Each week we’ll be partnering with The QR Network to compile a short recap of notable tracks that we didn’t have time to cover during the previous week. We hope you enjoy our selection and if you have any tracks you’d like to see here, please feel free to use our contact form or post your suggestions in the comments. So let’s get right into things!
Steve Aoki – Lie to Me (feat. Ina Wroldsen) [Nicky Romero Festival Edit]
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2018 has been the year of nostalgia and Nicky Romero is taking it way back to the early days of electro house while infusing some modern groove elements that Nicky Romero has been pushing with his Protocol label. In terms of originality, there isn’t much to mention aside from the fusion that was mentioned earlier. The edits made my Nicky Romero consist of adding one electro growl and some percussion. Is it energetic? Yes. But will it make you dance? Not likely.
72/100
Steve Aoki – Lie to Me (feat. Ina Wroldsen) [Maurice West Remix]
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Unlike the Nicky Romero “edit,” Maurice West puts more effort into his remix on the EP by adding an original melody and breakdown. The breakdown addition seems to be more trance-influenced with tons of reverb and supersaw leads. The drop is reminiscent of “Temple” with DBSTF with the strong kicks and pitch-blended high-passed synths. This is what a “Festival Edit” should be. Tons of energy and creativity with the melodies and sound design. The second half of a drop appears to be Maurice West’s foray into the ever-pervasive psy-trance and it lacks the punch of the first half due to the layer on top of the bass being left out. Either way, it’s something different for the Maurice West sound and his melodic additions bring out the full potential of the vocals of the original.
86/100
Panda Eyes, Barely Alive & Virtual Riot – Triforce (Eliminate Remix)
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While the original was lacking creativity in the drops, Eliminate adds his quirky bass sounds in this remix and elevates the track to a much more diverse level. Keeping in the fun melodies of the original and taking it a step further with his signature high-pitched sounds, Eliminate makes this collaboration stand out from its average riddim source material. In the second drop, there is some riddim influence, but using his creative leads, he brings much more energy and life to the track. Like most dubstep tracks, it suffers from an overly long drop, but some quick mixing can take care of that. It’s a shame he didn’t devote more time to the breakdown to make the most of the original melodies
81/100
Chocolate Puma & Carta – Bump (feat. Kris Kiss)
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Kris Kiss is one of the most recognizable voices on the scene with his bouncy flow and punchiness. His vocals are what move the song forward and everything else is there purely as a vehicle for his lines. The instrumentals don’t stand out in any particular way. Carta brings his new age bass sound to Chocolate Puma’s classic club style which result in a solid collaboration headed by Kris Kiss’ vocals.
83/100
KURA – Lambo (Olly James Remix)
KURA venturing into basic bass house was a surprise for everyone and honestly was a disappointment given the energetic releases in KURA’s discography. Olly James takes the sound from his collaboration with Julian Jordan to breathe new life into the lackluster source material. He incorporates some of the rhythms from the original drop to great effect as his lead is much more powerful than the basic bass of the original. The two drops are identical, but the intro and outro bring the vocals up an octave or two which makes it much more distinguishable than the source material when the DJ mixes this one in. It would have been nice to see Olly James do something new with this sound he’s been experimenting with, but either way, it’s still the best remix of the EP.
79/100
Afrojack – Another Level
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Afrojack stated in the interview that, “[Another Level] was a record two years in the making. It started in the studio when I was with Martin Garrix doing “Turn Up The Speakers 2.0,” then we basically did the touches for a very long time because we were both working on new music while touring. He got very busy and I called him up to finish the rest on my own and he said, “Yeah, sure go for it.” So, I finished the record and that’s how it became Another Level. Martin Garrix co-produced it.” Callbacks to the original are very apparent but this one has a much stronger breakdown and acapella. The vocoder work is exceptional, and the drop is incredibly nostalgic in the best way possible. One flaw is the decision to include three full-length, nearly identical drops and one just eight bars after the other. It makes the melody memorable but at the cost of tiring out the listener sooner than if they had just followed the typical big room arrangement. Aside from that structural choice, “Another Level” represents yet another producer successfully going back to their energetic festival roots.
86/100
Kryder & Cato Anaya – La Cumbiambera
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Kryder has returned to his new label, Kryder Records, with another collaboration, this time with Cato Anaya. It lacks some of the flow from his other releases because the loops he’s chosen are much harsher and the repetition stands out since the hi-hats never let up for the entire track. It’s very much a DJ tool instead of something that could be put on a playlist. The vocals are fun, and the flute is jovial for a while until it quickly overstays its welcome. This track could have benefitted from a true breakdown to give listeners some time to breathe and take in the samples Kryder has chosen.
72/100
OUTRAGE & Polar Trip – Quasar
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OUTRAGE is back on Quartzo Records with a new face, Polar Trip, to bring us a big room track that hits all the right notes. The breakdowns are solid with some standard vocal chops and a melodic, hardstyle and Husman influenced breakdown which fits perfectly with the powerful drop which oscillates between the lead and chords in a very fluid way. It’s a unique implementation of the call and response structure which helps give the track some dynamic elements. Utilizing a lowpass on the second melodic breakdown to give room to futuristic vocals might not work for everyone, but at least it isn’t purely copied from the first half. It’s great to see that Quartzo continues to maintain a level of quality despite its numerous releases.
85/100
4B – Ice Cold (Ronaissance Remix)
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First off, what a massive remix EP with 18 different versions of the same song ranging all sorts of tempos and genres. We picked Ronaissance’s version because it brings the most energy without going over the top. It maintains many of the same sounds as the original but adds a much punchier kick and spaces out the madness to add the most emphasis. The first drop has a trap rhythm to it while the second goes hard Jersey Club with the beat. To us, this is the definitive version of this song which blends beauty with dark energy to such great effect.
86/100
Da Tweekaz – Back & Forth
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Here we are with another fun and quirky track from this Norwegian powerhouse duo. This is the third track following their insane release of “Jägermeister” and this follows in the footsteps of bringing a lighthearted energy to the harsh and diverse genre of hardstyle. Leaning more on the side of hard bounce, “Back & Forth” brings some fun piano chords underneath the sultry, hypnotic vocals which lend to the song’s title. The drop has some old school Deorro vibes utilizing a bouncy brass synth to carry the simplistic melody. While we wish the melody was a bit more dynamic or for two distinct drops, this is a good addition to any hardstyle DJ’s collection even if it doesn’t live up to the previous free release, “Piscola,” or the iconic “Jägermeister.”
79/100
We hope you enjoyed our recap of selected songs from last week. If there is a song that you felt should have been on here, be sure to leave it in the comments below and we’ll do our best to give our take on it. Certain songs were not included because they will be covered in more detail in the following days so make sure you’re following our social media pages to see all of our latest posts!
In case you missed it, here are the tracks we covered last week!
Interview with Sidney Samson (W/ The QR Network)
Fran Gomez & The Dirty Playerz – El Pescador
Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman – Born At Night
Nicky Romero & Stadiumx – Rise (ft. Matluck)
R3HAB & Mike Williams – Lullaby (Adam Fine & Notpil Remix)
This Recap was provided by The QR Network which is a blog for interviews with producers and DJs such as Drop Department, Jordan Jay, Loris Cimino, and many others!
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