Enlightened Listening for February 19

It's time for our weekly feast of fresh beats, Enlightened Listening. This week's edition includes many of my favourite names, of which Oski and Vindata make triumphant returns. Oski offers up a trifecta of flames on Deadbeats, while Vindata deliver a double dose of divinity to Monstercat. Also dropping off a dynamic duo, Low:r impresses yet again with infectious affairs "Pixel" & "Well." Equally trustworthy, Polaris adds another star to his galactic catalogue with "Deliverance." But enough of burying the lede. Jacques Greene & Cadence Weapon have a new collab! Sharing much of the magic that made "Night Service" such a sensation, "SENNA" too feels like a phenomenon we'll be enjoying over and over and over again. Other standout tracks come from CloudNone, Diplo by way of his MMXX mix of KUU, and Bit Funk & Jason Gaffner, who share another collaborative single. Stream the playlist, curated for maximum flow, below and find each individual release linked at the bottom. Have a great weekend!

Purple Disco Machine - Fireworks (ft. Moss Kena & The Knocks)

Bit Funk & Jason Gaffner - Biomechanics

Ela Minus - megapunk (TSHA Remix)

CT Kidobó - Vertigo

Special Request - Compassion

Low:r - Pixel

Polaris - Deliverance

KUU - We'll Always Have This Dance (Diplo's MMXX Mix)

Cadence Weapon -  SENNA (ft. Jacques Greene)

Scratcha DVA - Razzclart (ft. Razzler Man)

Oski - ANTAGONISTA

GRiZ - Vibe Check

Vindata - Good 4 Me / Union

CloudNone - Dopamine

CRi - Stranger (DJ BORING Remix)

Sultan + Shepard - nCTRL

What to expect from Anna Lunoe's Hyperhouse tour stop at The Hoxton

Anna Lunoe's Hyperhouse tour is set to make it's Toronto stop tonight at The Hoxton. The taste maker and Beats 1 host, has Vindata and DJ Sliink by her side for this leg of the tour, adding local talent Cosella for their stop in the 6ix. I've already touted this tour as one of the best of the year, but I'm about to make the case why. First let me start with Cosella, who continues his rise, gaining attention from big names Destructo, NEST HQ, and premieres on Lunoe's own show. He's also a friend of Bump In The Hump, where he premiered his collab with FromDropTillDawn, "No Boundaries." While still relatively fresh on the scene, he can already boast a series of quality releases, to go along with his strong networking skills that give him incredible exclusive and unreleased content for his deep DJ sets.Joining, Cosella as the night moves forward is New Jersey's own DJ Sliink. Previously known as Huglife, he is a master of bootleg remixes transforming the likes of Torey Lanez, D.R.A.M., Flume, Gnarls Barkley, among others, into Jersey Club weapons. Perhaps his most popular booty came in the form of the undeniably awesome Weeknd track "Wicked Games." Don't let this deceive you, Sliink is also a formidable producer of original tracks. His library is almost endless but here's a small sampling. The final opener, is duo Vindata, who despite being veterans of the scene, has absolutely exploded in the last year. Starting with their unbelievable EP, Through Time And Space, their long list of remixes, and their many productions with vocalist Kenzie May, Vindata's future bass vibes have catapulted them into collective consciousness. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't make mention of their game changing collab with Mija, "Better." Expect these guys to bring an incredible energy, setting the stage for Anna. Of course, the headliner Anna Lunoe is the only way to wrap up this post. Her connections in the industry are nearly unrivaled, except perhaps for Beats 1 head honcho, Zane Lowe. This means that in addition to Anna's quality productions we can expect a unbelievable amount of new music from bootleg mixes, to exclusives and unreleased tracks. She is a DJ extraordinaire, and I expect nothing less than an absolutely off the wall party when she finally gets behind the decks. This truly is going to be one of the most special night's of the year, with what I would argue might be the best 4 DJ lineup The Hoxton has seen in that span. I fully expect it to busy early because of this fact. As of now ticket are still available online, details and such can be found at the facebook event.

FOLLOW ANNA LUNOE: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
FOLLOW COSELLA: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
FOLLOW DJ SLIINK: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
FOLLOW VINDATA: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

3 videos that encapsulate Destructo's Halloween set at The Hoxton

Once again The Hoxton played host to one of the wildest nights imaginable, seeing the like of legends, Felix Da Housecat and Destructo take the decks, with support from Sita Abellan and Cosella B2B with Maddmon, last minute fill-ins for Josh Pan who was unable to cross the border without his passport. I truly have no idea how many times I've been to The Hoxton. I've seen countless crazy, ratchet and lit shows, but this one was certainly one for the books. I had been lamenting The Hoxton's new LED screens and the fact that they take up so much room onstage, which meant a lack of room for VIPs and hype crews. This didn't stop Destructo who kept inviting people (mostly and almost exclusively girls) on stage, despite security constantly sending them back down. Being a Halloween themed event, there was not only a lot to see, but it meant that people were really letting lose. Destructo led this charge and established this ethos early. Apologies for the audio quality, this was my first night with my new phone and haven't perfected my abilities yet, at least the video is better than it was with the last phone.

Destructo played to, and with the crowd for nearly two hours, which meant he had an extended playlist that included a number of his own tracks, "Technology," "Dare You 2 Move," "Higher," "Catching Plays," and a number of new and exclusive tracks, including a forthcoming track with Snoop Dogg.

Perhaps the best video to illustrate just how crazy the night got is this one where the stage became totally overloaded with fans, leaving security utterly helpless. But as Destructo kept saying, as long as you leave the DJ equipment alone, you can do whatever you want.

