Happy to read me again? It’s been quite a while since I last posted to this blog, the chief cause being my disdain for the educational institution I currently attend. My seemingly everlasting struggle with CEGEP will soon be coming to an end, although I’d much sooner change program in order to graduate with honours in Science, study analytical physics at McGill, and spend most of my adult life developing a time machine so that I could travel backwards and kill myself in the present. I hope that gives you an adequate appreciation of the scale on with my academic boredom currently registers. In any case, this hatred for tuition has not hindered my love for electronic music in any way. In fact, the only positive I choose to gather from this semester comes from CSKY, the college radio station for which I am obliged to stay sharp in my discovery of new music. That’s its slogan up there. Without further ado, here are a few of the latest tracks I’ve played on the airwaves of the John Abbott radio station.

     I always make sure that the songs I play on the air are of the highest possible quality, yet the best versions are typically only available on, or shortly after their release dates. I had been looking for this track for a full three weeks before it was released, so impatient was I to have it play second fiddle to the cacophony in Abbott’s cafeteria. According to the release notes of the Requiem EP, “The concept of Ten Walls is simple. A music driven project where the focus is moved away from the personality of the artist so that the music can more directly speak for itself.” Pursuant with this description, I couldn’t find any information about Ten Walls apart from the praise showered upon his/her first production, the amazing Gotham EP. Here is the equally fantastic “Requiem” in all its oratory glory.

Ten Walls – Requiem (Original Mix)

Released through Life and Death on November 4th, 2013

Beatport

 

 

     There are several tunes that I always wished I’d get the opportunity to share with an audience of a certain size, regardless of whether or not they treated the music as background noise and spoke over it. Enter CSKY, with a glowing opportunity for me to play the tracks of LA-based producer DAVI. I first took notice of the Armenian musician back in 2011, with the release of the third volume of Anjunadeep’s yearly mix compilation series. His remix of Underworld’s “Two Months Off” was/is one of my favorites from the entire Anjunadeep catalogue, thus motivating it’s presence in one my weekly tracklists, which in turn made me thirst for more DAVI. Fast-forward to 2013 and the appearance of Anjunadeep 05, which features two of his originals, highlighted by “The Time Has Come.” I like the idea of letting the songs speak for themselves, so just press play below.

Underworld – Two Months Off (DAVI Remix)

Released through Anjunadeep on February 21st, 2011

Beatport – iTunes

 

 

DAVI – The Time Has Come (Original Mix)

Released through Anjunadeep on July 22nd, 2013

Beatport

 

 

     Another artist who’s music I had wanted to play for an inordinate amount of time is Celsius. The Englishman’s knack for blending garage, pop and orchestral sounds has resulted in some of the most engaging, danceable, and unique arrangements seen in the electronic music sphere for quite some time. Two of his more recent works found their way into my CSKY sets and were subsequently ignored by virtue of strength of bassline, melodic prowess, and overall sound quality. Most Abbott folks don’t know good music from bad. Here is Celsius with “Incoming” and “Thought As Much.”

Celsius – Incoming (Original Mix)

Released through MadTech on September 23rd, 2013

Beatport – iTunes

 

 

Celsius – Thought As Much (Original Mix)

Released through Moda Black on February 18th, 2013

Beatport – iTunes

 

 

     No set of mine would be complete without at least some nu disco. Since their collaborative production with Fred Falke back in 2011, The Knocks have acquired an impressive amount of recognition, having shared the stage with artists like Madeon and Chromeo. We hold them in high esteem here at the Hawt, as their bootleg of Of Monsters and Men featured in our top 15 tracks of 2012. The NYC duo is back at it again, retooling a cut from The 1975’s self-titled debut album. What better song is there to be crushed by the faint voices of the 4 students with classes on Fridays than this lively remix of “Girls”?

