Electro Madness: ID aftermath

Electro Madness mondays is here. My main job on mondays is to throw ze brain into a frenzy.

So please get jacked up. a new week is uppon us and we are gonna wrastleee this week down together.

First Track is a monster from Hardwell (who goes hard) and Showtek. I saw showtek this weekend at ID fest and let me just say the boys know how to put on a show. The song is veryyyy similar to the Tiesto Showtek colab "Hell Yeah!" but in my book that is just fine.

Hardwell & Showtek - How We Do (Original Mix)

Very dope sound coming from Mercer & Mystique. Track has a litle bit more funky flavor than your regular electro house track. But the track has me dancing in my office so I guess that says somthing. #herecomesthatbonerjam

Mercer & Mystique - Here Comes That Sound (Original Mix)

Qulinez crushes one of my all time favorite Calvin Harris Tracks. Perfect electro flavor to bounce to.

Calvin Harris ft. Kelis - Bounce (Qulinez Bootleg)

Ted hooked this one up via the cloud and I love me some zedd so much i wanted to throw up a dl link.

Download Nicky Romero, Zedd Human (Original Mix)

Extra Credit: Lets get clasical with Wolfgang Amadeus Gartner. To some these to tracks may be annoying. but I dont care they make me feel furry and happy inside.  

Wolfgang Gartner - Girl On Boy (Original Mix)

Thowback: Boom!

Download Wolfgang Gartner Space Junk

#gethard

Stadium House Saturday

Loud music for you today... but what's new right? New tunes, previews, and a good amount of Zedd... no, not the dead one. Wherever you are, if you're not going to the club, if you're not going to a show or a festival, if you're not into the current DJ in the Tomorrowland lineup being streamed all weekend on youtube - grab headphones, turn your speakers on and listen to some new tracks right below. Less talk more music today: Mark Knight, Nicky Romero & Zedd, Feenixpawl & Ivan Gough, Arty, Gregori Klosman & Tristan Garner and Nervo vs. Hook N' Sling. Enjoy this bundle, I don't think you'll be disappointed. See you next Saturday. -Ted Townsend

Yes, well in order to find FULL tracks on soundcloud.com you usually have to rely on other uploaders (not the artists themselves) so I apologize for the European looking guido next to this brilliant track. Mark Knight's newest sounds, "Nothing Matters"!


Nicky Romero & Zedd finally collab.! After seeing them talk so much on twitter this was coming sooner than later. Check out "Human."


Big fan of Feenixpawl at this point - check out their newest remix which was featured in Thomas Gold's new radio show FANFARE! Here's "Burning."
 

More Zedd! But with 2 amazing French producers' twist on it. Gregori Klosman teams up with the famous Tristan Garner, who I like to consider a legend in house music, and they came up with a great sounding remix!
 

Yup... same Zedd track, here's another remix. Let me know which is your favorite of the two in the comments! Arty's on his way to producer of 2012 if he keeps it up, he knows how to put it down.
  


This video is less than a minute, but go back to youtube or google for a soundcloud longer version! This is the preview for Nervo vs. Hook N' Sling's newest track. It's a great follow up to Nervo's "You're Gonna Love Again" Enjoy this, then go search for more of it, I beg you.

Funky Friday Vol. 12

August is nearing. Which means soon we'll be talking about Electric Zoo and subsequently this thing people call school? I guess you read books and sit in rooms listening to older people talk... sounds strange. Anyways, no need to worry about such things quite yet. The best move right now would be to tune into VCH and tune out pretty much everything else in life:

The original of "Move Your Feet" was on repeat on my iPod for the longest when it came out a few years ago. That uplifting groove is irresistible. Well, Le Nonsense has added a little more disco flavor to this classic and it's perfect to get you in the mood to shake off the long work day and crack open that first celebratory weekend drink:



My man Codes hailing from Brooklyn (6 blocks from me I might add... I swear I'm not a stalker) has been on fire working with Slow Roast Records. One of the perks of working with Slow Roast is Cody gets to work with guys like Craze, and in this case, Kill The Noise. Codes takes an already funky tune, "Perfect Combination" from KTN, which we featured in an earlier funky friday, and gives it more of an almost b-boy kind of funky sound:



To slow things down a bit, Moon Boots has this easy going track "Sugar". No way you can be upset while listening to this:



Someone turned me onto Muscle Hawk but I can't remember who... sorry. This "Electric Light" track is very uplifting without getting nitty and gritty. Check out the original and the Kreap remix:

Mixtape Thursday: The Partysquad Summer Mix 2012

This week's mixtape features the Dutch duo, the Partysquad. It's an exclusive mix for the summer of '12. Remember the last Partysquad mix we featured? Think bigger. Packed together with tunes ranging from Electro House all the way to Moombahton, it's guaranteed not to disappoint. Download it, put it on your iPhone, iPod, or burn it to a CD, whatever floats your boat. Get ready to jump!

