The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Still catching up on end-of-year and best-of lists. I was particularly disappointed with Bootie this time. They list lots of mashes, most of which I've already heard, from a pretty narrow list of half a dozen artists. Here are two of the good ones, followed by some new-to-me stuff.

http://bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2011/Best%20of%20Bootie%202011%20(Unmixed)/Lobsterdust%20-%20Roll%20It.mp3
Lobsterdust has been busy (see his 2011 mashed download page). This one, called "Roll It" is a pretty simple three-way of Salt 'n' Pepa's "Push It" and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, with some A Trak thrown in for vocal variety.

http://bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2011/Best%20of%20Bootie%202011%20(Unmixed)/Titus%20Jones%20-%20Dont%20Stop%20Believin%20In%20This%20Love%20On%20Earth.mp3
Titus Jones has a thing for female and high-pitched vocals. Here he's got another brilliant mega-mix with four current and past divas along with Journey and Bruno Mars who fit in just right. Notably lacking in Katy, it manages to work in a big helping of Ke$ha without setting off my teeth-grinding. And yes, it's got a standard party-banger beat in places, but what makes the mix work well is that Jones doesn't rely on a single beat throughout. He mixes it in and out, dropping both vocal and instrumental samples in.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/The_Limousines/track/Call_Me_Al_Paul_Simon_Cover
The Limousines (http://myspace.com/thelimousines) are a pair of guys who manage to walk the line between respect and irreverence in style. Here they're covering a massively (over)played Paul Simon track and doing it with verve and originality. They keep the signature trumpet and the vocals on the cover are similar, but there are fillips and flourishes and a modern electronic sensibility that re-infuse the song with fun.

If you know The Limousines at all, it's probably for "Internet Killed the Video Star", their biggest hit to date. Itself an homage to the (over)played Buggles tune "Video Killed the Radio Star" (sometimes called the MTV anthem). You can find the video and a free download of the MP3 for it on their MySpace page.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/01/illegal-sunday-gotye-somebody-i-used-to-know-rey-kjavik-repaint.html
Gotye's quietly beautiful "Somebody I Used To Know" gets even more haunting and yet more soothing in this "repaint" from Rey & Kjavik. It's an extended mix that rolls gently along fading vocal bits in and out over snap rhythms and understated electronica samples.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/01/amadou-mariam-ft-santigold-dougou-badia.html
Amadou and Mariam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_%26_Mariam) are a blind couple from Mali who perform traditional Malian music infused with modern electronic instrumentals - primarily guitars - and a wide variety of vocal styles, ranging from melodic choral backing to near-rap intense vocal fronting. The word "unique" gets abused a lot but I feel confident saying theirs is a unique sound and if you like afro-beat, tribal or Caribbean styles at all you'll recognize bits of those in here and - I think - enjoy it as much as I do.

http://audioporncentral.com/2012/01/illegal-sunday-mighty-mike-remember-my-dollar.html
Mighty Mike puts Blueboy's 2009 UK dance hit "Remember Me" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGIeJswiJU4) side-by-side with the modern soul track "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6oYX1D-0w). Blacc brings both the Motown horn sound and the mournful vocals of great classic soul, which plays up certain parts of the other tune and gives the overall mash a wonderful chill.

Yeah, I know, I just did a music post, but there are a bunch of 'best of the year' things out so I'll be putting up a bunch today and hopefully another bunch before the week is out.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/12/dj-earworm-united-state-of-pop-2010-dont-stop-the-popdj-earworm-united-state-of-pop-2010-dont-stop-the-pop.html
I don't think you can do one of these without pointing to DJ Earworm's (http://www.facebook.com/Earworm) United State of Pop mix. His 2009 mix was awesome and really set a high bar for every mix last year. Earworm doesn't just mix a few tracks against each other - he samples at the word/phrase level and blends the results. Unfortunately (imo due to inferior source material) this year's mix isn't as good as last year's. His skills are still evident, but the 24 tracks represented here are more concerned with trying to sound like they are their own party than anything else.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/
Also like last year, Bootie turns in a few surprises in their top of the year picks. For one thing, the page now has a Soundcloud stream so you can listen to the set all together. I do wish Soundcloud would implement a "forward one track" feature, though. Bootie did something interesting this year, producing two lists. The first are in the mix - 23 tracks that fit together. Then they added 10 bonus tracks that they thought were good mixes, but that didn't fit the set for one reason or another. I didn't think much of the main set (the good tracks were ones I'd already blogged) but there are some real gems in the bonus tracks. Let's see:

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20%28Unmixed%29/Mashup-Germany%20vs.%20Faroff%20-%20Everybody%20&%20Ray%20Speaks%20No%20Americano.mp3
Mashup Germany hit a home run with this one, called "Everybody & Ray Speaks No Americano". As you can guess from the title the popular Yolanda B Cool track is the backbone for this, and it's cut up and mashed with some great bits including some classic Ray Charles vocals that I just adore. Ray Charles was such an innovator in his time I regret he's not around to collaborate with some of today's best.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20%28Unmixed%29/Titus%20Jones%20-%20I%20Wanna%20Bulletproof%20Dancer.mp3
Titus Jones turns in another hot dance track putting together four female vocalists, pitting La Roux and Robyn against Whitney Houston and Taylor Swift. As pop female vocals go, each has something interesting to add and the result makes the best of each one's style.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20%28Unmixed%29/LeeDM101%20-%20%28Find%20Myself%29%20A%20Heap%20Of%20Love.mp3
LeeDM101's "(Find Myself) A Heap Of Love" brings a melancholy note using mostly Florence & the Machine with a helping of Depeche Mode and some Imogen Heap.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20-%20Bonus%20Tracks/DJs%20From%20Mars%20-%20Love%20The%20Way%20You%20Lie%20In%20Paradise%20City.mp3
DJs from Mars remain some of the most brilliant creators in the scene and this track proves it. Take the problematic Eminem/Rihanna track and fold in some stereotypical 80s hair rock - that can't possibly work, can it? Uh, yeah. It works. Seriously, this ought not to be possible but these guys are that good.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20-%20Bonus%20Tracks/DJ%20Fox%20-%20Come%20See%20About%20Down.mp3
What could possibly make one overplayed Jay Sean tune interesting again? How about a BIG helping of Motown superstars The Supremes. This one may be more hit-or-miss for those of you who didn't grow up loving Motown the way my pre-pubescent past self did. The elegant style and beautiful harmonies of the Motown ladies were magical then and they're magical now. Props to DJ Fox for this blast from the past.

http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2010/Best%20of%20Bootie%202010%20-%20Bonus%20Tracks/Mashup-Germany%20-%20Imagine%20One%20Day%20So%20Far%20Away.mp3
Mashup Germany also take an overused track (Lennon's "Imagine") and reinvigorate it with contributions from a selection of more modern male vocalists. The combination of Matisyahu and Bob Marley is particular brilliant - an obvious pairing retrospect but so far as I know nobody's done it before.

There are a surprisingly large number of good items to be noted. I'll probably do a second batch next week just so I don't overwhelm the few of you who actually take the time to click on the links.

http://soundcloud.com/foxsounds/money-4-nothing-bmore-2
DJ Fox showed up in my first set of Bootie reviews this time and I've been going through his mixes since then. This one is probably my favorite of the things he has posted. I'm still trying to puzzle out the components - obviously it's built on Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" but the "BMore" almost certainly refers to Baltimore. At least some of the sounds seem to come from Estelle ft Kardinal Offishall - I Can Be a Freak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKBxpXDD58Y) which is itself sampling a bunch of things.

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/mp3s/Fatboy%20Slim%20vs%202Pac%20-%20California%20Skank%20%28DJ%20BootOX%20pres%20Blaze%20Music%29.mp3
DJ BootOX (whose MySpace page starts making annoying noise when loaded up) puts together 2Pac's "California Love" with the classic "Rockefeller Skank" from Fatboy Slim. There are some additional funky riffs mixed it, making a nice overall package.

http://titusjones.somethingsgottago.com/Mashes/Titus%20Jones%20-%20Ke$ha%20vs.%20Glee%20Cast%20vs.%20La%20Roux%20vs.%20Black%20Eyed%20Peas%20vs.%20Iglu%20&%20Hartly%20-%20Imma%20Stop%20Loving%20Drugs.mp3 (or http://tinyurl.com/34cl4es)
Titus Jones (http://www.titusjones.com/) is unknown to me, and apparently I need to correct that. He turns in a brilliantly multi-layered mix here built around the Glee cast cover of Journey that started all the remixing. He pulls in BEP and Ke$ha but don't despair he's also got a healthy respect for La Roux vocals and doesn't let any of the better-known names dominate.

If anyone can pinpoint the source of the "I like your beard" sound sample in there I'd love to know it. ETA: fidgetmonster gets it first go; see comments.

http://bootiemashup.com/top10/mp3s/LeeDM101%20%28Find%20Myself%29%20A%20Heap%20Of%20Love_PN.MP3
LeeDM101 (http://leedm101audiolego.blogspot.com/) lays down a slow and sensual mix built around Florence and the Machine, with help from Depeche Mode and Imogen Heap.

http://viprhealthcare.typepad.com/files/mashup-germany---hit-and-drop-on-all-the-single-ladies-rihanna-vs.-ray-charles-vs.-snoop-dogg-vs.-beyonce.mp3
I'm undecided on this one. I'm not a big "put a ring on it" fan, nor all that hot on Snoop, but Ray Charles is a seriously under-utilized source for mash material. In the early days of rap, a number of hip-hop artists took riffs from his tunes and looped them, often uncredited. His influence on modern music is huge and it's fun to imagine what it would sound like if he was playing in his prime on the same stage as a Beyonce or a Rihanna. Here Mashup Germany goes a good way toward giving us a feel for how that might sound.

Next time, the last of the mashes from the Bootie Blog, including the hands-down best smooth mix of the year.