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Light Shadows flawlessly hits the nail on the head again with their gothic interpretation and arrangement of Dusty Springfield's classic performance of Spooky. In the first twenty-five seconds, Light Shadows ease their way instrumentally into your eardrum with a silky, wide bassline, tight-centered beat, bells, and a touch of marimba that bounces from speaker to speaker. The intro summons you into a mysterious, spooky, and enchanting realm. Light Shadows has a knack for setting the mood through engaging delivery laced up with, warm, and rich tones. In my experience, being able to bring about the type of sonic imagery that is fresh and captivates the listener with ease is no easy task especially if it involves a cover song. When it comes to originals and covers Light Shadows never disappoint. After the first twenty-five seconds, a sharp crash/snare introduces the driving synth melody and preps the way for Cassandra's vocals to seal the deal. This is what I like and anticipate when cover songs are done well. You will instantly know if it's good if the lead-up to vocals is solid and straightforward while adding something new in every couple of measures. I will have to tip my hat to Philip in this area. If At thirty-five seconds is where the vocal comes in with a thick, creamy, dark, and ambient, cathedral-like sound. Cassandras' performance fills up the room in a powerful ghostly manner and fits perfectly into the arrangement. I am a huge fan of vocal throwbacks and reverb washes and at one minute and forty-two seconds mark if you listen close after Cassandra belts out the word Spooky and holds on to the sometimes vowel sound of y it then bleeds into some sort of screech-like howl which I thought was very cool. One of my favored sounds of this arrangement is the wicked, nasty synth solo that has a gritty, crunchy, curdling, sci-fi swirling type of effect, and the first hint of this madness is introduced at fifty-one seconds. At one minute twenty-one is where it begins to take off. Imagine the launch pad being Cassandras' vocals building the anticipation of the launch and then eventually slingshotting, Philip's solo into the forefront. Most definitely one of my favorite sounds of the year. The final sound that stood out would have to be the organ that is saturated in a dark ominous type of reverb that creeps in at the two-minute mark. The organ had its place carved out in the mix which is what makes it stick out as kind of a mile marker of sorts and lets the listener know the song is close to coming to a resolution. Great use of song structure. This is the type of stuff that keeps one on the edge of their seat when listening to music in general, it feels genuine and authentic almost like an unmanufactured everyday conversation. I like to call it ear candy. The vibe of Spooky is chill, clever, and intelligent. The dark electro and gothic vibes go well together. This rendition of Spooky is a chef-d'oeuvre and one to be enjoyed by all. Spooky Credits Main Artist • Light Shadows Vocals • Cassandra Vincent Composer • Buddy Buie, Harry Middlebrooks, Mike Shapiro Producer/Mix • Philip Peters Master Justin Michael Tallman

Welcome to the first Radioactive Review brought to you by our Bad Haz Techno Beatport Review Team! This is a new series of blog posts in which we select a current track from one of the Beatport techno top ten charts (Peak Time / Driving, Raw / Deep / Hypnotic, Hard Techno, Melodic [House] & Techno, or Minimal / Deep Tech), and a team of our promoted producers gives their thoughts on the track in a concise manner, including a Geiger Counter Rating (out of 5)! With many of our promoted producers having different backgrounds, experiences, and most of all, opinions about all things techno, this should provide a fun and varied evaluation of the track. For this track review, our review team consists of promoted producers, Hegstraction, Many Elephants, Peter Harich, DZM, E1GHTH PLACE & Sam Kitt. The track for this blog post review is The Sound of Space by Enrico Sangiuliano, taken from the Beatport Techno (Peak Time / Driving) Top Ten Chart, and was the number one as of 11th September 2022. Here are the thoughts and comments from our review team (if you'd like to join in, you can post your own review in the comments below): Hegstraction - "First off, I like that it's an eight-minute track version on Spotify, the same as on Beatport; I guess when you are this famous you don't have to worry about playlist curators complaining your track is too long! The intro is tentative before the kick comes in (Submithub curators would pummel you for that, haha), but then it gets going. Typical kick and hi-hat elements throughout. I like the repetitive, stuttering effect on the vocals. The synths are a bit light for me, too trance-like, however, some of the spacey sci-fi psy-trance sounds are fun. Overall, it's a fairly simple track, nicely executed as you'd expect. Not a particularly interesting track for me, not that much fun to dance to, a bit catchy, but pretty average." 3/5 Many Elephants - "The phrase 'this is something designed for your senses and nothing else' is fitting for this track as it is clearly aimed at building a feeling, and it does a decent job of achieving that. For me though, you never quite get a payoff from the build-up. It would work as an early atmosphere builder in a set in a smokey club but would not be your set highlight." 3/5 Peter Harich - "I have always liked Enrico Sangiuliano and usually use his tracks in my sets for a simple reason, he is great at building atmosphere. The Sound of Space is no exception. The plucky melody is great, and the track is driven forward by the trancey bassline. I think the vocals should have been processed more, they are a little light. That first break though, the tension that it brings all the way to the first build up. I do however feel that the first drop is a little weak. I would have liked to see it come directly after the first build up. Perhaps it's been done a million times before and Sangiuliano wanted to do something new. But the simple fact is that it's been done a million times before because it works. The fusion of psy and techno is a hot potatoe for some, for me it's perfect. I love to explore the segment myself although I have a long way to go before I'm at the same level. The Sound of Space gets a 3/5 from me, because it's not an "The Age of Love" but still a solid track. I recommend everyone to listen to "Future Dust" instead which is a solid 5/5." 