Droppin' Bombs

 Alright so we've been slacking a bit recently (only 11 posts in the first 21 days of february, yikes!), but fear not because we've got big things in store for this spring and this summer that we've been working on. Among some things we've got coming up are an interview with Sticky K and the resurrection of our weekly Saturday Essential mixes, except the mixes will be coming with a twist. Instead of just having one DJ do the mixes every week, we've decided that we're going to start using the weekly mix as a way to showcase talented DJs from around the world (DJs if this is something you're interested in, send us a demo mix or shoot us an email). Another thing we have coming up is later this spring we're going to start throwing events in southern California, and this summer we plan on doing a weekly club night with big name djs on the east coast, either in Washington DC or in New York, or maybe both. Stay tuned. For now though, enjoy the collection of great tunes I'm about to throw at you.

John Dahlback has been one of my favorite producers ever since seeing him perform on Ibiza last summer. The man is simply a masterful producer and DJ, able to easily conjure up moods and grooves like few others in the business are able to. I have two complete bombs from him here for you. The first, called Winter, is his newest single and it demonstrates a perfect execution of gorgeous piano-driven progressive house. The second, a remix of Benny Bennasi's recent single Electroman is a HUGE electro-house jam that features tribal drums and centers itself around a viciously massive synth line reminiscent of Congorock's  Babylon.
John Dahlback - Winter (Original Mix)



Benny Benassi Ft. T-Pain - Electroman (John Dahlback Remix)


New deadmau5 remix here, and I'm happy to say that it's rather progressive and quite wonderful, sounding more like the old Random Album Title deadmau5 than the new 4x4=12 shit. My faith in the mau5 has been continuously broken down, ever since his lackluster performance at last year's ultra and all of the terrible music he's been releasing lately. However, this remix, released this week on Ministry of Sound's Chilled House Session 2011, shows him returning to form, and hopefully this is a sign of more good things to come from Mr Zimmerman.
Marco Demark & Casey Barnes - Tiny Dancer (Deadmau5 Remix)


Avicii has been releasing music at a relentless pace recently, and one would probably expect that the quality would start to wane with him pumping out tunes at such a fast rate. Well, that's not the case,  as this remix shows.  I like the mix of the progressive sounding mallet hits with the electro drone that he seems to be favoring recently (see: the swede dreams remix I posted last week). I feel like this could mix seamlessly in a dj set with the awesome BOTNEK remix we posted a while back.
Maxie Devine, Viani DJ, Veersus - Dreamer feat. Janice Robison (Avicii Dream On Mix)


Eric Prydz never fails to impress. Big-room progressive house at its best here.
Pryda - M.S.B.O.Y


Miles Dyson takes an already incredibly massive song by our homeboy Sharooz and gives it a fresh glossing over on this one.
Sharooz - Get Off (Miles Dyson Remix)


BONUS
Hard Rock Sofa & St. Brothers - Blow Up  (Hook N Sling & Goodwill Remix)



Stay Classy,
Augustus

Megapost: Pyraminds

What you are about to witness is a megapost of irreverent proportion. This ambitious journey will traverse the genres of electronica, to electro, to French house, to tech house and back again. I don't even know what I'm talking about, to be honest, as I've been made delirious by the sheer volume of incredible tunes I am responsible for sharing with you all this evening.

The second single off of Cut Copy's new album is a suspenseful pop song arranged in the traditional build-and-release methodology of dance music. As the vocals become more and more aching and the drums pick up we sense the release is fast approaching.
Cut Copy - Need You Now

BONUS!! This flawless remix will get you dancing.
Cut Copy - Take Me Over (Mylo Remix)


Sidney Samson takes the new Rihanna single, bludgeons it into oblivion with an electro-sledgehammer and we're left with a searing banger with fantastic vocals as an added bonus.
Rhianna - S&M (Sidney Samson Club Mix)


Fellow Marylander Ian Carey killed this remix. Electro vibes amidst sexy house drums get the asses shakin' every time.
Alexandra Prince & Fireflies - I Can't Get Enough (Ian Carey Remix)


Usually when I tell people I'm not what you would call a "fan" of dubstep, they claim it's because I can't handle the bass. Well, that's simply not true. Case in point: I fucking love this ENTIRELY UNRELEASED, BRAND SPANKING NEW Skrillex remix of Benny Benassi's new single. And you say I never do anything nice for you...
Benny Benassi - Cinema ft. Gary Go (Skrillex Remix)


Miles Dyson, who was made known to me via his inclusion in Moby's legendary live DJ sets, has come out with a new electro track which can only be described using the words HUGE and GIGANTIC. It samples C-Mos' "2 Million Ways" to set the mood, after which it destroys any previous ideas of what you thought the mood of this song might be.
Miles Dyson - I-tune (Original Mix) [Removed by request]


Super fun French house remix from His Majesty Andre with raps over top courtesy of a fellow named Cerebral Vortex. And I've got to hand it to Vortex, his flow is on point.
Raziek & Cerebral Vortex - Killer (His Majesty Andre Remix)


TJR brings us a tune that's halfway between "remix" and "edit," adding some depth and needed fatness to a classic track from the legendary Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk fame.
Thomas Bangalter - Spinal Scratch (TJR's Bang Bus Remix)


Released last Friday on mau5trap records, this track from Moguai is an emotion-laden journey to the long lost land of Euphoria, where this song is played when children are born. It seems Moguai has been taking lessons from label boss deadmau5: the sophistication of the drums and the synth work approach the elevated level of the mau5's own productions.
Moguai - Opitnuum (Original Mix)


I would say this is the best song of this whole post, but what do I know, right? Frenchman and BNR label member Djedjotronic has here crafted some of the best techno to ever grace mine ears. When I hear this song, I am struck with awe and fear to think that Djedjotronic coaxed these unprecedented noises out of some sort of computer. If this song doesn't make you jump out of your seat and dance, you are either paralyzed or in need of serious psychiatric evaluation.
Chromeo - Hot Mess (Djedjotronic Remix)


the CLUBHAUS
this feature has been basically defunct recently considering everything I post these days could be considered "clubhaus" as per my crazed definition, but mark this post as the Clubhaus' triumphant return.

