Welcome to the Shuffle Button.
This will be your weekly journey through electronic music. In each edition, we’ll jump between a few different genres of electronic music to give you a well-rounded look at some of the stuff that’s out right now. While it may seem random, there’s an underlying algorithm to make sure you hear some great tracks, and listen to some music that you may not have heard before.
So strap in, and let’s get going.
MK – 17
We’re going to start off with some light and breezy, piano house. What better place to start then with the king? MK is a legendary Detroit House DJ that just rattles off incredible tunes (anyone remember My Head is a Jungle?). The formula here is simple, an uplifting and fun vocal laid over some classic piano house sounds. It may not be groundbreaking, but it is super catchy and has a classic sound.
KH – Question
Staying in the house realm, we’re going to be picking up a familiar face, if not a familiar sound. You know who KH is even if you don’t recognize the name. Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet, breaks the mold of his usual productions to bring this groovy and upbeat Disco/House record. Fun fact, he needed a transition song in his sets, and couldn’t find one he liked. Naturally, being an amazing producer, he figured he’d just make one instead of continuing his fruitless search. This song is so infectious that it’ll get stuck in your head, and you’ll be bouncing around to it all day. Not that it’s a bad thing because this track just moves you.
Offaiah – Run This Town (Riton Remix)
We’re going to get a little darker and a little deeper, but we’ll stick with four on floor. Riton is great at making big, club songs, and he does a great job giving the original a heavier feel. He replaces the wobbles with some chest pounding beats to give the song a bit more of an edge. The song goes from mid-day at a festival to midnight at a club, while still retaining the distinctive high notes that make the original song distinctive. It’s a great balancing act that yields a full tune.
Childish Gambino – 3005 (Friction Remix)
We’re going to kick it up a notch and cruise through with some drum and bass. This is not a new song, but in honor of Friction leaving his post at BBC Radio 1, we figured we’d give a nod to one of his great remixes. This track is just a proper drum and bass remix. Friction takes a great rap song by Childish Gambino and gives it the standard drum and bass treatment. Again, not the fanciest, not the most complicated, but it just sounds good. It has everything you could ask for, a catchy vocal, that classic dnb sound that makes you want to get up and stomp around, and a little edge at the end to remind the listener what the producer could do if he wanted to.
So long Friction, we’ll miss you on Monday nights.
Document One – Run The Block
We’ll move onto a different side of drum and bass. Something a little bit heavier, but still bouncy and funky. Document One had the floor on Friction’s Drum and Bass show on BBC Radio 1 and did not disappoint. They brought the hammer with a bunch of heavy stuff early on but settled into a nice jazzy section where they brought out this jam. A great track that starts off with another killer vocal (are you sensing a pattern here?). It rolls right into the upright bass going wild, with a flute on top to add to the jazzy sound. But beware getting too lighthearted, Document One still sticks in a few reminders of the dark underbelly that’s always present in aggressive drum and bass tracks.
CHOOON of the Week
You know when shuffle’s going and a plain old JAM comes on from way back? You know the ones where everyone yells CHOOOOON? Well every week we’ll end on one of those just to keep the good vibes flowing.
TCTS – Do It Like Me (Icy Feet)
To be fair, this isn’t a super old song. But it’s still very fun, very bouncy, and very high energy. TCTS made the beat to this right after he got new shoes, and was feeling fresh (Icy Feet, get it?). This explains the entire track. It’s hard not to get the same happy, excited feeling listening to it that he probably had when he was rocking fresh kicks.
Hope you guys enjoyed the spin around electronica. See you next week.
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