Dirty Old Ann - Turn Me On

This is an update to the 1997 smash hit "Turn Me Out" by Praxis featuring Kathy Brown. That one was especially popular in the Sol Brothers mix that was basically a mashup of Kathy's fierce vocals and some sampled elements from "Sugar Is Sweeter" by CJ Bolland, as remixed by Armand Van Helden.

This time, the Freemasons are behind this remake. In true Freemasons fashion, this one features a hot vocal and classic production. It is just sublime. This record began making the rounds as a white label earlier this year and now it is getting the proper release it deserves. This one is a must-have!

Beyonce Knowles - Ring The Alarm (Remixes)

The original packs quite a punch, even though it only clocks in at under 80 BPM! Beyonce reads her man's new woman like a trashy novel in this angry-diva track. This one is totally appropriate for the clubs.

The vocals are delivered in a manner that would make doing a 125 to 130 BPM remix quite challenging. See the two extremes of mixes that were done for "Check On It" some months back by Maurice Joshua and Junior Vasquez. Maurice had slowed down the vocal to a crawl while Junior made Beyonce sound like she was a chipmunk on speed. This time, the Freemasons, who do the remixing honors slow down the vocal. And it doesn't sound like it will take a week for the mix to finish playing.

The production is flawless. The intro and beginning build is their usual best. The chugging bass and haunting violins are just awesome. The mix has a retro vibe with these strings. The vocals are reverbed to perfection over the production. Towards the last 4/5 of the club mix, some interesting vocal effects come in, and the "whomp whomp" instrumental portions are really cool. Those portions call to mind the ferocious Timo Maas mix of "Dooms Night" by Azzido Da Bass. It is unclear whether that's was being referenced by the Freemasons. Either way, it works. One other noteworthy part of the mix is where the last word in the line "you ain't never seen a fire like the one I'm gon' cause" is stretched and looped into oblivion. Truly amazing. Now if there was only a hot dub of this mix with some choice vocal samples. The U.S. 12" promo includes an instrumental of the club mix as well. The radio edit of the Freemasons mix is just what the name says it is, with the profanity edited out.

The Freemasons' execution of this mix is just perfect. Look out for this one and snap it up immediately.

Ivri Lider - Nights In White Satin

Israeli singer, songwriter, producer and icon Ivri Lider is back with a much-awaited remake of a true classic. He teams up with DJ/producer/remixer Offer Nissim on this remake of the Moody Blues song. Some club remakes of this standard have been done over the years including a very well-known one by Mario F which had remixes by Junior Vasquez and Ralphi Rosario.

The track begins with a haunting intro which is just some layers of synths and wind sounds. Ivri's beautiful vocals come in immediately and take ahold. It is almost orchestral when he begins crooning "and I love you." Then Offer's signature beats come in with a spooky room-shaking bassline. A small vocal snippet is looped and begins filtering in. The bass begins to build and get synthy. Towards the middle, the mix becomes reminiscent of Offer's mix of "Cinderella Rockafella" which was based around just two short vocal snippets. After the buildup, it breaks and it becomes similar to the lush intro. Then the synths begin to build again. It soon ends.

This mix is one of Offer Nissim's highlights for 2006. He has outdone himself yet again.

Jzabehl - It's All About Me (Remixes)

Roxiny Rivas and Keiry Valdez are Jzabehl. They describe themselves as "empowering and socially conscious Latinas." Drawing upon their life experiences, they bring a sense of rawness and realisim in their lyrics. "It's All About Me" is an empowering female anthem. And to take this anthem to the next level, Tony Moran and Jody den Broeder provide the remixes. Their main mix is a stunning big room stormer. The soaring synths and hard beats take ahold instantly. Roxiny and Keiry deliver their fiery lyrics with true finesse. This one was made for the clubs and this one will surely be a floorfiller. The dub takes some of the vocals and loops them creatively. The "act like a bitch and trip out" loops are totally camptastic. The additional effects on the vocals are great as well. Look for this one to be rocketing up the charts very soon.

Depeche Mode - Martyre

This is the lead single off of the legendary Electronic/Rock group's upcoming Best Of collection. In its original form, it is in the same vein as some of the songs on the group's last effort Playing The Angel. Dave Gahan's vocals are the center of attention on this one. This one is pure perfection with the instantly-catchy hook. The Indian sitar synths that are peppered throughout the track are a nice touch.

