One down, 11 to go… 2015 is speeding by quicker than a Jaguar Skills gabber megamix.
Now a standard UKF procedure for the last Friday of the month, here’s what a bunch of on-point DJs have picked as their favourite track of January 2015. Naturally they’ve recommended some serious blinders…
Bontan
Tune: Christian Nielsen – Need That Something
“Christian Nielsen is on fire for me right now. I love how he uses soulful vocals in his tracks with his signature house sound.”
DC Breaks
Tune: Wilkinson & TC – Hit The Floor
“This track is a sure fire dancefloor destroyer, and it’s been going off in our sets recently. You’ll definitely be hearing it a lot over the next year!”
Drumagick
Tune: June Miller – The Promise Ring
“What’s drawn our attention in this tune is how different it is. The beat has the same vibe of a tune of our own that we love to make; it’s got such a swing on the beats that makes us move in a different flow, plus the chopped up R&B female vocals adds a charm which is a refreshing moment to drop in our sets… Especially when you want to cool it down a bit before take it higher. Play at the right time and this kills it!”
Engine Earz
Tune: Icicle ft. Sarah Hezen – Superimposed
“Of course Icicle is consistently one of the toughest producers in the game… However this track from his latest Entropy album really got me. I heard an early version of this song and it stuck in my head for weeks, I think it’s something about Sarah Hezen’s vocal over Icy’s production that makes this track kinda reminiscent of Massive Attack’s Angel. But in this case the Angel is Borg. Will definitely be keeping an ear out for more from this singer in 2015.”
Forbidden Society
Tune: Black Sun Empire & State of Mind – Until The World Ends
“I got this track first from State Of Mind and I was like ‘damn this will hurt the dancefloor!’ I was fully right! Clean and loud mixdown… Exactly the way I like it. I also like the vocal in this tune; it fits perfectly in the track. Been smashing this one for a couple of gigs already, always blows ’em away!”
Fourward
Tune: Must Die! – Hell Cat (Annix Remix)
“We’ve been big fans of Annix for a while now and they absolutely smashed it with this remix. This tune has been big in our sets over the last few weeks, and it sure won’t leave the crate for a while. Rewinds galore!”
Infuze
Tune: David Heartbreak – Rose Colored Bass (feat. Maluca)
“This track has flown slightly under the radar but it is easily one of my favourite tunes of the last year. Heartbreak manages to combine everything that I like into one tune – melody, aggression, jungle/footwork, and rave vibes. This is an incredible tune to close out a high-energy set with.”
Josh Butler
Tune: Hauswerks – Gotta Get Out
“Hauswerks sent me his latest EP last month and soon as I heard this track it jumped right out. The raw drum breaks and that sleazy little vocal are right up my street.”
Kayzo
Tune: Rae Sremmurd – No Type (Patrick Reza Remix)
“This may not be something that I would play in one of my main sets, but Patrick Reza absolutely murdered this in the most proper way possible. He completely transforms the record to a complex upbeat future deep house version of what was an already incredibly popular record. This is something I have on repeat while driving or relaxing at the house in between studio sessions. It just gets me in a good mood and clears my mind of any stress, dude. The real winner for me is the melody he creates and the response bass fills that gives it that Patrick Reza sound. It also shows a completely new side of him.”
Noisestorm
Tune: Rene LaVice – The Calling Ft Ivy Mairi
“This tune stands out to me, really has it’s own identity and atmosphere! In a time where a lot of new music lacks variety and most importantly emotion, it was very refreshing to hear this!”
Nu:Tone
Tune: Matrix – Mute 98
“Hard to believe that this tune is getting on for 20 years old, and it still sounds futuristic now. Matrix was always a don at finding hidden grooves in sounds, and this tune is a masterclass in that. I’ll never quite understand how he manages to keep interest for over 6 minutes with so few elements. Essential listening!”
Outrun
Tune: Madeon – You’re On Ft Kyan (Oliver Remix)
Oliver lifted the needle off the record as the analogue age was in its death throes… only to gently set it down again in the present. To us they manage to eschew the almost inevitable trap of sounding derivative, instead embodying tasteful extrapolation; the most beautiful conclusion to my favourite musical era. Where production used to sound brittle and unfocused, we now have an entirely different type of monster… A breathing funk behemoth. Do watch this pair with as keen an eye as we…”
Pyramid
Tune: Pyramid vs Colombo – Ruff n Fresh
“I know it’s a bit egotistical to mention my own tune as my Tune Of The Month, but this one is special to me and it’s coming out this month. Myself and Colombo went on tour around Australia last year. We got along like a house on fire. I had known about his music for years through the Spanish Breakbeat scene. We made this tune together after that, and I have been dropping it all over the world. It has destroyed dance floors on my recent trips to Eastern Europe. The vocal, bass and Spanish guitars all combine to make a dancefloor banger!”
Rene LaVice
Tune: The Prodigy – Nasty
“It’s a snarling, nasty, thug of a tune with enough punked out energy to make your senile grandparents jump out of their chairs and start jitterbugging. The video is also wicked. The hunter becomes the hunted as we all become nasty little foxes and scare your parents.”
Sam Binga
Tune: Yung Gleesh – Wasabi
“I first became aware of Gleesh through his track Skrong, which is equal parts thugged-out DC rawness and incomprehensible gargling.Wasabi is a step up in terms of the beat, which rolls around a few different keys, mixing pointlessly catchy hooks and – fairly unusually – an acid line, but it’s equally bizarre / amazing on the vocal side of things. All together now – ‘I took this bish out on a dinner date, Singapore noodles on my dinner plate, Chinese food good but I want Japanese, Chinese bish bad but I want Japanese… WASABI, WASABI, WASABI, WASABI’ Also, according to a female friend of mine, he has kind eyes, plus he’s rocking some next level designer pyjamas in the video, so there’s that.”
SLDGHMR
Tune: Jack U – Take U There (Alesia Edit)
“Been playing out this Alesia remix of ‘Take Ü There’ at our gigs. We love their dark and raw sound. I think we draw a lot of inspiration from them, especially with our upcoming work.”
TMSV
Tune: Kromestar – Still In Love
“This older unreleased Kromestar tune has something really special. This is one of the few bits of electronic music that I keep coming back to, and that inspires me every time.”