3/5 DZM - "Don't quite get why this would be a Beatport No 1 track. Nothing about the track is particularly interesting, perhaps with the exception of the stuttering effects on the vocals. The plucky melody is very basic and not expanded upon. From a sound design perspective there is not a lot going on here, and so without melodics and sound design trickery we need a solid groove which is ... okay, but not much more than that. I can imagine that this works to fill some time in an intense DJ set, but this has zero re-listen value to me." 2/5 E1GHTH PLACE - "For a track that disguises itself as more of a trance song with techno influences rather than a minimal and melodic techno track, I kind of expected there to be a bit more involvement as far as the melody goes coupled by a really great buildup that has a nice memorable and edgy hook during the drop/chorus. For a title that has the word space in it, it honestly felt pretty flat and uninspiring, and while there were some catchy moments, especially during the rhythmic section of the track, it didn't interest me all too much from start to finish. Regarding the atmosphere, I wanted to scream when there wasn't any panning done to some of those sound effects that really could have benefitted from it! Aside from that, there was some presence known within the track that fills up some necessary space (no pun intended) that gets the job done for the most part, but I still felt there was a lot left to be desired. A touch more in the reverb or even a decay and filter increase in those pluck synths during those impactful moments would add a lot more intensity and suspense and it would catch my attention a little more. As far as psychoacoustics go, not a fan to be completely honest. Those stuttering vocals were a little too chaotic and didn't fit in with the track where it should nestle in nicely with the rhythm. There was a lot of push and pull happening. Sure, the track does sound coherent and the mixdown is decent, but it just lacks character overall. With that said, I give the track a fair and honest 2/5 rating on the geiger counter." 2/5 Sam Kitt - "I'm a long-time fan of Enrico, love most of his releases and how he has grown over the years, but honestly I'm disappointed in this release. I've found he has always developed his tracks and sound into something new and exciting most if not all times. This track though just lacks the originality and boundary pushing that I look forward to hearing when I see 'Enrico Sang...' as the artist. This has all his trademark sounds, god-tier mixing, and fx shots, but without any substance behind them to actually push the track into a top tier one for me. As sad as it is for me as a long-time fan, this is on par with most of the demos I get sent which I just ignore for not pushing the envelope. 2/5. Unremarkable, especially since I'd give some of his older track top marks." 2/5 You can find all music & social links for Bad Haz Techno here - ALL LINKS :) Credit to Many Elephants for the inspiration behind the 'Radioactive' naming & 'Geiger Counter Rating' ideas, in keeping with our 'Hazardous Material' theme stemming from our first Bandcamp compilation, and also in part due to influence from Daz Scott's epic track, Geiger Counter, which was an early Bad Haz Techno promo. Have a listen below :) Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more Radioactive Reviews in 2022.

je te veux by Charley Young (feat. People Of The Parallel, Diamond Lounge) is funky, futuristic, and nothing short of simply unforgettable. To put it into straightforward terms, I would have to anoint this as the tune of the summer. Charley Young and her team did a fantastic job all around. Really turned on all of the bells and whistles in this production. Top-notch. The music video was directed shot and edited by Ecuadorian-American cinematographer Emilia Mendieta Córdova. Her experience and attention to detail concerning colors, angles, lighting, creative direction, and execution make every music video of Charley Young undoubtedly something to look forward to. Below you can check out the full breakdown By Charley Young as she goes into detail about the visual side of how je te veux came to fruition. The vocals were performed by American Singer/Songwriter and Actress Charley Young. During the verses and choruses in je te veux, you will hear a combination of vocoder and a natural vocal which gave it a very cool and unique twist on what traditionally would have been done using strictly a vocoder to alter the voice throughout the entirety of the track. Overall it transforms this Funky track into something futuristic, familiar, and fresh. It's pure ear candy. France-based Producer, Musical Artist, and Engineer Diamond Lounge always slam dunks on the attention to detail, instrumentation, instrumental placements, and auditorial aesthetics concerning music production. Unfailingly builds a solid foundation and leaves plenty of room in the pocket for the vocalist to artistically and freely express themselves. The Diamond Lounge drum tone is always the icing on the cake. Always elegant always with class. The bass line was performed by American Musical Artist, Producer, and Engineer People Of The Parallel. Every section is a little different than the last. Whether it be adding a note or taking one away, it is what keeps this track in an always moving onwards and evolving type of state. The style and execution give je te veux that catchy, definitive, funky vibe and sound we all know and love when it comes down to the genre of Future Funk music. Listen to all the collaborations below. Some great music in there! As you can see when these three get together and collaborate they never disappoint and the final outcome is consistently fresh brilliant and inevitably top-notch. 🏆 As you can see, teamwork makes the dreamwork! Charley Young is that artist with a fabulous personal style and is known for hitting musical and visual home runs year-round. Rest assured it will always be quality over quantity. I always look forward to what is next. I would have to say she is an all-around superstar! Je Te Vuex Credits Main Artist/Lyricist/Vocals • Charley Young Featured Artist • Diamond Lounge, People of the Parallel Production • Aaron De Luca Tracking Engineer Vocals • Fabio Arauz Co Production/Mix/Master • Justin Michael Tallman Cinematographer • Emilia Mendieta Córdova NEW MUSIC ALERT for October 28th. Be on the lookout for another Electronic Dance Music banger titled Werk by Charley Young and People Of The Parallel. Werk is a powerful EDM track with intense driving build-ups and glitched vocals comparable to trance music but more like progressive house music. Avicii, Martin Garrix, Swedish House Mafia, and Deadmau5 are some of the popular artists in this subgenre. Pre-save by clicking on the image or link to distrokid in the button below.