The 1975 – Girls (The Knocks Remix)

CDR / White Label

FREE DOWNLOAD

 

 

     Last week, French Express executed a takeover of the LA Boiler Room and delivered 4 of the best mixes I’ve seen in the recent past. For this week’s video, watch Perseus admirably bear the opening duties for his label-mates. Let me know if you can identify the edit of “Return of the Mack” he plays at the very beginning; its been stuck in my head for 4 days.

 

 

     If you haven’t deciphered it yet, the moral to this week’s post is: “Barely anyone knows that CSKY exists, let alone actually listen.”

Either I have become a terrible blogger, or I am simply right to state that the electronic scene these days has been a bore to say the least (note that it is probably the former). Now, that is not to say that this fall season has yielded nothing fruitful worthy of a mention, however there has not been an EDM album that really grasped me in a while. This, my friends, is the reason why I have converted to radio rap for the past month, to the great displeasure of my roommate who no longer enjoys my overwhelming audio presence. No lie, Drake has been my main man for quite some time now. There is nothing wrong with a little OVO in your life, although I would completely avoid forehead tattoos as a means to represent your transient love for an old Degrassi cast member.

Nevertheless, let me inform you all on a few of the notable releases over the past month. Nicolas Jaar and David Herrington are doing well for themselves, having released yet another EP under their collective alias 'Darkside'. Entitled "Psychic", and quite a logical extension of their previous collaboration (self-entitled EP), this collaborative effort is riddled with subliminal baselines and static stutter, creating a rather foreign atmosphere, as though belonging to the soundtrack of a movie along the lines of Prometheus.

Rating: 7.5/10



Legowelt has been keeping busy over the past years, and is rapidly becoming a large player in the Holland dance music scene. Taking inspiration from deep detroit house and chicago lo-fi, it is no surprise to hear his sound evolve as a function of the fusion of the aforementioned musical sub-genres. His newest release comes to us through L.I.E.S. records, entitled "Teenage Romance". A 3 track EP, the song displayed below sees subtle variations throughout its duration that maintain the interest of the listener through the relative monotony of it all. Furthermore, this piece harbours additional patience regarding the development of drum kit complexity, causing an atmospheric progression that really creeps up on you.

Rating: 7/10


Charles Murdoch has been an artist that I have vaguely followed over the course of the year. The reasoning behind my utilization of the word 'vaguely' is related to my varying musical phases, and my subsequent interest in what I believe to be considered 'mass appeal house'. Nevertheless, although I might have been sleeping on his releases, the Australian producer has definitely been making noise through labels such as FutureClassic. Having divulging an EP 2 short months ago (Weathered Straight), Mr. Murdoch is back at it with a remix of Bodhi's "No More". The chord progression is properly curated and everything seems to work towards what can be considered as a 'cookie-cutter' house song with slight alterations. However, this does not make it unpleasant to the ear, simply generic and highly comparable.

Rating: 6.5/10



The Melt is a record label based out of Los Angeles that hosts an array of 2-step, chillstep, footwork, garage, and house artists. More importantly, one of their forthcomings, "From the Ghetto" comes from a musician by the name of Snorlax. For the most part, if you aren't into juke/footwork, then the original pieces are not for you; the remixes, contrarily, are wonderfully composed (from the small sample available on Soundcloud). More precisely, the introduction of Colta's remix gives way to my curiosity pertaining to the continuation of that piece, and will most probably be the most well received of the 4 tracks comprising this EP. Unfortunately, The Melt has not released any stream for this (to my knowledge), and as such I will be demonstrating a different release from the label as an amuse-bouche of some sort, along the lines of chill step.

Rating: 7/10



Through much introspection, I have determined that I would very much enjoy the presence of plants in my room. In other words, I wish to create a living, breathing ecosystem along the lines of a jungle. Now, I am well aware that they take much care and are an added responsibility. However, I was completely oblivious to their musical tastes. Thankfully, the folks from Estonia are capable of providing music for your plants. Saturated with samples derived from the depths of the Amazon, coupled with tribal chants, your plants will feel right at home, providing them with optimal conditions in order for them to thrive.  Give them the treatment they deserve below.

Rating: 8.5/10