Pretty Lights

electronic // hip-hop // downbeat

Organic, soulful, electronified and good-feeling vibes, freely shared by Colorado producer Derek Vincent Smith. Nearly four hours of this Pretty Lights sound is available for free on his website. It’s a vivid collage of continuity, enriched with robust beats, eloquently laced vocal samples that range from nostalgic to serene, both compelling and entertaining, with a diverse selection of instruments all aimed towards enjoyment.

All about the good vibes.
Pretty Lights – Solamente
Pretty Lights – Maybe Tomorrow
download this cd

27 Responses to “Pretty Lights”

  1. Buga :

    Great tunes! Congrats on making good music, very funky, chill, nice in general.

    Keep it UP!!!

  2. Joseph Cartaphilus :

    Thank you very much. Next time I´ll use the contact link to suggest something. I think this is a magical place but I haven´t told you yet

  3. Chris :

    Perfect tunes for just chillen. Does he have any other projects?

  4. Mussiqa Music :

    Nice tunes you make me feel fine
    Thanks

  5. ThisMusicSucks :

    Amazing layering of samples, sounds somewhat like Blockhead. Good Stuff.

  6. TechPaparazzi :

    visited this site for first time……..exploring it…..wondering why this to[ blog was not in my list….

  7. Kyle :

    @Chris, his personal myspace talks about musicians he’s worked with and a band he’s in:

    http://www.myspace.com/derekvincentsmith00
    http://www.myspace.com/listencrew

  8. Kc Curay :

    Hey! Cool blog! I just stumbled upon it and now I am a dedicated reader. You might also want to check out andy rogers song in your free time.thanks!

  9. Jergas :

    this is fuckin´incredible, awesome post

  10. alli :

    i just saw pretty lights 3 times this past weekend (opening for sound tribe in madison and chicago, and at a sound tribe after party in chicago) and it was off the hook. i danced holes in my socks and blisters on my toes.

  11. jammy :

    muchas gracias for this! i went to his website & grabbed all the free treats – been grooving to them non-stop ever since…

    one of my favorite moments in the ‘Solamente’ cut comes at right about 2:20 – he drops a heavy piano bassline into it & it just starts to smolder! then at 2:59 the guitar starts snapping & the hands start clapping & & you can just FEEL everyone raise their hands in the air, waving them around like they just don’t care!

    thrills up & down my spine, i’m tellin’ ya…

  12. joey :

    yeah I got turned on to them at an STS9 after party earlier this year.. and I think they’ve become my most listened to artist in my itunes.

    Glad to see people talking about these guys

  13. javejavor :

    organic, nice, smooth, uptempo, chilling, multilayered samples, groovy: amazing!

  14. Ortega :

    wow, Wow, WOW!!!! Need I say more?

  15. Dan :

    Great chillout jams. Really high quality stuff. That clap sound in Solemente is like the widest clap sound I’ve ever heard! haha quite a trip

  16. Derek :

    Just downloaded all 3 albums on his website. Amazing. My wife and I listen to this when we cook, clean, smoke (hookah), …everything. This is our sound – what we’ve been looking for. Thank you!!!

  17. Skillet :

    Live at Loyal Earth.
    http://www.iclips.net/content.php?content_id=25137
    Atleast 6 unreleased tracks in this set if you can’t wait for the new album.

  18. Erma Benedetto :

    Pretty Lights Music Helps Me See and Feel

  19. Tony Cabrera :

    just archived from the last few months of aurgasm last week, and randomly heard this two days ago on my ipod. now i can’t stop rockin out to solamente

  20. john st.john :

    pretty lights is my favorite, im curious as to why these two songs were picked though. although they definately show the chill side of pretty lights i think EVERYONE needs to hear “More important than michael jordan” and “Hot like Sauce” and what i always feel like is their signature song “Finally moving Remix”

    go and see the pretty lights!

  21. Beau :

    sickest shit ever the Rothbury show on the 4th of july was insane. Tripping Nutsack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. Zechmann :

    @john

    I agree with ya, I really love “Hot Like Sauce” and “Finally Moving Remix”, but Kyle’s two choices are definitely up there with the rest, especially “Solamente”.

  23. Frank :

    what beat is he sampling (the bass line) towards the end of the song?

  24. Dave :

    summer camp was sick cant wait for north Chicago cause its HOW WE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  25. Kyle :

    @john st.john: i agree that everyone should hear MIT MJ. mostly, i more so enjoyed how well Solamente and Maybe Tomorrow flowed together. Solamente’s bass-line and funky groove is too good to deny, and Tomorrow is so chill.. lifts you up and smooths out this introductory experience perfectly. if i had to use only 1 song, i may have used MJ.

  26. paul :

    After watching the Pretty lights concert many things stood out to me that were clearly related to class this semester. The band doe an unbelievable job in the “Hot Like Sauce” performance and Northern Illinois University that can easily be found on “youtube” Pretty Lights focuses on the use of beats and electronic synthesizers along with their fantastic light show to produce an unbelievable concert. The way in which the lights flow with the beats is an incredible thing to see. It almost as if the crowd is one giant being that flows with the beats produced by the band.
    I use the term “band” loosely because Pretty Lights is made up of a couple of people putting on an extraordinary light show, with Derek Vincent Smith assuming the role of the “dj,” slicing, scratching, and supplementing tracks, accompanied by David Eberhardt on an acoustic set of drums. Initially hearing Pretty Lights I wasn’t a huge fan. Now they have grown to become one of my favorite producers. Pretty Lights combination allows for new levels of the rave/electronica style music that they produce. With the production of lights taking on a naturalistic feel inside the arena. The lights transform a dark arena that can be used for a number of things into a trancelike wonderland with the aura of what is similar to the Northern Lights flashing through the midnight sky. The natural reaction by the entire crowd once again becomes trancelike with the music and lights.
    The music is unlike anything else. The way the beat continues to feed from the previous beat is incredible. The change in pitch allows for opportunities to be endless for what is coming next. You can feel the anticipation and excitement for the transitions, which is a wonderful thing to witness. The heavy hitting bass in the song allows for the more electronic sounding beats to surround the heavy hits of the bass. The uniqueness of Derek Vincent Smith’s performance is how original they always our and the personal spur of the moment flair that he can add onto his performance. As the levels change the song goes through changes. It seems that there is a different mission on each stage of the song. In the beginning of the song the mission is to let the energy of the crowd build and allow for the trance like scene to become more natural and flow as one. The lights then increase as the beat increases and allows for the best part in my opinion of the light show when the bass hits. The lights sometimes freeze and become still when there is a transition going on as well.
    Smith and the rest of his crew do unbelievable job with the use of their technology in producing such great music. The totally computerized beats allow for a wonderful party like atmosphere. The rave style music is up and coming and Smith has so much more that he can produce. “Hot like Sauce” is one of Smith’s all-time greats and allows for the crowd to be one with the beats and become part of the music.

  27. Dean :

    PRetty Lights are playing SnowGlobe Fest! You can enter to win tickets! Dang, it’s going to be good… http://on.fb.me/rXgD8U