AtV presents vol 1 : Azamat B. (Fr)

We're very stoked to finally see this project come to fruition. Starting a mix series is something that we've been thinking about doing for a long time, and it's dope to finally be able to share it with you.

Azamat Bogdanov is a DJ & producer from Perpignan, France, who now currently resides in our very own Montreal. This full-bearded tastemaker is one of the most versatile and innovative club DJs currently slanging tunes in the city, and his recent foray into production with ITFW is making a lot more people take notice of his talent, deservedly. He's also a member of the French DJ/producer collective La Big Familia, and as mentioned several times, a resident DJ and curator of the Boomclap weekly at Blue Dog Motel.

Every Saturday afternoon, Azamat B. broadcasts a live Ustream show on Radio Los Santos, and usually invites a slew of guests, who have more often than not played at Boomclap the night before. Chillin at home and streaming his and his guests' (who've included Canblaster, DJ Rashad and LOL Boys, to name a few) sets rates pretty high on the list of laid-back hangover cures, a welcome conclusion to the usual Boomclap weekend debauchery.
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Once Azamat B. agreed to do the first Avenge The Virgins mix, I was definitely intrigued by what kind of vibes he would bless us with. Would it be a ghetto rap set, a hedonistic uk bass rave set, or a hands-in-the-air straight house set?
Well, it turns out that he actually chose to do it on a relatively underground/unknown style of house music, Ballroom or Vogue house, birthed in dark, swanky LGBT clubs.

I knew next to nothing about it, although I had heard its heavy influence on a few of my favorite artists, like Azari & III. After doing a bit of research, I discovered that it is actually an extremely wild scene (see: Paris is Burning), with a huge focus on sexual, groovy ass house music. For 52 minutes, Azamat B. takes you on a manic journey from the late eighties to 2011, building the vibe up to a rolling crescendo, then descending into sensual two-step territory . The song selection and mixing is pretty much beyond reproach, and Jackin Around features solid tunes from the great ballroom producer DJ MikeQ, as well as recent output from Tom Flynn, Maurice Donovan and Boddika.

For most of us, this is also the first preview of an unreleased Prince Club tune called 'Utopia', which is sounding positively amazing, and a rad original by dapper don Sinjin Hawke called 'It's Over'.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado

...

Avenge The Virgins presents Jackin Around by Azamat B.
(Download link on the soundcloud player)

Jackin' Around by AzamatB.

Tracklist:

01. LNR- Work It To The Bone [House Jam Records]
02. Size Queen feat. Paul Alexander - Walk (Paul's Groove) [Tribal America]
03. X-Press 2 - Muzik Xpress (Club Mix)[Junior Boy's Own]
04. Toni Braxton - Make My Heart (Geoffery C's Raw House Dub)[Code Red]
05. Sinjin Hawke - It's Over [Unreleased]
06. R Tyme - Use Me (MK Mix) [Trance Fusion]
07. West Norwood Cassette Library - Blonde On Blonde [Teal Recordings]
08. Marcello Napoletano - Everyday Madness [Rush Hour]
09. Maurice Donovan - Satisfied [The House Sound of SSSSSS]
10. Dj MikeQ - Make You Gag feat. Ms. Theresa [Qween Beat Productions]
11. Robbie Tronco - Runway (As a House) [Henry Street Music]
12. Tronco Traxx - Walk 4 Me (Sound Factory mix) [Henry Street Music]
13. Green Velvet - Flash (Jamie Jones Remix) [Cajual Records]
14. Tom Flynn - Bianca [Size]
15. Prince Club - Utopia [Unreleased]
16. Boddika - Warehouse [Hotflush]
17. Marble Players - Marble Anthem [Marble Music]
18. Claude VonStroke & Christian Martin - Peanut Butter Jelly Time [Undefeated]
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Once again, we'd like to give a big shout-out to Azamat B. for dropping this magic on our asses and educating the masses.

If you dig the swag, pass this around. It's pretty much an all-purpose mix. You can make awkard love to it, you can roller-skate to it, you can get more or less buck to it, and hey, you can even vogue to it. Ballroom vibes will be huge in the coming year, trust.

Azamat B. soundcloud
Radio Los Santos
La Big Familia

rosé

How's everyone doing this fine morning?

We here at Avenge The Virgins would like to formally invite you to the inauguration of our Avenge The Virgins mix series this Friday, the 29th of April, at 8 AM Eastern. No need to RSVP, this shit's an open house party. Next level ballroom swag, courtesy of Azamat B.

In the meantime however, we would like to treat you to some great vibes to ease you into the day.

Lil Keke- Southside

Some classic H-Town shit. Screwed Up Click, baby. With a haunting piano line and a creepin' bassline, this is a serious trunk rattlin' anthem.

