I know this is an old track but as a die-hard Pink Floyd fan I couldn’t pass it up. As any other Pink Floyd fan would be, I was very skeptical of this remix put out by the incredible Derek Vincent Smith, better known by his stage name Pretty Lights. Coming off his “Unreleased 2010 Remixes” collection, he brings us a genius remix of Pink Floyd’s Time. Being one of my favorite songs from Pink Floyd it was hard to imagine a remix that could live up to such a classic, but that’s exactly what Pretty Lights was able to do. Incorporating the distinct intro of the ticking clocks with heavy hitting bass lines, Pretty Lights immediately grabs your attention with the complexity of his sound. If anyone were to remix Pink Floyd and do it well, Pretty Lights is definitely that person. Both of their sounds compliment each other, producing a psychedelic feel that preserves the originality that Pink Floyd brought to us through their music. Sit back, roll up the grass, and enjoy this undaunted remix brought to you by ThisSongSlaps!
PINK FLOYD – TIME (PRETTY LIGHTS REMIX) | Download |
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I’ve been waiting anxiously for this for a while now. Pretty Lights has been tearing it up for a while now, and it seems like his career has been building up to this album pretty much since he started making music. You can check out my reviews of two of his shows in the last 6 months here and here for a my own insights into what to expect from this album and what the music sounds like. Here’s some of what he had to say:
It has been 2 years, 5 months and 24 days since I last released a record. I am properly delighted to announce the release of my new full-length album A Color Map of the Sun . I began work on this album/project/experiment in February of 2011 and spent a year creating my own vinyl collection of everything I needed to produce the album I heard in my head. I spent the next year producing songs with homemade vinyl samples and a big crazy analog synth I built just for this album. It is truly Analog Electronica. It’s soulful electro hip-hop that went back in time to learn from the life of its smooth ass grandparents.
Music will always continue to evolve. On A Color Map of the Sun I challenged myself to evolve my own sound and style by looking to the past and paying respect to all the ways in which music can yield immense power; emotionally, kinetically, and as I see it, inspirationally. Basically, I tried to make an album that could make you feel your soul, move your body and maybe even stir up new ideas. I put my whole self into this album and it put itself back into me.
This is the first time I am releasing an album as a physical product at the same time as a digital version. I have double disc CDs and full length vinyl records available with amazing hard cover book packaging that looks stunning and contains a 28 page photo booklet documenting much of the making of the album. The second disc of the double CD set contains 13 additional tracks straight off the vinyl acetates that I composed and created in order to make legit sounding samples for A Color Map of The Sun.
Like always, the album will be available in its entirety as a free download on the album’s release date via prettylightsmusic.com . For the first time however, I encourage you to purchase a copy of the album. There are two honest reasons for this. The main reason is that as an artist I have always reinvested any success I have directly back into the music, the show and the art that goes along with it. Secondly, this isn’t just an album; it is a massive collection of music beyond what is on the CDs that I will continue to put out after the album release. There is an insightful documentary film on the making of this project to be released alongside the launch of the album, as well as a music video for every song. They are all beautiful and uniquely unusual pieces of art.
This “album” is a multi-medium map of my mind and my self. It is personal and honest and I put everything into it. I have stayed on the path of being a completely independent musician and with the help of every supporter and friend, we have transformed a simple idea into a movement, a cultural beacon of light. If you can, I encourage you to purchase a digital or physical copy of A Color Map of the Sun. If not…simply support by sharing the music and sharing the idea. If there is any success to be had from this album, it will go back into my rule bending, never ending quest to channel beauty and taste through music and art.
Either way, I made this music for everyone. Support this release and let’s show the world how we do. The time is now. – Derek Vincent Smith
As stated above, you can preorder a physical copy of the album on his site, and it will also be available for free download. Seriously though, buy this album. This is coming from a guy who shamelessly pirates pretty much everything. Derek Vincent Smith has given us an incredible body of work over the past several years and never asked for anything in return. If anyone deserves your money, it’s him.
Below is the music video for Around The Block, the first single off the new album. It’s a sweet summertime jam with Talib Kweli on the vocals, and the video is really, really cool. Enjoy!