Light Shadows is a one-of-a-kind duo that exudes class and memorability using the layers of artistic freedom and exploration concerning music theory and technique. The rhythms, textures, proportions, and expressions seem to draw inspiration from a vast spectrum of musical interests such as nineties alternative, electronic, goth, punk, blues, grunge, jazz, stadium rock, and eighties music. Mix all of those ingredients: add some sugar, add some spice, and you will get well-balanced sonics, fantastic instrumentation, excellent vocals, and lyrics jam-packed with poetic creativity. Phillip Peters and Cassandra Vincent complement each other's musicality quite nicely in an almost effortless fashion. Wall Grenade is fast, fun, and upbeat. Its sonic imagery will put you into a nightclub-like scene comparable to the one in Cabaret when Liza Minelli sings "Life Is A Cabaret". If a song can inspire images in my mind of how it would visually look if it were on the big screen: then it's always a good song. Phillips's musicianship and Cassandra's lyrics accompanied by her outstanding vocal melodies, make Wall Grenade one of those kinds of classics. Full of imagination and original design that will never get old. A most fabulous production. Wall Grenade Credits Main Artist • Light Shadows Vocals • Cassandra Vincent Producer/Mix • Philip Peters Master Justin Michael Tallman

Hello fam! I'm here to talk about an up-and-coming collective called "Maje$tic Mindz". Consisting of 4 main members; Morgan (Maschil Morgan), Straight Free D (David Gonzales), Rain Bowrys, And ToadJah (Jah). It all started in 2020 (during the height of the pandemic, COVID-19) while Morgan was finishing an assignment sitting on his living room couch. It was an english assignment, he was writing about how frustrating it was to have everything locked down during the outbreak of COVID-19 and decided that since everyone was indoors it would be a great idea to make songs that would cheer people up. He then wrote a few songs, called up 3 of his friends; and an 8 track project called "Maje$tic Mindz" was birthed. The project dropped on Independence Day 2020, what a sick date to drop this project on!!! As the group is "independant artists". The amount of feedback from this project was unreal, "It encouraged me to keep going and do what I do best, make a world of beautiful sounds..." in Morgan's words. Now while all artists have different styles, they share a common goal; "To elevate the listener to a higher level of consciousness, and to be aware of the hidden evils in the world around us." Really inspiring to keep it all the way real. Now let's take a look at the music. Based off of a lofi/r&b/jazzy style of production with roots in RAP (rhythm and poetry) these dudes bring bars to the table, and they keep it real while bringing them bars. You can check out their top tracks on Spotify by tapping play on the list to the right. My favorites are S.U.V. (Slide Up Victorious) Midtro - Remix and Album Intro. But they are all great. All their songs are different and give off unique vibes. And even with a "lofi" style of production the sounds are bright and colorful with nuances and ambience in the backing tracks. Listening to Maje$tic Mindz catalogue is really chill, laid back, with relevance and substance. It's so cool to see artists who arent blinded by bottles of liqour, glorifying hyper violence, and glorifying drugs. Its almost non-existent in todays mainstream scene,rappers have fancy cars, 1k dollar bottles of booze, and flashing guns, that's why its all about independent artists with a message. They have just released a brand new single "Midtro - Remix" on 9/23/2022. And another album dropping 11/25/2022 You can follow them everywhere by this link "https://linktr.ee/MajesticMinds413". Enjoy!!! ItzAWrap Yo! - All things music - All things that pop! Thanks for supporting me, our community, and our artists love for music, YOU A REAL ONE 💯 Become a member of #TheWraps and you will have exclusive access to cool perks like shoutouts, exclusive members only badges, weekly members only live streams, and early access to unreleased content. You can also check me out on Indie Amplify and book a YouTube reaction today! Twitter - Instagram - YouTube - Merch - Donate - Indie Amplify

Welcome to our first in a series of articles by guest writers focusing on techno scenes from around the world. 'Underground (UG) raves of Helsinki' is brought to you by DJ Discolisko, Founder of Musta Kolhoosi Collective. Anticipation, preparation, the journey to the location, we have all been there, either as a DJ, organizer, helping hand or invited guest. Or even somebody who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Even here, up north, we love to have a good time and party till the early hours. The City of Helsinki, a smaller capital in northern Europe with a bit over 600 000 people, is a cozy place. Wide, but not tall. The metropolitan area including cities of Vantaa and Espoo puts the demography at 1.5 million people. Just like every metropolitan area, it is growing as more people are moving to the cities. Clubs and venues come and go, old familiar places change. That is the unstoppable force of growth. Finland has a long history with illegal dance activity; back in the second world war dancing was prohibited by the law and the term "corner dances" popped up. Young people brought their own instruments and played music, danced and had fun and finally the worst, drank alcohol. The officials often used barbed wire to close the known venues, where illegal activity took place. But it never stopped the Finns from having a great time and dancing till the morning. Not much has changed in the mindset. Acid house and techno appeared in Finland around the late 80's and the first wave of electronic music started soon after. Likeminded people organized quickly, and we are still enjoying similar activities provided to us by collectives and organizers; some are the same as today, some are new. Electronic music took its hold on Finns. As time flew by, new music styles came, and the field has been quite lively. It gave the chance for suomisaundi or as many of us call it "spugedelic trance" to form. For a country that has heritage in paganity, shamans and vast area of forests and lakes, it is not very surprising. It also gives us opportunities for awesome forest raves around the psytrance and suomisaundi scene, in a very fitting environment. At the moment in Helsinki, we have a few clubs that play techno, places like Postbar, Merikerho and "Kaiku" that turns 10 next year. And we have multiple venues that host raves around, bigger and smaller ones. Nevertheless, not too many in my opinion. Even before the Covid outbreak, we'd had a rising number of UG open airs and collectives, but the amount surged when the clubs and bars shut down due to restrictions and the DJs and the organizers just couldn't do