The fight for diverse and conscious voices

I've almost got enough saved items to make a themed post so let's see how this goes. Most of what we have here is smooth and wonderful electronica of one sort or another, with new beautiful vocals to enjoy.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/illegal-sunday-leedm101-sound-of-light.html
LeeDM101 is someone I found late last year and his best work, in my opinion, works with strong female vocalists and here he lays in another in that genre. Ellie Goulding's "Lights" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NKUpo_xKyQ) is, as I noted last month, pretty syrupy synthpop. Husky Rescue's "Sound of Love" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg7pjP9idSk) is more sophisticated and LeeDM picks out the best of both for this mix. I will probably have more to say about Husky Rescue later.

http://photek.fm/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swcDeoZR0E8
Photek unfortunately doesn't tend to put up full tracks. You can get a number of samples off his page via the player, and also don't miss the entry in the Tron: Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D remix set. He keeps the strong thudding house bass but weaves his special magic around it.

It's interesting to put that one up with the Glitch Mob entry into the Tron remixing set. The Glitch Mob don't have Photek's smoothness; what they have is incredible intensity and an ability to work with electro-fuzz in a way that doesn't set my teeth on edge. Normally it's not my cuppa but damn it works so well here. The video artistry by Khameleon808 is also tight and cut fine.

http://audioporncentral.com/2011/04/world-premiere-apc-exclusive-josephine-ft-copycat-the-darkest-side-of-me.html
If this one doesn't send chills up and down your spine then I'm not sure what to say. Josephine has a gorgeous dark rich vocal style that makes me think of elegant nightclubs, and DJ Copycat's electro-disco supports it extremely well. The result is much more vocal-trance than you'd expect - intimate and just a little bit ethereal.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=364&Itemid=36
Yes, dear readers, that is Clivester. You know, the guy who does all those fun 80s-metal remixes and hard-edged Nordic/German rock stuff? Yeah, um, took me completely by surprise too. This one takes Axwell's "Heart Is King" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyUiVCiNURw) a modernist John Williams-esque instrumental piece, and plays beautifully against Chase & Status's "Time" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWP9VvkeTmA - warning, video is about domestic violence). Chase & Status are a drum&bass DJ duo; here they're featuring Where the original is a sort of minimalist pop tune, this mash is a stronger anthem. The singer is just credited as "Delilah" and I've not been able to track her down yet.

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.