The frenetic world of electronic music is full of distractions and diversions, hindering the ability to find transcendent music. Let Oggie James be your guru and lead down the path to musical Enlightenment.
Album, song and event reviews, mixtapes, and radio shows, light the way to Enlightenment, conveyed by Oggie James.
Fridays never disappoint and this has got to be the best ever we've ever seen. I've compiled a list of 28 singles, EPs, and albums for this week's edition of Enlightened Listening. There's literally everything from techno and trance, to house, club, disco, DnB, and more. Big names like Diplo, Noisia, Benny Benassi and newcomers that are sure to impress. Unlike previous weeks everything here was released today and today only. The playlist is absolutely massive, running 145 tracks, and over 10 hours. But you've got all weekend to check it out, so take your time or skip through, but as always enjoy!
Every year the world of electronic music gathers in Miami to celebrate and showcase the latest and greatest. This year was no different seeing massive performances from countless DJs, producers, hype men and everything in between. There were multiple curated stages from the tech driven Resistance Spider stage to ASOT, and of course the uber eclectic mainstage dubbed "Worldwide." And while there were several standout sets, I've decided to focus on a few I feel deserve the most praise. So here we go with my favourites, in no particular order. Also note some are just audio while others have video too.
DJ Snake
Why not start at the end with DJ Snake's closing set. The "Bird Machine" man has quickly become one of the most powerful players on the scene bringing France firmly back into the forefront. His genre bending and taste-making are on full display with guests Lil Jon, Future & G4SHI joining him on stage. Download the mix here, and get tracklist here.
Stephan Bodzin
My favourite set for many reasons: 1) the Spider stage setup 2) the way Bodzin builds the tracks with his unique live setup 3) the almost 100% Bodzin tracklist (apart from 2 IDs everything is his own). It's really had to quantify not just how good it sounds, but how cool the whole thing is. Incredible.
Justice
Fresh off their album Womanand ready to tour Justice, too, closed out Miami like their French brother, DJ Snake. But these two sets couldn't be any more different. Of course Justice is live, but their music too hits a more retro feeling whereas Snake is about being new and cool. Justice just are, and whether you're a fan of their gritty electro stuff or their more vocal driven, new work you'll enjoy their set.
Arty as Alpha 9
Back with trance and where else better to do it but Armin's A State of Trance stage. Another rebirth of sorts, which seems to be a bit of trend lately. It's been 10 years since "EDM" arguably broke through and with that veterans of the scene have had the chance to alter their career arc more than once. Lots of people remarked that they were happy to see Arty back with ASOT, and you can tell why with a set like this. Download it here, and get tracklist here. OWSLA All-Stars (Jauz, Ghastly, Cesqeaux & Mija)
One of the world most popular labels, and some of their fastest rising stars came together for 40 minutes of rapid fire bass, trap, dubstep and everything in between. As I said above the main/worldwide stage was eclectic and there's no better indication of this than the tracklist these 4 put together, from 4B to Ginuwine to Kayzo and RIOT to Future in the first 4 minutes. It's hard to argue that genre-denying sets like this aren't the way of the future. More and more I'm hearing DJs do whatever they want, not worrying about smooth transitions, but blowing people's minds with track selection.
Download the mix here, and get tracklist here.
I wanted to include Above & Beyond's set but it's been removed across the internet so I had to do without. If you find it please share and enjoy. Otherwise, enjoy the sets above and keep your ears/eyes open for more to be posted in the next week or so. EDIT (March 28): they've uploaded it to their youtube, so here it is in full 4K for your listening and viewing pleasure.
As I said in the previous post (Maduk - Got Me Thinking) I've been really into drum and bass lately. So I thought I'd put together a playlist of some of the drum and bass tracks I've been listening to lately:
This one isn't on soundcloud but without a doubt deserves to be on this list:
One of the most highly anticipated collaborations, Jauz and Netsky's "Higher" is officially out via Ultra Music. Part of Netsky's forthcoming album III, this combination of the high powered veteran abilities of Belgian bad boy Netsky and man of the moment, Jauz, proves the sky is the limit. Even the lofty expectations attached to such a massive and ambitious partnership have been satisfied with the seemingly perfect combination of sounds and styles. Netsky's undeniably excellent musical composition is only amplified by Jauz's incredible low end. While the drop isn't mind blowing or anything over the top, its simple yet exceedingly groovy throbs and pernicious percussion create a clean and well constructed piece of music. Having already made its way into countless sets, I can only imagine "Higher" finds its way into more sets and as of its release today, many more iPods and car stereos.
Pre-order IIInow and you'll instantly receive "Higher," "Forget What You Look Like," "Work It Out," and "Rio," ahead of the album's May 20th release.
Last night Hunter Siegel, and his final #NoNeon party of the year, shook the Hoxton to it's core and nearly brought it to its knees. I've never seen the Hoxton so busy so early, there was a massive line from as early as 11 and by the time I got in at 11:30 the club was already packed back to the door. I'm glad I arrived early because I'm sure the line was never better than the half hour I waited, and to my surprise Hunter took the stage right at midnight. Which apparently he does most of the time (although not at the last #NoNeon).
Regardless what time he went on you had to know, Emperor Palpatine, the Lord of DarkPLUR was going to deliver. Yesterday I speculated that there might be some B2B action, a live performance from Delaney Jane, or some new Hunter Siegel productions. Well, I was about half right, there was no B2B, and neither did Delaney Jane sing live, but she was there side by side with Hunter when he dropped "Still Waiting," as was Autoerotique who joined Hunter onstage when he dropped LYAOF. Best of all Hunter premiered his new collab with Autoerotique, video of which you can watch below.
