Enlightened Listening for February 26

We've reached the final Friday of this perfectly balanced February, and that means it's time for Enlightened Listening. This week's playlist is headlined by two tremendous albums from John Tejada and Dense & Pika; the former a lighter, more explorative affair, while the latter thrives through its impenetrable sound design. There's a trio of remixes from KAYTRANADA, KUU and Claptone, who takes on a personal favourite from the 80s in Trans-X's "Living On Video." Other favourites appear as AkaMatisse makes good with his debut EP, Prospa amaze with their Rave Science Vol. 1, and Matroda goes for monumental grooves with his Insomniac offering. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the barmy bass house brilliance of ToMix's GOLD DiGGER drop, God Damn. Stream the playlist, organized for maximum flow, below and find each of the releases linked individually at the bottom.

AkaMatisse - Sonata Episode 001

Jacques Greene - Promise

Busta Rhymes & Vybz Kartel - The Don & The Boss (KAYTRANADA Remix)

Prospa - Rave Science Vol. 1

Diplo & Sonny Fodera - Turn Back Time (KUU Remix)

Trans-X - Living On Video (Claptone Remix)

John Tejada - Year Of The Living Dead

Don Rimini - Ghetto Fabulous

ToMix - God Damn

Dense & Pika - Colour Burn

Matroda - When We Were Young / Gimme Some Keys

Le Youth - Colour

Kölsch Open-To-Close at REX, 2019

Yesterday, Kölsch shared his epic open-to-close set from the legendary REX nightclub in Paris. Spanning nearly seven hours, the 2019 mix allows the Danish DJ to showcase his musical multitudes through stacks upon stacks of tracks, released or otherwise.

Literally welcoming listeners with Château Flight's "Welcome" as the third track in, Kölsch keeps things quite cool for the first half-hour before Frank & Tony's "Bring The Sun" begins to warm things up. Shortly after crossing the hour mark, we're greeted by the familiar sound of Austra's Katie Stelmanis as part of the Patrice Bäumel remix of Claptone's "La Esperanza." Continuing to climb this mountain of music, the essence of Kölsch really starts to take shape in this second hour as we're treated to a masterful mix of all kinds of progressive house/melodic techno. In that section alone, there are massive, moving cuts from Carl Craig in "Futurelovetheme" and Bawrut in "Pronto Arpeggio."

Not long into the third hour, Kölsch begins to lay out his recently released album Now Here No Where, starting with its title track. While I'm hesitant to say this hour is the hardest hitting, as the fifth features Alex Gopher's "Aurora" and The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," it is perhaps the most taught and driving techno section with all kinds of acid and tension. With a couple brighter and more uplifting all-time classics in Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" and Kölsch's own "Cassiopeia" coming in the fourth hour, the up and down nature of this audio odyssey becomes unmistakable. And while that fact ought to have been clear from the jump, it's important to remember that this was a live DJ set, so presumably, Kölsch was playing to the audience and not merely curating in a vacuum. That said, I think it's clear that the club was absolutely bumping by the four and a half-hour mark as the Dane dives into an incredible run of tracks ranging from his all-time classics "Opa" and Grey/KIR to Circuit Breaker's "Systematic" and the KiNK remix of "Acid Track."

Closing with the laidback likes of "Rose Rouge," his own jazzy offering "Remind You" and the grand finale, Galaxy 2 Galaxy's "Amazon," Kölsch's nearly seven-hour journey through sound is a wonderous ride that reminds us of both his captivating catalogue and of the majesty of an open-to-close set. Stream it below, find a partially complete tracklisting here, and follow Kölsch's socials at the bottom.

Kölsch · IPSO All Night Long set at REX

FOLLOW KÖLSCH: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Enlightened Listening for August 7 (Spotify Edition)

As mentioned in my previous post, the August 7th Bandcamp edition of Enlightened Listening, I've made two versions of the weekly release playlist with this one coming from Spotify. Here I've organized the 16 releases with the hopes of the 38 tracks playing out cohesively. There's numerous incredible remixes, several strong originals and an absolutely fabulous album from House Gospel Choir. Enjoy the playlist below, find each individual release linked at the bottom and have a great weekend!

