Trivia of the week – Creamfields, the prestigious British EDM festival, actually gets its name from its promoter Cream, who are originally in nightclub business.

The number five has held much significance in history. In music alone, circle of fifths have a great role in making of many a harmonies. Apart from that, there is a special word that also shares five letters coincidentally: d-e-l-a-y. Alright, alright, you get the point here. This instalment of Weekly Roundup™ is hella late. But, I will make it up to you, noting my thoughts about the latest speaker-bumping stuff from aliases like Maddix, Habstrakt, Kura and more. Let’s get into it then!

Mike Williams – AIR
76/100

My brain and ears unfortunately didn’t get tossed in the air after listening this (for which I need a refund), but this might be a knocker for some others. The “Sweet & Sour” producer has experimented this time around, providing a minimal and gritty Big Room-ish/Future Bounce-y (?) kinda production. Interesting.

Mimicking the associated adjectives of its title, the synths hover over with a simplistic one-note riff in the drop, giving this 2013 era feels all over again. It does ring a bell about another song from the past, but combination of thundering tonal kicks and the rest is, refreshing I daresay? Needed more air though.

Bee Gees, SG Lewis – More Than A Woman (SG’s Paradise Edit)
83/100

The Gibbs brothers were brewing hits after hits during the heyday of Disco. Especially while providing memorable soundtracks for a movie where a young John Travolta gets swanky on the dance-floor (nah, not the one where he goes all honky-tonk). “More Than A Woman” was an original that rode the airwaves extensively after “Saturday Night Fever” plastered itself as a blockbuster.

Four decades later, a young and upcoming British musician thought about giving it his own spin, which to no surprise got the official approve. SG Lewis, if you might remember from our review for his delectable début album “times” earlier this year, has revamped the hit in a more electronic fashion. Supporting the delectable strings in four by four pattern, in companionship with parts from the falsetto vocals, there’s a nostalgia in surplus within this graceful and velvety rework.

Kura, Vedenzo – In My House
75/100

After stepping down from one of the notable thrones in Big Room kingdom, almost in a clandestine manner, the Portuguese producer Kura has been busy brewing his own flavour of House music. He and Russian uprising act Vedenzo have crafted a Tech House warmer named “In My House”, one befit for Spinnin Record’s catalogue.

As expected, there is an array of eccentric FX synths with a feature of Dub Techno chords (reminded me of Inner Life’s “Good Life” sorta) that pertain to Kura’s recent signature. Despite the clever and well spaced-out arrangements, I missed that bizarre-ness one can hear in “Gunz In My House”, or better “Lambo”.

Habstrakt – The Sound
81/100

French hotshot Habstrakt has established himself in the bass scene tightly, and “The Sound” is just another one of his many belters. Channeling cyberpunk debauchery in this instrumental, the distorted and hoover-ing synths stomped my headphones with aggressive demeanor.

Only negative I have for this track is lack of an extended breakdown sequence, which could have introduced more of that illegitimate futuristic rave settings.

Maddix – Receive Life
77/100

The tribe’s headman has returned upon us, offering “Receive Life”. Maddix leans heavier on Hard Rave/Acid Techno/Gabber inspired arrangements on this variant of his sonic trademark, although watered down. Squelching and vocalized synths dominate, rushing along with the heavier Techno kick-drum. The faster pace helps a lot, otherwise it would have succumbed to being more static and whiny instead.

Last time I went through his discography, the explosive “Activating” was the newest single from him. One has to commend on how true the Dutch artist is staying put to this hybrid style, but it has its hits and miss. Today’s feature is slightly a miss, but hey, more power to him for experimenting with Rave music.

PaulWetz – Bruises (Flowers On Monday Remix)
85/100

Fun fact: This was an inch apart from becoming this month’s favourite of mine, which as you will see, got seized by “Deichkind” from the futurist Dixon. However, this remix from the German duo Flowers On Monday, who were unknown to me until now, delivered a dreamy and melancholic edit of the said original.

Minimalism is a weapon in the hands of the skillful; using a somber and elegant progression, the pair adjoined an organic and emotional instrumental to the confessional lyricism from PaulWetz. A heavy shaker takes up most of the frequencies, as atmospheric synths add that bittersweet presence. So good.

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