Champion Glowstick

Eclectic Listening Final Part

2008-06-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

OK, so I had planned on posting these last night, but we ended up playing Mario Kart on the Wii while going through a couple 12-packs. Here's what we learned: Too Many Beers + Mario Kart = Last Place...Anyway, to finish off the 30+ songs in a scant few days, today we have 11 tracks that are all worth checking out and some that cannot be missed.
First up is James Pants with the cool track "We're Through" that would sound great next to anything by Juiceboxxx. Next is a remix from Wongo of When Saints Go Machine's "Kids on Vacation" full of low end Wubb-Wubb basslines. After that is Knifehandchop's "Fabric" that manages to blend a lot of styles into one track. Going from electro to choppy samples to loungey-electro, all sounding great.
Next is Crookers (sighh, again...) remixing Don Rimini's "Let Me Back Up" with all that we have come to expect, but seriously, I wouldn't even post his stuff if it all weren't sooo hot! Really, has this kid done anything wack!? After that is Crookers' turn to get redone, this time by those spidey mask wearin' kids The Bloody Beetroots. Stepping away from the agro-electro sound is a Herbert remix of Louie Austen's "Hoping" that has a good lounge and house sound to it. Some how the crooner vocals, the vibes, and the strings all pull together with the house beat to make a laid back killer.
Next is Herve (AKA Count of Monte Crystal) putting a rock breakdowns and electro madness
into his remix of Dune's "Bloodlines," followed by the instrumental version. Along the rock-electro vein is Kissy Sell Out's remix of The Black Ghost's "Face." Kissy manages to have a pretty solid sound to my ears, the crunchy synths and elastic samples strrreetching around just plain works.
Finally, are two songs that are more melancholy twist. Thoughtful and interesting, but still has a pensive and darker side to them. First is Tolcha with RQM (who we posted up earlier in this series) with a downtempo track with cool spoken word / rap on top. And the track that puts us over the 30+ barrier is Duke Dumont's remix of The Mystery Jets. Do not sleep on this one. It sounds haunting, the vocals sounds are kind of eerie with a long delay and remind me of TV On the Radio.

Here they are:

James Pants - We're Through
When Saints Go Machine - Kids On Vacation (Wongo Remix)
Knifehandchop - Fabric (Original Mix)

Don Rimini - Let Me Back Up (Crookers Remix)
Crookers - Lick My Lennon (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)
Louie Austen - Hoping (Herberts High Dub)

Dune - Bloodlines (Herve loves messed up remix)
Dune - Bloodlines (Herve loves messed up Instrumental)
The Black Ghosts - Face (Kissy Sell Out Remix)

Tolcha f. RQM - Fokus
Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down (Duke Dumont Reconstruction)

have a great week-end!

Eclectic Listening Part II

2008-06-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

So the post mania continues...Yeahh! This time around we have a house / fidget remix of Deadset's "Tick Tock" by one of the originators of the scene, Jesse Rose. Following that is a duo that always have the best vocals for funky club cuts, so check out Kraak & Smaak's "Squeeze Me" getting redone by Trevor Loveys. Then we have two awesome cuts by a producer who jumped up on my radar recently, Oliver $, his stuff could hold it's own with some of the best. His edit of "Miss Pacman" by RQM would fit perfectly next to MIA. The next track is a more traditional fidget touch up of "Easy Legs" definitely check this one out too (he has an awesome smooth jazz breakdown towards the end of the track, and he makes it work!).
Crookers by now is probably the most blog tested and DJ approved artist out now, but somehow this one was new to my ears, so grab his remix of "Electric Soca" by Rodion if you haven' already. It has all the jumpy, electro and crunchy-rubbery sounds you would expect from Crookers. Following that is Bombaman's remix of Alias' "Enough" which has a unique and dubby yet frenetic sound. Switch is another legend in the field of fidget and club worthy madness, his remix of the Chemical Bros. "Get Yourself High" will not disappoint.
The final block of tracks are more humorous than dancefloor fillers, but the song "Hata Blockas" by Acafool is straight hilarious. "I Love You" remixed by the Bulgarian is a normal hard hitting acid electro jam, but the song is filled with chopped samples of kids rhyming about ladybugs and chocolate cake, an odd combination for sure, but there is something about the kids that immediately strips out all the hard edges and pretentiousness that usually goes along with tracks like this. Finally we have B.U.N. updating the classic "I Got Five On It" with all the wobbly and wonky goodness hipsters crave.

