Tony Moran & Deep Influence feat. Jason Walker - Ball Of Confusion

This was previewed several weeks back and it was quietly released yesterday. This song is indeed a partial cover of the classic by The Temptations. Jason Walker puts his own spin on it with his signature falsetto style. He sounds fantastic. The peak hour production by Tony Moran and Deep Influence is fierce and uplifting. The song works best in its longer form with the additional vocals whereas the radio edit just feels like it's over too soon. The dub is basically the instrumental of the longer version with a handful of vocals. The beatapella is just the vocals and the drums. This is a strong release overall.

Purchase the single here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Martha Wash - I'm Not Coming Down (Remixes)

The legendary, powerhouse vocalist released her new album several months back. She reunites with Tony Moran for this set of remixes for her song about overcoming difficulties. The original is a guitar-driven midtempo. Tony provides 3 different mixes. His main mix is a trancey, big room one allowing for Martha's vocals to soar. The 2nd mix with Deep Influence is harder and darker. The final one with Mauro Mozart is more contemporary, having a techy sound.

-Listen to clips and purchase the remixes here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Ranny feat. Deepa Soul - Feva (Remixes)

This collaboration of tribal producer/DJ Ranny and soulful singer Deepa Soul (of "Nowhere Love" and "As I Am" fame) has already been doing very well on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. Deepa Soul's vocals soar over the synthy big room production of the original versions. There are nearly a dozen additional remixes by Carlos Gomix, Deep Influence, E-Thunder, Gustavo Scorpio, Henriq Moraes & Ranlusy Louis Mor, John Rizzo, and Karim Cato & Raffa Vergara. Nearly all of the mixes are variations of the circuit and big room styles with the exception of the Disco/Funky House Shplank mix. Of the circuit mixes, the Deep Influence one is the best of the bunch along with the original Ranny mix.

Purchase the mixes here and here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Tony Moran Presents Liquid Soul feat. Deep Influence - Planet XL (That's How We Do)

This is the latest release from the veteran producer/DJ. This song is supposed to be the theme for a special club event he will be playing at this weekend. Featuring the soaring vocals of longtime collaborator Deborah Cooper, the song is a nice tribal floorfiller. The production is hard and driving. All of the versions except two are based on the same production. The NYC mix is a bit more peak hour. Jerome Farley & 6KU's mix is even darker. Overall, it's a great track.

-Listen to clips and purchase here (iTunes)

Grade: A

This is the promotional banner for the club event happening this weekend featuring DJ sets by Tony Moran and Gustavo Scorpio, and live performances by Kristine W and Vernessa Mitchell

Post by Jerome Farley.

Henrik B, Niklas Gustavsson, Peter Johansson - Echoes

The atmospheric track has been doing well on Dance radio stations in the U.S. for the last few weeks. With its unrelenting hook and hands in the air electro/pop production, this one has the potential to cross over to Pop radio with a proper promotional push. Signed to Avicii's record label, this could have similar or greater success as his own "Levels."

A nice bootleg tribal mix retaining the essential elements of the original by Deep Influence was made available recently. It takes the song to the next level.

-Listen to the original here (YouTube)
-Purchase the original versions here (Beatport)

Listen to the Deep Influence mix and download here:


Grade: A

Tony Moran's Sand Blast Weekend Podcast

Podcasts are generally not featured here, but this one featured some exclusives that were really worth mentioning. Tony Moran's podcast series regularly includes some classics and unreleased gems from the vault (like the Cher and Donna Summer mixes on prior podcasts).

The latest one includes Tony's rework of The Saint classic "Souvenirs" by Voyage which features Michelle Weeks on vocals which uses just some of the main riffs from the bridge and Michelle singing the vocals. It's a nice update to a song which hasn't really seen any mixes of this sort.

The new song "Where The Sky Meets The Sea" with vocals by Orion is amazing as well. The lyrics are so beautiful.

The main attraction of this podcast is the Tony Moran & Orlanda Fussalva mix of Deborah Cox's "A New Life." This is from the Jekyl & Hyde show Deborah is currently playing the lead in. Deborah is stunning vocally and the production is amazing. This is expected to be released soon.

Also included is the Gustavo Scorpio mix of the top 10 hit "Heartbeat" which features Deborah Cooper and several private mashups and re-edits of some other current Pop Top 40 songs.

Listen to and download the podcast here:

Jennifer Holliday - People Come Together

This is the ferocious dub version of "Magic" released last year. It centers around the adlibs, high notes and the title's vocal loops, and a little bit of the chorus. The production is much harder and darker. It is perfect for peak hour and as a teaser to the vocal mix of the song. An acapella version is included on the single for layering and your own productions. This is an exciting release!

