|
'Duende' is the newest single by DJ Danjo and Rob Styles, two guys from the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. They have gained alot of respect by releasing a load of stormers during the past year, and are set to amplify this even more by releasing this slice of vinyl!
Mr. Danjo and mr. Styles have released quite a few cool tracks before: Primer - 'Indulge / The Silver Lining' was released back in 2003 on Progrez, their 'Aragon / On The Verge' was released on Captivating Sounds and they have also had 2 succesful releases on the late BPM-Dance label. Remixes include interpretations for The Shove Brothers - 'Paranoia', Signum - 'Come Around Again' (TBR) and Jas van Houten - Heaven's Gate.
'Duende' has already been featured on compilations like 'In Trance We Trust 9' and the 'Sensation White 2004' CD. Armin van Buuren has been playing both the original and the Signum Remix for months now, and more and more DJs have been picking it up the last few weeks.
A-side: Original Mix
If you start by reading the inscriptions that are located around the label of this side of the vinyl, you can see that Rob Styles has dedicated this release to his late father, who passed away in March 2004. Our condolences fly out to Robbert, his family and relatives.
Starting off with some spooky, windy sounds, the track kicks in with a thumping kick, a bit of percussion and a neat bassline. Background FX are climbing up, accompanied by a toughened version of the bassline we just heard, plus a few very soft, short strings which are playing right behind the other elements. The track gets its drive by adding more and more hats, and is already sounding very energetic during the build-up. A first, really noticable synthline gets added, playing along with the strings. The melody that's being played has a rather emotional touch, fit enough to guide us into the main break. The percs and bassline are being filtered away, with only the strings remaining. A soft, but oh so gentle structure of chords has been created, building us up to the main melody... first filtered, but later on fully fuelled by a superb synth, playing this incredibly cool melody throughout the second part of the break and the climax. This must be one of the better trancers I've heard in quite a while; everything flows in such a nice way, and I think this track would kind of suit every moment: it's super-energetic in one way, but if you look at it from the other side it's also very emotional, exactly the thing we need in our portion of modern-day trance. The bassline is not your standard thing either; it rolls along in a very cool way, creating a fast, but also touching atmosphere during the entire track. When the climax is over, the track slowly starts to build itself down, enabling the DJ to mix in the next track in a proper way.
B-side: Signum Remix
The boys from Signum have been on a roll lately: they have recently released their vocal smash 'Come Around Again', and a follow-up has been made already as well, called 'The Timelord'. They have even made a 2004 Remake of their hit 'First Strike', and a new remix of their probably best single to date 'Second Wave' is in the making. Let's see what twist they gave 'Duende'..
A typical, rather tough Signum-bassdrum is what serves as one of the first elements in this remix. Hats, a smooth clap and a bunch of FX get added along the way, just until the kick fades away a bit, making place for an EQ-ed version. A repeating, rather techy synthline is being added, playing what seems like the first chords of the melody we heard in the Original Mix. The synth gets strengthened by loosening the filters, creating a cool kind of tension-building sound. The bassdrum kicks in again, this time accompanied by a nice bassline. Building and building, the track proceeds with a new, synthline, leading us to the main break, which gets its introduction by using some soft string pads, playing the same melody as the strings in the Original. The structure of the break is reminiscent of the A-side in one more way, because this remix also does the trick by building up the melody behind the stringchords. An equalized version of the kick enters, being guided along by a repeating version of the melody that just built itself up, inducing a wagonload of energy to emerge from the depths of my speakers. Both the kick and bassline work in a nice way, all in all creating a cool climax. After all this, the song starts to build down by letting go more and more elements on the way to total silence.
Conclusion:
Let's cut right to the chase: this is one of the best trancers I've heard in the last few months. I'm not exaggerating here, it's just that it sounds different from the normal bunch: the bassline in the Original Mix has this unique feel to it, being strengthened even more by that amazing melody. The Signum remix will definitely rock the floors as well, because it's just a tad harder than its flipside. Two thumbs up here, let's hope Danjo & Styles will continue in bringing us stuff like this in the future!
|
![[i:Vibes]](i_pic/ivibes_new.jpg)
Frontpage
News
Reviews
Interviews
Party Reports
Artist Profiles
Label profiles
Diaries
What is...
Tutorials
Links
Radio-info
Forum
Chat
User Stats
Crew-info
i:Vibes Info
Related Links
Tell a friend
