Enlightened Listening for August 6

It's that time again, time for another edition of our weekly new-music playlist, Enlightened Listening. The theme of this week would appear to be triumphant returns/blasts from the past. The first of those three thematic leaders is Fake Blood, who delivers 10 new tracks in the latest release centred around Ian Urbina's The Outlaw Ocean. Immediately after that in the playlist is TWRK classic "BaDinga," as refreshed and reloaded by DJ Sliink. Finally, Point Point make a triumphant return with their first new release in over 3 years. Staying with the retro trend, that's what The Weeknd delivers in his new single "Take My Breath," a spiritual successor to "Blinding Lights."

Of course, that Weeknd track is a standout, but there's plenty of others worth paying attention to. Both of the LPs from Monkey Safari and Lakou Mizik/Joseph Ray are incredible rides, just as the singles from Ben Böhmer, Franc Moody and Louis La Roche are utterly intoxicating. Finally, I just have to give it up to tails for an impressive EP on bitbird, as photos of the sun is brilliantly inspired. Stream the playlist, organized for maximum flow, below and find each individual release linked at the bottom. Enjoy!

Monkey Safari - Love Will Set U Free

Sébastien Léger - Feel

Passenger 10 - Mandela

Ben Böhmer - Escalate (ft. JONAH)

ZHU - Z-Train

Pat Lok & Party Pupils - So Fine (Franc Moody Remix)

Louis La Roche - Crazy

The Weeknd - Take My Breath

Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray - Leave The Bones

Fake Blood - A Dark Ocean (Inspired by 'The Outlaw Ocean' a book by Ian Urbina)

TWRK & DJ Sliink - BaDinga (Reloaded)

Tails - Photos Of The Sun

Dom Dias - 4 U

KAYTRANADA ft. BADBADNOTGOOD - Weight Off (hap Remix)

Point Point - Seeyaanotherday

STFU on Diplo and Friends

I've been supporting Zak and Alex (aka STFU) both on this blog and on Bump In The Hump, and while a play on my radio show is something, it does not compare to getting a guest mix on Diplo and Friends. The dynamic duo have just uploaded their April mix to their soundcloud for streaming anytime. It's no wonder Get Right Records (who STFU's "Find That Girl" was released under) reposted and led me to the mix, because STFU is delivering some of the most twerk worthy music available at the moment. Of course Get Right Records is headed by Benzi, who is half of TWRK, and if you're like me, you've been waiting for another one of their incredible, exclusive-laden mixes, STFU have filled that void.

According to 1001 Tracklists, they've filled their hour slot with a mind-blowing 54 tracks. This shows off not just their incredible taste, with tracks ranging from Boombox Cartel to Bruno Mars, but to jam all that action in that span shows serious skill in mixing. While we could be satisfied to stare in awe of the above, the best part of this mix is the insight into all of the productions Zak and Alex currently have in their collection. An astounding 31/54 tracks are credited to STFU. Whether it's one of their killer crafted mashups, exclusive remixes, forthcoming originals or even their cover of "Closer," there's no doubt this is their coming out party.

Soon enough you won't be able to go to any club or listen to any mix without having STFU slap you in the face. I for one know I'll be coming back to this mix with frequency, at least until more of their originals are released, but even after to bask in their brilliant and blazing fast mixing skills.

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French Montana x Swae Lee - Unforgettable (esentrik remix)

esentrik, half of TWRK, has just dropped a brilliant future bass remix of French Montana and Swae Lee's "Unforgettable." Known for his remixing ability, particularly his exceptional INOJ "Love You Down" remix, his careful combination of hip hop, RnB and trap makes for some of the most enjoyable and infectious revisions. That's exactly the case for this track, that while boasting a couple big names was all but "Unforgettable." He's made it a little more groovy, ramping up the bassline, adding a more deliberate and involving rhythm that will at worst have your toes tapping. The future bass wobbles and deep tuned dives in the 'drop' all but demand dancing along.

