(2018 comeback) Miguel Migs-Sail On / This Feelin'

Yes, it's been 7 years. Crazy. I never thought I'd ever get back to curating a music blog that no one actually reads, but here I am, ready to spread a bit of my questionable taste in music to anyone that might accidentally stumble across Musictronics. Truth is, as much as I try to play it down and disregarding the fact that I'm far from a sophisticated listener, I probably listened to more music over the past 20 years than most people I know, so I kinda feel there is a lot of material for me to work with.

With that in mind, why don't I get going with the first feature of 2018: an older tune from 2014 :)

Miguel Migs is synonimous with the soul-influenced San Fran deep house sound of the 2000s. A prolific producer, having released countless singles, EPs, mix compilations, as well as 4 artist albums, Migs is most often associated with house labels Om Records, Naked Music and of course, his very own Salted Music, which he established in 2004. Very much active to the present day, Migs' latest artist album, "Dim Division", released in 2014 is in my opinion his best one yet. Usually when artists are as strongly associated with a particular sound, like Migs is with his 2000s era releases, it's very hard for them to stay within the same stylistic realm and still top expectations far down the road. But that is EXACTLY what Migs did with "Dim Division". 12 years apart from his debut album, "Colorful You" and the soul is still there, the groove is still there, the melody is still there and most importantly, the creativity is still there. An excellent album with a mature sound, slick production and some really interesting tracks. Like I said, as far as I am concerned, this is Migs' best album to date.

For today I have selected two tracks (almost mission impossible limiting my selection to only two) that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I did:

Sail On:


This Feelin':

Shiloh-Bleed

Shiloh are a Canadian production duo consisting of brothers Colin & Justin Moreh. While not following their musical output since the beginning of their career, in 2006 I came across this track, "Bleed", from the homonymous album and I was irrevocably hooked.
With a mix of progressive breaks, laid-back tempo and acid sounds, "Bleed" brings to mind BT's early sound and also a bit of Hybrid's, but maintains strong originality throughout.

Solarity-Escape From Dystopia

Solarity are a duo from London, UK who entered the dancefloor spotlight via Anjunadeep in 2009 with a string of high-quality releases ("DNA/Long 41", "Terminal 6", "Logger Riddem/Mantis"). They quickly rose to become label favorites, being featured on the slick "Anjunadeep:02" compilation and having 3 more releases under their name in 2010 ("Diophantine/Red", "Part-Time Hero/Anti-Hero" and "Start"). And if writing original music wasn't enough, Solarity also successfully remixed Michael Cassette, Mango and PROFF, to name but a few.

Renowned exclusively for their progressive house sound, it's unusual to think about Solarity as anything else than progressive. However, it seems that their musical roots go far deeper than that and "Escape From Dystopia" proves it: a drum n bass track that takes one back to Good Looking Records' golden days in the late 90s.

This track is available for FREE on Solarity's Soundcloud page and it would be a shame if you didn't take that opportunity:
DOWNLOAD

Voice Stealer-Evaluation

I don't listen to electro much. But even if I did, this would still probably be my favorite electro tune. Unusual form of electro in its harmonic, ambient-like construction, it was produced by Carl A. Finlow, this tune appeared on the critically acclaimed album "The All Electric House" back in 1997.

1 Giant Leap-My Culture

1 Giant Leap are 2 British music producers and filmmakers. Far from ever becoming a popular act, they did score a major hit with "My Culture" back in 2001, probably because it was a collaboration with Robbie Williams and Maxi Jazz of Faithless, names which drew the public's attention.
Oh yeah, the video is also very cool.

Tennishero-Midnight Love/Alone

Today I was going to feature Chris Coco's "Albatross", the wonderful closing track on his 2002 album, "Next Wave". However, due to its absence from Youtube I will not.
Instead, a double from Tennishero, a rather mysterious Swedish act that came to prominence with a couple of tracks released on Hed Kandi compilations. Listen & enjoy these interesting crossovers between deep house, chillout and nu disco.

Midnight Love:


Alone:

Christophe Goze-Some Day I Will

Back in business, not that anyone cares.
And what better way to get back than with a large chunk of summery chillout right in the heart of Winter. Christophe Goze warms up our homes with this great guitar chillout track, one of my favorites from his 2006 album "Turning Inside", which you can buy HERE for only $11.80.

The Diogenes Club - Tie Ourselves Around

Matthew Williams aka The Diogenes Club is a relatively new face in the electronic music scene. Although an experienced producer, with material released as far as 1999, Williams' breakthrough came recently (starting a couple of years ago), through a string of excellent original productions and remixes under his The Diogenes Club moniker.
I personally just discovered him a few months ago, browsing through the Urbantorque catalogue (which is downright amazing btw). Looking at his small, but strong discography, it's clear that great things are in store for Williams should he continue to release material of the same quality.

