in ’05, but I sure as hell remember Daft Punk’s “Technologic.” I may not have appreciated it that much back when, but I loved the flow of the words.
In Scary Toys remix of the “Tecnologic” classic, the bass buzzer goes nice with Daft Punks witty little one liners. Love the choice they made & the style they presented it.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/29478858" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]Wait, we get a funky disco track wrapped up all newage nice This is too good to be true. Luminaire puts the disco into electro and rocks it out precise. But I’m still wondering who the hell is singing that soulfulness. Whoever it is, I’m diggity down fo so mo! (for some more)
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144255444" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]It’s good to have some downtempo, slightly tripped out beats back from Appo. I couldn’t pick anyone better to remix “Devil Woman” than him. A perfect tune to chill out to on this cold & blustery day.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34822987" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]A solid mix to give tribute to The Queen of Pop, Freddie Mercury, whose been gone for just over 20 years now. It’s a good run through some of Queen’s best, but I wish I could’ve seen more of that clear cut sampling Robin does best. Still, it’s good to get back to him with a quick ten minute mix.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34839766" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]Love reviving those 90’s female vocals and TLC has got to be the cream of the crop. But when I saw Michael McDonald was mashed in here, that’s when I fell hard. The problem is that McD wasn’t placed all that well in here and didn’t get his fair share of play time. I do love how they included him, though – not enough of mashers are going back to the soulful 70’s.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34509415" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]Goddamn, do I love me some Party Ben! Every time I see him come up on my SoundCloud Incoming, I pretty much know I’m gonna post it, especially with vocals like these.
I’m really surprised I haven’t featured more Gotye remixes on here, but thankfully I held off ’til now. Party Ben mixes in a Roxbury-type club banger with some of the most memorable lyrics of 2011. Really didn’t know how this would work mixed for the club, but PB pulls it off better than ever.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34355540" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]I was a little hesitant on compiling a list of my favorite non-electro heavy tracks for 2011. It seemed like most blogs had the gist of what mine would look like and, for the most part, I didn’t have too much to add. But I decided to sack it up and do it anyway because (1) I wanted to keep track for future reference and (2) I did manage to find some real gems in here.
[audio:The-Morning.mp3|titles=The Morning]Yesterday morning I woke up to find Damon Albarn had remixed “Born to Die” while checking the latest news on my phone. Right after, however, I fell back asleep and forgot about it until just a few hours ago, which happens to me more than it should.
Damon Albarn’s version, more than any other, chops & skews “Born to Die” and layers it into a 6-min tripped out piece. It does take a few minutes until her vocals are really brought out, but once Lana kicks in, so does Albarn’s downtempo, electro alterations.
This should tide us over until the reported official collaboration between the two surfaces.
[audio:Born-To-Die-Albarn.mp3|titles=Born to Die (Damon Albarn Remix)]At first I just chalked this off as just another BIG remix, until I realized who was remixing him. Viceroy has remixed some known vocals into some freshly chilled tunes and has even created some stellar originals.
What I like best about this “Going Back to Cali” remix is that it goes for a completely different vibe than most remixers are going. The beached out, Jamaican vibe isn’t heard by many remixes, let alone with BIG’s lyrics thrown on top, and that’s what makes it so fresh & so clean (clean).
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