By now you’ve probably heard the Major Lazer/ Nina Sky/ Ricky Blaze ‘09 delight “Keep It Goin’ Louder” re-spun a number of wildly different ways, but have you ever considered how good it might sound when re-fashioned with a ’50’s pop Phil Spector/ girl group twist?
That’s the vibe Vancouver remixer DJ Kutcorners goes for, and awesomely nails, on this ‘Surfs Up’ revamp, which marries Blaze and Sky’s already blissed out vocals with a clap-happy and twinkling chimes-adorned Wall of Sound groove that’ll have you wishing you had some kind of sock-hop-themed event to attend.
Summer may be months away in reality, but it definitely doesn’t seem that way when the feel-good buoyancy of First Rate People’s “Girls’ Night” is spilling through your speakers.
Here, the Ontario-based seven-piece piece together a fetching swirl of indie rock, R&B and bedroom-pop style stamps, the song’s encircling male and female leads at times feeling like two different songs being mashed together in perfect harmony.
We’re not particularly clear what the two singers are going on about (something about sending postcards and crashing an all-female outing), but honestly we could care less, because what is fully understood, is that by the time this two-and-a-half minute tune has faded out on a sunny high of chirpy guitars and that crunchy, hip hop-esque drum track, we’re immediately hit with the uncontrollable need to hit “replay” so that we could be immersed in it’s catchy goodness all over again.
Expect a full-length debut from FRP sometime later this year.
In record time, Rihanna’s underwhelming “comeback” single “Russian Roulette” has already spawned a remix. And to be honest, if we had heard this version, featuring a “killer” (heh) intro sixteen from Kardinal Offishall, first, we would have had better things to say about the record initially.
“Russian roulette/ My name’s written on your bullet/ Hollow points pointing at your heart/ Gwan, pull it!” the Canadian emcee opens, his voice adding an exciting new layer of menace to the track’s other ominous goings-on, and, like magic, instantly upgrading the track from so-so likable to a hot new favorite (which is quite a feat seeing as though we would have probably had the opposite reaction if Jay-Z’s portion on “Umbrella” hadn’t arrived until a few days after that record premiered, so bravo KO!!).
If radio attaches itself to this take, we definitely won’t mind having to hear it’s joy-sapping doom-and-gloom spew from our speakers over and over again.
Usually we can expect R&B remix kings R. Kelly or Trey Songz to answer back “kick him to the curb” ladies anthems, but on this neat flip-side perspective of Chrisette Michele’s sublime “Epiphany”, we get a refreshing new entry in the oft-entertaining “battle of the sexes” mixtape game via newcomer Canadian emcee Erik Flowchild who’s found here pointing the finger back Michele’s way as the true blame for their romance’s deterioration.
“Every time I’m home you be steadily accusing me/ Verbally abusing me/ But you don’t even know the half,” Flowchild opens, kicking off a slightly Auto-Tuned annoyed rant about how he’s up to here with all of her on-going paranoia concerning what he’s up to when he’s not around (“It’s not necessary for you to be on my cell phone/ Baby what the hell for…?”).
And while it’s not easy to completely take Erik’s side when his best defense is that she should stop listening to the “lies” of a not-so-best friend who’s only jealous because she can’t have him for herself, the cold-ish way he threatens to send her back to single-dom (“So don’t be my girl then,” he simply shrugs) definitely has us hoping that Michele is hitting the studio right this minute to cook up a sassy-classy response.
From Flowchild’s forthcoming mixtape, Delivery Boy.
Like us, you’ve likely spent the past 24 hours re-familiarizing yourself with the rich career-long catalogue of MJ, probably in hopes of capturing some type of alleviation to the pain and disorientation brought about by this week’s tragic loss.
As proven so many times in the past, there’s no greater comfort like a journey through the music that soundtracked your yester-years to help get through the hard times of today.
Toronto singer/ producer Slakah The Beatchild sort of taps into that vibe on his “Enjoy Ya Self”, a neo-soul-baked satisfier from his acclaimed Soul Movement Vol. 1 debut that rewinds the clock to bask in the old-school pleasures of Marvin and Stevie and early-90’s urban staples like A Tribe Called Quest and SWV.
“We need to take it back/ Cause nowadays there’s so much violence/ That feel-good real good vibe is gone/ And it’s so hard to find it,” Slakah preaches, his laidback tone the perfect compliment to the track’s feel-good, house party-ready impression.
In response, all we have to say is “Amen”.
Check out the video below, followed by downloads of both the original and the Drake-featured remix.
