After successfully inserting his uplifting progressive sound into The Bloody Beetroots’ “Chronicles Of A Fallen Love” earlier this year, Poland’s Tom Swoon is back with a track all his own. Swoon — formerly known as Pixel Cheese — teamed up with vocalist Amba Shepherd on “Not Too Late,” a tune that subtly builds the energy under Miss Shepherd’s dulcet tones. Due out on March 18th, the original will be flanked by unexpected remixes from Bassnectar & PatrickReza and Maor Levi that weigh the track down with bass and crank it up with builds.
Frequent collaborators Starkillers and Dmitry KO are back at it, this time with “Apollo” vocalist, Amba Shepherd. Their latest tag-team project, the follow up to “Keep Pushing,” has both producers unloading their arsenals with traces of progressive house and big room energy. “Let The Love” is relentless from start to finish; from the chord progression, to the abundance of synth work, to a trance-reminiscent vocal hook. The melodic backbone brings the track full circle as it defies genres — but this isn’t the first time the duo have done dance music a favor.
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You can expect big things whenever Starkillers teams up with Dimitry KO. The frequent collaborators have co-produced impressive originals such as “Light it Up,” “Do You Love,” and “Keep Pushing.” For their new collaborative track “Let the Love,” Starkillers and Dimitry KO have enlisted the talented Amba Shepherd for a more melodic output on Spinnin’ Records. Shepherd’s vocals beautifully compliment Starkillers’ and Dimitry KO’s signature booming, big room production. Having worked with Porter Robinson, Lazy Rich, Dyro, and more recently Hardwell on “Apollo,” Amba Shepherd is making quite a name for herself as a reputable EDM vocalist. “Let the Love” will be released on Spinnin’ Records on January 28th.
Arguably one of the hottest young producers in the game, Dyro relentlessly returns with another electro effort. “Sky High” features his trademark synths and a hypnotic vocal from Amba Shepherd, taking a page out of the book of “Top of the World.” Kick drums serve as the undertone to the anticipating melody before the drop brings the track peaking energy.If you’re looking for more, Dyro actually mixed the newest episode of Dancing Astronuat’s ‘Axis.’
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Pixl was recently featured on Kaskade’s “Room For Happiness” remix package. The new age producer has learned to blend elements of progressive with a twinge of dubstep — the result has been excellent from what we have heard thus far. This time around, Pixl, remixes Mark Sixma’s “Cupid’s Casualty,” which allows Amba Shepherd’s voice to completely transform this tune into something truly special. Our favorite part is when the bassline drops out and Amba takes over. Her voice is absolutely gorgeous.
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BONUS: Mark Sixma ft. Amba Shepherd – Cupids Casualty (Original Mix)
The original mix has considerably less wobble and doesn’t use as many lyrics as Pixl’s remix. Let’s just say that this is a more casual version of “Cupids Casualty.”
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Amba Shepherd’s silky, sultry vocals and Porter Robinson’s moody progressive house beat combined to make “Vandalism” one of our favorite tracks of 2011 (particularly at the gym). Admittedly, it’s fallen out of rotation recently to make way for newer songs, but Lazy Rich’s just-premiered remix is going to change that – and fast. It starts with deep piano notes and grows into a growling Lazy Rich beat that not only fills our speakers, but compliments Amba’s vocals perfectly. No word on a release date for the remix just yet, but trust us, we’re looking into it.
It’s been a year since Porter Robinson exploded onto EDM’s center stage. His first single, “Say My Name” shot its way up to the number one slot on Beatport and Robinson has seen nothing but swift progress ever since. DJs like Deadmau5, Tiesto, Skrillex and many others took heed to the young producer’s exemplary talent which led to him being the first ever release on OWSLA (Skrillex’s Record Label). His first EP was released on Sept. 13 of this year and the title track, “Spitfire”, has been featured on Pete Tong’s Essential Countdown. Every major festival in the world has showcased his DJ skills (which he just picked up this year) and arguably the biggest star in the world summoned Porter for her “Edge of Glory” Remix (Lady Gaga). He is featured in any and every “up-and-coming producers” article in the last year alongside the likes of Avicii and Alesso. So, we ask the 19 year old, where do you begin to digest it all?
I look back on my senior year of high school and I’d just turned 17. I was swelling with anticipation not knowing what the next few years had in store for me. The same went for the rest of my peers . Questions I needed to answer weighed heavily on the outlook of the coming years but there were only a few of them. Would I be sticking around at home or venturing off to a university across the country? Tennis was a significant factor in my life and being a young high school grad I wondered if I should play for a year before going off to school in order to increase my chances for a scholarship. Some of my best friends were in the same boat while others didn’t even have those options. They were attempting to balance their work schedules to help pay for rent and/or their own schooling. However, aside from the minor details, the big picture looked quite similar for all of us: MORE SCHOOL. We’d be playing it safe and going down the warranted path. There are very few people at this age who have the vision, insight, and courage to do otherwise. Not many want to “break the rules” and skip out on college to chase their passion. In his final year of high school, Porter Robinson would be one of those very few doing exactly that with just his computer, keyboard, and a DAW.
Check out some of our favorite tracks from his debut EP and pick Porter’s brain with us after the jump:
Dancing Astronaut had the luxury of seeing Kim Fai three times during our week long stay in Miami in late March. We loved his stuff before seeing him live, but he took it to a whole different level. He is truly one of the most talented DJ’s and packed some originality in every set we listened too. That being said his creation of “Zen” was arguably his biggest track to date and he follows it up with his remix of “In My Life”. The combination of Amba Shepherd’s vocals meshed with the incredible piano-house build up makes this a must have track for the summer season. It is quite beautiful really.
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BONUS: Original Mix – Loved the Kim Fai remix, however we should not overlook the original mix as well. Nick Galea sets the tone for Kim Fai to add his ‘big room’ touches to the track.
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