Category: house music

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Shares a Glittery House Inspired Banger

Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their origins to their penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. Even after founding anthemic, indie-rock outfit The Rest, they embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outré inclinations and desires. Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, Bentley and Mitchell have had busy schedules. Bentley currently works behind the scenes in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — if only as a private amusement between the duo. Eventually, they would wind up spending the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their 9-song album Endless, their first album in over 14 years. 

So far I’ve written about two of Endless‘ singles:

  • “Pray” a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity paired with an Evil Heat era Primal Scream meets Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem-like production.
  • “Constant,” a sugary sweet endorphin and dopamine rush centered around oscillating synth pulse and achingly plaintive vocal delivery paired with euphoric hooks. The end result is a song that simultaneously feels pleasant but also kind of off in a way that’s visceral but you can’t quite put your finger on.

The album’s third and final single “Always True” is a glittery, late night, house banger centered around ominous synth pads, thumping beats and achingly plaintive vocals that slowly builds to a woozy and dizzying crescendo before gently fading out. The song’s narrator seems to wearily push on through some awkward social interaction that’s also strangely, something they desperately long for — because we’re all social creatures after all.

“‘Always True’ feels like the dark part at the end of the night,” the band explains. “The wrong side of 5am. A dark warehouse bouncing to ominous synth pads, and 909s. A sudden surge of energy, a second wind, one more dance while the night wears off.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Portuguese electronic music DJ and production duo Bubba Brothers — Eliseo Correia and Justino Santos — formed back in 2015, and since their formation, the duo have produced an a growing number of dance-floor hits, which include:

  • 2019’s “Carla’s Beat” which landed at #21 on Beatport’s Top 100 Chart and at #6 on the Top Releases Chart. The track received airplay on London-based Trickstar Radio’s Metropolis, and as a result they were invited to play at Spain-based Los 40 Radio.
  • 2019’s “Tonyca,” which was selected as one of the songs of the summer at Faro, Portugal-based club LICK.
  • Last year’s “Karma,” which landed at #1 on Beatport. 

Adding to a growing profile across the European Union, the Portuguese act have made appearances on a number of TV channels including TVI 24. They’ve played sets at the international electronic music festival circuit including Faro Academic Week, Sun and Moon Festival, Dancefloor Leiria and Pete Tha Zouk’s Infinity Sunset. They’ve also played clubs like London-based Ministry of Sound.

Last September, the Portuguese duo started their own label Mossdeb Sounds. Now, as you may recall, i wrote about “Amandla (Tutu),” a euphoric, Balearic house meets tribal house banger, featuring skittering and percussive beats and a soulful vocal sample.

“No Name Song,” landed at on Traxsource‘s House and EDM charts for a number of consecutive weeks, and once you hear it, you’ll quickly figure out how that happened: “No Name Song” is a deep house banger, centered around tweeter and woofer rattling beats, explosive hi-hats, glistening synth arpeggios and a trance-inducing groove. And much like “Amandla,” “No Name Song” will get you off and ass and moving.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Portuguese electronic music DJ and production duo Bubba Brothers — Eliseo Correia and Justino Santos — formed back in 2015. And since their formation, the Portuguese duo have produced an increasing number of dance-floor hits, including:

  • 2019’s “Carla’s Beat” which landed at #21 on Beatport’s Top 100 Chart and at #6 on the Top Releases Chart. The track received airplay on London-based Trickstar Radio’s Metropolis, and as a result they were invited to play at Spain-based Los 40 Radio.
  • 2019’s “Tonyca,” which was selected as one of the songs of the summer at Faro, Portugal-based club LICK.
  • Last year’s “Karma,” which landed at #1 on Beatport.

Adding to a growing profile across the European Union, the Portuguese act have made appearances on a number of TV channels including TVI 24. They’ve played sets at the international electronic music festival circuit including Faro Academic Week, Sun and Moon Festival, Dancefloor Leiria and Pete Tha Zouk’s Infinity Sunset. They’ve also played clubs like London-based Ministry of Sound.