As Destructo himself said when he played Vindata and Wax Motif's "Crazy," Toronto is "f*cking crazy," and he loves playing here. He prefaced that by saying, while most DJs say that no matter what, and where they are, he truly meant it. We can be confident he spoke the truth since he professed his love for Toronto in a recent interview with TRC. I can only hope that we get to see Destructo here again soon, and that next time, Josh Pan remembers his passport. Pan has vowed to "make it up to [...] Toronto."

Rihanna - Woo (Cadenza Edit)

The craft of remixing can be a difficult one. It's important to maintain at least some semblance of the original's integrity, while not regurgitating it entirely. An edit however, is something completely different. Generally it doesn't bring any new elements to the table, merely moving parts around, highlighting others, adding a little more oomph or upping the tempo. Usually it makes a more pop oriented track 'club ready'. While that may seem quite simple, it can be difficult to do well. My favourite example of an excellently done edit is Bit Funk's take on Talking Heads "Girlfriend Is Better." Other recent examples include Jacques Greene's re-rub of Frank Ocean's "White Ferrari" and Kaytranada's sublime Solange refix, "Cranes In The Sky." Others bring something else to the table like Grinless' combination of R. Kelly's "Flirt" and Mija & Vindata's "Better" the result of which is one of my favourite mashups of all time.
All that being said, Cadenza's edit of Rihanna's track "Woo" is another prime example of an excellent edit. Doing everything I detailed above, it is still quite clearly Rihanna's track, reorganized and reinvigorated by Cadenza. What makes it so good and delightfully distinct from the original is its additional propellant percussion, bigger, more dominant bass and almost smoky distortion of Rihanna's now trademark mumbling lyrics. There's a great allure to Cadenza's version of "Woo" taking it from a track I'd never play on purpose, to a track I'd throw on to impress my friends. You too can cop Cadenza's edit, entirely free, and show off your terrific taste in music.

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Anna Lunoe - Hyperhouse Tour Megamix

The number of quality tours going around this fall is perhaps unprecedented. Whether it's Mija's FK A Genre, Destructo's Renegade, or Anna Lunoe's Hyperhouse, the slew of DJs on each is absolutely awesome. In anticipation of her tour starting next week, Anna just dropped a 35 minute mega mix, overflowing with some of the hottest tracks from her incredibly deep roster of DJs, including Vindata and Sliink who will both be at The Hoxton, Saturday November 5th. Of course the mix also includes Lunoe's latest, "Radioactive," Sleepy Tom's breakout banger, "Be Right There," and their collaborative effort, "Pusher." Then there's some magical Mija, including her remix of A-Trak and Tommy Trash's "Lose My Mind," Vindata's "Own Life" and their smash hit collab, "Better." The 12 city tour starts October 13th in Santa Barbara and works its way up the west coast through Vancouver before restarting in Washington DC, November 3rd, with a few east coast stops before heading to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. The line up varies for each stop, so check out www.itshyperhouse.com to see who of Cray, Sliink, Dombresky, Ducky, Madeaux, Mija, Nina Las Vegas, Rickyxsan, Sleepy Tom, Uniiqu3, Vindata and Wuki will be joining Anna. I've linked the facebook event for the Toronto stop, here, if you want more details and/or tickets.

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Pusher ft. Mothica - Clear (Shawn Wasabi Remix)

The second official remix of Pusher's track "Clear" with Mothica, dropped today, one week ahead of the full remix EP's release on Black Butter Records. First Graves upped the intensity with rattling future bass slaps, now Shawn Wasabi has added his trademark kawaii sensibilities. Like the beyond brilliant lyrics, these remixes are great combinations of "so dark but delicate" and "rough around the edges" production from the original that lends so perfectly to both Graves and Shawn Wasabi's styles. I had thought Henrik The Artist's remix of Shawn Wasabi's "Burnt Rice" was the best combination of producers, but Wasabi's remix of Pusher and Mothica might just have upped the game. Pitting artists and tracks against each other is actually the opposite of the ethos of these tracks. These artists share the same taste and often share each others tracks. Most recently I caught Pusher pressing play on Henrik The Artist's "Lose You" during his set at Bestival. In fact my dream lineup would feature those three alongside Mija, Vindata, Mura Masa, Flume, Ryan Hemsworth, Chet Porter, Lido, LH4L, Danny L Harle, Dombresky, SteLouse, and Wave Racer. If only I had to power to bring all these people together; that's the dream. Anyway, get excited for next Friday, as there's sure to be even more exciting remixes of the already incredible "Clear."

SUPPORT PUSHER: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT MOTHICA: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT SHAWN WASABI: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

5 Star Tracks Playlist (Updated)

It's been a crazy week for me, in which I've been away from the internet for the vast majority, and have had to postpone the fourth, season premiere of Bump In The Hump (now set to launch June 1st). Despite being absent from the internet, I've never been far from the music. So I thought I'd get back to filling out my recent "5 Star Tracks" playlist on Soundcloud. I've added 15 tracks to the original 5, many of which are free downloads. While not all of the tracks are brand new, they are newly confirmed 5 star tracks in my iTunes playlist and tracks that I felt simply needed to be showcased.  You may notice tracks that I've already posted about (Ashes Of Love, Karma, Pearl Sun, and Let Disco), but you'll also find tracks so new I haven't been able to post about (The Saint, Golden Era, Middle, Better, Hardware Passion, and Hello). There's also tracks I've already played on Bump In The Hump (All Night, 9, and Give It Time), finally there are older tracks that I just happened across that I cannot get enough of (Helen, and Sordid Affair).

Get more of my playlists for literal days of listening at my Soundcloud, here.