Wobble Wednesday Vol. 9

I have been glad right from the start that we have been providing the wobbles on wednesdays for our readers. It's the middle of the week, the most depressing part of the week. The only medicine for that.... is bass. So for those of you in need of your ear pounding medicine, here is your refill:

I follow Kill The Noise on twitter (as should you) and his tweets are constantly filled with sentiments of insanity while locked in the studio. Plenty of producers claim to be crunching away in the studio to convince their fans of all their hard work when in reality they are ironing out details on their next endorsement. Well not KTN, he backs up his tweets with some serious work. Check out this remix of "Jokes on You":



Zeds Dead will just never die. They are like zombie DJ's. Well what more of a fitting title for their new EP "The Living Dead". The whole thing is gold:










I was bummed that Manic Focus was having some technical troubles at Spring Awakening cause I really would have loved to see him do his thing like this:

Aggressively Progressive XIV

I apologize missing APT last week. But alas we have liftoff this week. The quality of Progressive bombs lately has been superb. Let me give you a taste. 

First and foremost My personal no look download duo of the month: Maison and Dragen remixed Mr Perfecto's (Paul Oakenfoald for the noobie) Surrender. Powerful track. Love the drumbs and the raunchy M & D touches

Download Paul Oakenfold, J Hart - Surrender feat. J Hart (Maison & Dragen Remix)

Next Is a track by remixed by the increasingly awesome DubVision. Disco Sun has quirky amazing lyrics and please just let DubVision take you over for a second. or 500

Download Pascal & Pearce, Juliet Harding - Disco Sun feat. Juliet Harding (DubVision Remix)

Next is Sparks from Nicky Romero and Fedde Le Grande. The song is exactly what i think about when I think progressive house. Good or bad, the song should make you 1.) happy and 2.) dance.

Download Fedde Le Grand, Nicky Romero - Sparks (Original Mix)

The newest Prodigy (heard it here first) Jakob Liedholm did this DIRRRTY bootleg of SHM and avicii. dont even hesitate, download now.

Download Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child, You Won't Fade Into Darkness (Jakob Liedholm Edit)

MJ and Afrojack. Feel it because it might just make you fall in love with the freak just one more time.

"Your Butt is Mine"

Download Michael Jackson - Bad (Afrojack Club Mix)

#getwet

Electro Madness Mondays

So For Real The level of the Jams this past week has been mildly huge. Big tracks that are meant to make you spit straight fire for the next week.

Featured firebreather this week has got to be Starkillers as hard as anyone in the biz these days. The remix of Love Sensation is mildly my favorite song. And the Remix of The Rain is Massive and has a really dirty french electro drop at ze end.

Download Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation (Starkillers & Dmitry KO Remix)

Download Olav Basoski - The Rain (Starkillers Remix)

Next Denzel Park Brings the pain in his remix of Dancin Dancin. I like to dance and i love Denzel Park. Strong Vocals and a perfect Electro house beat.

Download Felix Leiter feat. Amanda Wilson - Dancin' Dancin' (Denzal Park Remix)

Eva Simmons does not sing in nice pretty songs. Eva Simmons Only Brings the pain if the beat brings the same level of pain. Apster whips up a wildly danceable track with their newest track "I Need More"

Download Apster, Eva Simons - I Need More (Club Mix)

#gethard

STADIUM HOUSE SATURDAY

And thus, Saturdays grew more significant. Although, we all knew I'd post house music regardless - I'm going to give you sounds that are meant to be heard on speakers taller than Tyson Chandler. I'm going to feed you music that was created to be heard by thousands of people at the same time. Need I say more? Today I've got Swanky Tunes, Dirty South, AN21 & Max Vangeli, M-3ox, Jon Kong, and Fareoh for you. Enjoy. -Ted Townsend

Why they continue to just keep releasing single after single on the upcoming album - I have no idea, it's about time they release the thing already. I personally hate when artists release all their singles and then the album afterwards; it makes for an album you've already heard by the time you get it. Oh well, the singles continue to be massive, here's the 3rd single, unreleased, by Max Vangeli & An21. "Bombs Over Capitals"


Swanky Tunes seems to come out with a new tune every week. Here's the loud remix of "Tonite Only" courtesy the Russian House Mafia.


Brits in the house. What's new? Listen to this preview and then youtube for the full track. Here's bomb #3, "Next To You."



Fareoh's back, with a remix of one of my favorite Kaskade tunes, "Lessons In Love" ft. Neon Trees. This one's brilliant, check it out:

Dirty South might just be the best remixer in the House scene, anyone care to argue? Leave it in the comments, I'm open, and I wouldn't even say Dirty South is a top 10 producer for me, but he continues to make the best remixes, most consistently every year for me. Here it is, remixing John Dahlback's , "Embrace Me." 

Finishing off with my favorite track in this post, Jon Kong's "Crouching Tiger," this track's got one filthy bassline. Check it out, and see you next Saturday!

