About a month ago, The Hot Six announced the addition of FarSide to our strong stable of music contributors. On the edge of the freshest, dopest hip hop and R&B, FarSide brings you the hottest new jams on a weekly basis. This is his third entry. To catch the first ever Hip-Hop Spotlight, check it out right hurrr.

Every once in a while an artist comes along whose style transcends all genres, bringing to light a rhythmic blend of music that’s original, hypnotic, addicting and just….good. The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), is that Canadian artist that if you haven’t heard of yet, you’re sure to hear of soon. With just 3 mixtapes released and no official studio album, The Weeknd developed a cult-like fan base, but really started getting mainstream attention when discovered and promoted by fellow Canadian, Drake. You can really hear Drake himself influenced by Tesfaye’s work on his latest album “Take Care,” which gives production, song-writing, and background vocal credits to Tesfaye on multiple tracks.

This week’s spotlight is the title track from The Weeknd’s first mixtape “House of Balloons.” A two-part song, “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls” starts out with a mix of electronic and R&B tones and seamlessly transitions to a more hip-hop driven second half, concocting 7 minutes of quality music along the way.

House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls – The Weeknd

Like what you hear? Download all 3 mixtapes, “House of Balloons,” “Thursday,” and “Echoes of Silence” for free at the official website.

*Also check out: Drake ft. The Weeknd – Crew Love
Album version:

…and live version of The Weeknd KILLING it on Drake’s Club Paradise Tour:

*A Weeknd song you may not know, but should: The Weeknd ft. Drake – The Zone

FarSide

In 2011, Sweden and Holland absolutely dominated the electronic dance music scene. With acts like Armin Van Buuren (Holland), Swedish House Mafia (Sweden), Tiesto (Holland), Avicii (Sweden), Afrojack (Holland), Dada Life (Sweden), Chuckie (Holland), Alesso (Sweden), Hardwell (Holland), Adrian Lux (Sweden), Laidback Luke (Holland), AN21 (Sweden), and Fedde Le Grand (Holland) it’s no wonder why.

In fact, at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, the Swedes and Dutch dueled in a soccer match for the DJ ages. Here is a clip:

2012 is a new year, and although the Swedes and Dutch still reign supreme, there is a new star rising from the east. With up-and-coming artists like Arty, Swanky Tunes, Matisse & Sadko, Russia is surging in electronic dance music with a sheer opulence I haz it.

Let’s go to the tracks…

When Yasi June emailed me this track in August, the first thing I said was “this is a good track, but to be great, it needs vocals.” Yasi then asked me if I was growing too critical of dance music. I said no, but it would be a great track WITH vocals. Well, we were both right. The original posted here back in September is a great track. The one with vocals is also fantastic.

Calling (Lose My Mind) – Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso ft. Ryan Tedder

Swedes: +1.

Now the Russians. Swanky Tunes is a Russian trio formed in 1998 that has been making splashes internationally in the last year or two with some crazy remixes.  Here is a collabo with Dutch DJ R3hab. 

Sending My Love – R3hab & Swanky Tunes ft. Max C.

Russians and Dutch: +1

This track was featured on The Hot Six #26, and after it was, I heard it on every DJ’s podcast set afterward.  Obviously, we had something to do with it.  Here is a Russian track through and through.

Trio – Arty, Matisse & Sadko

Russians: +2

Sebastian Ingrosso posse-member Otto Knows makes a grand entrance with this fresh track.

Million Voices – Otto Knows

Swedes: +2

Swiss-born Persian DJ, Avesta, a.k.a. Farshid Abdi, makes this introductory splash on Tiesto’s label.

Arena – Avesta

Swiss/Persians: +1; Dutch: +2

And now for a little twist:

Timati, a.k.a. the Black Russian, was first featured on Happy Mondays with his European smash, Welcome to St. Tropez, a Hot Six nominee for 2011 track of the year. Timati first came to public light on the fourth season of the American Idol-esque Russian TV show, Star Factory. Now he’s making music videos with P. Diddy.

I’m On You (DJ Antoine vs Mad Mark RMX) – Timati & P. Diddy, DJ Antoine, Dirty Money

Russia come alive.

The Hot Six Playlist

All Tracks – One Button

As always, let us know what you’re listening to.

Keep it hot, and keep dancin’!

Breakstone

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I don’t know about you, but I easily get sick of what’s overplayed in life.  Boys who are all talk, politicians who are all talk, bosses who are not creative…the boring and the routine.  Ugh.  What I especially get sick of are radio stations that overplay the same trite songs. —I mean, can’t Katy Perry come out with a track that doesn’t sound like it was made for 15 year olds? Also I love Pitbull, but there are no international cities named in “International Love”.  I mean, really??

