July 22

Beatz N treatz

Summer season means I’m listening (even more) to long, catchy, repetitive dance tracks ensuring them legs keep on turning away during mammoth sun soaked sweaty bike rides. Ja Tak.

Birdcage - You Man

Don’t know what to unpick first, I’m straight up in love with this trippy track. A ballsy vocal sample intro plus bubble build, walks into a perfectly balanced heavy/wet bass and decaying high-hat package deal. Enter next a middle 8 that elates (middle-elate) with chord progression from a reverb-drenched bell, dopamine itself hounds for more. Then back to a bass double up (rhythm and harmony), hard echoey clap and vocal sample splice, and around we go again. Yes.

Essáy - Lyla

Synthy bouncing echoes work well with a distant metallic off-beat percussion clap. Sit with this for a bit and tune into a slow growth sneaky spacey guy slipping in from the sidelines when you’re least expecting him. Builds, stays, builds again. Ear candy.

DJ Violence - Curse

More in-tune with a techno fanatic’s ear since it’s nice and discordant, this repetitive lil mami just keeps on keeping on. A simple 16-bar melody pushes forward in-line with a housey muted bass and clipped-high-hat dance floor staple. Holdup! 3 mins in and you’re met with beat delays, a muffled vocal and more discordance, before signing out with a neat synth melody fade. Nice.

DNA (SA) - Within

From the off this track literally says “don’t fugg”. Progression is the operative word when it comes to this mega mouthful of dance (and gym)-worthy growth. Just listen. Fuck yeah.