Mixtape Thursday: Roger Sancez live @ Savannah, Ibiza

This week features one of the legends in House music, Roger Sanchez. He is widely known as a master of House music and stays true to his passion for the genre through his productions and performances. Hailing from Queens, NY, his brand, Release Yourself, is not only a globally renowned clubbing concept, but also a CD mix series and a IDMA winning podcast radio show that is heard by millions of house music lovers throughout the world. Roger Sanchez's DJ sets captures the listeners' hearts with his creativity of layering acapellas over instrumentals (mashups) live and his selection of tracks.

So without further ado, this is Roger Sanchez live @ Savannah, Ibiza. This is House.

Wobble Wednesday Vol. 8

As our wompzilla Evan travels across the pond, I'll fill in for the man to provide you with your weekly dose of deep wobbling bass. There has been a bunch of great dubstep and drum and bass tracks put out over the past few weeks so it just seems wrong to leave you all out on that opportunity. So turn up the volume and remember that its pretty much the weekend already:

Been a while since I've given a shout out to The Killabits but this brand new (like right out of the oven new) remix of the Adventure Club track "Wait" is amazing. Great in your face drumstep. You have no pulse if this doesn't do anything for you:



SkisM (yes, it's spelled that way) is a well respected artist in the industry. I just wish I could get a chance to see him! Anyways, this new record's title describes it pretty sufficiently:



Midnight Conspiracy was absolutely unbelievable at House of Blues Chicago during their sunrise set after Benassi. The recent remix pack they had of their big single included this gem from a guy apparently name Wuki... questionable name, great remix:



Crizzly's self proclaimed 'crunkstep' describes this remix of "Chain Hang Low". This youngster produces dubstep with a big helping of swag:

VCH Writer's Choices for DJ Mag's Top DJ

If you follow any big name DJ's on twitter or facebook, I'm sure you've already seen some of the campaigning some artists have done to wedge their way onto the list. Every year there is tons and tons of speculation of who deserves it and who got snubbed. Well we here at VCH have decided to give you some guidance in the most important election of them all.






Ted:
1: Afrojack
When choosing top 5 djs, the decision definitely is going to include personal preference, but it should include more if you ask me. I chose Afrojack because he tours like a beast and still puts out tracks often. He makes amazing tunes in my opinion and I've liked all his tunes since I've first heard about him a little over 2 years ago. He's my favorite DJ, and he deserved my number 1 pick from me.         



2: Chris Lake
Chris lake is a very close second. He's got a great ear for house music, and it's evident from listening to his monthly iTunes podcast. He's got a great music label going, rising records and I've seen him like 4 times - every time he's proven to me that he has significant talent as a DJ. He's got a massive bag of tricks. He earns #2.

3: Thomas Gold
I love his tunes, he has only been around for a little while really... and he already has a well known sound. Makes a massive remix when he wants to and throws down heavy beats. Can't wait to see him live sometime in the future, he earns my #3 spot.

4: Fedde Le Grand
What can I say? He's a vet, he's a legend, he's young and puts out massive tunes one after another. He owns Flamingo Recordings, and that's got to be my favorite record label, they put out brilliant tunes. 

5: Mord Fustang
The Beatport winner for breakthrough artist of the year. He's by far the best electro house producer I've heard in years. He put out a ton of tracks this year and is thankful to his fans. Played a great Ultra music festival set, I really like this guy's talent, he deserved a vote to boost his name.

Ryan:

1: Above and Beyond
I think A&B deserves a #1 spot in the rankings mainly because of their long career, their success with Anuja Beats, and their new Group Therapy tour that has hit many American and European festivals this year. They are a great example of a group that works together to make quality music again and again.

2: Deadmau5
The mau5 is someone who has been in the mix for quite a few years now, but with the new popularity of electronic in the US, his fame has skyrocketed. However, he has the skill and background to back it up. Joel is just what EDM needs right now. Someone who holds his ground to keep the standards that were set with Justice and Daft Punk. Plus his idea to take two duel production studios on tour to have more control over his live set is ingenious

3: Armin van Buuren 
The king of Trance, Armin held the #1 spot for half a decade before "he who shall not be named" stole it away. Personally, I'm not a die hard fan, but I respect his droves of fans with undying support. Plus he manages to push genres boundaries with his progressive house tracks without losing his integrity of just making good music.

4: Sander van Doorn
 This is basically based upon the live set I saw that Sander had at Meltdown. I saw a producer who had the potential to be great because of the love he had for his job. With a group of singles on the way to the top (including a personal favorite "Chasin'". Sander is exactly the guy to continue a dutch house tradition (along with up-comer Hardwell) ,

5: Fedde Le Grande
He has been around for longer than you would think. But now with all of the remixes and tracks out in the recent year, Fedde has gained some much needed recognition. He does dance anthems right (unlike some other DJ's ahem..). He gained some notoriety when Coldplay had him as an opener on their European tour leg. His sound may be dancey and pop-y, but it still manages to be original. 




