DJ/producer Noel Sanger rose from Orlando, Florida’s burgeoning dance-music scene in the ’90s. It was a magical time for music makers living in the shadow of Disney: Club Firestone was rocking with local and international talent, raves and parties were aplenty, and The City Beautiful’s wealth of DJ and producer talent were forging their own unique take on dance floor styles ranging from progressive house to breakbeat.
Sanger, who released his debut LP Selections in 1998, is still deep in the mix, spinning, producing and running Dissident Music. His discography includes releasing music on Spinnin’, Armada, Perfecto, High Contrast, Lost Language, Coldharbour, and Mute. Plus, he’s remixed and worked with artists like Erasure, Nadia Ali, and John Taylor of Duran Duran.
As Sanger looks ahead to the new year, he closes out 2018 in fine fashion by remixing fellow Floridian Jeff Henderson’s “Not Obligated” released this month on JourneyDeep. Sanger takes Henderson’s brooding techno track and transforms it into a peak-hour prog-house stormer.
We connected with Sanger and asked him to share five fresh tracks he can’t get enough of.
1. Rokazer – Circular (Freegrant Music)
Max Freegrant’s Freegrant Music has long been a source of quality progressive tunes and 2018 was a stellar year for the imprint. French producer Rokazer delivers a stunning piece of melodic proggy techno that sticks in your head and begs for repeated listens. It’s deep and emotional stuff.
2. Jeff Henderson – Not Obligated (Noel Sanger Remix) (Journeydeep Recordings)
I really liked the concept behind Jeff’s original tune, what with its live instruments and reversed guitar edits – so my mix came together really easily. It’s an arp-driven melodic tech-proggy thing and it’s doing really well for me on the dance floor!
3. Matt Rowan – Slick View (Dissident Music)
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Matt’s a legend in the progressive house world, and he’s been on a bit of a hiatus. So when he reached out with a pair of new tunes he wanted to sign to Dissident, I wasted no time signing them! The EP comes out in a couple of weeks, and the tunes are already seeing plays from luminaries like Yotto, Hernan Cattaneo and more. We love it!
4. Funkagenda and Paul Thomas – Underground (Stan Kolev Remix) (UV FSOE)
What a huge year 2018 has been for Paul Thomas and his UV imprint, not to mention the return of the super-talent Funkagenda, and the undisputed dominator of progressive house, Stan Kolev! This record was destined for greatness and it delivers in spades. Essential!
5. Noel Sanger and Bruno Oloviani – Dark Places (Ride Recordings)
A collaboration with my friend Bruno Oloviani, this one is featured on Myon’s forthcoming DJ mix compilation Tales From Another World, and will release as a single on Ride Recordings sometime in 2019. Deep, dark, tech-infused progressive with old-school elements meets a hopeful rock-tinged vocal courtesy of yours truly. Proud of this one!