The history of Loca Recordings from 2015 to now has been one of extreme highs marred by negligence and difficulties behind the scenes. After transferring ownership an astonishing four times, it’s amazing that there is still any label left. This ADE sampler marks yet another new chapter for the label and the first results have arrived.
Time to analyze them.
Overall
77/100
This 5-tracks ADE Sampler resembles a pretty good collection with names that have notable releases on labels like Revealed, Quartzo, and Exposed. But more importantly, these artists come with signature sounds and innovative ideas. The selection presents five of the many shades of festival music, including big room trance, tribal, groove, psy-trance, and hardstyle. Except for the lack of a progressive house offering, I have to appreciate the choices made and the organization behind it as they all came with impressive technical merits. That’s Loca’s project in a nutshell.
My heaviest critics in this review are principally based on personal tastes, thus I’m sure that many of you will have a different experience with the EP.
TBR & Ragunde – Illusion
83/100
A very clear tranceroom construction, powerful and extremely entertaining, with a strong Saberz/W&W influence in the project. The TBR-Ragunde duo has compatible styles that dance together in an aggressive, bouncy structure. I definitely enjoyed the melody and the electrifying atmosphere in the breakdown! We have reached the true quality level, I think that now it’s time for their styles to stand out from the others. Keyword: differentiation.
NAEMS, RVBIKs & BECH – Savana
86/100
Exotic name, expected tribal vibes here – Wasn’t disappointed. NAEMS is the only name I recognized and I immediately heard his influence in the drop. They did some majestic work in fusing an extraordinary percussion set with a hypnotic vocal loop. I see myself dancing like crazy on this one, and I’m not the guy who likes dancing. The “Tribal Room” wave has had its ups and downs – starting with its inception by KURA and carried on by people like Steven Vegas and NAEMS. But tracks like “Savana” show off some of the best that the style has to offer.
Skytters & Xavi – Alarm
71/100
After their previous masterpiece on Exposed, Skytters had certainly caught my attention. “Alarm” presents their sound that escalates into a jazzy solo in the breakdown which was borrowed from their previous collaboration with THOBY.. I’m really torn about the overall track here because I simply don’t like the drop, which I feels falls under the standard that Skytters set for themselves, but I love the jazziness of the breakdown which has a lot of potential in my opinion! I truly hope to hear this style again, that’s so creative! Skytters, on the other hand, need to continue evolving their sound to reach new heights with the signature they have been cultivating. God forbid they become the next Steff Da Campo or Tujamo after working so hard to find their voice.
Wyko – Turn Back Time
75/100
Had a hard time here, on the one hand, I’m crazy about some of the ideas here, but on the other – I’m annoyed by the initial hard-psy segment and the high pitched vocal (which I found clashing with the rest of the production). Then, the track closes out with a fantastic melodic hardstyle section with a brutal kick that gave me goosebumps. To summarize, I admire the kick and the energy of “Turn Back Time”, but some choices left me rather disappointed. It’s a song that alternates between “meh” and the more frequent “wow” moments.
Alejandro – Hero
69/100
Here we have the “Fonkish” tune of the EP with a percussion structure that we often see on Dannic’s label and a slight Arabic twist. Honestly, these are the vibes that I’m considering overused nowadays, but I’ve also never been a big fan of Fonk. However I have to say that Alejandro’s work has a certain cleanliness in its rather minimal composition. The ornamentation in the lead is also commendable. Even as it stands within the EP, “Hero” still puts to shame many of the songs I’ve seen on Dannic’s imprint.
What do you think?
Show comments / Leave a comment