Archive for June, 2009
Playlist for Friday Night House Party Mixshow #35 (6/26/2009)
Here’s what you heard last Friday on the DJ Wesley Friday Night House Party on iDanceRadio.fm:
- Steelers feat. Naomi – Time 2 Wait (Bellatrax DJ Wesley Restitch)
- Sybil – Stronger (Stonebridge Extended Vocal Mix)
- Gia Bella – Back it Up (Dave Aude Club Remix)
- Jessica Jarrell – Armageddon (Joe Bermudez Chico Club Mix)
- Miami Starfish feat. Jermaine Stewart – Clothes Off! (Soul Seekerz Club Mix)
- Jan Wayne vs. RainDropz! – Numb (Re-Fuge Electro Club Remix)
- Daisy – Everytime (Buzz Junkies Club Mix)
- Katy Perry – Waking Up in Vegas (Jason Nevins Electrotec Club Remix)
- Vincent Medugno – We Are Meant to Be (Georgie Porgie Extended Mix)
- David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland – When Love Takes Over (Original Extended Mix)
- Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hook Up (Ashanti Boyz Club Mix)
- Consoul Trainin’ feat. Joan Kolova – Nothing Compares To You (Agent Greg Extended Mix)
- Wideband Network – Bad Days (Extended Mix)
- Nemesis – Number One in Heaven (Dave Audé Mixshow Edit)
- Ameerah – The Sound of Missing You (Extended Mix)
- Whigfield – Saturday Night ‘09 (Sunflake Club Mix)
- Novaspace – Time After Time Rebirth (Club Mix)
- Yass – When Doves Cry (Yass Main Mix)
- Kurd Maverick – Blue Monday (Vandalism Club Mix)
- Deko-ze vs. Nick Fiorucci – Feel Love (Nick Fiorucci Revisit Club)
- September – Until I Die (Dave Ramone Club Mix)
- V Factory – Love Struck (Gomi & Rasjek Club Mix)
- Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor (Cahill Remix)
I hope you can tune-in this Friday for another two hours of great music, mixed live!
Add comment June 30, 2009
The sound of a new Belgian import
Belgium may stick out more in my mind for great chocolate than for dance music, but Robbins Entertainment picked a particularly strong track to bring to the US from that European country in Ameerah’s The Sound of Missing You.
As I’ve written here several times, I always pay attention to lyrics, and I love a well-written set of words that tell a story, convey emotion, and generally make me feel something. And The Sound of Missing You delivers.
The song was written by Swedish producers and brothers Sebastian and Didrik Thott, along with Carl Björsell and Ameerah El Ouiglani herself. The Thotts have penned songs for Celine Dion and Lindsay Lohan among others, and certainly brought their talents to bear on this project.
Ameerah’s vocals, however, are perhaps the main reason this song works so incredibly well. They are silky-smooth, heavy with emotion, and just plain beautiful.
There are only a couple of different mixes on the release; the original, plus one from producer Dave Ramone, each in a radio and extended versions. But it doesn’t need any others; the production on the original version is polished and flawless, and both radio- and club-friendly. And the reception to this track has been strong so far.
It’ll be interesting to see how this release does, and what’s next from Ameerah.
1 comment June 29, 2009
Facebook’s Achilles Heel (sorry, Facebook friends)
I realize that this posting is pretty off-topic, but here goes… This weekend when I have some time, I’ll be de-friending a pile of people on Facebook. It’s nothing personal; it’s just that Facebook’s Achilles Heel is becoming more and more painful, and it calls for extreme measures.
What the hell am I talking about? Well, bear with.
Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life. That’s what they say, right on their home page. But let’s take a quick inventory of the various types of “people in my life:”
- Best friends
- Casual friends
- Work friends at my current day job
- Work friends from previous day jobs
- DJ friends
- Online friends
- Family friends
- Immediate family members
- Extended family members
- Neighbors
I’m probably missing some of them, but 10 different types of “friends” is probably sufficient to make my point. Which is, do I really want my neighbors or work colleagues to know about the trepidation I’m feeling about my upcoming proctological examination? Do I really want my nieces and nephews to know that I just told a nasty joke about my sister-in-law at work, that my co-workers can’t stop bringing-up? Do I really want my family and boss to hear about how I tied one on at a DJ gig, or to see all the stupid Facebook Mobile photo uploads I made at the time? (For the record, my ass is fine, and I don’t even have a brother. The last example, unfortunately, is true.)
