Proton Radio's 4th remix contest has come to a close with over 200 submissions from remixers around the world. We won't dilly daddle with promotional copy-- onto the results!
Stuart McKeown & Darius Bassiray's 'Leaving Melbourne Mix' (click here for a sample)
You'll notice that there were two prominent, but very different, themes to the backstory of Okoboji: horrendous bloodshed and breathtaking beauty. While a majority of contestant's remixes can be filed under the latter, Stuart McKeown (UK) and Darius Bassiray (AU) deliver a visceral remix that is perhaps the only one to successfully capture both sides of the story-- and they manage to do so in the intro alone. Haunted wails and distorted synths intertwine seamlessly through-out in a breathtaking display of force, sound design and sample modification.
Stuart (website) & Darius (website) are relatively new artists to the scene. Both had releases out on the now defunct EDMDigital, while Stuart has a new release just out on L2 Music called 'Chemical Thrust'.
"I've received a ton of Okoboji remixes and Austin's stands out by leaps and bounds, it's distinct, imaginative and absolutely beautiful-- Excellent work!" -Micah
Austin Azua's 'Naked Lunch' Mix (click here for a sample)
Producing for little over a year now, Austin Azua is obsessed with the ideals of minimalism and the abstract-- his main goals in the EDM circuit are to push forward an uncommon blend of sound, a medley of emotion, subtlety, and intent.
His remix of 'Okoboji' has been described as minimal, deep tech house, experimental and floaty space beats and melodies-- but really just defies genre pigeonholing. Think Kompakt mixed with Progressive. You'll have to hear it for yourself.
Listen to the Hybrid broadcast from John Digweed's Kiss FM show featuring His Boy Elroy's 'Westward Expansion' remix, available for download at Hybridized.org!
His Boy Elroy's 'Westward Expansion' Mix (click here for a sample) This contest's all-star breaks remix comes in the form of Proton Radio remix contest veteran His Boy Elroy's 'Westward Expansion' remix. Besides sporting one of the best titles, Tim Holt's rerub has been championed by Hybrid on John Digweed's Kiss FM show and in clubs around the world-- most notably Fabric.
Having submitted a remix in our Fingerpaint, Abbreviated Funk, and Lost in the Moment competitions we are sure more has yet to be heard from this aspiring artist.
Beaumont & Nathanial's 'Winds West' Mix (click here for a sample)
Head honchos of the new Winds West and Substrata music labels, this duo delivers the front running four to the floor pumping progressive interpretation of Okoboji-- complete with their own original piano sonata & violin concerto in a fusion of electronic and traditional instruments.
The level of additional production added to this track easily made it one of the highlights of the competition, and will be a sure hit for progressive fans.
Be sure to check out their remix of Pure by Blue Room Project, out now on Substrata Music with support from Nick Warren, Markus Schulz, Dave Seaman, Shiloh and Micah!
Notable Mentions (coming this weekend!)
Help promote the release & remix contest and grab various banners and icons for 'Okoboji' to slap on your website, desktop, or forums! Click here to download.
The contest is over but the remix pack is still available for a limited time. If the link stops working please don't bother us about it!
Thremix pack is provided in a zip archive and contains a whopping 42 samples of the original track!
BLAKE JARRELL New Orleans native Blake Jarrell is one of the few artists to have had the privilege of working with Starkid (aka Adam Spears) before his tragic death in 2004. Together, Blake and Adam created the haunting 'Apricot' for 3BeatBreaks and a remix of 33Rev for Loöq records.
Lately his solo productions and co-productions with the up-and-coming Jeff Devas have been championed by some of the biggest names in progressive electronic music, such as Sasha, Hernan Cattaneo, Luke Chable, DJ Hyper, Ashley Casselle, Habersham and Kosmas Epsilon among others.
Blake's music won him a full scholarship to the Loyolla school of music, where he is now a Music Industry Studies student. Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Blake decided to make the move to Chicago where he now works with PUREFUTURE and is busy with several productions and remix projects.
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Beatport has recently launched gift certificates for their store! The winner of this remix contest will receive a hefty coupon to pick out a bunch of free tracks of their choice.
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click here for a sample)