it anymore. This meant, like everywhere else, that people didn't stay put in their homes, but started to arrange parties. It wasn't uncommon to have multiple parties around Helsinki every weekend. As Finland is one shithole of bureaucracy, illegal raves are often the answer for people wanting to enjoy the sound of fat bass till the early hours, with a lovely community and the superb vibe, while being a part of the wave of escapist partygoers, without being in monetized clubs. Legally, if you want to have an open air, you need to apply for lots of permissions. They can be denied, and your money is gone, since applying for one is not free. Fun. Abandoned buildings usually are secured quite well, so most of the times the UG parties either happen in rented locations, outdoors or wherever it is convenient to try. Sometimes a magical location pops up that can be used for raves, and multiple collectives might use the same place in a short time for parties. After it is taken over by multiple parties by different organizers, police quite often find their way to that location as a routine patrol during weekends. Mostly there are no problems around these kinds of events, unless the wrong kind of people find their way in - Police, or in some case people that are not too familiar with the kind of parties they end up in. Last year Verkkosaari was kind of an unofficial party center of Helsinki for a while, until someone was brutally beaten with metal pipes and got his stuff stolen. After that the place was quiet for a long time. Our collective was supposed to arrange an event there the very next weekend, but we and many others didn't. Safety of the ravers is always top priority, or at least should be the top priority of the organizers. The spastic clickbaiting media loves to write news about the events as "Drug parties" since there have been some people OD'ing on GHB or GBL. This is always a sad thing, and it puts a dark cloud upon the events. Most of the people who read the subpar news articles about the "Illegal EDM drug parties where people are up till morning" are often those who do not have a slightest clue about the subject. I find this harmful since it affects the whole community in many ways. For example, people randomly walking by calling the police about "illegal drug parties" or "suspicious activity". Fortunately, police here can be quite reasonable and negotiate with the organizers. If there have been no problems with the sound levels that would disturb the people living nearby, no drug abuse or violence, then there is a moderate chance that police only ask organizers to put the volume down a bit and the party can go on. As a friend of mine, Reginald, the guy behind My Techno Weighs a Ton label, producer, DJ and a vivid underground event organizer said it better than I could: "As I have noticed, it is merely impossible to find venues like back in the day. As the city is growing amongst the money hungry companies that don’t give a rat's ass about culture, the UG scene is pushed to the outskirts of Helsinki and beyond. UG culture has always been the part of being the piece that adapts and there is nothing to be done here. But that is a part of the beauty of it, the risk and the uncertainty. "Illegality" in events attracts people, but it also attracts authorities that dislike this kind of disobedience. Disobedience attracts more people. It is like a perfect circle that goes on. It is kind of balanced." For me organizing and visiting raves like this has been, among many other things, a form of activism, taking advantage of the space that no one uses to create something beautiful. A room for self-expression and a hub for connecting with likeminded people. I have had so many good memories throughout the years, that the least I can do is to give back to the community. Hopefully, one day someone gets inspired by our parties and continues the hideous act of organizing illegal raves while using what the capital has not yet eaten. A huge thank you to DJ Discolisko for giving us this fascinating insight into the underground party scene of Helsinki. Photo 1 - Outside and inside of an abandoned industrial building that was used as a temporary venue. Photo 2 - Setup of KOLHOOSI V - End of season party 10-09-2022 Photo 3 - A very tempting but too well secured abandoned space. Photo 4 - Preparing for a forest rave at an old limestone quarry. Photo 5 - Police disliked our idea of having a party under a highway bridge and asked if we would kindly fuck off or they would confiscate our equipment as instruments of crime. Photo 6 - Setting up a party with our collective. Photo 7 - DJ Discolisko You can find all music & social links for Bad Haz Techno here - ALL LINKS :) Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more Techno Scene articles in 2022.

Lowkea - Keaton Jones We always want to know what its like for an artist when they're on the come up, because for each artist the struggle is different and the grind is different. Today I'll be sitting down with Keaton Jones aka "Lowkea" and hitting him with all the hard questions, and some easy ones! Let's hope he does not give us answers in the "Low-Key" format 😂. Let's GOOOOOO!!!! Q) What is your name? A) You just said it 5 times and we didnt even get to the questions yet... Keaton Jones (no relation to 'Misses, Misses Jones') Well hello Keaton Jones, sim simma 😂 Q) Where are you from/grew up? A) Born in Houston, raised in Katy, Texas H Town boy, ok Q) What was the music scene like for you growing up? A) Well when i started was back in 2012, it was a thing to know how to freestyle in class, and i saw kids at lunch making beats on the table and rapping. i just kind of followed suit. That's dope, yea school lunch is where all ya folks learned how to rap, or didn't. Q) Is there one artist you can say influenced you or was it several? A) Ironically enough, Em was always my biggest inspiration. My dad used to bump "Dirty Dozen", my favorite track of all time is “When The Music Stops”. there’s something about Eminem’s energy that stays unmatched. I’m definitely not ashamed to say hes been a huge influence on me. A lot of rappers Em's had a huge influence on, likely because the color of his skin, and the success that hes reached. It's a rags to riches story. Q) How old were you when music first became an influence? A) Freshmen-sophomore year of high school, i was about 14 years old. i’m 26 now. So for 12 years this has been a dream? No for the last 12 years this has been a GOAL. Ayy that's what we like to hear!!! Q) Has the color of your skin had any affects on you as an artist in the lane your persuing? A) When I started rapping nobody assumed white dudes could pull it off, it was kind of a laughing matter if you said you rapped. I just got to the point where people didn’t see my skin color they just heard the music and liked it. I’m all for respect though. Yea that's the climate we