Barclay Crenshaw aka Claude VonStroke's label is on fire these days. With the success of Justin Martin's album, Ghettos & Gardens http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/buzz-buzz-bzzz-justin-martin-ghettos.html, the label has been gaining momentum and spearheading the San Fran bass heavy sound, creating a refreshing take on dance music that sets itself apart.
The label has released an EP called BBQ Trax. The Dirtybird crew is notorious for holding summertime parties that involve a BBQ and spinning tracks, so the title is pretty much self explanatory.
The standout track for me comes from 19 year old Justin Jay. Take a listen to the track in its entirety by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvkGEd0Al-k&feature=channel&list=UL
I'm pretty excited because Justin Martin and Claude VonStroke are coming to Montreal. Hopefully I will get to catch them!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Duke Dumont - The Giver
Talk about a buzz! First, it was Brodinski singing its praises. Then it was the label boss Tiga. Finally, a month later, I finally tracked down this much anticipated track!
When I first heard Huxley's Let it Go http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/huxley-let-it-go.html, what stood out was that the vocals were so sultry. Same thing goes for Duke Dumont's latest "The Giver." The track goes like this: "you're that special someone who makes me want to give it." Whoa whoa whoa! What are we talking about here?! Hot hot hot!
The Giver comes off Dumont's (real name Adam Dyment) latest offering to Turbo Recordings. His first instalment, For Club Play Only Vol.1 http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/05/sinden-keep-it-1000-duke-dumont-remix.html was definitely a little harder, but equal in its top class quality. Vol.2 consists of "The Giver" and "No Money Blues" which features UK band Extra Curricular.
If you go to the Turbo Recordings Soundcloud, they describe The Giver as "an ecstatic vocal house anthem that would fit seamlessly alongside the most uplifting MURK classics."
I've seen Turbo head Tiga tweeting about MURK recently, so I'm not surprised they are referenced here. But when I think MURK, I think of soulful female vocals or bass thumping accompanied by hard male vocals. The Giver is a bit more subdued for me. Not sure why but it reminds me of this track from the 90s:
I think it has to do with the male vocals....I dunno! Anyway, enjoy The Giver. Its going to be a big one!
Side note: This is so irrelevant, but is Duke Dumont half Asian? Cause he looks half Asian...I can't tell and its bothering me!
When I first heard Huxley's Let it Go http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/huxley-let-it-go.html, what stood out was that the vocals were so sultry. Same thing goes for Duke Dumont's latest "The Giver." The track goes like this: "you're that special someone who makes me want to give it." Whoa whoa whoa! What are we talking about here?! Hot hot hot!
The Giver comes off Dumont's (real name Adam Dyment) latest offering to Turbo Recordings. His first instalment, For Club Play Only Vol.1 http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/05/sinden-keep-it-1000-duke-dumont-remix.html was definitely a little harder, but equal in its top class quality. Vol.2 consists of "The Giver" and "No Money Blues" which features UK band Extra Curricular.
If you go to the Turbo Recordings Soundcloud, they describe The Giver as "an ecstatic vocal house anthem that would fit seamlessly alongside the most uplifting MURK classics."
I've seen Turbo head Tiga tweeting about MURK recently, so I'm not surprised they are referenced here. But when I think MURK, I think of soulful female vocals or bass thumping accompanied by hard male vocals. The Giver is a bit more subdued for me. Not sure why but it reminds me of this track from the 90s:
Side note: This is so irrelevant, but is Duke Dumont half Asian? Cause he looks half Asian...I can't tell and its bothering me!
Twitter squabbles: SHM vs Hardwell
Hello!
Its been a minute since I last blogged. I've missed the probably 2 people that read my blog ;)
Today I noticed a small tiff between two of SHM's members, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, and Dutch producer Hardwell, which prompted me to return!
Watch:
So where did this all come from? After a bit of googling, I noticed that Hardwell made a bootleg called "Show One Love." I'm assuming that he had a post to obtain likes to get a free download of a mash-up of SHM tracks, which in essence are just their music mixed by someone else. What is strange is that the bootleg is from at least a year ago, so not sure how only now it is getting attention from the Swedes.
