Now that we’ve been through festival season 2013, and we’re all saturated up to our ears with big drops and booming basslines, I’ve decided to dial it down a little bit and introduce you to my favorite deep house tracks of the year. The deep stuff might not necessarily jumpstart your night out (or your work out), but it has it’s own charm, and it’s own time and place. If you wanna kick back on a Sunday afternoon, or groove it up a little bit when on a date, then this playlist is for you.

As a wise man once said, “some of us can rage all the time, all of us can rage some of the time, but not all of us can rage all the time”. And that’s why I’m going deep:

1. Classixx – Holding On

2. Andhim – Boy Boy Boy

3. Maya Jane Coles – Easier To Hide

4. Klangkarussell – Sonnentanz

5. Josh Butler – Got A Feeling (Bontan Remix/PleasureKraft Edit)

6. Close feat Charlene Soraia & Scuba – Beam Me Up (George Fitzgerald Mix)

7. Classixx – Stranger Love (RAC Mix)

8. Joris Voorn – Ringo

9. Disclosure feat London Grammar – Help Me Lose My Mind

10.… Read more

“EDM needs to lose the D. Electronic music. No limits.”

– Mat Zo

Let’s get right to it. I research and vet the best EDM has to offer. As always, these are my latest must have, uptempo, progressive and electro tunes that will give you that little extra boost for when you hit the gym:

1. Sick Individuals & Axwell feat Taylr Renee – I AM

2. John Dahlback feat Urban Cone & Lucas Nord – We Were Gods

3. Nicky Romero vs Krewella – Legacy (Vicetone Remix)

4. Lana Del Ray vs Cedric Gervais – Young & Beautiful (Remix)

5. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike feat Wolfpack – Ocarina (The TomorrowWorld Anthem)

6. Deorro – Yee

7. The Aston Shuffle – Can’t Stop Now

8. Manufactured Superstars feat Danni Rogue – Like Satellites

9. Vicetone vs Popeska feat Luciana – The New Kings

10. Starkillers – Ride

11. TyDi feat Kerli – Something About You (Club Mix)

12. Tiesto, Nari & Milani vs Delayers – Move To The Rhythm

13. Arty feat Fiora – Grand Finale

14. Calvin Harris & Alesso feat Hurts – Under Control

15. Afrojack feat Spree Wilson – The Spark

16. DVBBS & Borgeous – Tsunami

17. Don Diablo & Matt Nash – Starlight (Could You Be Mine)

18.… Read more

Drum ‘n’ bass prodigy, Sub Focus, steps out of his comfort zone to deliver a glorious genre-spanning EDM album that clearly establishes his skills as a multi-faceted producer. His repertoire on this album ranges from dubstep, to catchy indie-house, to big room floor stompers. Douwma also dabbles with UK garage and funky basslines. Outstanding top lines and melodies add a more accessible dimension to the album, as Douwma enlists the services of leading vocalists such as Alpines, Foxes and Alex Claire. Before the legacy fans cry foul, I should mention that Douwma also serves up a healthy dose of his trademark drum ‘n’ bass on tracks like ‘Eclipse’, ‘Safe In Sound’ and ‘You Make It Better’. In fact, ‘Eclipse’, along with, of course, the previously released smash hit ‘Tidal Wave’, might just be the stand out track on this album. Overall, in an industry that is growing increasingly stale and commercial, ‘Torus’ is a breath of fresh air; a wonderful and enthralling journey that, in my opinion, firmly establishes Douwma as one of the best producers in the business today.

Preview and buy the album here.

 … Read more

Dutch progressive house duo, Vicetone, has only been on the EDM radar for about a year, but their resume is already far superior to most industry stalwarts. When I first stumbled upon their remix of Zedd’s ‘Clarity’, I was blown away, and immediately pegged them as a name to watch out for in the future. Nine months later, here we are, with Vicetone already garnering support from the likes of Nicky Romero, and quickly getting penciled into main stage line-ups across the festival circuit. It might already be too late, but if Vicetone were a stock, I’d say “buy buy buy… and hold!”. These guys are here to stay.

