DBSTF are back and it’s as good as you’d think it’d be! Plus Brooks finally releases his remix of American Boy, Maddix returns to Revealed Recordings, and Haywyre gives a much-needed remix to Martin Garrix’s summer hit. 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
Blasterjaxx & DBSTF feat. Envy Monroe – Wonderful Together
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Oh my Lord! After over a year of focusing on and building the hardstyle D-Block & S-te-Fan project, the duo has returned to their big room alias for a massive, nostalgia fueled collaboration with Blasterjaxx. This track marks the fourth collaboration between the two duos with the first two being big room tracks and the third a progressive, emotional piece. “Wonderful Together” finally gets the perfect blend of both of their styles while calling back to some of the golden era of big room. When I heard the iconic DBSTF lead creep into the first breakdown, I knew I was in for a treat. I was disappointed to see it missing from the second breakdown, but the light vocal processing on Envy Monroe’s singing was absolutely delightful and spine-tingling. My issue was the leads peaking through the filter as if they were about to emerge, only to fade back into the background. Seeing an almost four-minute track in this day and age makes me wonder why they didn’t make it a bit longer and add another climactic moment in the second break.
Onto the drop, two other tracks came to mind: “Wake Up Call” by Hardwell and Blasterjaxx’s Edit of “Roots” by Crystal Lake. It also sounds like they were influenced by Syzz’s style of big room as well. Blasterjaxx has also used this type of filtered lead in his collaboration with Timmy Trumpet, “Narcos.” In the context of the track, the drop is very cathartic as it should be. With the amount of production talent behind the song, I was also disappointed to see that the second drop was largely similar to the first. I would have liked to have seen a more melodic drop, following the structure of Maurice West’s remix of “Selfish.” In the end, I’m extremely pleased with what these five individuals have given us as it is leagues above the traditional offerings we’ve gotten used to seeing from big room producers.
89/100
Afrojack x Jewelz & Sparks – Switch (feat. Emmalyn) (Magnificence Remix)
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When the original came out, I applauded Jewelz & Sparks and Afrojack for maintaining their signature sound in their mainstream-oriented track. Now with the remix set out, the Magnificence one stuck out to me due to it’s Matroda-esque house style. It reminded me a bit of “That Beat” and “Beef Stick.” It still uses enough Magnificence elements for me not to raise my eyebrow. I think it was an interesting departure from their dark club sound and incorporating a new sound into their arsenal. Their talent for creating inherently danceable tracks is always impressive because they just speak to me on such a carnal level that I can’t explain. It just makes me move.
85/100
Robbie Mendez – Happening
While I won’t be talking about the atrocity of a remix from R3HAB which reuses way too many elements from his “Polaroid” and “One Kiss” remixes, I did want to discuss a new face on his label, CYB3RPVNK. Robbie Mendez is an excellent producer who does a lot of work behind the scenes but has come out strong in 2019 with two Spinnin’ releases under his belt already. “Happening” follows the same arrangement as some of his other tracks with the first half being nearly identical to the second. It’s a decent, albeit a tad lazy structure but totally normal for today’s standards. The breaks are more for atmosphere rather than memorable melodies but it’s a generally positive way to spend your listening time on. The drops are filled with energy but a tad too much silence. Some silence can be impactful, but the trick is overused here and should have been filled with bright samples in my opinion. R3HAB’s label has actually been putting out some really fresh stuff lately from a deserving bunch of artists including Tommy Jayden, Adem & Murat, & Munar in addition to familiar faces like Skytech. Here’s to more quality stuff in the future.
79/100
Ed Sheeran – I Don’t Care (feat. Justin Bieber) (Loud Luxury Remix)
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With these two pop sensations teaming up for the first time, you know it was going to be a widely remixed track. The remix I was enjoying prior to this one was from Dirty Palm, who did a fine job of putting his style into the existing melody. As a DJ myself, I always look for the remix that either adds a fresh new take on it with new melodies or puts it into a house tempo with the best technical ability. Loud Luxury has done the latter with his subdued yet energetic house style. It stays true to the original track while putting it into an arrangement that will please those of us who appreciate the improved mastering that only EDM producers can create.
