Fuck Yeah Friday!: Chris Lake, Wolfgang, Zedd, and more

Today I took my talents to www.mymusicisbetterthanyours.com for a 6-song "Finally Friday" post. Please go here to check it out and make sure to like us on Facebook!

Happy Hump Day!: Ho's & Disco's

Mord Fustang at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA 9.27.11

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Estonian sensation Mord Fustang perform at the sweaty basement of the Middle East. After enduring a half-hour set by Kid Sister, which was a half hour too long, MF walked on stage to do his thing. Until that point I had never seen what he looked like and I was a bit surprised. He is a tall, lanky dude with bangs flipped to the side. This may be a stretch, but his hairdo reminded me of a much shorter version of Skrillex's. He definitely had an Eastern European look, but if you didn't know any better you'd think he was an American born and raised.

To my disappointment, after Kid Sister finished and MF started his set, I noticed people heading for the exit. I always feel bad for the artists when their shows aren't at capacity (or noticeably below capacity). This was a Throwed event, which is notorious for having high schoolers clad in minimal clothing. Maybe because it was 11:30 on a school night there were less 18-year-olds than I expected. I also know that Mord is a relatively unknown producer even though those that do know his work are huge fans. I was surprised to find a lot of my friends who are EDM fans didn't know his name.

Anyways, Mord dropped into his first song which was sweet but I'll admit I had never heard before. According to my friend Mike, this was the Space Laces remix of  "Ho's & Disco's" by Lucky Date (see below, second song). It had plenty of wobbles for everyone and was a great way to start the show. MF then went into both his original productions and various other songs including Deadmau5's new track "Where My Keys". His best-known song "Lick the Rainbow" got a huge response and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Overall it was a great hour-long set, although I wish the Estonian could have played much longer. This kid is a true talent and I hope I get to see him in the near future. I can only see good things coming for him.


Lucky Date Ho's & Disco's (Original Mix)


Lucky Date Ho's & Disco's (Space Laces Remix)


Lucky Date Ho's & Disco's (Zedd remix)

BONUS:
Here's a mix recorded by Mord Fustang and posted on SoundCloud 6 months ago. It shows his mixing talents, his original productions, and some other tracks he's in to. I can say for certain he is a fan of Deadmau5 and Feed Me, as well as some other funky tracks. Peep it for yourself!

Mord Fustang - Live In The Mix by Plasmapool

Monday Throwback: Pretty Lights - Happiness (Troubled Faces)

Friday night Derek Vincent Smith, aka Pretty Lights, came to Boston's Bank of America Pavilion for a sold out show featuring opening act Big Gigantic. For lack of better wording, both parties killed it (as usual). This was my first time seeing BG live, but I am a fan of their productions and I had heard great things about their live shows. They played a lot of originals and even covered songs like Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar" and Skrillex and Diplo's "Amplifire". Needless to say they played a great blend of trip-hop, dubstep, and everything in between, featuring Dominic Lalli on Sax and Jeremy Salken on Drums. The one minor flaw I noticed was that the saxophone kept cutting in and out of the right speakers.

Once Big Gigantic ended their set, around 8:30, the downpour had subdued for a bit. Pretty Lights took the stage at 8:50, opening with his newest success "I Know the Truth". By this time it had started raining again and he took the chance to play a little of Blind Mellon's "No Rain". Derek then dropped into various songs that span his career, including a couple new ones. Stand-outs for me included "Total Fascination", "More Important than Michael Jordan" Steve Miller Band's "Time" remix, "All of the Lights" remix, and crowd pleasers (and sing-along influencers) "Finally Moving", "Finally Moving (remix)", and "Hot Like Sauce". He kept it interesting by blending some chilled out songs with some truly hyphy ones. If I could remember every single song he played then it means I wasn't having as good of a time as I should have. And as it turns out, I can't remember every song he played. Shout out to Lydia and Bri who Cam and I had the pleasure of meeting while we were waiting to fill our alcoholic needs. Dancing in the seats has never caused me so many bruises.

Overall, Pretty Lights killed it as usual. I liked that he was without his drummer even though I play drums myself. His new light show (unveiled at Bonnaroo) was unreal and contributed highly to the concert experience. And a last shout out to the little person (is that the politically correct term?) who was raging on the seat in front of me, but made sure I could still see the stage, expressing "I know how it is" (was that a crack at me being short too?). My one complaint is the sound at the BOA Pavilion - it escapes too easily out of the sides of the tent. Club/indoor settings are always much better from a sound perspective.