Haha to Eric Prydz for trying to make light of the matter, and kudos to Steve for staying out of this one. I'm glad they accepted Hardwell's apology, although I don't know why 1) they would even take this issue to social media, especially after "SneakGate" 2) Why Hardwell would apologize then make a back-handed comment that its "all about the love for music" 3) Why Axwell would respond, further escalating a minor disagreement that could have been done through private messaging.
A lot of people have taken to Twitter to criticize the SHM guys because they interpret it as them wanting to protect their music from being given out for free instead of making money off of it. I can understand the guys point of view. When a small time, relatively unknown producer makes a bootleg, chances are the distribution of it won't be that extensive. But Hardwell is a pretty mainstream act, and the bootleg literally was made to capitalize on others' music, not his own production. And I think Axwell's point was that it was like "whoring" out music for the sake of social media visibility that is what did not sit well with him. Bah, another day, another EDM drama...
Speaking of "SneakGate" I saw Angello respond to a Twitter user about a recent comment Sneak made about him, which I thought was pretty funny!
After the Twitter user showed Angello the comment:
Haha "he has a crush on me!" I mean, it would seem so, wouldn't it? Only because Angello was the most vocal when Sneak spoke ill about SHM did Sneak make it his personal vendetta against Angello. And the obsession is so strange, a crush could be the only explanation ;)
But really, Angello has been using his Mescal Kid moniker long before the Sneak-SHM tweet-off.
Maybe one day Sneak will realize he's gained 14 000 more Twitter followers and a lot more gigs as a result of his razor sharp tongue and focus on all the good that has come his way.
Or maybe he'll continue the madness to see how far it takes him...
Update 31/08/12:
Haha at Diplo weighing in. He's one of the busiest people in dance music these days, and yet has the time to somehow see a minor Twitter row play out. Funny stuff!
Remember Sandstorm? Darude wanted to weigh in, and I have to agree with what he said.
I've seen Laidback Luke, who I still think is one of the nicest industry guys, agree with those who don't with SHM. I wonder if there was ever a falling out, or he actually is someone of integrity that will call out people when he genuinely thinks its right. If the latter, then I have even more respect for the guy!
Oh dear, Hardwell feeling the need to defend himself again. What I don't understand is that his music probably appeals to the same audience as SHM, so why not give a mash-up of, for example, Cobra and Spaceman? In that respect, what Kaskade said about using one of his tracks for a mash-up is what I think would be the legit thing to do as well.
Oh Zedd...
Its been a minute since I last blogged. I've missed the probably 2 people that read my blog ;)
Today I noticed a small tiff between two of SHM's members, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, and Dutch producer Hardwell, which prompted me to return!
Watch:
So where did this all come from? After a bit of googling, I noticed that Hardwell made a bootleg called "Show One Love." I'm assuming that he had a post to obtain likes to get a free download of a mash-up of SHM tracks, which in essence are just their music mixed by someone else. What is strange is that the bootleg is from at least a year ago, so not sure how only now it is getting attention from the Swedes.
Haha to Eric Prydz for trying to make light of the matter, and kudos to Steve for staying out of this one. I'm glad they accepted Hardwell's apology, although I don't know why 1) they would even take this issue to social media, especially after "SneakGate" 2) Why Hardwell would apologize then make a back-handed comment that its "all about the love for music" 3) Why Axwell would respond, further escalating a minor disagreement that could have been done through private messaging.
A lot of people have taken to Twitter to criticize the SHM guys because they interpret it as them wanting to protect their music from being given out for free instead of making money off of it. I can understand the guys point of view. When a small time, relatively unknown producer makes a bootleg, chances are the distribution of it won't be that extensive. But Hardwell is a pretty mainstream act, and the bootleg literally was made to capitalize on others' music, not his own production. And I think Axwell's point was that it was like "whoring" out music for the sake of social media visibility that is what did not sit well with him. Bah, another day, another EDM drama...
Speaking of "SneakGate" I saw Angello respond to a Twitter user about a recent comment Sneak made about him, which I thought was pretty funny!
Haha "he has a crush on me!" I mean, it would seem so, wouldn't it? Only because Angello was the most vocal when Sneak spoke ill about SHM did Sneak make it his personal vendetta against Angello. And the obsession is so strange, a crush could be the only explanation ;)
But really, Angello has been using his Mescal Kid moniker long before the Sneak-SHM tweet-off.
Or maybe he'll continue the madness to see how far it takes him...