Last September, the Portuguese duo started their own label Mossdeb Sounds. Their first release on their new album, “No Name Song” landed at #1 on Traxsource‘s House and EDM charts for a number of consecutive weeks. Continuing upon that massive momentum, the Portuguese duo’s latest single, “Amandla (Tutu)” is a euphoric, Balearic house meets tribal house-inspired banger, centered around skittering and percussive beats, a soulful vocal sample that will get you off your ass and moving.

As the duo explain, “Amandla” is a homage to the righteous activist and minister Desmond Tutu. They see the song as a joyous tribute to what’s life all about.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Remixes His Own “Bitrate Scale”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering French JOVM mainstay LutchamaK.  Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you’d recall that LutchamaK started off the year with a remix effort that featured remixes of Threshold album single “Bitrate Scale” by three artists, who liked his work and wanted to create their own takes.

  • DNMK‘s deep house-leaning take on “Bitrate Scale” that features a brooding, murkier air than the original
  • Haalleyck‘s trippy and cosmic take on “Bitrate Scale” centered around thumping kick and glistening and oscillating synths that feels more like a complete rework of the original
  • Darbinyan‘s uptempo, deep house take on “Bitrate Scale” centered around oscillating synths, skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, glistening synth arpeggios, robotic vocodered vocals and euphoria-inducing hooks

The JOVM mainstay contributes his own remix of “Bitrate Scale.” The LutchamaK remix is a subtle one that clocks in a little over a minute shorter than the original while retaining thumping kick but while pairing it with oscillating synths paired with vocodered vocals. Much like the original, it still nods at Kraftwerk but it feels murkier and brooding.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Shares Darbinyan’s Remix of “Bitrate Scale”

Last year, may have been among the most prolific and productive of LutchamaK‘s career to date. The French JOVM mainstay released an insane array of full-length albums and EPs that saw him experimenting with different sub-genres and styles within electronic music.

In that series of releases, you might remember Threshold, which  featured “Irie Vibrations,” a track that seemed to mesh elements of Lee “Scratch” Perry-like dub with club friendly trance and house and “Bitrate Scale,” a brooding yet hypnotic club banger that brought Tour de France era Kraftwerk to mind. 

LutchamaK starts off 2022 with a remix effort that features remixes of Threshold album single “Bitrate Scale” by three artists, who liked his work and wanted to create their own takes. So far I’ve written about two of these remakes on Bitrate Scale_rmx:  

  • DNMK‘s deep house-leaning take on “Bitrate Scale” that features a brooding, murkier air than the original
  • Haalleycks trippy and cosmic take on “Bitrate Scale” centered around thumping kick and glistening and oscillating synths that feels more like a complete rework of the original

Darbinyan contributes an uptempo, deep house take on “Bitrate Scale” centered around oscillating synths, skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, glistening synth arpeggios, robotic vocodered vocals and euphoria-inducing hooks. Much like Haallecks’ remix, the Darbinyan remix feels like a complete rework for the original.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Shares Haalleycks Remix of “Bitrate Scale”

Last year, may have been among the most prolific and productive of LutchamaK‘s career to date. The French JOVM mainstay started the year with Pi, a full-length album written and recorded in at three-month inspired burst that resulted in some of the darkest and heaviest material, he has written and released to date. 

Then he released the Quest EP, an effort, which featured experimental yet very melodic material. A few months after that, he released Rapscallion, which featured the Radioactivity-era Kraftwerk meets 90s techno-like “James Blitz 007.” 

Then there was Seven Hybrids, which featured the hypnotic club banger “Moonbright,” and the Larry Levan house music-like “Davai.” He also released Threshold, which featured “Irie Vibrations,” a track that seemed to mesh elements of Lee “Scratch” Perry-like dub with club friendly trance and house and “Bitrate Scale,” a brooding yet hypnotic club banger that brought Tour de France era Kraftwerk to mind. 

