1.27.2007

Dangerous Muse - Give Me Danger

Peter Rauhofer has done a remix of this song. The mix is a nice mix of electro and tribal, more electro though. It's a nice peak hour/late night type of mix. The vocals are really hypnotic and just flow so well with the remix production. This is going to be huge all over very soon.

1.22.2007

Beyonce - Irreplaceable (Ralphi Rosario Mixes)

There had been much excitement when it was announced that Ralphi Rosario had done remixes of "Irreplaceable", the 3rd single off of Beyonce's B'Day album.

Unofficial mixes of the smash hit only began to surface during the last couple of weeks just as the official mixes were finally sent out, at the height of the song's success on radio and in digital sales.

The BPM of the original version is in that dangerous 75 to 90 BPM range at 87 BPM. Speeding up the vocal could potentially make the singer sound like a chipmunk on speed and slowing it down could make it feel like seasons have changed during the course of the mix's play.

Ralphi Rosario chose to slow down the vocal. The result is a laidback house mix. The lush production really complements Beyonce's voice. He upped the BPM to 133 to make it not sound that slow. The laidback production heavily covers up the fact that the vocals are slowed down so much.

The Dub loses most of the vocals. It is much harder and darker than the club mix. It is more what the main club mix should have been like, but we have the dub .

These mixes are suitable.

1.08.2007

Gaudino featuring Crystal Waters - Destination Calabria

After "Destination Unknown" by Alex Gaudino with the vocal stylings of Crystal Waters became a huge radio hit, some wondered how many years it would be before it would be remade or re-remixed. Well, it has happened, and not that late.

This new mix is a mashup with the clubland staple "Calabria" by Rune (which is also a sample track on its own). It is now called "Destination Calabria." This is out now in the UK and will soon be taking clubland by storm yet again.

Seamus Haji - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (New Mixes)

This much-covered song by Indeep has gotten some new life through some new mixes by Stonebridge, Cedric Gervais & Second Sun and Funkagenda.

Stonebridge goes for a minimal electro house sound that is still really disco-ish.

Rising star Cedric Gervais & Second Sun go for a much funkier sound in their mix. The mix also references the wicked Lil' Louis track "French Kiss" in terms of that signature instrumental hook.

And the Funkagenda mix is very electro. This one would lend itself well to sets that contain Hector Fonseca, Peter Rauhofer, D. Ramirez and Eric Prydz type of tracks.

All in all a solid package.

1.04.2007

Bad Boy Dance Mixes

No. This is not a remake of Gloria Estefan's 80's classic or the early 2000's Cascada song. This is an assortment of dance mixes of some radio hits from this year from the Bad Boy Entertainment label. They have had a good number of hits this year.

Here is the tracklisting for this promotional CD:

01. Cassie - Me & U (Tyler Nelson Dark Club Mix) 7:02
02. Cassie - Me & U (Roc & Soul Club Mix) 4:41
03. Cassie - Me & U (Tyler Nelson Private Mix) 6:33
04. Diddy Featuring Nicole Scherzinger
- Come To Me (E-Smoove House Mix) 7:21
05. Diddy Featuring Nicole Scherzinger
- Come To Me (ATFC Main Mix)
06. Danity Kane
- Show Stopper (Dave Aude Club Mix) 7:26
07. Danity Kane
- Show Stopper (Ford & Vidal Club Mix) 6:31
08. Danity Kane
- Show Stopper (Solitaire Club Mix) 7:29
09. Cassie
- Long Way To Go (Maurice Joshua Club Mix) 6:54
10. Cassie - Long Way To Go (Matteo Esse & Sant Club Mix) 7:50
11 - Cassie - Long Way To Go (Friscia & Lamboy Club) 8:08


For Cassie's "Me & U", Tyler Nelson's mixes are a basically slighty dark anthemic vocal mixes. His mixes were previously uncomissioned, however, the mixes were well-loved and many suggested that the mixes be submitted, and well the rest as they say is history. The Roc & Soul Mix is much housier.

The Diddy and Nicole Scherzinger track gets housey treatments all around. E-Smoove's is a whole mixture of sounds. It's electro, it's soulful house, it's circuit and it's a little trancey in some places. A lovely mix. ATFC's is a nice funky house mix.

Diddy's new girl group Danity Kane gets some hot mixes for "Showstopper." Dave Aude delivers his usual best with an anthemic, yet electro-housey mix. Ford & Vidal opt for a trancey-electro sound. And Solitaire's mix is a nice laidback, but funky house mix.

