Loose Ends Need Tying Up

So I’ve done one post since I got back with a few tracks in, but they were mainly stuff I got just before I went away and never got round to sharing. Here’s some odds and ends that I’ve ‘found’ since my return. Hope you enjoy!

Jamie Woon – Lady Luck

If you’ve been reading this for any time now you won’t need me to explain that Jamie Woon is a surefire favourite of mine. He’s up to his usual tricks in Lady Luck, his latest single, as he cleverly bounces his voice of the heavy bass below. Good as this is, I still don’t think it’s up there with Night Air.

Earl Wolf – Orange Juice
(Upload Blocked By Soundcloud)
The whole Earl/MellowHype/OFWGKTA thing is far from clear to me, but I think this is by Earl Wolf. It’s from the album Radical, anyway, and in my eyes at least, it’s the best track from there. The beat, stolen from Gucci Mane, is especially fantastic, but let’s not take anything away from the rapping, which as a friend remarked to me yesterday, surely should see these guys destined for success very soon.

Summer Camp – I Want You

I wasn’t too familiar with Summer Camp before hearing this one. It seems that witch-house is now the backing track of choice for a certain kind of love song, the kind where you love someone you need their permission to breathe. A tad melodramatic perhaps? Maybe, but this has come off sounding quite a lot like CREEP – not a bad thing at all…

Gold Panda – Marriage (Star Slinger Remix)

Two of London’s glitchiest, most-sampling artists come together in one track…I almost expected a crescendo of crashing drums, glitchy beats and all in all vaguely-organised chaos. But it seems that this hasn’t happened at all. It’s just glitchy enough, I’d go as far as calling it coherent at times! But seriously, this is a good track, mixing the glitchy style of Gold Panda with some dubstep style bass and some house style pianos variously. Very good.

The xx – Islands (Jamie xx Remix)

Another Jamie I’m very much a fan of is Jamie xx. This remix of his bandmates relies less on deep bass than normal, instead replacing the sparse backing track with a fuller, garage instrumental. It’s hard to say whether I prefer this to the original, such is the difference between the tracks, but had this been included on the album it wouldn’t have been short of the standard, even if it might have sounded somewhat out of place.

Cults – Go Outside (Brainbheats Remix)

This remix of one of last years biggest remixes has all things in the right proportions – just the right amount of distortion, of electro but coupled with the fact you can still hear that key riff that made this song so so popular. I have to say I’m surprised at the lack of remixes of this track though..

Arctic Monkeys – Brick by Brick

The world should soon be in hyperbole, for the Arctic Monkeys have released a new track. It’s actually quite good, certainly an improvement on Humbug and maybe even Favourite Worst Nightmare, even if it hasn’t reached the heady heights of the long titled debut album – no, I won’t type it all out. Anyway, this is a good deal more upbeat than what we’ve become accustomed to – and thank God for that!

Jai Paul – BTSTU (Nu-Direction Remix)

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when this was branded as ‘liquid drum and bass’ so I have to say I was pleasantly surprised upon hearing this. It should be enough to say that it does the original justice.

The xx – Basic Space (Pariah Remix)

Quite how, in 2009, this didn’t make it onto the single release of Basic Space is a mystery to me. It’s leagues ahead of anything on that release – including the original, which for what it’s worth, is a pretty good track. But this remix from Pariah, which mixes dub and house, blows it out of the water. I may be late hearing this one, but I’d go so far as to describe it as my favourite remix of The xx, one of my favourite bands…

Hippidy Hoppidy

Hip Hop time again, it’s been a good while since I last did a post on it, so here we are once more. When do you listen to hip-hop? Because I was thinking about this, and I actually don’t know when I do. If at all? I also think hip-hop is too broader reference point – there is a distinct lack of similarity between these songs. But without further ado, here they are…

Common Citizens – Unemployed In Summertime (Featuring Emiliana Torrini)

I’ve got this theory that all good new hip-hop is Canadian, and that’s furthered by Common Citizens… Like their compatriots, this has something of an old-school feel, the Emiliana Torrini sample is pretty cool, and it’s a nice slow jam, it’s not all just shouting about how much money you’ve got (I’m looking at Lil Wayne here, not stereotyping!) Anyway.. if you must use rap to brag, there’s ways to do it and ways not to. Our next track shows how it’s done…

The Notorious B.I.G. – Kick In The Door

Yes, it is, of course, Biggie. For a Brooklyn native, I’m not really into Biggie.. I have like two tracks in total, so I’m not sure how qualified I would be to say this is his best track, but I’m going to say it anyway! I think what really sets this one apart is it’s production, it reminded me of Still Dre at first, and as it get going you can see how well Biggie fits it.. A match made in heaven.

