Sharam dropped this beautiful, dark track when he opened at Sensation Innerspace Barcelona, and we’ve been awaiting its release ever since. A soulful vocal serves as a stark contrast to the winding track that boasts everything from uplifting piano chord progressions to darker dubby wobbles and electro-infused sounds. If you’re familiar with Sharam’s music, you’ll feel right at home, but if you’re a Sharam-ateur, give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments.
“Sending My Love” dropped in August and, in the months since, we’ve been teased with remixes from Kaskade and Tommy Trash, with the promise of even more from Swanky Tunes and Cazzette. We feel like we’ve been waiting forever for these remixes to drop… and today, they’re finally here. This is one of the best remix packages in recent memory, and each offers a distinct take on what has come to be one of 2011′s classic tracks. Click past the jump to check out our breakdown of the Afrojack, Kaskade, Hard Rock Sofa, Tommy Trash, and Cazzette remixes of “Sending My Love.”
After a pretty long wait, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike’s collaboration with Promise Land has finally been released. The addition of Mitch Crown’s soulful vocals, who most of you know from Fedde Le Grand and Nicky Romero’s “Rockin’ High,” gives the hard hitting “Alarma” a soothing edge. Promise Land’s touches can be heard with the uplifting piano notes, but once the track winds up for the drop, the pounding drums and Dutch-influenced bass lines have the Belgium brothers’ names written all over it.
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We’ve heard the complaints: DJMag’s list was horrendous, it’s a popularity contest, how are people so low or so high? So we’ve taken all of the feedback, and decided to do something better and construct a list of our very own. We’ve debated internally and had long arguments, but we finally managed to devise a list of our top 50 artists of 2011, and we’ll be revealing them all week. Keep in mind that we’ve consciously chosen the term artist, and not the term DJ, but DJing abilities are a factor that was considered in putting together this list. For the sake of transparency, here’s the full list of criteria and biases that we have followed in order to aid us in the creation of this list:
Criteria:
1. Artist must have released at least one track in 2011 to qualify.
2. Artist must have been featured on Dancing Astronaut at least once this year (in any form of post).
3. The artist must have potential to do great things in 2012 (example: Bob Sinclar cannot qualify, because there is someone else producing inside of his carcass).
Biases:
1. Age Bias – As a group of young 20-somethings, our age does play a big factor. DJs of the past do not resonate with us as much as they do with people born in decades before.
2. Dancing Astronaut Bias – We are sure you know what this means. If the artist has been featured on Dancing Astronaut a ton, it probably means we like him/her a lot or they’ve made a big splash in the world of EDM to warrant a post. There mere fact that we have developed a connection with them will obviously aid in their ranking. If you don’t like it – tough luck.
3. 2011 Bias – This ranking list is not a lifetime achievement award by any means. That doesn’t mean that work done in the past doesn’t influence your ranking, it just means that we have put a premium on 2011′s results over any other year.
4. Showmanship Bias – If you throw a great party, bring the energy day in day out, your ranking as an artist deserves to be upgraded. Daft Punk doesn’t make it on this list, because for all we know they might not play a live show ever again. How can you be considered an artist if no one is able to see your work live?
It is important to point out that these rankings are done “in house,” and that they only reflect our thoughts and opinions. This is a Dancing Astronaut list, and we have done the best we can to make it as objective as possible given our requirements. If you agree or don’t agree, you are more than welcome to voice your opinion on our Facebook page, Twitter account (use the hashtag #DATop50), or in the comments.
We hope this is an enjoyable read and a constructive way to create discussion among the best fans in EDM — our fans.
Without further ado, here’s the first segment of Dancing Astronaut’s Top 50 artists of 2011, starting at number 50.
Estonian producer Mord Fustang dropped another amazing production on us today with his new track “We Are Now Connected.” This song seems to depart from Mord’s bass-heavy, electro formula, and instead, provides us with a more progressive feel that will get you bobbing your head instantly.
While not as gritty as songs like “Lick the Rainbow” and “The Electric Dream,” this new track is certainly oozing with Mord’s trademark sounds. Big chord progressions, organ-like synths and catchy melodies build into a drop that is sure to get crowds bouncing up and down on any dance floor.
Go grab the track at Beatport and see what you think about this model of Mord Fustang.
Swedish House Mafia’s video for “Antidote” is out, and to say we’re a little confused is an understatement. The video takes place in a Japanese whorehouse, and quickly devolves into a mess of masked men with guns and naked Asians. Interestingly, there’s an easter egg hidden in the video that points to sexyhousemates.com, a URL that currently reads “coming soon.” We traced the link’s owner back to Astralwerks, the record label that just released the track, so we’re curious to see what — if anything — happens with the site. In the meantime, we’ll keep watching this video and trying to make sense of it. But hey, there are boobies.
Where do we begin? First of all – if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area you need to be at Nicky Romero and Hard Rock Sofa’s show at Space 550 for NYE. Nicky Romero has been on an absolute fucking tear and it has nothing to do with “Camera’s Ready Prepare To Flash.” “Haters Gonna Hate” was dropped by Dada Life last Friday and the crowd went bonkers, his “Titanium” remix also pumped some serious energy into the original bassline. Nicky shows off even more of his talents with his release of “Toulouse” a track that infuses nifty progressive chords with a drop that will leave your skull pounding. Listen with the volume turned up to the max in order to make your bones rattle.
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We first started hearing rumors of a Swedish House Mafia New York event in late summer, and as time went on we kept getting the sense that something big was in the works. First it was a cryptic website with seemingly-random numbers, and then it was scrambled codes showing up in SHM liveshows, but it wasn’t until the trio confirmed the news themselves on a special SHM takeover of Pete Tong’s Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1: Swedish House Mafia would be playing Madison Square Garden.
Ever since then we’ve been (im)patiently awaiting the trio’s arrival to New York City, and trying to figure out exactly what they would have in store. We knew that they would be pulling out all the stops, but tons of lights, tons of fans, and tons of music combined to be something more than we could’ve imagined. Swedish House Mafia took the Garden — and NYC in general — by storm, and we’ve got a full recap of exactly how the night went down.
Shit just got a hell of a lot better. Initially we brought you SHM’s live set for you to listen and download, however, this time around you get the video version of MSG. Fuse Live did an excellent job of filming such a historic night and really captured the show for all of us who couldn’t witness the show live. Initially, we thought Deadmau5′ opening was the best in the business, however, Swedish House Mafia just next leveled that with their opening at MSG. Our only complaint – why does it seem like the people up in the nosebleed’s are going crazier than the people with the GA floor seats? C’mon folks, work out your calf muscles and get your asses jumping!
After their success together with the massive hit “Pressure” – Starkillers and Nadia Ali team up to bring us “Keep It Coming” another tune that is made for the dancefloor. This new single features an uplifting breakdown that meshes well with Nadia’s vocals. The pulsing drop is dark and deep, but it still brings the energy that we all crave. Nick Terranova has come up with a nice selection of tracks in 2011, give “Take Over” and “Do You Love” a listen. Dancing Astronaut was lucky enough to see Nadia Ali perform live at Ruby Skye – she exudes beauty.
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