No. 5

"There are only two truly infinite things: the universe and stupidity. And I am unsure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

MP3: Papier Tigre - Concrete Residential (Minitel Rose Remix) YSI/Zshare
MP3: Dizzee Rascal - Dance Wiv Me (Feat. Calvin Harris) YSI/Zshare
MP3: DJ Mehdi - Pocket Piano (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix) YSI/Zshare
MP3: Ben Mono - Untitled YSI/Zshare
MP3: Enter Shikari - Jonny Sniper (Ocelot Remix) YSI/Zshare
MP3: Lucky Elephant - Edgar YSI/Zshare
MP3: Rage Against The Machine - Renegades Of Funk (Crystal Method Remix) YSI/Zshare

No. 4

I wouldn't watch the Eurovision Song Contest if it weren't for Terry Wogan. His dry wit and realisation that the competition is nothing more than a political points scoring contest that has little to do with music makes for excellent viewing. But, alas, he's considering giving up the post of Mr Eurovision. This after Britain came last...again...and Russia came first...suspiciously. Tel! Please reconsider!

The video is for the Ortzroka track. Excellent vid.

MP3: Madonna - 4 Minutes (Dmerit Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: The Sugar Oaks - Girl On Girl DOWNLOAD
MP3: Muse - Knights Of Cydonia (Ocelot Edit) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Purple Crush - Physical Attraction (Madonna Cover) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Oldschoolreunion - LOVEstory DOWNLOAD
MP3: Ortzroka - Planets DOWNLOAD
MP3: P Diddy - Bad Boy For Life (La Mode's Bad Mother Fuckers Fuck Up) DOWNLOAD

Usher - Love In The Club (MSTRKRFT Remix)

That's the piano breakdown from Eric Clapton's Layla, right?

MP3: Usher - Love In This Club (MSTRKRFT Remix) (Myspace Rip) (Removed - See Below)

This remix will be removed after 75 downloads.

No. 1

Saw MSTRKRFT last Monday. Phone broke. All photo's and video's lost. Pissed off.

MP3: Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Russ Chimes Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Lil Wayne - Fireman (Loud Pipes Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Digitalism - Pogo (Franco B Vocal Edit) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Knightlife - All Systems DOWNLOAD
MP3: Adam Kesher - Ladies Loathing And Laughter DOWNLOAD
MP3: The Black Ghosts - Repetition Kills You (Phones Remix) Removed As Per Label Request
MP3: Monsieur Le Comte - Harder From Outer Space (Daft Punk Vs Babylon Zoo) DOWNLOAD

Zuckr DJ's

After checking out AM.FM.PM's superb Zuckr DJ recommendation, I thought it be a good idea to jump on this particular musical bandwagon. I'd heard that breaks were big in Australia right now so it's nice to hear some music backing up such claims, especially in the form of bouncy remixes as such:

MP3: Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar (Zuckr DJ's Scssrs Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: The Police - Roxanne (Zuckr DJ's Scssrs Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Ice Cube - You Can Do It (Zuckr DJ's Remix) DOWNLOAD

Couldn't find a picture to suit the post hence the Star Guitar Video. S'all good.

Woop, Woop!

After a wait of about a month and a half, I finally received my exam results. I passed, and can now go forth, unabated, into my second year. Only two years until I'm a fully qualified mental health nurse. Fuck you world!!!

MP3: Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire DOWNLOAD
MP3: The Ting Tings - Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Plump DJs - System Addict (Removed As Per Label Request)
MP3: W.A.L.E. - W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E DOWNLOAD
MP3: Inner City - Big Fun (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Feist - It's Time Ft. Kanye West DOWNLOAD
MP3: Jupiter One - Countdown (LA Riots Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Klaxons - Golden Skans (David E Suger Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Lazaro Casanova - Back To The Future DOWNLOAD
MP3: Melinda Jackson - Fall In Love (Van She Tech Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Munk - Disco Clown (Digitalism Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Nid & Sancy - M.U.S.I.C. (Symbol One Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Plastic Operator - Home 0207 (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix) DOWNLOAD

Update: Just been informed that the Feist track actually features Twista not Kanye. Humblest of Apologies.

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Pogo (Franco B Remix)

Texas. Home to Rodeo, fundamentalist Christians and the Bush dynasty, all of whom pale in to insignificance when compared to the Pogo remix produced by Texan homie, Franco B. A rather bold statement, maybe, but I could have cried when I first head this, and probably would have if I wasn't so emotionally blunted from fatigue.