Paul Van Dyk and Booka Shade provide the remixes. PVD provides some mixes that are a bit of a departure from his regular sound. The Radio Edit of his mix stays very true to the original. It sounds like an alternate version. The Speed Garage sound of the mix is a nice throwback to some of his earlier work, particularly on his epic remixes of "Blue Skies" by BT featuring Tori Amos. The Vonyc Lounge Mix is a misnomer for the kind of mix it is because it is not a Lounge type of mix at all! Some of PVD's usual sound with the hard, big room beats are present in this version, all the while the BPM is still similar to the original version. The Dub and Dub Vox mixes are a bit more big room-ish, but not as hard as the Vonyc Lounge Mix. The Dub Vox contains some vocals and the Dub contains no vocals. The Vonyc Lounge Mix seems to be the only club length mix at this time by PVD. Finally, there is the Booka Shade Dub. It is totally an instrumental. It is very electro and reminiscent of Roysopp and Trentmoller's current work.

There is no word on whether U.S. mixes will be done for this song. These mixes are great. Don't miss out on these.

GTS featuring Mink - Everlasting Love

After having topped the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart earlier this year with the hands in the air anthem "Glory Of Life", as remixed by Chris Cox, DFA and John Creamer & Stephane K, Mink is back with another single! The Asian siren gives another amazing vocal performance on this instant classic. "Everlasting Love" is thankfully not a remake.


Mike Cruz and Glen Friscia & Andy Lamboy provide the mixes this time around. Mike Cruz provides some peak hour tribal mixes that have an Arabian feel to them with the addition of the synthed-out sitars. The sitar hook is very reminiscent of Greek songstress Despina Vandi's massive hit "Gia" from a few years ago. It works quite well. The Mike Cruz Dub is mostly an instrumental with some vocals that come in towards the end. Friscia & Lamboy go for a more anthemic feel. Their mixes are tribal as well, but not so much as Mike Cruz.

Overall, Mike Cruz's mixes are the mixes of choice.

This is currently being promoed to DJs right now.

CD Promo tracklisting:
01. DJ Mike Cruz Club Mix 9:42
02. Friscia & Lamboy Dub Mix 6:46
03. DJ Mike Cruz Dub 7:47
04. DJ Mike Cruz Radio Mix 3:52
05. Friscia & Lamboy Radio Mix 3:45

Red Carpet - Alright

This track has been re-released and remixed multiple times during the last few years. It's back again in the form of a Tony Moran & Jody den Broeder Mix.

The original with its haunting piano hook, uplifting vocals and sparse beats is quite good, but it is very simple. Tony and Jody keep the all those previously mentioned elements, however, they harden the beats with their signature sounds. Tony's tribal beats and Jody's uplifting synths give new life to this classic-in-the-making. A dub of this mix with harder beats and synths is definitely welcome, and possibly forthcoming.

Janet Jackson featuring Khia - So Excited

This is the second single off of Janet Jackson's latest studio album 20 Y.O. As a followup to the downtempo "Call On Me" which featured some additional vocals from Nelly, this one is a clubbanger.

The Herbie Hancock "Rockit" sampling original beckons you to turn it up and just let go and do that dance you don't want anyone else to see. The track has an old school feel, but in a good way. Janet is sexy with her whispered vocals, and Khia is sassy with her small portions on the track. Khia's portion sounds like it has been sampled in from another track, which is sorta true. Khia has done her own X-rated all rap, all Khia version, with a totally different instrumental. Jermaine Dupri's ad-libs are distracting and random but they work.

Junior Vasquez is the only confirmed remixer for this one. He premiered his remix at his birthday bash some time back. He maintains the old school feel of the track and adds in some additional breaks elements and some of his usual dancefloor fierceness. He references the Freestyle classic "Let The Music Play" by Shannon in his mix. It's used just enough to call attention to the classic without being absolutely obvious in the edit. But in the full club mix, he makes the references more obvious. Junior did remixes of Shannon's track a few years ago. The remix has the feel of something Junior would have done in the early 90's, or during the Sound Factory and maybe even the Arena eras. Many splashes of elements from the original mix have been thrown in and those work quite well. However, Junior did leave in Khia's portions in the mixes.

There may be other mixes announced for the song in the future, but given what Junior has done with this song, we may not need any more mixes. Hip Hop and House DJs can easily play this in their sets. The edit of Vasquez's mix is short and tight for the radio stations.