Category: Featured

SONG OF THE DAY: TOKiMONSTA ft MNDR – “Go With It”

Let’s take a journey to the left field.? Those in the know have been following Jennifer Lee, aka Tokimonsta, for years with her atmospheric soundscapes melding avant-garde hip-hop and grooved-out electronic beats.? Expressing her unique point of view with experimental instrumentation, she’s been touring and releasing gorgeously quirky tracks that would make Bjork moist.? For the new single “Go With It,” she teams with MNDR for an otherworldy track that has a subtle pop feel. The downtempo beats incorporate elements of moombahton, broken beat, and dubstep with Indian and Asian instrumentation for a lush, multi-layered track that will lull you into a trance.? MNDR’s vocals are just as intriguing, with repeated hooks and multiple vocal textures that mimic the track.? The video clip, revolving around a foreshadowing dream, is exquisitely cinematic drawing you in with the same embrace as the track. “Go With It” sounds like nothing else out there, the only parallel would be the Gotye track from last year and like that, this could become the leftfield smash that explodes out of nowhere.

Image Courtesy of Ultra.

SONG OF THE DAY: Beltek & Morgan Page – “Captcha”

While great collaborations can occur without direct human interaction (i.e. all online), it seems like the really magical ones occur when people are in the studio together.? A few months ago while on tour, rising Slovenian DJ Beltek stopped in LA and hooked up with Morgan Page in the studio one night.? The resulting composition, “Captcha,” is monstrous.? The power comes not only from intense electro and hard beats, but from a triplet-beat swing rhythm which sounds like it comes from a stadium rock (not stadium house) anthem.? No, it doesn’t sound like a rock track, but the vibe is there and it launches the energy into the stratosphere.? On a big room, like say, Mansion during WMC, the crowd response is massive and a definite highlight of the night. “Captcha” shows the depth and range of Beltek’s production skills as it follows up his recent buzz track “Eric Goes to Disco,” which was inspired by the signature atonal noise of club classic “Flat Eric” by Mr. Oizo.

Image Courtesy of Sneakerz Music.

SONG OF THE DAY: Nari & Milani vs Maurizio Gubellini ft Nicci – “Vago”

With the WMC ending, we will start to see a steady stream of the big tunes from the week. Leading the charge is Vago, a primal electro monster from Nari & Milani vs Gubellini ft. Nicci. Vago is an interesting word which can be translated as anything from vague, lazy, idle, bum, wanderer, or, charmingly, female sexual organs. As a mash of different styles with stadium house, pianos, Capella-inspired synth lines, big room builds, intense electro stutters, and aggressive energy, I would go with either wanderer (between styles) or vague (indescribable). Hearing this around Miami, the reaction each time was instant and big room DJs will definitely be jumping on it come its release date in early April. It’s another solid release from Italian duo Nari & Milani and super label Spinnin’.

Image Courtesy of Spinnin.