Posts filed under 'Dance Music'
Chart updated: 11/10/08 (and some other music news)
I was struck this evening by the fact that while I’m a dance DJ, and I love dance music, the truth is, I just love music, dance or otherwise. But before I get into that, and perhaps some of the surprises that go with it, I’ll briefly talk about the chart update.
This past week, Britney Spears ended-up at #1 with Womanizer. Say what you will about the woman, but her producers (and the various remixers on the project) sure know how to turn out good material. There are several terrific mixes floating around, and apparently I’m not the only one who’s digging them.
At #2 is my friend Jacinta, with her latest, Electric Universe, which I blogged about recently. The more I hear this song, the more I like it, and the more I’m enjoying some of ther mixes other than the Robert G. mix I initially fell for.
You can view the chart here for the rest, but one other notable is mid-chart… Milk & Sugar Presents MS2, with Stay Around. There’s a superb mix from Germany’s Spencer & Hill that I always play, and really, really enjoy. The production’s great, and I love the soulful vocal. A friend of mine commented, “Someone should buy that girl some more lyrics,” and yeah, I would agree it’s a bit redundant. But it’s nonetheless enjoyable to my ears.
OK, back to the music surprises.
I was listening to some DJ promos online tonight, and some of the promos are pop, alternative, country, etc. Normally I limit myself to dance (obviously), but I decided to preview some of the other tracks, including a new single from LeAnn Rimes, and it suddenly struck me… Yes, I love dance music, but as I said at the beginning of this post, I also just love music, period. No, I don’t spend much time listening to country. But what’s not to appreciate when you have a talent like LeAnn Rimes?
Two tracks really stood out that are deserving of mention.
First, Keane’s new single, The Lovers are Losing. Their notable hit single from a couple of years ago, Is it Any Wonder? was my ringtone for months, and Lovers has the same incredible hit potential. Great songwriting, great lyrics, and an incredible performance make this an almost surefire hit. For dance lovers like me, there were some great remixes of Wonder, and I hope that some might be made available soon for Lovers. In the meantime, this one’s finding a home on my iPod.
Second, Canadian Idol’s most recent winner, Theo Tams, offers-up Sing. As near as I can determine, this track is unavailable in the U.S., which is a shame. While Sing is the “winner’s song” written and selected for him by the show’s producers, it is nonetheless a pleasant, enjoyable, ballad with a nice piano foundation, and with great hit potential as well since it’s likely to crossover well between AC, AAA and other mainstream radio formats. Typical of the Idol franchise, anyone from the teen fans of Tams to someone like my mother could enjoy this track.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this brief break. Back to the dance music. 
Wes
2 comments November 11, 2008
An interesting observation about music
Many DJs these days have discovered the effectiveness of harmonic mixing: making sure that the track you’re mixing out of is harmonically compatible with the one you’re mixing into.
Most DJs I know don’t know jack about music, or more specifically, music theory. (For that matter, most composers of electronic music that I know don’t know jack about music.) For the most part, it’s not really necessary. We’ve all been around music long enough to know, by ear alone, what works and what doesn’t, and our love of music means we’re tuned-in to start with.
In any case, when you really pay attention to what works harmonically, one’s sets improve. But some transitions are harder than others, due to the fact that there aren’t many songs in particular keys you might otherwise need to pick from. I decided to go about counting the number of songs I have in each key, and the results were interesting.
To start with, as is typical of popular music, the vast majority of songs are in minor keys. So there’s a split. In fact, 88% of the songs in my collection are in minor keys; only 12% are in major ones.
The most popular key—by a lot, actually—is A minor. Not a huge surprise, given that on a keyboard, A minor can be played solely on the white keys (none of those scary black ones). ;-) Surprisingly, among major keys, F and G are tied for first place—each with a single black key in-use—not C, which also uses solely the white keys.
The rarest of the minor keys is A flat minor. This isn’t a surprise either, really, since every single note in the scale is flatted, and the only white keys you use are C flat and F flat. The rarest key period is F#, which largely has the reverse problem (everything but B is sharped).
You’d have to be a bit of a music geek to even understand this post, or actually, to particularly care about it. But I thought it was interesting to observe what was going on.
One of the reasons I find this fascinating is to see what if any difference there might be in whether a track gets played based on its key. If A flat minor is the rarest key, and a DJ needs to mix into A flat minor to maintain an energetic mix (harmonics and energy mixing are beyond the scope of this particular blog post), then would songs in that key get played more often—and/or are they more likely to get played in the first place? I don’t know the answer, but I will say that tends to be the case for me in those situations where I’m actively trying to build energy through harmonic choices.
Maybe if I’m really bored someday, I’ll start tracking the keys of songs that show-up in DJ charts and see if any patterns emerge. Or maybe I’ll leave the music geekdom to someone else. 
