South Shore, Nova Scotia based producer Don Longton debuts on Bonzai Progressive with the fantastic It’s Pouring Outside, and this one features a top notch remix from long time friend and Twins In Mind partner Manu Riga. The son of a Jazz pianist, Don was drawn into the synth sound since the early 70’s and was fascinated by the sounds of ELP, Rick Wakeman and others. He then caught the bug and started to produce his own sounds during the MIDI boom. Although he was constantly on the move, moving to new homes, he continued to play music. In 2007 he joined Twins In Mind with Manu Riga – aka prolific Belgian artist and Bonzai stalwart Adriaan Baussens – and later he went on to focus more on the progressive house side of things. In his own words Don is inspired by the incredible talent within the music industry and he is on course to unleash his own sound on the world. Much more to come from Don in the future so it’s well worth watching this space.

The Original Mix intros with a wonderfully deep and atmospheric vibe as lush tones are met with sporadic percussions and cool FX. Subdued kick drums come into play and we find ourselves being drawn into the infectious progressive groove. The expertly crafted layers build slowly to become a full on pumping groove that will surely have the floors filled. At the midway point a fantastic array of soothing melodies come though, made up of brash synths, soft voices and swirling pads. A top notch sound that is a definite must have track for any prog set.

Manu Riga turns up on remix duty and delivers his superb Sunshine Remix. A long time friend of Don, the guys have collaborated on the Twins In Mind project where they churned out some top quality chillout and downtempo cuts on Bonzai Elemental. Adriaan recently enjoyed the release of his first album – Surrounded – and now we can’t wait until the next one. Currently working on new material as well as other remixes, we always look forward to the pure quality in this guy’s productions. The remix intros with some very nicely crafted kicks that are joined by a subtle display of hats and percussions. A deep, chugging bassline comes through and dominates the sound, locking us into its hypnotic groove. The track slowly builds and we’re treated to some very nice progressive sounds that lead us into the first break where beautifully crafted and very subtle melodies come into play before we are thrust back into the main groove. Yet again we find ourselves completely hooked on the Manu Riga sound, and this one heralds a new era in that sound, one which his army of fans will undoubtedly embrace.

#donlongton #bonzaiprogressive #manuriga