Vernessa Mitchell - This Joy (2016 Remixes)

Originally released in 1998, this song went on to be a major club classic. The original version was produced by Junior Vasquez and Gomi and the main remix was by Razor N Guido. That remix went on to be the most well known version of the ferocious Gospel/House anthem. Rosabel revisited this track a short time back, however, the new mixes remained unreleased until now. Due to the sudden, unexpected passing of Guido from the duo of Razor N Guido, the new versions have been released as a tribute. Their main mix does contain some melodic elements from the Razor N Guido mix, particularly the signature riff. The mix is Rosabel's usual big room-oriented peak hour style which is effective here. Their dub centers around the riff and lots of well-timed buildups and breakdowns and just enough of the vocals. These new mixes are extremely well done.

Listen to the mixes here:


Purchase the single here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Madonna feat Nicki Minaj - Bitch I'm Madonna

The Diplo produced Trap/Hip Hop song is the 3rd single from her Rebel Heart album. It has been a fan favorite that went viral after Madonna performed this on Jimmy Fallon's show. It's a catchy, silly song in its original form with Nicki Minaj joining her in the middle. Remixes by Dirty Pop, Fedde Le Grand, Junior Sanchez, Oscar Gaeten, Rosabel, and Sander Kleinenberg will be released later this week on the digital remix EP. Dirty Pop's mix is a hard-hitting mainstream Electro/Tribal one. Fedde Le Grand's swing beat mix incorporates some elements of the original but it has lots of fun vocal effects and stutters. Junior Sanchez goes in a Deep House direction, using just a few re-arranged vocal and instrumental samples. Oscar Gaeten's mix is a tribal dub with just a sprinkling of vocals. Rosabel's main mix uses the most vocals and ends up utilizing the vocals the best. The dub mostly uses Nicki's vocals. Sander Kleinenberg's mix is atmospheric with some cool orchestral and EDM elements. Rosabel's ends up being the best of the bunch.

Grade: B+

Paris Hilton - Turn U On (Rosabel Remixes)

This was originally a song on the socialite and reality entrepreneur's debut album Paris released in 2006. While the album had limited success, several of the singles were remixed and given a club release where they did well. The songs may have lacked vocal panache, but the productions by the remixers made them palatable. Rosabel (Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguilera) had remixed this song however, the remixes remained unreleased until now. The took the tepid original and turned it into a sex bomb with massive tribal drums. Their vocal mix is straightforward, however, their two dubs the highlights. The main Dub has almost no vocals. Their Vocal Dub has just a few spoken vocals. The big room production is thrilling and exciting with its twists and turns. It's hot.

Listen to them and download them here:


Grade: A

Donna Summer - MacArthur Park 2013 (Rosabel Mixes)

This song was originally recorded by Richard Harris in 1968. Donna Summer covered the song in 1978 for her Live and More as part of the 17 minute "MacArthur Park Suite" which also contained "One Of A Kind" and "Heaven Knows". The exquisite cinematic production by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte was a perfect match for Donna's pitch perfect, soaring vocals. The song was a number one hit and it remains one of Donna's most famous recordings.

The song was remixed by Laidback Luke for the Love To Love You Donna remix album released last month, however, he opted to use a limited amount of vocals. Celebrated production duo Rosabel (Abel Aguilera and Ralphi Rosario) have done additional mixes which are more vocal oriented. They wisely retain much of the soul of the original, keeping many of the instrumental elements and the vocals. The verses and choruses have been used, but sadly, the bridge has been omitted. The short single edit of the original did not have the bridge either so perhaps they did it based on that. Only the longer 7" mix and the "MacArthur Park Suite" have that. Their main club, mixshow, and radio edit are all based on the same production, just in differing lengths. Their Dark Dub however is an entirely different production bearing no resemblance to the other versions. It's a driving tribal production with some previously unheard spoken vocals by Donna as the focal point. Despite the omission of the bridge in the vocal mixes, the mixes are still excellent. The dub is really fun too.

Grade: A

CeCe Peniston vs Rosabel - Finally vs Let Me Be Myself (Danny Verde Private Mashup)

CeCe Peniston's club classic, especially in the form of the David Morales remixes has been remixed, sampled, and remade hundreds if not thousands of times in the two decades it has existed. You may be thinking, "Oh no! Not another update!" This mashup by red hot remixer/producer Danny Verde manages to successfully reinvents the song. Danny used the instrumental he produced for Rosabel and Tamara Wallace's "Let Me Be Myself" for the mashup. The result is absolutely amazing.

Listen and download here:

Grade: A

Chris Cox & DJ Frankie feat. Crystal Waters - Oh Mama Hey (Remixes)

The main versions for this mega-collaboration were released a few a weeks ago. Chris Cox and DJ Frankie's production is very poppy, with the usual blend of electro house. The lyrics especially delivered in Crystal's voice just make this track so infectious. The main version could easily be on radio right now.