The French JOVM mainstay closed out a busy 2021 with the Utopia EP, which featured the hypnotic and contemplative “You See” and the euphoric, Octo Octa-like “s.T. bahn.” 

LutchamaK starts off 2022 with a remix effort that features remixes of Threshold album single “Bitrate Scale” by three artists, who liked his work and wanted to create their own takes. Earlier this month, you might recall that I wrote about DNMK‘s deep house-leaning take on “Bitrate Scale” that features a brooding, murkier air than the original. Haalleycks contributes a trippy cosmic take on “Bitrate Scale” centered around thumping kick and glistening and oscillating synths that feels more like a complete rework of the original.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Chemikkal is an emerging, Tampa-based producer and DJ, who has penchant for crafting infectious bangers meant to get people on their feet. His latest single, the balearic house-like “Decline U” continues a run of infectious, crowd pleasing bangers, centered around glistening synth arpeggios, self-assured and sultry vocals, tweeter and woofer rattling beats and some enormous Top 40 pop-like hooks. It’ll get you to the dance floor, I promise.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Shares DNMK Remix of “Bitrate Scale”

Last year, may have been among the most prolific and productive of LutchamaK‘s career to date. The French JOVM mainstay started teh year with Pi, a full-length album written and recorded in at three-month inspired burst that resulted in some of the darkest and heaviest material, he has written and released to date. 

Then he released the Quest EP, an effort, which featured experimental yet very melodic material. A few months after that, he released Rapscallion, which featured the Radioactivity-era Kraftwerk meets 90s techno-like “James Blitz 007.” 

Then there was Seven Hybrids, which featured the hypnotic club banger “Moonbright,” and the Larry Levan house music-like “Davai.” He also released Threshold, which featured “Irie Vibrations,” a track that seemed to mesh elements of Lee “Scratch” Perry-like dub with club friendly trance and house and “Bitrate Scale,” a brooding yet hypnotic club banger that brought Tour de France era Kraftwerk to mind. 

The French JOVM mainstay closed out a busy 2021 with the Utopia EP, which featured the hypnotic and contemplative “You See” and the euphoric, Octo Octa-like “s.T. bahn.”

LutchamaK starts off 2022 with a remix effort that features remixes of Threshold album single “Bitrate Scale” by three artists, who liked his work and wanted to create their own takes. DNMK opens the remixes with a deep house-leaning take that retains the original’s thumping kick but pairing it darker, oscillating synths, which gives the remix a brooding, murkier air.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rising  Boise–based electronic music artist and producer Morgin Madison initially started his professional life as a lobbyist before pursuing music full-time. He released his first singles in late 2017. That first batch of original material found the Boise-based producer quickly establishing a unique approach and sound that incorporated chilled out house and vast, hard-hitting set pieces.

Since those early singles, Madison has been remarkably prolific, releasing material through electronic labels like Colorize, Songspire Records, PRGRSSN and even mau5trap. Interestingly, each successive release found the Boise-based producer’s sound moving increasing in the direction of progressive house. He says in press notes, he’s just getting started releasing music that he describes as “the most genuine, melodic dance music I can make.”

Last year, mau5trap released the Boise-based producer’s full-length debut Living the Phantasm. The album’s material was written during the course of 2020, when the rising producer, much like everyone else was confined at home as a result of pandemic-related restrictions. At the time, he was creating music for a time that to him felt like a distant, impossible dream. And with the music industry and everything else seemingly on the verge of collapse, Madison began to ask himself, “If this is it, what do I want to say before I go?” That question inspired a creative streak uninhibited by a concern for the future.

The end result, included the soulful and sensual Balearic banger “Feels Like,” which I wrote about last year. Since then, Madison has been busy: He has done a handful of b2b performances with label head deadmau5. And continuing upon the momentum of last year, the Boise-based producer started off the new year with his latest single “Drifter” feat. Dominque.