82/100
Dimatik & SaberZ – Mazorka
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In a surprise yet inevitable collaboration, Dimatik and SaberZ have come together to release a new track on Dimatik’s label, Cinematik. The typical psy-trance track features one melody and vocal sample that gets brought in and out throughout the track. The second break is slowed down for some midtempo psy-fare. The second drop adds a new percussion sample but that’s about it. The track never feels like it goes anywhere or has any sense of climax or catharsis. It’s a shame that neither producer brought their A-game to the table for what could have been an epic collaboration. I wish that Dimatik had brought some stems from “Elevare” and SaberZ their knack for infectious melodies.
61/100
Estelle, Kanye West – American Boy (Brooks Remix)
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Four months after his second David Guetta collaboration, Brooks has returned with his long-anticipated remix of the pop-classic, “American Boy.” From what I gather, the bottom line is that this remix is the salvo for a significant shift in Brooks’ style to a more progressive, nostalgic sound. While there are some neat little tricks and changes in the breakdown, the drops are what most Brooks fans are here for. The future-bounce elements are still present, but the leads are brighter, the melodies are reminiscent of progressive house from its golden era, and the emotional button-pushing is more apparent. Personally, the drop didn’t resonate with me like his older, darker tracks do. When I reviewed his David Guetta collab, I said that I’m glad that his sound is getting more recognition, I just hope he doesn’t lose his way on the way to the top. The amount of time between each release does indicate a lot of thought on his part, as he’s surely sitting on a goldmine of unreleased material. I’m interested to see what he pulls out of the vault next.
74/100
Kaskade, Meghan Trainor – With You
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I chose this track because I wanted to talk about how pop singers lose their edge whenever collaborating with an EDM producer. I don’t know why this is because there are four producers and three additional writers for a total of eight people responsible for this song on paper. (Meghan Trainor apparently wasn’t a part of the writing process) Kaskade has shown to be more than capable of writing and producing memorable tracks with vocalists so I just don’t understand why this one is so forgettable. Undoubtedly it will amass millions of streams from playlist placements, but I’ll be measuring the success of this track based on the number of remixes I see pop up after the fact. We’ll see if it rises to the ranks of “Wolves,” “Stay,” or “There for You.”
45/100
Maddix – The Omen
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After browsing the comments on this track on Soundcloud and YouTube, it seems that people seems to be positively responding to this latest track from Maddix. I’ll start off by saying that I love how Maddix usually adds notable changes to his second drops to genuinely elevate a track. However, the fact that this track hinges on one melody and one vocal sample carrying the same melody gives me pause. The melody has not bore its way into my head like others have done before. The technical prowess displayed in this track is impressive, but it just isn’t up to memorable levels like “Mangalam,” “Soldier,” or “Prophecy.”
76/100
Martin Garrix, Macklemore, Fall Out Boy – Summer Days (Haywyre Remix)
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While the original was a perfectly decent pop track featuring some notable talent, it fell into the sea of other pop hits in my books. When I saw that the truly talented producer and genuine musician, Haywyre, was putting his touch on this track, I got excited to see where he would take it since the original sounded right up his alley. Upon finally hearing the remix, it sounded about how I expected, which is to say it’s a definite improvement over the original with a slew of new melodies and motifs to latch onto. I think that cutting out Macklemore’s contributions was a mistake because I think his verse would have fit well in a breakdown alongside Haywyre’s signature improv talent. Seeing as we didn’t review the original, I’m going to be rating this one about five points higher than that.
83/100
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!
DubVision vs Vigel feat. Nino Lucarelli – Rescue Me
Armin van Buuren & Luke Bond feat. KARRA – Revolution
This recap was provided by The QR Network which is a site for interviews with producers and DJs. Check out their interviews with Curtis Richa, Vlush, Retrovision, and Nino Lucarelli.
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