Essential Zo: How Mat Zo Got It All Right

In the small amount of years that I have been following around Mat Zo, I've already been surprised more than I could possible imagine. Where made a huge impact on me during my enlightened year of 2011, and actually became my number one although I have only heard from him for a year, his 2012 felt somewhat off. I don't know the exact reason, but although his superb Bipolar EP release, something felt amiss. When his album got announced, I surprisingly found myself indifferent to it all. I believe the fact that his recent direction have been a little of a no for me. Where "The Sky" is still a track I can't wrap my head around, "Easy" is simply a track I don't think fits in the image of Zo that I have been having. Where "The Sky" again did something unique, "Easy" just felt like a wrong attempt at a major hit. After hearing the original version instead of the Porter Robinson collab, I can sort of see how that happened. But still. My thrill was gone.

Was, because his Essential Mix effort changed it all for me. A year ago, I wrote about the misuse and misconception I believe can be found in the nowadays mixscene. All too often, even a gloririous oppertunity like a feature in the famous Essential Mix from BBC is wasted by likes of..well way too many. When word got out Mat was going to get in the spotlights, I was already fearing the worst. Judging from his latest sets, I was expecting nothing more than some cheeky house mashups. But from the very first tone, I was proven wrong. It was unbelievable, and an example to all the other essential mixers to come. He took a wopping 70 track setlist and made it work brilliantly. The genres are all over the place, yet the tempo and mixing is inch perfect. He actually seemed to know that this essential mix is a showcase of everything you are as a dj. Mat shows to be as versatile as his music suggest, featuring with tracks from the past and from the now (and even a few Anjuna ID's from the future!). I very much like that, as most artist seem to be completely unaware of what's happening outside their range of production. With this, mat again shows how far away he stands from the gazillion of producers out there.

After listening to it again at full force yesterday night, I'm happy to conclude that Mat Zo has completely revamped my interest in him and that I'm really stoked for the album, as his ID's sounded great as well!

Bottomline: I once took the comparison of the Daft boys with Mat, and this mix shows me I can still stand behind that statement with proud feet. Very, and I mean very interested to his 2013 moves!

The Sky

I discovered a new phenonemon that has been going on lately, that caught my complete attention. Dubbed as "Skyroars" or "Sky-Trumpets", these eery noises that seem to come from above are turning up more and more around the world. Often described as hums, moans or even melodies, it has a big part of the conspiracy theorist in it's grip.

There are many many videos that report this and there is even an official weblog called http://strangesoundsinthesky.com/:

"Welcome to Strange Sounds in the Sky. Every other day, somewhere in the world, someone records disturbing unexplained noises coming from the sky. My interest in this phenomenon started when I accidentally came across this Youtube video (video). With some research on the subject, I discovered very quickly that many other people around the world had also recorded strange sky sounds recently and that some were similar and some were not. I’m fascinated and disturbed by these strange sky noises happening in our world today. The purpose of this blog is to serve as a journal for the events in order to identify patterns and commonalities. These sound events have increased recently. Some are obviously hoaxes and I promise to try and weed those out. I will never present the videos as fact and will critique them based on the YT description and what is presented in the video. I may speculate as to the cause but in the end I will let you decide. I will add posts every day as long as I can find them. If you find videos or have thoughts on this, please let me know or you can post here. Cheers!Jay Man"

Here's the most popular and biggest collection of recordings, varying from 2009-2011.



It has got a lot of people speculating and with something as large as this, the autentisity is ofcourse heavily debated. I have yet to dig deeper into this subject, but as I'm easily fascinated by the unknown and unexplained, these "Skyroars" are worth keeping an eye on. Maybe there's more than meets the ear. After reading about this, I immediately thought about a new upcoming Anjunabeats single by artist of 2011, Mat Zo. The new track is the weirdest trance production I've encountered to date and I didn't really know what to think of it. After reading and hearing all about these "Skyroars", Mat's new track bares a lot of musical resemblance. The title fittingly being "The Sky", the lead got the be inspired by these trumpets of the sky in the video above. Not being a conspiracy theorist or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mathan was actually inspired by this urban legend when making this track. This supposed link made the track a hell of a lot more interesting for me.



