Attention shoppers! Today’s blue light special is the brand new EP from Australian duo Knife Party, appropriately and awesomely titled Rage Valley.
Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen are electronic artists in the purest form. I remember seeing them at WEMF last year and thinking that when they broke away from Pendulum and started putting out stuff as Knife Party, the pair really came into their own, eclipsing the work they’d done with their old outfit. That may sound blasphemous, but hear me out. They were darlings of the electro scene at that moment, but you also knew they were in the game for the long haul — not just a couple of resident club DJs who had struck gold with a couple of flash-in-the-pan tracks. So excuse me for straying away from their Pendulum stuff and crazing their Knife sound.
What happened next was, as they say, history: The 100% No Modern Talking EP, plus a passel of remixes and a little track called “Antidote,” boasting one of the hottest videos of the year. It was official: Rob and Gareth were in it to win it.
Then silence — until now. This EP is pretty wicked, and that’s about as much as I can say. The title track is exactly what you’d expect: a huge sound, with just enough musical soul to connect with a large audience. “Centipede” bangs, I’ll leave it at that. “Bonfire” sounds like the hottest riddim of da summa for my dancehall fans, uzeeeminow?! — and then it melts your face. And “Sleaze” is like someone let Jaws into a Moombahton club, spraying blood. Each track unique, each distinct from the next.
Knife Party are back where they left off. Can’t wait to see them live. Cop the EP amigos!
And the awesome continues. (Who said April is the cruelest month? Oh, right: this guy.)
So anyway. Our long-awaited bpm:tv DANCE 2012 compilation CD hits the streets today, with a lineup that includes Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Martin Solveig & Dragonette, Nervo featuring Afrojack & Steve Aoki, Sak Noel … and many more, as they say on the television. Mixed, as always, by the estimable DJ Marky D.
You can find bpm:tv DANCE 2012 at Best Buy, HMV and Walmart, or BUY IT ONLINE.
Own it!
TRACKLIST
INTERNATIONAL LOVE (CLINTON SPARKS & DISCO FRIES RADIO MIX) – PITBULL feat. CHRIS BROWN
BODY WORK (CLUB MIX EDIT) – MORGAN PAGE feat. TEGAN AND SARA
BIG IN JAPAN (DENZAL PARK REMIX) – MARTIN SOLVEIG & DRAGONETTE feat. IDOLING!!!
TURN THIS CLUB AROUND – R.I.O. feat. U-JEAN
PASO (THE NINI ANTHEM) – SAK NOEL
ANTIDOTE – SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA VS. KNIFE PARTY
MUTATE (ORIGINAL EDIT) – SIDNEY SAMSON & LIL JON
AURAL PSYNAPSE – DEADMAU5
WE’RE ALL NO ONE – NERVO feat. AFROJACK AND STEVE AOKI
LONELY TONIGHT (ORIGINAL ENGLISH RADIO EDIT) – HOLD UP
I COULD STAY (CHR REMIX) – KREESHA TURNER
MR. KNOW IT ALL (BILLIONAIRE REMIX) – KELLY CLARKSON
Bitter cold throughout the city of Toronto this weekend, but that didn’t stop the concert and party scene. I, however, am the biggest wimp when it comes to minus-15 weather. So I grabbed a couple movies and a couple of mixtapes, some wine and steak sandwiches, and called it a hibernation weekend. It’s a shame, too, because Burakka Som Sistema had been calling my name for the past couple of weeks, but I just wasn’t up for it.
What I was up for was dedicating some time to finding new cuts you’ll love. And what I came up with was Steve Aoki remixing Bassnectar, Urban Noize brightening up Young Money‘s Tyga, and more. Take a taste and savour the flavour.
Bassnectar dropped the new Divergent Spectrums EP on Friday, and it features a host of remixes from some of our favourite names. I’m not sold on all of them, but the more I listen the more I hear pieces of a picture I admire. Plus when it’s free and it’s Bassnectar, you want to just snatch it up and worry about the fine details later.
Urban Noize‘s remix of Tyga‘s “Rack City” seems to have disappeared from Soundcloud. Here’s a link where, with luck, you’ll be able to find it. If not, be sure to check it on YouTube — it brings a different feel to a song that a lot of people are jumping on.
Forgive me for being tardy with this one. Our favourite Swedish electro duo F.O.O.L. (F**k Our Ordinary Lives) gave a way a free track for us last week and I missed it. The good news is, I’m all over it now — and it’s dark, which I find to be F.O.O.L’s best style. Pick it up!
“Back to work” seems to be the phrase of the day so far. Without sounding like an absolute loser, I have a serious case of the Munnnnndays. But what can you do? Press play on a couple of these tracks, and maybe that will get us over the hump. Here we go.
Since Boys Noize is heading Toronto’s way in the next couple days, lets play one of his hottest tracks — flipped upside down by our own John Roman.
This track is almost too good to be true. Be perfectly honest with yourself: listening to the original is a guilty pleasure for all of us. Add an EDM twist, and this is what you get. I’ll be playing this in my car — with the windows up, of course.
And, of course, something for the big room. Beautiful vocals have been added to this progressive monster. Sounds a little familiar, but Norman Doray’s combination of the vocals and instrumental seems effortless and natural.
Something brand new from the techno villain known as Gesaffelstein. Hands down the release of the week, it’s everything you’ve come to expect from this artist. All that’s missing: a club that looks like Joker’s hideout in the old Adam West version of Batman. Granted and slanted!
Finally, the first video from one of my favourite artists on my favourite label. Blood Music’s Ado has an absolutely eye-grabbing, bizzaro video for his feature tune “The Ultra.” Check it out:
