A bunch of you have expressed your opinions that I only listen to soft, weak music and none of the dirtier, hard-hitting tracks. Scrolling down my previous posts and tweets, it has come to my attention that it does not accurately reflect the broad spectrum of my esoteric music taste. In response to said complaints and realizations, I have come up with a playlist for y’all.
I should begin by explaining how these playlist-related posts will work. Basicaly…. I compile a bunch of songs in an utterly random and chaotic way. There is no reason, no logic. In this case, I happen to have a theme: heavy and dirty. I don’t genre discriminate – it’ll include everything from trance to techno to electro to progressive, etc (probably not dubstep though…). I don’t take release date or relevance under consideration, meaning I might throw in tracks from like 2008, just because I can. I’ll add in a short little comment for each track. So without further ado, enjoy!
1. Above & Beyond – Black Room Boy (Club Mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4vCkNmlltI
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed yet, but I absolutely love a&b. Anyway, I heard this song during its world premiere on #TATW450 / #ABGT001 and I was blown away… This song is the perfect combination of heavy bassline and euphoric breakdown. There is a HUGE difference from the Club Mix and the album version (for the better). I really can’t wait for this one to be released.
2. Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus (Eric Prydz Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCBibYxRLM
I just had to! When I heard Black Room Boy (refer above), I IMMEDIATELY thought of this track. Am I the only one that sees a remarkable resemblance? Both tracks are awesome in their own respect though, so whatever. Also, I’ve heard this song live more times than I can count and I can vouch to its epicness.
3. Nari & Milani – Atom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVpVRAbfFsk
When talking about dirty heavy-hitters, it is impossible not to include this track! I can once again attest to this song’s anthem status. It was by far the most-played track at EDC New York this past May. This track was first played by Swedish House Mafia at their monumental Madison Square Garden event, and I remember everyone asking “WTF is the name of this song?!”
4. Stefan Dabruck & Tocadisco – Saturn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4_MHhgfd4
“Break this mother fucker up!” First heard this track played by Ben Gold at Governor’s Island for Gareth Emery’s Garuda event. As an aside, Ben Gold’s one-hour set was better than Gareth’s two and a half. Back to the song, the drop sold me instantly. Hopefully it has the same effect to you!
5. Leon Bolier – Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFirGqrID64
Not much to be said here. This track hits hard! Also, Leon Bolier is awesome. The video is really weird, by the way.
6. Hardwell vs. Zedd – Spaceman Slam the Door (First State Bashup)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDzlcTFkwYE
I’m never really a huge fan of mashups, but First State does a great job incorporating two tracks that mesh very well together. The mashup is super simple and can even be done live with ease, but I chose to include it to give them credit.
7. Orjan Nilsen – Filthy Fandango
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9A88fydXfg
The name says it all. This track is filthy! Orjan Nilsen, with the help of Armin van Buuren’s promoting, had a massive breakthrough year last year. His name is huge in the trance scene. This is one of his more techy trance tracks.
8. Nicky Romero & ZROQ – WTF?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hyy8H4OdsE
For some reason, I can’t seem to find the full version of this song… I found one but the quality was so unbearable that I would never post it. I’m sure you’ve all heard it before though, so I’m not too worried. There’s no denying how awesome this track is, but I heard it a few too many times at Electric Zoo than I would have liked to. I even heard it twice in the Group Therapy tent… WTF?!
9. Wolfgang Gartner – Shrunken Heads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU6yDf_j9Io
It would be just wrong to not include a Wolfgang Gartner track a playlist of this theme, especially after seeing him only a few nights ago at Terminal 5 for HARD NYC. He is a staple to elecro music, and Shrunken Heads is a testament to his producing abilities.
10. Knife Party – Fire Hive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcLqVfKTtKw
Fine… I guess it would kind of be a crime to not include at least one dubstep track for a playlist with this kind of theme. So there you have it, Knife Party. One of few dubstep tracks I enjoy.
Brazen Criminal 