The fight for diverse and conscious voices

I have a surprising number of sets in my open tabs. Usually I listen to a set a couple times to decide if I like it, because every set is going to have better and worse bits. That's true here as well. Not only are the sets quite varied in style but some of them contain a variety of EDM and related modern tracks that I'm sure won't be to everyone's taste. The first person who implements a "skip forward" button for streaming music is likely to make a substantial sum of money. That said, though, these are solid sets from familiar names and well worth your time.

https://soundcloud.com/westwoodrecordings/sets/defunk-stepping-out
Defunk's "Stepping Out" EP is a glitchy, thoroughly modern, interpretation of classic funk and mid-80s hip-hop ideas. For my money, "Fire in her Eyes" is the best for its melodic pieces and rhythmic variations around a common theme. Defunk is still somewhat new on the music scene, having debuted last year. If, like me, you missed his earlier work I recommend going back and picking that up, as well. I love how he drops in little samples of this and that. Some are sufficiently close to original that I can recognize them but I'm sure there are many more I'm missing.

https://soundcloud.com/djroastbeatz/shindig-2016-mix
This is DJ Roast Beatz's actual set from the Shindig weekend. You may recall my adoring the warm-up set that he did. This one is not bad but it is more hip-hop and glitchy than the other set. It's OK, but I think I had my expectation bar set pretty amazingly high by the last set.

https://soundcloud.com/djmayajakobson/sunny-deep-poolparty-maya-jakobson-dj-mix-2016
DJ Maya Jakobson put out her summer pool party set and it's worth a listen. To be honest I don't think of deep house or electro-house as particularly pool party music but maybe that just means I go to the wrong pool parties. (different pool parties?) I'm on my third listen-through and I still haven't picked out a specific favorite from this set. I'm leaning toward the Aretha Franklin remix from Sam Halabi - I'm sure you're all shocked, but I love the way she snaps that "Aye" (I) and the remix supports the vocals quite nicely.

https://soundcloud.com/michamoor/house-sounds-radioshow-may-2016
This is exactly what it says on the label - a set of European house sounds. Micha Moor is from Cologne and this set gives his take on what's hot in the house right now. I like most of what's in this set and I like getting a non-US-centric view of things but I'm unlikely to link many of these sets unless something comes along to set them apart from the standard. On this set my favorite is "Fearless" from Matt Nash, despite the annoying promo in the set. If you want to get it without promo (and with bonus lyrics) go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eE63jg9Y2A

http://www.djsteveboy.com/voiceofthemoon.html
DJ Steveboy is back with a so-called "drone" mix. I wish he'd pick a better label because drone isn't something I'd normally like listening to, but here we have about an hour and 20 of very relaxing aural wallpaper, mostly prog-house. Because the point of a drone mix is to keep the tempo and sounds similar it's hard to pick out one favorite. In addition, I've learned over the years that Steve mixes the tunes as he builds his sets. He's not just playing one track after another. You can find most of the component tracks on Beatport, but don't be surprised if they sound subtly different there.

I don't feel like posting an update because it's too depressing. Soundcloud was down for a bit last week, which caused me to wander over to Bootie Blog and check out some of their monthly listings. Lots of pop stuff, but it's not bad for all that.

Warning: all of these MP3s tend to start playing LOUD. If that's not what you want, tap the volume slider or download and playback through another device. There's also a ZIP file link that gets you all these tracks and the other Bootie Top 10 for June.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/lobsterdust--PlayaDoIt_(MontellJordan_x_AlanRipley%26MikeCandys).mp3
Lobsterdust doing what he does, a technically proficient A|B|C mash with Montell Jordan's classic "How We Do It" updated and modernized with a nu-disco feel.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/Maya%20Jakobson%20-%20Lean%20On%20Backstreet%20Boys.mp3
Maya Jacobson who goes as DJMaya is an Israeli mash-up DJ, new to me. Here she's got the Major Lazer ft M0 "Lean On" that I mentioned in last week's music post going up against some old Back Street Boys. My biggest complaint is that the track is short and ends abruptly. Seems like more could be done here.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/5.%20Alesso%20Vs%20The%20Temper%20Trap%20Vs%20Afrojack%20%26%20Martin%20Garrix%20-%20Turn%20Up%20The%20Sweet%20Heroes%20(Djs%20From%20Mars%20Club%20Bootleg).mp3
DJs from Mars with one of their standard high-energy dance tracks built around Alesso/Tove Lo "Heroes". It's interesting for the number of styles they mix into it. There's still a basic dance feel but it's got a lot of different tempos and sounds going on.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/Kill%20mR%20DJ%20-%20Summer%20Nights%20(Avicii%20vs%20Calvin%20Harris%20vs%20Coldplay%20vs%20Bob%20Marley%20vs%20Royal%20Gigolos).mp3
Kill_mR_DJ has a nice summer nostalgia mix of five favorites. It's bouncy and trippy but also a bit on the short side. I know pop songs aren't supposed to be much over 3:30 but who said mash-ups need to fall into that same creative sinkhole?

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/Pierce%20Fulton%20x%20Walk%20The%20Moon%20-%20Shut%20Up%20And%20Dance%20Kuaga%20(Cream%20%26%20Gary%20W%20Bootleg).mp3
I keep think I'm going to get tired of the "Shut up and Dance" mixes but it's a damned catchy hook. Here Cream & Gary W use a couple of minor supporting tunes to play around with the basic "Dance" elements but it's still largely the track you expect.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/top10/06-2015/(2015)%20Amoraboy%20-%20Charli%20XCX%20vs%20Antares%20-%20Break%20the%20meteorite%20-%20hearthis.at.mp3
Amoraboy, a French bootlegger, gives us what's listed as a simple A|B mash but I think at a minimum he's using versions of these tracks I haven't heard before. The components are Charli XCX's "Break The Rules" that I heard a lot last fall and an old track by Antares called "Ride on a Meteorite" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA05D5rkHFA I think) but this mash has a level of profanity I didn't hear in either of those source tracks. I'm betting it's someone's remix but I haven't bothered to sort through all the options to figure out which one.