Crazily enough, I wasn't the only one asking for the track. Turns out that the Digitalism boys themselves have been equally impressed with Franco's expansive take on their signature tune.

Where do you go from here? Well, either head over to Franco's Myspace page for further downloads or subscribe to his Youtube account for some more excellent remixes.

MP3: Digitalism - Pogo (Franco B Remix) DOWNLOAD

MP3: Late Guest At The Party - We Were Young (Franco B Remix) DOWNLOAD

Cold Act Ill

We've all done it. Downloaded tracks willy-nilly from our most trusted of audioblogs (CTA included of course) and never actually got round to listening to what we've pulled from the site. Aside for the unnecessary bandwidth wastage and prehaps contributing to the increasing cheapness of music, there's always the potential that we've missing out on some great music.

Classixx Cold Act Ill is one such track. Laying dormant on my ipod for what must have been a month, I finally stumbled across it (again) while loitering in a traffic jam. Now, pressing that little play button doesn't seem much but on this occasion a full scale phonic assault was unleashed on my ears. A chunky motorcycle bassline wrapped around a fabulous Roxanne Shante vocal hook made for a deliciously infectious slice of electro genius that warrented a press of the repeat button (very rare).

Having already featured on esteemed blogs like Ohh! Crapp, Discobelle and Electronic Crack, it shan't be long before Cold Act Ill is cemented into the consciousness of all but the proverbial cave dweller.

"We came here tonight to get started. Cold Act Ill or get retarded"

MP3: Classixx - Cold Act Ill (Removed As Per Artist Request)

MP3: Roxanne Shante - Def Fresh Crew (Feat. Biz Markie) DOWLOAD

Check out Ohh! Crapp for a great Classixx interview.
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Mat Payne Mixtape

Mat Payne's little mixtape for Get Werid Turn Pro was an absolute knockout. Well, the boy has kindly done one for Check The Availability.

If you like what you hear, you can catch Mat at Saki, Manchester, for the M.I.A. after show party.

Oh, and I also have it on good authority that Mat will hopefully be releasing some of his own production work sometime in the new year.

Fil OK - Wink Wink (Blende Remix)
Junkie XL ft. Lauren Rocket - More (D.I.M. Pop Em All Dub Rework)
Duke Dumont - When I Hear Mu'Sic
D.I.M. - Is you (Brodinski Remix)
Klaxons - Gravitys Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
Brodnski - Bad Runner
Armand Van Helden - Je Taime (Switch Remix)
Krafty Kuts And Tim Deluxe - Bass Phenomenon (Josh David And Reid Speed Remix)
Alter Ego - Why Not!? (Joakim Remix)
Deadmau5 - Stereo Fidelity
Laidback Luke - We Rock Da House
Devil's Gun - Gold Dust (Boy 8 Bit remix)
Dusty Kid - The Riot
Ocelot - Lo Sforzo (Loud Pipes Remix)
Hot Chip - Ready for the floor (Soulwax dub)

MP3: Mat Payne - Exclusive CTA Mixtape DOWNLOAD

BONUS: MP3: Chromeo - Needy Girl (Lifelike Remix) DOWNLOAD

Nude Remixed

As soon as I saw this in my mailbox, I knew that everyone and their mother had already posted it. I pleaded with myself not to join them, if not for that reason, then simply for the fact that I hate that self-serving pillock, Thom Yorke and his sanctimonious band. But hey, it's actually a pretty good record, so I guess it'd be rude not to put it up.









MP3: Radiohead - Nude (Amplive Remix) DOWNLOAD

Graduation: Samples

I think there's a general consensus about town, that Kanye West's latest album, Graduation, is consistent with the high caliber of previous efforts, College Dropout and Late Registration. Although, (in my humble opinion of course) it sags a little in the middle, I am in overall agreement with the prevailing reaction. But look, we all know that Kanye's work relies heavily on samples (not that I'm complaining like), so here's a comprehensive list of tracks used to make Graduation. Please note the ironic lyrics of Labi Siffre's My Song: "This is my song and no one can take it away"...'cept Kanye mate.

