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Monday, November 16th, 2009 >> Blog
Written by Dani Deahl

This past weekend was ridiculous, and begins before I actually left for Rochester on Thursday. I get a call from my buddies at Red Bull (I play a lot of Red Bull events) and they say they have a delivery for me, but won’t tell me what it is. Ok, fine. As long as they come before I have to leave for the airport then it’s all good. So they arrive at 10am with a RED BULL MINI FRIDGE, 60+ cans of sugar free Red Bull and a huge case of sugar free Red Bull shots. I was literally jumping up and down I was so happy. I’m pretty much an unofficial spokesperson for sugar free Red Bull, I love it so much. It is now up in my office/studio, tempting me at every moment.

Rochester was bananas (the club stayed open for an extra hour since there were so many people still there by closing time) and everyone was so incredibly nice. I was stunned to learn about the rich music culture the city had! Then it was on to Syracuse. Syracuse is always fun since I get to hang with my buds and there was the extra bonus this time of meeting Josh David of Breakdown. Highlight of the night – sneaking out of Trexx to go to the opening party of a club called “Bubbles.” Yeah, it was called Bubbles. And the opening party only had about eight people there. And the club was carpeted. Combine that with a dancefloor that looked like the kind they drop in at a wedding reception, a ceiling height of nine feet and mirrored square columns. It was like senior prom at the Ramada. Go Bubbles. After coming back, we all discovered that Josh David was getting progressively more drunk and by the time I was playing, he was pushing me and asking me for hugs. (See photo below AS I’m trying to mix):

After all the craziness I flew home Saturday and went from the airport to Vertigo Sky Lounge and pretty much passed out that night. I think I’m just recovering, and you submitters aren’t making my life easy! I probably got a hundred submissions while I was away and now get to share the best twelve with you.

Oh Chew Fu, how do I love thee? Yet another two remixes from the man who has been on fire lately. The Amanda Blank remix I don’t believe is as strong as the Timbaland remix, but see how you feel. While I love the melodic hook in the Blank mix, her vocal simply isn’t loud enough, save for a few parts (like around 3:00 where it really peeks through) and the loose chorus is distracting. It winds up detracting from the overall impact of the remix, which is a shame because I love everything else about it. But then we have the Timbaland mix, which is punchy and crisp – not a thing I would change.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/AmandaBlank_ShameOnMe_ChewFuFestivalFix.mp3]
Amanda Blank: Shame On Me (Chew Fu Festival Fix)
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[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/MorningAfterDarkftSoShyTimbaland_ChewFu2016BBoyFixXx.mp3]
Timbaland Feat. SoShy: Morning After Dark (Chew Fu 2016 B-Boy FixXx)
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Heroes Of The Party sent over this track some days ago at a lower bitrate and were gracious enough to honor my request to get the 320 to share! A remix of a classic dance track that isn’t overworked – their touch gives just enough variation to lend a modern lift to The Bucketheads “The Bomb.” On a personal note, this one was of those tracks when I was younger where I had no idea what the lyrics were and so I made up my own in my head – you know you all had those songs.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/TheBomb_HeroesOfThePartyEdit_TheBucketheads.mp3]
The Bucketheads: The Bomb (Heroes Of The Party Edit)
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I adore the new Chromeo track “Night By Night” so I was excited to hear a remix from Smalltown DJs. The feel of the track surprised me, but pleasantly so. The live instrumental and disco elements of the original have been completely removed, replaced by a staccato glassy synth and a nice understated kick drum. Supplemental sounds like a soft riding hi hat and some atmospherics help fill in the holes without bringing the intensity up. The more I listen to this, the more I enjoy it – they smartly change the original feel without any feel of it being forced.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/NightbyNight_SmalltownDJsRemix.mp3]
Chromeo: Night by Night (Smalltown DJs Remix)
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Gotta give love to the Chicago artists. Hey Champ sent over this new remix they did of Mike Posner’s “Cooler Than Me.” Understated, the mix relies on a pretty straightforward synth for the majority of the remix, suddenly turning after a few verses, introducing secondary and tertiary lines that are quite pretty. Just when you get used to that, they’re stripped away again as the beat is changed up. I’m happy though, as they do make several other appearances. Overall, a solid showing.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/CoolerThanMe_HeyChampRemix.mp3]
Mike Posner: Cooler Than Me (Hey Champ Remix)
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Oh I’m so proud! Punky Fresh is made up of two guys, one of which is Pete Cho, my label’s old intern! These guys are extremely talented and actually won a Dell-sponsored contest earlier this year, garnering them a spot at this year’s Lollapalooza festival. Their remix of Passion Pit, which helped them on the road there, is featured below along with “Wild Leek,” one of their new originals. Their tracks are full, crunchy and loud – they remind me of artists like ULTRNX. “Wild Leek” is especially nice, with slight retro-ness both in production style and chosen sounds that works to the track’s advantage.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/PassionPit_TheReeling_PunkyFreshRemix.mp3]
Passion Pit: The Reeling (Punky Fresh Remix)
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[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/PunkyFresh_WildLeek.mp3]
Punky Fresh: Wild Leek
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Poor DJ Sole, I promised him I would get this up last week and couldn’t get around to it (was packing and getting ready to leave) so I shelved that and a few others for today. If you guys like Dutch house, then here’s a track for you and that’s a rare occurrence here on DSquared. This is hard, minimal and to the point thoughthe intensity of the track is smartly broken up with throwback samples that give a slight breather . If I were to offer any critique, it would be to add a little more shuffle to the drums and/or synth. I find that it can actually be difficult to make good Dutch for this reason – the less elements you have, the more perfect they have to be.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/WhosInTheHouse_DjSoleDutchRemix.mp3]
Chris Kaeser Feat. DJ Sole: Whos In The House (DJ Sole Dutch Remix)
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Aaaand the bonus tracks – a few I was not bowled over for (for various reasons) but are still with merit and worth throwing up here.

[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/RedSky_TheDiogenesClubRadioEdit.mp3]
Eat More Cake: Red Sky (The Diogenes Club Radio Edit)
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[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/Ed_Orable_ft_Spoek_-_Dance_No_More_(Monkey_Safari_Remix).mp3]
Ed Orable Feat. Spoek: Dance No More (Monkey Safari Remix)
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[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/UnderTheSheets_TheKnocksRemix.mp3]
Ellie Goulding: Under The Sheets (The Knocks Remix)
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[audio:http://www.danideahl.com/audio/11_16_09/Bass_and_Diamonds.mp3]
Crimen: Bass & Diamonds
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