Lately I’ve been diving into more hip beats and sounds that you wouldnt find on radio stations…..hipster if you want to call it.   Yes, the PBR drinking, hipstamatic photo taking (Instagram is too mainstream these days), bike-riding nouveau-mixed beats.   Seriously, these tracks are so refreshing, why can’t we hear them on the radio!?

I’ve metioned to you before how awesomely addicting is the group RAC, and they’ve come out with yet another sexy remix of Lana Del Rey’s Blue Jeans.  Love how Lana’s sporting the hipster cult gaia look in this picture above.

Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans (RAC Remix)

And while British pop star Ellie Goulding is cathching American radio waves with her 2011 hit Lights (you should listen to the Bassnectar Remix of Lights as well),  her single Starry Eyed with Brooklyn based Theophilus London , remixed by electro-pop act Penguin Prison, is certainly a true cross-border hit.  Sorry Pitbull.

 Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed ft. Theophilius London (Penguin Prison Remix)

I’m going to try to introduce more indie-electro-pop sounds over the weeks, let me know what you think.

Happy Monday

Yasi June.

This is the third installment of The Misadventures of the Modern Gentleman — a diary of sorts, from one of my good friends.  To learn more about Mr. MMG, click here.

The Misadventures of the Modern Gentleman III

Setting: Humid train from DC to NYC

A jolly good day to all! First off let me applaud Amtrak for their impressive free wireless along the journey. I get to catch up with work and personal emails with Spotify jamming the entire route! By the way, for the Spotify fans out there, their first iPad app has finally been released. Check it out here.

Quick deviation: If you haven’t started using Spotify, then you are surely missing out. Imagine iTunes unlocked for free; listening to any track at any time, all in the cloud; never downloading or purchasing mp3s; sharing music with your friends; and following their playlists that instantly sync when tracks are added. This is the first time the four major record labels have sponsored an innovative tech idea. Backed by Apple and Facebook, this is the future of music, and well-worth the subscription for those who want mobile access.

I know what you’re thinking. What about the newest Hot Six tracks that don’t have record label sponsorship yet. It’s only a matter of time the newest remixed tunes published by my peer authors are available as well – if not, you can still add mp3s locally and it will blend with the cloud and sync virtually to your devices.

OK, sell over. But, just to make my point, I’ll be putting together a playlist for each entry from now on that should give you a flavour of the various tunes I enjoy among different friends in different cultures. These tracks should be good to play in the background while enjoying drinks with friends, or getting the party started before getting too crazy. Here’s the first: you’ll catch a track from Miike Snow’s latest album, try to catch him on his current tour, he’s great live .

Listen to the Modern Gentleman’s Spotify playlist now.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on this ride from DC to NYC so some of you may have already taken advantage of the wifi. Trains in general are becoming a personal favourite method of travel – no arduous security, no overblown speakers on a plane shouting the same emergency protocol. You get to avoid showing up hours in advance, and best of all: you travel from city centre to city centre. Plus the scenery can be pretty relaxing and the bar is always great for a beer and company. It still surprises me how Americans and Brits have yet to step up their train infrastructure as the French and Japanese have.

The more I visit Washington DC, the more impressed I get with the 14th Street corridor from P to U. Always developing with new places along a trail of old institutions. Recent visits include the fantastic endless brunch at El Centro. I’m pretty sure I managed 4 beef tongue tacos and at least 6 micheladas! Inevitably, my stomach crashed and went into shutdown due to the fire that occurred inside.

Another pleasant surprise was DC stepping up its quality in coffee. Be sure to try out Peregrine just across the road.

The newer venue with terrific seafood is Pearl Dive, minding the theatre sports bar upstairs, the curbside bar for draft beer and oysters was fantastic.

I’m about to start my second weekend in NYC and went to some amazing places last weekend, but am reluctant to note here since any good NYC traveller knows you never plan a destination in advance. The best thing about NYC is never knowing where you’ll end up. That’s the one serious quality I give the city credit for. If you don’t have friends to meet with then go to rentafriend.com or just find a good vibe on a nearby street. I’ll go ahead and list a few, but you’re better off just hanging out in nearby bars and restos – use yelp if you need to. We pretty much confine ourselves to LES (Lower East Side) and Nolita (North of Little Italy). One in particular I vaguely remember after a full day of boozing had amazing pork sliders and casual wine selection called Jo’s, a charming posh diner feel with a great mix of people.

