The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Meeting cancelled so let's dump out some of these links. One new and several familiar voices here, including two really good modern covers of "classic" tunes.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Letting-Up-Despite-Great-Faults/track/Bulletproof-Girl/
I don't blog much rock, for whatever reasons. This is definitely on the electronic side of rock - very synth-heavy - but it has a number of standard rock tropes. Letting Up Despite Great Faults (http://www.lettingup.com/) has a new album out and this "Bulletproof Girls" is from that. This all-male quartet reminds me of a lot of other all-male acts - they self-describe as "shoegaze guitar", a phrase I've not heard before but which is remarkably descriptive. It's a gentle, introspective sound without being maudlin or emo.

http://soundcloud.com/philosophyofsound/by-the-rivers-dark-pos-rework
Philosophy of Sound (http://www.philosophyofsound.info/) are a new-to-me electro-funk duo from down under. This rework of a Leonard Cohen classic works exceptionally well. The master's vocals are pristine, but laid over a kicked-up bass track that energizes without overwhelming. It's a fresh take on an old favorite.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/illegal-sunday-the-xx-sunset-volta-remix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ9rflGsNEg&feature=player_embedded#!
The xx are hot again. After being popular in 2009/2010 they kind of faded from sight but are back with force nowadays. The first link is a Volta remix of their track "Sunset". It's not bad. A little heavy on the electro and nu disco for my tastes. IMO, the xx rises or falls with Romy's voice and Volta respects that, but overdoes the knob-twisting a bit.

The second link is OH MY GODS. BBC Radio One did a live show with the xx and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. I'm often hesitant about orchestral arrangements of pop music, and it's doubly dangerous to try putting a full orchestra behind an act that builds around intimate breathy vocals. Normally you'd want (and the xx gives you) a spare sound. But somehow this works. It's goosebumps throughout, though I wish they'd edited out the enthusiastic audience.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/illegal-sunday-yes-owner-of-a-lonely-heart-jean-claude-gavri-remix-dimitri-from-paris-re-touch.html
I had to go back to 2009 to find a remix of a Yes tune that I liked enough to blog. Yes still is one of my guilty pleasures and there haven't been a lot of reworks that attempted to touch them. This is Dmitri from Paris (a producer I've heard but not blogged before) touching up a remix first done by another Frenchman, Jean Claude Gavri. I can't tell you who's responsible for what parts of the sound, but the double-edit definitely produced something good. It sounds like I imagine Yes would sound if they were writing in a modern style.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/little-boots-double-pack.html
Bronski Beat are another good act that doesn't get covered much. Here's Little Boots (http://littlebootsmusic.co.uk/) doing a modernized techno-dance version of their "Smalltown Boys". This is also another good example of how a light production touch on vocals can work well. She's got a great voice and it's not overtuned, though I wish they'd let her punch it just a bit more, and the ending of the post on APC sounds like it was cut short.

The second track in the post is Little Boots doing a dub remix of Jupiter's new "Juicy Lucy (Needs a Boogieman)." I've had the Jupiter track on the back burner for a bit - it's a style of old-school blaxsploitation-film funk that I should like but it just didn't do anything for me. The Little Boots remix is a step up in that it keeps the boppin' funk core but emphasizes the instrumentals rather than the vocals I found too repetitive in the original.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/jack-beats-ft-jess-mills-somebody-to-love.html
This just hit today and it's a good antidote to the gray and drear. Plus, Jess Mills! Here she is doing vocals for Jack Beats (http://www.jackbeats.co.uk/) a UK duo. Their new EP shows traces of vocal trance, hip-hop, dubstep, and definite techno genetics. Last month I blogged their first single, a Diplo collaboration. I think I'll be buying this one when it drops.

Yes, we got a meeting postponement and rather than do more political stuff I'm going to try to throw together a music post. I have a lot of stuff marked, and actually some things to say about them.

