Contirbutor
Italy’s Cristina Lazic recently returned to Damian Lazarus’ Rebellion imprint for her second outing on the label. Flexing her production skills, the shesaid.so affiliate delivers four originals across a minimal techno-flavoured EP titled ‘Personal’. Following the EP’s release, we invited Cristina to pick out 10 of her favourite tracks right now.
1. Lost act – Poema de la noche (Calabasa remix)
Maybe my favorite track of the month. All releases by Calabasa are always top notch, but this is probably the best I ever heard by him. It has an interesting, latin vibe which you can hear in the lyrics of the poem being read by the vocalist. The groove is absolutely insane; as you will read from the comment on YouTube, this is a real, but researched and underground, bomb.
2. Cesc – Gradualness
I just discovered Cesc and love how he is able to deliver dreamy minimal sounds, which remind me of the rominimal scene, but that also include very innovative elements. In this particular track, I love how the effects remind of video games sounds, and how that effected vocal eventually comes in as a surprise before the drop. Extremely groovy sound.
3. Cristina Lazic feat. Shar – Personal
The lead track of my latest EP, “Personal”, features the beautiful voice of Shar. You will notice it’s made of “my” typical production elements: recurring synths, bassline, pads and an M1 organ that creates some surprise, placed at selected intervals. This is a track that I normally play at the climax of my sets, it’s perfect for a busy dancefloor.
4. Mihai Popoviciu – Rotate
Even if not super recent, this track has been working super well in some of my sets this past summer. Popoviciu always delivers incredibly groovy bassliness, and this particular track is great as the bridge before the final drop is quite long and repetitive, with the vocal repeating “rotate” as a spoken word multiple times, which is what is perfect for creating an ideal climax.
5. LRNT – Recovery Condition
A masterpiece from the Sintope Vinyl Series, which if you are into rominimal and like the vibes of NTFO, does not need much of a presentation as a label. Researched and respected minimal vibes, with some distinctive elements like percussion grooves that will take you on a musical journey that, I have to admit, belongs to my favorite type of vibes.
6. Henriku & Alexander Skancke – Piri Piri [Quirk – QRK006]
A minimal dark track with some garage and acid elements, with a catchy vocal “Piri piri” that repeats throughout the track, which will obviously stick in your mind. Just have a listen to understand why.
7. Cristina Lazic – Feel The Groove
The third track of my latest EP “Personal” – this time featuring a male vocal, it conveys the typical, deep tech / minimal vibe that you’ll find in my sets. I think this is the perfect track to include in a warm up set, when the set is ready to kick off for making the crowd dance.
8. Cristian Merino – Dirty Conversations at 4 AM
A nice, happy housy track that I like to play in my sets to bring smiles on the faces of people. I actually just played it a few days ago at Koko London; my set was between 3 and 5 am, and I obviously played it at 4am 😉
9. Morgi, Ben Aim – Back in 1995 [CRRCT View]
“Back in 1995” is a track I have included often in my latest sets, and it drives the crowds literally crazy. I like how it fits between minimal and indie dance. The spoken vocal, combined with the acid synths, is simply out of this world.
1o. Iglesias – Fusion (feat Rayzir)
It’s almost impossible to not find a track by Iglesias that is not a banger. I particularly like this one, as aside from being a groove bomb, it also includes a brilliant guitar riff and an amazing vocal that makes it a track to remember and that can be easily included in a set for a big club, but also in more intimate and underground situations.
Cristina Lazic ‘Personal EP’ is OUT NOW on Rebellion
Buy / Stream it here: https://lnk.to/rbl090