here they are:

Deadset - Tick Tock (Jesse Rose Dub)
Kraak & Smaak - Squeeze Me (Trevor Lovey's Skeezer Pleezer Jam)

RQM - Miss Pacman (Oliver $ Bassjunk Instrumental Mix)
Amir Ad Fontes - Easy Legs (Oliver $ Remix)

Rodion - Electric Soca (Crookers Remix)
Alias - Enough (Bombaman's Talking Shit Remix)
The Chemical Brothers - Get Yourself High (Switch Remix)

Acafool - Hata Blockas
Larry Tee - I Love U (The Bulgarian Remix)
B.U.N. - I Got 5 On It

enjoy!

More Eclectic Listening

2008-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't posted any tracks in a couple of weeks I will make it up to you with a series of abnormally large posts over the next few days, sound good? OK, now that we've kissed and made up, I guess we can proceed to the music...Rather than sorting out my recent listening habits, I will just post up the tracks in the order they sit in my iChoons playlist, lazy I know, but since by the end of this week I should have posted over 30 tracks, this is real time-saver! Today's goodness brings some classics, some newer tunes and some that are just cool. First up is an acoustic version of the Black Ghosts track "Anyway You Choose To Give It" that I thought would be a good addition for the remixers out there since the track is predominantly just the vocals. Next is a solid remix of the T&S pop tune "Back In Your Head" which has gotten revisioned by numerous producers out there, I know, but this one from Morgan Page is dope. After that is the standard from Sam Sparro, check out "Black & Gold" if you haven't already.
Following the older with the newer is a block of four (count 'em F-O-U-R, don't say I don't love you all!) tracks from up and coming dubstep producer Rusko who I just heard is getting tapped on remix duties for Kanye West. This kid has talent, outside of some Burial stuff, you normally couldn't pay me to sit through a dubstep album, but he can take it from electro to wobbly and wonky to heavy Jamaican dub sounds like a pro.
After the hotness that is Rusko comes one from Heavyfeet, Santiago and Bushido punch in for remix honors on "Sick Like That" for a more traditional electro jam worth checking out. On to a track with a more singular vision is the juke remix of "Short Dick Man" originally done by 20 Fingers getting a fresh coat of paint from DJ Godfather. And finally, is a track I blindly stumbled into, sadly it has no info associated with it other than the title, "crunky" which is a little misleading as you won't hear this banging out the windows with anything with dubs on that bitch, but more likely to hear from your Prius driving, Aphex loving friends.

Here they are:

The Black Ghosts - Anyway You Choose To Give It (acoustic version)
Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head (Morgan Page Remix)
Sam Sparro - Black & Gold

Adele - Cold Shoulder (Rusko Remix)
Claude VonStroke - Groundhog Day (Rusko Remix)
Rusko - 2NAQ
Rusko - Jahova

Heavyfeet - Sick Like That f. Switch MC (Santiago & Bushido Remix)
20 Fingers - Short Dick Man (DJ Godfather Ghetto Tech Rmx)
crunky

enjoy!

Next time we'll have a new remix of the classic "I Got Five On It," some unavoidable but still dope Crookers, some new tracks from up-and-comers like Bombaman and the sure-to-set-things-on-fire Oliver $. Same bat-time, same bat-channel so don't sleep.

Memorial Day Post

2008-05-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some tracks for those of you who have managed to escape grill duty this holiday week-end. I figured it's hard enough to digest eight hot-dogs, so these poppier tracks go down really easy...