MP3: Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight DOWNLOAD
Used In: Good Morning
MP3: Steely Dan - Kid Charlemagne DOWNLOAD
Used In: Champion
MP3: Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger DOWNLOAD
Used In: Stronger
MP3: Labi Siffre - My Song DOWNLOAD
Used In: I Wonder
MP3: Michael Jackson - PYT (Pretty Young Thing DOWNLOAD
Used In: Good Life
MP3: Mountain - Long Red DOWNLOAD
Used In: Barry Bonds and The Glory
MP3: Can - Sin Swan Song DOWNLOAD
Used In: Drunk And Hot Girls
MP3: Public Enemy - Bring The Noise DOWNLOAD
Used In: Everything I Am
MP3: Prince Phillip Mitchell - If We Can't Be Lovers DOWNLOAD
Used In: Everything I Am
MP3 Laura Nyro - Save The Country DOWNLOAD
Used In: The Glory
MP3: U-Roy - Wake The Town DOWNLOAD
Used In: Good Night
MP3: Super Cat - Nuff Man A Dead DOWNLOAD
Used In: Good Night

BONUS: MP3: DJ Rut - Diamonds 4 Life DOWNLOAD

Big thanks to Milk Crate Breaks for providing me with these tunes. Get yourself over there and give them a holla.
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Gutted

Imagine my excitement when scrolling through the Hype Machine's Popular list I came across a blog post containing a Justice remix of When The Sun Goes Down by little known indie band, the Arctic Monkeys. Alas, we (I say we as a hell of a lot of folks checked this track out) were collectively duped by the offending blog, Pretty Much Amazing, as the initial excitement quickly faded after the first 30 seconds of listening revealed the remix to be nothing more than a disappointing mash-up bearing little resemblance to the Frenchies trademark sound. Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining as they say as I thought it'd be a worthwhile exercise to breakdown the track, revealing some great music of old. Here goes:

MP3: The Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Urban Shakedown - Some Justice DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Liquid - Sweet Harmony DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out DOWNLOAD/Zshare

The Urban Shakedown and Liquid tracks themselves contain samples from this CeCe Rogers track from 1987:

MP3: CeCe Rogers - Someday DOWNLOAD/Zshare

...aaaand in case you missed the original track posted on Pretty Much Amazing:

MP3: Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down ('Justice' Remix) DOWNLOAD/Zshare

The Whip

Hmmm, I was frankly agog to find that Salford's The Whip were strangely omitted from the line-up at Chibuku last Saturday. Fortunately, all was not lost, as Japanese DMC finalist DJ Kentaro and one half of Brighton's Evil Nine more than made up for their absence.


MP3: Evil Nine - Crooked Ft. Aesop Rock (Myspace Rip) DOWNLOAD
MP3: The Whip - Trash DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: The Whip - Divebomb (Kitsune Edit) DOWNLOAD

iwhack

There's no doubting that Steve Jobs and crew are true innovators of their field, but has anyone else noticed that their products are always mired with restrictive caveats that do nothing except hinder the enjoyment of often near perfect products. Case in point: the new iphone, due to arrive in the U.K. on 9Th November.

• I thought the deal was that if you buy a phone rather than have the network subsidise it with a contract, then not only do you own the phone, you also get to decide which provider you use. Not so with the iphone; Apple dictate the provider.

• Apple will not allow you to customise your ring tone, unless it's bought from the itunes music store of course. One of the most basic characteristics of a modern day mobile simply cast aside so we can all watch Steve (yes, I'm on first name terms) laugh all the way to the bank.

• The use of the word 'unlimited' with regards to the data package is obviously a misrepresentation of the truth when you notice that there's a 'Fair Usage Policy' involved.

• Again, using the word 'unlimited' when describing access to Cloud's Wi-Fi hotspots is code for 60 hours per month.
  

• No 3G = No rapid downloads of YouTube videos outside those wireless hotspots
  

Having said all this, if you happen to call me in 6 months time, we'll no doubt be conversing through the medium of the iphone. I have the integrity of a Gnat.

Thanks to G2 for the info.

MP3: Muallem - New Thunder (Feat. Beans) DOWNLOAD/Zshare

Music On Mass

Being a mental health nursing student can really suck when trying to balance 'real life' responsibilities, such as writing essays on the inner workings of a multi-disciplinary mental health team, and 'second life' (excuse the pun) obligations, like continually updating a blog such as this. The solution: dump the writing and just post a load of songs you really love, minus the waffle!!!

MP3: Digitalism - Pogo (NT89 Edit) DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: The White Stripes - Hardest Button To Button (Infix Remix) DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Resident Anti-Hero - Mass Media Mind Murder DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Kanye West - Stronger (Phantom Sky Remix) DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Calvin Harris - Colours (DFS Advert) DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Coldcut - Walk A Mile In My Shoes (O2 Advert) DOWNLOAD/Zshare

This one's a bit special. You may remember a Toyota Auris advert that was being aired in the UK a few months back. The 'soundtrack' to the comercial really struck me and after much frantic searching, I found the composer, a certain Nick Payne of The Works Music, a "London based music and sound design production company". The composer has no plans to release the track as now the ad is off air, there is "no vehicle for promotion". So here I am, creating something of a vehicle. Go Download!

