Veni, Vidi, Avicii

Avicii, Tim Berg & Tom Hangs... yes, these are all the same person.  One name wouldn't cut it, so he uses several aliases.  If you don't know this man by now, come out from the rock you been chillin under!  He's taken the electronic dance music (EDM) genre by storm in the last 2 years and is gathering a serious fan base.  At only 22 he's already made quite the impact.  Named breakthrough producer of 2009 by Tiesto, Laidback Luke & Dirty South, he is currently making some of the hottest and most uplifting happy house music around - certainly getting the credit he deserves. 

Thus far I've shared his tracks "Levels" and "Silhouettes" with you, in one of the Certified Summa Jams posts.  This time I'm featuring a remix he did of a classic Nadia Ali trance song, "Rapture".  His remixes are top quality, just like his releases, and feature the familiar big room signature Avicii sound.  I heard this particular remix while out clubbing last night, although the stupid DJ only played about 1 minute of its 7!  Anyway, a friend requested this, so enjoy Katia.  Read on to listen and download many more songs by this young musical genius.

1) Nadia Ali - Rapture (Avicii New Generation Extended Mix)



Next up is another relatively new Avicii song which I promised a friend I would post.  While listening to Tiesto's "Club Life Vol. 1: Las Vegas" compilation, I instantly recognised Avicii's sound in Track #2, called "Blessed".  At this point I didn't realise he had this third alias "Tom Hangs" but the familiarity of his sound was undeniable.  I'm really feeling the break down and change of tempo just after 2:30.  This compilation by Tiesto is actually pretty jammin, so if you're interested you can purchase it from iTunes here.

2) Tom Hangs ft. Shermanology - Blessed
 

An unreleased Avicii track has been floating around the internet called "Don't Give Up On Us (Enough is Enough)", featuring vocalist Yolanda Selini.  He's been playing it at live sets lately and seeing as its a vocal collaboration I assume he will release it as a single in the future.

3) Avicii - Don't Give Up On Us (Enough is Enough)


Literally while writing this post I discovered another Avicii song I had never heard.  "Malo" was released in November 2010 and features vocals in Spanish.  The title translates to "Bad" in English and the lyrics actually have a serious subject matter.  In the chorus she sings "You're bad bad bad bad, you don't hurt who you love, you're a fool fool fool, don't think you're better than women".  It continues later "Every time you call me bitch, it makes your brain smaller."  Avicii sampled the song Malo from a Spanish group called Bebe (who I am told from time to time write some rather feminist lyrics) to create this electro banger.  Thanks to my friend Xavi for the background info and translation help :) 

4) Avicii - Malo


"Street Dancer" is a funky little tune by Avicii which has a very 80s sound to it.  Still 2011 electro house, but with a touch of the past.  Avicii took the whistle from the chorus of a 1983 song by Break Machine called - surprise surprise - "Street Dance".  Don't believe me?  Check out the gangsta music video from years ago!  hahaha.

5) Avicii - Street Dancer (Radio Edit)


In another nod to the past Avicii did a complete rework of the 80s Eurythmics hit "Sweet Dreams", cleverly calling his remix the Swede Dreams edit. 

6) Avicii - Sweet Dreams (Swede Dreams Radio Edit)

"Fade Into Darkness" is a song that has done quite well for Avicii this summer.  The instrumental became known as "Penguin", because Avicii sampled the piano chords from a piece called "Perpetuum Mobile" by the musicians Penguin Cafe Orchestra.  Check out the original song on YouTube above and you'll recognise the melody, pretty neat! 

7) Avicii - Fade Into Darkness (Vocal Club Mix)


Next up is another remix by Avicii of Phonat's tune "Set Me Free".  I heard this in a few DJ's livesets from 2009 when Avicii was relatively unknown, so it was the first tune I downloaded by him.  For me, it's one of his best remixes.

8) Phonat - Set Me Free (Avicii's Big Room UK Mix)


I couldn't finish this post without uploading one of my favourites tunes by Avicii, his collaboration with Sebastien Drums... "My Feelings For You".  It's amazing to hear on a good sound system in a club. 

9) Avicii & Sebastien Drums - My Feelings For You


Lastly, I gotta include the progressive house bomb that shot Avicii to stardom, "Bromance".  This song was released using his real name, Tim Berg.  Ministry of Sound signed it and added vocals to help it appeal to the masses, which became "Seek Bromance"... but I still prefer the original. 

10) Tim Berg - Bromance (Avicii's Arena Mix)


So, there's TEN tunes for you by the Swedish producer Tim Bergling.  Which is your favourite?  Leave a comment and lemme know!