Category Archives: remix

Incoming: De La Soul, June 20

This one was a surprise: The legendary De La Soul is playing Venue of Scottsdale (formerly the Cajun House) on June 20.

Tickets are (gulp) $30. Get ’em here.

I saw De La Soul multiple times in the group’s prime (once with A Tribe Called Quest and Souls of Mischief … unreal), and I fear a show like this could taint those memories. That’s not to say the group can’t still bring it, but it’s definitely not 1993 anymore, Toto.

Anyway, one of these weeks I’m going to have a De La Soul Remix Week. I have De La remixes left and right. Here’s one for ya.

  • De La Soul | Eye Know (The Know It All Mix)

Kidz in the Hall: Drivin Down the Block (El-P remix)

For years now, indie/underground rap fans – and rappers themselves – wouldn’t be caught dead listening to mainstream rap because all they rap about is “guns, cars and bitches.” That was a clear line in the sand. Uh-uh. No way my favorite artist does that. Well, what happens when the indie/underground rappers start rapping about, well, guns, cars and bitches?

Kidz in the Hall, who are playing some dates with El-P and Dizzee Rascal and later hitting the Paid Dues Festival and Rock the Bells tour, have unleashed what should be this year’s summer jam: Drivin Down the Block. I’ll give you one guess what it’s about. And here’s the thing: I love it.

Drivin Down the Block is the new Kick, Push, and Lupe is just skitching on its bumper.

But here’s the question: What makes it OK now to dig a track that celebrates aimless cruising – “got my seat on recline, turn up the Alpine” – when the same track by a mainstream artist would be shunned by the cool kids (no pun intended)? I don’t really have an answer. It’s just a curious phenomenon.

Hey, any track that cites The Low End Theory is A-OK by me: “Drivin’ down the block/ my ‘Low End Theory’ tape in / playing number 6 / ‘Show Business’ is my shit.”

Check the orginal and the remix by El-P, who, in his production and new verses, again shows his uncanny ability to be a funcrusher plus.

  • Kidz in the Hall | Drivin Down the Block
  • Kidz in the Hall | Drivin Down the Block (El-P remix)

And don’t forget the video:

The Rosebuds: Night of the Furies remixed (free)

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Merge Records is offering a free download of Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep, a remix album of the Rosebuds’ Night of the Furies.

Gotta love the Get Up Get Out remix by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Everything that guy touches is turning to gold, it seems. I appreciate that “remix” in this context doesn’t necessarily mean some tweaked-out, electro-beat transformation. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Vernon takes a dance-happy track and reworks it into a moodier piece with his vocals added to the mix.

Download the remix record here.

Tracklisting:
1. I Better Run – Fire Hazard remix.
2. Get Up Get Out – Justin Vernon of Bon Iver remix.
3. Silence by the Lakeside – Portastatic remix.
4. Silja Line – Radical9 vs. Lovesky remix.
5. My Punishment for Fighting – Wes Phillips remix.
6. Cemetery Lawns – El Venado (El Venado in Space remix).
7. When the Lights Went Dim – JYU remix.
8. Hold on to the Coat – Luke Warm remix.
9. Night of the Furies – Jimmy the B remix.
10. I Better RunV2 – Roger O’Donnell remix.

  • The Rosebuds | Get Up Get Out (Justin Vernon remix)

Black Mirror (Quarterbar remix)

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Quarterbar (left) + Eriksolo = Meanest Man Contest.

The Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible didn’t do much for me, so I’m open to any reinterpretations of it or the songs therein.

Enter Quarterbar, one half of the duo Meanest Man Contest, a favorite around these parts.

On this Black Mirror remix, Quarterbar blows up the original (fine by me) and reconstructs it around what sounds like just the vocal track. The new beat and bright touches of synth make for a nice alternative for anyone who didn’t warm up to the original.

(Thanks to Hunter for the heads up on this.)

  • The Arcade Fire | Black Mirror (Quarterbar remix)

Dizzee Rascal: Where’s Da G’s (El-P remix)

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Photo by Tim & Barry

With El-P and Dizzee Rascal about to head out on tour together and Def Jux releasing Maths + English in the U.S. (April 29), we get our first taste of this transatlantic collaboration.

El-P’s remix of Where Da G’s – which strips out some the looped synths in favor of El’s drums of death – will be featured on the American CD release of Maths, which you’ll probably be able to snag at the Def Jux store.

  • Dizzee Rascal (feat. UGK) | Where Da G’s (El-P remix)

Everything Flows (Cadence Weapon remix)

superextra.jpgI’ll admit it: I don’t know who Super Extra Bonus Party is. They described themselves in an e-mail as “Dublin-based noise-merchants.” Bonus points for being Irish (I am a Murphy, after all).

But what really caught my eye was the fact that one of their tracks, Everything Flows, was remixed by Cadence Weapon, a favorite in these parts.

The remix comes from the new Everything Flows EP, available digitally and on blue vinyl here, where you can also hear the original version of Everything Flows.

