Josh Messer

ESSENTIALS: “Sorry” – Justin Bieber (Prod. Skrillex)

Let’s get one thing straight: “Sorry” is a moombahton track. You can put whatever stupid moombah-whatever related label on it like moombahsoul or moombahcore, but it all stems from moombahton, the 108-tempo dance music inspired by reggaeton. This is that and it is intentionally that and I’ve been telling people since 2010 that this style of [continued]
Robokid Leaks Nine Tracks For Free

It’s not every day you get a batch of originals, remixes, edits, and everything in between that’s quite this fresh — but then again, most producers aren’t Robokid. Breaking off nine of the tracks that didn’t quite fit into a busy release schedule this year, the Moving Castle affiliate affirms that he can run shit [continued]
ESSENTIALS: “SIRI” – YOGI ft. Elliphant and Pusha T

London-based producer wunderkind YOGI turned heads the world over with his last Pusha T and Skrillex co-signed effort, “Burial.” He’s back with P again and this time he’s brought Swedish MC Elliphant and all of his usual heavy vibes for the gargantuan phone-smasher, “SIRI.” Elliphant’s fast-spitting rhymes elevate the track to real hype bass status. [continued]
ESSENTIALS: “Akureyri” – Crywolf

Crywolf is simply on some different musical levels than most of his contemporaries. Making electronic music that encapsulates the trap and future bass sounds while not at all being defined by them, his productions are the stuff of clear and driven inspiration. “Akureyri,” ornately textured tune that enraptures and surrounds, a real soundscape that you [continued]
ICYMI – The “Working For It” Teaser from Zhu, Skrillex, and THEY. Is A Must-See

Zhu’s forthcoming Genesis Series EP has had one of the most cryptic, but exciting PR rollouts we’ve seen for a project in ages. Teasing a track on the EP with each new week, Zhu’s gone and broken off the most-anticipated piece yet: a collaboration with Skrillex and vocal duo, THEY. Accompanied with an ultra-sleek, spy-themed CGI video, the [continued]
Breaking: Kanye West Shares Two New Tracks

Kanye West has premiered two new tracks, “Say You Will (featuring Caroline Shaw)” and “When I See It,” via his official Soundcloud account. “When I See It” sounds to be a reworked version of The Weeknd’s “Tell Your Friends” which Kanye produced. The two tracks mark a return to a singing style for Yeezy, something that [continued]
PressPlay >>Rewind #1 – Gorillaz, Bloc Party, Radiohead Set To Return With Albums in 2016; Condé Nast Buys P4K; Molly Hankins Wins The Week

Happy sunday, PressPlay fam. I’m Josh, the new North American managing editor here at PressPlay, and every week, on Sunday afternoons and evenings, we’re going to be bringing you the top-to-bottom run down of all the need-to-know news from our side of the music industry, for the week that was. We know that the people [continued]
ESSENTIALS: “Slowly” (Hi Tom Remix) – SIROJ feat. Ayden

You know what we hate? When producers put dope tracks on Soundcloud with no release details AND no download. Such is the case with the Hi Tom remix of SIROJ and Ayden’s “Slowly,” which takes the track to proper DJ-secret-weapon levels that will immediately crawl into your ears and get stuck there. Banging bass that’s toeing the [continued]
Pioneer Announces Affordable, CD-less XDJ-700

Pioneer has launched a pro-sumer model of its popular XDJ-1000, dubbed the XDJ-700. Slated to hit retailers worldwide by Christmas, the machine condenses the best features of the disc-free XDJ-1000 into more consumer-friendly trappings — complete with a full color touch-screen, jog-wheel, and the ability to play files from computer, flash drive, or smartphone. The XDJ-700 [continued]
ESSENTIALS: “Apathy” – Delta Heavy

One of Ram Records’ undisputed champions of the last few years, Delta Heavy have been churning out high-tempo, high-energy drum and bass records with machine-like consistency. The duo’s latest, “Apathy,” was made with everything but — a DnB smasher that hearkens back to classic vibes with sonically crisp modern-day production tastes. The result is a well-layered tune that [continued]