Keeping It Fresh

Today we're heading towards the EDM and electronic side of music. I recently went to a show where Mat Zo was the headlining artists, and my goodness was I blown away. As an artist, Mat Zo has been known to dabble in genres that are kind of all over the place. Specifically though, he started out with trance music, and that is exactly the kind of show we got. Electronic music has taken on this interesting evolution, growing and shaping into different styles all the time. And there are definitely some things I love about the electronic music scene now, and there are definitely some things I am not a huge fan of as well. Now Mat Zo takes us back more old school. His set list was full of the progressive house and trance style we had around 2008. The pronounced beats, runway style sounds, and smooth synths to polish it off. I mean this show had everything! And I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed jamming out to the kind of electronic music which made me fall in love with the genre in...

Today I have some music for you that may be a throwback for some, and a wave of nostalgic sounds for others. Basshunter. What can I say about the guy? His popularity has been an interesting trajectory and course. But somehow, his older work persists as a club classic. And it really has been a while since I listened to him or talked about him. Since I got a random listen recently, I thought it might be nice to take a trip down memory lane. So Basshunter is a phenomenal DJ and is incredible at pretty much every aspect of producing music. Every note and lyric is written by him. One thing which always used to make me chuckle a bit, are the lyrics. It's not that Basshunter is shallow with his lyrics. It's just so entertaining to hear how simple they are! For example, one of his songs is literally about playing a video game. Straightforward and to the point I suppose! But then again, I guess the focus for him is more the production and electronic aspect of the song. For this track...

Today I have music for you by a band that goes by the name Clubfeet. This song has a really cool sound to it. When you feel like listening to indie style electronic music, this group is one that can satiate your desire, and do it with mad style. Clubfeet is a group which has such a smooth sound to it but the band falls on that psychedelic side of music as well. This song is one that is hard for me to describe because it sounds very familiar in the tonality and melodies but also sounds very original. The track has that independent and unique vibe and sounds that no one else can copy. I am a huge fan of the way the vocals are presented because it is done so with layers. It is never just one voice and one sound you hear from the vocals, but many harmonies and different ways of singing the same lines. Something about that is very much like Imogen Heap's style of vocal layering. I also like the fact that they do maintain the conventional band instruments while also incorporating all...

Today I have some new music for you by an EDM artist who likes to create music under the radar while still being at the forefront of some of the biggest EDM events around the world. Madeon is simply put, a master of electronic music. He is only 20 years old, yet has released albums, EP's and a plethora of singles and remixes. I have to say, he has quite the dossier and the extent to which he experiments with music is quite extensive. The thing about Madeon is that he has such a distinctive style that is completely his own. If I heard a song, I could tell you whether or not it is a Madeon song or not simply by his signature sound. This is where things can be a bit difficult though - his sound is something that is hard to put into words. There is this groove that surfs throughout the sound waves and a softer sound to the overall electronic work. Many electronic artists today have sharper, blunter electronic sounds and programming. But Madeon is a different story. Each note is someh...

Today I have some music for you by an electronic duo out of Egypt. When I first heard Aly & Fila I got really excited. Nowadays it is so hard to find some really good and solid trance music. However, these two deliver us some really good trance, and better yet, they top it off with some sick Arabic influences. This duo hails from Egypt, a fact that made me even more excited. It isn't often that we hear music like this in general, and even rarer to hear this style of music from the Middle East. So this little taste of Egyptian electronic music makes me quite excited! But Aly & Fila do an incredible job of capturing that trance style of music which was so popular in underground European music scenes during the early 00's. This song has everything we could ever really ask for in a good trance song. We have the ethereal vocals which kind of carry on throughout the song. We've got the longer buildup which brings us to this high paced and full energy kind of drop. But the...

Today I have some music for you by a Finnish duo by the name Super8 & Tab. Now this is the trance music of old. I mean the original trance that we used to love and listen to. This is like rave throwback music, which is so cool because this style of music actually used to be really underground. And in a weird way, it has come back full circle and has returned to the underground scene. A lot of clubs and dance venues play house and trap nowadays, but you do have those more underground places which would be more likely to play music like this. That sweet and sensational trance music. It is really nice to know that this song came out in 2014, and that it still sounds like that old trance. This song is honestly kind of a masterpiece in itself. Maybe it is because it has been a long time since trance music like this has been put out, or maybe because it is genuinely freaking awesome. I like to think that it is a combination of the two, but then again, that is just my o...

Today I have an extremely fun song for you by the artist known as Bobby Green. I am absolutely in love with this song and Bobby Green as an artist. I won't lie, a major reason that I love this song is because of the vocalist Sean Michael Murray. But this song is such a nice change of pace from the bass and beat heavy EDM we hear nowadays. This isn't a song that has moments that make you stop and listen. You are captured from the beginning. The song is so well produced and is very crisp, while also foregoing the heavy beat drops in favor of something more delectable. The composition of this song is actually pretty simple! This song has a synth oriented and non complex beat, which means it works extremely well for the lyrical content of the song. Throw in the electronic dance beats, and you have a song that meshes the vocals and instrumentals in a seamless way. This song is wild and energetic and adventurous and a little bit mischievous and I love that! It bypasses the...

