Having heard the preview, seen the track listing & viewed the artwork, Disco Matt, through the excitement, the emotion, & the euphoria of its release, reviews the most anticipated podcast production since the summer of 2011, as Steve Pitron’s “Jan 2012 Session” goes live to an adoring audience.

Prolific Podcast Production

When it comes to the passions in our lives, we have to list clubbing & cycling pretty much at the top of our list of loves, the common denominator tying the two together being music, no club event or cycle journey complete without a superb set of sounds to accompany them. And having not long completed the podcast part of our music review of 2011, it was evident that one individual dominated our year more than any other, a terrific talent that in that last year, more than the fourteen before it we have known him, played an intrinsically important part in both those loves in our lives. Clubbing wise, from his brilliance at Beyond to his resplendence at Room Service and from his wonderment at WE to his prominence at Lo-Profile, Steve Pitron delivered delightfully & dynamically in making, musically at least, 2011 our best year yet. Then we look at our other large love and not one cycle day in our long & sometimes lousy year on London’s roads has been without a podcast of his playing in our ears & enriching our experiences, whether it be “Afterhours” amazing us or both “Summer’s” scintillating us. Indeed, Steve’s superb sounds have played a prolific part in our playlist’s more than any other, very much reflecting why they made positions one, two & three in our podcast chart of the year, that and the fact that they are, without doubt, a trio of the most accomplished compilations we came across in 2011.

WE Love Steve!

But while we ended the year yearning for a fourth Pitron production to float our musical boat, as we dived into 2012 with both feet, succumbing to more of those simply stunning sets of his at Beyond & WE “Safari”, the year has suddenly gotten even better than we could have wished for with that much anticipated podcast release, one that looks set to further liven up our musical lives & enrich those experiences, whether spinning around the roads, zooming down the shopping aisles or cantering off to the clubs. And while Steve’s “Jan 2012 Session” compilation has been a handful of months in the making, the wait has been well worth it, as from the minute we received that privileged preview, we realised that our prayers for more of that phenomenal podcast production had been answered, but not only that, he emphatically answering the question that this new compilation was always going to beg, could “Summer Vol. 2” be bettered?, that answer a resounding yes, yes, & yes. So given the magnitude of this latest release’s magnificence, we couldn’t let the moment pass without giving you our own insight into what makes this podcast so phenomenal, why it has bettered the one before, and, having been given exclusive access to the man himself, share Steve’s thoughts on what he set out to achieve with this awesome accomplishment. And, naturally, this special devotion would not be complete with the all important link to the podcast itself, along with our commentary of his track choices that dovetail delightfully, making for what we believe is his best podcast production ever.

Pitch & Precision Pitron

With the backdrop to this phenomenal podcast production painted, what better way to kick start this insight into Steve’s stunning selection of sounds than by giving you a flavour of what he set out to achieve with this podcast, his initial objective not to give the compilation a particular identity like his 2011 productions, so it wasn’t necessarily going to be about Beyond, or about WE, rather a collection of tunes that, yes he had played at both, but didn’t specifically relate to them. He wanted to reflect, as he aptly put it, “…simplicity & back to basics Pitron…” but what has become clear following completion of the compilation, is that the end result is actually as pretty close to what you can expect from a Steve set at either club, Mr Pitron having played on recent showings at Beyond & WE to construct this colossal composition, drawing on the influences from both, picking on highlights from his sets at these happenings to create something that, near as damn it, matches his live performances. And, for us, he has achieved it brilliantly, not only cleverly choosing tracks that have been major features of his recent sets, but moulding & mixing them in such a way that emulates our enthralling experiences in his hands at both clubs, this latest production including pretty much something for everyone & every taste, whether it be funky, progressive, tech, trance, dance or uplifting house, oh and yes, a superb smattering of classic Pitron-eque anthems remixed, all that had us ecstatically entrapped in its excellence from the first brilliant beat till the last.

