Smalltown DJs - Loving the Vibe
iTunes / Amazon / Beatport / Juno
  1. Loving The Vibe f/ Trigga Nom
  2. Loving The Vibe (Deekline remix)
  3. Loving The Vibe (DJ Theory remix)
  4. Loving The Vibe (Lars Moston remix)
  5. Loving The Vibe (5kinAndBone5 remix)

Smalltown DJs hail from Calgary, Alberta, but their new single looks overseas to the UK. “Loving the Vibe” is a big ol’ garage bass hit, in the tradition of DJ Zinc, The Count & Sinden and Jack Beats, with shades of the Carribean-meets-dance vibes of Major Lazer, Douster and Congorock. Over a tropical house beat and infectious bass stabs and wobbles, Trigga Nom (best known as Toddla T’s live MC) makes it a party. And the remixes take LTV to four completely different places.

Deekline brings the already hinted at Baltimore club break in the original version to the forefront, with a rowdy remix that harkens back to the days when you would find T&A vinyl in the breaks section at dance shops all over London. Then he hits you with big ass 808s, car alarm synths and midrange wobbles, and it’s a wrap. 5kinAndBone5 take it in almost the exact opposite direction, stripping away the vocals and almost any semblance of a hook, and building a new, super deep garage track with a nearly endless palate of subtle synths and bass patches.

Lars Moston opts for more of a house take, with a vibe that is pretty hard to pin down; what sounds like a native chant looped in the background rubs up against Trigga Nom’s vocals and Smalltown’s bass. DJ Theory slows things down to 110 BPM, but this isn’t like any moombahton we’ve heard before. A church organ (!) leads into a series of massive wobbles, chirpy synths, back to church organs, into a halftime breakdown, then more synths – words don’t really do it justice, you’ll just have to listen.