drwex: (VNV)
Apparently lots of people at New Job pick Friday as their WFH day. I didn't this week and likely won't for another week or two because I am still getting my feet settled and I need to learn the patterns so I can fit comfortably into them. Anyway, this is an attempt not to let music tabs pile up so here we go.

https://soundcloud.com/griz/sets/ride-waves
I got this from a promo email for an upcoming GRiZ show and normally I'd be all over that but with this EP I'm not sure. There's some great stuff, like "Bustin' Out". I mean, who can object to tracks that feature phat horns and Bootsy Collins? But there's other stuff that goes all glitchy and wub and I'm not sure I want to see a show that bounces between these extremes. I mean I'm pretty sure neither Bootsy nor Snoop, who is also on a couple of these tracks, is going to show up and play...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eHaPaxw1ks
https://hypem.com/track/2ty46
Next up a twofer from The Funk Hunters. The first one, "Soul City," is indeed a heavily soul-influenced opener pushed through a heavy wub filter by K+Lab. I'm not entirely in love with it - the wub and I are still warily circling one another - but its classic funk and soul elements carry the track well enough for at least a couple listens.

Then there's Fort Knox Five redoing the Funk Hunters' "Revolution". Fort Knox Five are kind of the grandmasters of this style and they make the entire track flow and sing with hip-hop and straight-up hard drums mixed into classic funk beats and solid horns.

https://soundcloud.com/futuregenerationofficial/reaubeau-loris-cimino-louder-ft-twan-ray
"Louder" is intended to be played that way. It's a rock/EDM power anthem that puts together motivational lyrics with strong chords and an insistent bass. To be honest, most of these kinds of tracks are a little cheesy and this is no exception. It's also a well-done track that hits its target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlhMJFdUUHY
To close out this set, have a classic (funny to use that word for a style that's only a decade old but you get my gist) mash-up from DJs from Mars. It's based around "Con Calma" from Daddy Yankee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwj_FRntp8). The original is an interesting track in its own right, being a Puerto Rican-styled reggaeton track. It also includes rapper Snow, and takes many of its core elements from Snow's "Informer" which is itself now 25+ years old. (*checks* yeah, it came out in 1992.) The DJs do their usual speed-it-up-and-EDM-it tricks giving the mash a very different feel from the original. I like both and hope you will, too.
drwex: (Troll)
People who would rather not have their ears filled with politics, gather 'round. DrWex has some other options for you. Herewith long sets you can play when you want the good stuff.

https://soundcloud.com/thefunkhunters/daft-funk-live-from-camp-ego-trip-burning-man-2016
A number of Burning Man performers have been posting their sets; I'll likely blog more. Right now, though I want to call attention to this one, which is The Funk Hunters "doing" Daft Punk. By "doing" I mean apparently they appeared on stage as Daft Punk, with the costuming and lights and all. Then they proceeded to do 45 minutes of funky interpretations of Daft Punk and Punk-style music. Worth noting is that despite having the heavy electro/synth of Daft Punk to work with they still brought a live saxophone player (GRiZ) on stage with them. As you'd expect, liking this set is going to depend on whether you like Daft Punk's music to begin with. I found the set extremely fun, danceable, and a great interpretation of the original.

https://soundcloud.com/dirtwire/dirtwire-burning-man-2016-mix
Next up in the Burning Man set review is this DJ Mix from Dirtwire. I thought I'd blogged them before but apparently not; they're a CA-based trio of remix/original artists who I found because David Satori is 1/3 of them and also 1/3 of Beats Antique. This set has a mellow and almost country-style twang sound combined with some of the complex rhythm patterns that you hear in some of B. A.'s better tracks.

https://soundcloud.com/allgoodrecs/all-good-radio-epi-06-the-geek-x-vrv
Returning to GRiZ, here he is hosting "All Good Radio", an hour mostly consisting of soulful, funky, danceable sounds from The Geek x Vrv. It really feels like this music should be coming out the open door of a smoky red-lit basement club somewhere very cool. Two sounds you'll hear in this set that I wanted to call out: first, GRiZ's own "Smash the Funk" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsSzq5h2-tc). I've heard this sampled approximately everywhere and it's worth pointing back to this version. Then there's Jenaux's remix of "I'll Take You" (https://soundcloud.com/jenaux/sets/mstr-rogers-ill-take-you). The original (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duTPsznmSlU) is not bad, but I don't like the way the high vocals are mixed in. In the remix you get the vocals moved to the background and made less aggressive and the front has a strong beat. IMO a really good example of how a remixer can take a track to the next level.

