Midweek Crisis #4
Featured: Miss Monique, Zsak, Farhot, Young Ejecta, Jim Ford, Jimmy Ruffin, Mindchatter, Ouska
This post was originally published as the issue of my music newsletter, which you can subscribe here: https://midweekcrisis.substack.com/welcome ✌️
Hey,
I hope your Wednesday is going well and your coffee is strong. In case of a low energy level, I’ve prepared something stimulating ⚡️
For some time now, I’ve been toying around with progressive house and melodic techno. So as a Bonus Playlist for today, I’ve prepared:
💎True Progressive House & Melodic Techno Gems💎
My love for those genres was building up since 2017 when I first came across Miami-based DJ/Producer Stan Kolev and Ukrainian DJ/Producer Miss Monique and their exotic techno with ethno/tribal vocals and elements. Since then I’ve been exploring deeper all kinds of electronic, festival-ish music.
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve felt a huge longing for a good rave 🚀. Since all the events and the whole nightlife were canceled a lot of the artists turned to make live sessions, podcasts, and online parties. It was a great move and I’m truly grateful for their contribution. My life-savers and party providers at that time were:
- Purple Disco Machine amazing live sessions by Tino Piontek, German disco & house music DJ/Producer
- CoMyd-19 morning shows by Myd, French DJ/Producer/Composer/Singer were so uplifting!
- MiMo Weekly Podcasts by Miss Monique, UkrainianDJ/Producer and the Queen of Progressive House
- Above & Beyond Group Therapy — weekly radio show by the London-based trio Above & Beyond with the finest trance and progressive tunes
- Cercle sessions with artists playing in the most beautiful places you can imagine on planet earth
- Anjunadeep selection of finest deep house and emotive electronica
All of the above inspired me to create my own playlists, such as Hard Times Require Serious Dancing (Around The House), 💃Dance Our Hurt Away🕺, The End of the F***ing 2🤡2🤡/ 2021 please be kind, For the private festival under the night sky 🚀🌲🌑. Each was made to bring joy, make you kick off your shoes, and dance out any negative energy from your system.
Down below, you can find a mix of songs from different genres with their short descriptions. Hope you’ll like this music cocktail 🍸. Enjoy Midweek Crisis #4 and happy listening!
Truly yours,
Stygi
Check out my Spotify profile for other playlists:
If you’re not yet a subscriber, feel free to join the Midweek Crisis club!
Something Energetic 🚀
Miss Monique — Bombay
The first time listening to “Bombay” was filled with goosebumps and pure joy. With this song, over 2 years ago, my husband Tomek introduced me to the work of Miss Monique, the Queen of Progressive House 👑.
Her MiMo Weekly Podcasts onYouTube became part of my favorite ways of relaxing and getting inspired. I love how she describes her trips and impressions of the place she currently visits and that she cares to provide a complete tracklist to every podcast 👌. I’m amazed by how unique her mixes are and how her skill and technique grow year by year, session after session.
I’ll never forget dancing to Miss Monique set underneath the stars ✨, by the lake at the “Wonderlake Fest 2019”. It was a truly magical night in a reconstructed medieval fortress Pobiedziska near Poznań. Progressive house at its best played in an amazing setting🌲.
Something For Dancing 💃
Zsak — Rushin’
A funky, house tune, ideal for summer grooving ✨ Juicy mix straight from Hungarian DJ, producer, and composer Zsak. He spent over 20 years in the music industry, sometimes as a ghost producer. His music is a perfect combination of modern house with disco and funk elements.
Something Interesting 🤔
Farhot — Yak Sher
Amazing, exotic beat with hip-hoppy vibe by producer/artist Farhot, straight from Hamburg, Germany. It ends with a speech given by the resistance fighter and peace veteran — Ahmad Shah Masoud, who fought for the Afghans’ freedom, waging guerilla campaigns against the Soviet occupation, the Taliban, and Osama bin Ladens’ al-Qaeda. Check out Fahrots’ whole album “Kabul Fire Vol.2” for more inspiring, melancholic tunes 👌
Something Spooky 👻
Young Ejecta — Build a Fire
It’s a dark, kind of nostalgic tune in the ’80s dancefloor spirit with the hypnotizing voice of Leanne Macomber, half of the Young Ejecta duo. Together with Joel Ford, they created a synth-pop masterpiece that easily gets stuck on repeat. A controversial cover with an almost naked singer prepared to be burned on the stake adds some more spice to it all 🌶. The song was used in the Forza Horizon 4 game and got many young gamers fans.
Something Sweet 🍬
Jim Ford — She Turns My Radio On
It is a cute and uplifting song in a country soul style by Jim Ford, the American singer, and songwriter. Aretha Franklin and Bobby Womack were some of the many stars who recorded his songs. I came across this one while watching the “Firefly Lane” series on Netflix. If you haven’t watched it yet, I think you can try it out, even if you’re not a fan of drama. It’s a kind of crazy story about a life-long friendship and how opposites attract each other with a great scenario, camera work, and of course music 😉.
Something Old But Gold 👑
Jimmy Ruffin — What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
An iconic song, straight from the ’60s — it was released during the Vietnam War. This soul ballad was originally written for The Spinners band but it resonated with Jimmy Ruffin. He convinced writers and producers to hear his performance and persuaded them that he should record it himself, stealing it from The Spinners.
Over the decades it has been giving relief to brokenhearted people all over the world. Some of them suffered from personal tragedies — breakups, losing someone who they loved. Others were grieving over grander events involving whole communities and societies like President Kennedy Assassination, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights struggles.
It became a karaoke must-have song. Sometimes people are wondering why it has kind of a long music intro. In the initial form, there was a spoken intro monologue of Jimmy but it was over-dramatic and cut out.
This song was used in a couple of movies and TV series, for example, “For All Mankind” with an alternative version of history and what could have happened if Soviet Russia won the “space race”.
Something Chill 🤙
Mindchatter — I Can Change
A cool cover of the LCD Soundsystems’ song of the same title. The cool synths and dreamy, tender vocals of Bryce Connolly are giving a kind of nostalgic feeling. He calls himself an introvert that can get lost in his thoughts. Personally, I find his pseudonym — The Mindchatter — very accurate as his music is a great soundtrack for any inner dialogue.
*If you like this kind of music listen to my separate playlist: 🤙VAPE STATE / INHALATION STATION💨
Something for Focus/Work 👩💻
Ouska — Feeling Good
One of my favorite beats from the newest album of Ouska — “Expressions”. It’s summery, fresh, and cheerful. You can hear chirping birds, soft thrumming, and some distant vocals. It’s non-invasive, yet stimulating. It won’t disturb doing work, researching stuff, or studying.
Ouska is a multi-instrumentalist producer and a great beatmaker from France. Ouska means small ear from Russian: ”Оушка” and is pronounced “ooska”. You can hear jazz, hip hop, and bass elements in his music. The first tune that introduced me to his records was “Gonzo” — a chill tune named the same as my beloved dog 🐕.
*For more music in this style check out my other playlist: 💡Brain Stimulators💡
You’ve reached the end of this newsletter 💌.
Get your ears in tune with the whole playlist:
P.S. It will be awesome if you tell me which of my picks you’ve enjoyed the most. Or if you recommend me something to check out.
