Tag: armada

SONG OF THE DAY: Hardwell ft Amba Shepherd – “Apollo”

The big Dutch EDM producers pretty much fall into two categories – trance or dirty.? Hardwell stands out as one who blurs the lines, combining the aggressive electro of the Dirty Dutch with the pretty, melodic feel of the trancers.? Current single “Apollo” is a great example of this as it starts out progressive, pretty, and trancey. ? Ninety seconds in, the dropout builds up to a stop, and then full-on electro banging madness ensues.? The progressive melodic feel floats over the harder beats until the next dropout when the vocals of Amba Shepherd come into focus.? Amba sounds amazing, as always, and this is a great follow-up to her last track with Giuseppe Ottaviani, “Lost For Words.”? With massive singles (“How We Do,” “Cobra,” “Spaceman”), remixes (Example, Knife Party, and Rihanna), and rising to #6 on the DJ Mag list, 2012 has been quite a good year for Hardwell.? Topping the club chart with “Apollo” is a great way to end the year and have us DJs/EDM lovers salivating for what he will “Reveal” in 2013.


Image Courtesy of Revealed.

SONG OF THE DAY: Sied van Riel ft Temper Heart – “Carved By Your Hands”

A friend asked me the other day if there was some new rule among trance producers that vocals are only allowed to be placed over breakdowns.? While he was joking, kinda, the angelic, uplifting vocals used in trance records do seem to shine the brightest over the sparse, atmospheric breakdowns.? Case in point, the new track “Carved By Your Hands” from Dutch trance producer Sied van Riel.? Starting off with an exposed kick drum at a surprisingly slow tempo (maybe 128 bpm but feeling more like 126), an evil-sounding pad starts before a really pretty keyboard line floats in. It actually starts to go a bit prog with disparate elements (a keyboard hook, off-sounding drum, stutter beat) that shouldn’t work together but do.? The beat starts to fade away as a euphoric pad takes over which introduces the big dropout.? British singer Temper Heart channels Maria Naylor with her angelic vocals floating over the atmospheric drop-out. For a harder, more electro/prog take, check out Wezz Devall’s “Remilf.”? (Yes, the use of the term MILF makes as much sense as Chew Fu’s infamous “refix” moniker.) ? EDM geeks and aspiring producers should check out Sied’s YouTube video about the making of this track as well.

Image Courtesy of S107/Armada.

SONG OF THE DAY: Audien – “Sup”

What’s up? There are so many tracks showing up on Beatport every week that it takes a lot to stand out. Following up his vocal tracks with Ruby Prophet (“These Are the Days”) and Databoy (“Just Once”), producer Audien aka Nate Rathbun goes right for the jugular and unleashes the massive big room “Sup.” The track starts off like any other with a building, structured beat until
it cuts to an 80s influenced power ballad instrumental. Then it hits, the second time the musical line is played–the massive electrotrance synth that pierces your soul. The hand clap-feeling kick drum comes in and increases the energy to an explosion. A sudden drop to a quick, Middle Eastern rhythm and a sampled female vocal “Hey” (reminiscent of Lords of Acid-era Techno) shakes things up before the full electro madness kicks in. The second breakdown midway through the track is a bit extended yet even more powerful, with an electric guitar highlighted in the buildup that further elevates the energy. DJs looking for an unexpected surprise mid-set should throw “Sup” at their crowd. The results will be mind-blowing.

Image Courtesy of Trice/Armada.