From the recently released "979 EP" (on Urbantorque), I have selected "Tie Ourselves Around", a mixture of vocal deep house, nu disco and downtempo that is representative of Williams' style.

Billie Holiday - Long Gone Blues (GXR Remix)

I won't even begin to introduce Billie Holiday, because chance are you have been living under a rock if you don't know who she is. And no one lives under rocks.

GXR is a British production duo that I previously featured on Musictronics under the Groovecatcher alias with their track "Intoxicated" (see HERE). As GXR they released the album "Skylines" in 2008 on Anything Goze Group (run by Christophe Goze) and made a couple of remixes, one of which is this one. A great modern interpretation of a jazz classic.

Samantha James - Rain / Right Now

Samantha James' album "Rise" (2007) has a very important place in my collection. Right from the first listen I knew I came across something special. 11 tracks and none short of great. Situating itself at the ever-thinning border between deep house and chillout, the album even boasts with a #1 US Billboard Dance chart position, achieved by the title track, "Rise".
"Rain" and "Right Now" respectively are the last 2 tracks of the album and they both feature a classy deep house reminiscence, coupled with soothing vocal harmonies and subtle piano touches from the jazzy side of the musical spectrum, to achieve truly wonderful and relaxing results.

You can listen and buy the entire album HERE.

Probspot - Obsession / God Shaped Hole

Everybody knows that the early to mid 2000s were the pinnacle of progressive trance. And Swedish producer Rikard Fredriksson, otherwise known as Probspot and Rico Soarez was at the pinnacle of the pinnacle. With releases such as "Foreplay EP", "Blueberry" or "TV Dinner/Timeless" it's easy to understand why. Held in high regard for his unique and multivalent style, Probspot has maintained a strong reputation throughout the years, both through original productions and also with some great remixes for acts like Insignia, Solarstone, Mike Shiver etc. Also, starting with 2007 Rikard has started releasing music under a third alias, Zinfandel, following the same progressive recipe, only with a slightly more electro-ish vibe.

A pleasantly convincing crossover between Trance, Drum n Bass and Breakbeat, "Obsession" comes from his 2005 album "Organic Waveforms" (as Probspot), released on the seminal (at that time) Lost Language label.



And from the same album, featuring Craig Evans on vocals, "God Shaped Hole":

Thievery Corporation - Amerimacka

Back in 2004 I came across "Kontor Sunset Chill Volume 5", a downtempo compilation that I consider, to this day, to be one of the most important steps I took in experiencing the many facets of electronic music. It was then that I made contact with artists such as Mint Royale, Caia, Wax Poetic and of course, Thievery Corporation, all who would later gradually become some of my favorite acts.

Thievery Corporation is one of the most well-known trip-hop bands out there, with a career spanning 15 years and 6 albums thus far. You can hit their wikipedia article to find out more about their history, I don't want to reinvent the wheel with this blog entry, since they are so famous.
It was hard to pick something from their discography (because it's so damn good), but I think the natural choice couldn't have been anything else but "Amerimacka", the track that started my love for the Corporation.

Machinarium - Bar Song/Pipe Wrench Dubstep

I've been playing adventure games since I was 12. I still remember that day in 1998 when I discovered Sierra's "Shivers" (demo version) and played it with my friends. That was one creepy game (managed to get it in full and finish it a few years ago). Of course, Shivers was just the first from a looong list of adventure games that I was going to play throughout the years. Each game, for better or for worse, left me something to remember it for. And Machinarium is certainly one of the games that gave me a LOT of reasons to remember it for, from its drop-dead gorgeous handmade graphics and supreme game design to its ingenious puzzles and lovable character (a lonely robot).
The biggest surprise however (considering Machinarium is a small-budget game) was its original soundtrack. It's one of the best game soundtracks I have ever heard in a video game. No joke. Composed by Tomáš Dvořák, it employs odd and ingenious music ranging from IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), downtempo, dubstep to even bossa nova to achieve a truly offbeat and refreshing whole result.
My advice would be to buy the game right now and start playing. It comes really cheap and as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best deals one can make as far as video games go. Machinarium is, simply put, food for your mind, eyes and ears too.

