drwex | What music there is (Reply)

Two of my usual sources for new stuff have been dry. Fortunately Hypem has kept me occupied. I highly recommend loading up and playing the MySpace streams for all of these guys.

http://hypem.com/#/track/953293/Pretty+Lights+-+Hot+Like+Sauce
Pretty Lights (http://www.myspace.com/prettylights) is what you get when you combine a DJ/Producer with a drummer and a heavy dose of Pink Floyd inspiration. They have a few musical missteps (like, ignore the first few seconds of the track linked above) but once they get grooving it's generally tight. They're more down-tempo and low BPM than a dance DJ but that's not a bad thing, particularly when they get more into the grungy/funky side of things.

http://hypem.com/#/track/954484/Armand+Van+Helden+-+Illin+N+Fillin+It+Lee+Mortimer+s+Wearhouse+Music+Remix+
There's a style of mixing that sometimes gets called "dirty". It's usually not a reference to the language being used - it's more a style of DJ mixing, with lots of bits chopped in and often a high-speed rap/hip-hop tempo. This remix is dirty in that sense and even though it's a bit slow to get started I like it.

http://hypem.com/#/track/955806/Ghostland+Observatory+-+Piano+Man
Austin, TX, is not generally thought of as much of a home for either electro or punk, but these guys seem to be trying to fill that void. This track, "Piano Man" is not on their MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory) which is a shame, as it features some solo punk-piano bits that are quite good. In listening to their music stream on MySpace I found them much less punk than expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

http://hypem.com/#/track/956010/Shakira+featuring+Kid+Cudi++-+Did+It+Again+Benny+Benassi+Remix+
Last week I pointed to a Shakira tune; this week we've got a high-energy remix of that track by Benny Benassi (http://www.bennybenassi.com/) whom I've been hearing off and on since his "Satisfaction" was popular. Unfortunately, most people know him for the truly dreadful and much-parodied video for that song (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/450297/satisfaction_by_benny_benassi/). No, really, there's just so much Wrong with that video I don't even know where to begin. It's really a shame because I like his music - check out the first remix on his MySpace page for a sample (http://www.myspace.com/benassi) and also don't miss the Madonna remix.