Found this sitting in my inbox this morning. Read the subject line and was instantly intrigued. One of my favorite Beatles’ songs, another remix by Voodoo Farm, and a bit of dubstep must lead to a solid mix, right?
Well overall, I enjoyed it. The intro caught me and the early drop fit perfectly. The one thing that I was missing personally was the transition that exists naturally in “A Day In The Life.”
Instead of a remix, I feel like this is more a brand new song that just samples The Beatles.
Just got this sent to me and I’m digging it. The original the “Look at me Now” always gets my head bobbing a little bit and I love rapping along to it, but I never really want to dance. Thanks to Chase Apollo, I now have a reason to dance to the song.
It’s got a solid groove and just makes the song fun. Hell, I’ll even go so far as to say that it makes the hook good. Ok, that’s too far. It doesn’t make the hook good, but at least bearable.
If you look at the history of BTV, there are some artists you see pop up over and over again. I’m not talking about Katy Perry, either. I mean DJ Panic City. I’m no stranger to his work in the remix world over the past couple years. And every time he sends me something, I’m always thoroughly impressed. This time is no different.
Panic City knows his audience for his remixes and caters directly to them. He takes those popular songs and makes them club-ready with very mixable beginnings and ends. This time he takes Katy Perry for a mix through the club scene for a third time. Or at least a third that I can remember. From his work with Megaman on Teenage Dream and E.T. to this, Katy is sure getting her go around in the clubs.
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Bridging The Verse is no stranger to the music of Mochi Beats. From posting quite a few of his mashups to co-hosting the contest for Mochi Beat’s last EP, I’ve heard my fair share of his work. Now, I get to hear something new. Although still staying true to his mashup roots, this definitely falls in the remix category. Mochi Beats takes Ellie Goulding’s “Under The Sheets” and verses from Three 6 Mafia’s “Keep My Name Out Yo Mouth.” But the thing that makes it different is that he’s done all his own music production and made it a dance-worthy.
I’m digging the production and Ellie, but I’m a bit biased against Three 6 at times. They are a very hit or miss group for me. That being said, the first time they’re in the song at the start is great. Then at 1:32, I have trouble with that verse. It has nothing to do with Mochi Beat’s placement. It fits great. It’s just that that verse falls into the “miss” category for me with Three 6.
Of course that was only after my first listen. Now that I’ve heard it 4-5 times, I actually really like the whole thing, even Three 6 Mafia. It’s a really strong remix and blends a unique flavor of artists.
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**Editor’s Note: Another installment from BTV monthly writer, Jon.TheYellowDart. Enjoy
My dear sweet car Miles died today. He was 98,000.
In spite of my tears and labored breathing, I press on to bring you my monthly key-vomit. This time around, it’s every Art major’s favorite: Radiohead.
I must begin with a disclaimer.
THIS IS THE DISCLAIMER
I didn’t like Radiohead for a long time. This is because, much like with Pulp Fiction, Seinfeld, and Justin Bieber, Radiohead was recommended to me so hard that it couldn’t have possibly lived up to the hype. One plaid-clad friend of mine lived in Jonny Greenwood’s mouth for years and was convinced we’d all be better off jointly sheltered in his comforting maw. I respectfully disagreed.
The moral is, I didn’t give them a fair shot for a while. Once I did, I found that I liked nearly all of their radio-friendly unit shifters and a handful of the rest of their catalog. Did I think they were the Second Coming? Of course not; I don’t believe in fairytales.
Overall, in spite of myself, I liked them. I recently bought ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Hail to the Thief’ on vinyl, like any good hipster. Although, it turns out I actually wanted ‘Kid A,’ but my unfamiliarity with Radionomenclature left me with the wrong records. Still, I’m a fan of those two. Not every track, but enough to say: “Hey, if Radiohead comes on the radio (head), I won’t stab anything with anything else.”
So, to end the impossibly verbose disclaimer, I make many assumptions about Radiohead. They have a stupidly large following of uncomfortably devoted fans and I am not one of those. Therefore, when I say I think they were more this than that or less here than there, I probably don’t know what I’m talking about. At least not in the grand scheme of all that is Radiohead. But, for the stuff I’ve heard, I’m the best. I’m the best Radiohead reviewer in history for the 12ish songs I really like. And I’m going to act like those songs are completely representative of everything they’ve ever done. Fuck you, England.
REVIEWZORZ
In their super-secret offering ‘The King of Limbs,’ Thom ‘I have an extra H, but could use another eye’ Yorke and company do what they always do, sort of. I guess. I just told you I didn’t really follow them. Get away from me.
Initially, I planned on listening to this album for every waking moment until I could either no longer tolerate or no longer live without it. This plan, however, was derailed when I realized my attendance was required at the ‘Northumberland Thinks Blokes from Oxfordshire are Fags (and not just sticks)’ meeting. Can you believe they still have those? So instead, I just listened to it whenever I remembered I should. Which, coincidentally, was when I started writing this. Great review strategy.
