Category: Featured

SONG OF THE DAY: Sirah – “Up and Down”

Personal confession- I am a fan of vocalists.? So this current trend of producers/DJs/artists giving “featured” credit to the singers on their tracks is quite nice, letting us find out who they are and track down their other work.? When I first heard “Bangarang” by Skrillex, the chopped-up lyrics from Sirah were just as hooky as the scratched-out party beats.? The name rang a bell so I dug up “Weekends,” another tracks from Skrillex which featured Sirah from 2010. Off her latest mix tape “CULT Too Young To Die,” Sirah leads with “Up and Down,” an aggressive dubstep track that features her edgy rapping about her roots and where she’s going, contrasted with her?emotional vocals in the chorus. This is one of those tracks where the soft, pretty opening bears no resemblance to the remainder of the track.? With the success of “Bangarang” on rock radio and Jay-Z’s support of Sirah’s mixtape, it will be interesting to see how her following of “cult kids” develops.? Now if someone could only tell me why dancers throw flour at each other (as evidenced in the video)…?

Image Courtesy of Atlantic.

SONG OF THE DAY: Gabrielle Aplin vs Rob Searle – “The Power of Love”

Absolutely gorgeous – that’s the only way to describe the original version of Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of this Frankie Goes to Hollywood classic. Originally released during the holidays of 1984, the third FGTH single was a massive chart topper. Angelic voiced singer/songwriter Gabrielle Aplin built an audience by posting videos on Youtube and caught the attention of Parlophone. Prior to the release of her first major label album, she was chosen to record the holiday song for department store John Lewis commercials. A top 5 single in its original piano-led acoustic version, the uplifting trance pop remix by Rob Searle takes it a whole new level. Reminiscent of old-school trance from the mid 90s with pretty synths and air-y pads in the intro, the mix builds with a big kick drum raise before the crescendo of electro beats lifts it to an epic fusion of stadium house and modern trance. The success of the mix comes as no surprise since Rob’s initial industry buzz came from a bootleg he did of “The Power of Love” back in 1999. This new remix is so strong (and such a perfect ending for a high energy club set) that I would imagine it could launch a second wave of success for him.

Image Courtesy of Parlophone/EMI.

SONG OF THE DAY: M’Black – “Crush”

Though the YouTube page says M-Black is back, Israeli producer Matt Schwarz has been quite busy since his last single “Heartbreak” topped the US dance airplay chart back in 2010: producing “Timebomb” for Kylie and releasing projects under his other pseudonym, Dada. As much as “Heartbreak” was a grower of a record, the new single “Crush” is an instant love on first listen. The subtle production of the intro puts the spotlight on vocalist Nicol, who sounds quite incredible. And as soon as it crescendoes into the chorus with “you save me only to crush me,” the energy is full throttle but not in a cheesy way. For such an obvious dance pop record, it maintains a cool, progressive vibe that will guarantee much love from dance radio. For the clubs, there is a mix for just about every genre – electro (Dada), dubstep-ish (Bar9), and euphoric (Alistair Albrecht & Bellatrax). As its release is so late in 2012, watch for “Crush” to last well into 2013 and possibly be one of the big peoples’ favorites of WMC.

Image Courtesy of Robbins/Destined.