It's clear why esentrik and Benzi work together so well, remixes like this lend themselves perfectly to Girl Trapz and although its not as wonky as most TWRK tunes, you can certainly hear its influence. Oddly enough Benzi used Bad Royale's remix of "Unforgettable" in his latest Girl Trapz mix, this past weekend. Regardless you can get esentrik's version as a free download via click.dj here. FOLLOW ESENTRIK: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

DJ Sliink Live from OWSLA Stage at Ultra 2017

As you'll know I'm a big fan of Jersey Club and that obviously extends to one of the biggest players in that scene, DJ Sliink. After finally seeing him live a few months ago, when Anna Lunoe brought him along on her Hyperhouse Tour, I've been dying to see him again. While there are still no Toronto dates announced, his recently posted set from Ultra Miami does more than suffice. It's got so much of the trademark bounce associated with Jersey Club, as well as the IDGAF party atmosphere. Whether it's new tracks like his TWRK collab, "Text Ya Number" featuring Fetty Wap, or club cuts of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," Masters At Work "Work," and "Panda" the mix is overflowing with energy. Even though this wasn't released when I wrote my "5 Must Have Sets from Ultra Miami 2017," it certainly would have warranted inclusion. In fact, as I write this post I'm having a hard time typing because I'm having too much fun riding the waves of wildness Sliink's pumping out my speakers. Cop the mix free, here. FOLLOW SLIINK: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Top 100 Tracks of 2016: 66 - 34

Continuation of the list started yesterday: From 100 - 67, which also includes my disclaimer/preamble. Soundcloud playlist can be found at the bottom.

#66: Meroshi - Summer Friends
It's hard to believe we made it this far into the list without some drum and bass, but here we are. Meroshi's genius is on full display here. His sound design impeccable, crafting instruments that feel so real, imbuing them with life and passion. The subtle effects and progression he works throughout, give the track an incredible energy. It's horny, groovy and those vocal samples get me every time.

#65: Stephen Walking - It Came From Planet Earth
2015 was the year I discovered and fell in love with Stephen Walking. This year marked a change in his productions, leaving behind the bass of "One Man Moon Band" and "The Difference Between Us And The Aliens," in which he explored different BPMs and styles. However, sticking to his interstellar, future disco/funk disposition, "It Came From Planet Earth" exudes awesomeness.

#64: Cashmere Cat - Trust Nobody (ft. Selena Gomez & Tory Lanez)
The rise of Cashmere Cat over the past two years is a testament to his nearly unrivaled ability, not only to produce around vocalists, but to craft truly divine sounds. While his recent work skews further from the kind of beautiful bangers of Mirror Maru or Wedding Bells, "Trust Nobody" shows off his smooth touch and delightful decorum. This further establishes Cashmere Cat as an paralleled producer.

#63: Jadu Heart - Late Night
Fittingly, I first heard this on a late night coming home from the club. That first flourish hit me like a magic spell, utterly alluring and beautifully breathtaking. And while it worked so magically in that hazy atmosphere, I now use it whenever I need a pick-me-up. It holds a special power in its easy flowing sound, so organic and raw as though it were recorded in one take. Heart rending harmonies through truly insightful and emotionally evocative lyrics, it's always on my mind.

#62: Jameston Thieves - Hypnotic
This certainly doesn't sound like a banger for the first 45 seconds, that is until it dives into a deep house beat. Torquing up the tension Jameston Thieves quickly turn "Hypnotic" in to an all out thrasher, banging the bass with massive strobing throbs, that contrasts so brilliantly with the brighter leads. The sound design of the bass in the drop may be the key to the track's quality, but it truly excels and finds itself in this list because of the drums fills leading into the drop as well as the supporting production.

#61: Justin Jay & Friends - Karma (JJ's Late Nite Dub)
Hearing Justin Jay play this at The Hoxton was one of the highlights of the year; I feel too many DJs are scared to play something out of the ordinary, something that doesn't bang, something not designed for the club. This is the kind of uplifting, yet downtempo, track that I could listen to any time of the day. It's built upon a beautiful premise ("You get what you give") and simple yet sublime instrumentation.

#60: Machinedrum - Angel Speak (ft. MeLo-X)
While I've called Machinedrum's Human Energy my album of the year (in my Grammys post), I decided to include only one track from it in this is (though many are deserving). The problem is the album stands as a cohesive collection, so separating tracks seemed wrong. The exception, and stand out track from it is this, "Angel Speak." For me it encompasses all that makes the album so magical. It it full of life, bringing humanity to the the synthesized sounds, begging listeners to move their feet. Like the album itself it also bounces around from different rhythms, instruments and grooves, truly coming alive.

#59: Torro Torro & Aylen - Designed 4 U
(As featured on EFYE) 2016 blessed us with one of the best collabs the bass community has ever seen. Torro Torro and Aylen are perfect for each other, as clearly evidenced in this track. Everything screams sheer brilliance as the synths never stop moving or progressing, and those vocal riffs, while leading the track they also support and play perfectly into the utterly insane and diverse drops. There really is nothing better than drop by drop progression, and these three take that to the next level, making the first, already awesome drop, pale in comparison to the callous second coming.