FunkyDL – Can’t Keep Lying (Featuring Ricko Capit)

As you’ve probably figured by now, the most important thing for me is the production, hence why this FunkyDL track hits the spot with me.. Amy Winehouse is verging on Soul, and Soul always seems to work. I don’t mean to take away from the lyrics though, they are good too… but I feel like the sample really makes this what it is.

Incise – Rising (Redux) [Featuring Tunji]

Probably the best production of all, although the chorus is a bit of a let down.. and once again, it’s a Canadian responsible – although it seems to be very popular in Japan.. I’m not quite sure what that suggests…

CurT@!n$ – Kings of Dope (Featuring Lykke Li)

Okay, so he writes his name like a little kid and makes songs called ‘Kings of Dope’… But no, he’s not some half-assed gangster wannabe from the suburbs – well, he may be, but what he makes sounds more like Kid Cudi than any member of the Young Money brigade. I say that because I listened to half this song thinking it was Cudi… now that could just be me being stupid, but even so, you get the idea.

A Certain Philly-based DJ

If you have not yet heard of Diplo, here’s your chance to catch up. If you have, you know he’s the mastermind behind some productions for M.I.A., Santigold, and even rapper Gucci Mane. His work has developed a new sound unique to many listeners. Here are a few tracks that he has produced and remixed that are sure to get your head bobbing. Enjoy.

Sleigh Bells- Tell Em (Diplo Remix)

This is Diplo’s latest remix done for Sleigh Bells track “Tell Em.” Once you listen to the original track, then compare it to Diplo’s remix, it’ll really start to grow on you.

Santogold – Starstruck (Diplo Remix)

Although this is an older track, it has not disappointed me to this day. It comes from Diplo’s Top Ranking Mixtape which primarily consists of remixes of Santi’s album “Santogold” by other DJs under Diplo’s record label Mad Decent.

Gucci Mane – Danger’s Not A Stranger (Diplo Remix)

Gucci Mane’s music isn’t the type I’d listen to right off the bat. But if you listen to the mixtape “Diplo Presents: Free Gucci,” some of the beats are hard to ignore. After a couple of listens, you can’t help but pay acknowledgment to the lyrics. This particular track is an example of that. Compared to the original, this version kills it. British DJ, Sinden recently released a sequel mixtape, “Sinden Presents: Free Gucci 2 – The Burrrtish Edition.” Both are packed with bass-filled tracks that are sure to delight you, so be sure to check them out.

Finally – my personal favorite Diplo remix to date. What gets me the most about this remix is that it was completely transformed into a dance song and it works perfectly.

I hope enthusiasm about Diplo has been built. The guy really deserves some props!

Odds & Ends

Here are a few songs I’ve got lately that wouldn’t really fit in anywhere else… So enjoy!

Eek-a-Mouse – Sensee Party

A craze for the skateboarding Jamaican mouse Rastamouse has been sweeping the UK like a tidal wave, leading to numerous ‘remixes’ of the title theme on Youtube. Among others, including the likes of Pass Out from Tinie Tempah, is my favourite, a combination of Rastamouse and Sensee Party by Eek-a-Mouse. Sadly the video has been taken down, but you can still enjoy this reggae classic.

Nostalgia 77 – Simerdown

I don’t normally go in for lounge jazz, but my dad brought back a Nostalgia 77 CD from a party a couple of years back and I got quite into it. They’ve continued their distinctive cool style into this, their next single.

The Streets – Soldiers

You’ll remember just a few days ago I posted a link to an instrumental track from The Streets called San Frandemonium. I’ve now found out the beat was used on Computers & Blues for this track, Soldiers. I think it’s the best track on the album – although I’m not so sure about the chorus. For someone whose not normally a particularly big Streets fan, I quite like this though.

