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.
R3HAB & Skytech – Fuego
What an uninspired drop, and if you look through the comments on YouTube, their fans are just eating it up. While it’s great to see R3HAB and Skytech moving back towards big room, this is quite the disappointing comeback. The rhythm is one we’ve heard a million times before, however I will say that the basswork is impressive with the horns doubling as a progressive bassline. Now it did take me some digging to find where the acapella came from, but I finally found it. Turns out JP Candela & Robbie Rivera already did a mix with these vocals on Cartel Records in addition to some other smaller artists. At any rate, hopefully we’ll see some more interesting stuff like “What You Do” but I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out. At the end of the day, “Fuego” is a mildly entertaining big room throwback track which some highly derived elements.
65/100
KAAZE feat. Nino Lucarelli – Satellites
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/537508680″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
If you go back to KAAZE’s first track on Soundcloud, you’ll find his remix of Tiesto’s “Maximal Crazy” and you might be surprised to find out that his progressive sound hasn’t changed much in over four years. Now he’s done some groove and electro house stuff, but he’s primarily known for his progressive sound and has a slew of EPs dedicated to it. Even his latest track before this one, “This is Love” sounds identical in production to his first remix. There have been some notable tracks like “Black Sahara” with Joey Dale that had some fantastic ornaments, but “Satellites” takes those ornaments a step further and does this absolutely gorgeous pitch blending with them to create this wild sense of emotion and catharsis. People who know me personally know that I’m not a fan of progressive house, but this track right here is something truly special. I can’t help but close my eyes and get lost in this track every time I hear that melody and ornamentation. He doesn’t overuse it in this track and the vocals by Nino Lucarelli fit in perfectly. Personally, I would have liked to have seen an evolution of the melody in the second breakdown, but you can’t win them all I suppose.
91/100
nFiX & Candice – Stronger
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/532410399″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
inHarmony is one of the few trance labels that has really nailed down the festival trance sound. nFiX & Candice deliver a track that brings in the best elements from Husman, Andrew Rayel, and NWYR while adding a few extra elements to make this track powerful. The breaks have that hardstyle/trance synth that sounds similar to something Andrew Rayel would use and the drops have that simple kick-heavy pushdown style that we’ve been seeing from NWYR and Husman. There’s an added light, psy-trance element which really builds some momentum in the track. The second breakdown is really epic (and also mashes up well with SaberZ – Doha) and leads into a slightly more powerful second drop due to some minor changes. All in all, another impressive track in the inHarmony discography and an excellent introduction for me to this aspiring duo.
85/100
KEVU & REGGIO – Push it Down
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/535662537″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
This self-released track seems to be a spiritual follow-up to KEVU’s “Soldier” with REGGIO’s touch instead of Maddix’s. Here we have REGGIO’s dark progressive spin on this high-tempo festival music. Whereas “Soldier” never went full-on hardsyle, “Push it Down” does in the second drop and having these two artists together really impresses here. While the kick is a bit weaker than hardstyle fans might be used to, the synths and the way these two have transitioned their sound into this new genre make up for it. “Push it Down” is a fantastic experiment and we hope to see more hardstyle from these two in the future.
82/100
Alesso – Tilted Towers
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/534242847″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
Appearing on the EP by Fortnite’s poster boy, Ninja, Alesso has given us the laziest track of the year. After a whopping ninety-three seconds of an intro, we get a “drop” that has so many risers in it and leads into another drop, all of which are looping the same measure over and over! Then that “drop” has so many risers in it that just fizzle out into some hi-hats and ethnic vocals, the first semblance of a melody after almost two-and-a-half minutes. I’d guess they’re probably straight from a sample pack somewhere. Some new elements come in for the second true build and then it drops straight back into this lazy bounce stuff with too many risers. The comments on YouTube just pile on the praise so maybe I’m just not listening to this right. As a tech-house track, it’s serviceable, I suppose, but to me, it seems like a parody of house music. It’s almost like Alesso sat down and said, “I wonder what’s the least amount of effort I can put into a song and still get my fans to listen to it” and he came out with “Tilted Towers.”
