John Kano feat Stephanie Stokes - Come Into My Life

Freestyle music in all its different flavors and incarnations hasn't been a dominant force since the mid/late 90s when Trance/Breakbeat hybrids began to gain popularity. This upcoming release may turn the tide. John Kano's production combines the sensibilities of Freestyle, Trance, Electro and Circuit House while singer Stephanie Stokes evokes memories of such divas of the Freestyle era including Angelina, Cynthia, Jocelyn Enriquez, Lil' Suzy, and Safire with her vocals. The song is insanely catchy and well-done. This is due to be released in April. Hopefully this one will be a huge success and could bring about a revival of the Freestyle genre.

Listen to a preview of the main mix:


Grade: A

SaFire - Exotique

She had a handful of hits in the late 80's and early 90's during the Freestyle era with "Don't Break My Heart", "Let Me Be The One", and "Boy I've Been Told." She did experiment with other styles of music during the 90's. In 2001, she released an album which featured some new mixes of her earlier hits plus some new songs.

"Exotique" was announced during the late part of 2008. Now it's here. It was totally worth the wait. She sings about the person she loves and how "exotique" he is. SaFire's vocals are in full form and are a delight to hear.

There are many remixes of this that make this one suitable for a variety of dancefloors. The original is light Dance/Pop oriented with some light Middle Eastern elements. It's very pretty. Mike Rizzo's mixes are a little meatier and are more radio mixshow oriented. The atmospheric elements coupled with the electro production are great. The Johnny Vicious mix is a bit darker and harder, but still has tons of melody. The vocals sound great with this sort of production. Jamie J. Sanchez's continue in that direction too. Mark Alston's has the big room feel that the previous two mixes have, but with a milder beat. DJ Renegade & Mark Alston's Dub has lots of fun vocal manipulations and loops over a hypnotic production. The Jim Heinz mix is circuit-oriented as well and is really fast and energetic.

Overall, the whole package is really solid. All mixes are great. Hopefully this is the first of many new releases from SaFire.

-Check SaFire out on MySpace
-Masterbeat has all the mixes available for purchase. Other stores should have it when actual release happens on May 19.

Grade: A+