disclaimer: This post stems from a recent Facebook discussion. I am NOT trying to pimp Deadmau5, but merely show the better selections from his body of work for the peeps who do not follow #edm religiously.
Okay, first off, I am not the biggest Deadmau5 fan. When Deadmau5 came on the scene back circa 2009 I enjoyed his productions but was disappointed with him as a dj. Listening to his first Essential Mix, I was please with his tracks but felt he played too much of his own music during his sets and as countless others have pointed out his tracks do sound the same to one another. Because of this, I don’t care for his albums as a whole and I would rather see other djs than drop the cash or spend the time seeing a Deadmau5 liveset. That being said, I’d like to showcase 5 Deadmau5 tracks worthy of your ears and attention.
Let’s start at the beginning with Faxing Berlin released in 2007. This tune was and still is great. A deep progressive tune uninterested in epic buildups or huge drops like much of what is currently being released on Deadmau5′s Mau5trap label. Faxing Berlin is mellow or even slightly melancholy yet keeps things upbeat and interesting with that darn cowbell sound.
Secondary Complications is deep and techy and would work well in a variety of progressive/deep house/tech house sets. As with Faxing Berlin, Secondary Complications is minimal in comparison to more popular/main room Deadmau5 tracks.
Alone With You is perhaps the closest I’ve heard Deadmau5 get to a real “trancer” tune if it were just played at a faster bpm.
This is where things get interesting and the ravey summertime party vibe kicks into full gear. I first heard Animal Rights over Labor Day weekend at Electric Zoo 2010 (I think it was Laidback Luke’s afternoon set) and the single was released on Beatport the following Tuesday. . The tune is infectious! I must have played it over a hundred times since.
Aural Psynapse is Deadmau5′s newest tune, available on iTunes but not yet available on Beatport. It’s getting airplay on trance radio shows such as Trance Around the World with Above & Beyond and Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance. Initially, Aural Psynapse reminded me of Faxing Berlin and signaled a return to Deadmau5′s roots, so to speak. The synth line is mellow much like Faxing Berlin, but as the tune progresses we hear these squeaky rave chirps and a gradual buildup which reminds us of the party rhythm of those bygone summer festivals. It’s as though the tune is made to be listened to in winter months to remember the nostalgia of the summer months.
No Regular Play are two childhood friends from Minnesota who make deep house and deep disco for Brooklyn’s Wolf+Lamb label. They grew up on 80s hip hop and studied afro-cuban rhythms in Havana during a school trip and you can really hear how they have a different rhythmic approach to deep and dark afterparty music. Tracks like “Derecha” are deep and druggy like a lot of after hours music yet the beat and vocal sample and especially the deep bassline are far from standard deep house.
The Data Transmission podcast is typical NRP style, flowing between Detroit deep house and bouncy deep disco with non 4/4 bass lines. What surprises me most is the SBTRKT tune “Pharaohs” which has been a big crossover hit this year appealing to both garage / bass fans and house heads. I’ve posted the original mix below.
They follow Pharaohs with T. Williams – Heartbeat (Paul Woolford Rewurq) which perhaps best illustrates NRP’s ability to drop deep music with a latin tint and a slightly poppy vocal. This is forward thinking afterparty music not afraid to step outside the traditional confines of deep house.
You can read a brief interview with NRP at the Data Transmissions site and register to download their podcasts. For those who do not wish to register I’ve uploaded the podcast myself with tracklist included in the zip file.