Wes
Add comment October 28, 2008
Jacinta’s new single finally out
My friend Jacinta, who is a genuine sweetheart in addition to a truly talented songstress, has finally put her latest single and remix package in the can. Titled Electric Universe, she’s been performing it live for several months now, and I’ve been really anxious to hear the song myself. I’m pleased to report that she’s very likely got another hit on her hands.
I became familiar with Jacinta in 2006 when she released Destination, a song I still enjoy. Then came 2007’s Can’t Keep it a Secret, which was simply amazing.
As was the case with Secret, Jacinta and her production team brought a number of remixers to the table, cranking out a remix package that takes the song in a lot of different directions. Since I just got the promo today, I’ve not had a chance to listen to all of them in intimate detail just yet.
But one of the mixes stood out to me immediately: the “Robert G Club Mix.” Compared to a quick and dirty preview of the other mixes, it stood out as really adding a terrific kick to Jacinta’s energetic vocal, which seemed lacking a bit on the other mixes.
I’ll follow-up as soon as I have a chance to give the entire package a decent listen, but I encourage you to check it out on Perfect Beat. MasterBeat will be offering it for sale soon as well.
Wes
Add comment October 17, 2008
My screen acting debut
OK, so that’s an attention-grabbing headline. The truth is, I did make my screen acting debut, but it’s about 2 seconds or so in length.
The new music video for recording artist Rikah’s track, Everything is Changing, was released just yesterday. (You can view it on YouTube.) Assembled by some of the great folks at Import Sound and Vision in California, the video is set to the great Verano Remix of the song, and blends footage taken last October (2007) in Las Vegas, with some video shot here in Denver at Tracks Nightclub late last year. The Tracks footage includes some energetic dancing crowd shots, with my buddy DJ Brian Howe doing his thing. I had opened for Brian the night the video was taken, and was hanging out with him in the booth during the shoot. You’ll see my brief cameo toward the end of the video. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. Here’s a screen shot in case you do:
DJ Brian Howe and DJ Wesley at Tracks, in the Rikah video
I was surprised to learn that I was in the finished product, and I’m thrilled that it was associated with the amazing Rikah, who is one of the most amazing, most talented people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting—a rare gem of a person on every level. (Love ya, baby!)
Enjoy the video at the YouTube link (above), along with all the rest of the videos from recent CAPP Records releases.
Add comment September 19, 2008
Groovin’ with the Factory
One bit of weirdness when it comes to the dance music industry is that artist and track names seem to have less relevance than they did at one point, or even today with other genres. My theory is that it’s due to the relative unimportance of the long-form album in dance (few produce them these days, though there are notable exceptions with artists like Moby, ATB, DJ Encore, etc.), and beyond that, that singles tend not only to be the focus, but that they are islands—projects with a start, and a defined end, at which point they’re released, promoted (or not), and the producers and/or vocalists move-on to the next project. Finally, it think it has something to do with the fact that in dance, the original producer, the vocalist (if applicable), and the remixers on a specific project are all islands too… Often times, they come together, they do something, they move-on to other collaborations.
Whatever the cause, it has the rather strange side-effect that talented producers end-up working under numerous aliases, project names, group names and so on much of the time. If you are a fan of a specific individual, it becomes a bit of a challenge to figure out what they’re actually working on at any given moment. (That dance artists in general don’t seem to understand even the most basic aspects of marketing or building brand contributes greatly to this too.)
One of the more talented production teams in my view is UK-based Soul Seekerz, consisting of Simon Langford, Julian Napolitano and Andrew Galea. Napolitano in particular goes under numerous monikers, including One Hit Wonder (with Soul Seekerz partner Simon Langford), Ruff Loaderz (with Sheryl Deane), and Perpetual Motion (with Andy Manston). Langford also has a number of names, including Avalon Superstar (with Billy Mead), and Koishii & Hush (with Alex Sowyrda). I’m sure I could go on… You get the point.
Along with each single being an island, it’s not unusual in dance for an artist to work with several different record labels. Many so-called “record deals” in dance are informal, and usually it’s a singles-focused deal. Gone are the days that many people still think exist, where associating one’s self with a record label is some sort of sweet high-dollar deal with big advances, slick parties, limos and all that. Not anymore. Not in dance anyway, and probably not in today’s broader music industry. And seemingly way more often than not, artists create their own “record labels” to release their tracks, bypassing established labels in an effort to keep as much of the limited take that exists these days as possible.
Which brings me to the real subject of this post: Groove Factory Records.
Scant information is actually available, but as near as I’m able to piece together, this Boston and UK-based record label was started by Simon Langford and Billy Mead for their joint project, Avalon Superstar (which features the vocals of the talented Rita Campbell).
