Quickly soaring as one of South Korea’s brightest talents, South Korean artist Justin Oh has slowly cultivated his unique Progressive sound towards international acclaim. With only 3 years of engineering experience, Oh has transformed himself from unknown, bedroom producer to accomplished, seasoned veteran, with his works regularly supported by industry leaders such as Above & Beyond, Jaytech and Ilan Bluestone. His recent collaboration with NYC vocalist, Jonny Ross, has uncovered a fresh, forward thinking perspective on his usual sound, as City Lights drips with brilliantly executed texture designs. Providing a different, visionary perspective towards City Lights is none other than Matt Fax, who has caught our attention with his recent remixes to Vadim Soloviev & PROFF‘s, It’s A Funky Record and Morttagua & Peter-A‘s Thebian Cycle. At only 17 years old, his early career already boasts an impressive collection of various singles and remixes in a cool variety of styles. In his interpretation, he ditches the technical quality of the Original and reworks it into a classic Progressive track that boasts power and depth.
http://soundcloud.com/mattfaxmusic/justin-oh-city-lights-matt-fax-remix&color=000000&show_comments=false
City Lights starts off with a cool and confident demeanor as Fax‘s buttery basslines, crisp percussion and silky melodies instantly intertwine with a beautiful sense of balance. The extra subtleties, (such as expansive chords and various wisps of timbre colors), helps refine the phrase towards a fierce, cutting edge sound design that has become a welcome characteristic in the Progressive genre. The breakdown gracefully drifts along in zero gravity as delicate strokes of airy pads provide pure bliss and wonder towards the listener’s subconscious. With the addition of sultry basslines and 80’s-esque snare drums, his brilliant orchestration shines with subtle influences from masterful producers Eric Prydz and Michael Cassette. Normally, we would be a little apprehensive when the vocals are influenced by Autotune, but in this case, it works perfectly; and adds another element of class and mystery which surrounds the entire breakdown. He then introduces some wonderful chord play to replace the vocals as the chatter of many voices begin to culminate inwards towards each other. The result is a breathtaking surge of majestic harmonies that cascades over the listener as its careful balance between Progressive and Progressive House provides fantastic new sound possibilities to drive the scene towards the future.
Matt Fax‘s remix of Justin Oh‘s City Lights is now available on Arrival via Beatport, so go grab this fantastic piece today. Make sure to also check out the quality Gal Abutbal remix as well as the stellar Original!
Keep the music alive. -Q
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/city-lights-remixes/1256702
