LA based Progressive and Trance producer John Grand is known for his high-octane music that sends one into euphoria from start end. He unveils a new two-tracker. 'Nightfire' is a collaboration with Dave Raval and the duo lock in, with slinky leads and bouncy pianos merging over rollicking bass and is certainly worth a listen too as well but for me, the second track, 'Speedrunner' is a glorious follow up, with its funk-influenced bass, chopped up vocals and upbeat energy sure to find the ears of fans the world over. It's a fast paced track that gets you hooked from the onset, with a speedy backtrack and catchy bassline, the addition of vocals towards the end is a masterstroke and adds that missing element the track needed.
John Walter Schuster, better known by his stage name John Summit is an American DJ, producer and remixer burst onto the scenes couple years ago with his track "Human", since then he's been a regular on the EDM scene especially in the US and later on teaming up with some of the top up and coming people in the industry, his bromance with Dom Dolla has been well documented in their socials last year and its great to see. Last year John had another hit released when he teamed up with Hayla for "Where Are You", a track that did tremendously well on the charts and had a host of remixes and mash-ups. This year he teams up again with Liverpool based singer Hayla for their latest production, Shiver. The track has that edgy and catchy sound that is becoming their signature and a song that will suck you in from the first time you listen to it. The gradual build up with the vocals and the gentle back track is the perfect levels for listening or partying. It's a certified banger for sure.
‘Light Years’ has travelled 9.46 trillion kms to reach us - impressive given that Elysian (Emma Hewitt, Maor Levi & Ilan Bluestone) only started their collective in 2020. ‘Light Years’ aside, they’ve packed a considerable amount into that time and space, delivering Anjunabeats the galactically titled ‘Little Star’, ‘Moonchild’ and others.
‘Light Years’ however sees them jump to another universe, that of Black Hole Recordings, for a succession of outings throughout the year’s course.
While we say: “spectacular intro to 2024”, there are those who’ll already have made contact with ‘Light Years’. Ilan snuck it aboard his ‘In Search of Sunrise 19’ disc back in December … and to no small effect. That, along with Emma’s Black Hole-released ‘Ghost Of The Light’ album last year, has trailblazed a new Elysian singles run.
Through jacked beats and cyberish FX, at its outset, ‘Light Years’ rocks down some darker corridors. Emma’s song however quickly identifies beauty lying in its depths. As its synth rays rise, Ilan and Maor’s riff lifts the feel, as Emma ponders the eternal question … “is anybody out there?”
Russian trance DJ, ARTY has released his latest EP titled "Jump" and today we featured the title track from it which was relased on Armada Music last week. The EP is a collection of 3 tracks from the Trance maestro who has reverted back to his electronic ways after spending quite some time producing tracks on his more progressive alternate alias Alpha 9. I first fell in love with his music back in 2011 and to see his progress in the industry since, has been nothing short of inspiring. "Jump" Driven by a standout chord progression and a sweet, hopeful vocal presence, the third single of ARTY’s forthcoming second album immediately puts listeners on the edge of their seats. Indicative of ARTY’s change in sound, ‘Jump’ urges all to take a leap of faith every once in a while. It's a track with a meaning that hits home to me very much at this present moment in time so I might just take his advice, you can too, or you can just listen to the track and enjoy it.
HARDWELL has been enjoying a great come back to live shows from Ultra, to Tomorrowland and Parookaville to name a few. He's been teasing the audiences with new music during his sets and he just dropped one of his tracks a couple of days ago, a song that he did in collaboration with Machine Made, titled "Human". If it sounds familiar to you, its because the original was done by The Killers, back in 2008. The powerful release samples the original vocals from the 2008 anthem ‘Human’ and reinvents them around a braggadocious beat. The single is a tour de force of hard-hitting synth lines and pummelling drums, while the original melody is weaved amongst the penultimate crescendo. The result is an awe-inspiring future rave anthem that seamlessly fuses the familiarity of the original lyrics with a ferocious sonic landscape.
Chicago's John Summit's track "Where You Are" has already been rocketing up the charts since its release 3 months ago. Apart from that, it's been one of the biggest festival tunes over the summer with many big name artists dropping it in their sets from Europe to the USA. British music producing duo Gorgon City decided to take the track and put their own unique spin to it, coming up with something spectacular in the process. The track takes on that British underground sound from the start with a deep bass line line and subtle vocal with synths leading to the build up of that heavy bass trigger that leads to the main vocals of the original track. The remix is a banger of note with it receiving great reviews in the past week its been out. Definitely a future club banger and released right in time for Ibiza season.
Hungarian trance music and progressive house producer come DJ Sunny Lax has been busy experimenting with his latest EP "Ruby". He says its a fusion of the old and new Sunny Lax, which is a showcase of the artistic freedom that he always wanted to reach, where he is able to explore new genres, unusual sounds, arrangements and sometimes darker vibes than usual. After hearing today's featured track, "By My Side", I can tell you with full confidence that the 36 year old is on the money with this one. He says its his way of being a story teller through his music and it encapsulates what he says about the EP in general brilliantly. The song featured is the extended mix but once the song starts you will immediately get gripped by its melodic symphony and the vocals. It's an amazing track and one that has received a good few plays by me in the car, so hope you enjoy it too!
Hungarian music producer Levente Marton better known by his stage Sunny Lax recently launched his Emerald EP. After hearing it on the day of release, I can safely say Trance music is a love and well, with the tracks featured on this EP being nothing short of sublime. While I had some favourites which I've heard prior to the launch, this particular song which we have featured today, "Ayahuasca" caught me from the build up, with a very similar sound to that of Eric Prydz the track has a very melodic background with a constant build till the euphoric drop and bassline. With only 3 tracks feartured on the EP, Sunny had this to say about it "The past few years were a rollercoaster for many of us, with all its difficulties and beauties. In these times as an artist I had the chance to slow down and pa a little more attention to my inner voice. When the world was a little too mad around me, I escaped into the music - into the heartwarming melodies , and when the world became too quiet, I filled it up with loud rythms.
Dutch Electronic group Dash Berlin are back! There's been a lot which has went down over the past two years for the group with lots of infighting and legal matters being sorted out behind closed doors but former front man, Jeffery Sutorius has lost his appeal over the trademark of the name, so the original members and founders Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn are back having left in 2019. While there is a new Album in the pipeline that is due to be released in 2022, of which the first track "Oceans" has been released, today I'm featuring a remix/ rework of their version of Tate McRae's "You Broke Me First". It's actually done by Seb but has that iconic Dash Berlin sound and feel to it, with the high energy and enthusiastic baseline that we've loved from the group in the previous years. It's an exciting time for the duo as they get to relaunch their brand and probably having to start showing their faces since they would need to represent themselves at festivals and parties going forward.
We're back to normal programming this week and as ever on a Monday we bring you the latest in Electronic Dance Music, today we have an interesting collaboration from little known DJ's Leonard A of Mexico and Pavel Koreshkov of Russia. In today's exclusive we have an interview with Leonard just to find out more about himself, his music and how he and Pavel hooked up to provide us with such a great track that is Frozen Dream.
Q & A with Leonard A
1. Who is Leonard A?
- Leonard A is a project that I started about 6 years ago, Leonard derived from my name Leonardo and the 'A' comes from my last name 'Anya'.
2. What inspired you to become a DJ/ Producer?
- I was inspired by many artists but I think that without a doubt the greatest influence was the music and talent of DJ Tiesto. At the time of the 2000s when I was just a teenager, I had his in concert 2 DVD and that was when I began to see how wonderful it was to get people on the dance floor.
3. Being from Mexico, what is the dance music scene like there?
- It is good, to tell the truth I have heard that many of the great DJs love to come to festivals in Mexico because of the reception of the Mexican public. It is difficult for new talents to grow unlike in Europe, but believe me people support when they see that you are good at this.
4. Your track Frozen Dream which we have featured today, you teamed up with Pavel from Russia, how did the two of your work together in producing this track track given the current restrictions the world is under?
- Well one day I received an email in my inbox from Sound Cloud and well it was from Pavel, he showed me his new track just finished and he wanted me to place some of my touches on it, although it changed more than 50% of the original structure but I think we achieved a good result and all this thanks to current technology, being able to send steam through the internet is a great advantage and communication thanks to social networks makes work much easier from your studio.
5. What can we expect next from you?
- I have not decided this year but I am thinking of taking my production to another level, more melodic trance, you know the days ago I was listening to the new album of 'Shingo Nakamura' and I was fascinated by how beautiful it sounds. I want to work on something like that and be able to start releasing some of that in Monstercat Silk. At the moment I have some tracks to finish and I hope to be able to sign them before the end of the year. Several remixes and music with great artists are coming.
The track Frozen Dream is amazing and from the first time I heard it on Andrew Rayel's weekly podcast Find Your Harmony, I was itching for it to be released and now that it has, I just wanted to share it with everyone to enjoy for themselves.
Trance heads will remember iiO's hit track "Rapture". it was an iconic track for the early 2000's and was one of the most played songs on Ministry of Sound at the time, later on Avicii'w went on to remix the track featuring the vocals of Nadia Ali and this gave the track a new lease of life. It completely transformed the song and was a hit in its own right. Fast-forward to current times and there is another remake of this classic, this time by English based DJ and producer Kryder, he's partnered with Natalie Shay to provide the vocals and like the Avicii remake, the track has taken on another sound, where the beat is more soulful and calming but still has that background bassline to keep it on tempo. I have to admit, when I first heard the track, I thought "not another Rapture remake" but you have to give credit to Kryder here, he's done an exceptional job to not ruin the originality of the track, its an enlightening version that has been brought up to speed to what sort of music we're getting of recent but at the end still maintains the core sounds of the original. The amount airplay this track is getting speaks volumes of it alone and hence its our featured track of the week. Enjoy!
Matt Nash, the DJ and producer from London has been immersed in the thriving and diverse music scene from his area since aged 15. His passion and determination has enabled him to rise from his local London scene to gorge his own space amongst the global landscape of electronic music. He's been a regular at ADE and other festivals in and around Europe, it's about time he gets the global recognition he rightly deserves. Today's featured track from him has been making airwaves from all the major podcasts hosted by the very best in the business. "Ready or Not" features the vocals of Nikki Ambers and has a great vibe. The song starts off with the steady tempo with the vocals as the melodies add on for the build up until the drop which has an epic flow which carries out throughout the song. It is quite a short track so while you busy getting in to it, its finished, but there is an extended version so worry not.
Mash-up's are great but what many don't realise the technical aspect behind them, listening to beats, waiting for drops, allowing for the perfect transitions of fusions takes skill and not many have this. It's quite different from remixes as the point of the remix is to alter the original sound of the song while mash-ups are taking two completely different tracks, merging them together and allowing for both of the tracks to play in harmony, not making it sound off or weird. DJ's from Mars have been doing Bootleg mash-ups for a while now and recently dropped todays featured track which includes the hit track "If I Lose Myself" Alesso and One Republic along with the Weeknd's "Save Your Tears". I heard it on Tiesto's Clublife podcast the other week and loved it so much that I just had to feature it on the blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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