http://hypem.com/song/1h8tv
Hypem has started trying to get me to listen again. I got annoyed at their stupid mandatory login stuff and haven't visited the site for a while. Apparently this qualifies me for email enticements. This track, an extended club mix by Avicii & NERVO of "You're Gonna Love Again" is good working background stuff. It has several fun slow builds without being overwhelming once it's going full-bore. It's mostly vocal-trance but with heavy electronica influences. NERVO is the stage name for a pair of cute Swedish twins and Avicii is a local-to-them producer with whom they've teamed for this track. The collaboration works well, I think. Hope to see more from these guys this year.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/01/jess-mills-silent-space-acoustic.html
Ah, Jess Mills. Could you get any more dark makeup on those eyes without going totally Cleopatra? Last year I kept hoping she'd do something stripped-down so I could really hear her voice without the overproduction that most of her tracks have and finally we get it. This is her "acoustic" studio version of "Silent Space". It's not what I'm used to calling acoustic - you've got synth effects and computer-generated beats in there, but at last it's toned way the hell down so she can sing. And Oh My God can this woman sing. Check out the transition around 1:08 in where her voice sounds like it jumps up two full octaves. I still think I can hear the producer's hand in how the notes are clipped, but at least she's fronting it, rather than being mixed into sappy strings or something.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/01/buddy-holly-slippin-slidin-jacques-renault-remix.html
There are two basic ways to remix classics: with respect and without. Jacques Renault definitely falls into the former category as he remixes the Buddy Holly rockabilly classic "Slippin’ & Slidin’". Renault keeps the simple riffs and repeated vocals of the original, while weaving in a variety of modern electronic effects and instruments.

http://www.earmilk.com/2012/01/09/mashupmonday-week-46/
I think I have a new music blog to follow. Earmilk is an odd and interesting mix of commercial and anti-commercial remix culture stuff. This is one of their Mashup Monday entries with ten mashes for you to peruse. As with any collection there are winners and losers here. My preferences:

http://files2.earmilk.com/upload/mp3/2012-01/Filth%20In%20Paris.mp3
Basic Physics and 5 & A Dime (both new mixers to me) doing a fast-BPM megamix with several well-recognized entries. I rather like the way they chop-mix Skrillex and then dump the whole thing down to a single vocal track before going back into the mix again.

http://files2.earmilk.com/upload/mp3/2012-01/Relax%20Mode%20(Frankie%20Goes%20To%20Hollywood%20v%20Bingo%20Players).mp3
The White Panda (who I haven't heard from since 2010) doing a Frankie remix. It's a little bit standard techno-thumpy but I really like Frankie remixes, what can I say.

http://files2.earmilk.com/upload/mp3/2012-01/I%20Found%20Killmode%20Maximal%2076%20Right%20Here%20Right%20Now-%20AR3%203ootleg.mp3
AR3's mix is something of a demolition derby of at least five main tracks plus various samples but it hangs together pretty well and it's funfunkingroovin' which I badly need this week so it gets a special thumbs-up.

http://inahandbasket.livejournal.com/632389.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQThHZbCUJo&feature=related
inahandbasket posted this amazing set of links to performances of Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah". The song has been done a million times - sometimes badly and sometimes someone captures what I think is the tragic beauty of the track. A good rendition of this can leave me weepy and it probably won't surprise anyone who reads my music posts regularly that the Imogen Heap cover is far and away my favorite, with the Regina Spektor second.

The second link is one of those things you stumble across following YouTube recommendations. It's Stromae and Klaas doing a techno-house French Hallelujah and though it's a many-generations-removed descendant of the original in another language it's still one of the best modern interpretations I could find. But in the end I agree with inahandbasket - go back and listen to Leonard himself again. Excuse me, I need a tissue.

Right, I'm in the mood for something loud, so here you go.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=396&Itemid=36
Clivester is back after a long absence with what is probably the best "Pumped Up Kicks" mix of 2011. It's a four-way banger using a couple of Clivester's favorite tunes. It's darkly energetic and benefits from being played loud.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/12/illegal-sunday-e-jitz-def-con-wan.html
PWEI is another of my guilty pleasures. They were fun and goofy and they don't get much play these days. Here's a loving cover of their popular "Def Con One" track by Dunproofin and vocalist Richie Delux. The cover is different and updated, but still has the original spirit.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/12/yazoo-don%C2%B4t-go-rey-kjavik-edit.html
Rey and Kjavik are a new duo out of Iceland. This is the free download of their first EP, a sweet five-track sampler with a couple covers, a couple chill tracks, and a nice bass thread throughout.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/12/jess-mills-pixelated-people-a-forest.html
A delicious double-shot of Jess Mills. Haven't heard anything from her since May/June and that's a shame. Still silky, still smooth, still delightful. And sadly still a little too overproduced for my liking. The Cure cover is less so and I think it shows off her skills better.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/12/illegal-sunday-the-reborn-identity-gone-to-heaven.html
Since we started with a multi-mash I figured I'd end with one. This is a five-track mix that is notable for using sources like Jamiroquai and The Pixies that don't appear often in mashes. Kudos to Reborn Identity for trying something different, even if the result doesn't knock my socks off.

