Posted by: Cor

After a decade of Stanton Sessions mixed CD and countless breaks remixes of song from every genre, the Warriors are back with their very first album of completely original material, entitled… drumroll please… The Warriors. Hm. Okay, no points for originality in the album title category, but the music is a different story. This compilation represents a shift from DJ-friendly dance floor-oriented breakbeat anthems to shorter, catchier tracks that seem more geared towards home and radio listeners. The Warriors have always been known for their crossover appeal and, um, The Warriors might be their most mainstream album yet.

However, the focus on mass-appeal comes at a cost. Unlike previous Stanton Warriors albums, the tracks here are unmixed, and with the variety of styles and influences this results in a rather uneven listening experience for those used to their mixed DJ albums. Additionally, you can’t produce a radio-friendly album without relying on heavily on vocalists. We’re certainly used to rap vocals from the Warriors, and, er, The Warriors has them in spades, but there’s also an abundance of singing in the choruses. Being able to sing along to your electronic music is a matter of personal preference of course, but some long-time fans, your intrepid blogger included, may lament the absence of instrumental hooks.

In my eyes (or ears), the album is a solid collection with a little something for everyone, and has at least one highlight single I look forward to spinning, but as a whole it fails to move me in one direction or the other. Is this because these new sounds mark a departure from the Stanton Warriors I know and love? Most likely. But this seems to be happening to me a lot recently so don’t take my word for it. Have a listen to to some tracks from The Warriors, and let us know what you think of the new sound of, sigh, the Warriors.

Get Up (Feat Hollywood Holt & Ruby Goe)

Buy it: Amazon | Beatport | iTunes

Posted by: Cor

OMGTGIMFF. Time to celebrate with another booty bouncin’ set from the Stanton Warriors. This one comes to us from the beaches of Miami, recorded live at the Winter Music Conference last May. It’s a bit on the short side, but all you Stanton fans will be glad to hear it’s jam-packed with all the beats and obligatory ass-shakin’ directives you’ve come to expect from a SW set. ‘Nuff said. Go enjoy your weekend.

Stanton Warriors - Miami Beach Party Session Live @ WMC 2010
(right-click to download)

Posted by: Jay

Super-awesome cover art by my new Bolivian gf Paola Lambertin (who I think will be personally offended if Daft Punk doesnt win this).

So I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but we’re doing this little contest here at The Beatery trying to find the best producers of electronic dance music of the 2000s. Somewhere along the way (I think it was at Tiesto of all people…) it dawned on me that: fuck, I should really do a podcast with these Dons of Dance, these Behemoths of Beats, these Saints of Synths* all mixed together!

*Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night.

So I came up with some quick rules for this “So You Think You Can Bump” podcast:

1. Every contestant would get one, and only one song.
2. I would not be trying to include everyone’s “biggest” or “most memorable” or “definitive” track. Way too hard to put together anything with flow, and quite frankly, I’m sick to death of most of those*
3. I would not use a track (or the same mix of a track) that was ever on any of our sets. These guys are so prolific let’s hear some new stuff**
4. Any mix, re-mix, cover or mashup was fair game as long as the SYTYCB artist was somehow associated

* This is not to say I COULDN’T use one of these, it just wasn’t the priority.

** Like every good set of rules one of them needs to get broken, and for me it was number three. I used one track that appears elsewhere in a mix on this site. Can you catch it? It’s pretty obvious…

So with these rules in hand and 15 holes to fill I felt like the manager of and All Star game. Who do I start? When do I use the heavy hitters? With so many of these guys being multi-dynamic producers, what style should I have them represent? With so many different styles how do I get them to gel together?

Well, the need for flow made most of these decisions pretty easy. And now that the dust has settled I have to say I’m pretty excited about this mix! It’s not often that you have an excuse to only use the best producers in you set, and wow, what a result.

I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I did making it! It’ll be a nice way to look back at an incredible period of dance music:

DJ Jay – “Barons Of Bump”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Cor

Everyone has those oldies songs they’ve loved since they were kids (the Stand By Me and Big Chill soundtracks pretty much defined my childhood), so today I’m easing the Monday pain with some oldies breakbeat remixes. Now, these aren’t the best-produced tracks in the world (though one of them was remixed by a SYTYCB nominee), above all else they exist for novelty’s sake… to put a smile on your face and bring you way back. Enjoy!

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown (Hotsnax Remix)

The Chordettes - Mr. Sandman (Squeak E. Clean and Desert Eagles Club Classic)

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Beggin’ (Stanton Warriors Remix)

NEW FEATURE! Stream all tracks:

Part 2 coming next Monday.

*Mad propers to web comic Married to the Sea for the image. If you haven’t checked them out in a while, head on over for lulz.