Required listening: Helicopter Girl’s ‘Voodoo Chic’

helicopter-girl

In 2005, Robbins Entertainment had been enjoying strong success as a dance label, having placed dance songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 a few times in the previous few years. It made sense that given their nearly decade-long track record at that point, plus label owner Cory Robbins’ pedigree as a tastemaker over the years, that they would start to consider spreading their wings a bit. One effort, which for me remains a surprisingly enduring find, was their release of Helicopter Girl’s “Voodoo Chic.” Continue reading

Cascada and Robbins reunite with ‘Blink’

cascada-natalie-horler

When we last heard from Cascada, their German label were releasing their songs digitally here in the U.S. after Cascada and their then-label, Robbins, amicably parted ways over creative differences, after which the act struggled for awhile, although seeing some recent momentum around their participation in the Eurovision contest.  However, clearly the group and the label had a good symbiotic relationship, as they’ve reunited over a version of a track Robbins itself had released two years ago, a song called “Blink.” Continue reading

YouTube has everything: ‘Dance Mix USA’ commercials

dance-mix-usa

When I was first getting into music, I was a fan of WKTU out of New York, and it led me to explore a number of dance compilations.  A big name at the time was the “Dance Mix USA” series from Quality and Radikal Records.  At their peak in the mid-90s, they were the go-to collection of dance hits, well mixed and put together, with a lot of great tracks that I recognized from the radio. Continue reading

Required listening: September

september

In the late 2000s, veteran dance indie label Robbins Entertainment was seeing major success with one of their artists, Cascada, which had a number of Billboard-charting hits that broke through into the pop realm, a few years before EDM finally became mainstream. Another artist on the label, September, probably should have seen at least the success of Cascada, with a diverse, pop-friendly set of songs that were many times stronger than Cascada’s output. Continue reading

Cascada’s ‘Glorious’ new single

Cascada, who has broken through over the years with a few tracks in the U.S., is making waves overseas with their latest track, “Glorious,” which is a catchy taste of dance-pop from the group that brought us such gems as “Evacuate the Dancefloor.” For those who just sort of thought they disappeared after “Dancefloor,” it’s a bit more complicated than that; “Glorious” proves to be a high point, and a return to form, for Natalie Horler and producers Manian and Yanou. Continue reading