Think I’m wrong about this? The Internet is rife with examples of me being even more right than a simple embarrassment about a doctor’s appointment. Like losing your job over a Facebook posting that the “wrong friends” saw, or having the authorities use photos and comments you’ve posted against you.
Facebook fairly recently started allowing you to group your friends. I have no idea what value this is, considering that once they’re grouped, you get precisely zero control over what happens from there. Want to post something only for your co-workers friends group? Good luck. Want to make sure the ridiculous pictures from the family picnic go only to your family? Yeah, sure. Dream on. Filtering who I see on my home page on-demand isn’t really my idea of control, but it’s the limit of what these groups can deliver.
The stupid assumption that all the people in your life are created equal is laced throughout Facebook, and changing it would require a massive overhaul of the Facebook infrastructure. I’m wagering we’ll never see that overhaul happen. Ever.
So the Achilles Heel… Just like Facebook was a way better MySpace (and what it did to MySpace is suddenly becoming very, very apparent), all it’s going to really take to put Facebook in its place is someone to develop a better mousetrap with a compelling reason to start using it, and for me, that service is that one that does everything Facebook does—while giving me the ability to filter, separate and control my various public and private faces. With technology, and with web-based services specifically, people can be (and are) supremely fickle. The Internet is littered with has-beens and their entrails, and if anyone thinks Facebook, Google, Flickr or anyone else is going to stand on top forever is kidding themselves. They will stay on top only as long as it takes for someone to create a clearly better approach and get a little momentum going. Many people are already trying; most of them will fail miserably. Will it be a long haul? Yes. Is it impossible? Not even a little. And as I said, the first Facebook challenger to do this right? I’m all over it.
So back to Facebook. Apologies in advance to the family members, the co-workers, and others who are going to get tossed from my friends list this weekend. Don’t take it personally. My participation in Facebook is changing to a very narrowly-defined purpose, and anyone on my friends list who doesn’t really fit that is getting deleted. It’s just the way it is. Blame it on Facebook and the fact that they have a seriously flawed concept. And blame it on the fact that, at least for now, I have no interest in maintaining 2, 3, 4, 5, or maybe 6 or more different Facebook profiles so I can limit who gets to hear what; that’s way too much work—and just not worth it.
2 comments June 26, 2009
It’s Med-oon-yo
One of my favorite recent releases is a great track from a newcomer, just put out a couple of weeks ago on Casa Records. The song is We Are Meant to Be, and the artist is Vincent Medugno.
With my decidedly mutt genetic roots, that include a total absence of any Italian, I had no idea how to pronounce this guy’s name, and when faced with the need to say it on-mic recently, I totally botched it.
Freddy Retro, a New York producer who worked on the release, set the record straight for me recently. It’s pronounced, “Med-oon-yo.” So easy and seemingly obvious once he told me. *sigh*
Anyway, check out the track… You can hear it in Vincent’s MySpace player. I’ve been playing the mix from the incredible Georgie Porgie, but there’s a number of great mixes to choose from, including Freddy’s own.
With a debut this strong, I’m gonna wager this isn’t the last we’re going to hear from Med-oon-yo. 
Add comment June 25, 2009
Where are all the women?
Last week, as I was sort of assessing the Denver DJ scene online (long story for another blog post), I stumbled across Sonic Kiss. They’re a collective of female DJs here, and while I’ve not heard or seen them, I thought it was cool they… Existed.
It’s possible that I just don’t get out enough, but it did get me wondering… Where are all the women? Dance music seems to be dominated by men. Obviously they’re out there, as Sonic Kiss demonstrates. And I recently met a new friend, Jessica, who’s a DJ as well (although I’ve not heard her yet). But it’s clear that the DJ scene is way disproportionately dominated by the guys.
It happens on the production side, too. Denise Gurney, better known as Twisted Dee, is the only female dance producer / remixer that I’m personally aware of. There are tons of female vocalists in dance music, and there are probably more female producers that I’ve just not come across. But considering just how much music I listen to in a week’s time, the fact I can name only one is pretty telling.
There are a whole lot of areas where I think we could use more female influence, and one of them is dance music. This isn’t the time or the venue to get into a discussion about the genders, but I think it’s fair to say that men and women typically bring something a little different to any particular table, as do people of different cultures, lifestyles, and so forth. To me, that’s the most important part of diversity to start with… Fairness is important, yes, but whatever we’re talking about—a business, an industry, whatever—benefits from the differing perspectives perhaps more than the individuals involved benefit from the level playing field.