25/100
Rita Ora – Let You Love Me (Husman Festival Mix)
This particular remix isn’t on Soundcloud or YouTube presumably for copyright reasons and exists solely on a Onedrive link in the bio of Husman’s latest YouTube video. This remix marks the second hardstyle track from Husman, the first appearing on his Mad King Rises album. While that first track, “Future Empire,” was more of a fusion track rather than a full-on hardstyle release, this remix nails the hardstyle synth and kick with the perfect amount of Husman influence. He does use the same melody for the first break and both drops which is slightly disappointing coming from such a creative individual, but for a free release it’s a real treat. After coming back to production after a vacation to South Africa, he’s been releasing a lot of new videos of him in the studio and for his Patreons, so there should be some great full releases coming up soon!
80/100
Chime – Coins!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/509504274″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
Just a few weeks after Teminite released his album, “Uprising,” which we revealed in full on this site, one of his collaborators, Chime, has released an EP of his own! It’s filled with great 8-bit dubstep fusion which has a real nostalgia factor for the listeners who grew up on Monstercat releases. The one we wanted to focus on is “Coins!” which we felt was the best track of the album. It begins something that sounds straight out of an arcade game and it evolves into something crazier and crazier as the melodies layer and build on each other. When the hysterical acapella comes in and yells “Coins!” the drop hits and it’s absolute madness. If I was playing a game with this in the background, I would lose my cool so fast and start headbanging on the spot. The hardstyle section that breaks apart the drop is what really caught my attention when I came across this song for the first time. It’s great to see that hardstyle and dubstep fusion since the two genres often share that 75/150 BPM tempo. The inclusion is also a welcome tactic in dubstep which often has drops that go on too long for their own good. The rest of the track is just as fun with tons of chaotically enjoyable melodies and elements. “Coins!” is areal treat from start to finish and well worth your time.
89/100
Haywyre – Square One
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/537407379″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
It seems to be album season as we have another exceptional album from Haywyre. He’s taken his signature future funk sound to a variety of different tempos and tones. “Square One” is characterized by its intoxicating piano solos followed by a soulful synth solo that gives just the perfect amount of soul and energy to the track. There’s some future bass elements backing up the synth which can drone on a bit more than I’d like. The flow of the track is impeccable up until the second drop which copies a few too many elements from the first. It’s reminiscent of some of the Gramatik coffee shop tracks that sound like a bunch of musicians getting together to have a bit of fun and make some music together. This type of composition is some of the best EDM has to offer as it replicates the best part of acoustic music with the mastering that only EDM producers can deliver.
88/100
Toby Green – Party People
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/537894210″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
As EDM diversifies and people find their niches within it, we’ve seem to come to the point where we have artists that are just a bit too complacent with their sound. You have Steff da Campo who has done over 10 tracks of the same style, R3HAB who has done a few too many remixes in the same style, and KAAZE with his progressive sound. Toby Green has seemed to have fallen in a similar trap as “Party People” marks the fifth track of the style that began with “Ready” on Musical Freedom. Even worse is how similar “Party People” sounds to his latest release, “Check this Out” due to the fact that they’re in the same key. Hard to believe a label like Dim Mak would release two tracks so similar from the same artist. At any rate, Toby Green seems to be on a mission “to bring the rave back into house music and the house music back into rave.” This style is infectious, no doubt about it, but it might be time to evolve it a bit more.
70/100
Avoure – Aura
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/537159417″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”130″ iframe=”true” /]
As someone who got into EDM through the quick pacing and progression of big room, I never really got the appeal of tech and melodic tech house until earlier this year. Just the fact that this track is over eight minutes long would have caused me to skip this track last year, the only song I had ever listened to that was that long was Jon Hopkin’s remix of “Spider” by Leo Abraham which is a remarkable example progression through music. Back to “Aura,” this track is based on a tried and true melody which hits the sweet spot with just enough deviations to keep things interesting. The soft female vocal inclusions are a fantastic touch. The melody does go on a bit too long in the middle section and it stands out since it’s almost ninety unrelenting seconds of the same melody. The third section simplifies the melody down to its chords and ups the energy a bit. When the main melody kicks back in, I find it more of an annoyance than a welcome addition. The edited down version is definitely the best way to experience this track.
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!
XXXTentacion & Lil Pump – Arms Around You (VITIZE Remix)
Astra & Suyano – Brothers In Arms
Timmy Trumpet and The Golden Army – Mufasa
This recap was provided by The QR Network which is a site for interviews with producers and DJs such as SaberZ, Steven Vegas, Micah Martin, Seth Hills, TNO, and RudeLies.
What do you think?
Show comments / Leave a comment