Ask me about the rest of my night, which truly was an adventure. Let's just say things can get interesting when a show like that ends and the crowd is unleashed on Boston at 11pm on a Friday.

Enjoy this Pretty Lights throwback which should ease you nicely into the work week.




Pretty Lights Happiness (Troubled Faces)

BONUS:


Pretty Lights Wrong Platform

Fuck Yeah Friday! Paper Diamond, Wolfgang Gartner, Tiesto, Deadmau5, Basic Physics

Finally. This week seemed longer than most. But in mere hours I'm headed to Boston's Seaport district for the Pretty Lights concert at the Bank of America Pavilion featuring Big Gigantic and NiT GriT. Couldn't be more excited. Although I've seen PL before, he kills it every time. And I love his music. And he's touring without a drummer which means more freedom on his end. And his new light show looks SICK (from pictures and videos I've seen). Finally get to see Big Gigantic.

In other news, I saw Paper Diamond and Michal Menert last night. PD threw DOWN a sick show - I was very impressed. Headed to his tour bus after the show for some festivities.

This week Wolfgang Gartner released his first full-length album. A lot of the songs were previously released, such as Space Junk and Illmerica. It's good, but my expectations were set way too high and I find myself wanting more. The surprise of the album was  "Get Em" featuring Eve, for some reason I find myself going back for it.

Wolfgang Gartner, Eve. Get Em ft. Eve (Extended Mix)

Next is a song Paper Diamond slayed last night. Plenty of wobbles for everyone.

Paper Diamond Can We Go Up

Onwards, my friend Brittney turned me on to a mashup of Avicii's "Street Dancer" with Wolfgang's "Illmerica" with the vocals from "Sofi Needs a Ladder". It's funky as hell.

Basic Physics Illmerican Dancer (Wolfgang Gartner // Avicii // Sofi)

These next two have been around for weeks but I have yet to post them. Deadmau5's latest "Where My Keys" which goes pretty hard and seems to be his sound as of late. Tiesto's "Maximal Crazy" is HUGE and extremely catchy. His new sound is one I like a lot and DJs around the world seem to agree (heard it several times at EZoo).

Deadmau5 Where My Keys (Original Mix)


Tiesto Maximal Crazy - Original Mix

Happy Hump Day!: Tommy Trash

A series of discussions/songs has led me to become a huge supporter of Electro-House producer Tommy Trash in recent weeks. I've been aware of him for a couple years, as he was part of compilations I'd listened to such as the annual Clubbers' Guide and Ministry of Sound Sessions. Mr. Trash really made me reconsider my opinion of him when I listened to Hardwell's set from Electric Zoo - after playing the song "Future Folk" which is currently unreleased but may have been one of the best songs heard during that set (listen below). He produces crispy clean bangers with heavy drops and has a real unique sound (as heard in songs like "The End").

As I flipped through Twitter last night, I noticed some discussion on Tommy Trash's remix of "Carry Me Home" because it has been heard during Tiesto & Porter Robinson's College Invasion Tour. Well, I checked it out and it didn't disappoint. Below you can find that track as well as a couple other Trash highlights.

In other news, Wolfgang Gartner's first full-length album dropped yesterday and you can see a write-up of it HERE.


Grant Smillie ft. Zoe Badwi Carry Me Home (Tommy Trash Remix)


Tommy Trash The End (Original Mix)


Tommy Trash Future Folk (live, Unreleased)

Fuck Yeah Friday!: New Porter Robinson & Boys Noize, older DallasK & Dada Life

This week, Porter Robinson sent ripples through the EDM world by releasing his most recent effort: The Spitfire EP. Released on Skrillex's newly-formed OWSLA records, it has already reached the Beatport #1 position for album releases. It features 6 original tracks and 5 remixes by artists such as Knife Party and SkisM. Needless to say, it's filthy and things just keep getting bigger for Robinson. He is currently on tour with Tiesto and then will tour the country playing club shows for this release. Read my write-up about the EP here. Today's selection from the EP is Downlink's Remix of the incredible "100% in the Bitch". The original track is fire, but Downlink's remix of this Moombahton track rivals it pretty hard. Check it for yourself.

