The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Someone pointed out that I hadn't visited Bootie Blog in a while and it's true. They have a bunch of top N lists up that I want to check out and will probably blog next time. Which means I need to clear out the other backlog, so here goes.

http://t.opsp.in/K8OC
That link should get you a download for the ZIP file of "Drink the Sea", a free CD length mix from The Glitch Mob (http://www.theglitchmob.com/). You can get the MP3 from their site; the ZIP also includes JPEG cover art.

The mix is awesome! When I blogged the first Glitch Mob track I'd heard back in April, I noted good beats with the muted electro and hot funky undertones. You get that again here in bigger format. Yeah, they're using older stuff like Daft Punk and La Roux, but their approach is fresh and styling. I just wish they'd provided individual track links to all of it, but such is life.

Finally, I have to give extra props to The Glitch Mob for mixing in some of the better rap/hip hop elements without falling into the bitches/niggas/hos quagmire that turns me off from so much of that genre.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/08/omd-if-you-want-it-video-and-villa-nah-remix.html
OMD, OMG! Every over-tuned electro-disco gayboy wannabe that has come out in the past two decades can just step back. The original masters are back with a beautiful, understated, melodic tune that reminds me why I first liked them. You can watch the official video for the original track and also listen to one of the remixes by Villa Nah - http://www.myspace.com/villanah - a Finnish electro-pop duo who just released their debut album this year. This remix and a bunch of others will come out with the upcoming single release. APC also says that Villa Nah are touring with OMD, so I'm off to listen to more of their stuff.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/08/shit-robot-i-found-love.html
In the best/worst names category we have Marcus Lambkin who performs as Shit Robot (ugh) but whose first release is called "From the Cradle to the Rave" which is just an awesome name. Once again we get an example of how a remix can really lift up a mediocre track. The first MP3 is the original, which is sort of OK, but not really remarkable. The second, a remix by TBD (http://www.myspace.com/whoistbd), is much better - though I admit the first 45 seconds almost turned me off.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/08/superman-there-aint-no-such-thing-as-superman.html
Superman (http://soundcloud.com/sprm) has produced a fascinating project. It is an hour-long reconstitution of Orson Welles's classic radio drama broadcast of the War of the Worlds adaptation. It uses the original radio audio and a wholly new ambient soundtrack. The two tracks play against each other, sometimes foregrounding one and sometimes the other. It's a brilliant project and unlike anything I've ever heard before - the modern music re-infuses the old sounds with a deeply atmospheric and slightly scary air, bringing to mind how listeners of the original were said to have been frightened by what they heard.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Booka_Shade/track/Teenage_Spaceman_Booka_In_Space_Mix
Booka Shade (http://www.bookashade.com/bookashade/) make what I call driving music. It's high BPM, but low distraction. Very listenable and pushes me forward without being jarring or monotonous. It's the kind of thing I'd put on the player if I had hours of highway to cover. Good, smooth electro.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Roots_Manuva/track/Butterfly_Crab_Walk_feat_Riddla
Roots Manuva (http://www.rootsmanuva.co.uk/rootsmanuva/) are a low-key Caribbean riddim dub duo. According to the extensive blurb on RCRD LBL these tracks aren't per se originals but rather reworks by a DJ/producer who goes by Wrong Tom (or Wrongtom - www.wrongtom.com). Since I never heard the originals I don't have much to compare against, but I like these.

Holy exploding life-mines, Batman! The rain of debris from the past week or so is going to take a while to settle. (My life? Mostly OK. Bombs dropping all around me on people I care about? Not OK.) Here are some pleasant, almost mellow, listening suggestions.

http://www.partyben.com/downloads/
http://www.partyben.com/PartyBen-AnotherSleeplessNightAlone.mp3

I've been lost for several days in the Party Ben mixes. I totally blame mrf_arch; he started it. Party Ben has been a featured artist at Bootie parties for at least the last five years and lots of his mixes do the fun thing of taking a modern tune and mixing it over an old favorite, usually from the 80s. Sadly, even his talents can't make Lady Gaga interesting again, so skip that. He shines when he pulls even older favorites; for example, I really liked "Hella Dare You to Smoke" which mashes Gorillaz and No Doubt against Deep Purple.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about his (currently) second-newest item, "Another Sleepless Night Alone". One of the things I like about remixers is that I get to hear things from them I wouldn't normally encounter, but it has been quite a while since I had a new discovery this way. This mash from Ben uses Bat For Lashes (http://www.batforlashes.com/) and her new tune "Sleep Alone" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1vtr9fXdg8) which is beautiful and haunting. Bat For Lashes is Natasha Khan, a Pakistani-Brit with a voice like Loreena McKennitt and inspirations like Siouxsie Sioux. *melt*

Ben mashes against the ambient electronica of Egostero (http://www.egostereo.com/ - warning, starts playing on load) which is not bad. I don't mind the samples on their page, but you get a much better sense of their sound by playing the stream on their MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/egostereo. So that's two new finds in one mix. Win!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikoNdWageFo
DJ Purple sent me this pointer, to Just Jack's "Snowflakes". This is a tune that has had actual pop airplay, including use in high fashion shows. It's a rap done over The Cure's "Lullaby" instrumental track and it holds very true to the dreamy goth-ness that underlies the best Cure tracks.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/02/booka-shade-regenerate.html
Booka Shade (http://www.bookashade.com/) gets listed as "German electro-house" but this track from them is much more mellow and almost ambient electronica.