Today I have some electronic music for you because it has been quite some time since we have had a nice dose of that. This first song is by Ferry Corsten. Now this song is a pretty sick mix between EDM trance and house. This song is absolutely wicked and extremely well produced. For starters, this song features an incredible vocalist, Nat Dunn. If there is one thing everyone can appreciate about electronic music, the DJ's and artists always pick vocalists who are not only low key, but are also talented beyond belief. I have yet to hear an electronic song that features a vocalist I have not been impressed by. Nat Dunn is a powerhouse, with a voice that is both rich and even a little bit sultry. Where you can really get blown away though is in the chorus when she belts out the two words that really make the song. It is just waves of power from her voice and there is this underlying rasp and rawness to the way she sings the chorus that really gives the song dynamism and character. The...

Today I have music for you by an artist who kind of faded out of the spotlight after a big hit. Edward Maya is an incredibly talented artist and producer, and I really love the style he is associated with. Every one of his songs has some sort of exotic feel to it. This song in particular is actually a new take on a Romanian folk song, but the way he has done this mix, you can recognize the original tune and still feel that modern twist. Even though this is a Romanian folk song, there are elements to this song that sound very Middle Eastern and gypsy-like. This is actually one of my favorite things about Edward Maya's music. There is a definite Eastern feel and sound to his song which is completely different from the electronic songs we hear today. I haven't heard any other artist come out with a song that combines the mysterious and traditional sounds of the East with the modern interpretation of the West with the same level of success that Edward Maya does. The instrumental c...

Today I have groovier music for you. These songs have a little bit more of a funky sound that you would think of regarding 80's music. This first song is a remix of a song by The 1975 by the incredible electronic artist, The Knocks. Not only is this originally a rather upbeat song by The 1975, but The Knocks really gives this a notch up. Now individually, The 1975 and The Knocks are very unique artists, bringing completely different sounds to their genre. But today, we are focusing on The Knocks, and in particular, how they made this song by The 1975 work with the electronic style The Knocks used in this song. Generally, The Knocks have a really wide spectrum of music that they cover, but this song is one of those more anomalous ones, the kind of song that isn't really part of their normal repertoire. But of course, they killed it! This remix is one that is so much fun to listen to. I really like this remix because it keeps with the original grooviness of t...

Today's song is more  electropo  and New Wave music. Dragonette is a UK group that has definitely not been highly introduced in the USA. Their music is very interesting and I personally believe that this group is not for everyone. You will either like them or you won't. A few people are in between, but not many. I really like the beat and deeper tones used. Dragonette is one of those "weird" acts that can catch people off guard, but I kind of like it. Honestly, I haven't heard enough about Dragonette to really be ably to classify their style as a while. With this song though, we get this really good blend of rock music and electronic music. This is something we see a lot more of nowadays, but at the time that this song came out, the whole electro rock thing wasn't super popular. A lot of what we hear at the beginning is some more intense guitar synth work which is pretty wicked. This is one of those songs that makes you feel like a bad ass when you listen to i...

Today I have such a great, euphoria song for you all by Jus Jack. This song has everything you need for a great trance song-awesome melody, great transitions, and incredible vocals. This does have a Tiesto feel to it, but I really enjoy this song and I was definitely fist pumping in my room and mentally fist pumping in the gym. It is one of those songs that takes you to another state of being which is just the most amazing feel in the world. This is the kind of song that you know will have some wicked remixes and would spend a lot of time being played at clubs and dance venues. This song has this strong festival kind of feel to it, which is always perfect for the summer time jam sessions Jus Jack definitely is a smaller name in the electronic music world, but it s a name that could start to take off, especially if we keep hear anthems like this. Today's instrumental song is by Tiesto and by putting these two songs together, you might hear why I find them having similar styles. This...

Today I have some wickedly amazing electronic music for you. This first song is by an artist that I love so much for many reasons. Seven Lions is an electronic act that never disappoints both with album mixes and live mixing. Seven Lions has this very unique style of music that is very trance like and ambient, but is also something that you would definitely catch yourself dancing too. I know that I cannot help but sing and belt out the lyrics to his songs. Seven Lions never fails to have vocalists that are stunning. I mean pretty much every electronic act has incredible vocalists, but Seven Lions chooses vocalists that seem to be specifically for electronic music. These vocals fit like no other vocals could and it is just incredibly perfect. Tove Lo provides the vocals in this song and they are so powerful and transient. This is one of those songs where the voice is able to take you out of Earth and have you soar around in space, floating about the planets and their colorful rings. Thi...