Austra - I Am Not Waiting (Claptone Remix)

Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? (Georgia Remix)

Myd - Together We Stand (Remixes)

House Gospel Choir - My Zulu

Amtrac - Between The Lines (Zimmer Remixes)

Sub Focus & Wilkinson - Air I Breathe

René LaVice & Jess Young - Bad Luck

Goldroom & Moontown - Guess I'm Jaded (The Remixes)

Jonas Blue & MAX - Naked (Armand Van Helden Remix)

Loud Luxury - Cold Feet (Cat Dealers Remix)

CamelPhat ft. Yannis - Hypercolour (Patrice Bäumel Remix)

Eelke Kleijn - Woodstock (Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile Remix)

Mercer - Lemonade

Volac - Muchacho

BROHUG - Stealth

Lowdown - Ghetto Poetry

Best Tracks Of 2018: Honorable Mentions

It's getting to be that time of year. Seems most publications have either already unveiled their year end lists, or are at least in the process of doing so. I'll push back a bit, in that there's still good music coming out and certainly some of it deserves spots in these year end reflections. That said, I still aim to have my Top 100 Tracks of 2018 list out in 2018, along with some kind of album showcase. But since the Top 100 is still in flux (at least in terms of placement), I've found that I've got a nice 18 leftovers which deserve at least the title of Honorable Mentions. So without further ado, here they are, sorted in alphabetical order by original artist, with brief descriptions after the Soundcloud playlist/jump.

Enlightened Listening for June 1

Another Friday, another month, another batch of new music, another edition of Enlightened Listening. This week brings more from Chromeo and Claptone, the welcome returns of Joe Goddard, Sébastien Léger, Flight Facilities, Bob Moses, Chromak, Mura Masa and a cool collab from MNEK. As always stream via Spotify below and read brief descriptions at the bottom. Happy listening. Enjoy!

Chromak - Thoughts (ft. Tato Lopez)
As first heard in his episode of My Mixtape (here), this is one of the better examples of Chromak's breadth of music ability. It is cool and groovy, and big and bold with that brass. Perfect summer tune.

Bob Moses - Heaven Only Knows
Dreamy yet dark, beautiful yet bloodcurdling. I don't know what I'm more wrapped up in, the vocals or the top notch sound design. We know the sky is the limit for Bob Moses, but this may be their best yet.

Perfume Genius - Slip Away (Mura Masa Remix)
Just another incredible example of Mura Masa's undeniable genius. The levels and layers of sounds, melodies and movement, and their intermingling, give me goosebumps. It is unlike anything I've ever heard, except it's exactly what I expect from Mura Masa.

Chromeo ft. DRAM & Jesse Johnson - Must've Been (Phantoms Remix)
A stark contrast from the previous three remixes of "Must've Been," Phantoms drive it deep into a dimly lit tunnel. That said, the funk at the core still stands strong in this stripped down delight.

Sébastien Léger - Naive / Tristesse
As I tweeted yesterday I woke up to "Lost Miracle" and wondered when we'd get new Seb, and here it is. Once again we're treated to his extended and progressive genius as "Naive" arises effortlessly out of the opening and blossoms beautifully. "Tristesse" takes a darker more demure direction, while still offering up the shimmering spirit of play that makes all of Leger's productions such vivid dream sequences.

MNEK - Colour (ft. Hailee Steinfeld)
Whatever instrument(s) it is that opens this track nails the rainbow resplendence of its title. It is a pure pop production, but one that I can get behind and groove to. A worthy companion to "Never Forget You."

Claptone - Stronger (ft. Ben Duffy)
Like Chromeo, Claptone has been on one hell of a streak with singles and corresponding remixes. This latest is a light guitar groover whose crisp cool nature and eventual bass bounce are sure to satisfy.

Joe Goddard - So Much / Human Touch
The lead track feels like the perfect combination of everything Joe Goddard, as though "Home," "Lose Your Love" and "Music Is The Answer" all became one. That said there's also a touch of Peggy Gou and "It Make You Forget" in there somewhere. I just love this "So Much." The b-side is more drum dominant, but still features the sublime synth designs that puts Joe in a league of his own. A delightful dream.

Flight Facilities - All Your Love (ft. Dustin Tebbutt)
Another track I tweeted about yesterday (here), and while I recommended Alex Metric, Aeroplane or both (Metroplane) remix it, "All Your Love" is beautiful in its own right. Tebbutt's vocals are an awesome addition leading the serene soundscape deep into your soul. Indietronic at its best.