I do hope that these recorded videos and this single aren't the last thing we're going to hear from the trumpets of the sky. Many mysterious tales and interesting unexplained stories have died out after a while. This however feels different. I might be a simple geogolical event, a jet surpassing the sound barrier or even the testing of a new international sonar system...This mystery is simply too good to be left unexplained.

Evolutionary: The Return of The Cello

Although it still supposed to be mid winter, and I should be packed in against the horrid snow and cold (they predicted a deadly winter for Europe), I'm enjoying the gentle rays of a summerish-sun. The weather has been nice for a while now, and the music I selected for the Winter doesn't really seems to fit.

Out of nowhere, it's announced that the might Mat Zo, my favorite artist of 2011, will be releasing a stunning amount of 4 tracks in one go in a couple of weeks.


The EP is called to the headlining track, "Bipolar", revealed earlier on Anjunabeats 9. The other tracks go by the name of "Ring On It", "It's Yours" and "YoYo Ma". This last track caught me completely off guard...

As I said earlier, the comparison between Mat Zo and the mighty Daft Punk is made pretty quickly musically, but it has never been so strong as with "YoYo Ma". The vocal loops, the bassline, the melody..and that particular original element that defies the whole track. Daft Punk should hurry up before Mat takes their place!

The Chinese YoYo Ma is one of the world's famous Cello players, and ever since this track I've been catching up as much as I can to his wonderful works. Mat Zo is known for being quite diverse and he proves that with this EP and especially "YoYo Ma". The cello used and inspired by the actual Chinese cello player is heavenly. Akthough I think Dusky's "Stick By This" will always prevail, Mat Zo surely came close with this fantastic piece. It almost has something from an other age and time. It never ceases to impress me.

Mat Zo once again proves why he was my number one of 2011. If this is just a peek of what's to come, I'm afraid Zo will capture the one spot once again!

Natural Selection: Top 10 Artist 2011

This year has been full with new musical discoveries. Many new artist conquered both my music and my heart! My previously posted top 100 was filled with the best singles and remixes this year had to offer. Now it's time who contributed the most...

01. Mat Zo - 36975 Points

It was on the very last moment that I was writing this post, that I put Zo on number 1 personally. Zo personally made my 2011 with his astonishing vision and take on the music as I once knew it. All of his tracks were stunning and completely new. Not a single sample or tracks that sound alike. But when I was counting the points, Zo didn't appear to come one the number one spot.

That really didn't feel right, and it turned out my feelings were true. I completely forgot about a recently freebie of his that I've been waiting for, for a loooong time: "The Loop"This 0.5 version of "Frequency Flyer" shows again how versatile Zo is, and it couldn't be left out the top 100! But not only this track, but also "Superman", "The Full Frequeny Flyer", "Rebound", his brilliant collab with Arty, and timeless remixes for loads of artist make 2011 the year of Zohar.

And that while his best track's have yet to come! In 2012, Zo will release his debut artist album, and the ID's and previews have been all over the web since that announcement. But that doesn't take away that I have already experienced his unknown versatility as an producer. Samples from a limitless selection of genres (Reggae in Frequency Flyer and a recent Beyonce sample) and the unique way of presenting himself as an artist (I believe the only electronic genre he hasn't proven himself in is dubstep) make it very assumable that Mat Zo is on his way of becoming as timeless as Daft Punk. His tracks have no guide line, which makes him my number one artist of the year.  But it sure was a close call, the closest one ever to be in this list I think.

02. Solarity/Dusky - 36725 Points

Alfie Granger-Howell and Nich Harriman hooked my on their fantastic music the moment I heard "DNA" on Anjunabeats 02. I used it instantly in my 2010 yearmix and since that day, I've been watching their every move. It seems my intentions were right, because every release of the duo has been gold till this day. From their stunning remix for "By All Means"  till their last release in December called "Tiny Black Circles", they've been intriguing me massively. 

