We ended 2021 with a KREAM Remix and we're starting off 2022 with another one, either it seems we've struck a liking to the Norwegian DJ duo style of music or they're making some banging music. I'll put it down to a bit of both. This time round they've taken an iconic track from Deadmau5, Strobe and given it their remix / mashup treatment and included some lyrics from Frank Ocean. The track has such great synergy that it doesn't even feel like a remix but rather a rework. The beats and synths that were added onto the original fuse great with that iconic sound that Joel brought us, the tempo and BPM of the track has been increased a bit but the vocals still keep it melodic. It's an awesome remix of a great track and definitely the sort of vibe we want to kick off the new year with.
Deadmuat5 is back on the blog today with his latest offering featuring Lights in the track titled "When the Summer Dies". The track brings back the iconic Deadmau5 sounds with the deep hard bassline backtrack with high synth overlays, which are pretty catchy and get your head bobbing as soon as it hits. Joel last teamed up with Lights back in 2018 to release the midtempo track "Drama Free", while it wasn't one of the popular tracks in his library the colab proved to be a perfect fit as their skills just syncs well. This single showcases the pop-punk sensibilities, infused with a playful production from Joel. It's a great track, and should prove to be another deadmau5 banger, and thats why it makes our featured track of the week.
Been a while since we've heard from either of these artists, Joel has been busy doing tours and in the studio working on new music and we've finally hearing the fruits (excuse the pun) of his labour. Pomegranate is a new track he's teamed up with the Neptunes, yup, when last? Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo add their dynamic sounds and vocals to this track, gives it that great mellow flow but groovy beat. Pharrell's vocal's are as smooth as ever, changing his limits with ease. It's great to see collaborations like this come through and here's to many more for the future.
As mentioned in the Monday Choon post, Hardwell is bringing his I AM HARDWELL world tour to South Africa in December, specifically Cape Town and Joburg. Electric Music, the guys who brought us big name DJ's such as Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia and Afrojack, to name a few are the people responsible for bringing one of the biggest names in EDM at the moment to our shores. Hardwell has rocked most of the big name festivals this year including UMF, Coachella, EDC and his radio show On Air is proving to be quite a hit in the podcast charts. In May he released his new hit which is a collaboration with Dyro "Never Say Goodbye" which was our featured choon on Monday and is still a massive favourite with many.
More details of the tour was released this week by Electric Music with shows confirmed for the 3 major cities, Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. However Durban's event which will be held on Thursday the 5th of December will be different to that of CT and Jhb as it will not form part of his I AM HARDWELL tour production but will be a unique production done by himself. This is not the first time an artist has opted to do something different in Durban as in the past Deadmau5 chose to do an unwired set at the Wavehouse and I having attended both shows in Cape Town and Durban can confidently say that Durban's show was miles better than the one in CT. So fans can rest assure that the show at the Wavehouse is bound to be insane!
Here are more details of the event:
Limited Early bird tickets are on sale from Monday 12 August from Computicket and ticket prices are as follows:
General Access - R300
Thereafter, ticket prices will be:
General Access - R350
Spiced Vac VIP visa’s will gain you free entrance.
The song minus the lyrics was released about a year ago by Deadmau5 and was widley noticed when he played it live on the river Thames for the launch of Nokia's Lumia range of phones. The radio release this year features the vocals of Gerard Way, most popular as the co-founder and lead vocalist of My Chemical Romance. Im not really a fan when it comes to record labels deciding to add vocals to cool electronic tracks, examples being Tiesto ft Diplo - C'mon ,which I thought Busta completely ruined but with this particular track I think it gels really well. The music video is pretty awesome too as it features Joe and Gerard controlling giant robotic mau5 in a UFC cage fighting ring.
Firstly apologies for abandoning my blog for quite a while, with the mixture of work stress and holiday commitments it was difficult to do so. Anyway I'm back! and during that time so much has happened! So its time I filled you in! As you all know, after missing out on ASOT500, there was no way I was missing out on seeing Deadmau5 live in SA! I was so amped, I got tickets for 2 shows! Already promising a friend I'd take them to the Cape Town show, tickets were booked and on the plane I went to the land of the mountain! But before I start, let me show you what the guy did in London just a few days before he flew into SA. It was a promo for Nokia's new Lumia phone range and the location was at the Millbank tower along the river Thames. Words cannot describe the awesomeness...