So what is it about their sound? It’s probably really hard to capture in a paragraph, but as far as progressive house is concerned, these guys just ‘get it’. Gritty, unrelenting bass lines, pulsating chords, scintillating melodies and euphoric top lines all weave together to form a rich tapestry of sonic perfection. Throw in their penchant for thunderous drops and it’s no wonder that they’ve been churning out an assembly line of quality, peak-time anthems. Trust me, this is ‘fist through the roof’ stuff! Note: If you like to hit the gym, put Vicetone on your ‘Running’ playlist and watch your treadmill morph into a jetpack!… Read more

Avicii’s hotly anticipated debut album called ‘TRUE’ is scheduled for a September 17th release. In order to keep fan’s buzzing, Avicii’s team has set up an experiment: a room that is broadcast in real time. In this room, the official album artwork sits behind an opaque glass pane, as music from his album flows through the room, currently at an ambient level.

Fans are encouraged to tweet at #TrueReveal. As the number of tweets increases, the decibel level of the music in the room will increase to the point where the sub woofer will shatter the glass, revealing the album cover.

Head over to www.thetruereveal.com to watch this process unfold in real time. Or maybe even tweet something revealing about yourself.… Read more

Recently, deadmau5 and Afrojack took a few virtual jabs at each other. This started over Twitter, and culminated in a couple of SoundCloud clips where they openly mocked each other’s signature sounds.

Afrojack dealt the first blow, with an obscene sounding spoof of deadmau5’s glitchy, off-beat prog sound. He even mocked Joel’s penchant for randomness by naming the track ‘something_’.

Deadmau5 pulled no punches in retaliation, with his release of ‘DROP DA BOMB’, an absurdly clichéd chord-laden build, followed by a gimmicky, generic minimal drop that metaphorically splayed Afrojack all over the mat. The mau5 wins round one easily.

At first, this was all very amusing to me. At least until it struck me that, if ‘DROP DA BOMB’ were an actual release, it would legitimately challenge for the top spot on Beatport. This was not just a jab at Afrojack, but a slap in the face of the entire industry. The fact is, most big name artists are churning out the same formulaic drivel: chord-laden builds with minimal, big room drops. Rinse and repeat. Ad nauseum. And the festival junkies are eating it up.

In a perfect illustration of my point, Swedish duo Daleri put together a minute long compilation of the drops from several recent Beatport chart-topping singles.… Read more

That’s right! Not 25! This time Pro Raver is busting out a colossal top 60 summer anthems! And since it’s been so long since my last update, you can be assured that EVERY one of these tunes is worthy of a top 10 spot. So strap yourselves in folks, your summer is about to get a lot more memorable:

1. Youngblood Hawke – We Come Running (Vicetone Remix)

2. Hardwell & Dyro feat Bright Lights – Never Say Goodbye

3. Sub Focus feat Alpines – Tidal Wave

4. Martin Garrix – Animals

5. Fedde Le Grande & Nicky Romero feat Matthew Koma – Sparks (Vicetone Remix)

6. Krewella – Alive (Cash Cash & Kalkutta Remix)

7. Morgan Page – The Longest Road (Vicetone Remix)

8. Showtek & Noisecontrollers – Get Loose (Tiesto Remix)

9. Nicky Romero – Symphonica

10. Alesso vs OneRepublic – If I Lose Myself

11. Dimitri Vegas, Moguai & Like Mike – Mammoth

12. Dannic – Viper

13. Close feat Charlene Soraia & Scuba – Beam Me Up

14. Vicetone feat Collin McLoughlin – Heartbeat

15. Capital Cities – Safe & Sound (Henrix & Darmon Remix)

16. Empire Of The Sun – Alive (Zedd Extended Remix)

17.… Read more

While I detest their management team for the tardy release dates, there is no denying Cazzette is beasting right now. ‘Weapon’ strays away from their signature dub-house sound, in favor of a more proggy sound. However, the talent and versatility of these young swedes is unparalleled. This is a masterful production, and the vocals are flawless as well.

… Read more