The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Insert various excuses here. Now let's listen to something more interesting than excuses.

http://soundcloud.com/clownandsunset/csp06-nicolas-jaar-essential
This is the stream for Nicholas Jaar's BBC One Essential Mix, but without the BBC "edits". Basically the Essential Mix is a two-hour commercial-free stream but the BBC has to remind you what you're listening to, so there are intro/outro bits added as well as random places during the mix where the music itself is turned down so you can hear the BBC announcer's voice-over. This annoys the crap out of some of the performers, who then release the un-edited mixes so people can hear them as intended, really without interruption.

This is a very typical Jaar mix, so it's heavy on the melodic, with very strong jazz influence, orchestral and ambient segments, and electronica throughout. I mostly enjoyed it - I'm on my third play-through - though I could have done without the synthesizer whale songs.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/STARS/track/Theory-of-Relativity-Diamond-Rings-Remix/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta1xEMypk2Q
Stars (http://www.myspace.com/stars) are an indie act that is well known in Canada and almost unknown in the US. This is a single off their fifth album release from this year, and the Diamond Rings remix for it. The original is heavy synth, slower-tempo electro-pop, with a good helping of fuzz. The remix drops out almost all the base synth stuff and replaces it with female vocals and sped-up beats to create a more dance-floor-friendly track. Both the original and the remix are good listens and it's an interesting example of what a remixer can do.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Chevin/track/Champion/
The Chevin (http://www.the-chevin.com/) are another male vocal-driven indie-rock outfit. Like Stars they're not much known in the US, despite appearing on Dave Letterman's show (see the vid on their site) - though they're still quite new. I think that's a shame as too much of the US-based male-lead stuff slants heavily toward emo, which this is definitely not. It's got strong production values, and is pretty heavily mixed, but Coyle's voice still comes through OK.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Miike_Snow/track/Pretender-Dem-Slackers-Remix/
http://www.earmilk.com/2012/07/10/rihanna-where-have-you-been-dem-slackers-remix/
I haven't mentioned Miike Snow in a couple years. As before, I continue to listen to their new stuff but none of it grabs me. Tracks like "Paddling Out" and "Animal" got a lot of attention and remixes, but again... enh. This one, "Pretender", really stood out as a cut above. Dem Slackers is still doing standard techno dance-floor stuff (like, I think the whole first 40 seconds of the remix are disposable) but once he gets going you want really to crank it up and when he starts to cut in the vocal sustain bits it's really good.

The second link has several more Dem Slackers remix but the one that got me up and dancing was his stomping treatment of Rihanna's "Where Have You Been". Awesome!

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Icona-Pop/track/I-Love-It-Style-of-Eye-Remix/
Icona Pop (http://www.iconapop.com/) are usually too much disco for me to take. But they're so much fun and this track is so hot I couldn't resist. I seem to be in the mood for hot dance music this week and this fits that bill perfectly. It's got tight beats and all the techno that can reasonably fit. Yes, it's still a little bit disco, but not too much.

I don't know where these things come from, but sometimes they just blossom up an the world is so much more awesome when they do.

Start with Rihanna's "Rude Boy" (http://www.last.fm/music/Rihanna/_/Rude+Boy). Standard pop tune, hip-hop. It's not a bad track, really. Got to #1 on the Billboard charts, so go her.

Of course, if you have a popular tune, lots of people are going to cover it. Some of them are going to cover it in other genres. For example, classical. Wait, what?

Yes, classical. I give you Australia's Aston covering "Rude Boy" - http://audioporncentral.com/2010/06/monday-kick-aston-rude-boy-classical-rihanna-cover.html

It's actually quite a good cover. They've mostly transposed the vocal parts to piano - though the violinist and cellist are rockin' out too - and they've got a percussionist who is having WAY more fun on the kettle drums than anyone wearing that bad of a sweater really should be having. Dude looks like he should be knocking back beers at a Skull & Bones private affair. But I digress.

I had that video marked for eventual posting, when this showed up: http://audioporncentral.com/2010/06/world-premiere-rihanna-ft-aston-rude-boy-mashed-by-pheugoo.html

Phuegoo (http://pheugoo.com/) took the Aston cover and mixed the Rihanna vocals back in, which is just freaking perfect. You can hear exactly how Aston adapted the track and Phuegoo makes the best of both the classical ensemble and the original lead vocals.

This remix got me curious about Aston, so I headed over to their web page (http://www.astonmusic.com/) and just fell in love. I mentioned they're from Australia. And they really need some fashion help (dude, lose the soul patch, please; and you, on the left - need less frumpy). I read that Perez Hilton tweeted their cover so maybe he can help them in that department.

But anyway, they're cute and earnest and they have other covers of mega-hit pop tunes. You can listen to them doing Gaga's "Telephone" and Kylie Minogue's "Confide in Me" (with harp!). You should also vote for which track you want them to cover next.

And then join me in being sad that they're in Australia and there's no way I'm ever going to get to see them do this stuff live. Because the one thing that is missing from these videos is the sight and sound of an audience going bananas with joy at the end of each track. You can see the Aston members looking at each other as they stop playing, as if to say "did we really just do that?" Yes, kids, you did. And it was AWESOME.

Ha, meeting postponed means you get more music links. Thank the schedule gods.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=284&Itemid=27
I'm sure I've mentioned before how much of a breath of fresh air I found Joan Jett to be when she first became popular - I can only hope that The Runaways (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1017451/) causes more people to (re)discover her. Her top-charting hit "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" gets an extra-length treatment here from DJ Schmolli, who mashes it up with a bouncy Crookers track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD8biWtl1FI) that Junkie XL has remixed.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/04/illegal-sunday-dunproofin-rvst.html
As MizA said when she saw this, "Why Miss Rihanna, you're looking very LACED this evening." Yum. Yes, it's another "Rude Boy" mix and I have no idea who Tinie Tempah is but I like the way Dunproofin' is playing the two off each other. Dunproofin' does a lot of trainwreck mixes, which I generally don't like, and this one comes perilously close near the end but I think he pulls it out. Also, lacing!

http://audioporncentral.com/2009/11/simon-iddol-sad-mix.html
Simon Iddol posted this "Sad Mix" a while back. It's not a mix of sad tracks; rather it's something he put together when he was feeling sad to cheer himself up. There are five tracks here, four of which are already remixed and Iddol just sort of weaves them together to make a set that'll pick you up on some really blue day, I promise.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/William_Fitzsimmons/track/So_This_Is_Goodbye_Pink_Ganter_Remix
Speaking of sad music that isn't really sad, I'm still not sure what all to make of William Fitzsimmons (http://myspace.com/williamfitzsimmons). At one level he's a folkie-styling guy with a guitar. He's got decent licks and a very nice voice. But, remixes! With ambient and trance influences! It's smooth and pleasant listening with a beat. Also, the female vocal bits are particularly beautiful.