“Drifter” continues a run of nostalgia-inducing, Balearic-inspired house bangers: Centered around a thumping beats, glistening synth-driven melody, the production is roomy enough for Los Angeles-born and-based pop artist Dominique to contribute her plaintive vocals to the mix, making “Drifter” arguably the most earnest yet intimate song of Madison’s growing catalog. The song features a narrator, looking back at a one-sided relationship with an aching nostalgia — partially for the relationship, and partially for a loss of innocence as a result of that relationship.

“With ‘Drifter,’ I wanted to create a song that took my sound into a very intimate direction, while still holding onto my roots in progressive dance music,” explains Morgin Madison on his new single. “Once I teamed up with Dominique on vocals, the song became a beautifully nostalgic anthem about a one-sided relationship. While a lot of my music feels more vast and ethereal, ‘Drifter’ brings you in close for a bittersweet journey.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Giulia and Paxtech Give Mark Wise’s “Rumble in the Jungle” a Slick Remix

Mark Pompeo is a New Jersey-based electronic music producer, best known as Mark Wise. Pompeo emerged into the electronic music and techno scenes with 2017’s Loco Motive EP, a collaboration with Mike Stein. 

The New Jersey-based producer’s debut 2018’s Blizzard EP was released through Reflekt Records. And since then, Pompeo has been remarkably prolific, releasing material that sees him blending elements of minimal, progressive techno, house and heavy metal while receiving support from the likes of Marco Carola, Richie Hawtin, Cristian Varela, Spartaque, Lisa Lashes, Phaedon, Vikthor, Illario Alicante, and DJ Dialog. 

Continuing his prolific streak, Pompeo begins this year with the Rumble in the Jungle EP, which was released this week through Beatport, YouTube, and SoundCloud with a Spotify release on January 16, 2022, along with remixes from Giulia & Paxtech and Sisko Electrofanatic. Yesterday, I wrote about EP title track “Rumble in the Jungle,” an expansive banger that saw the rising New Jersey-based producer meshing elements of trance, techno, jungle house and deep house in an accessible, crowd pleasing fashion.

The digital release will also feature, a remix of “Rumble in the Jungle,” by Giulia and Paxtech. While retaining the original’s melodic breakdown and relentless tweeter and woofer rattling thump, the remix places in a new context — trippy high energy, acid techno with a subtle cosmic sheen paired with sampled vocals.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: New Jersey’s Mark Wise Releases a Thumping Banger

Mark Pompeo is a New Jersey-based electronic music producer, best known as Mark Wise. Pompeo emerged into the electronic music and techno scenes with 2017’s Loco Motive EP, a collaboration with Mike Stein.

The New Jersey-based producer’s debut 2018’s Blizzard EP was released through Reflekt Records. And since then, Pompeo has been remarkably prolific, releasing material that sees him blending elements of minimal, progressive techno, house and heavy metal while receiving support from the likes of Marco Carola, Richie Hawtin, Cristian Varela, Spartaque, Lisa Lashes, Phaedon, Vikthor, Illario Alicante, and DJ Dialog.

Continuing his prolific streak, Pompeo begins this year with the Rumble in the Jungle EP, which was released this week through Beatport, YouTube, and SoundCloud with a Spotify release on January 16, 2022, along with remixes from Giulia & Paxtech and Sisko Electrofanatic. Rumble in the Jungle EP‘s latest single, EP title track “Rumble in the Jungle” is an expansive banger centered around relentless, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, industrial clang and clatter, glistening synth arpeggios, animal nosies and a euphoric hook. Sonically, the song sees the rising New Jersey-based producer meshing elements of trance, techno, jungle house and deep house in an accessible, crowd pleasing fashion.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Euphoric, Deep House Banger

2021 may be among the most prolific and productive of LutchamaK‘s career to date. The JOVM mainstay started the year with Pi, a full-length album written and recorded in at three-month inspired burst that resulted in some of the darkest and heaviest material, he has written and released to date.

Then he released the Quest EP, an effort, which featured experimental yet very melodic material. A few months after that, he released Rapscallion, which featured the Radioactivity-era Kraftwerk meets 90s techno-like “James Blitz 007.” 