Benzi - Girl Trapz 10

Benzi's prolific Girl Trapz series has reached a massive milestone, airing the 10th installment on Diplo & Friends earlier in November. Now the extended version is online for streaming and free download. It doesn't take very long for this 40 track mix to get you fired up, kicking things into high gear with one of Benzi's trademark edits, reworking RL Grime, Skrillex and What So Not's massive collab "Waiting" geniously for Girl Trapz. All told, there are four such edits to go along with other exclusive and unreleased tracks from the likes of Vincent, STFU, Doobious, Slumberjack, and TWRK partner, eSenTRIK. This is all in line with a typical Benzi mix, his connections are seemingly endless; producers clamour to get the Benzi stamp of approval. There are very few DJs that can boast the level of tastemaking and flawless mix quality that has made Benzi one of the most trusted names in the game. His ear is always on point, correctly identifying the next big thing before it breaks into mainstream consciousness. Grab the free download and find out which track grabs you, via the tracklist below.

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The Best Walk Up Tracks/Entrance Music

Yesterday was my first day in a new baseball 'beer' league, and it's got be thinking about a number of empowering tracks that I'd love to have blasting while I walk to the plate or come out to the mound. Ever since I was young (and dumb enough to think wrestling was real), I would pretend I were coming into a packed arena to a la Rocky, or more recently Floyd Mayweather with boy wonder, Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne rapping at his side. Entrance music or in baseball, walk up tracks, have to be immediately recognizable, hit hard right off the bat and instantly, thrust its atmosphere of intimidation onto the scene. With that in mind, I've compiled a number of my favourite tracks to puff up my chest and peacock my way into the batter's box or onto the mound. The first, and most recently released, Dr. Fresch's "Gangsta Gangsta" exudes strength and intimidation; Baby Eazy-E's vocals only further that threatening atmosphere, of "don't fuck with me." You've heard it in in Budwieser's latest commercial campaign, Baauer's use of infernal horns, makes "Day Ones" one of the best examples of empowering tracks, that makes any entrance epic. While the lyrics may not be the best fit, the first 5 seconds of OG Maco's collaboration with bad boys TWRK, is incredibly powerful and invokes a strut that rivals any wrestler entering the ring. Despite taking a couple seconds to really hit its anthemic stride, Rustie's "Big Catzz" leaves just the right amount of room for one of the Buffer brothers to announce your entrance. Another of the slow burning, building intensity, Black Tiger Sex Machine's collaboration with Lektrique's flows incredibly ominously underneath the unholy warbling, before exploding in a fury. I would be remiss if I didn't include some NGHTMRE on this list, as he's been so influential in my musical enjoyment in the past year or so, and his remix of Slumberjack "The Others" my favourite of his catalog and perhaps the best suited for this category of tracks. Another one of my favourite artists, Henrik The Artist, may not be the most intense, but this mashup with Lethal Bizzle, courtesy Non Stop Pop, combines the genius "On The Moon" and LB's grime laden vocals.

L D R U feat. Paige IV - Keeping Score (The Remixes)

Australian insanity inducer, L D R U has been riding the waves of the smash hit collaboration with vocalist Paige IV, "Keeping Score." And for those of you keeping score at home, it's now logged nearly 700 thousand plays, in just over 6 months, on soundcloud alone. Further leveraging its preponderance, the incredibly infectious track has received six superior remixes from the likes of Cut Snake, Luca Lush, The Meeting Tree, Terace, Oski, and Boxinbox & Lionsize. Hear them all, below. One cannot begin to address the awesomeness and incredible breadth and power of these remixes without paying homage to the incredible original production and absolutely amazing vocals laid down by Paige IV. However, the way the six remixers have utilized these phenomenal pieces to create six distinct and undeniably exceptional new versions of "Keeping Score," is dizzying.

Cut Snake was the first to have their remix uploaded to L D R U's soundcloud and serves an an excellent introduction to the first class collection of remixes. It succeeds in transforming the original into a rave-worthy, bouncy house classic; unmistakably awesome and uplifting, an extraordinary lead mix.

The following mix, from Luca Lush, plays the perfect foil, maintaining its piano power while moving from the rave to the after party. Despite Luca Lush's proclivity to produce more intense, fast moving and in your face remixes, this one could easily fly under the radar were it not for its breathtaking beauty. Leaning heavily on Paige's vocals, Luca Lush's production lives up to his name providing a plush pillow on which to rest your head.

