Majai is an electronic dance music project of Anna Sennikova and Mark Kruger. They debuted on Monster Tunes back in 2007 with track the "Lightwave" and their track "Phoria" exploded on to the scene in 2008 with a little help from Elevation and Jorn van Deynhoven who delivered the big room remixes. The people who witnessed Ferry Corsten at the Trance Energy mainstage must surely remember when he dropped the Jorn van Deynhoven Remix. Now back to present; they are here with a new track called Strange which again (as per usual with Majai releases) comes with a rather impressive remix package. Once again courtesy of Tetsuo who also released the Phoria track.
"Everything is peculiar and it's strange"
Re:Locate Remix / Dub
Paul Moelands aka Octagen aka Re:Locate - a man of many names delivers the first remix for this track. The track is well driven by the rolling bassline and some good vocal'ish stabs. The vocal itself works really well with Paul's style and one can tell that this wouldn't be his first vocal remix. The pay-off begins with a sort of stabbing synth sequence which then breaks out in a good combination between bass, drums and the main lead - quite energic and club friendly.
Cressida Remix / Dub
Cressida is (cressida is only 1 guy now) behind one of my favourite tunes this year and that being his remix of Coll & Tolland's Redemption. So obviously I have a good reason to be excited about this remix. As expected a bit of lovely progressive trance synth work to colour the track plus a funky bassline to go with that. Even though the lead satisfies me I would had hoped for something even bigger lead - it still works though.
Nitrous Oxide Remix / Dub
Nitrous Oxide has always been better at remixing (his first record aside) if you ask me. What annoys me though is the bass in this mix. The type of bass I personally have been praying for to leave trance for good. Unfortunately it keeps on turning up in various tracks and remixes. Krzysztof does a good job fitting in and arranging the vocals and giving them a good support with some added pads which indeed gives the track a good atmosphere. The lead is not too impressive and I would have expected something fresh or powerful but he plays a safe card instead. Nitrous is usually good to spark up a track if it has a good melody on beforehand but this time he had to be more creative and maybe that was what lead to remix just being "ok".
2XLC Remix
Talla pulls off a remix as well and under his 2XLC guise. He recently released a track called "Dante's Peak" on tetsuo Hybrid and it was clear that this project is reserved for the deeper, minimalistic and progressive side of Talla 2XLC. And so a bit more of a house bottom-end and a deeper bass. The vocals are slowly served in dry bits as a part of the build-up and Anna repeats the word "Stranger". This remix never really blows up at any point but it has its qualities, even though it isn't revolutionary. The different parts just works together and the synths used all gives the track a good vibe.
DJ Preach Remix / Dub
I feel DJ Preach was an odd choice for a tune like this. Even though he is quite a talent I think his style and this type of base track would work just as well together as two positively charged ions. And even though he lays out a big bassline and some neat percussion the tune still feels more like a bootleg than an actual remix. I think a dub would be the best to pick here.
Original Mix / Radio Edit
The original version is a combination of a nice padded atmosphere, clear vocals and some nice chunky edginess. The full original version is perhaps a little too much considered how interesting it actually is but the radio mix works really well.
Verdict
There is no doubt that I was biased before picking up this package for a review. The expectations were big as I felt that their two first releases were a success. This release does however feel like a sequel that simply is trying too hard. It doesn't match the quality we have heard before but there are a few mixes that are still worth checking out; both Cressida and Re:Locate are good with vocals and this shows. Two good mixes that each represents a different style and my personal favourite would be the Cressida one cause of the bassline work and the pleasent melodies - not to forget the big main lead.
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Buy 'Majai - Strange' @ Beatport
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