SONG OF THE DAY (SUNDAY FUNDAY): Carmen Electra ft Bill Hamel – “I Like It Loud”

Prince protege, Baywatch babe, gameshow hostess, actress, fitness coach – is there anything Carmen Electra can’t do??? Her multifaceted life translates well into “I Like It Loud,” an equally multifaceted track blending electro pop with moombahton and featuring her both singing and rapping.? Her tragically underappreciated debut album from 1993 proved she had the vocal skills and panache to bring it on, and so twenty years later her animated flow on the downbeat is a nice cross between Azealia Banks and Luciana, while dropping references to Instagram and Lana Del Rey’s pout.? Her singing voice is quite similar to Havana Brown – smooth and sexy – appealing to both the straight guys who lust after her body and the gay guys who adore the over-the-top sexiness bordering on drag.? While not the most original dance song out there, this isn’t a song that requires you to “think too much,” it’s a fun party record that would fit on Top 40 radio just as easily as it does in any club set (thanks to the nearly 340 remixes on it). ?And yes, as the title suggests, you will “like it loud.”?

Image Courtesy of Citrusonic/Stereophonic.

INTERVIEW: Junkie XL (2013)

Dutch producer Tom Holkenborg, better known as Junkie XL, unleashed his first album in four years, Synthesized, recently.? A mashup of genres, styles, and production techniques, the album is actually meant to be listened to all the way through rather than as a series of singles -? a seemingly unique concept in the current hit single-focused world of EDM.? During the Amsterdam Dance Event, he premiered a lot of the songs during a sold out live performance at the Royal Concert Hall.? I interviewed him the next day about the album and his journey into movie soundtracking.

RS: I listened to the album and I love it. I like that the beginning part is like a mixtape that starts out slow and then builds up, was that what you were going for?
Junkie XL: Regarding the structure, I was going for an album that you could listen to as a whole. I know that the concept of an album is not commercial anymore and that people rarely listen to them, but I think that as an art form it?s not old and still valid.

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Junkie XL (2013)

INTERVIEW: W&W (2013)

Meeting online in 2007, the team of W&W (William van Hanegem and Wardt van der Harst) started working together and achieved quick recognition when Armin van Buuren played and signed their first production, “Mustang.”? The big room monster launched a succession of big records like “Dome,” “Our Plan,” and “MainStage,” which became the name of their record label distributed through Armada.? Rising stars on the trance scene, their recent remixes of Zedd, Dash Berlin, Cosmic Gate, and Armin van Buuren/BT are just signs that there are even bigger things to come.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: How long have the two of you been working together?
Willem van Hanegem: For about 5 years.
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RS: How did the two of you meet?
Willem van Hanegem: We originally met through the internet, there is a program where you can chat and share music with other beginning producers and in 2007 we met in person at Trance Energy.
Wardt van der Harst: It was through a mutual friend who was there as well. ?We started hanging out and after 6 months we started working on our first track, as we got closer we started working together more.
? Continue reading INTERVIEW: W&W (2013)