Some old favorites are back this week in new contexts.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/08/skye-featherlight.html
In 2010, Skye Edwards rejoined Morcheeba. She's still working on her solo projects. This is the first single from her upcoming solo LP. It's got her voice, but it's more fast-paced and less bluesy than I'm used to hearing from her. She's still very talented and even with all the electro in this track I'm liking it a lot.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/08/illegal-sunday-lobsterdust-star-buzzin.html
Lobsterdust turns in his latest banger, a six-way mash. He's still very good at what he does, but he's not doing anything new here. It's a high-energy party track, as you'd expect. If you like his stuff this is a good track; if not, you probably won't like this one either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BpEP6b3mBI
This one you should watch if you can. The video is a really fun stop-motion animation tribute to music video images that have been popular at one time or another. It's neat to see how many you can identify. Some I got even though they're just on for a few seconds; others I'm still scratching my head over (the solo guitarist in front of the church - help!).

The track is a fun collaboration between DJs from Mars and Fragma. I have not been that fond of Fragma's solo stuff but her voice really works well here, over the strong techno beats that the DJs provide. It's a fun track through and through.

http://rcrdlbl.com/2012/07/25/stream_m_i_a_bad_girls_surkin_remix_
MIA's "Bad Girls" has been remixed a hundred ways by now, so it's rare to find something new/interesting/unusual done with it. Surkin scores a hit here, though in part because he's pulling from so many influences. As Carter Maness says in the blurb you can clearly hear African rhythms in the remix, and also high-speed street-dance sounds. That kind of thing can easly turn into a mess, but it's kept tight and the sound layers are managed well. Check out the bit starting at 1:50 where it drops to solo flute and then slowly builds back up over the next minute.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/08/public-enemy-harder-than-you-think-featurecast-remix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLnINZ-cANI
I had forgotten how much I liked Public Enemy. Every time I listen to a new rapper I hope I'll hear someone who has Chuck D's ability to sling words and mean something without every fifth word being 'nigger', 'bitch', or 'ho.' The man was - is - an amazing vocalist/lyricist. Featurecast (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Featurecast/8844117036) gives us his vision of what those words would sound like above some slamming techno dance rhythms and phat horns. I've had this on frequent repeat for most of the past week and been missing P.E.

Well, if you're like me you can do a little searching and find that Chuck is still out there doing his thing. The second link is to "I Shall Not Be Moved" and just appeared last month. He's slowed down a bit - he's joking about "the senior circuit" now - but it's still that style and that voice. He hasn't lost any of his political sensibilities either ("What good is doing some record/ When y'all only listen to fifteen seconds?").

Public Enemy re-imagined as a polka/klezmer band:
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/12/illegal-sunday-live-from-fogashaz-budapest.html

(Your move, Ringel)

Skip ahead to about 16:00 if you don't want to listen to the rest of the set, though I promise you it's quite good, if a bit brain-breaking. Reggaeton-klezmer? Sure, why not.

So far as I can tell, this is an original from DJ Pozsi. There have been a lot of remixes of this track over the years, of which Benny Benassi's "Pump-kin Remix" is still probably the best (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR0WMdIqxus). He did win a Grammy for it.