Purchase the single here (Amazon)

Grade: A

Tony Moran - Unloaded The Singles Vol 1

This is a new collection of remixes and vocal tracks targeted towards DJs and fans of circuit style music. A number of these tracks were showcased in Tony's podcast last month, and now they are available to purchase. All the tracks are full length and these versions are brand new.

3 mixes of the Anastacia track "If I Was Your Boyfriend" are included by Mauro Mozart, Jeff Valle, and Jose Spinnin. All are big room stompers with the Jeff Valle one being the best of the bunch.

Next are two tracks featuring Inda Matrix (a.k.a. Zhana Saunders) on vocals. Her Inda Matrix alias was prominently used in her early 2000s work with Dynamix on "Love Dominates (No Man Can Tame Me)" and "Bodyfly." The song "Let My Mind Play On" could almost fit in with the Dance/Pop music on top 40 radio right now. It's very mainstream. The other one "You Are The Source Of My Energy" could almost be thought of as a part 2 to the Tony and Ultra Naté song "Destination." The vocals on both are wonderful.

"People Come Together" with legendary, big voiced diva Jennifer Holliday is actually a hard-hitting vocal dub of last year's "Magic." The production is much harder and more suited for peakhour. The ad libs and high notes from the main version are utilized to great effect.

Orion's "Sensation" appears in a Mauro Mozart mix. This is a nice alternative to the original version.

A new mix of the Deborah Cox song "Tenderness" by DJ Head is another nice alternative to the La Cha Cha mix from the unmixed Mix Magic Music compilation. The removal of most of the backing vocals makes it sound different.

Last but not least is Diva Convention's "Heartbeat". It is a scorching hot, ass-shaking track. It is one of the many highlights of this collection.

Overall, every single track is really great, however, "Heartbeat", "People Come Together", "You Are The Source Of My Energy", and "Let My Mind Play On" are the highlights. This is a very strong collection.

Purchase in MP3 and WAV formats at JunoDownload here, and listen to previews of all the songs:



Grade: A

Tony Moran - The Event Unmixed Total Collection 2012

The double disc compilation containing mostly brand new material was originally released in 2007 along with a modified digital edition the following year. This special unmixed edition includes 41 tracks comprised of full length versions of most of the songs that appeared on both compilations plus some alternate versions, radio edits, dubs, and some previously unreleased tracks.

Some of the highlights include the alternate mix of Kristine W's "Walk Away" that is far more hard-hitting and anthemic than the well-known original version. The full length version and alternate mixes of Nicki Richards' "Freedom" are lovely as well. The previously unavailable 10 minute Altar mix of "La Fiesta (Relive Your Kiss)" featuring vocals by Kara Dioguardi is a floorburner. The original version of that song appeared on one of Tony's compilations over a decade ago.

Overall, this is an excellent collection at a great price.

Purchase it at Amazon | iTunes

Grade: A

Vibelicious and Dean Boudreau - Love Sick (Remixes)

Originally released in September, this song now has a full package of remixes by Nick Harvey, Deep Influence, Streamweaver, Bit Error, Matt Moss, QUBIQ, Halfstyle and Siense Deluxe.

Nick Harvey, Deep Influence, QUBIQ and Streamweaver all provide dark yet uplifting circuit/big room-oriented mixes. The Deep Influence and Streamweaver ones are the darkest. QUBIQ's is a little milder. Bit Error, Matt Moss, and Halfstyle remain faithful to the original with their mixes, but add a little something extra. The Siense Deluxe version is mostly instrumental with just a little bit of vocals. Overall, all the versions are really good. The Nick Harvey, Deep Influence, Bit Error, and Matt Moss mixes are the highlights.

Purchase the digital single here (Masterbeat)

Grade: A

Erin Hamilton - The Flame 2008

She burst onto the club scene in the later part of the 90's with a string of successful singles and an album. After a brief, 6 year break, she is back with updated mixes of her cover of Cheap Trick's "The Flame." This is the first artist/single release from MasterBeat Records, previously known for their circuit compilations. They recently rang in the new year with a launch of a new digital download store. This was one of the first digital releases on the site. While the original set of mixes were quite great, this new set is comparable. The Tony Moran & Warren Rigg and Twisted Dee mixes stay true to the mellow Circuit vibe of the original ones. The Solar City (a new mix) Manny Lehman, Jose Spinnin and Offer Nissim ones are quite good as well. A CD maxi with all of the new mixes, except one of them, was released last week. The full digital single is available at MasterBeat exclusively.

Grade: A- (overall)