Submitted for, and apparently denied entrance on, MSTRKRFT’s newest release, Fist of God, this alternate version of “So Deep” sees the Candian electro unit hooked up with our favorite on-the-rise pop star of the past year, Colin Munroe, and while we admit to being fans of the album version’s featured guest Jahmal (and all of his Terence Trent D’Arby/ Lenny Kravitz-soundalike-isms), we’re equally digging the way Mr. Munroe has managed to weave in his solid pop smarts amongst KRFT’s dizzying dancefloor rave-up.
Even though “Love Sex Magic” has enjoyed time in the Hot 100 Top 10, making it Ciara’s first single to peak that high since 2006’s “Oh”, the original track doesn’t seem like it will have the legs to become the monster summer go-to it was most likely designed to be.
Now, an extended after-life in the remix realm? That just may be the record’s saving grace as it seems like every week some re-tweaked version of the tune is making it’s Web premiere.
The latest remix to get our bums a-wigglin’ comes via Canada’s Skratch Bastid, who matches Ciara & JT’s sexcapades up perfectly with the sketelal White-boy funk of Laid Back’s club staple “White Horse” and Art of Noise’s bump & grind anthem “Moments of Love”.
While we won’t claim to be Animal Collective experts here, we will say that we’ve enjoyed plenty of private celebratory moments (read: goofy, hopping-around-the-house-like-a-damn-fool sessions) over the past several months with the band’s festive Merriweather album closer “Brother Sport” spinning it’s merry charms in the background.
Anyone who has ever heard it definitely understands it’s “pick me up” appeal and maybe even, like us, imagines skipping jubilantly through some Disney-esque fantasy land, where the trees are super-sized lollipops and cartoon birds flit around gleefully, every time it’s played.
No? Just us?
Well, wherever your mind chooses to float once this lengthy anthem of tribal joy noise and tender sibling support hits the speakers, enjoy this nice lil’ club-aimed re-tinkering of the cut helmed by Vancouver DJ Tyler Fedchuk of the Radiozero/ Far Away gang.
A sprinkling of Chic-y glitter all over the then-Santogold’s ridiculously lovable dub daydream “Shove It” would seem to be needless (God knows we’ve heard this non-single favorite made over enough different ways), but Canadian DJ/ producer Grandtheft’s disco treatment ultimately pushes this version near the top of the “Shove It” remix heap, it’s festive swirl providing a surprisingly effective companion to Santi and Spank’s vocal contributions and making the record an even bigger club anthem.
Continuing the Ms. White love, check out this mash-up of Major Lazer’s “Hold The Line” over Soulja Boy’s still-fire “Turn My Swag On” beat (courtesy of Philly’s Emynd) below:
The seemingly disparate musical universes of MSTRKRFT and John Legend meshed to surprisingly great effect last fall when the Canadian electro duo serviced the ever-wanting dance floor brethren with their remix of Legend’s “Green Light”, unleashing this killer assault of strobe light sonics and neo-soul man lust.
On “Heartbreaker”, the two forces come together again and the results turn out even better than their first go-round as collaborators.
What makes “Heartbreaker” so superior? Firstly, because MSTRKRFT were smart enough to give John’s favorite instrument (the piano, derrruh) a prominent place in the tune’s addictive tromp of a mix, establishing a more organic connection between the two.
But secondly, and most importantly, it’s simply an overall worthier entry, creating this nice juxtaposition between their mechanized production tricks and Legend’s somber chronicle of a once-promising relationship that hit the skids, leaving him shattered as he watches his ex-lover finding a brand new source of happiness in the arms of another man.
From MSTRKRFT’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Fist of God, which also sees the duo chummying it up alongside the likes of E-40, Ghostface Killah and…once-hot-but-sadly-now-not R&B vixen Lil’ Mo!?!? (Now THAT’S a collaboration we find very enticing!!!).
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
By now you’ve probably heard the Major Lazer/ Nina Sky/ Ricky Blaze ‘09 delight “Keep It Goin’ Louder” re-spun a number of wildly different ways, but have you ever considered how good it might sound when re-fashioned with a ’50’s pop Phil Spector/ girl group twist?
Well damn, that was fast. 
Usually we can expect R&B remix kings R. Kelly or Trey Songz to answer back “kick him to the curb” ladies anthems, but on this neat flip-side perspective of Chrisette Michele’s sublime 
Like us, you’ve likely spent the past 24 hours re-familiarizing yourself with the rich career-long catalogue of MJ, probably in hopes of capturing some type of alleviation to the pain and disorientation brought about by this week’s tragic loss.
Submitted for, and apparently denied entrance on, 
Even though 
While we won’t claim to be 
The seemingly disparate musical universes of
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