Yamil Colucci's Mix of Sasha's "Bloodlock"

Yamil Colucci has a New Year's Eve remix Sasha's "Bloodlock" and is offering it as a free download on SoundCloud.  Download it here.

Two Guys, All In

I gave a listen to Guy Mantzur's guest mix on John Digweed's Transitions (#485:  Dec 13, 2013) today and there was a badass track right after the break in the middle that caught my attention.  It's titled "All In" by Guy Mantzur and Guy J and it's available for a crazy $.69 right now on the US iTunes Store.  Beatport is listing it for a $1.99 so get it:

Guy Mantzur & Guy J - "All In" [iTunes Store]

#1 Track of 2013

In like fashion to last year, I'm here to provide my thoughts on my favorite track of the year for 2013.  Last year's winner from my vantage point was DAVI's excellent "Labyrinth" (Club Mix).  I'm still enjoying this one as it's a definite barnstormer of a track that would certainly light the dancefloor on a fire on any given night and, in my opinion, was overlooked by many DJs.

For this year, I shift gears a bit from the 100% non-vocal tracks I usually prefer and focus on one of the most outstanding vocal progressive house tracks I've heard in a really long time.  The music stems from the artist Jake Fairley under his Fairmont moniker on the track titled "Last Dance" and the remix comes from the always stellar Ewan Pearson handling the mix controls.  Vocals and progressive house really don't historically go well together and it's often the case that if the track has vocals they are limited and almost incoherent as to not distract from the mainline established by the rhythm of the music.  So when a track comes by that has more than a few vocals that are clearly enunciated, an amazingly danceable baseline and actually tells a story, it's definitely of interest to me on whether or not the execution has been pulled off successfully.  

And, I can tell you without hesitation that the execution of Faimont's "Last Dance" along with Ewan Pearson's remix is absolutely stunning.  Ewan Pearson's rendition sits at what mind be considered a lengthy ten minutes but the development of the track with it's initial melancholy synths and Echomen-like storytelling vocals is outstanding as the music segues into a spiraling barrage of sounds that twist and turn amongst the backdrop of a guitar riff that elicits images of a truly emotional last dance.  This track is the most apt encore of the year and the combination of Pearson and Fairmont has proven so incredibly successful that I sincerely hope there's more to come.  The Ewan Pearson remix of Fairmont's "Last Dance" is available on iTunes.

Frisky Radio: Set of the Year [2013]

I bought a monthly subscription to Frisky Radio about two years ago and I'm still really enjoying it as it's my main medium for new electronic music in the form of 60 minute or 120 minute sets that are mostly centered on the progressive house micro-genre but can vary to progressive tribal and even techno/trance depending on your personal taste.  Every month or so you get a true gem of a set that can be commensurate to an album release.  One that is so well put together you shake your head that it was included in your subscription.

For the calendar year 2013, I have to go all the way back to March to highlight my personal favorite Frisky Set of the year.  It's Marcelo Vasami's 2 hour set from March 2013 and it garners my perfect 10/10 rating.  The set doesn't go too far out of range of the progressive house mainline that Marcelo is known for in his Inception series but the incremental build-up is absolutely fantastic.  The peak time track, which I still don't know the artist/title, follows three or four tracks that perfectly set the stage so the listener isn't surprised and the transition is mellifluous leading up to the insanity of this peaker.  One of the transition tracks leading up to the peak time track is the absolutely smooth sounds of "Still Here" (Oscar Vazquez Unofficial Mix) by Ziger.  This track has an oscillating (almost hypnotic) progressive synth accompanied by an incoherent male vocal that is more than apt.  It's the kind of music you lose yourself in while dancing or running and just when you lose yourself in this track a few tracks later comes the peak which absolutely sets your feet on fire.  It's at the 1 hr 40 minute mark and any trainspotters out there that know the title I'd love to know the artist and track title as it's one of my favorites of the year.  All in all, this Inception set by Marcelo Vasami is stellar and deserves my set of the year honors.