Has it really been a week since I posted new music?

[drwex]

Yeah, I've got a lot of open tabs. Let me see how many I can bang through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVlV7GO2_Bc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDTcY2MCRc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X72mm-lgPWU
DJs from Mars put out these three remixes with accompanying remixed videos and all are excellent and worth talking about.

The first one is Christina Aguilera Vs. Mike Oldfield. Back when I blogged the new C.A. video I figured it would get some attention. This, however, is... wow. Mike Oldfield (http://www.mikeoldfield.org/) is probably best known for his three-volume magnum opus "Tubular Bells." It's concept album writ large, with sweeping 24-minute piano pieces, orchestral arrangements and of course the famous tubular bells themselves. Unless you're a fan you probably have only heard one part of Tubular Bells One, and you may recall that particular bit was made famous by a certain movie. Yeah, so... um, watch this video only if you want to see Christina Aguilera in a whole new light. Otherwise, just rock out with the remix.

The second one is Tinie Tempah Vs Bomfunk MCs. Tinie Tempah just appeared last week in Dunproofin's Rihanna remix. Here they're up against some seriously heavy house freestyling from Bomfunk MCs (http://www.myspace.com/bomfunkmcs). This mix shows off the Martians' skills, as they skate back and forth across the mixes. I particularly like the way the beats change up around 2:00 in and then back and then back again. In baseball there's the notion of a 'clean-up batter' who appears in a certain order in the line-up with a certain job to do - this here is a clean-up batter mix for a good house DJ set.

Finally there is Stromae Vs Dance All Stars. I feel like I've reviewed "Alors on Dance" from Stromae (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2gRSTofDsk) before but I can't find it in the tags. This is a really nice mix, because it's pulling in not just the Dance All Stars bits, but several samples. The "Funkytown", Benny Benassi, and Daft Punk bits are easy to identify but I'm not sure what some of the others are.

http://www.djspooky.com/arizona_download.html
Here's a free remake from two of the most thoughtful and influential political rap/hip-hoppers. Chuck D and DJ Spooky have remade the "By The Time I get To Arizona" track that was originally written to respond to Arizona's failure to acknowledge the MLK birthday holiday. In this case they're responding to the new immigration law. I love DJ Spooky's characterization of their work as "...progressive, non knucklehead hip hop."

http://www.myspace.com/rachidtaha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbFYsi9iSg&a=2kVQulx-jTw&playnext_from=ML&shuffle=239
I think I'm indebted to sunstealer for reminding me both of the north African confluence of traditional styles with modern hip-hop, and for the pointer to Rachid Taha, one of the best-known players in this style. Taha's MySpace page mix leads with "Barra Barra", probably his best-known tune in the west because it was used in the movie Blackhawk Down - it's got an excellent feel for his vocal stylings and a thundering beat. I really enjoy the live videos of him that I've found on YouTube; linked above is him covering "Rock El Casbah", the Clash track.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1098277/The+White+Panda+-+Praise+Outkast
The White Panda (http://www.thewhitepanda.com/) push together Fatboy Slim and Outkast, which is kind of an amusing concept. The mix is more understated than you'd expect, which I think is why it works.