MP3: Nick Payne - Toyota Auris (Removed As Per Artsist Request)

Psychiatry = Pseudoscience?

Sorry to get all serious on yo' ass but I think this is a topic worth investigating...plus an excuse to post a rad Kidz In The Hall track. This clip is taken from the programme 'The Trap' made by British documentary maker Adam Curtis. Thanks to the guys at These Rocks Pop for the song. Oh and if anyone can tell me the tune at the beginning of this video it'd be greatly appreciated.

MP3: Kidz In The Hall - Ritalin DOWNLOAD/Zshare

Quote Of My Life Time

"I love the internet because now we have rappers who used to be gangsters and thugs telling us not to download music because it's stealing." Daniel Tosh...Genius!


MP3: Jay-Z - 99 Problems (Beirut Remix) DOWNLOAD / Zshare

Phantom Sky

Blimey, it's hardly been 24 hours since my last post and yet here I am, plonked in front of my computer with a quintessentially English cup of tea (no saucer, mind) and an eagerness to write about music that excites me.

I'm not one of those bloggers who post daily, I'm more of the 'as and when' sort. However, when trawling through the musical quagmire that is myspace, I happened across an artist whose music rallied me into action: Phantom Sky. A native of Dusseldorf, Germany and donning a Karl Ruprecht Kroenen style mask, (which frankly scares the bejezus outta me) Phantom Sky could easily be mistaken for a French citizen if one was to base nationality on musical output. Comparisons to French musical innovators such as Daft Punk and Cassius are perhaps unavoidable yet Phantom Sky adds traces of the old skool into the blend allowing the listener to differentiate his sound from his Champagne quaffing counterparts. One to be watched.

MP3: Phantom Sky - Real House DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Phantom Sky - Electric-Dance DOWNLOAD/Zshare
BONUS: Kanye West - Stronger (Phantom Sky Remix) DOWNLOAD/Zshare

Stronger...Remixed

In light of the recent release of Kanye's Stronger, here are a couple of remixes that were sent to me a while back. To be honest, I was kind of expecting it to be the new D.A.N.C.E. You know, endless remixes. However, I only got two to offer you.

I Particularly like Diplo's effort, with its repetitive vocal hook and trademark beats. That said, (and I know I'm only a lowly blogger) I think it's wrongly named. There's nothing to suggest that it's a remix of Stronger, more a re-working of its mother track, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Anyway, I'm just nitpicking.

You may also have noticed a reemergence of the aforementioned Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger on the blogging circuit. This, I suspect, has much to do with Kanye putting his weight behind the track. So as not to miss the bandwagon you'll be happy to see I've posted a fine remix for your listening pleasure.

MP3: Kanye West - Stronger (Diplo's Work Is Never Over) MP3 DOWNLOAD
MP3: Kanye West - Stronger (Mano X Remix) MP3 DOWNLOAD
MP3: Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Dirty Disco Youth) DOWNLOAD
BONUS: MP3: Kanye West - Diamonds (Ratatat Remix) MP3 DOWNLOAD

The E.L.F.

I think I can claim this to be something of an 'exclusive', at least in terms of UK blogging. While away, up in the in the North East of England, I got sent an Mp3 from Australian group, The E.L.F. I use the term group in the loosest sense, since it's the lone project of Sydney based Darren 'Daz' Cross, who so happens to be the guitarist/vocalist from Gerling.

As I said to Darren, I've seem to have developed an obsessed with Australian music. With the likes of Cut Copy, Van She (Tech) and Riot In Belgium consistently releasing high quality tracks, many are turning away from traditional music hot spots like America and seeing a new meaning to the term 'world music'.

The E.L.F. sits quite comfortably within this vanguard of Australian music, however takes a very different approach than the likes of Van She et al who've developed their sound around the current 80's reverberation. Instead, and without wishing to over analyse, The E.L.F. sound like the love child of Dee-Lite and Joe Cocker. An amalgam of mid 90's underground pop genius (if that isn't to much a contradiction in terms) and cool 60/70's ambiance. Perfect for those who enjoy fine music on oppressively hot summer days.

Visit The E.L.F.'s myspace for some nice mash-ups.

MP3: The E.L.F. - Cockroaches MP3 DOWNLOAD