I decided I would listen to it at least a few times and check in with my brain each time around. This way, it would have a chance to grow on me, much like the band and my penis had. After each listen, my brain would shoot a bunch of electricity around, I’d get distracted, make a Hot Pocket, something about dry cleaning, Big League Chew… There! Radiohead.
FIRST LISTEN
I began by listening to the album here:
Did I pay for the download when it came out? Yes.
Did I listen to it? Of course not. I hate money.
The album was open in a tab in my browser behind my text editor as I typed this sentence (and many of the others above). Right now, in fact, it’s somewhere in Track 3. Is this method fair to Radiohead? I don’t care. They can’t see me.
Ah, wait. Now the flash stopped working since I’m using Firefox in Fedora 13 and any multitasking in said configuration causes failures all around.
Waiting.
Okay, we’re back, albeit certainly at a different spot. I think.
Right away, what strikes me most is that this album feels more atmospheric and abstract than previous Radiohead stuff I’ve listened to. Perhaps it’s my lack of direct focus, but I’m getting far less intelligible Yorke than usual. By this point, there’s typically an audible ‘Jaaaaaan-your-E brings Aaaaypril shaaaws’ or something notable. Here, not yet.
The first track is called Bloom, YouTube tells me. Not ‘In Bloom’ by Nirvana, I discovered. More piano. Otherwise, identical.
The next track is ‘Morning Mr. Magpie.’ Stupid name. Everyone knows Mr. Magpie is dead and has no more mornings. Basically the rudest song ever.
Number 3 is ‘Little by Little,’ which is how it seems this album will be accepted by me. I can’t understand what Th Hom is saying. There! Got one.
“I’m such a tease and you’re such a flirt.” He’s right on that. It’s our constant goo-goo eyes.
The fourth track, ‘Feral,’ is entirely about cats. You can’t tell right away because the vocals are distorted. But trust me: cats.
Fivesies is called ‘Lotus Flower.’ This is the first “single” off of the album and has an accompanying video. In the video, Thomas gyrates like he’s trying to offend his skin. And that’s it. That’s the whole thing. Truly, the song is superior without the video making your groin all confused. Without the video, I can kind of pay attention to the lyrics. He says “lotus flowers,” and that’s like the name of the song.
Track 6 is called ‘Codex’ and is a musical interpretation of Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ Hah, no. That would be awful.
Here, I stopped listening and left work. Yes, I was doing this at work. I don’t have a good reason for not getting through the whole thing, but I’m not paid for reasoning.
Back to ‘Codex.’ Now many hours later. In fact:
FIRST-AND-A-HALF-LISTEN
There. Now, then.
Now out of the office and back at home. Makes no tangible difference to the experience of listening thus far, considering in each instance, I’m really just sitting in front of a computer screen while the link from above plays in the background. I resolve to give it a sincere listen soon, but I lie a lot.
Just did. Just lied. Not listening again. Just gonna start again tomorrow.
SECOND LISTEN
This time, I went with the noise-cancelling headphones, but still Internet distraction.
I noticed the lyrics more prominently this time around, without the office noise distractions and with the benefit of the the headphones. I didn’t really notice them enough to remember them, but they were totally there this time. Last time, I’m pretty sure it was just seizing.
Dammit.
I stopped listening again. For, like, a day. Okay. This time, for real.
SECOND-AND-A-HALF-LISTEN
‘Codex.’ For serious. Okay.
More piano and some electronic drums.
I must say, it ended before I realized. I think that’s a good thing. If nothing else, this album’s tracks blend incredibly well together.
The penultimate track is ‘Give Up the Ghost.’ It has a creepy Western feel of sorts. I like it right away. No easing in to this Prom Queen.
The last go ’round is known as ‘Seperator.’ I got to this one on my laptop with it’s shitty microphones while watching Daniel Tosh’s stand-up 2 days after I started this. I didn’t feel like making new sections every time I stopped listening. Just know, I didn’t even try. I’m a bad Radiohead listener.
Regardless, this song has some more vocals laden with effects. Stop it, Thom. I was fine with your nasally crooning without it echoing a dozen times at each syllable. I like the song as a whole though.
OVERALL IMPRESSION OR SOMETHING. I DON’T KNOW.
Since I technically finally listened the whole way through, I’ll weigh in some. Some reviews I read said people felt it was too “out there,” “used drum loops,” and “didn’t redefine the genre.” Yes, it’s out there. I like that. Yes, it uses drum loops. Every awful rap “song” does that too and we still keep 50 Cent fed. And I think the necessity to redefine an entire genre with each release is a pretty high bar to set for any one entity.
I can’t actually review a Radiohead album because if I like it, I don’t appreciate it deeply enough or for the right reasons. If I don’t like it, I don’t understand it and can’t grasp the enormity and depth of the offering. But this one’s okay. IT’S PRETTY GOOD I GUESS.
THIRD LISTEN
This time, I went with minimal distraction, lyrics in front of me, headphones on.
As expected, it grows with the more you know about it and the more attention you pay to it.
