Just as the Prince Club is reviving ’90s underground house with a modern flavor, french duo Alesia seems intent to revitalize ’90s techno.? Following up the sick trap track “Bird Machine,” “Andrea” sounds like a classic track from Quadrophenia/Eon/Anticapella, modernized with a hint of industrial and glitch. If this track blows your mind, explore the inspiration further through some of the great tracks sitting around waiting to be discovered from that timeframe.? Bouncing between genres may make Alesia hard to categorize, but in this current environment of duplicitous soundalikes, that is definitely a good thing.
Sometimes the simplest ideas make the best club tracks.?? Nearly ten years ago, Thomas Bangalter and DJ Falcon sampled The Real Thing’s “Love’s Such a Wonderful Thing” to create the club classic “So Much Love to Give.”? That same kind of repetitive sample is the basis of “Show Me The Love,” the deceptively simple track from the Dutch duo Phonk D’Or (aka Nenes) and Jesse Voorn.? Over a multilayered electro track, the vocal is repeated and becomes an almost rallying cry as it sucks you into the groove.? While the track has been compared to Mylo’s “In My Arms,” which sampled both Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” and Boy Meets Girl “Waiting for a Star to Fall,” repeated listens makes me think more of “So Much Love to Give.”? Both remixes are quite special in their own way- ?Phonk D’or & Burgundy’s is more aggressive than the original with almost Wolfgang Gartner feel.? British DJ Rob Made slows down the tempo and gives it an updated ’80s feel sounding like a track that would be perfect for a modern revival of St Elmo’s Fire.
Dubbed the Pin-Up doll of the Pussycat Dolls, fiery redhead Jessica Sutta has always had big love for clubland.? Back in 2007, she teamed up with Dave Aude (“Make It Last”) and Paul van Dyk (“White Lies”) to much acclaim, so it was no surprise when her first solo club single “Show Me” topped the club chart last year.? With “Again,” she delves into deeper subject matter, the consequences of bad decisions mitigated by the possibility of salvation at the end.? Dance music with a message and lyrics she co-wrote- what a concept…? The original production by Kemal Golden, who has worked with DJ Vice and Dave Aude, balances pop with progressive creating an epic dancefloor filler with catchy hooks that are primed for crossover.? The airy synth line in the breakdowns are as pretty as the lyrics are dark, making the contrast even more defined.?? As a refreshing change, the first set of remixes are by up-and-coming artists, rather than the regular gang of big names who seem to be on every record.? The mixes are variations of electro going in distinctly different directions – tribal with unique vocal manipulation (DJ Theresa), progressive (IDeal & J-Break), and stadium (Nikno). ?Without a doubt, “Again” has one of the most creative lyric videos – combining performance and scenes with the lyric on the screen – I guess you would call it a hybrid of a traditional concept/performance video and standard lyric videos.? Jessica’s dancing and performance is quite emotional, which elevates the clip to a higher level as well.