Grant:

1: Tiesto
Tiesto is the obvious choice for me as the best DJ in the world this past year. Ever since he released Maximal Crazy back in September he has been on an absolute tear. Listen to Club Life Volume 2 and the magnitude of his productions and remixes is apparent. I personally love his flexibility and his ability to be open to what his sound is going to be. He is not the Trance guy anymore and thank god. But the other reason why Tiesto is his weekly podcast club life. The man every single Friday gives the best cross-section of EDM for that week. It is beautiful. Oh and his live show is iight.






2: Avicii
I have heard all of the hate around Avicii and how people bash his abilities on the decks and such, but first of all I don’t give a shit. Second, to my ears, he produces the best tracks. Period. He has a bank of songs that he doesn’t or has not even released that would be number 1 beatport hits. I feel like often people hear levels and bromance and say he is the piano man. No No. His sound live is dirty grimey nasty and lovely and beautiful at the same time. No one else does it right now like the Berginator (that’s avicii aka Tim Bergling). Niktim? Yup.


3: Armin Van Burren
Twilight (AVB Remix) – Kristy is my favorite track of the year. Period. It is so good. I just want to listen to it over and over again, which Is what I have been doing for months. Also the release of “We are here to make some nosie” as well as his bomb sets from Ultra and EDC cemented him in at 3.

4: Calvin Harris
He has been my second favorite producer for the past year. His sound is always unique and really brings it when he does his own vocals. Also the “oops I played that song by accident” at EDC NY gave him some points in my book.

5: Hardwell
I love how he blends progressive and electro sounds that litterally sucks my brain out of my head. I saw him live and what a set i was sober and i blacked out i was dancing so hard. nuff said.

Eric:

1: Deadmau5
We all know tracks like Ghosts 'N' Stuff, Some Chords, Strobe, Aural Psynapse, I Remember, and recently The Veldt, but there are literally hundreds of tracks that he has never released just floating around on the internet. Plus who can argue with some crazy dude dancing around on top of a giant rubix cube with a Mau5 head on.... I don't want to get on the bad side of that.

2: Above and Beyond
For 12 years there have been very few names in music that have released more hits than these Britts. Their label Anjunabeats has arguably (close to Armada) the best number of trance producers out there, like Arty and Matt Zo. Plus the Group Therapy tour has been unreal this year.

3: Swedish House Mafia
First of all let me say R.I.P. Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso have made insane careers on their own, but together they have made the sickest tracks. Somehow they have only been together for four years, but it seems like forever, in the best of ways possible. Tracks like Save the World, Greyhound, Antidote, and Miami 2 Ibiza will be greatly missed in the EDM world.






4: Tiesto
There is really nothing that can be said about him that hasn't been said in the past by someone else. DJ Mag rated him the top in the world from 2002-2004. And he hasn't left the top 5 since, and for the foreseeable future he won't be leaving.

5: Hardwell
Recently he has been dropping some insane beats like Spaceman, Cobra, Beta, and Three Triangles. I can't get enough of the bass that he puts into each and every of his songs. He is arguably one of the top 5 people in the world for live shows, and honestly isn't that what we all love?

almost made it..... Dada Life, Daft Punk, Afrojack, Avicii, Calvin Harris, and Eric Prydz

El Capitano (Conor):

1: Diplo
Who would have thought a guy who used to be a subway "sandwich artist" would today be in the running for top DJ? Being an anthropology major in college, it is clear how he implements all different kinds of music into his productions and his sets. I truly believe that he has reinvented the art of DJ'ing in a time when a new image of the practice is needed. Not to mention the Mad Decent Block Party coming on the 5th to NYC does sweeten the deal for me, spoken like a true politician.



2: Dillon Francis
As Moombah rises in popularity, so does L.A. native Dillon Francis. Sky rocketing through the charts via Mad Decent Records, Dillon has been a great medium in showing more of the public the joy of moombahton/moombahcore. The innovative and cajones it takes to stray into something new like this should be rewarded.

3: The Bloody Beetroots
My hero Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo has been a proud stamp in celebrating great music and art not only through his productions, but through his publication, The Bloody Beetroots Gazzette. But this isn't about his humanitarian efforts, this is about his musical ability. Well, that's undeniable in every sense of the word. His newest work, "Rocksteady" is in BBR's element: that electro punk house that's in your face, and I love every moment of it.

4: Dada Life
Well the Dada has arrived. I have seen limited photos of there studio but I assume the corners and walls are padded because the sausage fattener synthed bass on their productions does nothing else but compel you to get out of your seat and bounce around. Still having as much fun as they did when they began, I will always admire the enjoyment these guys seem to have being on stage playing and in the studio creating great music.

5: Jack Beats
Now I know this one is a big surprise but there is nobody who even comes close to emulating the JB sound. Playing big sets at events like Sonar in Barcelona and getting a premiere slot at Electric Zoo on labor day, these guys are here to stay and demand to be heard.

