Category: Featured

SONG OF THE DAY: Wolfwolf ft Alianah – “High”

Am I the only one who thinks that artists wearing masks is just as cliched as replacing the letter E with a 3 in your name?? Luckily, Aussie nu-disco producer Wolfwolf transcends that with his new track “High,” featuring the vocals of Alianah. It’s as if someone snagged Tina and Chris from Tom Tom Club and told them to start making hipster electropop.? Alianah has a Roisin Murphy-esque quality to her voice – present and cinematic, but kinda stoned in her delivery.? Both the Vanilla and Bronx remixes sound straight out of the early ’80s, at a similar BPM to the original, while the Lee M Kelsall remix speeds things up with a bit of a 2-step garage flavor.? Apparently there is also a trap remix floating around that Diplo and the Mad Decent crew have championed as well.? Lovers of the ’80s will also dig the video clip which is true to the era, save for all the cool MIDI controllers that Wolfwolf plays with.? Big props to heritage house/hip-hop label Nervous records for keeping up with the times and the sounds that the EDM kids are into these days.

Image courtesy of Nurvous.

SONG OF THE DAY: Anakyn ft Fabio Lendrum – “Point Blank (Love is Blind)”

When I first heard (and wrote up) Anakyn’s “Point Blank,” the “episodic feel of the tempo changes” was something I commented about.? The track tells a story through different waves as the intensity of the tempo and moods transform – this set the track apart from many others out there.? Not dissimilar to Lazy Jay’s “Float My Boat” in this respect, these kind of tracks often inspire the most interesting vocals. Just as “Float My Boat” inspired Azealia Banks to create “212,” Anakyn enlisted the help of rising singer/writer/DJ Fabio Lendrum to create “Love is Blind,”? the vocal version of “Point Blank.”? Rather than a full-on traditional pop song, the focus is on a chorus which is repeated a few times during peaks and valleys of the track.? Fabio’s blue-eyed soulful delivery adds a new level of emotion, elevating the track to a higher peak. Whereas the original track was strong in its own right, the new vocal version can cross it over to a new level by making it more emotional and accessible without feeling cheesy in any way. Walden’s remix is a bit harder on the electro tip yet manages to keep the original elements of the track and the vocal as the main focus.? With “Love is Blind” and his work as cowriter/producer of Example’s “Won’t Go Quietly,” Fabio Lendrum is definitely one to watch for 2013.

Image Courtesy of FFRR White/Big Beat.

SONG OF THE DAY: Honeywell – “Expect It Back”

As we noted last week, with the focus on big room stadium and electro
tracks, there is a lack of solid diva vocal house records at the moment.
When in doubt, go back and sample one of the legendary voices. British
producer Honeywell does just this for his new single “Expect It Back,”
reviving Loleatta Holloway’s performance with GTS on “What Goes Around Comes
Around” which originally released in 2000. Focusing on the spoken parts of
the vocal, Honeywell’s production has that classic 90s tribal sound
modernized just enough to feel current. It’s a record that would fit in a
retro house night just as easily as it would in a big room set. The House of
Virus remix is more techy, but to my ears it sounds like a brilliantly
bouncy Sharp Boys remix (and coming from me is a major compliment). DJs
looking for a vocal record that brings a 2013 feel to the classic diva vibe
should “expect” a great reaction when dropping this track in their prime
time sets.

Image Courtesy of Klass Action.