Pretty Lights – Around The Block feat. Talib Kweli | Download From His Site |
So last year the Veld music festival was born in Toronto, and their debut lineup the packed the heat, taking away the breath of all that attended. This year they’re back better than ever with an absolute killer lineup including headliners Deadmau5, Kaskade, Above & Beyond, and Steve Angello with other acts including Dada Life, Krewella, Adventure Club, Steve Aoki, Madeon, Dirty South, GTA, 12th Planet, Seven Lions, Candyland and many more!
A show of this magnitude in Toronto is no small feat, and thanks to INK Events, an incredible production will be making it’s way back this year to Downsview Park on August 3rd and 4th. The TSS team will be out in full support and we can’t wait to see you all there!
Will you be joining us?
Tickets are on sale now so grab them while you can! | Tickets Here |
Veld Music Festival 2012 Recap
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I didn’t think Snowball could get any better after Day 1, and I was wrong. Unfortunately, we were pretty jetlagged, and after a morning of incredible tree runs up in the bowls, we ended up taking a solid 3 hour nap, and didn’t make it into the festival until like 7:30. It would’ve been awesome to see Luminox, Run DMT, and everyone else that was playing all afternoon, and we were bummed to have missed them. That said, everything we did make it to was incredible. We walked into the groove tent for the second half of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, who had an awesome, heady vibe. Below, you can see a picture of the very solid crowd they drew, and the air above them full of confetti. Much like Krewella’s balloons, the confetti was a nice touch.

Up next was Datsik, who threw down HARD. He opened with Jump Back by Flux Pavilion, which was surprising and really awesome, and from there kept the vibe going with heavy bass and all the energy you would expect him to bring. There were an insane amount of people packed in to see him, and once the beats started dropping and we all got into a collective seizure, things got a little hairy. I saw a lot of people eat shit on the ice, and everyone was pushing and throwing their bodies around. Even in a situation like that though, the people of Colorado are all ridiculously nice and everyone was always apologizing to each other and generally just being really nice. For a guy from New Jersey, this always blows my mind, as back home crowds are always far more hostile towards each other.

After Datsik came Pretty Lights, who in my opinion stands head and shoulders above every other producer in the game. I could go on for a long time about how huge of a fan I am of his (), but I will spare you the details here. One of my favorite things about him is that he is constantly changing things up. I’ve seen him four times now, and each set has been totally distinct from the others. He started off his set with about a half hour of new stuff, which I assume is going to be on the album he’s been working on for a while now. It was incredibly good, and I think that when it finally gets released its gonna be a strong candidate for best album of the year.

He then went on to play crazy VIPs and standard versions of all his best songs. The highlight for me was definitely ‘I Can See It In Your Face’ because that horn line gets me every time. He then played a bunch of his older stuff, which was awesome because its all amazing. Above and below are shots of his light show, which was INSANE. He brought an absurd number of lasers, and there were all kinds of colors and crazy patterns shooting through the smoke out over the crowd. As my boy Connor made a point of saying several times, those lights were pretty.

The end of his set was ‘I Know The Truth’ followed by ‘We Must Go On.’ It was cool because I was expecting ‘I Know The Truth’ to be last, but he decided to throw in one more, and chose the mellowest track of his recent releases. As he said, instead of ending with a banger, he wanted to go out with a track full of love. as the beat dropped, he shouted “This one’s for the survivors!” and throughout his set, you could just tell he was beyond stoked to be back in his home state playing to a huge crowd of his most loyal followers.
All in all, it was a great day, and I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Last night, I had the incredible fortune of seeing both Pretty Lights and Bonobo for the third time, and Eliot Lipp for the second. It was an absolutely amazing night. Eliot Lipp opened with a very solid DJ set of his unique, psychedelic music. He is one of the artists on Pretty Lights’ label, and is definitely worth checking out. The last time I saw him was the first time he had ever performed with a live band, which, while interesting in concept was a little rough around the edges, so it was cool to see him more in his element. He definitely delivered as a DJ.
