Matt Soda - Bringing House back!

I met Matt Soda on the Rootz Records message boards. The kid was putting out great stuff then and he's just kept getting better.

One of the things I love about Matt's music is that it has a great old school feel. Keep in mind, though that for me old school is the stuff coming out around the turn of the century, we aren't talking 80's retro or Second Summer of Love here. Matt manages to create his blast from the past sound, while maintaining a fresh, inovative feel in his music, which is an amazing feature in an artist.

Matt's recently been doing some remix work for some boys out of Chi town including Sean Biddle. Matt has tracks out on Immense, Control Recordings, Bid Muzik, Prompt Digital, Direct Drive Digital , and he has a remix of a Sean Biddle Track coming out as a the kick off track for a newly revamped Noctournal records. Take a peak at beatport to see what he has going on.

Matt's graciously let me share some of his music with you. It has some good old fashion funk to it, plus a little of that distortion the kiddies wet themselves over now days, and its all wrapped up in a classy package. So check out his Sky High Remix of Top of the world.

Download - Sean Biddle - Top of the World (Soda's Sky High Remix)(via Zshare)

2 Million Ways

I was clicking around the other day when I was working on the Modjo post, and I came across a real find on Fluo Kids, an amazing French blog. Ok, I can’t really say that because I would have to know French, but trust me they got it going on. The tracks they host tend to be more towards the pop side of Electronica. When I was clicking through blog links I ran into one of my favorite tracks, remixed by an amazing producer, C-Mos - 2 Million Ways (Axwell Remix). Since downloading it an hour or so ago, I have been listening to it over and over again. I can’t really decide what to think of it.

2 million ways was released a little while ago on E.P.O.S. a sub lable of the amazing Belgian Disco House label Holographic. I was dinking on the web oddly enough when I came across 2 Million Ways the first time. I marched right down to the record store and demand that they order me a copy.

Since then I have dropped the track countless times. It always gets a good response in front of what ever croud I happen to be playing to. I personally prefer the original mix to the dub mix. It's not that I don’t like the vocal drop, just the saxophone in the break has such a more distinct soulful sound in the origional mix. The track has a heavy drum track, bolstered by a heavy baseline, and amazing string and saxophone arrangements layered on top. Add in masterful effects works and this track easily blasts The Strings of Life off the dance floor. The record its self took me a long time to be able to drop successfully. For some reason the drums aren’t a straight forward as they sound, and the record has such a rich sound you have it lined up just right, or the mid level sounds can overwhelm whatever is layered underneath when the main body of the track enters.

The Axwell remix came out on a re-release in 2005 on the Italian label Motivo. His remix features a gliding synthline which slightly over powers the strings. This however works for the most part. And in a particular break in the middle of the song, a hollow flute like parody of the string melody introduces and then rides over the strings. The result is achingly beautiful and gives the track a slightly tropical feel that almost demands that this track be played in the summer. The bass line has been tweaked as well, giving it Axwell’s style while still maintaining its signature. The drums have been a bit more squared as well. Axwell does a good job though you should check out Flu Kids and give it a listen. If you like Axwell you will like this mix. The compression rate on the track also makes it suitable for mixing.


Check out Flu kids to download the Maxwell version.

Just Chillin'

I first heard Modjo’s Chillin’ when I was listening to a generic “club mix” CD that I got when I first started getting into electronic music. I actually used it on the demo CD that I made for when I first started my show. I ran into a remix of Chillin’ when browsing my normal assortment of music blogs. It was posted on this great little site Risky Bizniz, which I think is based out of Sweden. They always have a good track or two posted.

The Buffalo Bunch’s remix is pretty bumpin’. The main theme is there, but the base line has been tweaked, as has the song structure. The Bunch uses effects extremely effectively in the song. The phase and phalange is subtly applied at just the right points. The shift in the soundscape as a result is both barely noticeable, and yet has a deep impact on the feel of the song. This is one of the better remixes I have heard of late. It combines both a new take on an older song, and avoids what many remixers do now days. Current remixers seem content to turn songs into a new distorted electro track with a few samples from teh orgional cut. Instead of making it sound like something off the latest Madonna album, this stays true to the sound. As a result the quality of the track is superb, and it’s a unique find in today’s electronic music climate. Also the track seems to be recorded in at a high compression rate, so I am pretty sure it is ready to be dropped in the club!

>Download Modjo – Chillin’