Monday Madness

So I don't have a specific plan about this post. I have a few tracks that I want to share/ talk about, but after that we shall see where it goes.

There are a few good things that come from the month of March. The first day of spring, March Madness, the best hockey of the regular season, and of course the Winter Music Conference in Miami. While my home town of Edmonton my not resemble Miami too much right now (or ever), we can get in the spirit thanks to the myriad of Miami inspired compilations that most labels push at this time every year.

Riva Starr has been at the forefront of WMC for a few years now, and his Miami compilation for Snatch boasts some pretty impressive names. There are several straight-up legends here: Carl Cox, 2000 and One, DJ Madskillz, as well as &Me. However, the EP suffers from much of the same plight that Riva's label generally suffers from. The tracks are... okay... kind of, but they lack anything special. Most of the time it is generic by-the-book tech house that still manages to thrive globally, despite much more forward-thinking-by-means-of-retro-thinking house sounds continue to dominate the underground scene.

The best track on this EP, while not overly innovative, is certain to get your feet moving with a slower, bass-driven tribal sound. It comes from DJ Sneak, another legend, and is labeled as "Riva Starr Cut". It sounds exactly like something that the two would make together. Take a listen.

DJ Sneak - Manduka (Riva Starr Cut) (Snatch)

Next up is some mutant-hop, or beat-hop, or whatever you want to call it. It comes from one of dance music's many anomalies: Riz MC. His earliest records from the middle of the decade found him making conventional hip-hop, but he somehow found himself on Crosstown Rebels at the end of decade, and getting remixed by Loco Dice and Tiefschwarz. The anomaly comes in the form of the decidedly heavy dubstep, grime and glitch-hop tracks that he has been featured in as well during this time. It begs the question of when it came time to decide who to remix... why would Tiefschwarz decide to remix a grime mc? Anyway, Riz MC's newest cut is superb example of how dirty and distorted beats can be used effectively. This one is fucking massive. Seriously, I don't care what you play, you HAVE to appreciate the punishing bass on this track.

Riz MC feat. Aruba Red & Plan B - All of Me (Tru Thoughts)

Next is probably my favorite track of this whole lot. This is a first time release for "Superhero", not sure if this is a project or alias, but that is not important. What is important, is just how good this song is. I refer to it as a song, because that is exactly what it is. It has vocals, it has a narrative and it is wonderfully composed. There are distinct "traditional-song-parts" that further lead the listener to believe this to be a song more so than just a club track. It will certainly still rock a dance floor, which makes it all the more special, as too many times a producer is able to one or another, but not both. Listen for yourself.

Superhero - Drugs & Choices (Noir)

A lot of what I try to do is expose some artists/ labels/ releases that don't get a lot of press or attention. I don't always get the chance to do that, or rather I sometimes just don't take it. Here is a little something that is completely different though. You may have heard of Slugabed before, a UK producer who specializes in boundary pushing bass music. Think 2008, 2009 bass music, not the more recent UK variety. This remix is for the equally awesome Torus, whose brand-new self titled EP is worth checking out. This amazingly inspired remix, however, is definitely the hight point.

Torus - Vocaldonuts (Slugabed Remix) (Sonic Router)

That's it for today, but keep checking back for more updates, as March is one of the best times for new releases.