Bonobo, as always, was incredible. He is a ridiculously talented musician and producer, and never does the same thing twice, so its always cool to see what he throws down at any given show. Last night, he did some interesting tweaking of a couple of his iconic original tracks that I have heard before, and played a bunch of really interesting music that fell somewhere between deep house and old school British DnB/dubstep. I have no idea if it was his own music or not, but regardless, it was very cool.
Although both of the above were very, very cool from a musical standpoint, I found myself kind of getting lost in the music and nodding my head while a lot of people around me who weren’t as into that aspect of electronic music began to grow impatient. Although it was all somewhat danceable and bass heavy, it wasn’t quite enough to make the crowd go wild. However, the second the 5-minute countdown to Pretty Lights’ set flashed onto the big screen, that all changed. Derek Vincent Smith, aka Pretty Lights, brought it to another level and made the crowd go absolutely wild. His performance last night definitely reaffirmed my opinion that he is hands down the best producer in the game.

To give a little bit of background, Derek has been producing for several years, and first hit it big with ‘Finally Moving,’ a really interesting hip hop version of Avicii’s ‘Levels’ (just kidding). Since his start, Derek has posted every single thing he has released to his website for free download, which has proven to be a fantastic business decision. He has escalated to fame without any reliance on any kind of a label, and now has managed to start his own label under the same philosophy which garnered him so much success. The man is his own boss, and can pretty much do whatever he wants. As it turns out, “whatever he wants” has taken the form of an album that from the looks of it, will be game-changing, which he has been working on for over a year. Derek was originally a jazz bassist (just like me!), and the way he decided to make this album was to have jam sessions with a huge variety of different musicians and vocalists from diverse backgrounds and styles, recording everything in the process. He then took these recordings and pressed them to vinyl, which he used to create sample-based electro beats like he usually does, only made of these original recordings instead of bits and pieces of other people’s music. The result is a hybrid of many very different things, and this tour, he has finally started playing cuts from this album at his shows.
Anyway, back to last night. The countdown began, and the crowd almost instantaneously got in the zone. It started with some very jazzy stuff that most likely came from some of the aforementioned jam sessions, and built into a banger I have never heard before as the countdown ended and he ran out. I can only assume that this track was from the new album, and it was incredibly cool. It, as well as all of the new music that he played last night, had this incredible texture to it while also being very well-written musically, in a way that Pretty Lights has always danced around but never fully realized. If you have heard the tracks ‘So Bright,’ and ‘I Know The Truth’ which he has released already, then you know what I mean. Its like a mixture of deep, heartfelt acoustic music and funky electronic bangers that makes you dance your ass off while also being struck by the beauty of what you are hearing, which I find to be an extremely rare combination. I, for one, am beyond stoked for this album to be released, and you can expect another review from me as soon as it comes out.

Aside from his new tracks, which I could go on about for days, Pretty Lights does an awesome job of bringing fresh versions of all his older music to the table every single tour. It’s a smart move, as a lot of musicians struggle to balance their desire to play the new music they’re really excited about and their fans’ desire to hear the music they already know. Derek’s solution is to take those older tracks and just keep making new versions of them as his sound progresses. This creates a very cool experience for the acute listener to hear how he approaches his beat-making from a mental standpoint. Highlights included a crazy, even more bassed-out version of ‘Still Night,’ and an almost DnB-tinged version of ‘Out of Time,’ which are the first two tracks on his 2010 EP Glowing In The Darkest Night, as well as a very housey new mix of his ‘Chicago Bulls Theme’ remix, which was the first song in his encore. He also played the original version of ‘Finally Moving’ into the electro remix he released on Filling Up The City Skies, which was pretty cool (both of the above albums can be found and downloaded for free in the downloads section of his site). There were a ton of other interesting new versions of songs, as well as some that remained untouched, such as his amazing remix of ‘Empire State of Mind,’ which was fitting considering the location, and I was absolutely loving all of it the entire time. His light show, as you can see from the pictures (courtesy of my awesome girlfriend), was pretty unreal. The bridge and screen behind him added a whole new dimension to his visuals, which capture the aesthetic of nighttime in a city perfectly, and the lights were complimented by a ton of artsy pictures on the screen, many of which were most likely taken by Derek’s girlfriend Krystle, who is a very talented photographer (jazz-bassists-turned-producers have a thing for photographers apparently).