This techno track from Fazhands is just ever so nice, featuring soulful vocals from SoCal's Sam Wilkes.
Fazhands - Press Play ft. Sam Wilkes


Moar techno, this time from Harvard Bass, who has continually impressed me with his production skills since the release of "Listen to This," and boy how he's grown!
Worthy - Big Perm (Harvard Bass' Permed Out Remix)


Johnstar snatches up the highlights from one of Afrojack's more mediocre, progressive house efforts and turns it into a tech house monster with subtlety and a flick of the wrist.
Afrojack - Esther (Johnstar Remix)


This crude house tune from Stereo Palma really gets the blood flowing while broaching the subject of cunnilingus, a difficult feat indeed.
Stereo Palma - Lick It (Club Mix)


Deep , driving beats characterize Umek's productions, and this one is different. However, he's joined this time by Tomy DeClerque, whose presence seems to have afforded this track a more organic feel, something the clinical Umek can sometimes neglect.
Umek, Tomy DeClerque - Original Challenge (Original Mix)


Incredibly techy, progressive house tune from swiss model (?!!) Tanja La Croix, with drums that are damn near good enough to eat. The drop around 3:30 is particularly satisfying following the heightened suspense which precedes it.
Tanja La Croix - Hard To Handle ft. Andy P


And there you have it, 1hr40 of the best and freshest tunes, live and direct.

SIR REAL

Electric Zoo: Day 2

12:45 pm: Grum

Grum was incredible. I (Patrick) was the only one of the Bright&Shiny crew to make it to this early afternoon performance and I'm so glad that I did. Grum has been one of my favorite producers for quite a while now with his funky disco dance bass lines and genius remixes. Originality just oozes from this man. As he was strolling through the crowd after his set, I was lucky enough to be able to stop him and have a little chat. Quiet and reserved, he was kind enough to sign the cover of his new EP (I Can't Shake This Feeling) that I had picked up at the merchandise stand before his performance. Needless to say, I love him and everything he does.

Chelley - Took The Night (Grum Remix)

Grum - Can't Shake This Feeling (DCUP Remix)

5:00 pm: Moby

Moby was cool. He chose a really old school rave track list and threw in some remixes of his own classics like Porcelain. I realized about 10 minutes in that he was using the exact same track list from one of his DJ sets a year ago, but I didn't mind 'cause it was virtually a perfect track selection anyway. Here are some of our favorites from it.

Dero & Montero - The Big Room (Dero & Montero Mix) (FODIDO!)

Miles Dyson - Anthem

Fukkk Offf - Rave Is King (Zodiac Cartel Remix)

Moby - Porcelain (Moby Remix)

6:30 pm: Boys Noize

[Sir Real's screen name] (4:59:14 PM): how unremarkable was boys noize

[Augustus' screen name] (5:02:23 PM): yeah i thought he was being too like industrial and austerely crazy german for my likes

[Augustus] (5:02:44 PM): i usually dont like being assaulted like that when im fuzzily ENJOYING MYSELF [CONTENT CENSORED]

[Augustus] (5:03:00 PM): he was being mean

[Note: We LOVE Boys Noize, his set at Electric Zoo just didn't do anything to build upon his legend]

8:30 pm: A-Trak

So stupid. This man can cut like none other... literally, considering he won DMCs World DJ Championship in 1997 at age 15. Not only was this man scratching like the world champ that he is, he was dropping the heat left and right. A-Trak is by all regards a first rate DJ in any situation and seems to be most at home when spinning house. Plus, he announced that "Barbara Streisand" is due out October 4th! Not that we here at Bright & Shiny don't already have it for you in full 320 kbps quality... so sneaky. Here are the tracks I was together enough to write down from the set, all of which KILLED on the Red Bull Music Academy set up.
Jack Beats - Out Of Body

A-Trak - Loonies To Blow

Rogerseventytwo - Take Me Higher

Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand (MAMIHLAPINATAPAI!)


9:30 pm: John Digweed

The deepest of the deep, John Digweed is a librarian of excellence in dance music. We had the opportunity to see Steve Aoki or Armin van Buuren during this time slot but chose instead to close out our experience at the Zoo with Mr. Digweed. I didn't even know any songs from the set because it was so deep (although there are a couple at the bottom, here), but it was goood and cleansed the soul with its minimal, bassy grooves. I had heard that this man was a legend and now I know why. If you ever have the opportunity to see John Digweed throw down I advise that you do so with haste.

Triangle Ft. Mark Ridout - Five (We've Found It) (King Unique Dub)

Day 1 Wrap Up:

Axwell was dirty and functioned as the whole of Swedish House Mafia by dropping tons of SHM tracks including the amazing Miami 2 Ibiza. While my colleagues enjoyed the latter half of Benny Benassi, I (Patrick) couldn't resist heading over to catch some of this show. Axwell/SHM never do disappoint after all.

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix)

Eric Prydz - Slammin' (Axwell Remix)

Patrick + Sir Real + Augustus