drwex: (VNV)
Oh holy cow have I got music for you. I'll break it up into more consumable chunks. Some new things from known names, and I've been unpacking the Dzeko & Torres EDM mega-sampler I linked to a few weeks ago. Let's start with the new and the unusual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6V_jP0sX04&feature=youtu.be
It's been a while since I linked to anything from steampunk music idols Abney Park. The band has gone through a couple of minor line-up changes and their material has wandered through sea shanties and more circus styling both of which were OK but I didn't think they were really noteworthy. They've started releasing singles from their latest CD, titled "Nomad" and I think this is my favorite. It's got some of the good dark energy that got me into their music years ago and whoever did the production here really knows how to make Captain Robert's voice sound its best.

https://soundcloud.com/francesca-belmonte-music/francesca-belmonte-stole
Francesca Belmonte's first solo single is gorgeous. Those who recognize the production style will go "wait, doesn't she sound like..." and the answer is "yes." Belmonte has been collaborating with Tricky and he's helping produce this, her first solo effort. It's an interesting mix of minimalist sound and harmonies with a kind of chop-cut style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHxJI7ve1M
https://soundcloud.com/benny-benassi/dance-the-pain-away-feat-john-legend-eelke-klejin-remix
Benny Benassi is another artist I haven't talked about in a while and I sort of backed into this one by accident, when I was looking for more Eelke Kleijn music after noting his track in the Bootie end-of-year best. So, back in 2013 Benassi did a track with Grammy-winning American John Legend. It's an interesting mix of Legend's powered vocals (listen for the two-octave jumps) and Benassi's signature nu disco-influenced Italian beats. Then in 2014 Eelke Kleijn picked up the baton and produced the remix at the second link. It downplays Legend's vocals in favor of a more electronica style. I'm hard-pressed to say one is better than the other; both are interesting interpretations of the material.

https://soundcloud.com/fissunix/grace-downfall
Fissunix's mixes are notable for having clever, non-standard elements. At least the ones I choose to blog. Here he's taken Placebo's breathy and minor-key cover of the Kate Bush anthem "Runnin' Up That Hill" and woven in some of the best of London Grammar's "Hey Now" vocals. If this doesn't give you chills then you might be reading the wrong music blog entries. It's like part of the score for a post-apocalyptic love story.

https://soundcloud.com/djschmollimusic/revolution
https://soundcloud.com/mashupgermany/top-of-the-pops-2014-days-and-nights
I want to close out this entry with two excellent big mash-ups from two of the best: DJ Schmolli and Mashup Germany. The Schmolli entry is a nine (or 10 if you allow for the vocal segments)-way mix promoting love and revolution. There are some of Schmolli's trademark metal accents but the track mostly rides on the rock energy of P.O.D's "Youth of the Nation".

Mashup Germany continued his reign in 2014 of being the best and most underrated masher I know. This track is his top-of-the-pops for 2014, touching 70 different hits from the past year. It's a virtuoso effort, not simply a layering of a lot of sounds over a standard dance beat. The track weaves from orchestral to dance to electronic to pop.
drwex: (Default)
I've somehow managed to go two whole weeks without posting music links. At least half of that was due to an OS install that wiped out my supply of open temporary tabs. Here's what I have for you: some new favorites by known names, a couple great tunes to get you ready for summer, and I'll end with a new-to-me voice that is worth your time, I promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-NPpaLgJHw
http://beatsantique.bandcamp.com/
Beats Antique's latest is finally public on the YouTubes. They sent out a private link to this on their email list some weeks ago. The new production is a gorgeous, lush 6 minutes of their signature sound: phat horns (buffed to four guys now), crunk rhythms, and slinky dance-influenced melodic trills. The video is also worth watching, as a tribal dance/story bit Zoe Jakes put together that is kind of West Side Story meets Mad Max. The second link will get you a free download of a 12-track remix (though it seems busted just this moment).

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/05/gossip-move-in-the-right-direction.html
Yay! Next Gossip single is out! "Move in the Right Direction" continues the lighter/pop feel of "Perfect World" and yes it's a little Summer-esque disco-style, too. I forgive them. You really should watch the video if only to see Beth Ditto having a great time and goofing with the camera. Her happiness is really infectious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcbjo8dq_PA&feature=youtube_gdata
It's easy to forget that one of rock's true original styles is rockabilly. If you forgot that, go listen to this. Make the Girl Dance (http://www.myspace.com/makethegirldance) an energetic pop-electronica duo blend that twangy guitar and fast-drums sound with modern stylings into this track that just begs to be played in the car with the top down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGghkjpNCQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=arARN1U2fCI&NR=1
Calvin Harris's "Feel So Close" is a summer-sweet bit of electronic joy. Its simple piano and voice bits are not the sort of thing you'd expect to get remixed. Thus I was surprised to come across the second link, a Benny Benassi remix from about a year ago. Benassi, as you'd expect, pushes the tune more in the direction of a dance hit but doesn't lose the original vibe, including leaving space for the signature piano/voice combo that gives the original its best flavor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSANu-oAHHQ&feature=relmfu
Ultra Music is the American indie label that is currently home to the aforementioned Make the Girl Dance and Benny Benassi and, to my surprise, Deadmau5. Thus I stumbled across this remix, which is deadmau5 featuring Chris James, doing "The Veldt". This is still Deadmau5's signature style - raw, slightly fuzzed electronica - but it's slowed down and lightened up, with trance-y filler bits. Definitely the kind of thing to be played out in the dark on a summer's eve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90ds1hifsI
Jessca Hoop (http://www.jescahoop.com/) has apparently been recording for five years and somehow I've failed to hear her. This is my loss and if you don't click that link it'll be yours. She's a hot-voiced, intense folk-rock female (I know, not my typical thing) and this track, "Tulip", shows off both her lyricism and some definite tribal influences, as well as Irish/Celtic musical harmonies (listen around the 3:25-3:30 mark if you don't know what I mean).
drwex: (VNV)
Public Enemy re-imagined as a polka/klezmer band:
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/12/illegal-sunday-live-from-fogashaz-budapest.html

(Your move, Ringel)

Skip ahead to about 16:00 if you don't want to listen to the rest of the set, though I promise you it's quite good, if a bit brain-breaking. Reggaeton-klezmer? Sure, why not.

So far as I can tell, this is an original from DJ Pozsi. There have been a lot of remixes of this track over the years, of which Benny Benassi's "Pump-kin Remix" is still probably the best (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR0WMdIqxus). He did win a Grammy for it.
drwex: (VNV)
Public Enemy re-imagined as a polka/klezmer band:
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/12/illegal-sunday-live-from-fogashaz-budapest.html

(Your move, Ringel)

Skip ahead to about 16:00 if you don't want to listen to the rest of the set, though I promise you it's quite good, if a bit brain-breaking. Reggaeton-klezmer? Sure, why not.

So far as I can tell, this is an original from DJ Pozsi. There have been a lot of remixes of this track over the years, of which Benny Benassi's "Pump-kin Remix" is still probably the best (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR0WMdIqxus). He did win a Grammy for it.

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