BOTR vol 16

Here is volume 16 of my Best of the Remix series here on The World Forgot.  Consider it my Christmas gift to you all.  Get some rest, spend time with family, and most of all enjoy the music.  To see all previous volumes just click here.

mp3 : 2Pac vs Gary Jules – Against a Mad World (Brenton Duvall Remix)
This remix needs no pithy introduction; no clever phrase could encapsulate all that it is.  Just look at the title.  It’s classic 2Pac and one of the best cover songs in the history of man rolled into one remix.  Merry Christmas indeed.

mp3 : Amadou & Mariam – Sabali (Miike Snow Remix)
Miike Snow somehow finds a way to make an already amazing song even more amazing.  It’s a Christmas miracle.

mp3 : Blackbird Blackbird – Hawaii (Niva Remix)
To be fair I’ve never heard to Blackbird Blackbird or Niva before this track.  I have, however, heard of Hawaii, but for decidedly different reasons.  Mostly because they have luaus for Christmas.

mp3 : Ellie Goulding – Your Song (Blackmill Dubstep Remix)
My younger brother, who at one point in time actually posted (once) on TWF, always seems to be fascinated with dubstep.  This remix is my Christmas present to him.  It’s a good one.

mp3 : Imogen Heap – Hide And Seek (Tiesto’s In Search of Sunrise Remix)
Hide And Seek was definitely not intended to be a club staple, but Tiesto changed that as he usually does.  There’s nothing really Christmasy about this track other than it reminds me of Chrimahanukwanzmakuh from The O.C. (don’t be a crazy Oliver and pretend like you didn’t watch).

mp3 : Lady Gaga – Just Dance (Worship Remix)
Is she still relevant?  Will she be in 2011?  Will people remix her pop drivel regardless?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Just drink some proper eggnog and dance.

mp3 : Lady Gaga – Paparazzi (Redlight Remix)
Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is this; every Gaga remix from here until eternity should prominently feature hand claps synched with drum beats.  Oh, and world peace.

mp3 : Pixies – Where Is My Mind (Bassnectar Remix)
Bassnectar takes possibly the only song by Pixies that I genuinely like and turns it into something that would fit on the greatest Christmas movie soundtrack of all time (that being the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy).

mp3 : Pixies – Where Is My Mind (Refracture Remix)
I’m including this remix because it’s so distinctly different from the previous Bassnectar one.  As the stop motion episode of Community taught us, Christmas is a time to celebrate diversity.  And awesomeness.

mp3 : Sufjan Stevens vs Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps to Chicago (Remix)
There are points in this remix/mashup where I wish the arrangement were as clever as the song title.  But I always associate Sufjan with Christmas and to be fair Maps is the best song Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever done.  It’s a win win.

mp3 : The Killers – Spaceman (The Knocks Remix)
In the future children will be told the story of a man, dressed in a flaming red positively pressurized suit (that’s why he looks fat, it’s the pressure suit), that flies through the cosmos to deliver toys to good girls and boys.  This will be the song that powers his magical spaceship.

mp3 : Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn (Passion Pit Remix)
Passion Pit takes one of the purest pop songs of 2010 and envelopes it in a glittering, shimmery, trance infused, best of both worlds wrapping paper.  They tie it up with a bow of awesome and set it below a Christmas tree topped with a disco ball.

mp3 : Wale (feat Lady Gaga) – Chillin (The Knocks Remix)
Wale always makes me feel like 1) Gaga can be relevant and 2) it’s the 80s.  And I grew up in the 80s.  And Christmas is awesome when you’re a kid.  And that’s a stretch, but if you’re still reading then you’re more than ready for ramblings.

mp3 : William The Vanish Russ Chimes – Hold On My Momma (White Panda Remix)
I love it when a remix takes a bunch of terrible tracks and makes us all realize that it is often the sum of parts that really makes art beautiful.  I will not talk about Christmas in this description.  Eat it.

mp3 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Dull Life (Professor Purple Remix)
If they ever update It’s A Wonderful Life (and I mean really update, not retell it like they did with The Family Man – which is coincidentally one of seven Nic Cage movies that were actually worth watching) they need to have a club scene where this track is playing.  Playing loud.

Merry Christmas.  Enjoy the music.