Closing out this set is Cassie's "Long Way To Go". Maurice Joshua brings forth a simple house mix that borders on circuit enough to be a bridge record. Matteo Esse & Sant provide a nice heavy electro mix. And Friscia & Lamboy provide a nice tribal, peak hour track. A dub of this mix would work well in a variety of sets.

These mixes really were worth waiting for.

1.02.2007

George Michael - Twenty Five Club Megamix

George Michael has been a major figure in music for the last two decades while in the group Wham! and as a solo artist. After a long break between albums, he recently announced his first major tour in several years that was timed to coincide with a special best of collection.

For the clubs, a special megamix was created featuring some of George (and Wham!'s) most well-known songs. Of course, not all of his biggest hits are included. Considering it's 11 minutes in length, plenty of songs have been included.

Here is the tracklisting for the megamix:

Faith (Sample)
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Sample)
Too Funky
Freedom 90'
Fast Love (Sample)
Everything She Wants
As
Outside
An Easier Affair
Spinning The Wheel (Sample)
Flawless
Fast Love
Amazing

This is an essential for die-hard and casual fans.

Offer Nissim featuring Maya - Be My Boyfriend

This is basically the second single off of Second Time, which was a re-release of 2005's critically-acclaimed First Time with additional tracks and remixes.

This one has more vocals than the previous release "Perfect Love" which was a cover of the House Of Prince track from 1997.

Cajjmere Wray, Giangi Cappai, Hector Fonseca, and Jose Spinnin provide the mixes.

The maxi opens up with Offer Nissim's own mix. It's basically the original version that was on the album. Lots of interesting vocal loops and effects. It's vocally oriented.

Cajjmere Wray's mix is very dark and industrial. Maya's "I-I-I-I" vocal from the beginning of the song is looped a lot. Bits of the chorus are used. But very few vocals can be found on this mix. The build up and breakdown in the middle is totally insane. It has the feel of a vinyl record being sped up. Then the hard synthy instrumental comes in.

Giangi Cappai's mix is very hard and driving. A very tough bassline is the highlight of this mix. There's only minimal vocals on this mix also.

Hector Fonseca's mix is really dark and tribal. The synths are really dirty. Very few vocals are on this mix too, but it works.

Jose Spinnin's mix is tribal and electro. It's a good cross between Offer and Peter Rauhofer's types of sound. This mix has full vocals.

The CD maxi closes with a bonus track, which is the Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction of "Perfect Love" which was previously unreleased. This mix is typical Peter Rauhofer. And only some vocals are used. Peter had also remixed the House Of Prince version of this song back in 1997 with much fanfare. This mix pales in comparison to that, but on its own, it's decent.

Overall, these mixes are quite different from Star 69's usual offerings. It's nice to see some variety, but some familiarity is nice too. This maxi is especially for adventurous DJs and serious collectors only.

These mixes can be purchased at the Star 69 website, as can the CD maxi, which will be released in mid January of 2007.

Suzanne Palmer - Free My Love

This is the followup to the circuit smash "Keep The Faith." Coming from the much-delayed Home album, this single packs more punch than its predecessor.

This one comes fully loaded with mixes by Alyson C & Thomas Penton, The Cube Guys, David Morales, Jose Spinnin, Offer Nissim and Peter Bailey.

The 6 track CD maxi opens with a mix by David Morales. This is basically an extended mix of the album version. It starts off very simple and hard and then just keeps building and building for nearly 4 minutes. Then it is just like the album version for the remainder of the track. This mix would lend itself well to both circuit and darker house sets.

The Cube Guys Mix is very dark and tribal. It contains full vocals. Lots of big room synths

Jose Spinnin's mix is tribal, full of bass and has a bunch of twisted electro synths. Full vocals also.

Offer Nissim's mix is very tribal and synthy as expected. The synths are uplifting and really stunning. The new synth hook in his mix is very retro. There's only some vocals on this mix. In true Nissim fashion, he only uses a selected portion of Suzanne's vocals.

Peter Bailey's mix is very minimal and spooky sounding. The unusual twisted synths in the background are really cool. It becomes very electro in the middle. Suzanne's vocals are kept to a minimum yet again.

Last, but certainly not least is the Alyson C & Thomas Penton mix. This one is a straight forward circuit-house mix.

Overally, this remix package is quite good. There's something for everyone.

These mixes can be purchased at the Star 69 website, as can the CD maxi, which will be released in mid January of 2007.