Since the bandwidth at hotlinkfiles has evaporated quickly again, these files are up on media fire, so just follow the links:

Donnis - L.O.V.E. [Media Fire]
Kylie feat. MC Spank Rock - Heart Beat Rock (Benny Blanco Rmx) [Media Fire]
Telepathe - Chromes On It (Kingdom Rmx) [Media Fire]

Enjoy the long week-end!

Bits and Pieces

2008-05-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some clips from you all to use in your own music projects. Let's hope it inspires some of you to put down that last bite of your 4th cheeseburger or 5th hot dog this holiday week-end and power through the food coma before the 'meat sweats' start.

Anyway, I'll start with some drums bits. First is the loop that avoids the constant 4-4 drone, then there are some support bits including a fill, a build-up, and a breakdown (all recorded at 130 BPM):

DrumLoop.aif
DrumFill.aif
DrumBuildUp.aif
DrumBreakdown.aif

Then for those with a stranger/harsher/glitchier ear, here are some textures and noises to add a little depth:

GlitchTexture1.aif
GlitchTexture2.aif
GlitchTexture3.aif

Have fun!

Dancehall Bo! Bo!

2008-05-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today we have some weekend goodness for you coming from Toddla T's "Inna Di Dancehall" getting remixed by the Count and Sinden, plus Toddla taking on the remixing duties by updating Roisin Murphy's "You Know Me Better," along with dancehall queen Macka Diamond, and finally we have one more on the cheese-electro side (but still worth checking out) from Mochipet. [Side note: after our bandwidth limit at HotLinkFiles got maxed out faster than my credit cards, we started putting files up at Media Fire, so just follow the links...]

Toddla T - Inna Di Dancehall (Count of Monte Cristal & Sinden Remix) [Media Fire]

Roisin Murphy - You Know Me Better (Toddla T Rmx) [Media Fire]

Macka Diamond - Dandy Sandy [Media Fire]

Mochipet - Get Your Whistle Wet [Media Fire]

Enjoy...

2008-05-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a little longer than I had planed on leaving you guys hanging, I decided to put up a few more tracks. This makes today's post a bit more eclectic too. First up, since the most popular tracks seem to be those of the "crazy-ass-hip-hop" variety, I am posting up a remix of Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" from NYC's Kingdom (which I copped over at Bok Bok's blog, Lower End Spasm) and one from Bird Peterson. Next is some of the disco-electro madness that is ruling the world right now from the excellent Cryptonites. Then, as a good change of pace, is a song from one of my favorite labels for chilled-out and reflective electronica, Morr Music, by B.Fleischmann. Finally is some funky stuff from Michael Fakesch, who was half of the duo that was the insurmountably awesome Funkstorung and who is an awesomely nice guy on top of it all. The track is from his solo album Dos, and sounds like an updated and glitchy version of the R&B of the Prince era.

Lil' Wayne - Lollipop (Kingdom Remix)
Bird Peterson - Bills f. Mugsy Flowz
Cryptonites - Glow
B.Fleischmann - Frisky He Said
Michael Fakesch - Escalate

Enjoy!!

Higher State

2008-04-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would hit you all with a few reworkings of Tiga and Zombie Nation's project, ZZT. Of course the versions included on the original release from Tiga's Turbo Recordings including the remix from the ever unavoidable Justice, plus as an added bonus I included the Delete remix plus the Neon Coyote mash-up of ZZT with Daft Punk I found over at Red Threat.

ZZT - Higher State Of Consciousness (OriginalMunichVersion)
ZZT - Higher State Of Consciousness (Justice Remix)
ZZT - Higher State Of Consciousness (Delete Remix)
Neon Coyote - Higher State Of Life (ZZT vs. Daft Punk)

And for those of you with an incurable appetite for tunes of the wobbly and bassy "wonk" variety here's the awesome Jack Beats remix of Boy 8 Bit's "Fog Bank" from the boys at Trouble & Bass:

Boy 8 Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats Remix)

latr...

