Tag: Rafa Barrios

Joeski – Champion Sound

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016! I’ve been having a sift through the inbox recently and there are some absolutely amazing releases coming that we’ll be reviewing over the next few weeks. Let’s kickstart 2016 talking about this amazing release on one of my favourite labels; Stereo Productions.

Fresh from producer ‘Joeski’ is this 6-part release of his track ‘Champion Sound’ including remixes from the likes of Rafa Barrios, Tini Garcia, DJ Fronter and Level Groove, with two mixes from Joeski himself. The original mix consists of some reggae/ska brass stabs, giving the track a real Caribbean feel, and some sketchy drums laid under what sound like Ragga vocal one-liners. Sat nicely under it all it a bouncy deep bass groove which compliments it all nicely. Joeski’s other mix is the ‘Boombastic Remix’ which is quite similar to the original but is more like a club version with a punchier bass groove and more tech-based drums, I’d say this remix is a slightly more predictable version of the original; still really good though!

Moving on to the Rafa Barrios Remix. This remix has some big hats throughout and the bass groove is a lot deeper. I’m playing this in my home studio and the bass frequencies are pretty much perfect, sounds awesome! So this has the original vocal elements sat over the hats, bass and a nice little siren. Love it!

Next up is a remix from DJ Fronter and from the off it’s a nice techy number, nice use of the sidechain on the pads during the intro and then into a big long breakdown. Now, I was expecting a pretty standard build and drop (which ultimately is what happens), but then a long horn sound comes in before the risers and snares, and then a huge drop into a deep tech banger!

If you’re a follower of Tini Garcia’s work, like me, you’ll have high expectations for this remix, and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s deep, melodic and has some really nice subtle chord stabs along with the vocal and brass stabs from the original. I’m a huge lover of a drum fills when they are used properly and this one has a little reggae-infused fill right before the drop. Great remix work.

And the final remix comes from Level Groove. This one has a nice bouncy repetitive bass pattern and some simple drums combined with some little vocal stabs. It has a nice long breakdown with a droning sound throughout, a big build up with snares and whooshes with loads of reverb before the drop. Not my favourite of all the mixes of I’m honest but awesome work nonetheless.

All mixes were released just before Christmas exclusively to Beatport, check it out..

Click here to buy on Beatport:


Toolroom Records – Rhythm Distrikt 6 (Various Artists)

A new 20 part release on the mighty ‘Toolroom Records’, any tech house and techno dj would be a fool to overlook this! It’s BIG! Scroll down for individual (one-line) reviews.

Check out the Soundcloud link and support the artist by buying the track:

Click here to buy at your favourite online store:



Rhythm Distrikt 6

  • Adrian Hour – Who – Really nice eerie vocal and blippy synths, awesome bouncy track
  • John Sausage – Sophisticated Equipment – A slight acid feel with this one, big room banger.. reach for the lasers!
  • Oscar L & DJ Dan – Feel The Panic – Deep & bouncy, I could imagine this played in a main room in the early hours, love it!
  • MiniCoolBoyz & NHB – Silver Haze – Love this one, quite upbeat with a nice repetitive vocal over a nice drum pattern
  • Christian Gambas – Increase The Grease – Big techy track.. think laser sounds, big risers, delayed bass patterns and amazing breakdown. I want to play this out!
  • Irregular Synth – People Help The People – Nice synth pattern in this with some reverbed vocals and nice drum fills. Nice tune!
  • Mihalis Safras & Mark Broom – Messing (Dosem Remix) – Quite a laidback tune with some big synths. Lovely!
  • Ant Brooks – Off – Quite deep sounding with a nice breakdown and build. I particularly like the drums in this
  • Rafa Barrios – Paramount Hotel – I can imagine this one in a main room somewhere and going off. Big risers, sirens and a strange repetitive vocal. Big love!
  • Heartik – It’s Too Right – I’m a huge fan of Heartik’s work and this doesn’t disappoint. Lovely complex drums, big build and huge drop. I want this now!
  • Gaga & Hellomonkey – Red Code – Big bass pattern with a nice breakdown and build, drops into a huge banger!
  • Quivver – All That Will Be – Love the blippy sounds and synth stabs in this, it drops big.. A favourite!
  • Egoism – Something I Think – Very bouncy! I particularly love the breakdown and the drop.
  • Antix – Nu – Great synth pattern, has an old skool tech feel to it. I like the different elements kicking in during the breakdown
  • Dataworx – PPL – Lovely bass pattern which carries the track, it’s laid nicely under a stabby vocal and some nice techy drums.
  • Alex Costa – PhunkA – The rimshot snare sound is a big feature in this track, I love the build and can really imagine this going off, love it!
  • Luca M & JUST2 – Body Freak – Big funky feel to this! It has a really good bass pattern and drops like a muthaf**ka!
  • Lowboys – Bleed Out – Some awesome shakers in this and I love the drums too. Big stabby synth pattern which makes the track, nice and upbeat!
  • Lutzenkirchen – Snoop – This one is carried by its synths, has some really deep bass underneath. Good track!
  • Mihalis Safras – Barabas (Heiko Laux Remix) – Old skool synth sound to this one with loads of filtering. Goes quite deep, loads of elements coming in and out. A very nice and complex tune, great production!