daraja 7.1

More of a solid than a new release, this track by Gel Abril. On Be As One (Israel) Gel delivers two singles that offer a slightly different twist on Gel‘s output. Sitting on the A-side ‘Spells of Yoruba‘ is that kind of tune that once dropped on the floor it will make the people groove like mad. My favourite track of this release, with its simplicity, will have dance floor rockin’ to the chunky groove and the mesmerizing vocal snippet. Ask the handful of lucky ones who are already dropping it world wide. On the B-side, ‘Marir‘ has a good mix of tribal groove and up-tempo rhythm that gives the tracks it driving force and energy and guarantee another sure hit on the floor.

• Discogs
• Juno.co.uk
• 4DJsOnly
• Beatport

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With a string of releases for highly respected labels like 20:20 Vision, Trapez, Infant, and Morris / Audio, Northern England’s latest young knight-of-the-night Burnski turns out four super tracks for his debut on Dessous! Each energetic cut has a distinctly different theme and flavour, however they complement each other so well, amounting to a superbly tuned helping of straight up tech-house. Fit for the night and hopeful for action, ‘Fertile‘ lock us in with classic deep house chord stabs set against a gritty and infectious rhythm track. My favourite track is the no-messing-around sound from the satisfyingly simple groove of ‘You Said‘.

• Discogs
• Juno.co.uk
• 4DJsOnly
• Beatport

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I’ve been a happy listener of the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix for quite a while now, and I’ve decided to post some content if a new Essential Mix is out. To give a sketch of what big artists have passed already, I will post my top 10 favourite Essential Mixes of the last two years:

1. Sébastien Léger
2. Fergie
3. Booka Shade
4. Laidback Luke
5. Deadmau5
6. Benga
7. John O’Callaghan
8. Paolo Mojo
9. John Dahlbäck
   
10. Umek

There are still many I haven’t listened to, because I’m only doing this since a year or so. Please be sure to also check out this week‘s Essential Mix by Loco Dice on the BBC iPlayer. In fact, listen to that every week! Unfortunately you won’t be able to listen to what I posted above, but if you do a good Google, you just might find it for download somewhere.

I already posted about Daniele Papini a few days ago, but I’ve discovered another release which really caught my attention. This sampler by Alchemy (Italy) contains two tracks which I really, really like. The A-side is a collaboration between Daniele Papini and Riccardo Ferri, called ‘Jellesei‘. Probably my favourite track on this release. The B-side contains a track by Hale, called ‘Freaky Voices‘, which is another club banger! Though this already came out in March, I still like this sampler very much!

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• Juno.co.uk
• 4DJsOnly
• Beatport

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Matan Zohar (a.k.a. Matzo) is a rising progressive DJ from the UK. I’ve discovered him since his release ‘Rush/Defined‘ (Anjunabeats), last month. At only 18 years of age Mat has already developed an outstanding production style with two incredible original tracks. First up comes ‘Rush‘ which the Above & Beyond guys fell in love with upon first listen. ‘Rush‘ has all the hallmark characteristics of a dance floor anthem with a gliding melody and pumping bass line. On the flipside we have another original in the shape of ‘Defined‘, which brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘a catchy riff’. Above & Beyond selected this track to feature in their brand new compilation ‘Anjunabeats volume six‘ and since that moment this track has been a firm favourite of both big name DJs and fans alike. Besides this release, he was also featured on the latest Club Life, by Tiësto, with his forthcoming release called ‘Our Self‘. Also he did various remixes, of which I like the remix he did on ‘2wo Butterflies‘, by Erphun. This is a guy we should keep an eye on; a promising talent, he is.

• Discogs
• Juno.co.uk
• 4DJsOnly
• Beatport

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