Serge Gainsbourg- Cargo Culte

One of the greatest musicians of all time. Do yourself a favor and pick-up any of his numerous albums (especially Histoire de Melody Nelson, which this song is taken from). Gainsbourg tried his hand at pretty much every music style he could think of, and still made it sound remarkable. A notorious ladies man, he pretty much bedded a sizeable amount of the most gorgeous women in France. Boss status forever.

Radiohead- Idioteque

It was a pleasant surprise to hear Jackmaster drop this during his set at the Boiler Room this past tuesday. Classic cut from their Kid A album.

Botnek- Dozer (Original Mix)
Botnek- Pop Music (Original Mix)

Botnek have been making some serious moves recently, and their tunes have been championed by none other than influential UK DJs Kissy Sell Out and Jaymo & Andy George, who have played several of their bangers on their respective BBC Radio One shows. These two tunes were recently featured on LA blog Gotta Dance Dirty, and I am extremely impressed by how dope they are. Both members of Botnek are now installed in Montreal, and are ready to set the city aflame with their brand of steamroller-heavy and extremely melodic electro. Keep your eyes out for their upcoming Plonk EP, scheduled to be released on one of the hottest labels at the moment, Discobelle Records. Some of the best Canadian club music out there at the moment.

It's all about the love.

-m.

Feels so GOOD

And another one...

Seattle has proven to be jammed with talented emcees. SuperFire is another name to add on the list. I got introduced to these guys by Sol, another guy rapping from this "filthy" city. Dope productions and cool rhymes. If you're interested in getting some more, they've got a free album called Off The Clock.

This jam brought some joy to my boring ass day. Hope it has the same effect on you.

SuperFire - Feels So Good (Feat. Ray Dalton)

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On another note... This shit goes hard. New video with REL featuring C-Plus. Dope instrumentals.



enjoy

have a good day,

-cal

ITFW- Haters / Aaliyah EP

First of all, large up Discobelle for dropping a big post on Montreal boys ITFW and releasing the EP for free yesterday.

(I seem to be on a very Montreal-centric kick recently, for some reason. Well, whatever, it's all love, I'm sure you don't mind. Ça déborde de talent icitte, tabernak. )

ITFW, one of our city's finest DJ/producer duos, have been gaining a steady amount of love and respect since their massive tune Surgeon was featured here (modesty? heh), and released on Truancy Records' first compilation album about month ago. The strength of that release has definitely put them on on many people's 'names to watch in 2011' lists, and we're always down to support the local scene.

Made up of two expatriates now makin' big moves in Montreal, S.H. & Azamat Bogdanov, IFTW are very well known in Montreal for their distinctively swagged-out take on r&b/rap/bass, as well as for their fantastic DJ sets. We've mentioned the name almost weekly, but some might not know that these guys are the curators and resident DJs every at Boomclap on fridays at Blue Dog Motel, along with Markus of LOL Boys. Real heads know the deal, this is one of the dopest weekly parties in the entire city.

Today, we're happy to introduce you to yet another delirium-inducing ITFW release, the very raw and heavy Haters, an original tune that samples Rick Ross' The Boss to great effect. It combines the unmistakeable swagger of Rozay with heavy synths, phenomally deep bass and drums pulled straight out of Juke.

This is some 2011 Knuck If You Buck shit. Dopest song to throw bows to released this year, if you ask me.

Haters by ITFW

As well, ITFW has blessed us all with a 5 song EP of Aaliyah remixes. Although Aaliyah tunes are more-or-less sacrosanct, ITFW are well aware that they are treading on sacred ground and do her legacy justice with these rad reworks. I've been waiting a while for new material from these guys, so to have all this stuff dropped on my lap yesterday was quite the treat.

You should definitely not miss out on this release, so we've included the link to download it here.
Scrole it out, people.

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Another reason I'm profiling these dudes today, besides the fact that their music is tight, is that one half of ITFW, Mr. Azamat B, was kind enough to do the first Avenge The Virgins mix for us. It will drop in the next few days, so you need to tell your wives, husbands, your siblings and possibly your kids. It's going to be major.

Building hype, son

m.

Mackpaye - Diamond

Fantastic new tune from Reims' Mackpaye. Proper house music for the soul, with a diva-esque vocal sample and an unforgettable groovy bassline. Top notch release, once again.

Mackpaye - Diamond / CDR by Mackpaye

I hope that you've enjoyed the tune. Once again, please do not forget that we are dropping the first edition of the Avenge The Virgins mix series tomorrow afternoon. (EDIT: We're acutally finishing up a few things to make this mix series top notch. We're trying to aim to drop it for thursday. Sorry about the delay!)

It will be featuring none other than French DJ/producer Azamat B on the decks.

You'll love it. Trust us.

-Matt