I have more Funk Hunters marked to share but I think I'll close out this post with a pair of remakes of old favorites instead:

https://soundcloud.com/jairthunderlight123/rock-the-phenomenal-queen-mashupjairb
Who doesn't love a "We Will Rock You" mash? Here someone calling themselves Jairb has mashed it with a WWE wrestling theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9ala8nZ7U) - who knew wrestlers had theme music?

https://soundcloud.com/free-download-friday/dorade-wonkers-funky-cold-medina-remix-free-download
And for those old enough to remember and have some nostalgia for Tone Loc here I give you Dorade & Wonkers' take on "Funky Cold Medina". It's a little bit more disco than I'd like but the original was also a bit silly in its day so that's just in keeping with the theme.
drwex: (VNV)
Going to try to launch this one between the lines today, otherwise it's Monday and you want these sets to improve your weekend.

https://soundcloud.com/griz/griz-before-i-go-ft-leo-napier
Before I start the longer-form things, I wanted to share this "future funk" track from Griz called "Before I go". It features singer/songwriter Leo Napier (http://www.leonapier.com/) who looks NOTHING like he sounds, sorry. And who has a terrible Web site, but who cares when he can sing like that? Griz does a great job with the first half of the track then decides for some reason he need fuzz electronica to go along with the vocals and horns because Reasons. I don't think they add anything and fortunately they don't overdominate the soulful and, yes, somewhat funky riffs.

https://soundcloud.com/scourrecords/freemixed-nuts-vol04-free-download-ep-minimix
First of the long-form listens is Freemixed Nuts' EP compilation of funk and soul from eight new-to-me artists. Vocals that come straight out of motown, and liberal lifting of jazz riffs complement the underlying funk beats. As with the Griz tracks there's also fuzz electronica mixed in here and there so maybe it's a thing and I should get used to it. The EP is available for free download and there are links to each of the performers' sites and feeds in the More Info. Check 'em out.

https://soundcloud.com/innerstateradio/ummet-ozcan-presents-innerstate-ep-102
Another good Innerstate collection from Ummet Ozcan. As befits the season it has more summer festival dance banger entries than other mixes. Of those, I think I like "Let's Go" from Rick Mitchells best for its unpretentious/unashamed let's bounce up and down fun aesthetic.

https://soundcloud.com/defunk-vip/shambhala-2016
OK, back to the funk. I could say just play this because it's an excellent 85 minutes of funky goodness but let me tell you about some of my favorites from this set. CAZZETTE's "She Wants Me Dead" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHccClTAdzc) which I love for its horns and fast vocals. Or maybe you'd rather enjoy the vocals of Angela McCluskey as she does "The Little Things" with Big Gigantic, who actually have a couple entries in this set. But this lady has pipes and the music backs them well - it's a little torch singa, a little modern, a little funk, and a lotta phat horns. DeFunk has a lot of their own work in this set, like their remix of K Theory's "Things I Like To Do" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL071ZgoM50) which comes off as hip-hoppy, jazzy, fast-breakin' funk. I wish it was longer, but I say that about a lot of things. Or if you're more in a ghetto funk mood you might go for Stickbuds' remix of "Bust a Move" from Young MC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtR_2zIfP44), which revives an old-school hip-hop favorite and updates it to very modern sensibilities.
drwex: (VNV)
I'm having a hard time categorizing this set of links. It's been a month since my last post (forgive me Father) so the links have rather piled up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMt-lmCmvk8&feature=youtu.be
https://soundcloud.com/rudeejay/icbwfarf
Two interpetations of a mash-up, which give you a sense of how song interpretations work. The first link is a pretty nice DJs from Mars mash-up with all their trademark elements - good respect for the initial tracks, good use of the vocals, and then that beat. It's using good source material and just amping up the dance elements. Then Rudeejay goes back and redoes the track, toning some elements down, mixing in a few new things. It's a kind of musical improv theater.

https://hearthis.at/rafmarchesini/take-me-to-renaissance-raf-marchesini-max-bragantini-mash-up/
I found this in a DJs from Mars set and had a heck of a time tracking it down. This is a zooming prog-house mashup that shifts gears several times along the way. I like the source tracks and the mix does a good job of steering away from trainwreck territory (which often happens with these rapid-shift mashes).

https://soundcloud.com/wearevinai/vinai-get-ready-now
I feel like I've heard "Get Ready Now" in so many forms already but somehow haven't blogged the original. It's been heavy mash-up fodder for the last couple months at least, which is not surprising considering it's got a straightforward and easy house beat and simple lyrics. It's catchy, I'll give it that.

It's closing on Valentine's day so here's something for the romantics in the audience...

https://soundcloud.com/ema-stokholma/est-ce-que-tu-maimes-ema-stokholma-remix
DJ Ema Stokholma gives us a hot electro-house remix of a nice French pop love song from mid last year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TpyRE_juyA). Maitre Gims has a fabulous voice, though I think the track is overtuned. The remix is obviously more dance and it roughens up some of the smooth edges of the original. I've been going back and forth on which I like better - what about you?

https://soundcloud.com/fridasundemo/the-sun
Last month I found Frida Sundemo fronting someone else's track. This is her doing her own music. It's soft, orchestral slow-dance - the sort of thing I expect to hear in movie soundtracks. Not normally my thing, but I like it enough to want to check out more of her stuff.

And what would a drwex music post be without a little funk? Here, have a double shot...

https://soundcloud.com/griz/smash-the-funk-forthcoming
GRIZ posted this as a teaser for his Mad Liberation album. "Smash the Funk" is funky, groovy, and also quite modern in its loops and breakbeats. It's a bit more electro-soul than I'm used to on a funk track and that might put some people off, but I like about 4/5 of it and that's a good start for someone new to me.

https://soundcloud.com/angeloferreri/queen-another-one-bites-the-dust-angelo-ferreri-mood-funk-beat-free-download
Speaking of funk and 80% here's Angelo Ferreri's fast funk take on Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." It's a little bit repetitive and uses less of the vocals than I'd like, but it's an interesting take on a classic.

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