Category Archives: remix

hip-hop, remix

DJ Z-Trip: Bring the Noise (two remixes)

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Christopher Weingarten’s 33 1/3 book on Public Enemy’s 1988 classic It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back came out in April, but, for whatever reason, I didn’t finally pick it up until this past Saturday (the series could use more hip-hop titles, by the way).

Five days later, and DJ Z-Trip has released two remixes of Bring the Noise, a song from Nation of Millions that technically saw its first remix back in 1991 with the PE/Anthrax collaboration.

Z-Trip’s versions blend the original with Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song and Justice’s Genesis. Both are available for free download for the next 72 hours. Get ’em.

general, remix, vinyl

Bomarr: Exchanges Among Systems
(Fancy Mike remix)

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Hard to believe, but it’s already been a year since I posted about the four-song Designed Entropy 7-inch put out by Hunter at Gold Robot Records. Where does the time go?

With tracks from Bomarr, Copy, Meanest Man Contest and Roman Ruins, Designed Entropy stands as a work of art, in both the music and packaging – a piece that Gold Robot says “explores the relationship between design, structure, and humanity.”

What better way to examine the structure of a song than by breaking it down and rebuilding it via remix? Hunter was kind enough to give me a first crack at posting the Fancy Mike remix of Bomarr’s Exchanges Among Systems, a reworking that isn’t shy about introducing some low end. Turn up the bass.

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Chic: Le Freak (Z-Trip Golden Remix)

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DJ Z-Trip

It was only a month ago that I posted a new remix by DJ Z-Trip, a reworking of The Dead Weather’s Treat Me Like Your Mother. Well, I’ve already got another remix to share – but it might be the last one for a while from our DJ hero.

Just a day after I received Z-Trip’s remix of the ’70s disco hit Le Freak by Chic, the former Phoenix-based turntable titan broke his clavicle in a snowboarding wreck. Not sure how a busted collarbone will affect his work or how long it will sideline him, but as he said: “Super thankful it wasn’t the wrist!” I mean, he’s still able to tweet, so that’s good news.

Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.

RELATED:
Z-Trip remixes The Dead Weather: Treat Me Like Your Mother
DJ Z-Trip on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic
Z-Trip: Victory Lap – The Obama Mix (Pt. 2)
DJ Z-Trip: Obama mix (free download)
DJ Z-Trip and Aceyalone: Automatic at It (video)

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Z-Trip remixes The Dead Weather:
Treat Me Like Your Mother

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If you follow DJ Z-Trip on Twitter, then you know he’s been teasing to a remix he’s been working on for the Jack White/Alison Mosshart side project The Dead Weather since at least November for the track Treat Me Like Your Mother.

Well, I got an e-mail with a link to download what I presume is the finished product, featuring a verse from Slug of Atmosphere. I’m told Z-Trip will make this available for download on Friday, which seems likely considering the former Phoenix son – and current Las Vegas Rain man on Friday nights – is keen on sharing.

But until then, here’s a stream:

UPDATE: Z-Trip has made the track available for download.

While I’m the topic of Z-Trip, I’m long overdue in mentioning Watching the Wheels, a blog by Nicole Nelch, who is unearthing loads of old footage she shot during the heyday of the Bombshelter DJs (Z-Trip, Radar and Emile).

It’s a major nostalgia trip for me because I was probably at 90 percent of the performances she filmed; I know because I saved many of the same fliers. And if you look hard enough, you’ll see a scanned clip of an article with a shared byline featuring a formerly eager newspaper clerk pretending to be a reporter.

Check one of Nicole’s videos for a little taste of what the Bombshelter guys were doing some 10-plus years ago:

hip-hop, remix

Blakroc (feat. Mos Def): On the Vista

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blakroc

From the previously discussed Blakroc project, which pairs the Black Keys with assorted hip-hop artists, the first leaked track has made its way around the Internets.

On the Vista features Mos Def rhyming over an intermittent wailing guitar line before he closes the track on some poetry-style talk-singing. The album is due out on Nov. 27 – “Black Friday.”

(via Spine Magazine)

Meanwhile, check the latest Webisode of the album’s recording, featuring the inimitable Pharoahe Monch pushing his creative juices along with the help of some fine spirits.

remix, video

Mayer Hawthorne: Green Eyed Love (video, remix)

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We are heading to the Clubhouse tonight to check the sorta-odd twin bill of Mayer Hawthorne and Ghostface.