These days, they’ve been taking-on some additional projects that for all I know are just other names for Langford and Mead. This summer, in particular, Groove Factory released a pair of incredibly strong dance tracks.
Loveless feat. Amanda Wilson with Found a Miracle is the one of the pair of songs that’s gained some traction in radio and club play. Wilson’s vocals are, as usual, very strong (she’s a staple of dance, having worked extensively with Freemasons), matched with good songwriting and some sweet production work from the remixers on the project.
The other track I’ve grown attached to is Lisa Law’s Wicked Ways, which was distributed to promotion several weeks ago, but which I haven’t heard being played or seen being charted anywhere outside of my own sets and my own chart. Law is a UK singer-songwriter, and the sole club-length mix is from Soul Seekerz (Langford/Napolitano/Galea again), and is perhaps one of the catchiest pieces of production work I’ve heard in the past few months. The rhythm track is driving and razor-sharp, typical of Soul Seekerz, and the samples and instrumentation used in the arrangement are very well thought out, and well chosen. As a complete track, it represents some of the very best of today’s house music in my view, and it baffles me why this track hasn’t been more widely picked-up. Much to the chagrin of some of my audience, it’s also not available for sale yet through any of the usual suspects; so many people are clamoring to get this song, it’s a shame that Groove Factory are keeping it under wraps for whatever reason.
In any case, it’s clear that Langford and Mead are a very talented, very capable duo. I have no idea what their plans are for Groove Factory, but if they keep cranking out work like their own Avalon Superstar project, Loveless, and the Lisa Law release, I can guarantee they’ll continue to find a strong audience.
Add comment September 12, 2008
Joshua Klipp gives life to L1FE
One of the greatest aspects of DJ’ing is the experience of interacting with people. By and large, that’s the audiences I play for, but from time to time, I have the great pleasure of meeting the people behind the music I promote and play, and it’s absolutely one of the great joys of being in this business.
I recently had the pleasure of exchanging some e-mail with Joshua Klipp, whose new song, L1FE, is a new entry on this week’s dance chart. The Jamie Sanchez mix is the one I’ve been spinning, and I really like the production work Sanchez put into it. But the lyric and the vocal are Klipp’s, and while the vocal styling might be seen as perhaps “boybandesque,” I really like the freshness of the sound with that vocal style overlaid on a dance beat. He sings from the heart, and you hear it in the performance.
Klipp says the song is particularly special to him, and when I listen to the lyric, I can understand why.
Give the sample a listen on his MySpace page, or take a peek at his web site to find out more about him, and see what you think.
Keep listening,
Wes
Add comment August 7, 2008
Who says MySpace is useless?
Like a lot of people these days, I find myself bearish on MySpace. Often it’s not much more than huge pile of remarkably ugly web pages that look like they were built with Microsoft FrontPage back in 1996. In so many ways, the web has moved ahead, and then there’s MySpace, mired in its aesthetically questionable past, frequently about half broken functionally, and lacking much in the way of substance.
But also like a lot of people these days, I find myself still using MySpace. Despite what it is or isn’t, I add friends, and use it as a platform to learn the basics about musical artists. Once in awhile, I manage to stumble across an artist I wasn’t familiar with while browsing other peoples’ friends lists, etc. That happened in a good way late last year, when I came across the MySpace page of German artist, eto.
I recently gained access to his record company’s promos, and while I’d seen the video for his single, Bicurious, and had heard samples of the song, being able to listen to his entire album Plastic Poetry was one of the most pleasant musical surprises I’ve had in a very, very long time.
To start, eto’s vocals are amazing. I’m a sucker for accented English, but that aside, his voice is smooth, on-pitch, and warm, and it’s coupled with solid production work, solid both because his vocals shine through the mix brilliantly, but also in terms of the arrangements, which are perfectly balanced and emphasize artistry and songwriting over merely piling-on sample after sample, layer after layer.
In addition to Bicurious, eto’s record label has released Hideaway as a single, and both songs are supported by a range of remixes that run the gamut from housey to edgy. I can see why both were selected for single release, but an equally strong track that wasn’t is Another Night. The stock album version of the song is dance-floor-friendly, and has actually been the track of eto’s I’ve been playing the most.
I think one of the things that surprised me the most about the album is the amount of territory it manages to cover, and yet manages to do so with continuity. From Another Night’s clear dance vibe, to a guitar-rich ballad in Nobody Knows, to the very 80s-new-wave-sounding Alien Lover and Taste the Difference that stir memories of Gary Numan or perhaps Depeche Mode, to Falling which sort of reminds me of Ultravox, the album seems to go all over the place and yet pulls it off. I can’t quite put my finger on the common thread with Plastic Poetry, but it might be the well-written lyrics that are at times whimsical (Alien Lover) and at others remarkably “heart-worn-on-the-shirtsleeve” (Nobody Knows).