Electro Madness Mondays: The Drop

So Electro Madness Is here and ready to start turn your brain into mush again. I have been riding the firebeatz, hardwell and dyro sound for a while on this post for a while but its time for me to switch it up and go back to my electro roots. I am posting two old lovely tracks by feed me. And I just recently found the release of a new kid  on the block, Lopezz, that reminds me of Feed Me with a original sound and danceable beats.

So to begin i give you two monster Feed Me jams that really were door openers for me. They opened my heart and mind to weird shit. Grand Theft Ecstasy is Soooooo danceable and i swear i just want to move when i hear it. And dont listen to Green bottle with anything breakable near by you might just feel the imperious urge to break shit

Download Feed Me - Grand Theft Ecstasy

Download Feed Me - Green Bottle (Original Mix)

Lopezz reminds me a lot of Feed Me and Mord Furstang in that they reallly have this sound that is organic and free flowing, But gets heavy and has a beat. I cant really explain it too well but just listen and enjoy. 

Download Mord Fustang - The Electric Dream (Lopezz Remix)

Download Lopezz - Source Code (Original Mix)

#gethard

Destroy This House Apart

I'm excited to give you guys tunes for Saturday! It may be rainy here in Salt Lake City, but that never brought the House down. I hope you readers and listeners have been going to shows, listening and updating your music libraries - I know I have. The music never stops; we're smack in the middle of the summer and so far we've heard an amazing album from Eric Prydz, we've learned Tiesto can't stop producing club bombs, we've heard about 17 and 18 year olds going on tour, people are already casting their votes for their top 5 favorite DJs, we're still waiting for the highly anticipated People of the Night album to drop from AN21 & Max Vangeli and we have Afrojack's album to look forward to this fall... I could go on and on, but without a doubt, house music and the EDM scene as a whole, has blown up! (And seems to intensify by the day.) So, without further ado, I give you new Chris Lake, Walden, (Pryda promoted) Andree Sobota, Feenixpawl, dBerrie, Laidback Luke and Alesso! Keep listening. Share the site. Thank you. 

Heavily supported by Pete Tong, Dj/Producer Walden is back with a remix of the smash single "In My Mind." Damn 17 year olds and their unreal producing skills - this Australian kid knows what he's doing.

New duo on the scene, Feenixpawl, speaking of Australians - love this song by Ellie Goulding, and I love the twist they put on this even more. This is a stadium house track; requires good speakers or good headphones.



Being released on Pryda friends. Andre Sobota delivers a calm tune with a nice kick.



Still upset personally, that DJs need to include Lil' Jon into the electronic dance music scene, but like Afrojack said "You'd be stupid to not make music with your friends." So they must dig him for good reason. Here's Laidback Luke's newest remix of the Asian Jesus' collab with the rappers.



When there's new Chris Lake it'll be up on VCH asap. Chris Lake's new edit of a Mario Larrea's newest release being put out on Lake's label, Rising Music.

 

dBerrie, don't really know him, but as always I trust Flamingo Recordings. Who wouldn't trust Fedde's green light?? Enjoy this snippit of this upcoming banger.

  

Need I say more? It tops "Raise Your Head" for damn sure. Alesso's newest sound, "Clash" is what you just heard.

Until next Saturday. 

-Ted Townsend

Funky Friday Vol. 11

The Independence weekend has come and gone and now we have to wait a while before the next big holiday (and by big holiday I mean labor day). So keeping with Evan's concept on Wednesday, the feel good tunes should be suffice enough to push you to really enjoy the summer life (aside from the occasional 100 degree heat). I was really excited to give you guys the new Daft Punk track but that unfortunately like everything else involving Daft Punk, was a hoax. Why do I always fall for it?? So anyways, aside that unfortunate news, I hope you are in a good mood this Friday and I order you whip up some dark & stormies and enjoy the high seas (that is if you are by the ocean... and have a boat):



Now I know yesterday was our mixtape day, but this A-Trak July mix was too good turn away from. His mixes are always packed with great material and his commentary is occasionally actually entertaining. Either way it's an hour well spent listening to this mix:




Netsky is not someone I would first think of when talking about funky, uplifting hosue. But this new track has so much of a happy outdoorsy sound to it. Also the video is great, I used to do that stuff on our neighborhood hill.... well maybe not that high and fast but still.



