SONG OF THE DAY: Erik Arbores – Galactic?

During Winter Music Conference, a topic often discussed was how so many of the big tracks sound nearly identical.? Leave it to a young producer to bring a fresh taste to the current trends.? Sixteen year-old producer Erik Arbores caught everyone’s attention a few years ago when he was discovered by Armin van Buuren, signed to Armada records, and became the youngest person ever to top the Dutch iTunes chart with his ‘Take It EP” and named Best New Dance Artist.? Fast forward a few years and together with a few friends around the same age (Martin Garrix, Julian Jordan, and DeeWayne) they are unleashing some of the biggest international club records.? On “Galactic,” he starts with the triplet sound which was made massive by “Tsunami” and adds the twist of a ’60s horn vibe as the rhythm line.? When you say that out loud it does sound strange, but when you hear it works so well and gives the big room EDM sound a different, happier vibe that is less dark and foreboding.?? Keeping that happy vibe, the video features well-breasted females dressed in bright candy colors while trapped in a gumball machine and trying to entice little boys out of their pocket change.? Yeah, that seems a bit inappropriate, but the ending is so cute that you can almost look past it.

Image courtesy of Spinnin Records.

SONG OF THE DAY: Chocolate Puma ft Kris Kiss – Step Back

One thing you quickly realize about EDM producers is that they tend to change names every few years, so if your favorite team suddenly disappears, just do a discogs search on the members and there are bound to be other aliases.? As The Goodmen, Dutch duo Zki & Dobre had a massive club hit in the early ’90s with “Give It Up” featuring tribal batucada drums that was inspired by a Sergio Mendes track (“Magalehna”) and ended up inspiring a massive pop hit by Simply Red (“Fairground”). As Riva, they had the major pop hit “Who Do You Love Now” with Dannii Minogue.? With their current name Chocolate Puma, they’ve released several massive club records like “I Wanna Be U,”? “Always and Forever,” and collabs with Bingo Players (“Disco Electrique” and “Touch Me”). ?For their new single, the duo literally “Step Back” to the ’90s with a speed garage bassline-oriented track that feels equal parts Artful Dodger, Armand Van Helden, and Sharp Boys.? Like the better Nu-House tracks out there, it is a modern update- not just a direct retread of the original sounds, which they accomplished by adding a modern breakdown with a hint of Eric Prydz-style progressive synth work. The track on its own is quite strong but by bringing in vocalist Kris Kris they seem assured another pop crossover record.? It also makes you wonder if they’ve gone back to their old DATs from the ’90s to mine bits for inspiration.

Image courtesy of MixMash Records.

Notable Dance Podcast #055

White n3rd – SKANK
Bimbo Jones & Beverley Knight – I Found OuT (The Bimbo Jones Mardi Gras Mix)
WaWa & Tune Brothers – Sing (FalseFace Remix)
Oliver Heldens – Gecko (Original Mix)
Jason Herd ft Sherry St Germain – This is What We Came For (Original Mix)
MOTI – Don’t Go Lose It (Original Mix)
Hardwell – Everybody Is In The Place (Original)
Alvaro – Shades (Original Mix)
Joachim Garraud ft Perry & Etty Farrell – Everybody (Original)
Showtek & Ookay – Bouncer (Original)
Botnek & 3LAU – Vikings (Original Mix)
Sander Van Doorn & Firebeatz – Guitar Track (Original)
Audien – Wayfarer (Original Mix)
tyDi ft Dia Frampton – Stay (Extended Mix)

(Picture of Audien taken during WMC 2014.)

Notable Dance Podcast