BASSCAMP

16 Sep 2011
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My mind is still blown from Gui Boratto’s EZoo set. Fortunately, the Brazilian minimalist just released a new album this week. I haven’t had a chance to listen all the way through, but the final track This Is Not The End steals the show for me. It has a familiar Gui Boratto tone and features the beautiful buzzing voice of Luciana Villanova, who many may recognize from some of his other tracks. Different than No Turning Back and Beautiful Life though, this track is stripped of any real climax. It is a musing walk through confusion, nostalgia, and hope… just how I like my Gui Boratto music.

13 Mar 2011
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Get 2 Know A DJ - Avicii

This one has been long overdue. This week’s G2KDJ is Swedish DJ/Producer Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii. In the span of just over two years, Avicii has experienced a meteroic ascension to highest ranks of EDM superstardom. Inspired by the Swedish House Mafia, John Dahlback, and some of Daft Punk’s early work, the 21-year-old Swede decided to download a copy of FL Studio and give production a try. He had only been making music for a few months when his friends noticed that the productions were incredibly professional.

Avicii was instantly fascinated with producing and spent hours in his home studio creating tracks. He began leaking his music to electronic music blogs such as Laidback Luke’s online forum where they were immediately noticed. In April 2008, Avicii released his first big track, ‘Manman’, on Pete Tong’s Bedroom Bedlam label after winning the Pete Tong Fast Trax. Avicii received an astonishing 70% of the votes and after the release was contacted by numerous labels, promoters and booking agencies from all over the globe.

His music spans the electronic music spectrum, incorporating elements of tech, trance, electro and house with a very strong emphasis on melodies, vocals, and big sound. His live sets are exactly provide for the quintessential electronic music experience. I’ve never been more satisfied after seeing a DJ set than after I saw Avicii. In 2008, Tim Bergling was a bedroom DJ, known to no one. Now in 2011, he has headlined the world’s largest electronic music events and is billed to play three times at Ultra Music Festival, more than any other artist. Avicii is churning out hits left and right and shows no sign of slowing down. Rather than reading more, check out his interview with Armada News below. More importantely, go listen to Avicii’s tracks and check out his Essential Mix. That’s all there is to it.

2 Mar 2011
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Moguai is an artist whose work I have been meaning to highlight for awhile. I featured his song Optinuum as the closing track on my Puncak Jaya Mix. Moguai’s music has definitely gone through some genre changes since his release of “U Know Y” in 2002, but I’m very happy with where he has ended up. Today’s track, 8001, shares many compositional and tonal qualities with Optinuum. A basic beat becomes slowly consumed by an array of colorful and lush tones and synths until it metamorphosizes into a densely layered hook that really draws you in to its depths. Make the journey to 8001.

23 Feb 2011
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An old favorite that never gets old. SO GOOD.

14 Feb 2011
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Valentine’s Day should be Fun so that’s what we’ve got today. This track by Sharam is the third release from his acclaimed ‘Mach’ series. The Iranian-American progressive house producer is not only an immensely successful solo artist, but is also one half of the famous house duo Deep Dish (the other half being minimal house producer, Dubfire). Sharam has litany of electro grooves and remixes, most notably being PATT (Party All the Time) and She Came Along ft. Kid Cudi. I haven’t found a lot of Sharam’s music to be very unique or interesting, apart from the aforementioned songs, but Fun is certainly a gripping tear-jerker of optimistic resolution. Happy V-Day, have some Fun.

5 Feb 2011
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Get 2 Know A DJ - Gui Boratto

I’ve got a double dose of ‘Get 2 Know A DJ’ this weekend! First off is an excellent electronic music producer from Brazil; Gui Boratto. Born in 1974 in São Paulo Brazil, Boratto began his career in the advertising sector in 1993. From 1994 until 2004 his work appeared on both national and international record labels, including EMI, Virgin, Irma, BMG, Edel, Vidisco, and ZYX. Over these 10 years he worked with artists such as Pato Banton, Garth Brooks, Steel Pulse, Desiree, Manu Chao, Chico Buarque, Kaleidoscópio, Leila Pinheiro, and many others.

In 2005 he began to dedicate himself to his own productions and compositions, displaying a more personal side to the public. With releases on a number of respected European labels, Boratto has climbed into dance charts around the world. His style combines minimal techno, tech-house, and Brazilian techno. Boratto’s music reveals the beauty in simplicity. A muscian and composer at heart, Gui Boratto’s tracks are stripped of all surplus noises and left in their most monochromatic form. Although simplistic, there is no denying the power and emotion in Boratto’s music.

Gui does not consider himself a DJ because he does not simply mix tracks together while on stage. Rather he uses a laptop equipped with Ableton Live, a JazzMutant Lemur, a Monome and an Evolution Uc33e, making his performances more akin to live production than “DJing”. Gui’s music is certainly a change from the a lot of today’s mainstream EDM, but that does not mean it is not worth checking out. If you’re looking for a good example of his live sets, make sure to listen to his Essential Mix.

