Enlightened Listening for July 26

It's that time of the week, however the moment passed me on a busy day and I was unable to get this edition of Enlightened Listening posted on its proper day. Adding further insult to injury, I've got a massively bruised thumb so typing has been difficult. That said, the music goes on and you can find an epic playlist of new tunes below. Highlights include: Above & Beyond with Seven Lions; an 8-track album from Hot Since 82; remixes of Elephant Heart's "Lenguas" from Justin Jay and Kotek; the final two parts of Kotek's Sonoglyph Pt. 1 EP; a four-pack of fantastic singles from Bakermat, Friendly Fires, The Knocks & DJ Shadow; and DnB from Sub Focus and Bensley via his Muskoka LP. Enjoy!

The Knocks & Kah-Lo - Awa Ni (That's Us)

Nigerian vocalist Kah-Lo seems to be everywhere lately; rising with Riton, delivering with Diplo, now she's bringing the hype to The Knocks new track "Awa Ni" which roughly translates to "That's Us" in her native Yoruba. The saucy summer-tinged track features sax and a number of African flavoured instruments and is sure to have you swaying. As with nearly all of The Knocks' productions this too enjoys an undeniable groove only made possible by the life and love B-Roc and JPatt always bring to their tracks. And it's abundantly clear that the three work well together as "Awa Ni" is an incredibly slick production. Add it to your summer playlist now here and enjoy the Soundcloud stream below.FOLLOW THE KNOCKS: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
FOLLOW KAH-LO: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

The Knocks - Memorial Day Weekend in Ibiza Vol. VIII

For eight years now, the New York duo of B-Roc & JPatt have brought their sound to the shores of Ibiza for Memorial Day Weekend. This latest edition of The Knocks' long running mix series is chalk full of the latest grooves, with more than a couple classic vibes. Starting with A-Trak's smooth and supremely satisfying "Work It Out" before moving into the power of The Chemical Brothers "Got To Keep On," this first five minutes lays the groundwork for the rest of the mix. There's a good amount of movement within the house sphere, as the mix can bring both extended easy going island bliss and more upfront, fiery club energy. This range may be no better evidenced than in the two times Purple Disco Machine appears, extended in his remix of Fatboy Slim's "Praise You," and punchier in Yolanda Be Cool's take on "Body Funk." As far as standouts go, my ears perked up with GotSome's remix of "Heroes" and Pablo Fierro's uber cool edit of "Baianá." While this forty five minutes of fun is not out and out Baleric, it does indeed have the White Isle written all over it. Follow The Knocks and stream now below.FOLLOW THE KNOCKS: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Enlightened Listening for October 26

What's the allowance on special Fridays for releases? Seems like we've hit our quota, but boy is this one wicked. It marks the returns of Robyn, Handbraekes and Mat Zo to Anjunabeats. On top of that there's incredible albums from Savant, Adriatique and G Jones, and superb singles from Erol Alkan, SG Lewis, Krafty Kuts/Dynamite MC and Plump DJs. Finally a remix from Yung Bae rounds out this week's Enlightened Listening. Enjoy it all via playlist below and individual released linked at the bottom!

Robyn - Honey

Savant - Slasher

Mat Zo - No Words

Adriatique - Nude

Booka Shade - Sacred / Cyril's Garden

Erol Alkan - Silver Echoes (Shorter)

Handbraekes - #3

The Knocks ft. Method Man - Goodbyes (Yung Bae Remix)

G Jones - The Ineffable Truth

SG Lewis - A.A.T (ft. Drew Love)

Krafty Kuts & Dynamite MC - Light It Up

Plump DJs - Big Apple

Enlightened Listening for September 28

Another busy Friday for new music. This week's Enlightened Listening includes 3 albums, ranging from RYAN Playground's debut, to The Knocks' second, and CHIC's ninth, It's About Time. Then there's the milestone that is Westwood Recordings 100th Release, a massive 25 track compilation. I also highlight singles from Pusher, thook and legends The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. Finally. one my favourite tracks of the year Sammy Bananas' "Cherry Soda" gets a VIP version. Enjoy it all below!

