Can’t get over how clean this shit is.

New York-native Squires is on the rise, recently releasing his first track of summer, “Alcoholic”. It’s a progressive jam that’s designed for all you sickos out there that drink too much and can’t get enough of that big room sound. I see this being played at some cool Vegas pool party where all the girls are practically naked getting tequila shots taken off their tummies. It’s like that.

It’s here. The new Gesaffelstein. One word. Wow.

Bass player and lead singer in Swedish pop outfit Urban Cone, Emil Gustafsson launches his solo project and gets me hooked right away. Emil Héro brings out the love for disco and melodies which has always been the most important thing for him. The track ‘Television‘ featuring Hedvig reminds me of an early Russ Chimes, It’s full of good vibes, a melody driven bass and stellar vocals.

It’s a fun summer tune that I definitely will enjoy, and I am most definitely looking forward to more. The debut EP is planed to be released this summer, again, featuring Hedvig.

The summerburst festival has just come to an end here in Sweden. Two days of world star dj’s ‘performing’ for thousands of kids at swedens biggest arenas. I wasn’t attending this year, however I was last year and I am actually surprised I didn’t notice it in the big scale then. Might have been the combination of alcohol, reckless thinking and simply a mind in sleep mode.

To get to the point, what happens is I’m scrolling down my feed in facebook and these image galleries of the party comes up. The first thing that strikes me is, wow, it looks booring, every picture is the same, there is no variation. People aren’t even dancing, they’re packed liked penguins but there is one thing they have in common, they all like house music, they have one finger in the air and they’re jumping up and down (NOTE: Jumping, not dancing)

Steve Angello

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dj (not world famous though duh) and I love electro house music and played some of the artists performing this year several times. But it’s really getting to the point where I have to express my thoughts on the subject.

Arena house, it’s a new genre that’s been introduced throughout the past few years. And literally it is what it sounds like, because the tracks contain that vocal hook or that synth lead that everybody can sing along to and ‘fingerpump’ in rhytm with. Because the mainstream media plays it over and over again. And this is basically what you expect if you go to a party like this. The problem is that 80% of these world famous dj’s are going to play the same songs. Which brings me to think of what producer Feed Me (who actually played on the festival this weekend) said on twitter a while back:

Seems common to assume writing music means wanting to DJ – I started by accident? It's a fun and enriching social experience but not art.

— Feed Me (@feedme) May 22, 2013

And I agree with him, it’s not art, it’s not! Not when smoke cannons and fireworks are the main thing in an artists DJ set. We all now that the biggets dj’s around the world even play pre-recorded mixtapes by now, just to sync with the props. It’s been discussed and debated by both producers and fans around the world for a long time now. I’m not saying digital music isn’t music or that dj’s are not performers because we are. I’m just scared that this it what it comes down to. A bunch of fingers in the air. VIP tables and champagne and jumping up and down in front of an oversized stage with one dude standing on top, playing all that shit you heard on the radio.

I blame the fact that there is a market for it, and that market only exists because of mainstream media.

I rarely go out clubbing anymore, except for my own dj gigs. I rarely do because I go out for the music, and I’m guaranteed to hear the same shit played all over wherever I go in this country so I stopped. It’s become a standard that you have to drop some of those vocal hooks that everybody know, to keep the crowd satisfied. Hell, I’ve done it myself and I’m ashamed of it.

I miss the days when you’d go to a club and people were actually dancing, having fun, and the dj’s really got creative and played tunes you never even heard of and the floor wen’t crazy. You can’t these days, because there is a demand for arena house and beatport top 100 tracks. Becuase they play it on the radio, and yeah house is a fly right now.

I’m afraid that this is what’s become of dance music, hell, is this what’s become of dancing? I fucking hope not, dj’s please get creative becuase it’s getting to a point where a dj is almost ashamed to be a dj.

I’m playing at a festival called Bråvalla the 27th of june here in Sweden. And I guarantee you, you won’t see my finger in the air, you won’t hear me playing Don’t you worry child. You’ll see me face down (most of the time) with my headphones on, getting creative as fuck, trying to bring you one hell of a musical experience that makes your body wanna fucking dance.

Thanks.

The french Sir, Kavinsky is preparing the Ep ‘Odd Look‘ taken from his latest album release ‘OutRun‘. So far we’ve been introduced to the Surkin remix, and the A-Trak remix. Personally, I’m a sucker for the Surkin one. His style, his minimal approach, it just oozes the Surkin I love. It’s the kind of trancy, french-touchy soundscape that only he is capable of bringing out that’s got me hooked.

Kavinsky – Odd Look (Surkin Remix) by Kavinsky

Now A-Trak brings out some moombah/trap kind of thingy, that’s literally just gotten SEXY written all over it, enjoy.

Kavinsky – Odd Look (A-Trak Remix) by Kavinsky

Interested to see who else will appear on this remix Ep, we’ll keep you posted guys!

Everyone knows Pharrell. And everyone knows he can produce like a motherfucker, making some of the most classic dance tunes ever to come out. It may seem a bit irregular for the 40-something artist to show up here on the site when it’s not Daft Punk-related, but as soon as that thought entered my mind, I needed to squash it. That’s not what we’re about. Mr. Williams rarely makes a remix, and since he recently treated Woodkid to one, you better believe I’m sharing it. Especially when it’s this groovy and fun of a tune. Enjoy his take on “I Love You” below.

Johnny Stimson‘s “Human Man” is the pop jam this summer. The wonderful production comes with an equally enjoyable video that takes place some time in a near future where humans are evidently regulated by check-in stations. I’d be with the girl, running far away from the robot-looking guys in suits. Not gonna lie, I was lightweight waiting for her to pull out some guns and take them all out in a sort of Terminator-fashion. But the way the director went with it is very cool too. Enjoy below.

The spanking fresh duo Falcon Funk are here with their first official release. The four track Ep was released today via Monstercat and it is without a doubt one of my favorite releases on this label (they release a ton of stuff). The EP is the craftsmanship of one of the more funkier, glitchier sides of producer Rasmus Hermansen of F.O.O.L and Alan Charif.

Fans of Koan Sound and the more playful works of Skrillex will surely like this piece as it’s a wonderful creation of funky basses and melodic sounds that surely won’t keep you standing still.

The highlight for me, is the track ‘Leophant‘ which even words can’t describe. I’d go as far as to say it’s my favorite track of the year. Just press that play button and you’ll see, and pick up the full ep through Beatport!

Following up his OWSLA release Ammunition pt 3, Alex Metric‘s new track ‘Safe With You‘ was premiered by Pete Tong on Radio 1 Tonight. A collab with Jacques Lu Cont and singer simply named Malin.

I’m very surprised by the more commercial sounds but listening again and again, it strikes me that this is like SHM gone indie, the good kind. It’s a big summer tune, and it will be released as both radio and dub rip. Nice one.