Coming out of Colorado’s burgeoning dance music scene, Action 52 is swiftly turning heads with their futuristic palette that infuses 80’s neon layered kitsch with bass, hip-hop, and house music flair. And although they’re relatively new to the party, the duo’s remixes have garnered support from heavy-hitters like The Knocks, Chris Lorenzo, and Shiba San while managing to chart multiple times on Hype Machine’s Top 50 making these two an act to keep an eye on. With their recent, unstoppably infectious, dubby remix of Soma’s “Uncertain” currently making the rounds, we jumped at the opportunity to look at some the tracks they’ve been feeling as of late. This is Action 52’s BLISS 5.
1. option4, “Love Like No Other [Nurvous Records]”
This one is important to us for a number of reasons. When I [Matty Night] was just getting done with working inside of the EDM and electro scene, we found ourselves running into a lot of the same people at the shows we were attending that Summer in 2012 – including Fred Falke, Maxxi Soundsystem, Graff and Goldroom – without knowing why. Once we realized there was one underground promotion in Denver, TheHundred Presents, which we would go on to become residents for, we started becoming hyper aware of the underground dance scene in our own  backyard and even more drawn to its sounds. One night that Summer, at the now defunct Beauty Bar in Denver, after meeting the founder and brains behind TheHundred Presents, we were outside smoking a cigarette when we heard this hypnotic wonky drop. It stopped me cold in my tracks like no other dance track ever had up to that point. Needless to say, I rushed in to see who was playing it, and what song was just consuming my soul. After asking Ross from Need & Necessity, another one of our best artist friends and incredible producers, we found out that the charming bloke we had just met, who founded the entire promotion, was also option4. “Love Like No Other†would go on to be one of the hugest tunes we’ve ever seen and this was about a full year and a half before its official release on one of the most legendary house labels in history, Nervous/Nurvous. And not too long after that, option4 became our big brother which was one of the most inspiring things for us because he’s released on labels like Nurvous, Sweat It Out, Fool’s Gold and more. We would all go on to eventually start the independent label Night Supply Records not long after as well, with artists like Need & Necessity, Keepers., Walker & Royce from NYC and more. Sorry for the long winded response, but basically “Love Like No Other†pretty much set into motion our artistic trajectory.
2. Thee Cool Cats, “Will Never Do [Nurvous Records]”
Another Nurvous Records tune from a pair that would end up becoming good homies, Tony & Gerry, or Thee Cool Cats as pretty much the entire lot of underground heads knows them as. “Will Never Do,” while not in the same vein as a lot of their catalog, is one of the most purely beautiful deep-house meets disco and R&B tunes in history. Matty had the chance to talk to them in Detroit for the most recent Movement Electronic Music Festival about this tune, and they just locked themselves in the studio for about four days and came out with like three finished tracks, and “Will Never Do†was the first. You can feel the raw energy and excitement of being one of their first songs together, plus it is one of the grooviest songs you could close a set with. At least for us. And the fact that we play at least one of their tunes in pretty much every set whether it be Tech-House, G-House Deep or anything in between is just a testament to how awesome of musicians those guys really are.
3. SION, “Make You Sweat [Cuff]”
One of the tunes that perfectly straddles the same line as our style: somewhere between House & G-House with that big 80’s synth sample and neon energy, and just an absolute monster on the floor for us since it first came out. I think Scott even played this one at our last set. It’s one of those tunes that when it’s brought out of the bag after a while, it reminds us how much fun our DJ sets can be. It just never gets old.
4. Hot Since 82, “Knee Deep in Louise [Moda Black]”Â
We were both separate artist entities for a while before Action 52 came to fruition. Scott had an awesome run with his DT Tactics project and I [Matty Night] was doing this solo thing at smaller venues before we decided to join forces. One of the first jam sessions we’d ever had was around the Fall of 2012, and Hot Since 82 had yet to become the global force he is now, but he had just dropped “Knee Deep In Louise†which we all know set him off to global sensation. But, one of the first tunes Scott threw down during that first jam was “Knee Deep,†and it was another ‘wow’ moment for us. We just looked at each other and said, “I want to make music with that much dark soul.” We played it near the end of our first ever set, and hearing it for the first time on a Turbo Sound was life affirming to what we were doing. The place went crazy, and whenever this one comes on, it still has that awe-inspiring effect. Â
5. Amine Edge & DANCE, “Lost [Sleazy G]”Â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1aYWYThkeE
In reality, this should be called “Frank Ocean,’Lost (Amine Edge & Dance Remix),'” especially with the complete vocal track, mirrored bassline, etc., but whatever. Plain and simple, this one never fails to get people moving. Whether you’re playing at a Trop-House, Techno, Disco, or House music party, you can count on “Lost†to move the floor. Not to mention, Amine Edge & Dance were some of the very first to pioneer the sound we know now as G-House with the huge analog basslines and notable hip-hop or R&B samples, so we had to give some love to the G-Godfathers.Â
For Action 52’s BLISS 5 in playlist form, visit our SoundCloud. Be sure to listen to the Action 52 remix of Soma’s “Uncertain” below as well which is currently available as a free download.
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