are in in rap music, whitboys aint got bars. LIES. Q) How is your support system? family coming out? A) Support system has been amazing. That’s something I consider myself very fortunate of. My mom isn’t really into hip hop, but she respects what I do. She enjoys some songs. My dad has been my rock thru this music stuff. He’s had my back since day 1, mom has too but he’s more into it I think than she is haha, very fair though. That's very cool, alot of people miss that support, so you are very fortunate. Q) How did you come up with your rap name/moniker? A) I was at an ex’s parents little beach home and we were discussing names for rap, I was just going by Keaton at the time. My ex mentions the name “Lowkea” and it has stuck ever since, easily 10+ years now that it was created. No ill will on her either, hope she’s doing good still. Ayyy she can always say she helped you in your career. Good on you that theres no ill will towards her either. Respect. Q) Have you ever done any live performances? If so whats one that youll remember most? School talent shows, local dives, or like any bday parties or special occasions? A) I performed in Austin, Texas once, and it was really great. I got a lot of good feedback, and it felt great performing my music in front of a crowd. That was my only show I’ve technically done, will be diving into shows in 2023! Currently working on the catalog at the moment, so I have material for shows when I start. Let's Go 2023!!! Q) What has music done for you? A) Man what has music not done for me? Ever since I was a kid I was always addicted to hooks in songs, I was fascinated that every song had a structure and pretty much every one had a hook. Getting older I started finding more music per my taste, and I started shaping my overall sound from everything I’ve listened to. I think I’m heavily influenced by The Gorillaz, Eminem and Kid Rock. They’ve gotten me through quite a bit of lows in my life. I feel like in a weird way music saved my life, because after my overdose 2 years ago I’ve been heavily creating music and just taking all my past experiences and putting them into my songs. Re-living my past can be stressful, but it helps keeping me motivated to never go back to the drugs. Much Respect 🤓🤘 Q) What is the mission or goals, the long game, with your music? A) My ultimate goal is to have one of my songs in a major movie, something everyone is going to go see, that’s my biggest achievement I’m aiming for with the music. I create songs in hopes people get ideas to create other things, whether that’s more music, movies, podcasts— anything I do to motivate someone else’s creative, I’m going to try my best to do. Music is all about relating to a feeling someone is expressing, vocally or with an instrument, and I’ve got quite a bit of emotion to let out. That would be superfuckendope!! To have a song you created in a movie... That would be the ultimate feeling of success!!! This section I'll throw in some fun ones so we can get to know a little more about our guy. Q) What's your favorite food? A) That’s a hard question, can food be an option? I love all kinds of food, comfort food, fast food, home-cooked food, if I had to choose one meal that I enjoy the most I’m definitely going with my mama’s New Jersey style dumplings. They’re packed with butter and taste like heaven, 10/10 recommend. Plus it’s usually served with them Hawaiian Sweet rolls and I put grape jelly on mine. I definitely gotta try mama's New Jersey style Dumplings!!! And yes food can be an option lol. Q) Who has been your idol? A) That’s a great question. It used to be Eminem, but honestly I feel like looking up to him when I was younger did more bad to me than good. I try not to look up to too many people because nobody really knows what their doing, so if I’m following some person my whole life, they make one bad decision and their life is over, then what am I to do? My biggest idols are my fans and my family, they are who I do this for. If I had to choose though, I’d say Joyner Lucas has been putting in work. I really enjoy what he’s doing with his power, I think he will create a lot of doors for upcoming artists in the game. Very well said and i think that's true of Joyner. Q) If you make it big, which celebrity you going to whine and dine? A) Dr Dre, hands down. Dude has put on so many artists and his sound is so powerful and unique… just to have 5 minutes with him would make my life. I wouldn’t ask for anything but a hand shake and maybe a signed hat or something… lol. I have to meet Dr Dre before I’m dead, I respect his artistry so much. He keeps the spirit alive to me, and spirit is a big part in hip hop. Unexpected answer 😂 Q) Is it cars clothes money and bitches for you? Or is it about getting your message/story out to as many mfers as possible? Anything you want to say to the "readers”? A) I could care a less about a name brand, I’m all for spreading positivity and awareness to your own self, focus on yourselves stop worrying about what the next guy is doing, people get hung up on trying to be like everybody else. Notice a lack of originality anymore? Do you and stop worrying about others. Also never be afraid to speak out when you feel a certain way, you never know how someone else is feeling that could maybe create an opportunity based on you speaking up. Thank You For Your Time Today. That's all very good, rappers that dont rap for brands, soda companies, and big pharma. That's what we want, and Lowkea is giving us that. For the "W". You can listen to Lowkea's "Spotify Top Tracks" playlist here 👇👇👇👇 ItzAWrap Yo! - All things music - All things that pop! Thanks for supporting me, our community, and our artists love for music, YOU A REAL ONE 💯 Become a member of #TheWraps and you will have exclusive access to cool perks like shoutouts, exclusive members only badges, weekly members only live streams, and early access to unreleased content. You can also check me out on Indie Amplify and book a YouTube reaction today! Twitter - Instagram - YouTube - Merch - Donate - Indie Amplify