Update 31/08/12:
Haha at Diplo weighing in. He's one of the busiest people in dance music these days, and yet has the time to somehow see a minor Twitter row play out. Funny stuff!
Man, this thing is being blown out of proportion!
I think Kaskade likes to get involved! Which is fine, but he does not address that Ax & Seb didn't approve it nor did they like how it was being used as part of a social media gimmick.
Chocolate Puma are not that mainstream and I don't understand why. I see that they are being facetious by referencing Steve Angello's edit on "Show Me Love" which really contributed to his success, but I think its true, if you're gonna do a bootleg, mash-up, edit, whatever, do it with an unknown artist and do it big! Don't take already mainstream acts and try to ride their coat tails.
I hope Steve stays quiet throughout this one.
Update 20/09/2012: Kaskade still feels the need to weigh in and posted about it in his blog: http://thisisadynasty.tumblr.com/post/31761554999/politicking
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday is off to a great, cordial start
Monday morning and my Twitter feed is a bit of a war zone. Here's looking at you kids: Scuba vs Calvin Harris and Riva Starr vs Roland Clark. Lets start with the latter, cause its a lot more easy to explain:
Well, Snatch! Records head honcho Riva Starr has a point. No need to air out dirty laundry in the public forum, best to keep it in private. He also points out that it seems to be a trend to get hype from a Twitter diss. I don't think that was Clark's intention, because he clearly just wanted vocals credit, but I've mentioned this supposed emerging trend before. You know, the one notoriously started by the "Original House Gangster" (complete with accompanying merchandise!).
Spat #2: Scuba http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/scuba-ne1butu.html vs Calvin Harris http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/superstar-djs-here-we-go-calvin-harris.html
If you don't know who Monika Kruse is, you should. She's an amazing female DJ and producer who has an excellent ear. I like how she falls in between the Mafia member and the Gangster.
Update 02/10/2012: all's well that ends well! Calvin played a Scuba tune on his Annie Mac takeover for BBC Radio 1, which resulted in this:
I had to look up magnanimous! It means someone who is forgiving of an insult, noble, free of petty resentfulness! Good work, and a good ending (hopefully)!
Spat #2: Scuba http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/scuba-ne1butu.html vs Calvin Harris http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/superstar-djs-here-we-go-calvin-harris.html
Here is the picture that Nicky Romero had posted:
And here is Calvin Harris' response, with a rebuttal from Scuba:
Why? This is the question I keep asking myself. I've said before, always be nice in this industry (and in life in general) because you never know who you will need next.
Mr Paul Rose, wipe that permanent mean look off your face, stop your Twitter moaning, and get a grip! Your attack came out of left field. I mean, how did you even see Nicky Romero's tweet? Do you follow him? Do you secretly love EDM? Like Sneak, who died and made you the one to dictate who can and cannot use a camera, and where or where not they can take a picture? Now because he's rich and famous he should not be able to take a picture without being hurled an insult? The only tosser here is you Rose. How is Guetta undeserving? He's been in the industry a lot longer than Scuba, I think he's paid his dues.
Calvin Harris was right on the money saying Scuba's music is good but his chat is diabolical. These industry "moaners" seem so incredulous with their constant banter lacking any substance. It is a strong accusation Scuba is making against Calvin Harris. And true or not, why does everyone need to know about it? What will Scuba gain from "outing' Harris? More notoriety for himself? Maybe because of the "tweef" he's trying to instigate, but not from any repercussions Harris would face. Silly Scuba, whining's for kids!
Remember that Wall St Journal article? http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/edm-on-wall-st.html Wasn't Carl Cox quoted to be against "button pushers." Guetta wasn't named but I don't understand why that article tried to pin people against each other. Look at this harmonious picture, wearing Guetta's brand on his shirt, celebrating his 50th birthday:
And when the whole Sneak debacle broke out, I know 1/3 of the Belleville Three, Derrick May, was vocal about his support. But then who helps May get to Ibiza via his plane? Guetta! (riding along is a little bloke by the name of Pete Tong!)
Moral of the story: everyone's target, the guy they all love to hate, is genuinely a nice guy! So be nice, and nice will come your way!
As for Carlos Sosa aka DJ Sneak, he's still going off on SHM. His latest quote:
I don't have a preoccupation with him, but rather the bad behaviour thats going on in the industry I love.