Tracklist:
01. Toro Y Moi – I Can Get Love [Car Park Records]
02. The Tortoise – Last Night (Genius Of Time Remix) [Kolour Recordings]
03. Marcos Cabral – Get Get Get [Hamilton Dance Records]
04. Canyons – See Blind Through (DJ Harvey Remix) [Modular]
05. DJ T. feat. Cari Golden – City Life (Maceo Plex Remix) [Get Physical Music]
06. Pink Stallone feat. Joey Washington – Mine (Eddie Mars Remix) [Under The Shade]
07. Bottin, Tinpong – New Religion (Marcus Marr Remix) [Nang]
08. SBTRKT – Pharaohs (Thugfucker Edit) [Unreleased]
09. T. Williams – Heartbeat (Paul Woolford Rewurq) [Local Action]
10. Pillowtalk – Far From Home [Wolf + Lamb Records]
11. Bostro Pesopeo & Pional – Yes [Permanent Vacation]
12. Bogdan Irkuk a.k.a. BULGARI – My Weakness [Rollerboys Recordings]
13. Voices Of Black – Atom Bomb (No Regular Play feat. John Camp Remix) [Unreleased]
The things that drew me to dubstep in the first place weren’t necessarily the kind of testosterone-driven environments that you got from say, late jungle or some of the drum ‘n’ bass stuff that was happening after that. I think the dubstep that has come over to the US, and certain producers — who I can’t even be bothered naming — have definitely hit upon a sort of frat-boy market where there’s this macho-ism being reflected in the sounds and the way the music makes you feel. And to me, that is a million miles away from where dubstep started. It’s a million miles away from the ethos of it. It’s been influenced so much by electro and rave, into who can make the dirtiest, filthiest bass sound, almost like a pissing competition, and that’s not really necessary. And I just think that largely that is not going to appeal to women. I find that whole side of things to be pretty frustrating, because that is a direct misrepresentation of the sound as far as I’m concerned.
“When Gadi and I were playing techno the ratio of men to women was disturbing to me,” Zev explains at one point, “I didn’t like playing to 75 guys and four girls at the end of the night. Something was wrong.”
“We went down from 127 BPM to 119 BPM over a period of six years,” adds Gadi, “and there was a point when we left everyone behind.”
Thinktoy is an Irish dj heard monthly on Norther Ireland’s 2fm station and uploaded on themixingbowl.
Within his DJ sets ThinkToy favours many eclectic music styles: anything from ambient electronica, jazzfunk & hip-hop to uptempo breaks & distorted electro…even the occassional audio book!
I discovered Thinktoy through his techno mixes but every few months he breaks with routine and gives a glimpse into other styles, most recently hip-hop and dubstep. His latest is a fantastic mix through chill hip-hop beats like Roots Menuva to the nasty wob of Kromestar and F-One to more techno inspired dubstep like Ital Tek and Rustie. A great mix for summertime.
Tracklist
Music Title Performer Record Label
Toot Toot (Freestyle) The Electric Organically Grown Sounds
Nobody Notes To Self Wagram
All Things To All Men Cinematic Orchestra feat. Roots Manuva BBE
Virtuelle-Reise-Nach-Spanien L’Oeuf Raide Jarring Effects
Def Surrounds Us (Neil Landstrumm Remix) DJ Shadow The New Futility
Ringcraft Ribs & IG88 Downbeat Productions
Read My Rights F-One Sin City
Jasmine Kromestar Dub Philosophy Wikidness
Tes La Rok Noppa What A Life
Kaly Live Dub feat. Bigga Ranx Jarring Effects
Money Alborosie Wagram
Part Of My Life Sara Lugo Greenyard
Stay King Andreas Tilliander feat. King Solo Adrian Recordings
Mako Ital Tek Atom River
Fancy Forty (Rustie Remix) Lunice Lucky Me
Hypnosis Theme Wax Tailor Mole Listening Pearls
Aphex Twin Interview
Apparently he’s had an album ready but wants to get divorced first. Still has his tank and submarine.
RA Reviews Skrillex and Destroys Him
What concerns me more than Skrillex topping the Beatport charts is Skrillex getting any backing from Radio 1/Pete Tong/Essential Mix.
Yukinon – Treatise on the Voyage
Techno, Deep House, Disco, Minimal
54 Minutes
t/l
XRS Land – Dream Moods [Tupy]
Luciano – Frankie [Bruchstuecke
Mirko Loko - Love Harmonic (Beatless Bonus Version) [Cadenza]
Kaito – Rainbow Circles [Kompakt]
Shigeru Tanabe – Cellish [Apt. International]
Frivolous – C:\ My Consciousness [Cadenza]
Donk Boys – U Know We Got Soul [FVF]
Jay Shepeard – Year to the Day [Compost]
Paper Music Issue 1 – Downtime [Paper]