I hadn't really heard of Cherokee until this and now I feel dumb for not discovering this guy earlier. This remix not only has nicely synthed keyboards and a funky old bass line,  it has a blues sounding guitar riff sample in it. I'm sold:



This new Louis La Roche record has a little more techno than I'm used to from him but that in no means is a bad thing. Much more of a breakdown:

Mixtape Thursday: DJ Solo & DJ M2

This week features another double dose of mixes. Both completely opposite genres from one another, let's call it the Ying & Yang of mixtapes for now. Before I get in to it, let me tell you how I fell in love with Trap. It was a typical warm Sunday evening, I took a train in to New York City to meet up with Conor at this place called the Down Low in Lower East Side, Manhattan. It was a rooftop party that started at 6pm and headlined by Flosstradamus. We got there at 8pm and that's where it all started. The warmup DJs did a good job by mixing in some tech/tribal house with some downtempo/chill lounge music and also a good bit of old school hip-hop (by that I meant real hip-hop, not the crap you hear on the top 40 radio about booze, bitches and money all day long). I was a little skeptical about Trap, heard some good tunes but wasn't really fully engaged in to the genre just yet. Little did I know, 15 minutes after Flosstradamus got on, I was in love. I was jumping, head bopping, having an awesome time. One word to describe Trap: catchy. It's not too extreme like Dubstep or Drum & Bass. After that night, I was on board the Trap love train. Alright, enough with the love story, let's get on with it.

In the left corner, with an average BPM of 72, is DJ Solo with his set from the Electric Forest that was on the 1st of July. Just look at the cover: Traps N Trees. It's mostly Trap with some Dubstep here and there. What more is there to say? I think I've said enough about Trap, it's time for you try it with your own ears. A word of caution though, it's addictive.

Download DJ SOLO TRAPS N TREES (Electric Forest Set 2012)
DJ Solo's Facebook
DJ Solo's Website


In the right corner, with an average BPM of 128, is DJ M2 with a 45 minute explosive progressive set. DJ M2 was featured in our first edition of Mixtape Thursday and now he's back with another mix for us. The set's filled with high energy tracks guaranteed to uplift the vibe around you. The mix is available for download. Check out his Soundcloud page for more tracks and mixes!

That's it for this week folks! Have a great weekend, come back for more next week!

Anti-Wobble Wednesday

I know, I know. This is the opposite of Wobbles. The beloved Wompzilla is on vacation. But I couldn't find a better day than Wednesday July 11th to try and force my new found love of deep/chill house onto you. It is the middle of summer and the weather is perfect out here by the beach in Southern California, and when put my toes in the sand I just want to relax, not necessarily headbang to some dope wobbles.  The picture above is a great representation of  what my body feels when I put on the sounds of chill house.  My heart becomes the sun, radiating onto every person I see.  Give this type of music a try if you haven't yet, I don't see how people couldn't like it. Hopefully I'm right. 

First I would like to highlight my current chill house favorite artist, Dinka.  Dinka is comprised of a few men and a woman. The co-ed group puts out the smoothest tracks.  They have been around for a few years now, but have recently gained more popularity in the chill house scene due to a number of highly successful EP's dating back to 2011.  Here are a few of my favorite Dinka tracks, new and old.

"Reach For Me" was remixed by Dmitri Vangelis & Wyman into a massive international hit. The original is so chill though, I honestly might like this better.


Download Dinka Ft. Hadley & Danny Inzerillo  Reach For Me (Original Mix)

"Road to Perdition" is the definition of smooth.



"On the Beach" makes you feel like exactly that - you got yo toes in da sand.



You all know Arty, the young magnificent house producer. Here is one of his deepest and chillest songs, "Day After Day".



Alright fine. I will post one firey track. Xaphoon Jones gets creative with this mashup of St. Lucia and Madeon. Honestly, with Que Veux Tu in the background, you can't go wrong. But these vocals really bring an epicness to the song. Enjoy summer.



-Ya boy

Aggressively Progressive XIII

 

Standard Progressive Heaters this week. So get Aggressive please.

Solid Progressive House. Strong Vocals Strong melody. Solid B+ effort. I may even listen to this one for a week or two.

Download La Fuente - Wish for Happiness (Wish Anthem) (Original Mix)

Solid B. Nice Vocals, the build is sick but could be better. I would have enjoyed more edge to the song.

Download Hook N Sling, Evermore - Surrender feat. Evermore (Original Mix)

There are gonna be a lot of big ole booties made of this track (Pixel Cheese I'm Looking at you).
Emotionality. Where is It!

Download Hard Rock Sofa, Squire - Just Can't Stay Away (Original Mix)

Throwback time: Show em how it is done Benny.

Download Florence and the Machine - Shake It Out (Benny Benassi Extended Mix)

#getwet 

Spring Awakening Day 2: 15 Songs You Should Know By Now

So I did a day 1 review for Spring Awakening Music Festival for INTO THE AM which you can find on their site but I figured I can't leave out VCH readers from an editorial masterpiece with day 2. The old saying of 'no rest for the wicked' very accurately depicts the limited recovery time between day 1 and day 2 to soldier on and re-start a day full of being on your feet in the hot sun. Some of our crew got more rest than others as they were too defeated after day 1 to go to the Benny Benassi/Mindnight Conspiracy after party (big ups to Jack for being my partner in crime/reporting for the gig at House Of Blues). Nonetheless, at noon as everyone readied their backpacks with water, cameras and glow sticks (hush hush). Before long we're heading across the North State Street underpass to Soldier Field and I am already feeling the heat (I got burnt pretty nicely the day before). So at first it seemed like it would be a long exhausting day; but that couldn't be far from the truth.