Oliver Smith - Sunday

Anjunadeep has been my favorite EDM label for the past 3 years. Their unique blend of house, trance and funkyness earned them a solid fanbase and the respect of the music industry for being utterly different than the norm. Launched in 2005 and currently on its 74th release, Anjunadeep is not only one of the best, but also one of the busiest labels around, having released one brilliant mix compilation in February("Anjunadeep:02") and 14 singles since the beginning of this year alone. It's the perfect exception from the "less is more" rule.
One of the most prominent artists on Anjunadeep's sister label, Anjunabeats (ran by producer/DJ trio Above & Beyond and mainly focusing on trance) is Oliver Smith, a man who's been at the forefront of trance music for the past 10 years with constant success. With "Sunday" (and with a previous track, "Pacific", for that matter), Smith demonstrates his production skills' range goes beyond the borders of trance and into the wonderful melodic house realm of the Anjunadeep sound.

Buy the Anjunadeep:02 compilation here: @trackitdown.net
Buy Oliver Smith 01 (the best of Oliver Smith) here: @iTunes

Boymerang - Soul Beat Runna

I have been mad about this track from the very first listen, somewhat 12 years ago. Heard it on EA Sports' FIFA World Cup 98 game soundtrack (along with a handful of other excellent songs btw) and it has been in my Winamp playlist ever since. Really, if I were to pick my favorite DnB track, this would probably be it.
The man behind Boymerang is Graham Sutton (leader of legendary post-rock band Bark Psychosis) and under this alias he released the highly-acclaimed Drum n Bass album "Balance Of The Force" in 1997.

Ferry Corsten & Shelley Harland - Holding On

I have introduced flying Dutchman Ferry Corsten in a previous post (HERE), with his track "In My Dreams".
From the same album, 2003's "Right Of Way" (which happens to be among my favorite EDM albums of all time), "Holding On" is a much more chilled track, featuring the vocals of Shelley Harland. Rather unique in its sound style, this is one of the most appreciated (but not very well known) Corsten tracks and I have personally met a lot of people outside EDM who thoroughly enjoyed it, so there has to be something special about it. But of course I wouldn't know, I just like it to bits.:)
PS: Yes, pretty gay video, haha.

Roger Sanchez - Another Chance

If one mentions House hero Roger Sanchez, 95% of people who ever heard of him will instantly think of this track. Released in 2001, "Another Chance" was an instant success, both in the underground house scene and in the mainstream media (#1 in the UK Top 40). Played at least once by virtually every speaker on Earth ever since, "Another Chance" also benefits from a very interesting video, which gathered highly positive reviews.
No more talk. Just open your window, grab a beverage, put this record on and relax.

Alex Gold-String Theory

Known primarily as the man behind the hugely successful label Xtravaganza Recordings (home to artists like Chicane, Airscape, Agnelli & Nelson), Alex Gold is an UK-based musician less noticed for his productions. However, his discography does contain two trance mixcompilations and an artist album, which points to the fact that he is to be taken seriously as a producer too and not just as a label manager.
In 2005 Alex Gold released "Back From A Break", his first (and thus far only) artist album. Hands down the best track on that album is "String Theory", a blissed-out trance/breaks/chillout tune that works great with pretty much any melodic electronic music style, from progressive and deep house to full-on trance. Simply wonderful.

Andain - You Once Told Me

Andain is a production trio consisting of Josh Gabriel (of Gabriel & Dresden fame), David Penner and vocalist Mavie Marcos. Although a primarily downtempo project, they became known when their early 2000s tracks "Summer Calling" and "Beautiful Things" (famously remixed by Gabriel & Dresden and Airwave among others) got massive support from all big trance and progressive DJs.
Although the project went on hiatus after their initial success, and despite their small discography, Andain still enjoys popularity within the trance scene, with their old classic tracks held in high regard and still being occasionally played.

"You Once Told Me" is somewhat of a dark horse, far from "Summer Calling"'s or "Beautiful Things"'s popularity, but considered by many to be Andain's best musical output.

Mat Zo-The Fractal Universe

Born in 1990 in London, Matan Zohar is one of the undisputed prodigies of today's EDM scene. At only 20 years of age, his discography contains releases on major labels such as Anjunabeats, Soundpiercing and Hospital and his list of remixed artists boasts with high-profile names like Tiesto, Andy Moor, Markus Schulz and Activa.
It was "Rush/Defined", his 2008 release on Anjunabeats, that caught my attention, with its overlapped layers of melodic fuzziness that reminded me of another young producer (Casey Keyworth aka Breakfast), but also had a very strong personal touch. In 2009 Matan was featured by Armin van Buuren on his yearly "A State Of Trance" compilation with the track "The Fractal Universe". It became an instant classic within the trance community and established Mat Zo as one of the most highly-regarded producers in the scene.