Fennec & Wolf - Cocoon

We've been a bit slow this week for posts, so we're adding a couple posts today in advance of dropping the Friday Care Package.

First this awesome track from Fennec & Wolf called Cocoon. This one oozes house funk and groove from every bit of the track, from the percussion, to the bassline, to the vocals. It's a lesson in groove - literally. The vocal sample in this says all that needs to be said in this one. Cocoon is both laid back and driving, in what could be used as a very versatile house track, particularly over the summer in any number of sets and locations.

Stream Cocoon below, and pick it up as it is available on Beatport as part of the compilation Set In Stone from Incroyable Music.

- KJ

Chase & Status - Time ft. Delilah (Luke①Hundred House Bootleg)

This little house bootleg is a great low key remix for Tuesday evening. Luke①Hundred just dropped this bootleg of Chase & Status' poppy drum and bass track Time that features the vocals of Delilah from back in 2011.

Luke's house bootleg is great in that it doesn't try to be something super epic and complex - sometimes house music is most powerful when it is stripped back to some of its more minimal elements. The Time bootleg does this really well, with a simple but effective percussion setup to open up the track, leading into an early breakdown and buildup with some melodic pads and Delilah's vocals. This buildup is followed by the drop into a nice bassline groove accented by the occasional vocal cut and the continued backbone percussion throughout. This is a great house reimagining of the original, and definitely one I would play out at any time of night - perfect in an opening or afterhours set.

It looks like this is currently just up as a stream, but hopefully you will be able to get your hands on this tight little bootleg soon.

- KJ

Stranger - At Night EP

In sticking with the heavier sounds today, we just came across this free EP from Stranger that was uploaded just a couple hours ago. Like the Taiki Nulight track we posted earlier today, this EP is not for the faint of heart, but if you're looking for low end it's sure to please. You're going to want to play this on something that can handle some bass.

The opening track Feel Like really starts off sounding like it might be a standard house track with a little bit of a throwback vibe.  The snare roll comes through with a couple little hints that this might take a turn, and then the drop hits. Really, that's all the description you need. Feel Like is really the only four on the floor track here, as the following three tracks all lean toward a more broken beat style.

Both Shake That and Yung Seal (a collab with Sing Sing) follow up with a similarly deep and heavy bassline, but with more of a breaks style beat backing it up on the percussion side. Stanger's collab with Frank Royal is a bit more laid back and with a broken beat, but still maintaining the heavy bass that is dominant throughout the EP.

If you're looking for something a little heavier and dirtier to add to your collection, check this out and grab the free download if you're feeling it.

- KJ

Vhyce - Be The Same (Fake Blood Remix) [Food Music]

Food Music will be releasing the remix package of Kry Wolf's DNA compilation on June 8th. You may remember us posting about the DNA compilation back in January when the original compilation was released - it was one of the first posts we did on the blog. One of my favourite tracks from the compilations was Vhyce's Be The Same with it's evolution of the track over the whole course of its playtime. The remix version of DNA sees this track remixed by dance music heavyweight Fake Blood.

Currently all we have to work with is the teaser preview, but from that we can already see that the Fake Blood remix definitely holds some of the original elements of Be The Same while putting a new spin on the track. The light synth buildups into the drops are still there, with a chopped and spliced version of the main vocal laid on top.  It all drops into a much heavier bassline than the original, which is an interesting change, but much in the style of some of Fake Blood's recent work (The Hornet EP came out on Food Music in mid-May).

The entire DNA remix EP looks very interesting, with both big names and newer but proven heavy hitters from dance music stepping up to put their touches on the originals from the compilation release.  With names like Shadow Child, S.P.Y., Fake Blood, Applebottom, and Dansim bringing their vibes to this remix EP, rest assured that these remixes will not disappoint. Make sure to grab your copy when it drops on June 8th.

- KJ

Motez - Tryna Shake It [Sweat It Out]

Motez has been working on his forthcoming Vancouver EP that will be out May 19th on Sweat It Out, and has uploaded one of the tracks from the EP to his Soundcloud page - Tryna Shake It. It's been up for under a week, and has already had more that 90,000 plays.

A rather mellow intro eases up into things until the drop comes in with a hard and heavy non-compromising bassline. Motez then brings the bassline down slightly to allow the keys and synths to come back into play, mellowing things back out again with some vocal cuts slipped in here and there. This is one of the more interesting takes on the bass house/deep house genre I've heard in a while.  Motez is clearly exercising his ability to produce both a slow burning deep house track and a hard hitting bass track all within one, and it works so well.

Watch Sweat It Out Music and their Facebook page for this one dropping on May 29th. You can also check out some of Motez's previous work on his Soundcloud.

- KJ

Hardrive - Deep Inside (Low Steppa Remix)

Hardrive's 1993 classic and frequently sampled Deep Inside has recently gotten the fresh remix treatment from a number of great artists such as Shadow Child, Kenny Dope, and Harry Romero, and are featured on a brand new release from the iconic label Strictly Rhythm. This post however, is obviously focused on the Low Steppa remix, as he's done some really cool work at blending his signature production style and sound with the instantly recognizable Deep Inside.

Check out the Low Steppa remix featured below, or check out previews of all the remixes featured on the release on Strictly Rhythm's Soundcloud page here.