So many saved links. Bootie did a double-month best of, APC did a best-of, and there were other tabs and this is some good stuff. First up, the smooth stuff.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/cubic-zirconia-ft-bilal-night-or-day-cz-club-mix.html
Cubic Zirconia (http://www.myspace.com/cubiczirconiamusic) is an electro-disco outfit from New York with a smooth sound that sometimes gets called acid house. I think it's more RnB-influenced than that. Need to hear more; will report back if worthwhile.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/05/jj-angels.html
JJ (http://ravekommissionen.blogspot.com/) are a Swedish duo with a nice blend of vocals and styles - some English, some not. Reading up on them I saw them described as "dream pop" and this track has a very dreamy air. It reminds me a good bit of Tricky/Massive Attack, particularly the way the music seems to be whispering in your ear alone as it plays.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/illegal-sunday-the-reborn-identity-lady-of-oblivion.html
The Reborn Identity (http://www.rebornidentity.com/) has mashed up Jamie Woon's "Lady Luck" with Patrick Wolf's "Oblivion." When I wrote about "Lady Luck" a couple months ago I noted it had a particularly snappy feel. Here the snap is damped down somewhat so it can be merged with Wolf's violin-heavy track, which has its own pop-snap feel to it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2VhtxTmQw). Woon's vocal's still carry the day, and it's still silky smooth.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/05/jess-mills-vultures-mj-cole-remix.html
Jess Mills' "Vultures", which I talked about back in April, here gets another loving work-over from a top remixer. Here, MJ Cole gives the song a very modernist feel, separating out the vocals to float above a high-BPM electro track, and then swoop them back down into a multi-tracked chorus. I still generally prefer my vocal-trance to be lower BPM, but this one works quite well.

Right. Bunches of tabs to close. All good stuff this time, with lots of variation in style.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=361&Itemid=36
KrazyBen does a nice re-layering mix here based on the happy electro tune by Martin Solveig & Dragonette called "Hello". It's mashed with Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand" but in a clever way, using both a remix of the Hello track as well as the original Hello a capella. I still think the Streisand tune isn't all that hot on its own but the mix works really well.

http://soundcloud.com/jessmillsofficial/jess-mills-vultures
http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/jess-mills-vultures-photek-remix.html
http://soundcloud.com/jessmillsofficial/jess-mills-fighting-fire-ft
I find it unbelievable that I haven't talked about Photek (http://photek.fm/) before. I'll have more to say about them later. Right now, though, I want to talk about Jess Mills' "Vultures". She's got a silky, breathy style that feels sensual and gives me chills to begin with. Photek have applied some techno-trance production, but left the backing sound low-key so you can still appreciate Mills' voice. She's definitely on my watch list now. The other track, Fighting Fire, is less haunting but still fun electro-dance. Also a great lyrical one-liner.

http://www.djbc.net/anotherjay/
Hey! You got your rap in my ambient! Well, you got your ambient in my rap! Two great tastes that... well, it's a concept album. dj BC has put together a 12-track mix of Brian Eno's ambient and spoken word pieces with the rap stylings of Jay-Z. Being that it's a tad heavy on the profanity I wouldn't blast this on the office speakers, but it's a fascinating experiment in melding two very different styles and making it work.

http://soundcloud.com/invisiblesandwhiches/invisible-sandwhiches-feat-kat-graham-sassy-found-a-dime-mix
Recently I got an email on Soundcloud asking me to vote for one of three tracks, two of which I found unremarkable. Then there was this one. It's based off the (over)autotuned Kat Graham pop confection "Sassy" which is itself dull. This mix by Invisible Sandwhiches uses Sassy about the way an Olympic diver uses the 10-meter platform. Gotta start somewhere, but after that it's all twists and turns and a remarkably graceful entry. Invisible Sandwhiches mix in several different styles and... well, listen and see what you think.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/win-win-ft-alexis-taylor-%E2%80%93-interleave.html
Imagine if Daft Punk and The Dream Academy had a love child. That would be Win Win. This track features the strong bass vibrato Daft Punk brought to the Tron soundrack, and classic New Wave male vocals. It's kind of spacy/dreamy but usually the wifty stuff doesn't have that level of thrum.