When was the last time you got something for free at a music festival? My guess is you were lucky to come out of there with just one black eye!
Well, now you can get the the official theme song of the 2010 e-Lake Festival for the price of an Internet connection.
And you didn’t even have to go.
It’s rich, it’s creamy, it tastes sublime, and I simply can’t believe it’s not butter!
Refracture vs. Yenn: Sunset (Free Download)
Collaborations are a magical thing. A transatlantic sowing of seeds to create the perfect musical baby.
That’s what happened here. More or less.
Luxembourg’s Yenn has been on quite a roll of late, with the brilliant Forward, Symphony (with Refracture), and the Mau5-ey Monzen. Mr. Y sent me a couple of ideas he had sitting around, and my favorite was the melodic and haunting mini song ‘Hemorrhoid,’ I mean ‘Blastoid’.
Right away, I could hear the progressive electro anthem it would become. The vocal was especially interesting. You see, Yenn had just become a baby daddy for the first time and another friend, Scott Willis, was expecting his second. Well not directly, but you get the idea.
Maybe it was all the baby talk, because the first time I heard Blastoid, I also heard the vocal line in my head. It was quite the hook, and rare for a dance track in that it was about a father welcoming his kid, as opposed to the usual ‘Do You Like Bass’, ‘Set Me Free’, ‘Dance To It’, ‘Love Your Booty Movin’ etc.
With that, I got to work. From Blastoid, I already had the key of the song, the stabby pads, the arpeggio, and the square lead. I needed a bassline that was muy musculoso. Heck, I needed two basslines. One to drive the groove, and one to add a little wap at the back end. Sort of a smack to the bum, if you will.
If you’ve heard any of my music, you’ll know my basslines are usually also the hooks of my tracks (I call it Electro Bass, as discussed here), so this one had to be special. The whole song, as it turns out, ended up being a bit special, as it’s about something.
The bass went through several revisions until finally, at 4 am on a Saturday morning, it happened and two became one.
Now I needed a vocal. The lyrics took me about as long as the basslines, and while they ain’t Wordsworth, they are effective. I always knew I was going to sing it myself. Why? First laziness, and second, why not? I’m no American Idol, but I’ve got better teeth than Justin Bieber.
Breakdowns can be tricky. Almost everything has been done already, so they require some serious thought. Ultimately, I decided not to go for a ‘mental’ Apes From Space type mindf@ck (it is about a baby remember), and pulled back on the gas. It actually served the track well. Finally, a mix and a rough radio edit and here we are.
I love it. Just the right amount of melodic ecstasy and dirt, with all the ingredients to be a summer smash!
Labels, are you listening to this?
Not one, not two, but three top picks for you to get your own freak on to this weekend. Or something vaguely along those lines anyway. Whole grain goodness for the whole family!
Lazy Rich: Discofukkr (Dirty, cheeky, driving, peak time anthem)
Kismet: Surreal (Melodic, dark, evocative, funky)
Zedd: The Anthem-Yenn Remix (Emotional, epic, progressive, chunky)
Preview and support at Trackitdown. And please promote legal MP3 downloads.
This is a big one ladies. Two of my underground anthems, old school robo funk workout Lose Control and grindy Electro monster F@ck Thru The Pain (FTTP), have been given a fresh lick of paint and re-released on the vibrant Noobish label.
And on the ‘B’ side, we have a spicy remix of FTTP courtesy of British Breaks star Refracture. Very tasty!
Deep Hurts: The Remixes is out now only on Beatport. Featuring the hypnotic Yenn original, a stunning breaks mix by Refracture, and a driving Electro take by yours truly, this is another quality release from the Noobish label.
Preview and support at Beatport. And please promote legal MP3 downloads!
Yenn is a Producer/DJ from Luxembourg (does that make him Luxembourgian?) who’s been banging out some pretty solid house and electro since 2007. ‘Rising’ is his latest release on the hip Plasmapool label and it’s the dance music equivalent of a quickie. It’s intense, it’s in your face, and it’s not going to leave you drained. Ahem! Also great driving music!
Preview and support Yenn’s Rising at Trackitdown!
Phatso Brown-Straight From The Gut... 