But the two absolute highlights of their and my year have to be "Marsch" from Anjunadeep 02 and "Stick By This", released under their moniker Dusky. It has been quite a year from them, and with Anjunadeep 04 on the way, I can only hope it features another series of brilliant Solarity productions.

03. Andrew Bayer - 29425 Points

Andrew is another great new find this year. Andrew Bayer stands for the delicacy that can sometimes be called, electronic music. The first track I came across on, was his fourth track on the ordinary "Distractions EP". Just this EP alone shows that Bayer isn't your everyday artist. On that EP, he took a concept from his workbench, and created four different "movements" (hench the name) with it. 

Although all the tracks were great, the last one really stood out. "Distractions (Movement 4)" made it clear that Andrew knows how to think outside the current EDM box. Then his remix for "Rift" followed, in collaboration with his partner in crime, Matt Lange. That track really made the summer of 2011 for me. After those two anthems, I just had to check out his album "It's Artificial". Although the album only counted 9 tracks, it was more than satisfying. But "Counting The Points", "A Drink For Calamity Jane" and "Dedicated To Bostons Waste Management System" (love to know the story behind those titles!) were so well produced that I just had to put them in my top 100. Although an new album is far from now, I know that 2012 will be another bright year for Bayer!

04. Arty - 23350 Points

Arty is quite a strange story. I already heard of him when I first started listening. In the beginning of 2010, Laidback Luke played one of his singles called "Hope" in one of his sets, which I quite liked. But since it was Trance, and I was quite narrow minded, I didn't went after it. But when I started listening to Anjunabeats, Arty came back into the picture. I was astounded by what I had missed over the past couple of years. This kid was mental! I liked everything of him! I first began with some of his remixes, and eventually "Zara". But I was really blown away by "Rebound". That collab with Mat Zo shook off my narrow minded view, and truly got me into the state of Trance I am today. Since that release, I've been following Arty closely. "Around The World" followed. Wow, what an anthem! I was speechless! Must have been one of my most positive post on Upcomingsoon when I still did that stuff.

But not knowingly, that single changed the whole game for Arty and his trance roots it seems. As soon as Axwell got his hands on it, he made sure the whole world got to hear it. And boom, Arty was truly born. His next single was "Kate", for his girlfriend. I liked it, but I noticed a difference in his genre. I noticed a lot of complaining to under the video. After that, I haven't heard any real Trance from Arty anymore. With "Mozart" and his remix for Dirty South, it was made clear that he will continue to follow the path of House. I'm really curious what will do that to him and what he will do to the scene. Not long ago, Arty was chosen number 8 of the "DJ's" to follow in 2012 by MTV. It was an confirmation for me, that he will not return to Trance any time soon. I can only hope that he will not choose to go down the same road as many House producers do nowadays, and that he will still create tracks with some soul and heart put into it. The house scene is full of slackers, and I can only hope that Arty will show them the right way to do it!

05. Nero - 21575 Points

Nero, the only commercial dubstep producers I can appreciate. They are no life changers for me. No heroes. No examples. No, they are just Nero, and they were plainly insane this year. Their album Welcome Reality exploded like a bomb this August. One of those albums that you are patiently waiting for. It took me a while to fully listen to it, but when I found the time I was glad I did. This is music that needs to be made. Music that you can just put on without having to feel anything but satisfaction. All of those singles and their remix for Calvin were so enjoyable that I kept returning to them. This was the year of Nero, but I'm not sure if they can top that with the remaining album singles next year.


06. Axwell - 13391 Points

Axwell is still my number one when it comes to producing tracks, at least for now. He has got handfuls of ID's and unreleased shizzle under his name, his label is my favorite in the scene and his only 2011 track "Heart Is  King" instantly made it to the number one spot on my Top 100 List.

