The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Normally my mid-week is too packed to do music posts but today things are off-again, on-again with no predictability, so here we go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQUOs7-RX_w
First up, Beats Antique has uploaded all (or at least most) of their new "Elektrafone" album to YouTube as individual tracks so you can pick or choose what you like. You can buy the whole thing (and you should) by following the link from any of the videos. I picked this one, "The Porch", as it's got a somewhat different sound than their typical. It's much more of a jazz/gypsy fusion with modern electronica influences.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/06/gossip-perfect-world-attar-remix.html
I'm sure you're utterly shocked that I'm linking to yet another "Perfect World" remix. I am not much for top-pop tracks (see below) so usually the stuff that's getting heavily remixed is things I don't know, don't like, or don't care about. This time ATTARI (http://www.facebook.com/AttariMusic and yes it's spelled that way) gives us a nice electro remix, with a decent helping of disco laid in. The mix is a little odd in that about 3:30 in it sort of fades out in a way that makes you think it's going to end, but then picks up again for another two minutes. What's up with that?

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/06/illegal-sunday-dj-earworm-fly-capital-fm-summertime-ball-mashup.html
Every year for the last few, DJ Earworm has created mega-mashes for the Capital FM summer concert, using the artists who perform at their Summertime Ball. It's an interesting slice of what's hot on the top-40/pop stations and usually a loud party banger. This year Earworm has done something different: the track is much more mellow and though it has a standard party kick throughout the drum is muted and there is much more emphasis on soulful and R&B sounds. I can't tell if that's a reflection of who the artists are - I only recognize about half the names - or a deliberate attempt not just to redo the same track over and over.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/06/illegal-sunday-qubic-carmina-luna-songs-of-the-moon.html
Speaking of different, this here is something you don't get often: a movie-music mash-up. Qubic (http://qubicmx.blogspot.ca/#axzz1xgu1wh4y) is in the middle of an ambitious project called "Behind the Silver Screen" that is looking at classical and pop music used in films. On playing this one you're immediately going to be reminded of Fifth Element, as it's largely built on Lucia Di Lammermoor, the operatic piece used in the 5th Element "rock opera" scene. It also uses O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana) which has been used approximately everywhere, as well as Jean Michel Jarre, the French electronica pioneer who has 20-something movie scores to his name (IMDB says 23).

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/06/art-vs-science-magic-fountain.html
Art vs Science (http://www.facebook.com/artvsscience) is an Australian dance-rock trio that sounds to me a lot like a 21st-century Public Image Limited. Listen to the semi-sung, semi-shouted lyrics of "Magic Mountain" and see if you hear what I hear. This is fun and bouncy stuff. The other track is a Denzal Park remix of "With Thoughts" that is not bad, especially if you pretend the first 30 seconds doesn't exist, but I still like the original (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnXDhshAj3Q) better. The original has more complex melodic themes that the remix strips down in favor of simple dance beats.

http://mayajanecoles.com/news/
There aren't a lot of well-known female remixers. Maya Jane Coles has a good rep in the UK (she gets BBC airplay, for example) but isn't much known over here. Maybe this track, a remix of Florence and The Machine’s “Spectrum” will change that. It's got a lot of the sweet beauty and vocal intensity of the original, but with the unmistakeable dance-club kick that starts about 1:00 in. If you want to hear more of what Coles can do, she has over 500 tracks up on Soundcloud (http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=Maya+Jane+Coles) most of which have the same house/deep house sound as you hear in this one.