Irresistible Inclusion

So what about the tracks Steve has chosen? Well, he has enlisted a couple of the usual suspects from previous productions, Crazibiza are there and Erick Morillo also features, while a veritable feast of accomplished industry renowned remix artists are included, Taito Tikaro, Avicii, G Martinez & Xavi all playing their part, while familiar names such as Robin S, Nadi Ali, Freemasons, Hoxton Whores,  & Bassmokeys add considerable credentials to this colossal celebration of some of the best in the house music business, all making for a pretty unbeatable & irresistible combination of collectives. And in choosing the artists & tracks that he has, Steve say’s “…there were some strong tracks around towards the end of last year that didn’t make it onto a podcast of mine…”, he adding “…so I decided to combine the best of these with some new ones for 2012…” concluding “…I hope you like the end result…”, that end result being better than we could have wished for in our wildest dreams. With the brilliant “You Better” kicking off the podcast as it means to go on, the tempo increases further with “Lady Luck”, which then leads neatly into Copyright’s uplifting “Story Of My Life” before our breath is taken away with Avicii’s brilliant interpretation of the classic, “Rain Down Love” . But there is no resting, as the jubilant journey then tugs hard on our emotional strings with “Shake It” & then “Let You Go” both having invoked those trademark tears that have become so much a part of a Pitron performance for us, while Crazibiza’s “Sunshine Day” sends us soaring & smiling into the euphoric “Gravy” & the prolific “Pressure”, the mesmeric mixing between the two sending sensational shivers up our spines.

Remix Rhapsody

But the enthralling experience continues unabated,   Kevin Sanderson’s “Beat Me Back” having progressive come tribal intentions while the vocals of the next, Bassmonkey’s “Don’t You Throw It Away” somehow reminds us of Madonna, this leading to a track that we have fallen madly & deeply in love with, the truly trance-tastic “Take Me Higher”, a composition that from the second we heard it, took us right back to our Crash club days, also in the hands of Mr Pitron. With the top gear Steve found from the start showing no signs of slipping, the next track, “Rolling In The Deep” gives way to a mix into & out of the wonderfully funky “World” that is tremendously & tingly towering, especially the blend into dancefloor dream, Avicii’s “Levels”, that followed by a pulsating Plastic Funk remix in the form of W’s “Work” (one of those Pitron-eque anthem’s). Then, as if all that wasn’t enough to erupt all our emotions, Steve hits us with “Track 3”, yes the one we have been mentioning in all our recent reviews but is actually called “I Really Want To Say” (it will forever be “Track 3” for us), we in tears from its 1^st second start to its 290^th fabulous finish, while next up is a rejoicement of a re-work of Pink Fluid’s “So Much Love”, the original of which topped our track chart of 2011, while “Fusion 2012” adds more of that classic’s remixed feel to this phenomenal Pitron podcast, before “Where Are You Now” combines, tech, tribal, progressive & uplifting in one. Then we arrive at the final scintillating Steve serving, which sneaks up on our emotions effortlessly, David Guetta’s “Titanium” a gushing giant of a compulsive conclusion to this colossal compilation that, a whole thirty three listens in, just gets better and better, we finding no fault with any of the tracks, rather with every replay finding further favour with one different dance dream of a delivery after the next that makes up this stunning “Jan 2012 Session”.

Pitron Perfection Personified

So the end result is a twenty one track triumph that sends us stratospheric on a rollercoaster ride bigger than Alton Towers and one that emulates all those exceptional experiences spinning on our spot at Beyond WE & elsewhere in his heavenly hands, we going as far to say that Steve has captured the brilliance of his set showings with pitch perfect precision. Now if all that wasn’t enough to convince you just how epic this podcast is, then you are just going to have to decide for yourselves by doing one of the following, either hitting the download button at http://stevepitronsessions.podomatic.com, subscribing to his podcasts via iTunes (the direct link to this mix being http://itnes.apple.om/gb/podcast/steve-pitron-house-sessions) or searching out his Soundcloud site at http://soundcloud.com/stevepitron, where you can also keep up to date with his studio productions with recording partner Max Sanna. Plus, remember that, as Steve quite rightly say’s, “Jan 2012 Session” (along with all his others) is one of the few most downloaded podcasts to still be 100% free, Mr Pitron putting it out for you having purchased ALL the music legitimately through sites such as Beatport & Juno, meaning we urge you to show your support for his generosity by subscribing to, downloading & leaving comments to his sessions on either or all of the above sites, that & making sure you like his music page on Facebook (link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-Pitron-DJMusic-page/138025579592838) where you will find the full track listing for this “Jan 2012 Session” compilation that, as we hinted to before, has a style of sound to suit each & every taste.

Well, that’s just about it for our special feature on this phenomenal podcast production, save for posing one final question, can the perfection that this simply stunning Steve session be improved upon? Well the plain & simple answer to that is, in the hands of Mr Pitron, probably yes, so here’s to the next rapturous release, but not before we have racked up at least another thirty three listens of this one. (DISCO MATT)

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