20 Jan 2011
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Anders Trentemøller came onto the electronic music scene in 1997, forming the first live-house act in Denmark with DJ T.O.M. After a brief hiatus from the house scene, Trentemøller returned with a new sound, a slew of legendary remixes, and a live performance acclaimed for Anders’ exquisitely tight live keys played in tandem with DJ sets. His show is rated as one of the best in the world so I certainly plan on seeing him at UMF this March.

http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/90998593/file.html

12 Jan 2011
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Popstep has arrived. Well maybe not entirely, but Britney’s new single ‘Hold It Against Me’ is the first attempt by a mainstream pop artist to incorporate dubstep into their music. Ever since Kanye West dropped his single, ‘Stronger’ featuring the infamous Daft Punk “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” hook, Top 40 has quickly begun merging with EDM. David Guetta has championed the musical marriage, producing chart-toppers alongside Akon, Flo Rida, The Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Rowland, and Kid Cudi. But now we’re beginning to see pop artists take some of the reins from EDM producers. Such is the case for Britney Spears. ‘Hold It Against Me’ was produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin. The entire track screams progressive house… oh yea and then there is the massive dubstep breakdown (around 2:15).

I will admit, the quality of the dubstep sound isn’t my favorite of all time, but for a pop artists to even consider dropping such a massive unconventional tempo/genre-shift such as dubstep, is truly amazing. Additionally, it has been reported that Ms. Spears did a bit of collaboration with the king of dubstep, Rusko, so I’m excited to see more dub influences on the album. ‘Hold It Against Me’ may not be Brit’s best, but it is a good sign of things to come both for Britney and for the overall growth of electronic music.

http://www.mediafire.com/?gn36tb89oo3bjv8

8 Jan 2011
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It has only taken Avicii three years to ascend from complete obscurity to electronic music lore. Originally know as Tim Berg, the 21-year-old Swede is at the top of his game, crushing the EDM charts with a myriad of fusion genre singles. ‘Seek Bromance’ is by far his most popular track and rightfully so; soulful lyrics, a tender hook, plus a full and deep bassline makes ‘Seek Bromance’ one of the best.

http://www.mediafire.com/?i21ffoecuwdmq3y

1 Jan 2011
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I can’t think of a better way to welcome in the new year, than a little bit of Strobe.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jnywzjy5tyz

21 Dec 2010
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Superstar DJs… Here we GO!!!

7 Dec 2010
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Another HUGE album drop today. 4x4=12, the new album from everyone’s favorite electronic animal, Deadmau5, is finally here. If you somehow haven’t yet heard of this Toronto techy turned techno titan, it’s about time you sat down and had a formal introduction. The Mau5 has risen to fame with relentless efficiency. In the past three years he has collected handfuls of Juno, Beatport and IDMA music awards, spun as the official DJ at this year’s MTV VMAs, and was seated 4th in DJmag’s 2010 Top 100 DJ Poll. He just began his UK tour after concluding two massive romps through the US this past summer and fall.

I’ve seen Deadmau5 perform live four times, at the Roxy in Boston, the 9:30 Club in DC, Electric Zoo Festival in NYC, and at Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Whether he’s playing to a crowd of hundreds or tens of thousands, Deadmau5 has never done less than blow me out of the water. He’s redefining what it means to play electronic music. His concerts, which are not unlike a sensory orgasm, have become a spectacle that even those who are uninterested in house/techno music, can’t help but be entranced by. There is something about standing before a massive LED cube searing your eyes with lazers, atop which stands a slightly emaciated figure wearing a giant Mau5 head (or the v.2 Mau5 head, which is also adorned with an hundreds of LEDs morphing from a sparkling disco ball to a speaking face), that makes you feel that you are in the presence of an otherworldly, sublime power.

Deadmau5 has definitely gone mainstream in terms of his audiences, but he remains true to his music and continues to push it to new levels. Never really landing in a standardized genre, Deadmau5 has cultivated his own unique style that will haunt your mind. 4x4=12 is an album of eleven tracks, six of which I would consider to be stand-alone singles. It draws heavily from progressive house and dubstep, but also includes some punk and classical influences. Certain songs may sound repetitive, and they are, but the album is meant to be heard as an entire set. If you purchase 4x4=12, make sure to listen to the last track, which is a continuous mix of the entire album, and everything will make more sense. Many of these tracks will sound familiar because Deadmau5 has been slowly dropping them in his sets since last March, but nonetheless you can’t deny the magnificence of Some Chords.

I can’t say enough about this artist. Deadmau5 is one of the DJ/producers who really hooked me on electronic music. Seeing Strobe performed live at UMF in a crowd of over 30,000 people was an experience that I will never forget. Grab the album and bow to the Mau5.

http://www.mediafire.com/?52yl8akj7jzd8b4