Foals – Spanish Sahara (Deadboy Remix)

Deadboy is another artist who I’ve recently featured. This remix of Foals is different to his other works though, because as well as the usual dub elements there are bits which sound like garage, and other bits which sound like house. It works really well, I wouldn’t have expected these styles to meld so nicely but it’s an enjoyable nine minutes!

New Pretenders

I’d never heard of anyone who appears in this post before say Monday. You might have your finger more firmly on the pulse than me, in which case, congratulations, but as far as I’m aware this is about as cutting edge as James Bond’s next car…

Purity Ring – Ungirthed

I like the complete mash of different styles you find in this track. It has a glitchy beat which reminds me of Star Slinger, but it’s not quite as abstract, there are some dubstep elements – fortunately well restrained and then what really sets it apart from other glitchy sample-based tracks is the use of vocals – they really take it to a new level.

Mind Spiders – No Romance

From something which sounds absolutely 2011 to something that sounds almost 1971. I don’t mean that in a bad way – nothing wrong with energetic rock. There are a few bands from across the decades who sound like Mind Spiders but there have also been legions more bands trying to sound like Mind Spiders and totally failing.

Kohwi – Reeling In The Warmth

Back to the future then with Michigan’s Kohwi, who are behind this interesting take on chillwave. It manages to sound more interesting – darker, more upbeat without sounding too far from the genre’s mainstays such as Toro y Moi and Washed Out.

Porcelain Raft – Tip of Your Tongue (Keep Shelly In Athens Remix)

So I lied, I had heard of Keep Shelly In Athens very slightly before last monday. The point still stands though. As new as they are in this remix they’ve produced something sounding rather like the work of the sadly deceased John Barry. The big band feel and the violins make this sound vaguely James Bond like – a very good characteristic indeed…

Airliner – Hush Hush

Airliner’s ‘abstract hip-hop’ reminds me of luminary DJ Shadow’s masterpiece, Midnight In a Perfect World. I know part of the beauty of this is that it’s voiceless – hip hop instrumental not for a rap focus but for a focus on the music – but you can’t deny it wouldn’t sound pretty awesome with the right kind of guy all over the top of it…

Get Down Get Down

Shake that ‘booty’, clap your hands, wiggle those hips – do whatever it is when you’re dancing. If you wanna do it well, do the opposite of me! I’ll stick firmly behind the decks. Anyway, here are a few tracks you might wanna get down and funky to. Alternatively, you could just sit and nod your head – probably a better choice, all told.

Kim Josh Ill – New Disco Deux

Kim Jong Ill – the only person you’d like to get hold of nuclear weapons less than Sarah Palin. Kim Josh Ill – the only person you’d like to get their hands on your parents disco collection more than Étienne de Crécy. Learn that difference – it could be important! This track, New Disco Deux is set to do big things. So keep your eyes out for this new up-and-coming producer.

Ashton Edit – Somebody

I came accross this guy on a trawl of Soundcloud, and found that I really liked his filter/french house sound. Have to say I hadn’t heard of him, but I think he’ll be someone we’ll all here a great deal more of in the future. This has more of an eighties feel than a lot of stuff I listen to but I think it would really go off. Great tune!

Dominic DeCocco – Love Festival

I wouldn’t usually expect to find a Disco House producer going by the Italinate name of Dominic DeCocco deep in the heart of middle England, but I have – well he found me, with a track in my dropbox actually – but it’s a good find, a nice bout of the very cool Love Festival to blow away the cobwebs on your flares and disco boots.

The Streets – Came In Through The Door (Featuring Kano)

The Streets new mixtape, Cyberspace and Reds has, as one Facebook friend put it, ‘pissed all over the last two albums’. He is, on the whole, right. This is a standout track, with Kano, with a big fat wobbly bassline in the background and typical Streets-synths. I wasn’t mourning his demise as much as some fans admitedly, but after hearing this, I am to quite a large extent.

And that’s that. Enjoy! And fear not, I will post some more conventional indie soon!

