Kaskade

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Amazon

For the most part, Ryan Raddon’s second album for the Ultra label keeps to what the San Fransisco-based producer/DJ does best. That means smooth, dreamy, song-based trance. Suitably ethereal, siren-like vocals are provided by regular collaborators Becky Jean Williams (Late Night Alumni) and Haley Gibby (Summer of Space) along with British dance artist Tamra Keenan. Mainstay producer/musician Finn Bjarnson is on board as well. This all adds up to a familiar yet welcome sound, one that’s enhanced by some new collaborators. Deadmau5 helps lend standouts “Move For Me” and “I Remember” a floaty, effortless feel that makes for simultaneous dreaming and dancing. “Back on You”, a hookup with London-based duo Count de Money, yields danceable pop with an undeniable hook. And the Raddon/Bjarson axis is on point with the sassy “Angel on My Shoulder”, which plays like a lost mid-’80s Stevie Nicks smash. The handful of undistinguished ballads get lost in the shuffle, but that doesn’t stop Strobelite Seduction from moving Kaskade up another rung on the ladder of trance greats.

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