In an age where the full-length album seems to be a dying breed, it’s nice to know that an artist (and his record company) can still manage to construct one at all, let alone one that is artfully produced and a sheer pleasure to listen to, end-to-end, over-and-over.
Check it out on iTunes worldwide, and at http://www.etomusik.de.
Add comment June 10, 2008
Amazing new track from Taio Cruz
One of the roles of a good club DJ, in my view, is staying on top of what’s happening with music, and working actively to find new material that you can, in-turn, introduce others to.
It’s actually a tough job, because at this point, there’s such a strong flow of new music from all sides. A lot of it’s good, a lot of it’s not, and of course there are the standouts that are pathetically bad or surprisingly strong. Not surprisingly, most of it lives somewhere in the middle, but this week, I was really struck by a song I was previewing.
Taio Cruz is a British singer/songwriter, and honestly, until this week I’d never heard of the guy. Among his claims to fame is penning the song Your Game for Will Young, winner of the first season of Pop Idol in the UK (the original series that spawned American Idol), not that that would have earned him much recognition here in the States (it was a strong single in the UK, however).
This month, his label (Island/Universal) released his new single, I Can Be. The production on the dance mix struck me immediately; there was something about the chord progression or arrangement that just spoke to me. But when Cruz starting singing, and the lyrics registered, I was quite literally emotionally moved by the song.
The beautifully written and yet startlingly simple lyrics convey a message that virtually all of us need to hear and can relate to, one of triumph over difficulty; that we are far more capable than most of us think we are. I’m a sucker for uplifting lyrics of the “positive thinking” vein, and this is one of the best of that type that I’ve heard in a long time.
Regrettably, the single is not yet released in North America, and I have no idea if Island/Universal is planning to do so. But I assume promoting it to DJs here is a sign that they intend to. I hope they do; Cruz deserves all the success he can get putting out music like I Can Be.
You can hear the non-dance version of the song on Cruz’ web site, as well as see the video that accompanies it, on his web site at http://www.taiocruzmusic.co.uk.
Add comment May 29, 2008
Chart updated: 5/9/08
OK, well, maybe the chart wasn’t updated on the 9th, but the Top 25 Dance Chart for the week has now been posted for your enjoyment.
I’m a little surprised that the top two slots are still holding for Elena and Velvet, but they are unchanged from last week.
Moving to #3 is the amazing Love Resurrection from Aurora feat. Amanda Wilson. I simply love this song, and audiences seem to enjoy it as well. As I have blogged previously, it’s a great remake of an old Alison Moyet song, and the production work from Aurora is just amazing.
Another song making a big jump is Australia’s Raen with Dramatic Fanatic at #5. It’s a fun song, I think, with interesting lyrics and great production. This track apparently hasn’t been signed to a label in the US that I can tell, so it’s tough to find.
With the availability of some new mixes for Freemasons’ Uninvited, the tracks has reappeared on my chart at #12.
Nothing else particularly shocking on the chart, other than the reappearance of Basshunter’s Now You’re Gone after a temporary drop-off.
In the new adds department, a new song from CAPP, as yet unreleased, is DJ Skillmaster with Summertime. The underlying song from Skillmaster is actually a couple of years old. It was a good track on its own, but Dany Wild’s new remix is why I’ve started playing it. The track has a whole new feel and energy. The song will be released with a newly-filmed video this summer; I’m just getting an early start with this one.
Among the hot adds this week are CoCo Star’s fab new single, Kick Yourself, along with Michelle Williams’ soulful and groovy We Break the Dawn, and perhaps my favorite of the bunch, Robbie Rivera feat. Denise Rivera (no relation!) with Back to Zero, which is particularly strong on all front (lyrically, vocals, production).
Enjoy…
Wes
Add comment May 12, 2008
Feeling naughty?
I’m bombarded with new music almost daily, and while that’s a good thing, I find it’s taking more and more for a track to really grab me right off the bat these days. One track that has done just that is a new one from French producer Frederic Faupin, under the alias “Jack in Da Box” (credited by some as “Jackindabox,” all one word).
The song is titled Feeling Naughty, and it’s got a great, grungy, gritty production that has at the same time got a sort of classic house feel to it, while sounding quite electro overall. I think it might be the soulful vocal (uncredited female) that sort of tilts this one off balance and makes it difficult to pigeonhole. She sounds like something out of a 1970s B-movie, perhaps, but somehow everything just sort of works together nicely.
As of this writing, you can hear the song in the music player located on the Jack in Da Box MySpace page. See what you think, but this is one I’m having trouble getting out of my head at the moment.
Add comment May 6, 2008