It still has what I feel is the quintessentially Radiohead vibe to it. Even without Thom Thumb’s voice, I think you would know who it was, and that always counts for something with me.
I plan to give a few more spins before reaching a final verdict.
LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN
Day 91.
Such a tease. I’ll dress like your niece. There’s a gateway in between; a pig in a cage. He talks in maths. M-m-m-maat-t-t-t-t-t-ths.
They are coming. The many fingered, the slithering, aching, yearning snakes of wrath, writhing from the earth. There is no use hiding. They can see through you; through us. We are nothing but food. Worms in their apples. We wait, bound to our tombs, lashing against restraints that pull flesh from bone. Nothing but pain awaits. The drums beat in the deep. Closer and closer. Echoes, pulsing to the very soul. The icy air sucks the breath from our lungs. Your lungs. You are alone. Alone. They are coming. They ar-
I just recently got XM Radio back in my car and oh how I’ve missed. This weekend Alt Nation is doing a “-10 weekend” where they’re playing all the biggest hits from the first decade of this century. Yesterday they played Young Folks from Peter, Bjorn, and John, and all I could think about was Kanye’s remix of it.
This song is a couple years old but still enjoyable.
As I was surfing the music blogosphere this past week, I came across a remix to Chris Brown’s song “Look At Me Now” that was posted by Confusion over at Pigeons and Planes. When I was reading the comments, I saw one said that the remix should be with Breezy, Busta, and Twista. Fuck Wayne.
Well in this case, your wish was my command. I chopped and screwed (chopped two mixes, screwed Wayned out of ‘em) Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” and inserted both Bus-a-bus and Twista into the same track. Talk about ridiculous flow! I’d like a word count for this track with these two guys together.
P.S. – Think Twista is going for the ironic hipster glasses or has really bad eyes?
Posted in remix, throwback on January 13th, 2011 by Kris.G
This past Tuesday I didn’t put up a post. It wasn’t that I forgot. I was just very uninspired that day for some reason. Then that night I received two remixes of classic songs by different artists. I figured I’d post them both today in lieu of my Two for Tuesday.
First up is Danny Dance. Danny’s been sending me his remixes for quite awhile but house music rarely intrigues me. It’s not that it’s bad by any means. I actually really like stuff he sends me in the realm of house music. It’s just that it’s not really a genre I usually enjoy. Well Danny definitely got me listening this time. He’s taken the Doobie Brothers classic and extended it a bit. I’ll be honest. I almost gave up at 2:00 because those 30 seconds drug on a little for me but after that, I really enjoyed what Danny Dance put together.
The other remix I’m posting today is from Amtrac. He’s taken The Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B” and definitely made is club-worthy. I think this song might be even more appropriate to end a set with that the obligatory “Closing Time.”
I actually never even heard of VV Brown until Hoodie Allen sampled her song “Shark in the Water” for his song “Swimming with Sharks.” Even after hearing that, I still didn’t really look into her any further. It wasn’t until I received a remix of one of her tracks today from Rieces Pieces. And I’m happy I listened!
VV’s sound is something like the past meets the present. She has so much soul and I love listening. Rieces Pieces is a producer I’ve featured before, and I might even like this remix better than his last that I posted. Excellent!
This is by no means a new remix. It actually came out in June 2008 as a bonus track to N.E.R.D’s Seeing Sounds. Even though it’s old, it’s still worth a post for a few reasons: 1. I really like it, period. 2. It removes the subtlety of the song and shoves the topic right in your face. 3. It was one of the first time we heard Child Rebel Soldier (Pharrell, Lupe, and Kanye)
When “Everyone Nose” first came out, I really didn’t like it. Why did I care if all the girls were standing in the line for the bathroom? I guess my big problem was that I just didn’t get it. After the remix, though, and the in-your-face lyricism of the artists, it made so much more sense. From Kanye’s “She stopped drinkin diet Coke/She on a coke diet” to Lupe smartly working the word high into each line or to Pusha T’s verse that pretty much says, “Hey! Hey you! I’m talking about cocaine! Did you get it? They want cocaine! Just in case the other three were still too subtle. The girls are gonna snort coke in the bathroom. Or smoke crack! Whatever! Whether soft or hard, muh-fucka, caine is caine.”
The most unfortunate part of this remix is that it really seemed like the beginning and the end of CRS. That summer of 2008 they released this remix and the song “Us Placers” that sampled Thom Yorke. They were even all on the same tour that summer, Kanye’s Glow In The Dark Tour, which I was fortunate enough to see. Then…. nothing. Until just these past few months when another CRS song, “The Runaway” surfaced from Kanye’s GOOD Friday release. I was excited. Were they recording some stuff again? Could CRS actually happen? No. Lupe said that track was actually recorded back in ’08.
So where does CRS stand for the future? According to Kanye, “On the table.” But who knows. All three artists appear to be busy at the moment and this just something in the back of their minds…I hope.
Found this sitting in my inbox this morning. Read the subject line and was instantly intrigued. One of my favorite Beatles’ songs, another remix by Voodoo Farm, and a bit of dubstep must lead to a solid mix, right?