  • Super Extra Bonus Party | Everything Flows (Cadence Weapon remix)

Speaking of Cadence Weapon, he’s here (at the Rhythm Room) on March 17 with Born Ruffians, just a few weeks after CW drops his newest long-player Afterparty Babies (Anti).

Check out the first single off Afterparty Babies, if you haven’t already.

  • Cadence Weapon | In Search of the Youth Crew

Last time Cadence Weapon was here, he was rockin’ a Charles Barkley Suns jersey circa 1993. Looks like he’s gonna have to get a Shaquille O’Neal jersey now. I mean, WTF? I’m not sure this is a good idea for the Suns.

Arrested Development: Miracles (Metamorphosis mix)

Credit: twovital.com

I’m hesitant to post a remix of a track when I’m guessing a majority of people haven’t even heard the original. But in case you missed it, Arrested Development (no, not this one) came back last year with the appropriately titled Since the Last Time, the group’s first release in more than 12 years. Mr. Wendal. Tennessee. Yes, that Arrested Development.

Like you might expect, Arrested Development – specifically, frontman Speech – spends a good portion of the first few songs getting reacquainted with the listener. On Miracles, Speech raps: “But 10 years later / back in the game / come on, push up the fader / if you believe in miracles.”

It all makes for an interesting quandary: Is the group just a piece of nostalgia for us now or can AD be relevant again? I guess there’s no right answer, but I think about some of the hip-hop groups that reunited recently – Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest (however briefly), etc. It seems these comebacks could possibly spoil whatever legacy was left behind.

That said, Since the Last Time (available on eMusic) is hardly some one-off piece of fluff. The messages of unity, peace and pride are still there, a natural continuation of 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of… , the album that put Arrested Development at the forefront of hip-hop (and pop music, for that matter) in the early ’90s.

I gotta say, it’s nice to have them back.

  • Arrested Development | Miracles
  • Arrested Development | Miracles (Metamorphosis mix)

Video for Miracles:

Andrew Bird: Imitosis (Four Tet remix)

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Credit: Adam Berry

I don’t know if I saw this posted much around the Internets, so I’ll go ahead an flash back all the way to 2007.

I think, when it comes down to it, I’m going to regret that Andrew Bird’s Armchair Apocrypha – yeah, I can’t say that word, either – didn’t get more of my attention. If we’re playing the what-album-that-wasn’t-on-your-top-10-list-that-would-be-now game, I’d say that’s probably it.

So here’s Four Tet, doing that remix thing and making fine work of the song’s guitars and layering some more over it without weirding it out too much. Thank you, Mr. Hebden, for that.

  • Andrew Bird | Imitosis (Four Tet remix)

Run-D.M.C.: It’s Tricky 2003 (feat. Jacknife Lee)

In doing some reading on the Editors – I’m interviewing bassist Russell Leetch today in advance of the group’s Feb. 12 show in Tempe – I discovered the group’s producer, Garrett “Jacknife” Lee, remixed Run-D.M.C.’s track It’s Tricky, from the seminal Raising Hell album.

I don’t mean to disparage the art of the remix or Garrett Lee. But … but … does Run-D.M.C. really need to be overhauled for the club set? Can’t we leave perfection alone? And, yes, Raising Hell (and Tougher Than Leather, for that matter) is damn-near perfection in my mind. I don’t want to dance to Run-D.M.C.; I want to bob my head and wave my arm to them. Remix Bloc Party. Remix Interpol. Just leave Run-D.M.C. alone. And, yes, I hate the designated hitter, too.

If nothing else, the remix appears to feature a verse that’s not on the album cut. “They say I’m overrated, musicians really hate it” is the first line in the first verse, as opposed the original, “I met this little girlie, her hair was kinda curly.”

  • Run-D.M.C. | It’s Tricky 2003 (feat. Jacknife Lee)

But while I’m at it, let me just show my disgust with Urban Outfitters, that oh-so mecca of hip that has co-opted Run-D.M.C.’s image so the cool kids can feel down. Words do not describe how annoyed this makes me. What’s worse is the product description on the men’s T-shirt:

“Trust us, you be illin if you don’t cop this cotton tee with vintage Run DMC graphic at the front.”

*Waif-ish employee flips swoopy bangs.*: Get it? You Be Illin’ is the name of a Run-D.M.C. song! Oh, man. That is so clever.

Please, hipsters, stick to your skinny jeans.

Mr. Lif: Feb. 1 in Phoenix

The concert calendar has been slooooow around here lately. But there are signs of life, including a Feb. 1 show at the Brickhouse from Mr. Lif, who put out the fantastic Mo’ Mega last year on Definitive Jux.

I got a chance to catch Lif at the Paid Dues Festival, but I’m eager to catch him in a smaller venue that isn’t outdoors in the dead of an Arizona summer. He’s calling this the Road to the Super Bowl tour; the big game is at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Feb. 3, in case you weren’t paying attention. So it’s only appropriate that he plays Phoenix that weekend.

Kudos to the guys at Universatile Music, who are bringing this show – and so many other hip-hop acts – to the Valley.