Today I have some electronic music for you because it has been quite some time since we have had a nice dose of that. This first song is by Ferry Corsten. Now this song is a pretty sick mix between EDM trance and house. This song is absolutely wicked and extremely well produced. For starters, this song features an incredible vocalist, Nat Dunn. If there is one thing everyone can appreciate about electronic music, the DJ's and artists always pick vocalists who are not only low key, but are also talented beyond belief. I have yet to hear an electronic song that features a vocalist I have not been impressed by. Nat Dunn is a powerhouse, with a voice that is both rich and even a little bit sultry. Where you can really get blown away though is in the chorus when she belts out the two words that really make the song. It is just waves of power from her voice and there is this underlying rasp and rawness to the way she sings the chorus that really gives the song dynamism and character. The...

Today I have some really amazing music by a German artist by the name Schiller. A friend of mine introduced me to Schiller and I have been binge listening to his music because it is that good. Talk about trance music that really puts you in another state of mind! What Schiller does is absolutely wonderful! Schiller is an artist who likes to throw in a lot of different flairs to an underlying common sound with his music. But that underlying trance is what brings his style to the forefront. Schiller is an artist who likes to create trance music the way it was made at the beginning. His type of trance is what people should think about when thinking about that kind of music. What I like about this though is Schiller is able to add in anything from funk to disco to Europop into his songs and still make them all sound like trance. This is not an easy feat, and it is something I am very impressed with. Schiller also kind of spans the energy spectrum with his music. It is not all laid back tra...

Today I have music for you by a band that goes by the name Clubfeet. This song has a really cool sound to it. When you feel like listening to indie style electronic music, this group is one that can satiate your desire. This group has such a smooth sound to it but it falls on that psychedelic side of music as well. This song is one that is hard for me to describe because it sounds very familiar but also sounds very original from what I have heard before. I feel like this is something that could be featured on an episode of Teen Wolf. It has that independent and unique vibe and sound that no one else can copy. I am a huge fan of the way the vocals are presented because it is done so with layers. It is never just one voice and one sound you hear from the vocals, but many harmonies and different ways of singing the same lines. Something about that is very much like Imogen Heap's style of vocal layering. I also like the fact that they do maintain the conventional band instruments while...

Today I have music for you by a band that goes by the name Clubfeet. This song has a really cool sound to it. When you feel like listening to indie style electronic music, this group is one that can satiate your desire. This group has such a smooth sound to it but it falls on that psychedelic side of music as well. This song is one that is hard for me to describe because it sounds very familiar but also sounds very original from what I have heard before. I feel like this is something that could be featured on an episode of Teen Wolf. It has that independent and unique vibe and sound that no one else can copy. I am a huge fan of the way the vocals are presented because it is done so with layers. It is never just one voice and one sound you hear from the vocals, but many harmonies and different ways of singing the same lines. Something about that is very much like Imogen Heap's style of vocal layering. I also like the fact that they do maintain the conventional band instruments while...

Today I have some music for you by a Finnish duo by the name Super8 & Tab. Now this is the trance music of old. I mean the original trance that we used to love and listen to. This is like rave throwback music, which is so cool because this style of music actually used to be really underground. And in a weird way, it has come back full circle and has returned to the underground scene. A lot of clubs and dance venues play house and trap nowadays, but you do have those more underground places which would be more likely to play music like this. That sweet and sensational trance music. It is really nice to know that this song came out in 2014, and that it still sounds like that old trance. This song is honestly kind of a masterpiece in itself. Maybe it is because it has been a long time since trance music like this has been put out, or maybe because it is genuinely freaking awesome. I like to think that it is a combination of the two, but then again, that is just my opinion. But this so...

Today I have an extremely fun song for you by the artist known as Bobby Green. I am absolutely in love with this song and Bobby Green as an artist. I won't lie, a major reason that I love this song is because of the vocalist Sean Michael Murray. But this song is such a nice change of pace from the bass and beat heavy EDM we hear nowadays. This isn't a song that has moments that make you stop and listen. You are captured from the beginning. The song is so well produced and is very crisp, while also foregoing the heavy beat drops in favor of something more delectable. The composition of this song is actually pretty simple! This song has a synth oriented and non complex beat, which means it works extremely well for the lyrical content of the song. Throw in the electronic dance beats, and you have a song that meshes the vocals and instrumentals in a seamless way. This song is wild and energetic and adventurous and a little bit mischievous and I love that! It bypasses the need that ...

Today I have some electronic music for you because it has been quite some time since we have had a nice dose of that. This first song is by Ferry Corsten. Now this song is a pretty sick mix between EDM trance and house. This song is absolutely wicked and extremely well produced. For starters, this song features an incredible vocalist, Nat Dunn. If there is one thing everyone can appreciate about electronic music, the DJ's and artists always pick vocalists who are not only low key, but are also talented beyond belief. I have yet to hear an electronic song that features a vocalist I have not been impressed by. Nat Dunn is a powerhouse, with a voice that is both rich and even a little bit sultry. Where you can really get blown away though is in the chorus when she belts out the two words that really make the song. It is just waves of power from her voice and there is this underlying rasp and rawness to the way she sings the chorus that really gives the song dynamism and character. The...