Welcome to our fifth Bad Haz Techno track review by Hegstraction and new guest reviewer, DJ/producer, Gerard H. This month we have Sam Kitt's latest release, Distorted Dreams, on the Tronic label. Hailing from Wales in the UK, surprisingly he comes from a metal background as a guitarist in a band. However, a few dance music festivals, raves, and ultimately, Creamfields in 2017, flipped him completely to techno, and we are thankful for that transition. Currently DJing a lot of local events in the Bristol area, Sam describes his sets as marrying up dark and hard-hitting basslines with progressive melancholic melodies. Recently, he has had two big track signings with the aforementioned Tronic label, and Respekt Recordings. "Funnily enough, Distorted Dreams started as a totally different track. Much more momentous and thematic, but with a disjointed drop that kind of didn't fit the other sections of the track. I showed it to Christian Smith and Dan from Pig and Dan, at a track review session over at CryptoDjs Discord. They loved the first 1-2 thirds of the track, but didn't like the drop so much. So, together with help from Dan, the track was transformed into what it is today. Much more stripped back from my usual stuff, but it translates better to the dancefloor, which is what we are all here for really!" For this review, I'm joined by new guest reviewer, DJ/producer, Gerard H. If you would like, you can play the track here as you read the review: H: "Hey Gerard, great to have you here! Let's crack on; any initial comments?" GH: "This is right up my street - dark, driving techno with melodic elements." H: "Yeah, for me, I love the overall atmospheric tension and urgency. As for the hook, I feel there are hooks designed to be hooks, and then there is what the individual listener gets hooked by. The latter is what I'm describing here, and that for me is how the kick and initial synths combine to create that great head-bobbing rhythm from very early on." GH: "Yes, I totally agree - I particularly like the synth/bass lead notes that bounce either side of the kicks and percussion. It's really groovy." H: "The kick is fairly solid and melds with the other elements in the track well. It does have a certain softness to its tail, and it leaves me wondering what a harder kick would have done to this track." GH: "I like the kick; carries really well in the lower end and is nice and punchy. I feel a harder kick will interfere too much with the lead, and the current clarity between the two may be lost as a result." H: "I'm getting some stonking bass coming through on my studio speaker set up, and I think this would translate really well into a club setting, and provide some great atmosphere." GH: "Yeah, the bass flows well throughout - however, from around 01:30 there seems to be some clipping that I can hear, might be part of the distortion effects used, but certainly peculiar. Fits the title I guess, ... haha." H: "Absolutely love the percussion coming in at 30 seconds (very much the kind I use in my own productions); the closed hi-hats give a lovely metallic feel from the off, which is then joined by some typical open hi-hats." GH: "Standard percussion used; there aren't many techno tracks around that don't use this style/layout of percs - I use it too; it's a must have for me." H: "There are some atmospheric pads used throughout giving some fullness to the sonic space, adding depth, complexity and dark, velvety texture." GH: "I usually use a pad to create my atmosphere. I've heard of quite a few different ways producers make theirs - I don't really hear a pad stand out in this track, so I'm going to assume some of the atmosphere was probably created by one?" H: "Lots of nice synth work going on here. I'm more into all the dark repetitive synth stabs that create a sense of urgency. There's a particular lighter synth stab that comes in at 1:30, which gives me a kind of electronic classic rock vibe that I'm not totally sold on. Replacing that with something much darker would have been interesting, but maybe the contrast would have been lost." GH: "All the synth work is spot on and complement each other so well. I need to touch on that lead again, though - really like how gritty it is, and the filter automation on it from start to finish is just brilliant." H: "OK, melodies. The lighter melody arp coming in midway through gives a nice contrast to the dark synths and breaks up the track." GH: "Love the melodies, as you mentioned, the arp is a particular favourite - just brings everything together and fills the track up really nicely." H: "The stand out effects for me are on those closed hi-hats; you get a great rhythm that slightly dissolves into the rest of the track." GH: "Good use of risers and downshifters; also enjoy the occasional perc shots and FX that compliment that synth stab you mentioned coming in at around 01:30 - gives off a real industrial vibe." H: "For sound design, not as complex as many of his other tracks, but still quite a lot of production techniques and tools being used." GH: "I particularly enjoy the automation throughout the track on every sound it's used, especially on that lead and the arp - the change at 01:56 is such a good example of what I mean." H: "1:56? Thanks, I'll have a re-listen to that. Hmm, what's next? Layering. Actually, I think the layering throughout is one of the less obvious qualities of this track; there's never too much going on, but it feels like a lot of the right choices were made to give space whilst also variety and progression." GH: "The layering is on point throughout. Like you said, never too much going on at once." H: "Atmosphere?" GH: "Dark, dark and dark = Like, like and like!" H: "For arrangement, what strikes me is how the track is really a series of slow builds and progressions, and I think in a set this would be a great kind of 'holding' track to ramp up expectation before mxing in something else." GH: "Reminds me a lot of how I'd arrange this sort of track - kept it simple and most certainly effective, the progression from start to finish is bang on too." H: "Top notch mixing as you would expect." GH: "Great mixing, the frequency spectrum was used really well." H: "Mastering seems great, and integrated LUFS came out to -7.26." GH: "A good mixdown is more than half the battle won, so I'm not surprised to say the master is great!" H: "This has a great dancing rhythm led at first by the percussion, and then the repeated synth work." GH: "I would say 100%; it gets you going from the first kick." H: "There are some good trance-inducing sections that could be looped for longer periods." GH: "Hmm, trance-inducing, the start of the break had me for a bit, but for the most part, I'd have to say no (not in a bad way though)." H: "Any final comments?" GH: "Great job on this track by Sam; really didn't mind listening to it 100 times to leave this review :)" H: "Haha, yes, I've listened a bunch, and gotten more from it each time, which is testament to a great track; I've definitely picked up on more background details on repeated listening. Great work by Sam Kitt, and I would encourage everyone to follow him on all the platforms, and look out for the future releases which he has planned. And, finally, Gerard, what's next for you?" GH: "I've got 2 big releases coming soon - Divine Creatures EP on IAMT, and a remix for N.O.B.A on Dolma Records." H: "Awesome! I'll look out for those, and thanks for taking this journey with me." GH: "Pleasure." You can find Distorted Dreams on the following links: Beatport Junodownload Traxsource Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc. You can also find Sam Kitt on social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more in-depth techno track reviews in 2022.

