Back in December, when I wrote up “Alive” by Krewella, I had no idea that the song would become so big. The track crossed from the clubs to the radio and continues to be a massive request record every time I play out. But what’s a DJ to do when you get so burned out on a song that you want to jam pencils through your eardrums rather than hear it again? Well, you find a fresh new mix. Granted, there was the Hardwell remix which topped the Beatport chart recently, but that doesn’t quite move me, so I found two bootlegs that take “Alive” in completely different directions. When you first hear TJR’s Booty Bass version, it sounds just like the original with a little more of a drumbeat. Then two minutes in, the buildup goes hyper, massively speeds up and drops into old school Miami booty music. The surprised looks on the dancers’ faces the first time I played this was insane- people were literally screaming. The more you think about it, the mix is completely inappropriate with the tone of the song but screw it, if you are at the club you are are supposed to be dancing and having fun, and not thinking. Chicago electro mistress Dani Deahl reimagined “Alive” as a mashup with pretty elements of “I Could Be the One” (Avicii & Nicky Romero) and glitchy bits of “Skull Kid” (Must Die!) Calling this a mashup borders on disrespectful as it sounds more like a fully-realized production that could have been one of the official remixes from the label. A commercial release is doubtful due to all the copyrights, but since Nicky Romero just teamed with Krewella for that hot new “Legacy” track, I guess it could theoretically get cleared. Realistically, if you haven’t already bought the original mp3 of “Alive” by Krewella, get it from Amazon, iTunes, or Beatport and then snag both of these sickening/awesome/tits bootlegs from their respective Soundcloud pages.
Tag: krewella
Notable Dance Podcast #017
Roger Sanchez ft GTO – Troubleman
CLS – Can You Feel It (Prok Fitch)
Crazibiza – My Lips (My Digital Enemy Remix)
Wideboys – Wonky
Botnek – Through the Night (Original)
Junxsterjack – Lets Get This Party Started
Moska – Sick Kick (Original)
Nicky Romero vs Krewella – Legacy
Calvin Harris ft Ayah Marah – Thinking About You (Firebeatz)
Audien – Iris (Original)
Don Diablo & Matt Nash ft Noonie Bao – Starlight (Otto Knows)
Markus Schulz ft Sarah Howells – Tempted (Extended)
BT ft Aqualung – Surrounded (Original)
SONG OF THE DAY: Cash Cash ft Bebe Rexha – “Take Me Home”
I will be honest, the first time I heard about Cash Cash was when I was rummaging through the mixes of Krewella’s “Alive” trying to find a mix which didn’t have a large dropout which sucked all the energy out of the dancefloor… Thank you, Cash Cash. Digging into their tracks, I found a mixed bag of commercial-leaning stuff (the ‘obvious they were from New Jersey anthem’ “I Like it Loud,” a PSY-hook filled remix of British Justin Bieber-clone Conor Maynard’s “Vegas Girl”) and interesting ideas (the JUSTICE-influenced Loleatta Holloway sample track “Overtime” and the boy-band sounding dubstep tribute “Michael Jackson”). For “Take Me Home,” they’ve managed to combine the two extremes with a commercial take on electro/stadium tracks. It’s definitely pop, but since it premiered on Nicky Romero’s radio show, it must be credible. Just teasing, it’s seriously a great track that is hooky as hell with energy to pack a dance floor and singalong lyrics with crossover appeal. Enlisting the help of vocalist Bebe Rexha pushes it over the edge. When I first heard the track, I thought it was the singer from the Studio Killers. If you play “Take Me Home” after “Ode to the Bouncer,” you’ll hear what I mean. With “Take Me Home,” Cash Cash just might follow their friends on the path bubbling up from the underground to mainstream success.
Image courtesy of Big Beat Records.