The move from remix to original production is always a big and scary step. Born Rich Pangillinan, The Riddler, has achieved much success as part of the remix/production teams Mynt and Al B Rich and as a mixshow DJ - winning the Best Mixshow DJ IDMA with mixshows on WKTU and Z100. For his first solo production, "Higher" is not quite what you would expect - its more progressive "Beatport-sounding" with a tech intro that drops down to vocals and then explodes with a bigroom crescendo for the meat of the track. I can easily picture any of the top international DJs dropping this track at peak hour and people going nuts for it. If there is one quibble I have with the track, it is the lyrics. Not the vocals, as Craig Smart (who recently sang "SOS" with Ian Carey), delivers the lyrics perfectly. The lyrics themselves are dance music cliche 101 - "lift me up, take me higher, spread your wings and fly away with me." Not that we would expect Shakespeare or anything - but you get the idea. Overall, "Higher" is a solid track and we should all expect to see more from the Riddler in the near future!
Audio - Youtube
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Photo Courtesy of Amerada Music

Lovers of synthpop rejoice, you've now got a synth pop Christmas song. Best known for their remixes and covers of Erasure ("Chains of Love") and Depeche Mode ("Strangelove"), the duo of Mitch Williams and Bruce Donally wrote a new electronic song with a great holiday sentiment. The production would fit perfectly on the recent Alphabeat CD - an 80s new wave synth vibe with enough modern sounds to make it feel current. While the children's voices might be a bit too precious sounding for some, Bruce's lead vocals carry the track. Definitely worth a download for electronic music lovers looking for holiday music that fits their genre.
Video - Youtube
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Photo Courtesy of Tunecut Music

Sure, this song has been featured before. But this new version gets the track another mention. Already it is a derivative track, borrowing from a lot of pop media already to attain the "party vibe". On this new version, Space Cowboy ups the amount of people involved almost exponentially. Let's break it down, shall we? Space Cowboy and Cherry Cherry Boom Boom are both solo, Cinema Bizarre has 5 members, as does The Paradiso Girls. The Far*East Movement has 4 members. The track was produced by Red One. That means "I Came 2 Party" consists of 17 performers total. I hope the new remixes do them ALL justice, because I have no clue how the 3 minute track manages to do so. Still, there is a certain amount of bubbly fun with everyone involved on this effervescent, pop dance track.
Video - Youtube
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Photo Courtesy of CherryTree/Interscope

The nominees for the 2010 Dance Grammy Nominees were recently announced. Here are the 2010 Dance Grammy Nominees for the dance categories..