Before Pete Tong dropped Axwell’s anticipated new premiere and Daft Punk’s long awaited interview on BBC Radio 1′s dance music marathon last night, Annie Mac shared the new dub mix collaboration between talented Brits Alex Metric and Jacques Lu Cont “Safe With You.” Featuring the vocals of Malin from Niki & The Dove, the track boasts pure energy with a big room flare in a perfectly mastered 80s dance feel. Jacques Lu Cont spoke of the inspiration of the release with Annie:
“What I really love is working on music where the objective isn’t about how commercially successful it has to be. Within dance music it’s totally liberating and you do what makes you feel good. The other thing that’s good with DJing is no matter what you’ve made, you know within five seconds of putting that record on in the club whether it’s any good or not, and you don’t get that anywhere else. It’s so immediate and magical like that. I’m enjoying every second of it.”
Release date on Ministry of Sound is still to be determined.
There are more than two Australian power blondes in the electronic game, and Iggy Azalea won’t let you forget it. Premiered on Annie Mac on Friday was the hip hop phenom’s latest release “Bounce,” a percussive track with a very literal title. Azalea’s attitude-laced lines get backup from a broken four-on-the-floor beat layered with jungley drums and a fat brassy melody. Though the raps are slightly reminiscent of Ke$HA lyrics, as a party-starter “Bounce” will make you do just that.
Russ Chimes‘ “Turn Me Out” is already one of the most anticipated songs of the year and to follow the release, there will be quite the remix package in tow. The track initially earned Special Delivery status on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show, and last Friday, her DJ cohort Pete Tong debuted the first remix of the bunch. Belfast native Ejeca takes on the soulful nu-disco cut and adds his rolling and deep touch to the already feel-good original. In stripping the track down, Ejeca loops the vocal over a set of organic house undertones, using a driving chord sequence to create an all-around dance floor masterpiece. “Turn Me Out” is set to release April 29th.
The younger than young Adam Kaye and George Townsend took the decks yesterday on Radio 1 for a contribution to Annie Mac‘s ever-popular minimix segment. The two lads, also known as Bondax (and one of our artists to watch for 2013), pretty much epitomize the wave of R&B-inspired, deep house and disco sound coming out of the King’s country in the last year. The mix is about love-making and hits up smashes from Aaliyah, Craig David, Whitney Houston, Frank Ocean, Joe, Silk, Jeremih, Nelly, Pharrell mixed in with several Bondax originals. This one will put you in slow motion all weekend. Stream and tracklist below.
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instragram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Diplo, Sebastian Ingrosso, Tiesto, and more.
As part of Radio 1‘s ongoing campaign to highlight the best of rising talent at the beginning of 2013, this week’s Essential Mix brought in UK producer Duke Dumont as Annie Mac‘s choice for a “Future Star” in dance music. Duke Dumont had an unreal year in 2012 in terms of production — putting out a string of records that basically every DJ in the scene played at some point in their sets. Tracks like “The Giver,” “Need U (100%),” “Thunder Clap,” and “No Money Blues” were all fantastic outputs and put Dumont solidly back on the map and among the elite of dance music today. His mix is true to form and as he says, is basically just a sampling of some of his favorite tracks to play in sets. We loved every minute of it. Stream below and jump back the break for a complete tracklist.
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instragram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Steve Angello, Annie Mac, Chuckie, and more.
Ok so it’s not quite as impressive as Madeon‘s 95 track minimix, but we were nonetheless very pleased to discover Russ Chimes released a free download of his 29 track, five-minute minimix he crafted for Annie Mac last week. Chimes highlights his penchant for the classic — throwing in more than enough soul, lusty piano riffs, and dirty groove-based samples for the adoring vintage house fan. Dare we call this…perfect? Download below and tracklist after the break.
Annie Mac treated listeners to a full listen of Aluna Francis and George Reid’s new track “Diver” today on Radio 1. The pop and R&B-tinged duo turned heads all of 2012 and it appears they’re starting off 2013 on a strong note as well with this glitchy track. We’re hearing that their first full-length album is set for a tentative release date in June of this year. Take a listen for yourself below.
Last night on her Sunday show “Musical Hot Water Bottle,” Annie Mac delivered two Christmas mixes from The xx and Jessie Ware. The mixes diverge a bit outside of our usually upbeat and dominantly electronic realm, but we think they’re pretty perfect to sneakily put on the stereo while the family sits around drinking too much Bailey’s and eating too many Christmas cookies. Merry Christmas!
