drwex | Music 2 - stay weird

I normally leave the weird stuff for the end of these posts, but this time we'll invert it, starting off with five things that make me go "wtf" or "wow" and ending with a nice safe dance mix.

http://hypem.com/#/track/956511/Crookers+-+Gypsy+P
Anyone read Russian and care to tackle this one? The first track was blogged here: http://raketa4000.ru/2009/11/15/gipsy-kings/ and I've got no idea what it says. The track is probably mislabeled on Hypem - I think it's by the Gipsy Kings (http://raketa4000.ru/2009/11/15/gipsy-kings/), and not Crookers (http://www.myspace.com/crookers) who are a pretty hard-core house DJ outfit. Except, um, listen to the track. If gypsy polka music was going to be interpreted for a hardcore dance mix it probably would sound a lot like this. And it's... um, distressingly GOOD! All you circus/oompah/klezmer folk - give this a listen and tell me what you think.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=36
In addition to my other weaknesses, I have a fondness for cheesy 70s badly lip-synched kung fu B movies, and the iconic Carl Douglas single "Kung Fu Fighting." I distinctly remember playing my 45rpm disc of it to death and then my parents refusing to buy me another copy. (It was called a 'record player' and it was used for something other than scratching, you whippersnappers. Now geddoffamylawn!) This mix, by CJR, is an homage to that era, using both the Douglas track and Survivor' "Eye of the Tiger", with guest vocals by Madonna and Break Machine. Unorthodox, but effective!

http://hypem.com/#/track/960230/Ellie+Goulding+-+Under+The+Sheets+Kids+At+The+Bar+Remix+
I'm not normally a fan of mixes that use a lot of rapid stutter-scratching. Most of the time it's a cover for the mixer's lack of beat-matching skills. But sometimes it's an interesting counterpoint to more conventional vocals, and that's what Kids at the Bar have done here. Ellie Goulding's "Under the Sheets" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Navl4fYI-Zk) is an unremarkable track on its own, though it does contain the seeds in its own use of stutter and the remix livens it up considerably.

http://hypem.com/#/track/956137/Lady+Gaga+-+Bad+Romance+Hercules+Love+Affair+Mix+
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/21/video-lady-gaga-befo.html
Lady Gaga is just all OVER my intartubes lately. Here we've got another stuttery remix of the very popular "Bad Romance" track. It's not bad, but I'm mostly using it as an excuse to get you to go read boingboing's reposting of a video showing Stefani Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga) performing as chicksinga+piano in a very different style, at the NYU talent show. You can also watch the un-remixed official video for "Bad Romance" if you want. I'm still not a Gaga fan, but it's nice to know she really does have singing and songwriting talent, and isn't just cruising on someone else's material.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=232&Itemid=36
Somehow I managed to miss this Dan Mei mash-up when it posted to Mashup Industries; props to MizA for pointing me back to it. NiN's "Hand That Feeds" is one of their best tracks in recent memory and a big favorite of mine. So good is it that you can drop an entire Britney Spears track on top of it and not soil the awesomeness. It's been a couple months since I noted Dan Mei and his stuff hasn't inspired me much in the interim. This? This is a brilliant collision of sounds that really ought not to mix but that taste great together.

And finally to close out with a more conventional piece...

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Sammy_Bananas/track/Bag_Raiders_vs_Sammy_Bananas_-_Fun_Punch_feat_Carrie_Wilds
Sammy Bananas seems to be trying to give Deadmau5 a run for weird stage costumes. RCRD LBL put up three of his tracks. The first two are OK, but the one you want to remember is the third, his take on "The Stepper." Those of you who actually read these silly entries may remember that about a month ago I blogged a pointer to Ini Kamoze's "Here Comes the Hotstepper" which is just one of the rockingest tunes I've heard, and you really should go back and re-listen to it. Sammy does justice to the original, mixing in a bunch of samples and playing with the tempo to give it a highly danceable feel.