Welcome to our fourth Bad Haz Techno track review by Hegstraction and new guest reviewer, DJ/producer, Sam Kitt. This month we have an awesome release, Headless Horseman by American born DJ/producer, ElezD on F/4 Records. Based in California, his artist name is structured as EL (Human), EZ (is), and D (Divine). His background in music stems from school through performing arts - marching bands, musical theater, and dance classes. Around this time, he was also learning to DJ, leading to a residency at a club in San Diego. This was the stepping stone to more clubs and festivals throughout the US and Mexico, as well as most notably, the Amsterdam Dance Event. His track, Headless Horseman, has been supported by artists such as, Dax J, Sam Wolfe, Julian Meinke, Stiv Hey, Ilario Alicante, and more. ElezD has been playing various versions of this single in his live mixes as well as his shows. "This track includes captivating soundscapes, textured sound design, served with driving energy." For this review, I'm joined by new guest reviewer, DJ/producer, Sam Kitt. If you would like, you can play the track here as you read the review: H: "Hi Sam, welcome on board!" SK: "Good to be here, mate." H: "Alright, let's crack on. First off, I like how this track has quite a fresh sounding melody, as well as the usual dark stabs and hard kick of current techno." SK: "Yeah, very interesting track. Lots of texture and synth shots to boot, keeping you guessing. Interested to see what it has coming next, though at times is a bit busy lacking a cohesive structure, for me. Depending on your taste this may be a bit too chaotic for you, but as well might be the right level of constant surprise to keep you interested as a listener." H: "All the little stabs at the beginning build up nicely to the main melody coming in around 30 seconds in; that's the hook for me. The track has a nice, solid, thunking kick that doesn't overpower the melodies." SK: "Yeah, the kick is thumpy and powerful, balanced well in the track, slightly showing signs of over-compression to my ears, but that also could be a production choice." H: "Not feeling that much bass in this track, but enough from the kick, and I think that gives a lot of space for the textured light synths to shine." SK: "The low end for me didn't have enough of a forward push to help drive the track along; its tail is a bit too bright in tone for my personal preference. But, partnered with the groovy bassline gives this track some decent swing and groove. Not something I personally would go with, but I know some people love a more groove based low end." H: "Quite a few variations on percussion coming in at good intervals giving some pace and nice metallic edges." SK: "Decent enough, standard techno patterns, but that was all the track needed with everything going on." H: "Hard to discern any obvious pads; maybe some stab-like ones used in the background from time to time. Really love the large variety of similarly sounding synth stabs, and the lead synths in this arpeggio staccato style. Creates a very lively bright bouncy atmosphere, which is a lot of fun." SK: "The doubled pluck synth coming through from 0:05 - love it! Really brings this uneasy tension throughout the track, with great tension, release and recall throughout the whole piece. The supersaws were decently composed and balanced into the track. Not too harsh, but not dull either. At points there was a bit too much synth work going on, decreasing the amount of clarity within certain sections, but was overall well put together." H: "Those lead synths are full of texture, which the producer actually mentions with regard to sound design. And textures in music are a big thing for me personally, although it may sound strange to some; the idea that sounds make something physical that you can imagine and run your fingers along and touch. I talk about sounds you can bite with regard to my own music, haha. Anyway, here we've got quite intricate sound design; creating all these different little sounds with slight variations." SK: "Choices of sound all fit together. Nothing out of place. Certain ideas in the track evolved well and kept interest going throughout." H: "Some quite complex layering with all the stabs and short arp sequences." SK: "Hit or miss during some sections. I really enjoyed some of the sections where it was a bit more stripped back, allowing the groove and the ideas to carry themselves. As the track became more climactic and chaotic, it began to get more difficult to discern certain ideas from one another." H: "For me, it added to the lively bouncy atmosphere." SK: "Yeah, very interesting idea and atmosphere, with an overall goofy (not in a bad way), yet groovy chaotic feel to it." H: "There are some typical modern techno breakdowns, builds and drops, but what I really like is the way in which all the elements are ordered to create that bouncy vibe. There's a lot of repetition with slight differences that keep it interesting throughout." SK: "The breakdown from 1:24 is executed well. Building of the right levels of tension, great snare roll, and a nice plucky synth to keep the tensive emotion going. With the first drop - decent! I would have personally preferred the removal of the percussive hits, just sticking to the kick, bass and saw stab. Extra clarity, and impact. Less is more sometimes." H: "It was probably quite tricky getting all the little stabs and synth melodies right in the mix with their own space, but it all sounds great." SK: "Mix sounded decent to me, though I might have appreciated more presence on some of the percussion, but nothing too notable." H: "It's actually the loudest track so far that we've done a promotion with at -6.18 LUFS, but it all holds together well; a lot of punch and still dynamic." SK: "Seemed fine to me." H: "It's got a really lively bouncy vibe to it that is fun to dance to. In a set I'd want this somewhere between the intro and middle in a build up to something." SK: "Overall, the track is well produced, with some solid ideas and production throughout. I would suggest possibly creating more clarity, more cohesiveness, in a well-driven track, but that's obviously my personal opinion on my flavour of techno." H: "This was a great track to review, and I would recommend everyone check out more tracks from ElezD; I think he has a new one coming out quite soon. And, thanks for joining me Sam; what are you up to project or release-wise?" SK: "My latest release is Distorted Dreams on a 2-track EP with MONDO for the Tronic label." H: "Sounds great. Looking forward to checking it out." You can find Headless Horseman on the following links: Beatport Junodownload Traxsource Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc. You can also find ElezD on social media: Instagram Twitter Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more in-depth techno track reviews in 2022.

Welcome to our third Bad Haz Techno track review by Hegstraction and new guest reviewer, producer, E1GHTH PLACE. This month we have a really nice track, Manorath, from the 6-track EP, Inner, the first release from Italian DJ/producer, Andrea Saitta. A 22-year old producer from Rome, he found in techno a way to explore his inner feelings. His goal is to inspire people with his music, take listeners on an introspective journey, and help them obtain a better understanding of their inner-selves. For this track, Manorath, he explains it as "a visceral need, strengthened by the awareness that that desire reflects our most authentic selves. We feel we have to do it; it is not objectable. This track is something special for me. I think it's the perfect union between melody and darkness, perfectly embodying my style. Powerful, restless and so sad. I love it. I like the contrast between the angry acid bass line and the distant melancholy pads. Every single sound has a voice, and the union of these voices tells us a story, that speaks of inner struggles between different aspects of ourselves, fighting to come out and finally realize the Manorath." For this review, I'm joined by new guest reviewer, producer, E1GHTH PLACE. If you would like, you can play the track here as you read the review: H: "E1GHTH PLACE, welcome to the blogosphere!" EP: "Great to be here. I've been looking forward to this." H: "Haha, awesome! Alright, let's