Daft Punk Teachers Lesson 2

2008-04-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

This class brings us five more of the gurus who helped form the French Touch sound by influencing Daft Punk. We have updated versions (three of 'em!) of Paul Johnson's classic "Get Down," along with tracks from Louie Vega with Kenny Gonzalez (as part of Masters At Work), a couple from soul / R n B house legend Roy Davis Jr., and finally a remix of Dominica's "Gotta Let You Go" by DJ Tonka. Get your notebooks ready 'cus here's today's lesson plan:

Get Down (Laidback Luke Booty Remix)
Get Down (Charlie Fanclub Remix)
Get Down (Executioner rmx)

Masters At Work - Work (Radio Edit)
Masters At Work - Like A Butterfly (You Send Me)

Roy Davis Jr. - Join His Kingdom
Roy Davis Jr. - All I Do

Dominica - Gotta Let You Go (DJ Tonka Remix)

Pencils down...

Sample Source Sunday #3

2008-04-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

For those of you here in Chicago, we had near perfect weather today. It's one of those times where the clouds part and the sun shines and starts the upside of this city's bipolar seasons (we only get two seasons here, summer and winter, or construction season and pothole season if you've heard the joke), and reminds us why we tough it out for a long winter.

This kind of weather makes me want to sit out in the sun with a beer and listen to laid back tunes. So, for this week's Sample Source Sunday I did a little tailoring to include a track from a funky laid back house king, Ian Pooley. I also included the italo disco / horror film theme song from Goblin that inspired Justice's song "Phantom" you might have seen up earlier on Missingtoof.

Ian Pooley - 900 Degrees
Shalamar - Make The Move
Rene and Angela - I Love You More

Justice - Phantom
Goblin - Tenebre

Go out and enjoy the weather this week if you can!
latr

Daft Punk Teachers - Lesson 1

2008-04-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would kick off a new idea I had a little while ago. Daft Punk paid homage to their influences with a track they called 'Teachers' from their 1997 debut album Homework. They simply listed off people they feel have had a big impact on their sound, but rather than merely typing out this list with a brief bio, why not post the songs and let you hear this impact for yourselves.

For lesson one, I tracked down some material from four of DP's teachers: DJ Funk, DJ Deeon, DJ Hell and Ashley Beedle. The first two artists are ghetto tech legends (at least around here in Chicago), the sound of hard 909 beats and raunchy lyrics that would make Luke Skyywalker blush are hard to miss. DJ Hell's German techno background is obvious when listening to his music, he has held residencies at Tresor and has releases on !K7 records dating back to the early '90s. And lastly is Ashley Beedle, who has recorded under several other names (e.g. X-Press 2) and has a strong pedigree as a disco/deep house producer. I also included a track with crazy beat-poet cum rapper, Saul Williams, that Ashley Beedle produced with Ross Allen.

DJ Funk - No Bold Head Bitch
Let There Be Light (DJ Funk RMX)

DJ Deeon - Gimme Head

DJ Hell - Control

X-Press 2 - Enjoy The Ride
Ashley Beedle f. SaulWilliams - Murderer Style (ClapOutVocalMix)

Happy listening!

Sample Source Sunday #2

2008-04-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the second installment of Sample Source Sunday. This time it's a little more eclectic. We're covering Dee-Lite's disco house classic 'Groove is in the Heart,' then we jump to Missy's 'The Rain' which draws heavily on an old school disco joint from Eruption (who are pictured above, where did they get those outfits?!), and finally we have one that inspired Basement Jaxx's 'Where's Your Head At.'

As before, the sample source follows the original...

Dee-Lite - GrooveIsintheHeart
Vernon Burch - GetUp [just a short clip...sorry!]
Herbie Hancock - BringDownTheBirds [the bassline comes from Herbie, another clip tho]

Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Eruption - I Can't Stand The Rain

Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
Gary Numan - M.E.

Have a good week!