RYAN Playground - 16/17

The Knocks - New York Narcotic

Nile Rodgers & CHIC - It's About Time

Pusher & Caroline Kole - B T D T

Sammy Bananas ft. Kaleena Zanders - Cherry Soda (VIP Mix)

Various Artists - Westwood Recordings 100th Release

The Chemical Brothers - Free Yourself

The Prodigy - Light Up The Sky

TYNAN & thook - Voidless

Enlightened Listening for August 17

We may be past the halfway mark of August and even further through summer but the heat just keeps coming. This week's edition of Enlightened Listening includes a killer lineup of releases with some legends (Method Man & Roy Of The Ravers), personal favourites (Attlas & Kotek) and rising stars (Dawg & Deathpact). As always the playlist flows from light to heavy, bright to dark and includes brief descriptions below. Click through to find downloads, support the artists and of course, enjoy!

SG Lewis - Hurting (ft. AlunaGeorge)
At times brooding, while others shimmering and bright. Truly a match made in heaven.

Devault - Steele
I'm a sucker for steel pans, but this track isn't just shiny, ear grabbing sound design, its got groove.

The Knocks - Goodbyes (ft. Method Man)
We've heard The Knocks with Cam'ron, Carly Rae Jepsen, and X Ambassadors, so it shouldn't be a surprise seeing Method Man in the mix, nor should it be surprising to hear him kill it. The real surprise? How good he is en español. Holy hell this is cool.

Kidnap - Ursa Minor (Attlas Remix)
Another out of this world production from Attlas. Par for the course aka PERFECTION.

Delerium ft. JES - Stay (Matt Lange Vocal Remix)
Speaking of par for the course, another epic, progressive masterpiece from Matt Lange. Pure puppet mastery; the dance floor does as he demands. What a mix!

Uppermost - Starslide
Those synths and that guitar. Absolutely gorgeous, uplifting stuff.

Roy Of The Ravers - Transmission 303
It's almost impossible to match "Emotinium" but this comes close. Furious, fantastic work on the 303s as this acid number winds along with its wicked groove.

Dawg - Get Back*
Viral remix master shows he's more than capable of crafting killer originals. Raw, rough and full of power. The drums slap, the piano pops and vocal chops kill. I feel like this might be the birth of a star.

The Funk Hunters ft. LIINKS - Say Something (Kotek Remix)
I've been waiting on this mix since the remix competition many months ago. Kotek is on one hell of a tear, and this mix is proof of his sensational status. Funky, fat and fun, this one leaves me in awe.

Flava D - Pick Pocket
Deep grooves that not only serve as a surefire party starter, but get your feet flying across the floor.

Deathpact - First Interference
Whoever Deathpact is, they're on some kind of a roll. Many people see "Life & Death" as the standout on Certain Kind Of Magic and that same kind of killer sound design is on display here. Incredible power, no needless repetition and godly glitches make for blistering bass that I can really groove to.

Varien x SWARM - Never Ending*
This collab had me hyped from the get go and yes it delivers. If SWARM and Deathpact are the future of the bass scene it's in good hands.

*asterisks indicate track available for free download

Enlightened Listening for March 23

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!

Fred Falke - It's A Memory (Oliver Remix)

Los Angeles duo, Vaughn Oliver and Oliver Goldstein, aka Oliver, have injected their trademark style into Fred Falke's latest "It's A Memory" leading the six track remix package on Mercury Music.

The lyrics from Elohim and Mansions On The Moon, bear a striking resemblance to a previous Fred Falke release, his collaboration with The Knocks, "Geronimo." It's the high flying ethereal lyric "Do you want to float into the beautiful sky with me," that so closely mirrors Geronimo's "You wanna go to the sky with me." Personally, I think this is a brilliant, slightly tongue-in-cheek, memory testing callback to Geronimo, that only longtime fans of Fred Falke would recognize. Surprisingly, the original Geronimo is more bassline driven than the Oliver Memory mix. This is surprising because Oliver have become somewhat synonymous with their own bass heavy productions (see their To U, Electric Love and American Girl remixes, or their Mechanical EP).

