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.

SONG OF THE DAY: Honeywell – “Expect It Back”

As we noted last week, with the focus on big room stadium and electro
tracks, there is a lack of solid diva vocal house records at the moment.
When in doubt, go back and sample one of the legendary voices. British
producer Honeywell does just this for his new single “Expect It Back,”
reviving Loleatta Holloway’s performance with GTS on “What Goes Around Comes
Around” which originally released in 2000. Focusing on the spoken parts of
the vocal, Honeywell’s production has that classic 90s tribal sound
modernized just enough to feel current. It’s a record that would fit in a
retro house night just as easily as it would in a big room set. The House of
Virus remix is more techy, but to my ears it sounds like a brilliantly
bouncy Sharp Boys remix (and coming from me is a major compliment). DJs
looking for a vocal record that brings a 2013 feel to the classic diva vibe
should “expect” a great reaction when dropping this track in their prime
time sets.

Image Courtesy of Klass Action.