Junior Boys

2008-04-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would push some tracks I dug up and are something a little different. Junior Boys has a much calmer sound than the stuff I usually post. It reminds me a lot of Mum or The Notwist (who I hear has a new album coming out soon) with a lot of lush sounds and strong melodies, but that still maintain a very fresh and uncluttered vibe. Now most days, I totally groove on the crazy and frenetic power-wonk, but sometimes you need a change of pace.

Junior Boys also has a pretty solid track record for remix work also, and have also handed the mixing desk over to other inspired groups in turn. First up is Hot Chip's reworking of 'In the Morning' from the Dead Horse EP. Next is their efforts shining through on Stars 'Sleep Tonight' followed by one of their tracks from the 'So This Is Goodbye' album. Last and certainly far from least is Junior Boys lending a hand to another of my favorite chill-out groups, Mobius Band (maybe it's because I'm a total math nerd).

In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix)
Stars - Sleep Tonight (Junior Boys Remix)
Junior Boys - First Time
Mobius Band - The Loving Sounds Of Static (Junior Boys RMX)

Enjoy

Sample Source Sunday #1

2008-04-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

This week I thought I would kick off 'Sample Source Sunday' by posting up the tracks that inspired the ones we know. Since most of us never see liner notes these days (not passing judgement, just stating a fact) we start to lose the connection to the previous generation of music.

Included this week is music from Thomas Bangalter (seen here in a rare picture of the man behind the shiny helmet) both from his solo project and from Daft Punk, plus music from Modjo.

Here are the tracks followed by the sample material:

Thomas Bangalter - Club Soda
Starpoint - I Just Wanna Dance With You

Daft Punk - Robot Rock.mp3
Breakwater - Release the Beast

Modjo - On Fire
Cerrone - Rocket in the Pocket

Enjoy!

Friday Night Frenzy

2008-04-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

I figured I would post up a few tracks I've been digging on lately. They seem to slip into a awesome niche between most genres, so I just call it crazy-ass-hip-hop. Some of the tracks were found on others blogs, and some found the old fashioned way. For those scavenged from others blogs, the tags were left alone, so the source will be obvious when loaded into your laptop boom-box of choice...

If you haven't heard the Boys Noize remix of Snoop's latest, it's got a great vibe for transitioning between party jams and fidget house. It starts with trippy repitched vox and gradually builds to an electro romp you would expect from Boys Noize.

Next is a XXXChange remix of Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes", it's a funky chilled-out number that has a pretty solid vibe.

After that is more BBC action with Spanckrock tearing it up with the Chemical Bros on "Keep My Composure." This is a lock, 'nuff said!

Finally, is one from relative newcomers DJ Edjotronic & Spoek whose other-realm joints can hold their own next to the Spank-ro crew.

SexualEruption (BoysNoizeRemix)
L.E.S. Artistes (XXXChange Remix)
The Chemical Brothers f. Spankrock - KeepMyComposure
DJ Edjotronic & Spoek - Dirty Hard

latr.

2008-03-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

It doesn't seem like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out 17 years ago...but I guess it was due for an electro rock refixxing. Straight from my record shopping score a few days ago is a vinyl rip of Patrick Alavi's Remix giving the Nirvana classic the Daft Punk vibe:

Smells Like Teen Spirit (Patrick Alavi Rmx)

Have a good week,
-Champ

Smash and Crunch Tonight

2008-02-22T10:24:00.001-08:00

Tonight at the Liar's Club (1665 W. Fullerton) Drop the Lime is slated for the next of the 'I <3 Smash and Crunch' parties here in Chicago. DTL and his alias Curses! are known for heavy bass, grime, and rave influences. With that in mind, I thought I would hook everybody up with some tracks that represent some of these styles.

First up is one direct from the man himself, here's the Dexplicit remix of Curses! "What I Need:"

WhatINeed_DexplicitRemix_.mp3

Next is one from 4/4 Beats which has a nice bassline and a house meets grime feel:

Katodo.mp3

Then is one from the UK's underground hip-hop scene, Danfer 1nze "Better Days:"

BetterDays.mp3

Finally we have one from 2-Step legend, DJ Q, from his Dirty Dubz EP:

GirlVIP.mp3

Enjoy, and I hope to see you out tonight...

