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.

The Bird & The Bee – Fucking Boyfriend

Seeing a promo, with remixes from a known non-dance label is always exciting. The afroementioned remixes are from Bluenote Records for the male-female duo of Greg Kurstin and Inara George who make up The Bird & The Bee. Ralphi Rosario and Jody den Broeder provide the remixes.

CD promo tracklisting:
01. Ralphi Rosario And Jody DB Vox Mix 8:31
02. Ralphi Rosario And Jody DB Clean Mix 8:32
03. Ralphi Rosario And Jody DB Mixshow Edit 5:32
04. Ralphi Rosario And Jody DB Radio Edit 3:50
05. Ralphi Rosario And Jody DB Thick Dub 09:45
06. Album Version 3:13

The original is a downtempo, but upbeat song. It is really reminiscent of something Tori Amos would do, in terms of the vocal style and lyrics. However, this song also is reminiscent of the The Cardigans. In the lyrics, the use of the word "fucking" is done in such a way that it is almost cute. It's very lush and chill.

The remixes are really uptempo and pack quite a punch. They are a good cross between circuit and house. The dub is much darker though, but contains vocals. The beats are much harder and it is more synthy. For the radio stations and clubs that do not allow profanity, there is a clean version of the main version.

Overall, this little release is going to do very big things. This is the sleeper hit of the late Summer/early Fall.

Cazwell - All Over Your Face

This record pays homage to the disco classic “All Over My Face” by Loose Joints from the legendary West End Records label.

This is more of a hip hop meets house track. Cazwell doesn't sing on this track. He raps. His lyrics are rather witty. Who said that white dudes should not rap? Well, whoever said that was wrong. Cazwell really does his thing on this track. Rapper Cazwell is previously known for rapping on Avenue D's “The Sex I Need” last year.

There's the original version, an instrumental (that keeps the original vocal samples) and two mixes by Gomi and The Whelpes & Funky Junction. Gomi stays true to the original versions and doesn't go in the darker, circuit direction he usually goes. It basically sounds like a slightly dancier version of the original. The Whelpes & Funky Junction mix is much darker and harder. The slight “breaks” sound of it really works too.

The music video for the song is also rather hilarious also. Check Cazwell out on MySpace.

Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man (Remixes)

This one has been out for several months now and there have been dozens of mixes that have surfaced, including some official and unofficial ones. Some were really good while others just were not up to par.

Amongst the official ones, all of them were quite good. Some of the notable ones were the mixes by Shapeshifters (Shape:UK for us in the U.S.), Junior Vasquez and Ospina Sullivan.

The Shapeshifters deliver a 70's disco style mix complete with trumpets and violins. The vocal mix is just stunning for primetime play and the Nocturnal mix is more appropriate for later in the evening. They use less vocals on the latter mix.

Junior Vasquez delivers a mix that is quite different from his usual offerings. He stays very close to the original version and adds some house beats and an occasional bassline that calls to mind "Groove Is In The Heart" by Deeelite.

Ospina Sullivan goes for a very disco-house mix that bridges the gap between house and circuit. It's very versatille.

Additional mixes by Scotty K and Jake Ridley are palatable as well. Scotty K's mix began as a private mix but later got picked up for an official release, after some key elements were tweaked.

Up and comer DJ Amokk did a funky house mix which was picked up and released by remix service X-Mix.

In terms of unofficial mixes, and there were many. But some of the noteworthy ones include Arenna's mix, which is very synthy and slightly tribal, Tony Moran & Jody den Broeder's mix which is very big room and tribal with some fun vocal effects and loops, and last but not least is DJ Paulo's White Label Mix. The latter is very dark and tribal. It's more dubbish. The beats are just stunning.

There's something for everyone out there. "Hurt" has been announced as the next single. Let's see who'll be remixing this one.

Sunshine Anderson - Something I Wanna Give You

She's back after a good long break after rocketing to stardom with "Heard It All Before" and a gold-selling album. Her upcoming followup album Sunshine At Midnight will be released in early 2007. However, the first single "Something I Wanna Give You" is being promoted to Rhythmic and Urban radio right now. And soon, this one will be promoed to the clubs as well. Junior Vasquez has already remixed this. He previously remixed "Heard It All Before" for her. With this one, he gives the mix a slight "old school" feel. Junior mentioned in an interview with HX that he was planning to bring back the old sounds. "But I am going back to old school, something the young kids don’t know was ever out there." He already went in that direction with his critically acclaimed mix of Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" which didn't deviate too much from the old school sound of the original. This mix is still circuit enough for even the most hardcore DJ. The transformation from a midtempo R&B track to a medium circuit track is stunning. This mix is already getting played in Junior's weekly mixshow on XM radio as well as in his legendary sets at his various residencies. Look out for this mix to be packing dancefloors and burning up the club charts when this one is widely promoed.

Check out Sunshine Anderson's MySpace.