The highlight of the show, as it should be, was undoubtedly his encore. He saved several bangers for the very end, and it was well worth the wait. As I mentioned already, it began with an updated version of his ‘Chicago Bulls Theme’ remix, and moved into updated versions of his remixes of ‘The Final Countdown’ and ‘After Midnight,’ both of which can be found on the album NYE 2009 (Midnight at Vic Theater). Personally, I always thought these two remixes were some of his best work, and I never thought I would get the chance to hear them live. I was beyond stoked that he played them, and it was infinitely more amazing to hear live than the recording from ’09 could ever come close to replicating. After that, he finished with I Know The Truth, which was a great choice of ending song. It had possibly the most energy of the entire night, and made me want to stay for hours longer and rage my face off.
In conclusion, Pretty Lights is an absolutely incredible producer. Although his new album does not have an official release date yet, I am already breathless with anticipation for it. I read an interview with him from a while back where he said that he was considering charging money for this album, which he has never done before, and surprisingly, I have found myself hoping that he does. Keep in mind that his is coming from someone who shamelessly pirates everything, and just hear me out. Derek Vincent Smith has released 8 albums and several singles free of charge, all of which have been of a better caliber than most music that you have to pay for, and has asked nothing in return. If there is any producer that deserves your money, it’s him, and I know that I will not hesitate for a second to pay whatever price he sets for this album. There is no doubt in my mind that it will be worth every penny.
Pretty Lights – So Bright
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Just in time for you Friday night, Pretty Lights’ Derek Vincent Smith hits us with another episode of his hour-long weekly show on SiriusXM, The Hot Sh*t. Episode 50 features 13 soulful tracks from the likes of Pretty Lights, Gramatik, Eliot Lipp, Break Science, & many more.
Past Episodes:
- Episode 48 – Episode 49 –
Tracklist:
1 Pretty Lights – So Bright – Pretty Lights Music
2 Pretty Lights – Let Em Know It’s Time to Go – Pretty Lights Music
3 Michal Menert – Words Unspoken – Pretty Lights Music
4 Gramatik – DreamBIG – Pretty Lights Music
5 Clicks & Whistles – Can’t Believe (mastered 16-bit) – White Label
6 Pretty Lights – Gold Coast Hustle – Pretty Lights Music
7 heRobust – Social Network – White Label
8 Amon Tobin – Journeyman – Ninja Tune
9 Gramatik – Somebody – Pretty Lights Music
10 Eliot Lipp – The Wolf – Pretty Lights Music
11 Break Science & Michal Menert – Electric Touch – Pretty Lights Music
12 SuperVision – I Can Still Hear You – Pretty Lights Music
13 Pretty Lights – Summer’s Thirst – Pretty Lights Music
Pretty Lights – The Hot Sh*t – Episode 50 [Mix]
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Pretty Lights’ Derek Vincent Smith, the Colorado native and kingpin of the electrohiphopsoul musical visionary, has also gotten into the Halloween spirit with the release of his new mashup ‘Halloween Funtime REMIXMONSTRousMASHup’ sampling the theme song for Nightmare On Elm Street, the Halloween theme song, “some dark Bach Fugue 9, and of course, the super sweet and creepy Crypt Keeper’s laugh from Tales From The Crypt.”
Get spooked with a Hallows Eve mashup remix with a bassious beat to drop at your party or at least listen to in the car one night a year. It’s a mashup of the Nightmare On Elm Street Theme Song, Halloween Theme Song, some dark Bach Fugue 9, and of course, the super sweet and creepy Crypt Keeper’s laugh from Tales From The Crypt.
Pretty Lights – Halloween Funtime REMIXMONSTRousMASHup | Download |
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Just in time for the weekend, Derek Vincent Smith, better known as Colorado musical visionary sensation Pretty Lights, is back with another episode of his weekly SiriusXM radio show, The Hot Sh*t. Similar to episode 48 which we showcased last week, Pretty Lights mixes 13 cutting-edge tracks together fusing elements of smooth-flowing funky bass, hip hop, and classic songs all into one hour of non-stop euphoric eargasms.