-Champ

Kriss Kross

2008-02-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Set the wayback machine to 1992 and you will most likely hear a handful of songs set on infinite repeat on the airwaves. Sir-Mix-A-Lot, TLC, Boys II Men all come to mind, but it was also the year that Chris Kelly (the Mac Daddy) and Chris Smith (the Daddy Mac), collectively know as Kriss Kross, blew up with their hit "Jump."

Since the banger hungry hoardes of 2007/2008 seem to have an insatiable appitite for reworkings of '90s gems, I figured that posting up a few of the better remixes of Jump I've heard so far might get some bodies moving out there...

First up is the 4x4 refix posted up at PalmsOut a little while ago. It has the ever-popular wobbly bass combined with the essential 2-Step shuffle to back it up.

KrisKross-Jump_4x4Refix_.mp3

Next is the DLid Customised version. This remix has a crunchy bassline and choppy, distorted house sound.

Jump_CustomisedbyD-L-i-d_.mp3

And finally, for the heads out there, here is the original 1992 version, just in case you like the original recipe better.

KrisKross-Jump_1992_.mp3

-Champ

New Track and 'Classic' French House

2008-01-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody, I figured since I was holed-up this weekend trying to survive the arctic weather, I might as well work on some music projects. So after some sample searching and a few hours tinkering around I came up with this track:

ChampGlow-ThisandThat.mp3

So enjoy and let me know what you think...

Also, I've noticed that a lot of the French House blog-o-rama has been leaning toward a sound that borrows a lot from R&B as much as from traditional house sounds. So looking back a some compilations from about a decade ago (10 years already!!!), I pulled some tracks that I think still resonate today. First up, from the "Respect Is Burning Vol. 2" comp is a Les Rythmes Digitales remix of a Deejay Punk Roc track:

My Beatbox (Les Rythmes Digitales_AsDePique_Rmx).mp3

And next is a great track is Demon vs. Heartbreaker from the 2002 compilation "My House In Montmartre" with a great sample from The Gap Band called "You Are My High"

YouAreMyHigh.mp3

Have a great week, and stay warm...

Electro Hip-Hop

2008-01-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

Like electro pop and indie hip-hop? We thought so. S.Y.L.K. found a excellent sound that blurs the lines. Their new track "Work It" is a fusion of less acerbic Peaches vocals and glitchy electro bleeps with a touch of Felix da Housecat post-disco glitter. These girls are holding it down from the Down Under. From the Sydney trio's myspace:

S.Y.L.K exploded from a pack of sequins in 2007. These three bedazzled honeyz tear up the dance floor with their sylky smooth rhymes and stylin' moves.

You know they're showing the '80s babies some love when they list Jem and the Holograms as influences!

Check it here:

WorkIt.mp3

Another Music Blog!?

2008-01-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah...I know there are a bazillion of 'em out there already. They all have their angle striped background with the gradient fade. They all talk about well-known artists as being "their friends" telling them to post the new track off their forth-coming album, or say they "were hanging out" with them when they came through town. LIES!! First off, no you don't know the DJ/band, you didn't date their sister when you were a shorty, no you didn't go to school together, and no your cousin's friend's hommie wasn't tight with them either! Second of all, since when was hanging out at the back of the show "hanging out" with them? Sigh... But if you miss that kind of grandiose posturing, here's a shot:

blah blah blah blah blah JUSTICE blah blah blah blah MY PERSONAL FRIENDS blah blah blah blah blah blah. blah blah blah blah blah DOPE REMIX blah blah blah hype hype hype. blah blah blah BANGER blah blah blah. blah blah blah ALREADY THE HOTTEST ISH OF '08 hype hype. YOU GOT IT HERE FIRST!

Anyways! The Fader Blog's posted a new track from Wiz Khalifa with the synth line from "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay.

SayYeah.mp3