Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
This week French Express, an American label with a globally digestible sound, proudly released a five track EP from one of its “Knights Templar”– Isaac Tichauer. Despite relying on only one ear to produce his music, his EP Take Over You is a perfect example of the genre-less space that much of dance music fills today. “Take Over You” is deep and soulful, but vocally pleasing as well. “To Fall In Love Is True” is more of a classic shuffling house tune and “Hypersensitive Lover,” while still employing hi-hats, dives back into the deep end. He explores more experimental fields too — “This is Trouble” is all about the modulated synth stabs and uptempo 2-step rhythm, and the emotional vocal refrain in “Runaway” pairs nicely with a swinging bass line and tribal percussion tricks. This whole EP is available for free download right now and it will no doubt be a valuable addition to any music lover’s collection.
This past Friday, Maya Jane Coles returned to the Radio 1 decks for her second appearance on the legendary show. MJC is one of my very favorite producer/DJs, so I was thrilled to learn I’d be able to digest another mix of hers less than two years after her debut in July of 2011. Her production style has that certain je ne sais quoi – quirky instrumentation, major grooves, and an undeniable sex appeal. In live sets, her DJing has always struck this perfect balance of emotional and danceable, introducing me to new material while playing the deep stuff she knows her fans want to hear. On top of her jaw-dropping number of accomplishments at the tender age of 25, she also emanates this air of effortless cool, DJing her way around the world with her stylishly cropped coiffure and docile demeanor.
In a world where the dividing line between “underground” and “commercial” dance music is often contentious, there are few tracks that seem to easily fit in both worlds. Enter Italian DJ Francesco Rossi’s pop friendly deep house tune “Paper Aeroplane,” a cover of Angus & Julia Stone’s song of the same name. Rossi electrifies the jumpy guitar licks and weighty vocals, not only transforming the soft indie song into a punchy four-on-the-floor favorite for late nights or early mornings. It’s already been quite heavily rotated on Radio 1, and Maya Jane Coles even selected it as one of the tracks on her most recent Essential Mix. It’ll be available on D:vision on May 14th.
The seventh installment of Daft Punk‘s Collaborators Project shines a light on DJ Falcon, perhaps the collaborator that’s known the duo the longest. DJ Falcon began working with Thomas Bangalter in 1999 when he released his first record on Roulé and probably most notably released “So Much Love To Give” with him one year later as the short-lived duo Together. In this video, DJ Falcon reflects on first meeting Thomas and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo as teenagers and the excitement of being in the French house scene when people like Daft Punk, Phoenix, Alan Braxe (DJ Falcon’s cousin), and many others were truly defining the sound for dance music in the country.
The full story for “It’s You” began in the height of Chicago house in 1985. Tommy Thumbs teamed up with Daniel Ellington as E.S.P. (also a reference to the Essential Sound Productions soundsystem) and penned the original track. E.S.P. never shot to house music stardom, but the track remained a cult favorite for decades. When Bart Van Neste, the producer known as Red D who had been playing the track in his sets for more than ten years, finally teamed up with San Soda (together known as FCL) in the studio for a remake with Lady Linn on vocals.
Dream pop duo MS MR are fast approaching the release of their debut album Secondhand Rapture and with news like that, remixes are sure to follow. Scottish indie dance pop trio CHVRCHES have devised a punchy remix of the duo’s most recognizable single “Hurricane” and while they preserve Lizzy Plapinger’s memorable vocal riff they rebuild the core of the track into a 80s synth masterpiece. Listen to the original here for a comparison. As an extra bonus, there’s also a fantastic unreleased Goldroom remix you can check out.
As the temperatures in the Nevada desert continue to rise, Vegas pool party lineups are getting more and more exciting. Encore Beach Club in Steve Wynn’s Encore Hotel has just announced nineteen new dates for June and July, including appearances from Diplo, Steve Angello, and Porter Robinson during EDC, and Afrojack, Dirty South, and Above & Beyond during Fourth of July weekend.
Insomniac already has had a monumental last couple of days with the announcement of the Live Nation deal, but the latest from the ground in LA is the highly in-demand promoter’s new collaboration with hospitality firm SBE for the reopening of the Create in Hollywood, formerly known as Vanguard. SBE purchased the room back in February (and threw a party where Avicii DJed), but not until now had there been firmer plans relating to the future of the venue.
Create will open on May 11 with a night headlined by Dash Berlin. There isn’t any specific information about what else is to come, but both Insomniac and SBE have indicated a full list of future dates and “genre specific” nights are to come. SBE also owns Greystone Manor and Agency and Insomniac owns Exchange in downtown LA, but this new collaboration with certainly be a strong partnership for both.
via The LA Times
If there’s one thing Hot Natured excels at, it’s making deep house tracks into memorable moments in dance music. The experience of Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, Luca C, and Ali Love (plus a good vocal from the temptress Anabel Englund) seems to be a fool proof combination these days. Some may criticize Hot Creations for selling out, but the way we see it is that sometimes when music is popular it’s well deserved.
Copyright © 2013 Dancing Astronaut, Inc.. All rights reserved.
RSS /
Privacy Policy /
Contact Us
|| Ads in part by: 