Oops

To be honest I’m not even sure if there’s any point writing this. You probably know all these tracks already, but for some reason I didn’t.. God knows why. But I am going to write this, because there’s things to be said for them, and you might have been like me, in not so blissful ignorance.

Snoop Dogg – Who Am I (What’s My Name)

Yup, Snoop Dogg’s on my blog. Hell yeah. Now I’m not going to try and do any of the shizzle izzle type stuff, because that’s best left to the man himself, but let it be said that he is doubtlessly one of the coolest individuals on the planet. This is one of his earlier tracks, and it’s really really good. Before you ask, yes I am aware of Snoop Dogg and I have been since I was about 12, but it’s only recently I’ve actually bothered to look at any of the older stuff. Here’s my reward.

Best Coast – When I’m With You

Best Coast are certainly a band who I’d describe as being on the periphery of my music taste – suffice to say I’d heard of them without hearing them. If you’d pushed me I would have labelled them in the surf-rock movement, which I think is pretty much right, but what I hadn’t accounted for is quite how good they are. This track reminds me of Texas in many ways, there’s certainly something of Sharleen Spiteri in Bethany Cosentino’s lazy drawl (?) on this one..

Best Coast – Boyfriend (Ghostwaves Edit)

This track had even managed to infiltrate my iTunes library and yet had still managed to slip under the radar. I’m quite annoyed that I’ve been ignoring this for the best part of four months – it’s definitely worthy of attention. It’s an interesting amalgamation of genres – some bits sound like witch house, some sound like surf rock, some sound like chillwave and others sound like plain old house. What a mix of vogueness – except it’s not doing it to sound vogue, it’s doing it to sound good, and by heck, it works!

Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks

I recognised this but had no idea what it is. It was sampled in rather good style by D-Sisive, catch up here. Anyway, it’s built around a very good piano riff. Not sure that is the word really.. anyhow, at times it manages to sound a little bit about Still D.R.E. – is higher praise possible?

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti –  Round and Round (Kill Them With Colour Remix)

Now I have to confess to not having heard the original so it’s hard to write a proper comment about this remix, but what I like is the contrast between the airy pianos, and the hard powerful synths. It’s manages to be mellow while being menacing which is pretty odd to hear but it sounds pretty cool in a kind of ‘far out dude’ way..

White Sea – Ladykiller (Gigamesh Remix)

A real last minute addition is this remix from Gigamesh. It’s literally just popped up in my Soundcloud dashboard, and it being by Gigamesh I had to give it a play before hitting the publish button on this one.. and what do you know, I’m glad I did. In the same way that DiscoTech and his solo work effortlessly combine the different strands of house, switching between them throughout the song, Gigamesh does it again here, to create this track. It sounds as though it’s constantly building up to something, I can imagine this would be a good one to hit the empty freeway with at night.

We Haven’t Forgotten You Hip Hop!

Hip Hop isn’t a genre I dedicate a lot of my time to, I’d have to say my taste is for what some people might call Backpacker hip hop. I do like a bit occasionally, and I thought I’d share a few recent favourites here, they’re pretty cool I think. They all sound like 90’s rap anyway, I have to say I think the genre may be the only genre of music to have actually regressed since the nineties, a decade for which the less said the better adage is true.

MellowHype – Loco

What to say about this one. The Guardian described it as a meeting of Brian Eno and Wu-Tang. That sounds about right, but the lyrical content is enough to make even Wu-Tang flinch. Openly talking and joking about rape and crystal meth, these guys are being hotly tipped for the future anyway. One of them is 15 year old Earl Sweatshirt, whose recent video for Earl caused waves across the interwebs. Enough of the bad points however, this track contrary to it’s name is not Loco, it is in fact chilled stoner rap.

Shad – Rose Garden

UK readers should get onto iTunes for this one – they’re giving it away as their free single of the week, and it’s one of the best in ages. Finally an artist actually worth listening to. That artist is Shad, a Canadian rapper who has been compared to both Common and k-os. High praise indeed, but deserved without a doubt.

The Lytics – Big City Sound Girl

Emotional hip hop isn’t something that most people, myself included, are that familiar with. That’s not to say it’s not out there, just to say it’s not particularly prominent. However, this track from the Lytics sees four guys pouring their hearts out for a lost girl. If I was female, I might even describe such a track as ‘sweet’ or ‘cute’. Now that’s not something that can be often said of hip hop.

