Podcasts Music House is a Journey 2014 Nov Take Me to a Higher Ground

2014 Nov Take Me to a Higher Ground

Published: Nov. 9, 2014, 4:44 a.m.

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Take Me to a Higher Ground\\u2026


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!!!! Warning: some expletives and drug references !!!


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Set could have been called \\u201c15 Shades of House\\u201d or \\u201cWhat is House without Big Piano Keys?\\u201d But I thought I shouldn\\u2019t pass on the opportunity to give Blonde and Grant Nelson a some exposure..


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14 good tracks \\u2026 13 from the last quarter of 2014.. Proud of that!


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In the past few months, I have been utterly bored with Soulful and, to a certain extent, with with any non-progressive house. "Take Me to a Higher Ground" reunites me with the genre..


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What changed my mind?


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- \\xa0Mixing it up between true soulful gems and edgier tunes with some rasp built-in gave depth and colours to my set.


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- Inviting House royalty to the party did help! Grant Nelson, Richard Earnshaw, Sandy Rivera, Kings of Tomorrow, Spiritchaser, Eric Kupper and Miguel Migs.. Need I say more?


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- Finally finding great, very recent tracks! \\u201cHigher Ground\\u201d, \\u201cNeed 2 Know\\u201d, \\u201cBang, Bang\\u201d and \\u201cSpecial\\u201d\\u2026 The latter 3 released in the last fortnight and all of them in my 2014 House top five..


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The pleasure to discover new tracks, associated to the relief of not having to include old ones, rekindled my interest.


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There you have it.. A very decent House set to listen to! I promise it will grow on you.




Playlist:


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  1. 1969 Intro Apollo 11 Counrdown. NASA Soundcloud Page
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  2. 2014 Higher Ground (Taft_Purple Disco Machine vs Taft Remix.) [Xtian Daft Disco Edit feat. Erick Decks]. Blonde feat. Charli Taft
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  3. 2014 Higher Ground (Grant Nelson Remix). Blonde feat. Charli Taft
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  4. 2014 Need 2 Know (Richard Earnshaw Remix). State Unknown feat. Cassandra London
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  5. 2014 BANG (Kings Of Tomorrow ReVox Mix). Sandy Rivera feat. April
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  6. 2014 Don\'t Look Any Further (Babysitters & Deep Criminal Remix). Levan Kay, Gary Caos
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  7. 2104 Special (CamelPhat vs Grant Nelson HC Remix) [Xtian F@kin\\u2019 Special Booty Edit]. Billon feat. Maxine Ashley
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  8. 2014 Secret (Full Intention Remix). DJ Anna feat. Beverley Ely
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  9. 2014 We Love You\\xa0 (Mandela Tribute). U-Ness, JedSet feat Madiba
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  10. 2012 Paradise Row (Extended Mix). Spiritchaser
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  11. 2014 High Enough (Inaky Garcia Remix). Daniel Trim & Monica Mira feat. Maximilian G.
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  12. 2014 My Feelin\' (Unique2Rhythm Remix). AM2PM
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  13. 2014 Missing You (Eric Kupper\'s \'Director\'s Cut Tribute To FK\' Mix). Artful, Ridney, feat. Terri Walker
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  14. 2014 Kissin\\xa0 Huggin Pt 2_(Jay Vegas Remix) [Xtian My Naughty Way Edit feat. Phil Weeks). Boy Orlando
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  15. 2014 Let It Play (Original Mix). Miguel Migs feat. Martin Luther
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Highlights:


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\\u201cHigher Ground\\u201d:\\xa0 I first heard the track on Grant Nelson\\u2019s housecall. \\xa0Grant had done a private edit of the Blonde\\u2019s tunes, it was clear it had anthem potential. You get a mash on my 3 favourite remixes. I am sure more will come, too much potential for other producers not to have a go. Big keys, heavy bass and an outstanding melody line.


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\\u201cNeed 2 Know\\u201d from Richard Earnshaw, heard it first unreleased on Jask\\u2019s ThaiSoul podcast on MixCloud.. Immediate love. Earnshaw is one of the top five house producers and never, never disappoints. As to the vocalist, Cassandra London, absolute respect. Production is immaculate.


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\\u201cBang, Bang\\u201d: Sandy Rivera, April and the KOT outfit.. Sandy and April, not sure who is the muse of the other, but very much like the previous track, this tune is intricate and goes way beyond the melody line.. I needed a wider appeal than a purely melodic one to regain interest in Soulful House.. Grant Nelson, Richard Earnshaw and Sandy Rivera just provided it.. As for April, what a vocalist! Listen every word is expressed not just sung.


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\\u201cDon\'t Look Any Further\\u201d: old tune, new take.. My wife was cringing a bit with the tenor sax.. I had to tell her that the sugary, well-know tune needed the edge.\\xa0 The sax solo is not too long and without it.. It would just be another cover of a classic..


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\\u201cSpecial\\u201d from Billon feat Maxine Ashley.. I discovered the track on Housecall # 120.. Must have been a private edit because the track was only released on the 7th of November.. I waited all that time for I wanted to use a legal cut and check out the different remixes.. So catchy! And the CamelPhat remix is perfect.. I could not resist to fuse in Grant Nelson\\u2019s edit but left the Housecall jingle to acknowledge the source. I believe I did a decent job of fusing both version.. and yes this tune is F@ckin\\u2019 Special!!!


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With \\u201cSecret\\u201d we delve back into classic but recent soulful house. A track, which I think is more for the dancefloor than just podcasting.


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\\xa0Jumping quickly straight into a bit of U-ness and Jedset with their Mandela\\u2019s tribute to steer the set back to true soulful


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\\u201cParadise Row\\u201d from Spiritchaser.. The only relatively old tune of the set ( 2012), an old time favourite of mine and I felt I deserved dropping a classic by that time. I have to mention the vocalist, Emily Cooke, full respect!


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\\u201cHigh Enough\\u201d , new take on an old classic.. Inaki Garcia, whom I have played a lot of tracks, gives the tuen an edge it needed to make it relevant.


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\\u201cMy Feelin\\u2019\\u201d from AM2PM. I discovered AM2PM on Housecall recently with a mini mix they did. It blew me away. AM2PM is a collaboration unit where the amazing singer adlib on instrumental tracks, this is House at its absolute finest.. Do to miss and go to their soundcloud page to hear how creative and amazing they sound.


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\\u201cMissing You\\u201d Kupper\\u2019s Director\\u2019s Cut of the Frankie Knuckles classic..\\xa0 The track would not have made the playlist if it had not been for all the rest.. This is what I mean by being bored with Soulful.. As it is and by the time it dropped, I felt it was perfectly suited to play it.. It is really all about mixing it up\\u2026


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Kissin\\u2019 and Huggin\\u2019\\u2026 Old househeads will immediately recognize Peter Heller\\u2019s Big Love, Boy Orlando inspiringly twisted it to Kissin\\u2019 to Huggin and Xtian had to play around with the Phill Weeks sample to had the personal naughty touch.


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Last track \\u201cLet the Music Play\\u201d.. fitting ending and loving the swag, the production, the \\u201cnow\\u201d feel.


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Just by the length of the highlights you can see I like this set.. Give it a fair go, this is a little journey into the various colours ( hence the 15 shades) of current melodic House Music.


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It will grow on you.


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Next up could be another soulful though most probably will return to progressive before embarking into TranceMission Episode 03


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A bient\\xf4t


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Xtian

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