But I digress.
Hey ladies… Wanna be a DJ? Wanna produce dance music? Get your girly selves in here, because while I don’t have issues with the guys, we need you, too.
Add comment June 24, 2009
Playlist for Friday Night House Party Mixshow #34 (6/19/2009)
Alright, here’s what played last Friday on the DJ Wesley Friday Night House Party on iDanceRadio.fm:
- Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hook Up (Ashanti Boyz Club Mix)
- Booty Luv – Say It (Warren Clarke Vocal Mix)
- Miami Starfish feat. Jermaine Stewart – Clothes Off! (Soul Seekerz Club Mix)
- Kristinia DeBarge – Goodbye (Hott 22 Club Mix)
- Steelers feat. Naomi – Time 2 Wait (Bellatrax Extended Mix)
- Gathania – Get It Out (2009 Extended Mix)
- Ameerah – The Sound of Missing You (Extended Mix)
- Whigfield – Saturday Night ‘09 (Sunflake Club Mix)
- Lady Gaga – Poker Face (Glam As You Club Mix)
- Mike Bordes pres. Angela Severiano – Don’t Know What U Got (Original Extended Mix)
- Pepper MaShay – Freeway of Love (Oscar Salguero Club Mix)
- Jessica Jarrell – Armageddon (StoneBridge Club Mix)
- Vincent Medugno – We Are Meant to Be (Georgie Porgie Extended Mix)
- Katy Perry – Waking Up in Vegas (Jason Nevins Electrotec Club Remix)
- Jacinta – Electric Universe (Robert G Club Mix)
- Alan Pride – In Heaven (Klub Mix)
- Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow (DJ IcePat Remix)
- Jan Wayne vs. RainDropz! – Numb (Re-Fuge Electro Club Remix)
- Beatnik Castle feat. Francillia – Will U B Mine (Lenny B Extended Club Mix)
- Ben Coen – Check This Out (Original Extended Club Mix)
If you tuned-in, I hope you enjoyed it. If not, tune-in this Friday at 10 Eastern, 7 Pacific, for another two great hours of groovin’ sounds to get your weekend kicked-off in style!
Add comment June 23, 2009
Chart update 6/19/09
This morning, I posted the latest update to my Top 25 dance chart, covering the period through last Friday. No real shockers or big movers; the top three just jockeyed a bit. Here are a few miscellaneous comments:
- Katy Perry rose with the infectious Waking Up in Vegas. Probably her best single to-date, this one’s a crowd-pleaser, and I just dig her cool vocals and the funky songwriting.
- Oceana’s Body Rock moved-up to #4, and I continue to really like this track (and so do the people I play for). It’s just one of those nice, gritty tracks that pushes you up off your butt and onto the dance floor… You can’t help it.
- Livvi Franc’s Now I’m That Bitch, at #20, is one I’m really liking too, probably just because it’s a song with attitude. I still can’t believe that there’s a version some people are playing that’s been sanitized to Now I’m That Chick. Please! The word “bitch” is that offensive? That damaging to “the children?” Whatever…
Have a great week.
Add comment June 22, 2009
A storied song gets a dance treatment
The controversial Sinéad O’Connor is fairly well-known, but I’d be hard-pressed to recall any of her songs, with one exception: Nothing Compares 2 U.
I was surprised to find out that Nothing was penned by Prince back in 1985, but it was Sinéad’s cover in 1990 that propelled her (and the song) to worldwide recognition.
I wouldn’t have seen the song as a good candidate for a dance cover, but that’s precisely what we have now from Consoul Trainin, one of the names used by Greek producer John Efthimiou (a/k/a John Stephanel), with vocals provided by Joan Kolova, whose has graced other Consoul Trainin projects.
Released under the modified title Nothing Compares to You, and finding its way to the US on the Redstick label, it’s a competent, inviting reinterpretation of the song. A number of mixes are available that go from chilly and loungey, to pretty “out there.”
Kolova’s vocals don’t attempt to replicate O’Connor’s distinctive sound (a strategy that is perhaps too-often used in dance covers), but rather, gives the song a cool, new sound that is at once familiar, and fresh.
