Tag: Tiësto

Tiësto & Becky Hill – Nothing Really Matters

“Now I think about it, I’m not really sure what the purpose of music videos in general is.”

Tom: We were talking about lockdown music videos yesterday, and, uh, well, I bet this video seemed like a much better idea a few months ago.

Tom: Expensive, time-consuming lyric videos do seem to be the norm now — which kind of defeats the original purpose of them, really — but at least they’re not, I don’t know, spinning some unfortunate mythos about a virus destroying humanity. Has Alan Walker done that yet? I’ve forgotten how all his mythos works.

Tim: Well, his most recent one was from a meteor strike; before that we had a solar flare, I think? And maybe it’s just that lyric videos are taking over from regular videos entirely. Now I think about it, I’m not really sure what the purpose of music videos in general is, though if they’re there to give us something to watch and pay attention to the music, lyric videos are arguably batter than Alan’s world-ending cults.

Tom: As for the music, well, it’s generic Tiësto, isn’t it?

Tim: See, you say it’s generic Tiësto, and sure, it is, but it also comes across to me as just generic dance. I don’t know if it’s because Tiësto doesn’t have a unique sound, but to me this just sounds like a Becky Hill track. Not a bad thing – but a bit less than what I’d expect from a name as big as Tiësto.

Tom: I think it’s notable that, for both today and yesterday, we’re talking a lot more about the video than the music. Is that because we’ve picked dull tracks, or is it because there’s just less interesting stuff coming out? And I wonder how much production on new pop has been paused, and how much is continuing in home studios?

Tim: I was wondering that the other day, and to be honest I’d imagine it’s much less affected than film and TV – writing tracks can just about be done over video chat, and while it’d be hard for proper instruments to be recorded at home, vocals shouldn’t present too much of a problem, that can then be sent to be cleaned up by a producer and then placed on top of fake drums and guitars, or just your standard synth beats. If you want a good example of what can be done, I recommend Radio 1’s Stay Home Live Lounge from yesterday, all recorded at artists’ homes and sounding amazing.

Saturday Flashback: Tiësto, Jonas Blue & Rita Ora – Ritual

“I enjoyed it, and that’s that.”

Tom: Parts of this sound like a Tiësto track, and parts of this sound like a Rita Ora track. And astonishingly, I think they both work together.

Tim: They do, as this is a good track.

Tom: I… I don’t think I could pick a Jonas Blue track out of a lineup, though.

Tim: Yeah, you remember – did that Fast Car cover that kickstarted 2016’s brief trend of tropical covers of old songs.

Tom: I’m sure he had some input.

Tom: There’s nothing that particularly stands out here for me, but somehow the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts. It’s catchy, I want to hear it again. And honestly, that’s the only reason I’m sending it over to you: I enjoyed it, and that’s that.

Tim: Good. Sensible reasoning.

Saturday Flashback: Tiësto – Elements of Life

“Producers?”

Tim: The other day, I found a Swedish House Mafia playlist and Axwell’s Heart Is King came on, and it got me thinking: do we do DJs a disservice by calling them ‘producers’?

Tim: Because, let’s face it, with tracks like that, and the 12 minute wonder that is Forever Today, surely ‘composer’ is a better description? A music producer is just someone who sits at a desk and pushes a few buttons; tracks of this calibre, though, are so much, much more that – they give a proper ‘wow’ sensation that’s almost better described as a work of art.

Tom: And that’d also avoid the complaint that “DJ” nowadays is often just someone who pushes buttons to fire off pre-recorded tracks before a crowd, however much skill there is in the pre-production.

Tim: Tiësto’s not alone, obviously: I’ve already mentioned Heart Is King; you’ve also got tracks off Daft Punk’s TRON soundtrack that would fit. All in all, lumping the people responsible for these in the same category as, say, the people at Almighty Records (talented as they are) just seems wrong, really. Am I right?

Tom: Words change over time, switching and altering their meanings. Maybe this is just one of those times that we have to accept it.

Saturday Flashback: John Legend – All Of Me (Tiësto Remix)

“Get Tiësto to stick a donk on it, it works”

Tim: Almost every single time, I really hate the way that the SoundCloud website forces a new track on you immediately after you’ve listened to the one you want. Almost, that is, because for the first time ever I got one I actually liked: this one, after hearing Thursday’s track.

Tom: That’s exactly what happened to me: and I was going to send this track to you, except you got there first.

https://soundcloud.com/mixmasterscottyb/john-legend-all-of-me-tiesto

Tim: John Legend tracks are typically fantastically miserable – Ordinary People was a textbook example, and the original of this one got boring after about a minute. Turns out, though, that if you get Tiësto along to stick a donk on it, it works out alright – who’d have thought it?

Tom: Tiesto tends to add a lot of original material to remixes – fortunately, his original material’s damn good.

Tim: I don’t have much to say about it – just that I’m fairly sure I ignored it when it came out a few months back, so thanks SoundCloud! You’ve made my life great! But seriously, can we have a way to turn that off please?

Tiësto feat. Matthew Koma – Wasted

“Dancey, singable, and most of all just fun.”

Tim: Turns out that Icona Pop/Tiësto track is just an album track, at least for the time being; this here is the current single, just out, with a video featuring a load of posh girls getting pissed. Sound good?

Tom: It ain’t my idea of a good time, but let’s hope the music’s decent.

Tim: Sounds good, and I can’t help but be reminded of Ida Maria’s 2008 insta-classic, I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked.

Tom: Possibly because of that connection, I assumed that the vocalist was female — Matthew’s range is relatively high. Got to admit I prefer the melody here, though.

Tim: Mostly because there’s a lot more of it, yes, and so I reckon those two would work quite well in conjunction. As well as this being a narrative prequel, it works well stylistically too – this here is a track you’d dance to in a club or at a party, singing along pleasantly when you’re bored of talking. Then, you get home/up to a room, and you don’t really care what music you’ve got on as long as its loud and energetic.

Tom: Welp, there’s slightly too much information about your sex life.

Tim: You know me, I like to share. This is a damn good track – dancey, singable, or at least chantable, and most of all just fun.

Tom: Agreed: not quite sure about the verses, but who cares when the chorus is that good?

Tim: Right, and we don’t get many songs that are just fun, so this is nice. Well done everyone.

Tiësto feat. Icona Pop – Let’s Go

“One big loud shouty dance tune.”

Tim: Tiësto, manufacturer of big dance tunes. Icona Pop, manufacturer of loud shouty pop songs. Together?

Tom: I think I can guess.

Tim: Together, as you likely guessed, they make one big loud shouty dance tune. It is, basically, exactly what you’d expect to get if you combined the two, and as far as this track goes, that’s a good thing.

Tom: Damn right. It’s not a regular playlist track for me, but I’ll be damned if this wouldn’t get me up on the dancefloor in a club. It suffers the usual problem of having a slightly dull verse, but that’s made up for by a lovely middle eight.

Tim: For a while, there’s a moment of doubt as it brings in some guitars and threatens to go all country, but it very much pulls up and, well, lets go, and brings absolutely everything out in force.

Tom: Whoa there. Farm-house music is still pretty good for me; I reckon the middle eight might be the best bit of this track.

Tim: Oh, you’re not far off there – it’s when we break out of the dance and get just with the acoustic guitars break it for me. This here is absolutely great.

It is, in fact, a cracking dance tune, albeit in a very different way from yesterday’s – one’s a get ready to go out and party, this here is very much a LET’S GET ON THAT DANCEFLOOR track. And I love it.

Tom: I see what you did there.