Anther notable release this week is Boys Noize's newest track "Adonis". Personally speaking, I think it deviates from the Boys Noize sound I'm used to. This song is by no means a banger, and has more of a minimal/tech-house feel to it. It's almost loungey (aka something you'd hear at a lounge rather than a club). I do appreciate the drums/hand claps he uses, however, because I have come to enjoy that as a unique Boys Noize sound.

Finally this week, I bring you some new-ish DallasK, who is just 20-years-old but produces some heavy bangers, and some older Dada Life. The DallasK song "Front/Back" was shown to me last night by Cam and it goes hard. It was released back in July and I'm not sure how I missed it. The Dada Life track is a remix of Avicii's "Alcoholic". The original song was released under Avicii's alter-ego Tim Berg, but I've heard this remix on several mixes and during live shows. It goes hard.

Have a stupid weekend.


Porter Robinson 100% In The Bitch (Downlink Remix)


Boys Noize Adonis (Original Mix)


DallasK Front/Back (Original Mix)


Avicii Alcoholic (Dada Life Remix)

Monday Throwback: Arrested Development - People Everyday (Metamorphasis Mix)

 

This one comes to you as a Pandora discovery from a while back. It's been a few weeks since a Monday Throwback so my apologies on that front. This track was the very first hit single by Arrested Development, debuting in 1992. The Metamorphasis Mix is the version everyone knows and was the one released on the radio. The album "People Everyday" comes from is 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of.... and was certified FOUR times Platinum in the US. The track is funky and soulful at the same time, as I often like my hip hop to be on Monday mornings. 

"Say whoaaaaa, say yeaaaaaaahhh"

Arrested Development People Everyday [Metamorphosis Mix]

Fuck Yeah Friday!: Electric Zoo Wrap-Up

Electric Zoo Day 2, Main Stage with David Guetta

So that's it, another summer festival season has come to an end. I'd say I had a pretty good run, attending three EDM festivals in Ultra Music Festival, Identity Festival, and Electric Zoo. Each one has its highlights, its low lights, and stories tied to it, but I'll leave those for another time.

Electric Zoo was pretty spectacular this year. Although I attended last year, I did not have a full appreciation of the artists who were there at the time (including Wolfgang Gartner, Axwell, Chuckie, Avicii, Pete Tong, Chris Lake, Funkagenda, etc). So I could definitely sense some missing acts this year after a full year of daily EDM under my belt. And that's not to say EZoo '11 didn't have its fair share of awesome acts - I was kept busy over the three days and constantly had to make choices like who should I see at which particular time and what kind of mood I was in as far as EDM sub-genres go. I'll try to keep this post brief and post the highlights from each day as well as 5 tracks to take away from the weekend.

Day 1 highlights: Bart B More (my first time seeing him, he played bangers as expected), Joris Voorn & Nic Fanciulli (got my dose of minimal/tech-house), Feed Me, Rusko, Moby, Tiesto. Moby was the biggest surprise, Rusko was exactly as awesome as expected, and Tiesto disappointed (relatively speaking - I had high hopes for him, but he stuck to his Tiesto roots).

Day 2 highlights: Day 2 was a little thin and there were some acts I wish I got to see, like Sub Focus, Sander Van Doorn, Mat Zo, and Beardyman, but this was all solved by Porter Robinson, who I think was the MVP of the whole weekend. He played nothing but bangers and his DJ skills have improved immensely. Skrillex and Above & Beyond were other notable performances, but Skrillex's sound was way off for the first half of the set.

Day 3 highlights: this was the mother load and due to circumstances I don't want to explain, we missed a lot of the sets we wanted to see. For the ones we DID get to, highlights include Calvin Harris, Fake Blood, Michael Woods, Jack Beats, Diplo (chose to see him instead of Afrojack), Boys Noize, and the last half hour of an epic Armin Van Buuren set.

The song of the weekend was easily "The Calling" by Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso, those fucking Swedes. Here are some of the key take-aways from the weekend:



Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso Calling

Dirty South & Thomas Gold ft. Kate Elsworth Alive (Original Mix)

Michael Woods VMS (Original Mix)

James Blake Limit To Your Love (Benny Benassi Remix)

Mr Blink Gecko (Burns' Start-Stop Remix)
(as played by Boys Noize)

For an extended amount of sets recorded live from EZoo '11, follow this link HERE