- KJ

Klaves - Come On

If you've been following freshdrops for any length of time at all, you'll already know we're big fans of the folks over at Eton Messy.  They have come back today with the newest release on their free downloads series, with a really funky house track from Polish producer Klaves.  Come On is really a house track that goes to show that sometimes, less is really more.  A funky bassline, really cool vocal loop, some added keys and of course the drums all come together to keep things moving the whole way through.

Tune in and enjoy, and grab the free download courtesy of Eton Messy. Make sure to check out the rest of their download series, as there are some real gems in there that have been released previously.

- KJ

GotSome - Just A Feeling EP

The time has finally come! This EP was just released on Defected Records yesterday. I've been waiting for the title track since Defected teased it on their Defected in the House podcast last summer. GotSome doesn't disappoint, delivering two great originals on here, along with some quality remixes - my favourite is Sonny Fodera's remix of Just A Feeling.

If you're someone who likes their house music with a bit of a funky deep bassline flavour and a sprinkling of future influenced sounds, the boys from Bristol GotSome have you covered, and this is the EP for you. The whole EP goes hard, but don't just take my word for it - decently long previews are all in the player below. Pick this up as it's available now from a variety of outlets (Beatport, and Traxsource).

- KJ

Friday Care Package - March 20th

- KJ

Redlight x Tinashe - Pretend

I'm a bit late posting this, as Redlight published this a couple weeks ago already. But once you listen to Pretend, you'll understand why I had to post it regardless of how late I am to this one - it goes HARD. This is a heavy future garage/post-dubstep rework of Tinashe's Pretend, originally featuring A$AP ROCKY.

Pretend comes in rather unassuming - a chopped vocal loop over a fairly spacious background tracking.  That unassuming demeanour is shattered when the bassline drops in at the one minute mark. Though the bassline is heavy, the entire track is still fairly minimal and bare - which in this case translates into raw energy throughout.

The production style is almost a bit of a throwback, as it reminds me a bit of the minimal production from Redlight circa 2010 in MDMA, the instrumental that turned into the single "What You Talking About" featuring Ms. Dynamite (MDMA was the B-side on this release).

No word on release of this one yet, but enjoy the stream below.

- KJ

Owen Westlake - Trust Me

Owen Westlake brings a mature and classy vibe to the deep/tech/future house scene with the Trust Me. Simple and understated vocals settle nicely into the soundscape of the breakdowns, while there are serious deep and ever so slightly delayed bassline grooves when the vocal drops out and the dance floor vibes start flowing.

This one was released as a free download, so you can grab it just by clicking the arrow in the top right corner of the embedded player.  Make sure to check out Owen Westlake's Soundcloud for previous work, much of which is also free.

- KJ

Huxley - Freebies (Blurred Demos)

UK producer Huxley released his full artist album Blurred back in late October of 2014, but just recently tossed a full setlist of demos from the album for free download up on his Soundcloud page.  From Huxley's description of the playlist: "here are some demos that never made it onto my album, Blurred. none are finished, mastered or mixed. but i hope you enjoy! feel free to play, listen or delete at will."

Those of you who have heard of Huxley know that the man produces quality house music.  One of my favourite tracks that still occasionally makes it into my sets is Box Clever, along with the rest of the Out Of The Box EP, released back in 2012.

The recent upload is pretty much another full album, for free download.  There is a range of styles in this, ranging from deep house tracks such as Halloumi V3 and GenericWybes, to borderline bassline and grime on Roll It, to D&B vibes on Inst 14 Nbb.

These are all downloadable directly from Soundcloud, so all that's keeping you from adding these tracks to your iTunes is a couple clicks.  Get clicking!

- KJ

Nocturnal Sunshine - Take Me There

If you enjoy your electronica deep, grooving, and on the dark and dubby side, Take Me There by Nocturnal Sunshine will be right up your alley.  This is the first production taken from the debut album by Nocturnal Sunshine, Maya Jane Coles' new alias. If you have been around the deep house scene for any length of time at all in the last several years, Maya Jane Coles should not be a new name to you.

The album is available for pre-order through iTunes, and you can download Take Me There immediately to hold you over to the full release on May 25th.  However, if you would rather just grab the single on its own without pre-ordering, it is also available as a single from Beatport.

For those of you needing a refresher on some old Maya Jane Coles, here is one of my favourite tracks of hers, and arguably one of her most well known tracks, What They Say from back in 2010.

- KJ

Shenga - Just Can't Stop

I found Shenga, a duo based out of Sheffield in the UK, through Instagram where they had liked one of my posts regarding the blog. I decided to check out their material, as they had a link to their Soundcloud in their account description. I was pleasantly surprised, finding some really great house productions, of which Just Can't Stop is only one example. This is some deep house with some definite garage influence and a generally grimey vibe throughout.  It all works together through a nice bassline chord progression to really get the vibe across.

Grab the Just Can't Stop EP along with remixes from Beatport, and make sure to check Shenga's Soundcloud as well. 

- KJ

Little By Little - Bang The Box [DFTD449D]

Putting this out there right from the start - Defected is one of my all time favourite labels.  They've been around for years, and just keep putting out some of the top quality dance music in the world.  Their most recent release is no exception.

Little By Little combines the driving sounds of house music with a really funky garage style bassline that really gives Bang The Box serious dancefloor energy.  The chopped and edited vocal also adds interest in the breakdowns while allowing the bassline lots of solo room when it cuts in.  

Have a listen below and pick this one up from Beatport - it was just released on January 15th. This will definitely be going into my gig list to play out.

- KJ