The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Another vague grouping of interesting stuff. If you're not in the mood for loud then set this one aside and come back later. All the rest of you? Turn it up.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/A-Trak/track/Trizzy_Turnt_Up
A Trak (http://www.djatrak.com/) is one of those DJ's you've probably heard a bunch of places (he's been around since the late 90s). He DJed for a Kanye West tour. He's done remixes for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He's been on stage with DJ Q-Bert. And he's all of 27. These two tracks are pretty fun electro-hip-hop. I'm not sure why he hasn't made more of a name for himself.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Boys_Noize/track/Transmission_Tiga_Remix
Boys Noize (http://www.myspace.com/boysnoize) is a German techno DJ with some very heavy club/house influences. Normally I'm not a big fan of the repetitive club tracks but this stuff is fun and caught me in a mood to head-bop so here you have it. Mental images of electronic hamsters wired on speed are completely optional but I find they help.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Villains/track/BoB_-_Nothin_On_You_feat_Bruno_Mars__Bei_Maejor_Villains_Remix_
This is another of those idiosyncratic styles - it's R&B and hip-hop and electronica all cut and spliced back together in the first track. The second is much more house with the serious high-BPM thuddy bass that I like, but still has the rap vocals and sudden pace changes that make it more interesting than your standard house track. Villains (http://myspace.com/wearevillains) are an LA-based duo with a good discography and several more samples on their MySpace page.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Sleigh_Bells/track/Tell_Em
I don't quite know how to classify Sleigh Bells (http://myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic) except... um, loud! This is the kind of thing I like to blast out my open windows on a warm summer day, much to the dismay of my church-going neighbors. The poppy/cheerleader/punk female vocals really make these tracks. (Is 'cheerleader punk' a genre? If not, it should be.) Anyway, loud. I'm telling you - crank this one up.