The reason Ax is not number one though, is because the man takes his time. Like I said earlier, he has only one or two tracks a year, followed by some small remixes for his label and some stuff with Swedish House Mafia. His work is always quite stellar, but few in numbers. But I luckily prefer quality above quantity, so the tracks that he delivers are usually enough for the whole year.

But it can't hurt ofcourse for him to do two tracks this year, or maybe more! There are so many tracks of him that need to see the light of day...


07. Laidback Luke - 17388 Points

I couldn't leave Lucas out of my top ten, just for the principal of the fact that he still is my idol. But I'll be honest with you, this year wasn't great. There were very few good Laidback Luke tracks, and I often felt liking the track because he made it. Without the name of Luke on it, it might have not ended that high on the list. His first single "Turbulence" for instance, didn't felt right at all. Then followed his strange remix for Better Off Alone and some other strange remixes.

The first real good LBL production this year, came out in June. His remix on his own label for "U & I" reminded me of that old fashioned good melodic Laidback Luke again. A month later, he struck again with the brilliant "Natural Disaster", which was the best and loudest Luke track in a long time! But nothing really exciting followed. It was on the very last day of this year that he released his remix for "Sundown", that somehow really worked for me! But when you look at the past few years, the amount of good Laidback Luke tracks is really slimming down.

He will always be my favorite artist, but it's clear that he was not the best this year.

This 2012, he announced to release 6 singles. One of those singles will be "Cambodia", and that single alone will make this year much better I think. Not the best year, but he still managed to squeeze some good productions in. But I'm sure 2012 will be better.

08. Tim Mason - 17600 Points

It took him only two tracks to make it on the list. Both "Anima" and "The Moment" have become anthems to me for this 2011. His mature way of producing music brings a smile on my face! A lot of house producers nowadays, tend to follow the bandwagon of easy happy sounding garbage. I'm glad that there is still a newcomer who refuses to do so, and make his own future. i can still hear the echoes of "The Moment" while jumping and shouting like an idiot to Steve Angello, who played an absolute killer set at the time. Tim Mason will be remembered because he chose to be different in these dark days of House. I salute him!

09. Above & Beyond - 14675 Points

I always wondered what their music would be like when I saw them so high on the DJ Top 100. Now I regret I have always wondered instead of listened. Their music is so soulful. So full of life and meaning. I didn't do a review on their album "Group Therapy", because I would do it short. It's too complex an album, to be doing a review on it. I did liked it incredibly well though, and it's clear in the top 100. I could really relate to their music, both remixed as in the original state. I'm really glad I didn't skipped them and their label. It's because of them I got into Anjuna this year. Maybe with Spotify, I will not make this mistake again and check out the artist in question right away! In many indirect ways, Above & Beyond directed my whole year.

10. Kim Fai - 14300 Points

Just like Tim Mason, Kim Fai needed just two tracks to make it to this list. His "Era" was of epic proportions, and I was waiting eagerly for him since I heard it on his essential mix in 2010. After a long period of waiting, SIZE finally announced the two sided EP! It was even better than I remembered and it ended on the third spot of a total amount of 100 tracks!

I originally never knew he remixed my new found favorite labelbosses, Above & Beyond, but when I heard his incredible take on cult hit "Sun & Moon", I knew that Kim Fai was going to end high. Again, just like Tim Mason, he is one of the few left who still possesses that unique sophisticated house sound.

He is currently busy with his kid, but when he returns to the scene, I hope he will stay true to his fantastic sound.

Monday Has Survived | The Rex: Frequency Flyer

This track keeps ringing in my head since I've heard it at Above & Beyond's radio show, "Trance Around The World". I've written a whole page about it's message:

http://somethinghassurvived.blogspot.com/2011/10/kill-them-with-positive-vibes.html



Every monday, I'll post a track that will inspire, move and get you through the week! An absolute rex of a tune!

KILL THEM WITH POSITIVE VIBES

If House music has taught me anything, it's that you gain nothing with a negative attitude.