All of that comparison aside, the duo simply succeed in mimicking the lyrical content of "the road is easy" and "dancing in the ebb and then the flow" taking our hand in theirs, lifting us up, with free floating synths. With fantastic 80s-esque tuning, Oliver's remix invokes memories of the music of yesteryear. This soaring, incredibly uplifting and beautiful remix is a breath of funky-fresh air. You'll find it easy to fall in love with this genius, ever changing, ebbing and flowing remix that so wondrously illustrates the lighter side of Oliver's production capabilities. Pre-order the remix package now and instantly get a copy of both Oliver and Amtrac's remixes of "It's A Memory," before the full release next Friday, the 26th.

SUPPORT FRED FALKE: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT OLIVER: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Throwback Thursday: Louis La Roche - Peach EP

For this week's installment of my TBT series, it is my pleasure to reintroduce the world to one of the greatest debut EP's ever released, the funky, disco-inspired, revitalized french house Peach EP from none other than Louis La Roche, ironically a Brit named Brett Ewels.

I can still vividly remember sitting in my friend's bedroom listening to his music, while he scrolled through his playlist of new music before he stopped the music dead, excitedly saying "oh shit, you have to hear this, it's so new and fresh, and no one knows who it is." Clicking on a track called "Love," with the artist name TB, who he said was rumoured to be Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk. The thumping bass at the start of the track was quickly overtaken by sultry synths and a Michael Jackson sample. Full of warmth and promise we were overcome by the track's intoxicating and inescapable vibe.

About a month later I got a Facebook message from my friend, saying that "Love" wasn't a Bangalter track, but actually some 17 year old named Louis La Roche, and it was part of a 5 track EP, Peach. I immediately headed to google to get myself some Peach, and what I found quickly became my most played EP of the year, from one of my new favourite artists. Full of funky, nu-disco numbers Peach, and the title track (my favourite from the EP) will forever remain firmly entrenched in my psyche.

I cannot confirm nor deny that I reacted the same way as the people in this video, when I first heard "Peach." But I can confirm that my friends and I did boogie down to Louis' EP repeatedly, gobbling up everything we could find of his. The beauty of the Peach EP not only lies in the radical and revolutionary sounds that Louis brought to the table but the wide range of samples, and sounds he puts to use throughout the EP. No track sounds like another yet each has an intrinsic tie to the next.

Over the years, Louis has remixed countless tracks and released several EPs, always able to maintain his original aesthetic and artistry, while continuing to carve a path of his own. Other standout tracks from that time are his A-Ha remix, his original "Malfunction," his Jean Jacques Smoothie remix, his remix of The Knocks and Fred Falke, his Lemaitre remix, and his two side projects: Paddywaggle "Bash Your Brains"and EWE "Lingo."

If you want to find out more about the story behind "Love" I highly recommend a stroll down memory lane with this blog post from Solid Goldberger, complete with links to download the entire EP.

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Louis The Child ft. K. Flay - It's Strange (SoySauce Remix)

Friday marked the release of the epic 20 track remix EP of Louis The Child's track with K. Flay, "It's Strange." With mixes from Boombox Cartel, CRNKN & The Knocks, among others, it was SoySauce's mix with it's creeping strings, recalling the Goosebumps theme, that stood out the most.

I first came across SoySauce late in 2014 when I heard their remix of Sir Sly's "You Haunt Me," so competently produced, it was the track I used to test out headphones when buying them that Black Friday. It's that strength of production with floating and playful plucked strings on top of bumping bass drums, complete with just the right amount of atmospheric synth work, that sets this mix apart from the others. It's subtle yet sultry, never offering too much or too little, finding the perfect balance of bass and beauty; those strings pulling at our defenseless hearts, evoking a flood of emotions. Pick up the SoySauce flip along with the other 19 remixes, with all of the proceeds going towards the charity, Kiva.

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SUPPORT (LOUIS THE CHILD): FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT (SOYSAUCE): FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER