This week, we’ll be remarking on a few trends we’ve noticed before perhaps a bigger article on the topic. As always, we’ll be compiling 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.

Kryder – Drumkore

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After the closure of Sosumi and the reduction in frequencies of releases from Fonk, groove has been on the decline in 2019 with very few artists and labels pushing the style. Ever Kryder’s own label, Kryteria, has shifted more to pure house over the past months. Now with the release of “Drumkore” and his latest episode of Kryteria Radio, it seems that Kryder is set on reviving the genre in 2020. The song in and of itself isn’t all that remarkable relying solely on percussion to move the song forward. Just as the song “Rave Culture” or “Big Room Never Dies” weren’t the best big room tracks, the more important thing here is what the song symbolizes for the label and the artist behind it. It’s the salvo for what’s to come and for that, I’m excited.

74/100

Dirty Palm – Takedown

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Two months after his two releases on Spinnin’ Records, Dirty Palm is back with a new release with a slight twist on his usual future bounce sound. Those familiar with his style will certainly recognize the powerful bassline and punchy kicks, but the lead has been refined more in the image of TV Noise leads like in “Lasers” and “808” even in the same typical key of Fm. However it does build on older Dirty Palm tracks such as “Get Bounced,” “Go Down,” and “Grime Thing.” It’s not overly derivative but like when Dirty Palm starting taking inspiration from Brooks, the trail is easy to follow here as well. The breakdowns are pretty minimalist and more ham-fisted than other similar examples like “Rave Alert” by Justin Mylo and SWACQ. “Takedown” is an interesting look for what’s to come and while it might not be the most original thing, 2020 still looks promising for Dirty Palm.

77/100

Seth Hills & Whats Gud – Pressure

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Ah shit, here we go again. Seth Hills ripping off yet another track for his own discography. This time with the help from Axollo & B3rror with their new duo, Whats Gud. I’ve mentioned before how every Seth Hills track after “Whisper” can be linked to another and this time, it’s Blinders he’s ripping off. “Leaving” to be exact. Same melody, same key, same lead but with the Axollo drum kit. The breakdowns are this empty mess of an overused vocal sample and vocal loops. All around this is just a lazy piece of music buried in the holiday season. Shame on STMPD for continuing to condone this thievery from Seth Hills.

28/100

Maurice West – Euforika 2000

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While the release of “What the F?!” marked the start of Maurice West’s new label, Euforika 2000 makes it official with its own label anthem. Since Maurice West’s departure from Rave Culture, we’ve seen them embrace a slew of new names to the label which makes me believe that West was the one holding Rave Culture back from signing names outside of himself and W&W. So I don’t have high hopes in the label becoming any sort of talent haven for big room producers. The song itself continues West’s experimental phase that started with “What the F?!” and it pays off with the same effect here. Classic big room vibes with an insane amount of musical influences thrown into the mix to keep things fresh. To me, this track strikes me as something transitional between the big room that brought him to fame and the music that will make him a legend. But for now, these songs are just above-average in quality.

81/100

Sandro Silva & Michael Prado – Baile

For me, Smash The House was the home of big room anthems like “The Hum” by Ummet Ozcan. Now it seems to be the place where has-beens shop their wares and release their worst tracks. In the past month, Sandro Silva put out some pretty nice tracks with Max Adrian and SaberZ on Revealed and Rave Culture. Now that he’s back on STH, it’s pure garbage. There is no redeeming qualities to “Baile,” not even the production value. The kick is messy, the melody is repetitive, and the breakdowns lack substance. The A&R team over there should be fired and fresh blood brought in. Even with the Generation Smash EP that was also just released, the whole pack sounds like rejected Revealed Community demos from a bunch of nobodies with the exception of Vito Mendez, Amero, and Grimix. If there was one label that spiraled into garbage-city this year – it would be Smash The House.

9/100

Steff Da Campo – In & Out Of My Life

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2019 was a great year for Steff Da Campo. As much as we love to bash him, he found a formula for success and made it work for him. From a normal DJ and producer to one of the most sought-after remixers for pop tracks. Now with his final track of 2019, he has made something without a Siks lead and without sampling some old pop song. All we have here is a canned sample vocal and some slightly fresh piano house. It’s actually incredible that he was able to restrain himself for this one but I’m proud of him for it. After his beyond lazy remix for Joe Stone consisting of a single-note Siks swipe drop, “In & Out Of My Life” gives me hope that there is redemption for Steff in 2020.

61/100

Marc Benjamin – All The Time

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EDM was built on sampling other tracks, but it seems to me that I’ve been seeing a sharp rise in pop samples from the 80s-00s on major label releases. How the almighty Spinnin Records thought they could get away with sampling the iconic, heavily remix “Blue” by Eiffel 65 is absolutely beyond me. It is such an iconic melody and to not credit them in the title of the track is sinful. I enjoyed some of Marc Benjamin’s previous work like “Blaster” and “Show You,” but this is beyond lazy. Pairing a sample pack vocal with one of the most recognizeable melodies can hardly be called an “original mix.” Signed on Spinnin’ Records! What has the world come to…

14/100

Matroda – Walk In The Spot

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One of the pioneers of modern bass house has finally made his way to Musical Freedom! I was so excited and proud to see him emerge on Tiesto’s imprint but then I heard the vocal… Matroda sampled “Sexy And I Know It” by LMFAO. I don’t even know what to make of this. Think of how many more non-EDM fans would have found this if it had just been labeled a remix? How many people could have fallen into this world but instead, Musical Freedom decided to clear the sample and leave the LMFAO brand out of the marketing completely. With all of the talented vocalists out there and someone decides to go to the trouble of clearing a sample instead of hiring someone to sing something new. It breaks my heart. I expected more from Matroda.

47/100

ANGELZ, Jace Mek & Kage – Pick It Up (feat. D’aaron Anthony)

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Lastly, we have a collaboration I was eager to hear. As a huge fan of Kage’s juicy bass house style, Jace Mek’s unique sound design, ANGELZ’s knack for creating infectious tunes, and original vocals? – I expected nothing short of mind blowing. Instead… Yet again… I was disappointed. While I hear Kage’s percussion with Jace Mek’s leads, the result is underwhelming as the melody simply isn’t there. All of their sounds are present but the purpose isn’t. It’s just another bass house track with different sounds and a generic acapella. No killer versus, nothing catchy, just noise pumped into our ears and through our speakers with nothing to hold it together.

67/100

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! 

Masix – My Heart
Feed Me – Little Space (ft. Yosie)
A Little Surprise From Hardwell!
Dubvision & Firebeatz – Lambo
VINAI – How I Like It
Asia Tours Everywhere
Blasterjaxx & Olly James – Life Is Music
Yves V & MAD M.A.C. – Money Money
Is This the End for METAFO4R?
The Chainsmokers & Kygo – Family
Desren & JPK – Spaced Out (BLUK Remix)

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