Then there was Seven Hybrids, which featured the hypnotic club banger “Moonbright,” and the  Larry Levan house music-like “Davai.” He also released Threshold, which featured “Irie Vibrations,” a track that seemed to mesh elements of Lee “Scratch” Perry-like dub with club friendly trance and house and “Bitrate Scale,” a brooding yet hypnotic club banger that brought Tour de France era Kraftwerk to mind. 

The French JOVM mainstay closes out a busy 2021 with the Utopia EP. Earlier this week, I wrote about hypnotic yet contmeplative EP single “You See.” The EP’s second and latest single “s.T. bahn” is a deep house banger centered around stuttering hi hat, skittering beats, glistening synth arpeggios and a euphoric hook. Unlike it’s immediate predecessor, it’s a decidedly festive song that brings Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves to mind.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Returns with a Hard-Hitting Yet Contemplative Single

There are few artists I’ve written about as much over the past 20+ months than the frenetically prolific French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. During that period, LutchamaK has managed to release an increasingly eclectic array of material — EPs, albums and standalone singles — that have seen him bouncing around effortlessly between a number of different electronic music styles, genres and sub-genres, sometimes within the same song.

2021 may be among the most prolific and productive of the JOVM mainstay’s career. He started the year with Pi, a full-length album written and recorded in at three-month inspired burst that resulted in some of the darkest and heaviest material, he has written and released to date. Then he released the Quest EP, an effort, which featured experimental yet very melodic material. A few months after that, he released Rapscallion, which featured the Radioactivity-era Kraftwerk meets 90s techno-like “James Blitz 007.” Then there was Seven Hybrids, which featured the hypnotic club banger “Moonbright,” and the  Larry Levan house music-like “Davai.” He also released Threshold, which featured “Irie Vibrations,” a track that seemed to mesh elements of Lee “Scratch” Perry-like dub with club friendly trance and house and “Bitrate Scale,” a brooding yet hypnotic club banger that brought Tour de France era Kraftwerk to mind.

The French JOVM mainstay closes out a busy 2021 with the Utopia EP. The EP’s latest single “You See” is a bit of hard-hitting house centered around a relentlessly hypnotic, motorik groove and thumping beats paired with a sultry female vocal sample. The end result is a club banger that’s simultaneously infectious yet contemplative.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mysterious electronic duo Kasablanca emerged last year with the release of their debut EP, Human Learning. The six-track effort saw the duo firmly establishing a sound that tapped into 80s analog synth nostalgia while combining paired with the rhythmic fundamentals of house and techno. The EP eventually garnered the support of underground and main stage DJs alike globally.

The duo capped off a big year by collaborating with Lane 8 on “Run,” which amassed over 15 million streams and a #1 airplay spot on SiriusXM’s BPM station. Adding to a growing profile, the mysterious duo debuted their live show setup during a worldwide stream broadcast with DJ MAG.

The duo close out the year with the 2-track effort “Cronus”/Volition,” the follow-up to their applauded debut EP. The A-side “Cronus” is centered around a slick and dense, Kraftwerk meets John Carpenter-like production featuring layers of glistening synth arpeggios-driven melodies, skittering beats and a relentless motorik groove. The euphoric B-side “Volition” is deep house banger with nods at Kraftwerk and Daft Punk, centered around a chopped up vocodered vocal sample, wobbling synth arpeggios and thumping beats. Both tracks reveal a forward-thinking yet retro-futuristic take on house.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Scott AF and Censored X Team Up on a Euphoric Club Banger

Scott Fleenor is a Midwestern-born, Denver-based producer and singer/songwriter, best known as Scott AF. From what I’ve been told as a person and as an artist, the Denver-based artist always pushes people to be their best.

Fleenor’s latest single “No Sounds” is a collaboration with Vietnamese producer and songwriter Censored X. Centered around soulful yet tender vocals, glistening synths, tweeter and woofer rattling beats “No Sounds” is a euphoric and crowd-pleasing mix of soul, deep house and pop songwriting that will rock a club.