Walker & Royce‘s eclectic W&R February Mix is hot off the press and features a blend of soulful, R&B-influenced deep house, synth-flavored disco and a tinge of techno. With stand out tracks including Maxxi Soundsystem’s “There’s No Love” and Maceo Plex’s “Stay High Baby,” the W&R February Mix showcases emotion, funk and sexuality in all the right places.

Enjoy the mix below, and see Walker & Royce at BLISS this Saturday night with Will Eastman and Lxsx Frxnk -

BLISS
10pm, $10
U Street Music Hall
Purchase Tickets: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/81963/

Walker & Royce – W&R February Mix

See also: Walker & Royce

Blisspop’s Lxsx Frxnk has collaborated on a new mix with local DJ/producer Soul Sway ahead of their Dark Room party at Backbar this Saturday.

In keeping with the party’s flavor the mix traverses the darker side of house music, yet for the most part maintains a playful, party vibe. Tracks like Sascha Dive’s “Black Panther” inject a bit of grit as well. Well worth a listen.

Stream and download the mix below, and don’t miss these two great locals at Backbar this weekend.

Dark Room (Teaser) – Lxsx Frxnk & Soul Sway by Lxsx Frxnk

Dark Room
with Lxsx Frxnk and Soul Sway
Saturday, January 7
Backbar (basement of 9:30 Club)
815 V St NW, DC
11 pm, $5, 21+

I confess. I totally disregarded posting the debut release of electronic duo Jewellers about 2 months back. Might have been a good thing knowing I would have sobbed all over the article. However, I’m reluctant to hear that the group just released more work, which I’ll mix right in with the old news if you don’t mind.

Producers Gareth Leaman and Gareth Young reside in Newport, Wales and create their music under the moniker Jewellers. Their debut release Sleep Education was official as of October 10th on the Sounds of Sweet Nothing label, but was hitting headphones as early as spring. This provided enough time for them to proudly gain support for their hypnotic, yet arm-hair-raising tunes. The full-length album was brilliantly compiled with a set of inspiring, electronic tracks that will bring your mind to a dramatic-thinking state of sorts. Inspiration for the album and cover art may have come from sounds of cathedrals in Wales as they reflect the echoed patterns of dark, crystallized synths and looped vocals that creep into each track.

Just this past week, Jewellers let loose some more chillwaving tracks as free online releases. They’ve teamed up with Manchester shoegaze group Patterns in a collaboration release with two remixes. Alongside that release, a brand new track of theirs titled “Moonshine” was released as well, which you can grab for free via the Red Deer Club mixtape. Take a listen to the “Throwing Stones” remix below for a whiff of the most recent Jewellers work and then “Tape” from Sleep Education for a little of what the debut album has to offer. If you enjoy what you hear, jump on over to their Bandcamp and SoundCloud for free downloads of all the tracks.

Patterns – Throwing Stones (Jewellers remix)

Jewellers – Tape

Ahead of their SWING night at Backbar this Friday, Jay Simon (of Wild Oats and Must Have Records) and Maxmillion Dunbar (of Future Times) put together an exclusive back-to-back mix for us.

Here’s what Jay had to say about the mix:

“Was completely spontaneous, I just brought some records and CDs over the Future Times HQ in Silver Spring and we got down to business. I’m not really into planning live mixes, might as well just put in a CD haha! But yeah, it was the first time we did any sort of mix together, we talk about records often, and I’m always shooting him stuff, and he’s shooting me stuff, so it felt like a natural fit.”

Jay Simon and Max D – Swing Mix by Blisspop

We got the chance to ask Jay a couple of questions about what he has coming up….

Keep reading…

This Friday night DC will host our techno neighbors from the north for Awkward Moments at Backbar with Ian Funk, Craig Sopo and love/hate at the commands. Don’t miss this one, folks. These fellas have great taste in music.

Since we were so excited about having our Baltimore bretheren in town, Mr. Sopo was kind enough to put together an exclusive promo mix for us which includes a few of his original productions. Here’s what he had to say about the mix:

“I always try to test out the new tracks. “Brahaus” and “Agent of Bro – Lentini Mix” are both on my next release, which is due out in early 2012. As a whole, this release is my strongest to date. My DJ sets can range from classic 80′s Detroit Techno labels like Metroplex to 90′s blippy minimal like Accelerate/Communique, to more bass heavy ghettotech stylings and Acid House. So I suppose I have one ear firmly planted in the pre-digital “crate-digging” days with the other squarely in the digital realm. I also like to take risks with my DJ sets, I can’t stand letting every track play out, as it can get too mundane for the listener.”

Craig Sopo presents The Awkward Moments Mix by Blisspop

We also got the chance to chat with Craig and his More Or Less label partner Patrick Brander about the state of techno in Baltimore, starting their own label and what they’ve been listening to lately…

Keep reading…