If that didn't leave you speechless, then I don't know what will! Seeing that video just amped South African fans more and more to see his show. At a press conference held at St Eve's on Camps Bay, Deadmau5 told reporters that he can judge how good his show was by seeing the number of glow sticks left behind. Of course armed with such valuable information, it was off to buy glow sticks! Found a pack of 50 at the local China Mall, that should have been good enough. Now if you don't know, CT has a huge twitter population so finding the drinking hole everyone was meeting at before the show wasnt that difficult. While there I bumped into many twitter peeps, names @MrCPT@CapeTown_chick@Crystalita_xxx@thatWallace@yeswecrann@StephanieBe@StaceFace248@MishtotheD and many many more!
After filling our belly's with many of the liquids they had on offer, it was of to the CTICC! The venue of the concert, wasn't that easy though, had to walk back to Clock Tower, mission our way to the ICC and drive up 4 floors to park the car, then walk the whole damn ICC only to be told we have to enter from the outside... anyway we made it in, got some souvenirs, got some drinks and it was Deadmau5 time!
Soon as the clock strike 10pm, the curtains drop to unveil the cube! It was there that the legend DJ would mesmerise crowds for the rest of the night with his major hits. The cube itself comprises of 4 parts, the main podium which he operates from and 3 other pieces that are on the sides and 1 of which floats above him. All of which have LED out layer so with the lighting and various graphics being displayed, it made it one damn good visual spectacle!
There were some issues with the sound which cut out at times, I didn't really know as every time it did, he would come up onto the stage and sort of wave to us, so it seemed like it was part of the show until I heard after the concert that there was problems with the arcing of the cables. He himself wasn't please and made his feelings heard on twitter. The show itself was amazing but it wasn't his best and you could see with the problems he had, he couldn't really do what he wanted to do.
Soon as the clock struck 12, it was all over. Sad to see him leave but it was off to the after party at Opium Night Club. Most of the crowd from the show spilled over here as they allowed free entrance to anyone with an armband from the show. Partied the into the early hours of the morning with some of Cape Towns finest then it was off to the airport to catch my flight back to Durbs!
the cube
As luck would have it, I had a British Airways business class ticket and who was sitting a few rows in front of me? Deadmau5 himself! along with his entourage which included his girlfriend (HAWT!). The whole flight I couldn't contain my excitement, trying to get glimpses of him so as soon as we landed in Durban I ran to make contact with the master. By the tone of his voice, I could see he wasn't keen, and his t-shirt saying "no pictures" was there to confirm it. Well I cant blame the guy, lack of sleep and the kak chow on the plane does get to one. Eventually managed to get a pic of him as there were some fans waiting at the arrivals terminal.
Headed home from the airport, freshened up and it was off to Gateway for Deadmau5 unhooked! Met up with the Gorilla media crew at the offices at the Wavehouse for some predrinks and brag about the past days events then it was time to see the legend take the stage again. He didn't have the cube for this show and it was indeed much smaller but the venue was outdoors and as weather gods would have it in Durban, it was raining. Never the less, the Durban crowd partied the night away getting soaked in the process! Deadmau5 was on fire, his show in CT was more of a crowd pleaser with him sticking to the favourites and hardly much mixing, in Durban it was the total opposite. The guy was in a trance and there isn't any other way to describe it as him going "off".
wavehouse
The show was insane! so much so he played 30 minutes more than allocated, he loved it! He even tweeted that he didn't want to stop because he was having so much fun but due to the time restrictions of the venue he had to eventually come off stage. The main hit for both shows was of course the monster tune "strobe". It sent the crowds are both venues into pandemonium. After witnessing 2 very different shows I must admit, this guy seriously deserves the praises he gets. He is a machine and I'd pay to see him again and again. 2 Cities, 2 Shows, 1 deadmau5, Priceless experience.