But you won't be sleeping long, as the remix package roars into the riotous revision from Boxinbox & Lionsize. The turnt electro drop smashes behind booming bass drums and stabbing synths. While this mix boasts the most stereotypical EDM stylings, it is incredibly infectious, invoking heart palpitations and the feels of a Congorock track of yore.

Next up is The Meeting Tree's mix with an abundance of smart sound designed atmosphere and pernicious percussion. Ringing bells and a trap get down give this version the feel of an early Baauer production. Guaranteed to get those thots twerking on the floor, I anticipate hearing this mix in some upcoming TWRK or TWONK Team mixtapes.

The penultimate mix comes from Terace, whose version strikes me as the hardest quantify. Seemingly taking elements of multiple genres, Terace manipulates and plays with Paige's vocals while subverting any expectations of what the track ought to sound like. The magic of this mix is the driving subwoofing bass that rifles the remix ever forward.

Finally, the mix that drew me to this package in the first place, the inimitable Oski. Perhaps best suited to alter the original, Oski seems to use the same air as L D R U, flipping "Keeping Score" in an almost VIP or 2.0 fashion. Whether it's the awesome intro "aw yeah, is that Oski?" the awesome RL Grime-esque honking drop, the undeniable atmosphere or the genius tuned percussion, everything about Oski's mix is an absolute win.

Do not sleep on this remix package. There's something for everyone and quite simply succeeds in creating six new and terrific tracks.

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Benzi - Get Right Radio 2015

When Benzi tweeted the following, back in the beginning of December, I've been both obsessed with nightcore and on hype overload waiting for his last mixtape of the year to drop. Originally supposed to see it's release on December 30th, the roadblock that is soundcloud stopped that plan from unfolding.

newsflash 💥 GET RIGHT RADIO 2015 is gonna be 60min of Nightcore. starting off with last song on TWRK VOL7. https://t.co/pXB6Dq68JN @fanxfic

— BENZI (@benzi) December 11, 2015

Here we are not quite a week after its intended release and Benzi has successfully flexed his significant clout with labels and has finally got the mix clear of flags and live for the world to appreciate.
There's no doubt that Benzi is one of the most triumphant and prolific DJs and true master of the mixtape when you consider the ridiculous amount of work the guy does. Both his Girl Trapz and Get Right Radio series have achieved worldwide acclaim. There's no producer who wouldn't benefit from having their music showcased in the finely crafted and produced mixes. But that's not all that make Benzi such a force in the world of electronic music, and verily, music in general. He's half of well known duo TWRK, with eSenTRIK, who have found massive success with both their original and remix productions but their epic and incomparable TWRK mix series, originally airing on Diplo & Friends. Finally, and perhaps Benzi's largest contribution to world of music comes from his seemingly infinite connections in the industry compiling perhaps the greatest DJ catalog, his Live DJ Service. With the number of exclusives and unreleased content in his latest, 58 track, contribution to the world, Benzi has once again proved his production prowess and DJ dominance. Go ahead and Get Right with some of the best of musics from 2015 and hopefully some of those exclusives see releases in 2016. Tracklist below.

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San Holo - Can't Forget You (ft. The Nicholas)

The Norwegian music scene has gained tremendous worldwide attention in the past year thanks in large part to the rise of Kygo, Rytmeklubben, Cashmere Cat, Lido and San Holo, who first broke into public consciousness with his "Don't Touch The Classics" remixes, especially when his "Next Episode" remix was featured in TWRK's fifth installment. Holo's inimitable style and sound have catapulted him and his continually growing library into countless mixes and a worldwide tour. SH has his own label, bitbird, but he's also released tonnes of free music, a 3 track EP on Monstercat, an OWSLA single, big names remix credits for Tchami and Porter Robinson, and now he's picked up his very own Spinnin' release: His last release, a collab with Father Dude, was also on Spinnin', and as you might expect with Spinnin', it has marked a move to a slightly more poppy, easily consumable sound and feel for the heavenly, chiptune inspired producer. Both "IMISSU" and "Can't Forget You" lean on sparkling vocals and less on heavily tuned drops or glitchy builds, and what I feel is almost a stripped down, rather confined version of the San Holo I've come to know and love. My only hope is that, because of Spinnin's huge reach, more and more people get into San Holo and he floods us with new music; nothing wrong with that.

SCORE
Composition 2/3
Dynamics 2/2
Improvisation/Progression 2/3
Melody/Harmony 2/3
Originality 1/2
Sonic Quality 2/2
Lyrics 2/3
Vocals 2/2
TOTAL 15/20

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