Posts Tagged ‘CDs’

Category Image

DEVIANT is back from the dead.

Just a quick post to let the RV-heads know that HeadRush Music, one of the two labels that I run along with Toes in the Sand, is back after a long break with its first release of 2008 by one of my favorites, The Stain — straight out of Budapest, one of the illest cities for progressive right now.

The official release date is July 10, but I’m putting it out on Resonant Vibes two weeks early, starting today (June 26), as a small token of appreciation for all the true progressive fans who have consistently supported our releases on RV over the years. And for the Toes fans, don’t worry — new releases are also coming soon!

Peep the Dawn EP from The Stain here.

The Stain - Dawn EP

Peace! Keep it deep,

Deviant


Quivver’s Dirty Nails and Vapour Trails Album

QuivverOk…so one of my favorite producers is releasing an album digitally, and I’m stoked about it…

John Graham (aka Quivver) is digitally releasing his Dirty Nails and Vapour Trails album. This guy has obviously been getting the job done in the dance music scene for a long time…he produced killer tracks that have gotten massive support from the world’s best DJs. In my humble opinion, Quivver is the real deal…anybody remember that "Transport" CD he put together back in the day? …damn that was hot!

I’ve offered a low bitrate version of one of the tracks on this album called "Surin." Just click the play icon below, and I think you’ll be completely pleased and impressed.

The tracklist for Dirty Nails and Vapour Trails is as follows:

Tracks

1. “Intro”

2. “Surin

3. “Chasin A Feeling”

4. “What’s Not Going On”

5. “Tick Tick”

6. “2 Notes ‘N’ A Beat”

7. “Dancing In Dark Rooms”

8. “Fallin’”

9. “Ghosts”

10. “These Are The Days”

Here’s the official press release…

NEW YORK – For the past 15 years, John Graham has been at the forefront of the dance music genre. Perhaps you’ll know him better through his numerous alter ego’s including Quivver, Space Manoeuvres, Stoneproof, Skanna, and Tilt, as each of these projects produced numerous hit singles and had a heavy hand in shaping the global dance music scene. Now, fresh off a recent move from his native UK to Los Angeles, Graham resurfaces on July 29 with his monstrous debut Quivver album, Dirty Nails And Vapour Trails.

While it’s true that Graham – in his many forms – has long been associated with the progressive house genre, Dirty Nails And Vapour Trails travels down many different paths. Whereas recent Beatport and Juno chart topping single “Surin” offers a classic 4/4 progressive vibe, the remarkable drum n bass sizzle of “Chasin A Feelin” is making jaws drop worldwide. Yes, you read that right – this is a gorgeous pure drum n’ bass track, a hark back to his original Skanna sound.. “Chasin A Feelin” is so hot right now that Sasha was playing this one out all around WMC and finished most of his “delta heavy” tour shows with the track (in addition to other Quivver tracks “Tick Tick” and “2 Notes N’ A Beat.”) Pete Tong also dropped it for the first time on April 11 edition of “The Essential Selection” on BBC Radio One.

“I’ve always listened to and have been influenced by a lot of different stuff and I think it’s sad that the scene is so divided these days. It’s like there’s a new genre every other week and people jump on that bandwagon until the next one comes along and forget where they came from. I also wanted the album to be something people could really listen to and that would still be relevant in a few years so I didn’t want to do a bunch of 4 to the floor bangin’ club tracks – that’s what mix comps are for,” Graham says

A multidimensional artist, Graham is known not only for his cache of hot productions, but also for his dynamic singing voice. Graham starred as a feature voice on Hybrid’s fantastic 2006 artist CD I Choose Noise and lays down each vocal on Dirty Nails And Vapour Trails. It’s simply one of those voices that finds a way to work like magic whether applied to progressive house, drum n’ bass and even spaced out breaks. In 2003, Graham founded his own label Boz Boz recordings which is still going strong today and provides a comfy independent home for Dirty Nails And Vapour Trails. In addition to releasing hits as a producer (Tilt’s top 20 hit “Invisible” comes to mind), Graham is also an accomplished DJ who in 2001 became a resident DJ at Twilo, showcased his skills on an entry in the Tranceport mix CD series, and is currently ranked 43 in the world by the dj list out of 200,000 DJ’s worldwide.

…be on the lookout for this one!

Eddie B


Decline of the DJ Mix CD?

decline-of-the-mix-cd

I was just poking around on Resident Advisor to see what’s going on in the scene. I noticed that Global Underground is releasing the 33rd installment of their mix series. This one is by Layo and Bushwacka!, which I think is an interesting choice. The thing that struck me, however, was not the announcement of this release…the thing that struck me was that I haven’t purchased any of the GU installments since Nick Warren’s Shanghai (#28). This definitely made me stop and reflect for a minute…not so much about the Global Underground CD series, but rather about the apparent decline of electronic music mix CDs.

I take myself as somewhat of a proxy for the behavior of other electronic music lovers. There was a time when I would pick up the latest GU CD releases on the day they hit the store. I was a freak for electronic music DJ mix CDs! Many of them are still near and dear to me, veritable life changers ;) …but it’s been a really long time since I bought a mix CD…actually, now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I bought any kind of CD!

So what’s happening…am I some sort of aberration?…after all, I am part of the management team of a music download store, so it’s possible that my preferences are not so reflective of those of the general electronic music fan. My guess is that I’m not alone here though…There are so many ways now to check out good mixes – Internet radio stations, podcasts, and sites that let you download DJ mixes – that my problem these days is that I don’t have time to listen to all of the free mixes that are available. I assume that most electronic music lovers are like me in that they’re taking far fewer trips to the CD store these days. …if this is the case, what does it mean for the future of DJ mix CDs?

In certain ways, I feel like I got more attached or bonded to the physical mix CDs I purchased…I think I engaged with them in a deeper way and spent more time listening to them. After all, if you pay 20 bucks for something, you’re going to get your money’s worth. This is a different model than one where by the time I’ve heard a mix once or twice, I’m presented with five or ten new ones that I could download and check out online. I guess there’s some part of me that’s concerned that the widespread availability of high quality electronic music will lead to a decreased appreciation for it…this comes from an awareness of that aspect of human nature that leads us to sometimes take for granted the things we can always have without putting forth too much effort.

In the grand scheme of things, I think electronic music will be better served by the fact that it’s highly accessible to people throuhout the world. In fact, I like the fact that this is much more the case for electronic music than for other genres because I think/hope it will allow more people to get exposed to it and to see how incredible it is. I’m all for embracing change, but I will certainly feel pangs of nostalgia if we look up at some point and mix CDs have completely lost favor.

Eddie B