Category: Featured

SONG OF THE DAY: Lange & Susana – “A Risk Worth Taking”

When we last heard from British producer Lange, it was “Our Brief Time In the Sun,” a beautiful and modern instrumental trance track with a bit of a classic feel.? Changing gears, this new single “Risk Worth Taking,” is more aggressive, with a harder electro feel that still shares the classic feel of one his harder mixes from the early 2000s, though completely modern in execution. The track is energetic, the vocal is quite strong, and the chorus is hooky and memorable.? It’s dark and light at the same time – if that makes sense.? One complaint though, in the extended version available on Beatport, a long patch of the vocals is over a massive beatless dropout – following the trend of many current EDM tracks.? The video version on YouTube, though, is a bit more commercial-sounding and so much more energetic- it really translates the emotion of the song to a higher degree.? It would be so nice for us DJs to be able to purchase an extended version – with intro and outro – of this version… Especially since not everyone spins in rooms that can handle extended dropouts.?? Other than that, “A Risk Worth Taking” is a brilliant vocal electro-trance record and it’s easy to see why the big guys like Gareth Emery, Armin Van Buuren, and Markus Schulz are supporting it.

Image Courtesy of Lange Music.

INTERVIEW: Cosmic Gate (2013)

It’s hard to believe that a chance meeting in a studio led to one of the most successful and enduring dance artists of all time.? Meeting by chance in a studio more than 15 years ago, Claus Terhoeven (aka Nic Chagall) and Stefan Bossems (aka Bossi) jammed together and created a track that they pretty much forgot about.? A few months later, they sent the track out to labels and everyone wanted it.? They’ve consistently released top-notch trance tracks (“Exploration Of Space,” “Firewire,” “Be Your Sound”) and albums over the years and continue to stay true to their roots.?? 2013 sees them continuing to tour but planning to take a break to work on some new production.? We caught up with them at the Winter Music Conference for a chat.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: How was the Yacht Party?
Bossi: It was amazing. This was our 4th time doing it and it was sold out again. Fortunately, just like every other year the vibe was insane. There are usually about 400 fans there that really enjoy that type of music and are there especially to hear it. It has become the highlight of our year, of course playing at State of Trance and Ultra is great, too, but the vibe at the Yacht Party is unbeatable. It is like a big family coming together each year and we have an amazing time.

RS: How did the Juicy Party go?
Bossi: We have been coming to Miami for about 12 years and we usually go to the Juicy Party just to hang out. To be one of the headliners this year has been amazing, our music is a little bit different to most of the house and electro DJs but the reaction was fantastic.
Nic: It went surprisingly well and we didn?t even have to change our sound.
Bossi: We played a nice progressive Cosmic Gate set, it was great.

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Cosmic Gate (2013)

SONG OF THE DAY: Axwell – “Center of the Universe”

As much as I loved the downtempo Axwell remix of Discopolis “Falling,” I had a feeling that Axwell wasn’t going to forsake the stadium/progressive house sound that made Swedish House Mafia so big.? With “Center of the Universe,” Axwell is back to the uplifting, pretty, and anthemic with a surprisingly old school-feeling Hi-NRG production – think Almighty goes to the stadium – and you’ve got an idea.? Swedish singer Magnus Carlson, frontman of indie rock band Weeping Willows, brings a fresh, emotional take to the lyrics and when he sings the “center of the universe is you and I,” the warmth of his tone will really make you feel that you are part of the song.? With the deluge of pretty progressive tracks being released right now, “Center of the Universe” stands out as a shining star.? Helping the track will be a “groundbreaking interactive video” sponsored by Carlsberg beer for their “Where’s the Party?” campaign.? Basically, you have to launch?www.wtp13.com?in a Google Chrome browser and after you prove that you are of legal age, you click on the screen to keep the beat going.? If you don’t fancy the mashup of midway game wack-a-mole and a pervasive beer commercial, the full video will premiere?on Tuesday?the 21st.? Honestly, I am hoping someone puts the cool galactic t-shirt worn by the lead dancer on sale.?? That would be a product placement that I would gladly jump on.

Image Courtesy of Ultra.