Including tracks by Dimuth K, Mike Isai, Partenaire, and more.
Arizona-based DJ & producer Forerunners has shared the much-anticipated drop of the ‘Pure Progressive Vol.2’ compilation. Following up on the Orkidea-curated first installment, the new VA is already available to stream and purchase via Pure Progressive / Black Hole Recordings.
Forerunners first landed on Solarstone’s Deepblue label back in 2007, and since then, almost half of his coveted catalog has seen the light of day through one of Solarstone’s imprints.
“Despite my adventures over the years with many labels, I have always considered Pure Progressive a home base, and Rich (Solarstone) a good friend. I was honestly too distracted by my new daughters and dad-life to even consider the idea of running the next edition of the series. But sure enough, Rich approached me with the idea and offered a nice long runway for me to build up some speed and take off knowing that I had a lot on my plate at home. I was very excited about the idea, but yes, I felt hesitant due to the fact that I just do not have hours every day (or every week) to sit in the studio and write music currently.” said Forerunners about the opportunity.
The new ‘Pure Progressive Vol.2’ finds Forerunners delivering a two-CD compilation. The first CD, titled ‘The Artist’, showcases the sounds of Forerunners as a producer, bringing 8 new Brenden LaBonte productions and 2 new remixes to the fore. The second CD, dubbed ‘The DJ’, finds Forerunners selecting and mixing 14 new cuts that perfectly echo Pure Progressive’s sound, including original works by Partenaire, Mike Isai, Dimuth K, East Cafe, Nick Stoynoff, qoob, Nick Silvestri, Basil O’Glue, Waxman, Yuriy From Russia, EL1AX, ManIsMetaphor, and Tech D.
“Each disc felt like an entirely different project, I am not sure if that is surprising or not. Obviously one is a compilation and one is all originals from me. I knew coming out of the covid lockdowns and seeing the state of the world, knowing my own mental state, and considering what I would want in my hands if I was picking up the latest installment from the label that I wanted something made for listening at home. Normally all of my releases are geared to playing in a club environment, specifically with my own gigs in mind, but this time I got rid of those limitations and just went for whatever felt natural on the artist disc. As for the compilation, I also decided not to focus too much on creating a straight energy build from one end to the other. Instead, I think you will hear a build-up, a peak of energy, and then a wind-down…with a lot of interesting tracks interspersed with each other. Some compilations I own have a very clear theme and each track fits that theme, some are more meandering and wind around telling a story, I think mine is the latter.” tells us the artist about the creative process behind ‘Pure Progressive Vol.2’.
When referring to what he would like for listeners to take away from ‘Pure Progressive Vol.2’, Brenden said: “This is a snapshot of my headspace during this 2020-2022 period of time. The album is a more direct representation as I wrote those tracks myself. I will often pick up a favorite compilation or album in my collection such as ‘Northern Exposure’, Nick Warren’s ‘Global Underground Shanghai’, or Armin’s ‘Universal Religion 2004’, and they each are a snapshot of that time in my life. I can instantly transport back to that period and almost experience those feelings and that version of myself again through the music. Maybe listeners will be able to find something meaningful in this music and then revisit it as I do.”
Forerunner’s ‘Pure Progressive Vol. 2’ is out now. Listen to it below, and purchase your copy of the CD here.
