This weekend myself and MC Shocker shall be making a debut in another town on the English south-west, Bridport, and then headlining Hard Life back in Wales in the small town of Port Talbot alongside Tranz-Linqunats, and my Dirt-E Secrets alter-ego.
Over on the production and Intolerance Recordings side of things: we have signed a few new tunes to the label that you can look out for over the next four weeks, plus we have released ‘So Far So Good’ and ‘Emotional Level’ by our good selves, with the latter being a collaboration with Mr Tranz-Linqunats.
Speaking of the Tranz-Linqunats collaborations, we released not one but TWO of our very own personal DJ tools recently: the DJ Fresh ‘Hot Right Now’ bootleg (that’s getting smashed by the likes of Kutski & Cally Gage) plus our ‘Cryptkeeper’ track that is one of our biggest hits on the dance floors at the minute!
S-U-L-L-Y ‘Lost In Space’ (Intolerance Recordings)
Since leaving the Shock:Force team at the beginning of the year, Sully has been tearing it up in the studio writing some euphoric trancey numbers that have been creating quite a stir on the circuit. Turning his hand back to hard dance, (European hard trance in particular), Sully returns to the scene with bang. It pretty much echoes the big Shock:Force sounds of the past two years or so, as of course he was the engineer. The riff work gives the older Sully solo efforts a ‘wink’ and this is, in my opinion, the best original hard trance track Sully has written. I liked it so much I decided to sign the track and get new boy on the block Tranz-Linquants on remix duties.
Tekno Tom ‘What Is Love’
Keeping with the Welsh flavour, (unbiased of course!), Tekno Tom is back once again with some serious sounds! With so many different styles of music being incorporated into hard dance at the moment - especially dubstep and hard trance into hardstyle - there always seems to be fresh vibes and talent appearing. This is, of course, fantastic for the scene, and Tekno Tom’s style is both original and rocking. This hard trance / hardstyle hybrid makes excellent use of cutting up the classic Haddaway vocal and has been in my CD wallet for a few weeks now. I've played it every set! A huge Euro trance riff accompanied by the current ‘Dutch bottom end’ trend and a sex-e urban break down (something that I really like) makes this a stand out tune for me. It’s been earmarked for White Blood Recordings, so look out for news on this very soon.
Jake Nicholls & Any Mason - ‘Baptism of fire’ Husband remix (Bionic digital
After picking up best UK event at the HDA for the 3rd year running, Bionic continue their onslaught in the digital market with this top release from Jake Nicholls and Andy Mason. Australia’s Jamie Brennan aka DJ Husband is on remix duty with the pick of the bunch for me. Hands-up-high and elation are the words that spring to mind when I listen to the main drop, a peaceful musical rush which is the calm before the storm. This track has the oh-so-perfect combination of going from euphoria to straight up chaos! As soon as the main build starts and you get a sniff of the second lead, you know it’s going to be mental! Hard hitting crowd pumping action which I have been dropping at the end of all my sets recently; top form from all involved.
Skrillex ‘Breaking sweat’ (Robb EJ bootleg)
Fast-paced bootleg action from Robb EJ which I think, although I may be mistaken, is his first solo track. It is the first piece of music he has sent my way that is not reverse bass hardstyle and it’s a decent effort. A great DJ tool that, as you already know from the title, re-works the massive ‘Breaking Sweat’ from superstar producer Skrillex. A hard dirty bass line is layered over the top of the original track that keeps all the essential fundamentals from the Skrillex hit. DJ support includes Cally & Juice and, of course, me!
Ultraviolence & Hardforze ‘Awaken’ (Ultraviolence)
Back to the sunshine in Australia and two of Australia's most prominent hard dance ambassadors! Hardforze & Ultraviolence team up to get their Euro hard trance game on with an uplifting monster on Ultraviolence recordings. Hardforze vs Suae ‘Inertia’, the Ultraviolence remix, was one of my favourite tunes from 2011, and this track follows the same path. A nice DJ friendly intro that drops then rebuilds with some classic stabs and Scot Project-esque synth patterns lead the way to a cool building riff, complete with a lovely bass key change that guarantees to make these style tracks a winner! The main lead is a happy up-tempo affair that uses some real nice short keys that give the track a feel of real energy. DBS and DJ Medowz are on hand for remixes that are also big and worth a listen.
