New Music Friday …December?

I fully meant to do weekly’s for this month but barely anything came out except during the first and fourth weeks of December so I’m reviewing them all here.

Live & Direct by Axel Boy

I picked a good time to come back! My onetime favorite electronic producer is, for once, trying something new! The bones of this track are still the familiar framework of Bass House, but peppered with reggae-adjacent melodic textures and a low jagged synth lead on the drop reminiscent of the nastier material off Quest For Fire, and that’s a compliment.

Axelerator by Axel Boy

Oh, I see what you did there. Much more in line with his standard output, but anchored this time by an infectious faux-saxophone melody. What earns this a recommendation, however, is the phenomenal two-phase drop. It’s good to have this guy back and, if not innovating, at least mixing it up.

Love Is Gone (BARELY ALIVE Remix) by SLANDER & BARELY ALIVE

…I kinda fuck with the happy hardcore thing this has going on. I can take or leave the Brostep passage but credit where credit is due, there’s some prime oonst-oonst at the start and end of this. As an aside, EDM people really need to let Dylan Matthew rest. There are other singers who can convincingly emote while singing lazy, banal lyrics. Just shell out the money and grab Caroline Polachek already.

Nervous by BROHUG

Booooooring! Vocals could’ve been left out too.

Bands by Derek Minor & Canon

Unhinged sample on this beat and Derek pops off on his verse. This is legitimately better than anything off Nobody’s Perfect, and that’s even before Canon jumps in and tears the track up.

Choppas by Ookay & Cesqeaux

NASSSSTY. Best thing either artist has done in years, a perfect meeting of the minds crafting a trunk-rattling trap fusion with a climax straight out of 2015.

BOTH (David Guetta & Seth Hills Remix) by Tiësto, David Guetta, & Seth Hills

This song is quite hollow without the verses, and no amount of recycled Trance nonsense can make up for that.

AXIS by Holly

INSD featuring msft & Blush

Absolutely disgusting rhythms here, a rattling, crunchy delight. Expect to hear more about this one in a few weeks…

UOH featuring SUAHN & Dabow

Uptempo DnB snarl with a more conventional structure, but the variations throughout and Holly’s inspired drum programming lend plenty of energy to the beat.

Monzo featuring Flosstradamus, X&G, Gaszia, & Kollaba

Wiry, polyrhythmic Trap with, as always, unbelievable drum work from Portugal’s favorite son. I cannot wait to have a car with good speakers again so I can blast this. I’m glad to see Flosstradamus putting in good work yet again.

Burning Bored

Good, but way too short. Somewhat reminiscent of Skrillex’s less energetic textures on Quest For Fire, and I once again mean that as a compliment. If any track warrants a lengthy remix, it’s this one.

TOM YUM featuring Wiwek

Welcome back, interesting Wiwek production, it’s been years! If there was ever a producer to breathe new life into a subgenre built on dissonance and percussion like Jungle Terror, it’s Holly.

Love The Day by Fox Stevenson

Yeah sometimes the singer-songwriter stuff this guy puts out doesn’t work. The hook is alright, though.

DON’T SAY (Hex Cougar Remix) by ROSSY & Hex Cougar

Big, reverb-soaked Festival Trap with massive drums. I really need to listen to more ROSSY, she’s clearly got the juice.

Replay (Nasko Remix) by SLANDER & Nasko

Wow, the original melody is really sour. Nasko’s doing the best he can, and he does work up a pretty durable groove, but the drops are too disconnected from the rest of the track to properly land for me and I’m left concluding that the original couldn’t be salvaged.

Imagining by Rina Sawayama & Amaarae

GOD. DAMN. The production is a roided-up version of Clarence Clarity’s original Y2K-but-Garage instrumental, and I think I like it better than the original. Amaarae’s performance is electric, even if lyrically it feels disconnected from the rest of the song.

Flavor Of The Month by Rina Sawayama

A song that boldly asks, “what if Dorian Electra debuted in the 90s?”

Let the Sparks Fly (2023) by Thousand Foot Krutch, Saint Asonia, & Adam Gontier

This is mixed about 50% better than the original. Unfortunately, the guest vocalist here sounds like week-old ass.

For The Love Of Bounce EP by TroyBoi

You know what you’re getting with this guy by now. This EP has a bit more of an emphasis on melody and no flashy producer collaborations, but otherwise pretty standard material. Pyaar goes off, the Armani White feature does not.

Postscript: Yeah, I’m gonna try to bring the blog back this year. Might mess with the format or layout when I have time, and I’m definitely going to try to cover more albums. Speaking of albums, you can expect my much-belated Top Ten Best Albums of 2022 list sometime this week, and then my retrospective lists for 2023 in maybe a month. Happy New Year!