Others include David Burke’s place at the James Hotel in Soho for brunch, and Baloud’s newest and more modest venue DBGB. One of the funny takeaways from most of these places was noticing how popular Bourbon is getting. A few of the bars started serving bourbon as their base for bloody and a strip of fatty bacon as the garnish. Talk about a heart attack. But on a serious note, you’re able to find some amazing distillers on the shelves nowadays. Most of you will know the mass marketed Maker’s but keep your eyes peeled for Pappy’s.

I thought I’d wrap up this entry with a beautiful photo of the bourbon bloody from Burke’s.

Until next time,
MG

It’s the weekend, and you need a party soundtrack. Here is The Hot Six Mix #4 courtesy of your favorite fiesta online, The Hot Six.

The Hot Six Mix #4.

With music from Dirty South, Swedish House Mafia, Chris Brown, Tiesto, Gotye, Nervo, Jamie Woon, Kanye, and classic fave, Stardust.

Two weeks ago, The Hot Six announced the addition of FarSide to our strong stable of music contributors. On the edge of the freshest, dopest hip-hop and R&B, FarSide brings you the hottest new jams on a weekly basis. This is his second entry. To catch the first ever Hip-Hop Spotlight, check it out right hurrr.

With Memorial Day weekend around the corner, for this week I wanted to bring a mindless, catchy, somewhat ridiculous head-nodder that you can blast with your friends on the way to local beaches. If you’re in the D.C. area you know that it’s going to be the short road trip to Dewey Beach or Ocean City. Windows down, music blaring, you want to make sure your playlist is packed with bangers to keep you hyped on the trip.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen….”Cashin Out”!

“Got a condo on my wrist girl I’m cashin’ out”…”Got a condo ‘round my neck girl I’m cashin’ out”… Does that make any sense? No… Does a guy with a name like “Cash Out” really care? No… Will you care, blasting this song with your friends in the car on the way to the beach? Heyyyyl No!!

One hit wonder or continued success, I have my money on the former, but only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy Cash Out’s single, by way of a remix featuring D.C.’s very own M.C., Wale.

Cashin Out – Cash Out ft. Wale

*Also check out: Wale – Slight Work ft. Big Sean

*A Wale song you may not know, but should: Wale – Nike Boots ft. Lil Wayne

As always, let us know what tracks you’re listening to!

FarSide

Most everyone has had a moment where they felt they needed a miracle to achieve something or to resolve something.  In the year 2000, German producers Fragma had their biggest hit with “Toca’s Miracle”. 

It all started with a song by Coco Star called “I Need A Miracle” released in 1997.  Fragma essentially created a mashup taking the music from their song “Toca Me” and adding the vocals from “I Need A Miracle”. 

I have featured  the original version of “Toca’s Miracle”, and the 2008 remix version which also was very popular. 

Toca’s Miracle - Fragma

Toca’s Miracle 2008 Remix – Fragma

Depeche Mode is one of my personal favorite bands of all time and I have had the privilege of watching live in concert on four different occasions.   They are one of the pioneers of electronic music.  So many of today’s popular bands have been heavily influenced by Depeche Mode, including The Pet Shop Boys, Coldplay, and The Killers.

“Personal Jesus” was released in 1989.  Rolling Stones has ranked this song as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time.  This song has been remixed countless times over the past two decades.  There’s one remix I heard recently that I particularly liked produced by Stargate. Stargate is a very successful Norwegian duo based out of New York City. They have produced smash hits such Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” and many of Rihanna’s popular tracks. 

Enjoy The Silence – Depeche Mode (Stargate Remix)

Fistpump Heaven is a segment by Big Jon and appears written in exactly the same format in which he emails his closest buddies about his favorite tracks.

Boys,

The first time I heard this track I just had to find the nearest elevated surface (couch, chair, DJ booth) and go absolutely beast mode. Afrojack’s trademark heavy, hard hitting beats are on full display like a dirty mouse in mating season. The female vocals are on point. I need to look into this guy Dimitri Vegas, but as a wise man once told me, if it’s got Vegas in the name, coke and strippers can’t be far behind! Also, how ridiculous does the party in this video look?

Keep banging!

The Way We See The World – Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike and NERVO

Big Jon

Gotta keep this simple because work keeps piling up!! In moments like this, when it’s 5:30 and that does not mean the day is over, I need a fun, fresh song to keep me sane.  Classixx is a duo from LA, and I fell in love with them when they performed at the underground hip U Street Music Hall in Washington DC last year. Their remix of Lisztomania is perfect for that end — quirkifies and calms Phoenix’s high paced favorite—classixx!!

Phoenix – Lisztomania (Classixx Remix) 

And here’s your perfect picture to feel better on a Monday.  I am starting to purge out those in my life who are all about the “scene” and not about the friendship….here we go!

Happy Monday

Yasi June.