Efthimiou chose remixers for the project that are, to me anyway, unfamiliar (which is a great opportunity to find some new sounds). My preferred mix is from another Greek producer, Agent Greg, but you can check more of them out on Consoul Trainin’s MySpace page (link at the top of this entry).
Add comment June 17, 2009
Playlist for Friday Night House Party Mixshow #33 (6/12/2009)
Alright, just pulled together the playlist for last Friday’s DJ Wesley Friday Night House Party, and here it is! Be sure and tune-in each Friday night on iDanceRadio.fm, at 7 Pacific, 10 Eastern. Need a reminder? Follow me on Twitter; just click the Twitter logo on my web site.
- Vincent Medugno – We Are Meant to Be (Georgie Porgie Extended Mix)
- Katy Perry – Waking Up in Vegas (Jason Nevins Electrotec Club Remix)
- Wideband Network – Bad Days (Extended Mix)
- Ithaka Maria – Confession (Viani Club Mix)
- amberRose Marie – Wanna Be a DJ (Josh Harris Club Mix)
- Sunfreakz – Drive Out (Original Mix)
- Livvi Franc – Now I’m That Bitch (Mike Rizzo Funk Generation Club Mix)
- Daisy – Everytime (Buzz Junkies Club Mix)
- Jacinta – Electric Universe (Robert G Club Mix)
- Liquid Spill – In the Heat of the Night (Pop Me Extended Mix)
- Mike Bordes pres. Angela Severiano – Don’t Know What U Got (Original Extended Mix)
- Sirens – Dreams (Tony Arzadon & Nathan Scott Extended Remix)
- David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland – When Love Takes Over (Original Extended Mix)
- A.R. Rahman feat. The Pussycat Dolls – Jai Ho (Soul Seekerz Vocal Mix)
- Steelers feat. Naomi – Time 2 Wait (Bellatrax Extended Mix)
- De-Grees vs. The Real Booty Babes – Apologize (Sunloverz vs. Michael Mind Club Remix)
- Lucardo Parena feat. Antonia Lucas – Let It Be Me (Wendel Kos First Sunlight Mix)
- Beat Thrillerz feat. Elissa – Your Love Still Haunts Me (Original Extended Mix))
- Oceana – Body Rock (Dave Aude Vocal Mix)
- Pepper MaShay – Freeway of Love (Oscar Salguero Club Mix)
- Yass – When Doves Cry (Yass Main Mix)
“See” you Friday!
Add comment June 16, 2009
Chart update 6/12/09
This morning, I posted an update to my weekly dance chart, covering through last Friday. I’m happy to report that after 7 weeks at the #1 spot (which certainly must be some sort of record for my chart), Danny Saucedo has finally been pushed from it. And considering I haven’t seen Saucedo in anyone else’s dance chart, nor is the track even for sale in the U.S. last I checked, I clearly must be nuts. But anyway…
Hardly surprising, but David Guetta’s fab track with Kelly Rowland takes the #1 spot this week. I’ve blogged enough about the track, but when good songwriting, good production, good vocals, and decent promotion all collide, a hit is sort of a given.
Taking-up #2 is another really incredible song from Agnes Carlsson, winner of the second season of Swedish Idol and now making a name for herself simply as “Agnes.” Release Me is another one of those songs that you just can’t help but like, as if it was carefully engineered to succeed. Carlsson has a tremendous voice, and the songwriting is strong.
The #3 spot is another that’s not a surprise to me; Daisy with Everytime. What really makes this track work for me isn’t so much the capable vocals of Daisy (whoever she is; and who decided that mononymousness was a good idea?), but the stellar production work of Buzz Junkies, who are responsible for the mix I spin. Buzz Junkies are UK-based Rob Searle and Mark Allan, and they never fail to impress. Everytime is arguably their bes work to-date; it’s got a perfect gritty, deep, and textured sound that just forces you up out of your chair to groove.
You can check out the chart to see the rest, but a couple of quick comments on the Hot Adds this week:
- I’m really enjoying a new track from Estonia’s Ithaka Maria, Confession. The mixes all seem to have a sort of unusual quality that appeals to me, along with its lyrical interest.
- New artist Vincent Medugno with We Are Meant to Be is another great new track from Casa Records. There are a number of great mixes, but I’ve been playing the one from singer/producer Georgie Porgie. It’s another infectious track.
Have a great week.
Add comment June 15, 2009