I wonder if this was intentional on the part of Beatport:
Update 02/10/2012: all's well that ends well! Calvin played a Scuba tune on his Annie Mac takeover for BBC Radio 1, which resulted in this:
Monday, July 16, 2012
Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child
The first time I heard this track, I think I may have teared up. Knowing the boys are definitely taking a break from collaborating together, and will no longer be performing together, makes this final SHM track especially emotional.
At first, it sounded like Coldplay's Chris Martin on vocals. That would have been amazing since SHM repeatedly makes it known how much they want to collaborate with him. However, as the track goes on, it does sound more like John Martin (no relation!) who lent his vocals to SHM's "Save the World."
Update 12/08/12: Here is the latest updated link
At first, it sounded like Coldplay's Chris Martin on vocals. That would have been amazing since SHM repeatedly makes it known how much they want to collaborate with him. However, as the track goes on, it does sound more like John Martin (no relation!) who lent his vocals to SHM's "Save the World."
Update 12/08/12: Here is the latest updated link
Monday, July 9, 2012
Surkin & Todd Edwards - I Want You Back
Surkin and Todd Edwards collaborate for Sound Pellegrino to give an amazing track entitled "I Want You Back." You may recall Edwards' voice from Daft Punk's "Face to Face." He co-produces and sings on the track which was recorded at Surkin's Marble Studios.
I'm not crazy about the video, a little strange for my tastes, but the track is gold!
Side note: It looks like it was shot at the Jersey Shore...not that I watch that show...haha! (yes I do!) :o
Update 09/09/12: Here is the EP in full. Excellent.
I'm not crazy about the video, a little strange for my tastes, but the track is gold!
Update 09/09/12: Here is the EP in full. Excellent.
Steve Rachmad - Bling It Up!
Joris Voorn is one of my favorite producers http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/05/joris-voorn.html. His label Rejected also delivers quality house that comes in different styles. His latest from Steve Rachmad called Bling It Up! is such a fun track. Data Overload, the other offering from the EP is completely different, displaying Rachmad's ability to switch it up.
Sneak still on the attack, and he gets attacked
Sorry about being missing in action...had more computer trouble, then went on a mini vacay. Expect less posts though...
Then DJ Sneak replied
Haha, he actually likes fighting with them. Probably because it has given the best exposure he has ever received, and that is taking his seminal records into account.
Just want to remind people that DJ Sneak's initial battle was saying that SHM's music was not house.
It was Sneak's fans that brought the attention of Angello's Dance Valley video to him, and because Angello was the only really vocal member of the trio to retaliate, Sneak decided to mostly attack him, and changed his argument to calling them "fakes."
So many people are tired of hearing Sneak moaning.
Oh Deadmau5, you imply SHM press play, then you feel the need to comment:
Calling it like it is:
Most surprising accusations came from Sweden's Tony Senghore:
I've said it before, I love how Surkin even thinks this fight is ridiculous. Its nice to see new guys known for their old school sound with major respect for legends still speak up against ridiculous behaviour.
This is a quote DJ Sneak gave to Rolling Stone after seeing how much coverage they were giving to SHM. The best quote comes from Erol Alkan, who states he still mixes live "I'm proud of my mistakes. I'm human, and I'm probably drunk." Haha!
He will continue to bad mouth the guys of SHM, and so many other EDM producers...sad sad sad.
* * *
With Swedish House Mafia officially setting the record straight on Pete Tong's radio show as to why they are calling it quits as a group (feel they reached their pinnacle, moving on), DJ Sneak continues to declare their split as some sort of victory he had a hand in. Axwell decided to finally vocalize his feelings of the accusations:
Just want to remind people that DJ Sneak's initial battle was saying that SHM's music was not house.
It was Sneak's fans that brought the attention of Angello's Dance Valley video to him, and because Angello was the only really vocal member of the trio to retaliate, Sneak decided to mostly attack him, and changed his argument to calling them "fakes."
So many people are tired of hearing Sneak moaning.
Oh Deadmau5, you imply SHM press play, then you feel the need to comment:
Sweden's Marcus Schossow siding with his Swedish countrymen:
Everyone has pretty much had enough!
This is a quote DJ Sneak gave to Rolling Stone after seeing how much coverage they were giving to SHM. The best quote comes from Erol Alkan, who states he still mixes live "I'm proud of my mistakes. I'm human, and I'm probably drunk." Haha!
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