Category: Featured

SONGS OF THE DAY: Lush & Simon ft XOV – City of Lights (Vocal Mix) and Lush & Simon – Hunter

Back in November, I was really excited about the track by City of Lights. I wrote it up here and ended with:

‘It sounds like something that one of the big guys like Armin or Zedd would be releasing for the fall season. As a track it?s incredibly strong, but it feels like it?s calling out to have a great topline on top of it. With the title ?City of Lights,? the lyrics are almost in mind as I hear the song play.’

A few months later and the Italian duo Lush & Simon enlisted the vocal talents of XOV. What’s surprising is that they chose such a dark and downbeat vocalist for such an uplifting song. If you listen to XOV’s solo songs like “Lucifer” or “Fireman,” his lyrics come from such a dark place that it make Dido or Lorde seem like they’ve overdosed on happy pills. However the darkness works for the track, and while the lyrics are uplifting his tone and delivery gives it a bit more edge so it doesn’t go saccharine or cheesy. As much as I love the original track, this new vocal version elevates it to a higher level.

As pretty an uplifting as “City of Lights” is, Lush & Simon’s other new single “Hunter” is a much more aggressive electro banger. It’s similar in vibe to their track “Adrenaline” with a touch of old school Chemical Brothers in the mix. It’s easy to see why Nicky Romero signed this to his Protocol label.

With all of these tracks mentioned, and of course the gorgeous “Drag Me To the Ground,” the Italian duo Alessandro Miselli & Simone Pioltelli continue to amass a strong catalog of original productions. They are definitely a team to watch as future superstars.

Images courtesy of Trice and Protocol Recordings.

SONG OF THE DAY: Seven Lions ft Kerli – Worlds Apart

There’s something magical that is created when two creative people work together. Jeff Montalvo a/k/a Seven Lions is known for harder electro and dubstep production with hints of trance. As a singer/songwriter, Kerli has a unique voice and a sound that transforms to fit any style of production. Together the two have constructed “Worlds Apart,” which brings dubstep and progressive elements together and adds a bit of a pretty pop feel to smooth them over. It’s the kind of song that fits a SciFi movie soundtrack as easily as commercial radio. Worlds Apart is the title track on Seven Lions’ EP which also features another collab with Kerli (Keep It Close) and songs with Ellie Goulding (Don’t Leave) and Myon and Shane 54 & Tove Lo (Strangers). Highly recommended.

Image courtesy of Ultra Records.

Sharon Needles Interview 2014

The TV show RuPaul?s Drag Race has bought mainstream attention to the drag world unlike any other show before.??But just like any other reality or competition show, it is what you do with the platform that determines where you end up.??Born Aaron Cody and growing up in Iowa, Sharon Needles rebelled against his conservative upbringing by moving away, creating her character Sharon Needles, and incorporating goth, punk, and the macabre into his drag persona.??Her style of drag attracted a massive fan base and she won Season 4 of the show.??Rather than rush out a melodyned club track like most of the contestants have, she wrote and recorded a full-on artist album that blends rock and electronic music in a unique and cohesive way.??What?s really impressive, aside from the quality of the album, is how active she was at the Winter Music Conference ? speaking on panels, hosting the IDMA, and making her presence known.??She is also a pleasure to speak with, respectful of those who came before her, and not afraid to speak her mind about anything you ask her.??

DJ Ron: Listening to your album, I?ve been wondering what your songwriting process is. Do you start with a track and write to it or do you write your own lyrics first?

Sharon Needles: I write all of my own lyrics, but it really depends on the song. A lot of songs, especially ?I Wish I Were Amanda Lepore,? was something that I wrote when I was 18 years old. ?Dead Girls Never Say No? was also part of my old poetry. I get my tracks in advance and I write my songs according to my tracks. I have a great topliner named Ashley Levy who helps me make sure that everything sounds phonetically correct and that the timing of words is correct. My production company, Killingsworth Records, are phonetic Nazis. The way that they look at timing and think of vowels and words in a song is very important to them. It is all my writing, but they just kind of chop it up and help me make it ?correct.?
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