As I had suggested to our team, we began our day with Team Bayside High. Despite that rather minimal crowd, the energy these guys exuded with a nearly exclusively moombahton. The other great part is that these two dudes are Chicago born and bred and they really did show so much excitement despite getting such an early set time (which is more than I can say for a lot of the other guys who got early afternoon sets). With everyone who was initially sitting in the back of the tent resting eventually all flocking up to the stage was all the testament anyone would need of Team Bayside High's legitamacy. Playing some big time moombah like Nadastrom's "i!!", Alvaro's remix of "K Le Pasa", and best of all, showing some serious love to Torro Torro playing their remixes of "Squad Up" and "Why We Fwee". Once they had everyone into it was when they showed up two of their big works with their "Rocky Theme" and their remix of the Dick Dale classic "Misirlou" (if only they had done the remix in time to be used in Pulp Fiction). By far they were one of the better acts all weekend.

Deciding between seeing Quintino and taking a breather, taking a breather won as we found a nice shady area by one of the fences. And luckily for me that was where I spotted DJ Thibault having a beer claiming to be, "remedying the festival hangover" after playing on Saturday (which I heard from fellow crowd mates was a great set). It was there that I picked his brain and bit and he told me that he actually enjoys these short 1 hour sets in some ways because as the DJ it is so high paced and you as he said have "no time to groove and mess around". After taking a photo with the bearded man I returned I let him slip back behind the fence into backstage and I returned to my shady grassy knoll.


It was at this point that my friends went from just helping me out to being material geniuses. Our shady knoll turned out to be a prime people watching point and that is exactly what we did as we watched all different forms of festival goers pass by (see Coachella article on the matter). Though the Coachella article does accurately portray the festival goer, they did not have where exactly we can find each of these creatures at a festival. That's where the reporting crew got to work. We created a diagram showing where and who you can find people in different areas surrounding your typical festival tent. When we truly paid attention to our theories it was astonishing how accurate they were. Let me start with the backstage and elevated stage viewing areas: these we declared were saved for the wall street folk of the festival goers or the 1%. Not there necessarily for the viewing superiority (because it isn't), but rather for the ability to demonstrate there power over the earthlings crammed inside the tent. Another key definition we found was it is almost fool proof that we called, "the forest of lost ravers" always was located by the porta-potties. With youngsters and defeated groups would sit hunched over as if there was nothing left in them and they had no purpose (kind of sad stuff). And my personal favorite was the spot on comparison of your typical festival kids to that of the pelicans in Finding Nemo (molly? molly?). A part of me truly worries whether they remember to even enjoy any of the music they paid to see.

After our rest it was Destructo's turn on the decks at the Super You & Me stage. I was really excited to here some funky stuff but I had no idea of what was about to transpire. First coming onto stage wearing a spidey mask playing big tracks like "Rattle" and "Tung" to me insinuated the power of the mask allowing him to do as his record label describes... Hard. The most interesting part to me was when he took the mask off and virtually immediately when into a great long funky groove playing some of his greats like, "Stand Still" and "LA Funky". I was loving but unfortunately the electro-crazed crowd was a little too one track minded for the funk, which upset me and even upset Destructo himself. Jumping on the mic Destructo claimed, "Yo I guess you guys don't know much about funk huh?" Agreed Destructo, I get you bro. Luckily, gracious to follow it with a little "Don't worry, I know you want the hard stuff, I got you". Then returning to the mask his persona and alias switched back to the unpredictable spidey, was when he turned all gauges on full going hard with "Technology" and Alex Metric's "Rave Weapon". I thought it was one of the best sets of the weekend especially the incorporated stagemanship that almost exemplified a story line.

For the next hour our group split up, with the ladies of our group going to check out NERVO and myself and the guys staying to check out Oliver Twizt. I was really excited to see Oliver Twizt, however I was pretty dissapointed with the set as he was totally predictable. Playing Quintino's big track "Epic" was the breaking point for me when we left to go wander around a bit (new festival law: If a guy just got finished with his set 5 minutes ago, you should not be playing HIS track in your following set).

Luckily my wonderful Veronica Cornerstone-esque female reporters came back with some great info on the NERVO vibe during their gig. As every NERVO concert, I heard something that I always hope to hear after anyone spending an hour with the Aussie twins: "NERVO became my new obsession because they were the sweetest and happiest DJ's who only wanted to play for their fans" Beth, interim field reporter of the crew and lovely Chicago native, proclaimed. As simple a requisite as this sounds, it is very true that especially with the problem of the occasional DJ playing a pre-recorded set, that it is becoming more important for me to see a DJ who feeds off the crowd and works with them rather than stick to some sort of schedule of tracks or setlist. Because if that's all you are doing, why don't you just send me your playlist and we'll save each others time? Beth also added, "They were like EDM spice girls... just more blonde and no flop movie included..". Impressive analogy if I do say so myself.