There are remixes by Stonebridge vs. J-C, Koko, Vanity Police, Trent Cantrelle & Jquintel, Steven Redant & Phil Romano, and Rosabel. Of the main versions, the Chris Cox Dub has just enough of the vocals and the dark production makes for a great tease into the original. Of the remixes, the Redant & Romano and Rosabel mixes are the best. Redant & Romano's mix is really synthy and tribal. Rosabel deliver two dark circuit/tribal mixes. The dub is particularly exciting with all the loops, buildups, and drops, but overall the vocal mix works the best.

This is a great track.

Listen to clips and buy the remixes here (Beatport)

Grade: A

Wayne G feat Alison Jiear - I Just Wanna Dance 2012 (U.S. Mixes)

This is the part 2 update of the cult classic. The first release happened earlier this month. Rosabel, Manny Lehman, Joe Gauthreaux, James Torres & LFB, and Griffin White & Aaron Christopher provide the additional mixes. All of the versions are big room-oriented.

Rosabel (the production duo of Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguilera) deliver a hard and dark dub centering around some adlibs, vocalizations, and spoken parts. They have a knack for producing some really fierce dubs and this one is no different. Manny Lehman's mix is very tribal and energetic. He also incorporates the slow section from the original. Joe Gauthreaux's mix is dark as well with a massive synth running through it. James Torres & LFB's mix is minimal and would work as a great segue between electrohouse and tribal songs. Griffin White & Aaron Christopher's mix is quite dark as well. Overall, the Rosabel and Manny Lehman mixes are the best of the bunch even though all the mixes are quite enjoyable.

Purchase the digital single here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Glamrock Brothers & Sunloverz feat Nightcrawlers - Push The Feeling On 2K12

The House classic was originally released in 1992. It was a full vocal midtempo Disco-inflected Pop song in its original version. It was the dub remix by Marc Kinchen (The Dub Of Doom) that used only a small bit of vocals and a distinctive loop that became the most famous version. Some had speculated about what the actual lyrics were because they were seemingly indecipherable, but the original version will clear up any questions one has. An updated version of the dub version with additional vocals came out in 1995, topping the charts once again. A further revisit happened in 2003-2004 with remixes by JCA and Rosabel.

This new one has some interesting mixes. All of the mixes use the elements and vocals from the MK mix from 1992, however the main vocal mix has some additional vocals making this a totally new track with the Nightcrawlers song serving as the hook. The Big Room mix is mostly instrumental with just some vocals. The new production doesn't really fit that well. The SL Bootleg Version is circuit-oriented and is mostly based around the MK version and the beats from the Steve Angello & Laidback Luke track "Be" which was notably mashed up with Robin S' "Show Me Love" acapella few years back.

Listen to the clips of the new versions here (SoundCloud)

Grade: A- (for the SL Bootleg Version)

Gloria Estefan - Wepa (Remixes)

The highly anticipated remix package for the Pharrell Williams-produced song has finally arrived! Gloria's song is reworked by long-time collaborators Pablo Flores and Rosabel. This release marks the return of Pablo Flores to remixing after nearly a decade away. There are many, many remixes by Ralphi Rosario, Rosabel, Pablo Flores, R3hab, Gustavo Scorpio, DJ Africa, Keisha Mai Ash & Tony Mardini, and Emilio Estefan & Tony Mardini so far.

Ralphi's solo mixes are straightforward circuit/tribal. The dub works a lot better here. Rosabel's mixes are the hard-hitting circuit anthem that this song is screaming for. Pablo Flores shows us that he's still got it with his Latin House mixes. They are in a similar tempo as the original and add a frenzied carnival feel. He delivers both an English and Spanish version. R3hab's gritty electro treatments leave much to be desired as it is a mostly instrumental take. Gustavo Scorpio offers up a chunky Latin-ized big room mix. The Klubjumpers electro/house mix also doesn't go very far. DJ Africa's simple tribal/electro mix is effective as well. The Keisha Mai Ash & Tony Mardini mix is a festive, drummy one. Emilio Estefan & Tony Mardini's tribal/electro mix has some well-timed electro breaks, but it just lacks cohesiveness.

Overall, the Rosabel, Pablo Flores, and Gustavo Scorpio mixes are outstanding with the Klubjumpers and R3hab ones being the weakest.

Purchase the digital EP featuring a few of the mixes here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguilera vs Tamara Wallace - C'mon Get Funky

This is their second major collaboration after the track "Lookin' 4 Men" a couple of years back. "C'mon Get Funky" is a straight up, fun song that is perfect for the clubs. Tamara's vocals playful while being soulful. The lyrics a tad cliche, but they're nice. The "where'd you learn to funk like that?" line which is used as an alt hook throughout the song is taken straight out of the underground disco classic "Come On And Do It" by Poussez. The main version by Ralphi Rosario has a disco-tinged circuit sound with strings and plenty of horns. There are additional mixes by Ralphi with Abel (as Rosabel), Mark Picchiotti, and Maurice Joshua. The Rosabel mix is the hard, tribal stormer that one would expect from the duo. Both the club and dub are fun. Mark and Maurice both go in a disco/house direction. Mark's has some electro sounds as well. Maurice's piano-driven mix is very classy and soulful. His mix truly embodies the classic disco aesthetic. Overall, all versions are great, but the standouts are the Ralphi and Maurice treatments.

Purchase the digital single here (Amazon), and at iTunes and 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)