And wouldn’t you know it: Stones Throw released a new video today for the Mayer’s Green Eyed Love, the closer on his excellent debut A Strange Arrangement.

The video coincides with the release of a six-track 12-inch EP – on green vinyl, of course – that features remixes of Green Eyed Love. Stones Throw is offering one of them, by Classixx, as a free download.

general, remix

Mayer Hawthorne: Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out (Astronote El Camino remix)

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Mayer Hawthorne’s excellent debut LP A Strange Arrangement is officially out today and I strongly recommend you drop your weekly allowance to purchase it. You can grab it directly from Stones Throw and get the limited-edition four-inch single with either the CD or LP.

One of the great jams on the album, Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out, has gotten the remix treatment from Astronote, a nice tweaking that keeps the soulful vibe of the original.

And updating a previous post about Hawthorne’s Oct. 14 show … he appears now to be an opener for Ghostface instead of headlining his own show.

Related:
Mayer Hawthorne: Maybe So, Maybe No (video)
Mayer Hawthorne: Maybe So, Maybe No
Mayer Hawthorne: Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

hip-hop, remix, samples

A few hip-hop tracks that sampled Michael Jackson

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By now, you’ve probably had all the Michael Jackson tributes you can handle. (This is probably the first place you should have turned to for that.) Anyway, I’m not one to weep over the death of a celebrity – one of the strangest phenomenons to me (especially after watching events unfold on Twitter).

That’s not to say Jackson didn’t influence my listening habits. Of course he did. I can remember playing my brother’s vinyl copy of Thriller and friends dressing as Jackson for Halloween when I was younger.

But in many ways, hip-hop offers the best kind of tribute through the art of sampling. It’s a tangible form of gratitude and recognition of inspiration. And while I’m sure there are dozens and probably hundreds of others that I don’t have or haven’t heard, here’s just a few hip-hop tracks from my library that sample Jackson, with Nas’ It Ain’t Hard to Tell my favorite.

hip-hop, remix

Tone Loc: Loc-Ed After Dark (deluxe edition)

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You might ask: Why would Delicious Vinyl re-release Tone Loc’s 1989 debut Loc-Ed After Dark? The real question is, Why not?

I’m just as wary as anybody of these seemingly endless reissue cash grabs that essentially ask fans to pay for an album twice, tempting them with additional, unreleased material. But in this instance, I’m OK with this 20th anniversary deluxe reissue (especially because you can download the six bonus tracks individually at eMusic or Amazon without purchasing the whole album again, assuming you already own it, which you should).

It’s also worth remembering that this was an important hip-hop record that helped thrust rap into the pop/mainstream world. That said, I have a hard time listening to Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina anymore; those two tracks, played ad nauseam in my youth (and still now), have lost all semblance of relevant meaning. Though Tone’s raspy flow is the most recognizable trait of the album, the production/sampling team of Matt Dike, Michael Ross and the Dust Brothers makes Loc-Ed After Dark hold up 20 years later. (Dike and the Dust Brothers also were responsible for production work on Paul’s Boutique.)

Lastly, the album is one of many hip-hop records that drew inspiration from the Blue Note catalog for its cover.

The digital-only reissue features six bonus tracks: On Fire (OG 12″ version), Cheeba Cheeba (OG 12″ version), I Got It Goin’ On (Remix), The Homies (On Tilt Mix), Wild Beat and Funky Beats.

Related:
Tone Loc and Peaches perform Wild Thing

hip-hop, remix

Q-Tip: Renaissance Rap remix feat. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, Lil Wayne

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If you’re on Twitter, you gotta follow Q-Tip, who is pretty active and likes to post YouTube audio clips of classic soul jams.

Well, on Thursday, he posted access to a remix for Renaissance Rap, the “hidden” half attached to Move on The Renaissance. It’s basically the same (great) beat/melody but with new verses, including spots from Busta, Raekwon and Lil Wayne.

Related:
Q-Tip: We Fight/We Love on Conan O’Brien
Renaissance Rap video
Q-Tip: Move on Letterman

SPEAKING OF Lil Wayne, Martin Cizmar of the Phoenix New Times had a less-than-enjoyable time waiting for a very late Weezy to show up for his big gig in town on Wednesday night. Read the review here.