As our group rounded back up together and many rested, I made my way back into the tent for Felix Cartal's set. At first it seemed like a bit of a downer of a set aside from playing his big records, "Don't Turn Off the Lights" and "Black to White". However Felix picked me right back up when he surprised me with some Stuart Price AKA Thin White Duke AKA Jacques Lu Cont when he transitioned into Stuart's remix of John Dahlback's "Take This Thing Back". After that he really picked up his pace closing out with "Cascade". Well done, sir.

Staying at the same stage, we anxiously awaited Datsik to appear. And the minutes that seemed like hours before he came on were all paid in a well worth it form of bass. Opening with "Firepower", it seemed he was demanding the crowd's attention with brutal force. Following that with one of his recent monsters, "Fully Blown", ensured that anyone who came planning to keep a calm and cool manner went right out the window. After those two big boy of tracks, Datsik demonstrated some more of his cocky style hip hop style later on going into his production with Excision, “Swagga” followed by a rendition of the immortal “Gin & Juice”. As tearing of a feeling it was for me, we had to make our way to the main stage to catch Flux Pavillion. Come back to me Datsik, we need you here in Brooklyn... immediately.

And so off we went to Da Main Stage just in time to catch the last minute or two of Carl Cox's set. I was so bummed I missed out on seeing Carl in Ibiza but unfortunately I had family matters to attend to. So at least seeing the last few minutes of his set allows me to claim I’ve witness Carl Cox’s greatness (not really though, I need a full 3 hour CC groove to be worthy). After a warm hug and handshake between Flux and Carl, FP took over with no pause going into his remix with Doctor P of “Louder”. Though it was what I expected what happened later on totally threw me off with Flux as he spun Flosstradamus’ remix of “Original Don” and made sure to place the better part of the song as if to give tribute to Trap music everywhere. After a little “Bass Cannon”, his remix of “Midnight Run”, and “Voscilate”, I was glad to see Flux play his work with Major Lazer, “Mr. Marshall”.

And so then our crew split up again as some went to go see the Super You & Me man himself, Laidback Luke, I was finally about to see Moby. After witnessing the bald headed legend enter center stage,  not much more would theortetically need to be said. Anyone who has seen a Moby DJ set all say the same thing: life changing. A few songs in there that I loved but will confess I didn’t recognize. However, Moby did not lose me because of that. The man showed some serious love to Tommy Trash by playing the Trash-man’s remix of his single “After” as well as playing a Tommy original, “The End”. It was surely for the better part a very in-your-face-deep-bass set for Moby standards but he did pull the reigns back in playing some uplifting tracks such as Herve’s remix of “Under The Sun” and Fukk Off’s “Rave Is King”. But before you started to think Moby was cooling off, he came right back with a classic: Moguai’s remix of the Fatboy Slim single, “Ya Mama (Push the Tempo)”. Ending on a groovy, uplifting and soulful high note with the Quadrant mix of “Playing With Knives”, I truly believe I could have gone home a very happy soul.

I refuse to write ANYTHING about Afrojack’s set aside from there was plenty of superior talent even within the SAMF field (cough, Moby, cough) that were more deserving to close out the inaugural Spring Awakening Music Festival. I’m not saying that it was a poor set, but rather that I expected more out of him. Back to the drawing board Mr. van de Wall, you were way better at Sensation Belgium.

Though a part of me was upset about Afrojack’s letdown, it forced me to realize that though the headliners names may be bigger on the flyers, the point of the festival is to enjoy a whole array of music and artists and enjoy that experience of the abundance of amazing talent around you.  Tattered and torn I still left a very satisfied and already nostalgic individual.

Big thanks to the crew (Kelsey, Stevie, David, Alec and Jack) again and a huge thanks to the wonderful camerawoman and of many of these pictures and girlfriend, Beth.

And now for the 10 tracks you should know by now as told by the artists of SAMF:


Team Bayside High really made a name for themselves and for moombah at this festival:

A big name in Moombah, Nadastrom, was a big piece of their set and really was great to see these guys demonstrate what moombah was all about:



Speaking of big names, throwing in a Torro Torro remix definitely was a crowd pleaser:



Then finishing off with two of their big remixes I think solidified plenty of new fans for the Chicago moombah duo:






Destructo's set was a real sleeper seeing as not nearly enough people were there to enjoy this guys talents but nonetheless he proved his worthiness:






Felix Cartal... thank you for playing some funk during an electro dominated weekend:




I had to finally confess during Datsik's set that I am now a basshead and I'm not all that mad about it:





Flux Pavillion had a powerful set as predicted and I have a lot of respect for him showing love to the trap game and Flosttradamus:






Moby had hands down the best session of the weekend. Some truly inspiring stuff amongst all the controversy going on today about the image of the DJ: