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The Breakdown 014

March 19, 2012

 

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an excellent St. Patrick’s Day weekend. I trust everyone is nearly feeling 100 per cent! Today I’m bringing to you Richie Hawtin presents New Horizons. This Techno compilation CD is the first compilation in the new Mixmag Live project and was prepared by Richie Hawtin himself. Released by Minus12 on February 21, the CD is 13 tracks long and is full of straight techno gems! Don’t know what Mixmag Live is? I’ll share with you below … taken from Mixmag‘s website …

“Each month, one of the biggest stars of electronic music features on Mixmag’s cover, guest edits a ten-page section within the magazine and mixes the iconic cover CD. Then, when the magazine hits stores, the cover artist plays a special show in London – with every fan attending receiving a free copy of this extra special, collectable magazine and CD.

The event will also be live streamed via mixmag.net and overseas fans will be able to purchase a copy of the magazine and cover mix as soon as it goes on sale, via Mixmag’s newly launched iPad/iPhone/Android digital edition.”

Photo by: Alexander Koch Photography

Richie Hawtin is an English-born Techno master, raised in Canada. Richie was born in Banbury, England, but moved to LaSalle, Ont. at the age of nine. With Beatport releases dating back to 1993, Richie has been involved in electronic music for over 20 years and isn’t slowing down. Whether under his Plastikman alias or simply Richie Hawtin … the man knows music. With his forward-thinking, inventive approach – he continues to leave his own special mark on the electronic world.

I’ll share my three favorite tracks from this compilation with you guys – and then let you explore the rest and form your own opinions! There are tracks with bounce to get your dance floor moving and tracks with deep entrancing basslines that can take you away. My favorites touch on a little bit of each. All in all, I think this mixed CD fits today’s post perfectly. It’s Monday. You’ve had a tough weekend. Relax to this one today! Grab a beer (if you’ve recovered well enough), grab your friends, have a BBQ and enjoy the beautiful summer weather we’ve got this spring! Have a listen to the Beatport previews below and then make sure you grab your copy!

First up - Suck My Soul (Original Mix) – Justin James is  a techno heater with powerful claps, rolling basslines and a lot of swing that is guaranteed to have the dance floor shaking their hips. I’m a big fan of the added horns in the build-up… they add some power right before it drops. The “boop boop” (sorry for my lack of expressive vocabulary) sounds and vocal sample Suck My Soul used throughout lend the track a playful hand. Who doesn’t want their soul sucked … lol.

Volcano (Original Mix) – WHYT NOYZ, in my opinion, has more of an electro house feel to it than any of the other tracks on the CD. You’ll instantly know what I mean when you hear that grinding style of bassline. The vocal work sounds crazy similar to Tom Jones’ She’s A Lady, in a deeper key, but I’m not 100 per cent sure. Whether they are the same or not, it gives the crowd something to sing along with because they probably will think it is the Tom Jones tune … Volcano definitely works well if the club starts filling up a bit more and you want to take your set from tech house into something sounding a bit more like electro house.

The last one I’ll share my opinion on today is Just Kidding (Original Mix) – Leo Choi. I’m not really sure how to describe this one … it sounds like maybe you’re at a seriously creepy circus and all the clowns are laughing at you. Despite that scary image in my head, I can’t help but keep it on repeat and bob along. It’s even got an eerie little laughter sample used. It has a very dark feeling to it and some sounds I’ve never heard before, but I like it a lot! This is one you’ll just have to hear for yourself.

 

 

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Thanks for stopping by today guys! Don’t forget … if you know some Canadian talent that you think deserves to be featured on The Breakdown, LET US KNOW by contacting thebreakdown(at)djmag(dot)ca! Let your friends know!

Contact me on Twitter, Facebook or e-mail, thebreakdown(at)djmag(dot)ca!

See you next time!
– MAKE SMILES 

P.S. I’m in a DJ contest right now and could use some support! If you’d like to help me out, all you have to do is mark your attendance as GOING to this Facebook event! Much love!