Music blast, part 1

So many saved links. Bootie did a double-month best of, APC did a best-of, and there were other tabs and this is some good stuff. First up, the smooth stuff.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/cubic-zirconia-ft-bilal-night-or-day-cz-club-mix.html
Cubic Zirconia (http://www.myspace.com/cubiczirconiamusic) is an electro-disco outfit from New York with a smooth sound that sometimes gets called acid house. I think it's more RnB-influenced than that. Need to hear more; will report back if worthwhile.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/05/jj-angels.html
JJ (http://ravekommissionen.blogspot.com/) are a Swedish duo with a nice blend of vocals and styles - some English, some not. Reading up on them I saw them described as "dream pop" and this track has a very dreamy air. It reminds me a good bit of Tricky/Massive Attack, particularly the way the music seems to be whispering in your ear alone as it plays.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/illegal-sunday-the-reborn-identity-lady-of-oblivion.html
The Reborn Identity (http://www.rebornidentity.com/) has mashed up Jamie Woon's "Lady Luck" with Patrick Wolf's "Oblivion." When I wrote about "Lady Luck" a couple months ago I noted it had a particularly snappy feel. Here the snap is damped down somewhat so it can be merged with Wolf's violin-heavy track, which has its own pop-snap feel to it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2VhtxTmQw). Woon's vocal's still carry the day, and it's still silky smooth.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/05/jess-mills-vultures-mj-cole-remix.html
Jess Mills' "Vultures", which I talked about back in April, here gets another loving work-over from a top remixer. Here, MJ Cole gives the song a very modernist feel, separating out the vocals to float above a high-BPM electro track, and then swoop them back down into a multi-tracked chorus. I still generally prefer my vocal-trance to be lower BPM, but this one works quite well.

Music blast, part 2

This is the more party-hot blasty stuff from the back files, all due to Bootie. I am still not that fond of the A+D remixes, but about 1/4 of their picks are really good. Let's get dancing!

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/may2011/donna_usher_dj_got_us_falling_in_hot_stuff_djs_from_mars_radio_edit.mp3
http://bootiemashup.com/top10/may2011/adele_vs_robin_s_show_me_in_the_deep_djs_from_mars_classic_club_rmx.mp3
DJs from Mars are brilliant and bad people. Given the recent resurgence of disco in the mash scene, who better to appear than the old queen of disco herself, Donna Summer? The first track is a clever interleaving of her "Hot Stuff" with Usher's "DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again". I didn't realize how deeply ingrained in my brain the Summer riffs were. Apparently they're in Usher's brain, too.

The second mash is a "hard electro remix" of something the Martians released a while back. The root pairing is Adele "Rolling in the Deep" vs. Robyn "Show Me Love". This version is bangin' and high energy but also undeniably disco-influenced.

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/may2011/lobsterdust---roll-it-yeah-yeah-yeahs-a-trak-vs.-salt-n-pepa.mp3
DJ Lobsterdust does an amusing "he said/she said" kind of mix with the old Salt'n'Pepa rap and the modern Yeah Yeah Yeahs pop. Like a lot of his stuff I think you'll like this one only if you like the underlying tunes.

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/may2011/04_DJ_ShyBoy_Dark_Love_Kill.mp3
DJ Shyboy is a new name to me. Here he's using music from his own band Hypnogaja (http://hypnogaja.com/welcome.html) in a mix with Kanye West and La Roux. It swerves close to train wreck at points but he pulls it out nicely. I've been jonesing for more La Roux lately and this fits the bill.

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/mar2011/DJ%20Tripp%20-%20Express%20This%20Way.mp3
Finally, I have to eat a small bit of crow. I've passed over a couple of previous Gaga-Madonna mashes with a dismissive wave. Despite the obviousness of her splash in today's music scene being a conscious repeat of Madonna's splash a couple decades ago, the mashes have been sub-par and I did think you couldn't improve a Gaga tune no matter how much Madonna you added. This mix is unashamedly disco and DJ Tripp is making a clear point about just how much Gaga's "Born This Way" is copying "Express Yourself".

(Late Addition)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1o6WJLhouE
http://viprhealthcare.typepad.com/files/mashup-germany---everybody-speaks-no-americano-chaos-club-edit.mp3
Mashup Germany turns in another stompin' awesome mega-mix that starts with Yolanda Be Cool's "No Speak Americano" and mixes in a ton of other things, including Benni Benassi, Backstreet Boys, Phantom of the Opera, and... well, just give it a listen. I do have to say that I'm disappointed by the video, which starts off all cool and gothy and then kind of falls off a cliff with the Benny Benassi video, which really grates on me. OK the offensive video got nuked off YouTube so I've linked to the original MP3 so you get the goodness without the offensive.