What’s been your favourite tune this month?
A tune that’s really risen from the endless sea of newness, caught your entire attention, kicked you in the short and curlies, grabbed your chops, made you dance, made you shout, made you scream and bellowed ‘THIS IS WHY YOU LOVE MUSIC!’
One of the many ways we feed our hunger for new music, this is what UKF asks some of our favourite artists each and every month. Repping on the regs, worldwide, if any players have a distinct favourite it’s these guys.
After last month’s series launch we got a bit too excited and lost count of how many DJs we asked for Top Tune hype. So instead of 10, you’ve got 11 tunes of the month, handpicked from an exciting cross section of artists we love at UKF. From Rene LaVice’s old school jungle rewind to LAXX love from both Protohype and Snails via some mid 80s electro boogie fusion from Barely Alive it’s yet another neat snapshot of how exciting, diverse and ultimately time electronic music can be in the right hands.
Enjoy… We certainly have.
Astronaut
Tune: ASTR – R U With Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcCvUKK0g0I
“Lately, we’ve both been discovering a lot of new music by regularly checking the Hype Machine charts – this is where we first found out about ASTR. We usually start a studio session by listening to a lot of their music. The vibe is amazing and we’re really into the type of synth sounds that they use. We believe it’s really important to take influence from all kinds of music and genres!”
Barely Alive
Tune: Star Point – Object Of My Desire
“Here at Barely Alive headquarters we are deep into the hottest days of summer. And as the sun beats down on the hood of our car, with our windows down, if you catch us at a stoplight you’re guaranteed to hear the sounds of sharp kicks and plated reverb snares pour from our speakers.
Don’t get us wrong, we listen to a lot of modern electronic music, but when the sky is blue and cloudless and the temperature is in the 90s, there is just something so right about driving around with shades on listening to the sounds of the 80s.. Before there was Native Instruments Massive and Vengeance samples, there was the Yamaha DX7 and the Roland tr909. The technology was new and fun and so were the tunes that were made with it. Listening to the sounds of this era truly get us back to our roots. Not only as electronic music producers, but as dance music enthusiasts and help us remember that music can be goofy and fun.”
Hybrid Minds
Tune: Bonobo – Know You
“We love everything about this track at the moment and have done for a while. We are suckers for chopped up keys and strings. It’s got a really nice natural sound to it. The groove in the drums along with the edits keep the beats interesting for the duration of the track. The whole composition is just perfect, each bit is better than the last. The vocal cuts are bliss. To us, this is a full-on happy, sunny vibes song with a lot of beauty.”
LAXX
Tune: Yellow Claw – Lick Dat
“It’s really hard for me to pick a single tune, I like lots of stuff, and a lot of what I’ve been playing is my unreleased material. However I’m really feeling Yellow Claw’s Lick Dat at the second.
I used to write 4×4 all the time, and this track just jumped out at me for some reason. It’s not really a new concept, it’s just executed very well, and reminds me of old house, a little bit of a nostalgic feel but with an insane amount of energy. I’ve only just started playing it, but it’s had a wicked reaction, so I’m going to continue to smash it!”
Mefjus
Tune: Ulterior Motive – M.I.R
“M.I.R is just amazing. It reminds me a lot of Konflict’s – System Bleed, which is one of my all-time favourites. I need more of this!”
Metrik
Tune: Eric Prydz – Liberate (Matrix & Futurebound Remix)
“It’s a good thing when house music meets the D&B world. The combination of energy and euphoria is immense. This remix is a great example of that and has been going down really well in my sets lately.”
Protohype
Tune: LAXX & Farkas – Arcade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN1Zexxnc1E
“This is a classic joint that I play in pretty much every set. I love the vibe, it’s super trippy and different. UK style-ish so it’s fresh for the American audience because a lot of people don’t know the tune, so it keeps the audience on their toes when I’m playing my set. It’s great for double drops as well!”
Rene Lavice
Tune: Origin Unknown – Truly One
“It was one of the first tunes I heard played out at a venue which fully exposed me to the range of sub bass frequencies used in D&B music. Before I heard it at an event, I had only heard it at home and I didn’t realize the baseline went deeper than the first three notes. Then I heard it on the dancefloor and it was like magic. The sub bass brought a whole new dimension to the music I thought I knew.”
Silverback
Tune: Matt Zo – Lucid Dreams (The M Machine Remix)
“An M Machine classic to me. What really draws me into this particular track is how every element perfectly fits with one another. It’s minimalist and complex at the same time, this track represents everything I love about music. A must listen if you’re in need of inspiration!“
Snails
Tune: LAXX – The Limit
“Laxx has been killing the game lately and this track was one of the first of his productions that really grabbed my attention. The drop is so minimal but the way he worked it makes it so powerful at the same time. All I’ve been learning from this producer is ‘less is more’.”
The Others
Tune: Biome – Solstice
“Biome has got so many bangers it’s hard to pick just one, but I’ve chosen this dark and moody number that’s forthcoming on J:Kenzo’s label Artikal. I’m always into the way Biome works his drums, bass and percussion together to create polyrhythms; it makes the music sound so full and gives it pace without sounding cluttered. It’s a great technique and he’s nailed it with this track.”