D-Sisive – I Love a Girl (GrizzlyBear Hijacked)

Following on from the last track is another example of thoughtful hip hop. This one’s really good, and has some great lines from D-Sisive. I’m not going to quote them because it always pisses me off when blogs do that, but listen and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

New Breed

I’ve nominally put this track in the ‘hip hop’ category because I’m not quite sure where else to put it. An eclectic mix of garage, emceeing and a whole bunch of other stuff, this track from Sheffield wizz-kid (literally, he’s only 18)  Checan falls nicely in the middle of heavy bass music – the likes of bassline – and whatever the hell we call the music that Jamie xx is putting out. I guess you’d say it’s roughly at the same place as post dubstep, neo soul type sound being put out by the likes of Jamie Woon but drawing more heavily on the garage influenced aspects rather than the soul aspects.

Checan – New Breed (Featuring Drs)

The space in the track is excellent – and it’s good to hear a northern UK vocalist for once. It’s been championed on Radio 1 by garage doyen (and Compromise favourite) Toddla T. This track’s been pretty hard to pigeonhole – I think I’ve had a fair crack – albeit in a slightly more roundabout way than normal. Indeed – it’s not normal Compromise fodder, but I felt it was too good to pass. Check it out and support this up-and-coming artist by purchasing the track on iTunes. It is his debut after all…

 

Soundcloud Remixes

In my writings for other blogs, I’ve done a feature rounding up the best tracks that I’ve ‘discovered’ on Soundcloud. If you don’t know it, I really urge you to check it out! My picks are below, and I’ve decided to focus specifically on remixes this time around.

After the success of yesterday’s article on Rostam Batmanglij, I think it’s reasonable to say that the readership are quite big Vampire Weekend fans, and with this in mind I’ve got you two remixes of theirs! Before I share them with you, is it just me who feels that Vampire Weekend are a criminally under remixed band? I mean their tracks are cut up pretty much perfectly for mixing, with hundreds of little drops waiting to happen, and so much to play with and most crucially of all it sounds good to start with, so it’s hard to go wrong!

Enough of my ranting anyway, here the tracks are.

Vampire Weekend – Ottoman (Betatraxx Remix)

The first track is the Betatraxx remix of Ottoman, from the eponymous debut album Vampire Weekend. It’s interesting to hear a more electro take on Vampire Weekend, maybe this is what it would sound like if they took more of the direction Discovery do?

Nova – Summertime Thoughts

Secondly is something that works really well, and that doesn’t surprise me. Again, I think more people should sample them. Nova does it here, and my God, it works!

Klaxons – Flashover (Capt & Cooked Remix)

Next is something which is quite complicated for me. Like, I feel like I should really like this track, it ticks all the boxes of what I would normally like, it’s a remix of Klaxons, one of my favorite bands, yet something just isn’t quite there. It’s still a solid track, I do really like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the gold-dust it feels like it should be for me.

Louis Armstrong – Smile (Anto Remix)

Louis Armstrong, in my opinion has probably got the greatest voice of all time, and We Have All the Time In The World is one of the greatest songs ever. Period. Well, Smile’s another classic he’s responsible for, and Anto has taken it and stylishly made it suitable for a contemporary audience – not that the original isn’t or anything.

Prokofiev – Dance of the Knights (Tremour Remix)

On the subject of modernising a classic, Tremour has remixed this menacing masterpiece into something more modern by adding drums in. It sounds like something you might hear on an advert for a new BMW – pretty lopsided praise, but praise nonetheless.

Zero One – Santander Ad Remix

Dubstep is, in my opinion, one of music’s worst ever fads, something to be avoided like the plague. However, I do have some time for ‘liquid’ the side of the genre that’s fairly ‘filth’ free. However, this Zero One remix is worth listening to, it’s very atmospheric and doesn’t assault the ears in the way that I find most dubstep does.

Chemical Brothers – Another World (Algeronics Remix)

My final track is a remix from Algeronics, one of the most underrated producers/remixers out there. If you don’t believe me, play this track. If you still don’t believe me after that, we need to have words…