Tracklist:
1 Pretty Lights – Let the World Hurry By – Pretty Lights Music
2 Michal Menert – The Wind and the Walls – Pretty Lights Music
3 Break Science – Forest of Illumination – Pretty Lights Music
4 Pretty Lights – My Other Love – Pretty Lights Music
5 Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – Running – Young Turks / XL Recordings
6 Pretty Lights – Gold Coast Hustle – Pretty Lights Music
7 Eliot Lipp – Mountain – Pretty Lights Music
8 SuperVision – Time Has Written – Pretty Lights Music
9 Michal Menert – The Keep On (Co-prod. by Paul Basic) – Pretty Lights Music
10 SuperVision – Who Am I (Co-prod. by Michal Menert) – Pretty Lights Music
11 Gramatik – Portorose in July – Pretty Lights Music
12 Gramatik – Happiness on a Leash – Pretty Lights Music
13 Pretty Lights – Shining Bright Despite the Plight – Pretty Lights Music
Pretty Lights – The Hot Sh*t – Episode 49 [Mix]
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Just about a year ago, Colorado-based Pretty Lights started a weekly hour-long radio show on SiriusXM titled “The Hot Sh*t” showcasing some of the best new music around while carrying tons of that bass-infused Colorado flavor we’ve all come to love. Episode 48, a 13-track smooth flowing mix, premiered just about two weeks ago on October 4th, and was just released for stream on their Soundcloud. If you’re digging this and want to check out some more, you can listen to the 47 other episodes grouped into one set on the Soundcloud account right here. Also, if you missed Pretty Lights’ hugely popular free track ‘So Bright’, which leaked off his forthcoming album at the beginning of October, be sure to check that out next.
Tracklist:
01. Pretty Lights – Gazing at the Glare – Pretty Lights Music
02. SuperVision – Milky Way Stomp – Pretty Lights Music
03. Paul Basic – Doozy – Pretty Lights Music
04. Pretty Lights – Still Night – Pretty Lights Music
05. Michal Menert – Drift By – Pretty Lights Music
06. Pretty Lights – Stay – Pretty Lights Music
07. RUN DMT – Blueboy Goes Green – Play Me Records
08. Blockhead – Escape the Meadow – Ninja Tune Records
09. Gramatik – Good Evening Mr Hitchcock – Pretty Lights Music
10. Eliot Lipp – The Sunset – Pretty Lights Music
11. Gramatik – Solidified – Pretty Lights Music
12. Break Science – Forest of Illumination – Pretty Lights Music
13. Pretty Lights – Sunday School – Pretty Lights Music
Pretty Lights – The Hot Sh*t – Episode 48 [Mix]
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This may be the first time ever that Derek Vincent Smith, better known as the Colorado-based music & visual sensation Pretty Lights has asked us to purchase one of his songs, which is an extremely huge feat to accomplish at this point in his musical career considering the fact that he is one of the most well-known acts in the world. Pretty Lights has prided himself on releasing free music for the entirety of the career, and on Facebook, he mentioned it was never his intention to strictly sell tracks off his upcoming album. After his new single ‘So Bright’ leaked before it was ready to be released, Derek decided to release the track for free download. I’ve also included the BeatPort purchase link just incase you’d like to show Pretty Lights some love. Enjoy!
A new track from my upcoming record has leaked out unintentionally. The song is called So Bright. I was not ready to put this track out but some how it’s now posted on multiple sites as well as for sale on multiple sites. I made it available for free download just now on the PL site because it has never been my intention to strictly sell any tracks off my new record.
All the samples used in the track are from self composed one of a kind vinyl pressings. There is a short documentary to be released soon about the making of this upcoming PL album because it was a very unique and laborious process. I’m insanely excited to release the entire record but… I’d prefer to do it on my own terms:). Much love to all PL family, I hope you enjoy the track.
Pretty Lights – So Bright (Original Mix) | Download | BeatPort |
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