get started. This track really gives me some great 80s' movies, sci-fi, synthwave, motivational, inspirational vibes, but packaged in a tight, modern, techno style." EP: "Yeah, I'm really digging this fusion of synthwave, while the track is driven by that heavy, techno style we're all familiar with, which surprisingly seems to work well here." H: "I'm hooked by those 80s' sounding synths straight away; they perk my interest from the start." EP: "I'd have to agree. Those hints of melodic and mid-synth nuances, and that arp you hear throughout the track is what reeled me in and had me listening from start to finish. It adds an extra layer of atmospheric, yet foreboding element to the track." H: "How about the kick?" EP: "The kick sounds really good! It doesn't sound muddy or conflicting with other low-end frequencies. Andrea has done a really good job at picking the right kick to go with the main theme of the track." H: "Right. The kick comes in pretty quick because it's not a long track, and it's got some meatiness to it, but could have more, however, it's balanced as it is, with the other elements in the track. There's a nice bit of bass as the kick comes in, but nothing too overpowering." EP: "The only bass I find that is present, at least in the < 60-70Hz range, is in the kick while you can clearly hear the other bass-y frequencies in the 200Hz area. This is probably one of the more well-balanced tracks where the energy doesn't all go towards the lower end spectrum. Honestly, I like that about any music I hear: creating something that has energy and intonation on all different frequencies." H: "Yeah, not an easy thing to do. Hmmm, percussion, pretty light throughout, which I think complements and really lets the synth work shine. There's a bit of variation before the typical techno hi-hats come in around 2:20. The subtle changes throughout show a thoughtful application." EP: "While I do like to splash a little percussion here and there to add some flavour in my track, this one can actually get away with using some minimal percussion." H: "OK, next. Some nice pad work filling out the sound spectrum, creating depth and atmosphere." EP: "Were there any pads in here? I wasn't able to hear any distinctive pads honestly, haha! My apologies if I have missed it, but I think this track definitely would have sounded a lot better had there been pads." H: "Yeah, I see your point. I think I'm referring to how some of the lead synths fade into the background, almost doing the job of pads to provide that background, ambient mood, which brings us nicely to that topic of synths. I've already touched on the synth work quite a bit, and as is often the case, they really make the track, so in addition to that, really just an overall nice variation of synths that work together well to make a complete track. Although, I will just add that I'd love to hear more of that bass synth at the four minute mark." EP: "I also can't interpolate much more than what I've already said about the synths. I low-key have a soft spot for synthwave music, so the sound selection used for the synths sounds is great! The bass-ier section of the track at around the 4 minute mark seems to sit really well with me. No complaints on my part!" H: "Melody?" EP: "First of all, I'm a fervent advocate of using melodies in my music, so I appreciate there are some nuances of melodies used in the track. I think there is an appropriate use of melodies, and they fit in at the right time. Oftentimes, I'll hear something where the melody doesn't fit in with the theme of the track, but this one I do like; it's minimalistic, yet effective." H: "The melody arp works well in the track, coming in the mix just under the shorter synth sounds. It kind of has a waxy slightly squeaky nature to me, which I'm not hugely into, but I think it adds a sense of urgency, which I appreciate. Moving on. Some nice reverb in evidence." EP: "Heck yessss! Let me just highlight that adding in those FX and reverbs really adds a lot of space, glues everything well together and sounds good, sonically speaking." H: "For sound design, lots of good choices here. Some great complementary decisions." EP: "For sure. Everything seems to blend well together. Really well done!" H: "We get quite a few layers happening fairly quickly, and throughout the track, busy at times, but it all works well." EP: "Probably the only layering happening here are the main synths and obviously the kick drum, which stand out the most. Everything else just seems to sound natural, and there's probably some compression used on a few of the instruments." H: "I think the choices in the sound design fill this track with a lot of atmosphere giving it a soundtrack vibe. I'm imagining a futuristic spacefaring civilisation with all the dangers that entails." EP: "Soundtrack vibe is probably the best and only way to put this, in my opinion. This is a quintessential soundtrack mix that would pair extremely well with movies, shows, or perhaps even video games." H: "Looking at the arrangement, it's split up into sections, but mostly I want to talk about that moment at the four minute mark, which adds some lovely seriousness and intent. This is a great move. Other than that, at a full length of 5:36, I would love to see an extended mix of this, something around 8 minutes. For me, I really love longer drawn out sequences that I can sink my teeth into and appreciate more, the aesthetics, the textures. Techno is all about repetition, and the modern streaming standards are robbing us of something special, but I'll get off my soap box, haha." EP: "Yeah, that 4 minute mark means serious business! Although, if it were me, I'd increase the decay on that arp just to really add that level of mysticism as it reaches the climax point. While the track as a whole is impressive as is, I do tend to agree that it does feel a little short, and could benefit with another 2 or so minutes length-wise, just from a techno standpoint." H: "As for mixing, some of the percussion is a little muted compared to some of today's modern styles, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I'd rather the focus be more on the complex synth work than over crispy piercing hi-hats. I mean, which is more important and takes more skill?!" EP: "After giving it a few more listens, I can hear some of the percussive elements being drowned out, and could probably benefit a 1.5-2dB of volume boost. There is also a tiny drop of gain reduction surrounding the instruments when the kick drum is introduced and once the breakdown starts, the gain is back to normal. Not the end of the world, just noticeable if you're able to pick that up. Aside from that, just a good overall track with clarity, dynamics, and lots of energy." H: "Nice critique. Well, I had a bit of a dance to it, especially at the 4 minute mark." EP: "Yeah, this track becomes much more danceable as the track evolves, especially around the 4 minute mark." H: "So, final comments. I would encourage everyone to listen through the whole 6 track EP of which this is the first track. The producer is only 22 years old at time of release, so I'm very impressed with such a focused, disciplined approach, and looking forward to more from him as his style develops." EP: "Great stuff! This was enjoyable to listen to, and incredible how Andrea is only 22 years old. He's got a lot of potential, and if he really wants to take this seriously, I can see him going far with his musical endeavours. Keep it up!" H: "And that's a wrap. Thanks again for your insights. Great fun. Do you have any releases on the horizon?" EP: "Thanks for having me take part in this Bad Haz Techno track review. I'm hoping to get an album out in a few months from now; creating something based off of my own experiences and expressing my own feelings through music, but making it universal, so that people feel they aren't dealing with whatever it is they're going through alone. Stay tuned for that!" H: "Sounds interesting. Looking forward to it!" You can check out Manorath and the whole EP on the following links: Beatport Junodownload Traxsource Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc. You can also find Andrea Saitta on social media: Instagram Facebook Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more in-depth techno track reviews in 2022.