I've been approaching a lot of artist with a negative thought these past couple of years. Guetta for being a sellout, Swedish House Mafia for being too commercial, Avicii for no reason really, Swankytunes for making too many sampled tracks... The list goes on.

All this negativity...It took a while, but finally I see how useless negativity is. It's hard to explain, but plainly it comes to this: It will ruin your enjoyment, you will find in music.

The guys mentioned above are artist I never really wanted to appreciate. I choose to not like them, for such stupid reasons. I blamed them for making a rich living. For being "too" successful really. It really feel so stupid now typing this. The cynicism I used to have in my musical experiences, made me detest every release of them, and automatically let it influence my daily musical ways. For instance, every time a track from David Guetta came on the radio, I hated myself for thinking it was catchy. A few weeks ago, he released his album "Nothing But The Beat". I hated the fact he used the style of daft punk for his second CD. I hated even more, that some of those tracks sounded nice. Although the tracks made me feel good, I still couldn't stop hating the idealistic side of the CD. I hated the fact that I had a fantastic time when Calvin Harris played a ID at the time, and it turned out to be a David Guetta production.

And when I bought my tickets for ADE, I hated the fact that he joined the line-up.

Those last sentence are my point really. For no good reason at all, I let my excitement for a big night out with guys like Armin van Buuren, Markus Schulz and Fedde Le Grand get ruined because of a single artist. That unguided "hate" for something as a musical figure is so unnecessary, yet has such a big impact on your musical way of life.

But ironically, that hate is gone now by the artist who created it. I got sick of letting those negative vibes ruin a good track. "Smolengrad", a Swanky Tunes track. I loved it when it was an ID. I loved it during the SIZE event in Amsterdam. But when the track appeared to be a ST track, I lost all interest in it, and that is just plain ridiculous.

Today I listened to the Avicii podcast. I felt good. I felt happy. The music wasn't clever, but I did not let me hate that. I listened to it with a positive attitude. It doesn't always have to be genius or complex, as long as it sounds like there's effort and heart put in to it.

Criticism is crucial in any genre of music though. We need to stay critical to keep the quality of the music as high as possible. If it wasn't for criticism, music couldn't exist. Music lives on ingenuity and the need of quality. Criticism helps us separate the people who have heart for their musical careers and the ones who just want to make cash out of it. But criticism is not the same as hate. Hate just spread negativity and ruin the enjoyment ones could have.

All and all, I think today, I learned my biggest life lesson yet: If you think positive, you feel positive and live positive. And I have house music to thank for it.



KILL THEM WITH POSITIVE VIBES

Sunday Has Survived | Natural Selection: Top 10 May

The best came at the end of this solid month of sun! Here in Holland, the sun was ruling the days. So you'll feel a lot of summery tunes in this one!



01. Dominik Eulberg - Der Tanz Der Gluehwuermchen (Original Mix) - Traum

The reason I bought "Diorama", was because of a few things. I have a fascination for mother earth, and it's beautiful natural life. The second reason was, and still is, that I already new the creator of the album. Once, in one of Jaytech's podcast, I heard him open with this track. I immediately felt in love. Dominik Eulberg is quite similar to me, in the way that we both love Gaia and EDM. He has managed to combine the two into something both truly unique and wonderful. "Der Tanz" is a fine example of how music can still inspire. I tip my hat off to Eulberg for this one!

02. Boys Will Be Boys - We Tell (Original Mix) - Musical Freedom
03. Mat Zo - Superman (Original Mix) - Anjunabeats
04. Third Party - Duel (Original Mix) - SIZE
05. Filterheadz - Everything Explained (Original Mix) - Doorn
06. Moonbeam - Hate Is The Killer (Arty Remix) - Moonbeam
07. Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke - Turbulence (Sidney Samson Remix) - Mixmash
08. Swedish House Mafia - Save The World (Extended Dub) - Virgin
09. T. Williams, Terri Walker & Paul Woolford - Heartbeat (Paul Woolford Edit) - Local Action (Phonica)
10. PROFF - Steps (Original Mix) - Anjunadeep