It’s been a disappointing week for music and so we’ll go over some of those points here in this recap. As always, 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 post your suggestions in the comments!
Steve Aoki & Alok – Do It Again
“Do It Again” follows in Tiesto’s footsteps by releasing a “new” track (like “Grapevine) which is just a bootleg remix of an older classic. While I’m all for revamping classic tracks to make them more festival-ready, I strongly believe that the original track should be credited. The only new element that Steve Aoki & Alok added was a one-note drop and some more bass. By no measure should that constitute an “original mix.” Since the only thing new is that drop, while Alok’s melodic side has been explored in his midtempo tracks, his Brazilian bass tracks are largely rhythmic yet this new track feels less engaging than one of his other Spinnin’ tracks, “Fuego.” The only thing going for this track are the names behind it, had it been released by anyone else, it would have been relegated to the remaining Brazilian Bass-focused Soundcloud labels as a bootleg. The low rating is given for a lack of originality, improper crediting, and blatant lack of effort by these two big names.
46/100
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ft. Era Istrefi – Selfish (Maurice West Remix)
After hearing the track as an festival rip for a while, we’re finally able to hear the remix in full quality and we’ve got some mixed feelings about it. When talking about the first bigroom drop in an interview, he had this to say, “The very first thing I tried was playing around with the vocal hook as a lead sound. I made that first drop and thought, ‘Nah this is just too simple,” and I sent a voice note of it to a few friends as a joke. Everyone actually loved it. I then tested it out at a festival. Everyone went crazy. So now it’s my fastest made drop that ever made the cut.“
On top of that, the break melody and second progressive drop are based on “Africa” by Toto and we’re left with a largely derivative song. Listening to Ale Mora’s remix also bears a lot of similarities in structure and vibe. In the end, I feel like the track would have been even better suited as a remix of the timeless, incredibly popular “Africa.” However, the crowds and comments seem to love this remix the best out of the whole pack, and while I agree with that, I’m looking forward to more original tracks from the Rave Culture artist. If you want to learn more about Maurice West and the future of Rave Culture, go and check out his interview on The QR Network.
76/100
Krimer – Bamboozle
I’ve been playing Apex since the first week it came out, and while the only semi-decent track to be inspired by it was this trap remix, now we’ve a festival-ready dubstep track using more Mirage samples. Having that external connection to a different part of pop-culture that you’re involved in just gives an extra layer to the enjoyment of a track. Often times, you’ll get somewhat amateur-ish remixes that incorporate those samples, but Krimer is a well-established producer and has created a song that can stand on its own without the Apex connection, but the fact that it has it makes it so much better for me. The break melodies have a circus-type of feel that builds on the premise of the track and the three drops are perfectly serviceable. I don’t think the triplets were as effective as they could have been and the last drop has a bit of YOOKiE vibes to it. Overall, is this a great track? No, but I enjoyed listening to it.
72/100
Loopers – Feel It
With one of the most identifiable sounds on the STMPD roster, Loopers has taken his signature and placed it in a more pure-house format. A parallel could be drawn to Toby Green’s latest track, “Work It” where he did the same thing with his sound. “Feel It” revolves around a commonly used vocal sample and has only one true break. Clocking in at just 2:37 with an almost full DJ intro and outro is ridiculous and ends up feeling like just half of a song. We get a drop with minimal elements and then an even further stripped down psy-fusion section before the outro plays out. His other track, “I’m Odd” had a somewhat similar structure but at least it had a sense of rising and falling energy to carry you through it (not to mention a catchy melody.) I just hope this track performs poorly so that Loopers goes back to putting more effort into his songs.
69/100
Jonas Aden – I Don’t Speak French (Adieu)
Let me start off by saying that I’ve followed Jonas Aden since his track in the first installment of Generation Hex with “Temple.” So I’ve enjoyed him through his future house phase as well as some of his bass house stuff like “I Dip You Dip.” I love the acapella in this track as it follows the quirky, spoken word house trend that has always existed on the fringe of the scene. However the lack of melody in the drop and disharmonious elements in the drop are too simple and lack the energy to make me want to dance. The track is also very short at 2:19 for the radio edit but I also feel like there’s not much more the track has to offer beyond that. I feel like the track will be heavily streamed and thus reward Jonas & Musical Freedom for releasing such a simple track. I’m honestly conflicted as to whether this is a good or bad thing for the scene as a whole. As EDM Reviewer has touched on this trend in a full article, I don’t know if artists will try to make shorter, better songs or just release the barebones amount to be required a “song” at all. As for this one, I just can’t get behind it in full.
74/100
HEDEGAARD & Matt Hawk – SA-MY-D (Matroda Remix)
Matroda is undeniably one of the trendsetters in the bass house scene but I feel like the way he produces tracks is reminiscent of Bloodtone and Jacknife who both made excellent tracks but ended up reusing too many elements from their past tracks. Matroda has an extensive toolbox of production tricks, but since he’s been ramping up his releases over the past few months, the similar elements are started to become harder to ignore. At this point as a fan, I’m still behind tracks like this remix because they still make me want to dance and force my body to move. I can’t deny how a track makes me feel underneath it all, and while I’m aware of the growing similarities, it’s still at a tolerable and effective level right now.
79/100
Deorro & Danny Avila – Keep It Goin’
Danny Avila is no stranger to bounce music, having even make a collaboration with Tujamo himself. This particular style can be see in the Club Mix of “End Of The Night” as well as “BRAH” and “LOCO.” However, here with “Keep It Goin’,” we have a fantastic evolution of that sound as he and Deorro clean it up and add an extremely catchy melody to it. It’s definitely a more minimalistic approach but it’s just nostalgic enough to bring back up some positive memories while pairing it with a soft guitar melody that carries into the drop. The vocal pack choice is one I haven’t heard before but fits in well with the track. Overall, a simple, enjoyable track from both of these producers and a great fusion of their respective sounds.
83/100
Sidney Samson, X-TOF & Bowman – Bomba Latina (feat. Mr. Pig & Zafra Negra)
The amount of people involved in the making of this track is mind-blowing enough, but then when you hear the result, you just wonder how this passed through so many people and got released in the form that it did. The drop is way over-processed and comes off as extremely harsh in an unpleasant way. The breaks are fine with their Spanish flare but overall forgettable when compared to Deorro’s “Muñequita Linda.” While I’m all for the resurgence of big room in the festival scene, songs like these from Sidney Samson are not helping.
62/100
Grimix & OnderKoffer – Fata Morgana
It seems like the flute-inspired synths are here to stay. I guess I will relinquish that it’s Blinder’s sound at this point. Anyway, “Fata Morgana” brings some new talent over the Smash Generation label with a fresh, ethnic big room tune bordering on bass house. The melodies are engaging, the breakbeat sections make the track feel dynamic, and the bass-work is superb. I just wanted to give an update on the new label and this is definitely a promising track for them. Hope they keep bringing in new talent and showcasing what these new producers have to offer. Of all the newer artist-run labels out there, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike are doing one of the better jobs.
81/100
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!
Armin Van Buuren vs Shapov – La Résistance De L’Amour
Blasterjaxx – Children Of Today
Clean Bandit ft. Ellie Goulding – Mama (Niko Kotoulas Remix)
W&W vs. Nicky Romero – Ups & Downs
Sub Zero Project’s debut album is “Contagious”
This recap was provided by The QR Network which is a site for interviews with producers and DJs. Check out their interviews with Maurice West, Declain, Adventure Club, Maddix, and Magnificence.
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