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A Collection of Random Covers

So it’s a Friday, and the World Cup is in full swing, and if you’re like me that means you really don’t care about much else (let alone writing a new post for your little blog).  And even though I’m more than thrilled to watch the US v Ghana game tomorrow followed by the England v Germany game on Sunday I’m still taking time to post a few random cover songs that have caught my attention over the past month or so.  You are very very welcome.

mp3 : Crooked Fingers – Under Pressure (Queen Cover)
There are days when it’s hard to comprehend the impressive talent that was Freddie Mercury.  I’m not sure the world will ever see another front man that literally owns the audience in the way that Freddie could.  I’m not even sure it’s possible anymore.  All that aside this is a fairly faithful rendition of the Queen staple that sounds like Neil Diamond is on vocals.

mp3 : Katy Perry – Electric Feel (Acoustic MGMT Cover)
There are days that I secretly love Katy Perry.  Then there is the rest of the year when I openly disparage most of her music.  Today I sit uncomfortably between those two norms as I openly state that this cover is very interesting.

mp3 : Passion Pit – Tonight Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)
Sometimes it’s hard to stomach a cover of one of your favorite songs.  Fortunately for Passion Pit they’ve left the song almost entirely intact; they’ve simply updated the instrumentation and swapped out Billy Corgan’s vocals for ethereal pixie harmonies.  Well done.

mp3 : Serena Ryder & The Beauties – The Funeral (Band of Horses Cover)
I’m not sure anyone could ruin this song.  Ever.  This cover is subdued and changes the melody ever so slightly in an interesting and somehow even more melancholic way.  The harmonies used are quite nice as well.  After listening to this cover, though, I can’t help but think how Wakey!Wakey! would do it.

mp3 : The Fray – Heartless (Live Kanye West Cover)
I’m not really a huge fan of The Fray (too sappy) or of Kanye West (over.rated.) and to be honest I’m not really a huge fan of the studio version of this cover.  For whatever reason this live recording of the cover leaves behind the morass of the studio recording and sounds exactly the way it should have been recorded the first time around.

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BOTR vol 13

I’ve been stuck in a rut lately.  I’ve been swamped and work and when that happens I generally listen to a very small set of music over and over and over again.  The problem with this is that no new music coming in means no new music going out.  What happens is terrible.  So to spice it up I decided to bundle together another volume of BOTR (Best of The Remix).  If you’d like to check out all the previous BOTR volumes click here.

Enjoy the music.

mp3 : The Beach Boys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice (The Girls Can Hear Us Remix)
I love this remix.  It takes a classic summertime song by the Beach Boys and updates it just enough to make kids born in the last two decades appreciate the talent of the original surf rockers.

mp3 : David Guetta – Memories (feat Kid Cudi) (Armand Van Helden Vocal Remix)
Don’t be fooled by the opening forty five seconds of this remix.  When the vocals from CuDi drop in you’ll realize that you’re in heaven.

mp3 : Duck Sauce – aNYway (Black Noise Disco Remix)
I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of this track on first listen.  It sounds a lot like it’s from the late seventies, but the remixed aspect of the the song gives it a nice 2010 worthy veneer.

mp3 : Florence and The Machine – Dog Days Are Over (Breakage Remix)
This is by far the most depressing Florence and The Machine remix that I’ve ever heard.  And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Some days it’s good and well to be melancholic.

mp3 : Kinkiez – Nothing New (We Plants Are Happy Plants Remix)
The band is an act you’ve never heard of, but the track is worth a listen simply because We Plants Are Happy Plants has touched it.  WPAHP seems to have carved out a clever niche in the remix game and to date there hasn’t been a true competitor.

mp3 : Lady GaGa – Telephone (Crookers Remix)
I have no idea why anyone likes GaGa other than she tries really really hard to be even more abstract than Madonna ever was.  One thing can be said; even though her lyrics are Fergie-terrible at least the delivery is somewhat palatable.

mp3 : MGMT – Of Moons, Birds and Monsters (Holy Ghost Remix)
I thought this remix was appropriate what with MGMT having a new album due out this year.  Although this remix isn’t exactly club worthy it’s not problem, MGMT have always been more closely aligned with drug use anyway.

mp3 : MSTRKRFT – Bounce (OH SNAP!! Bootleg Vocal Remix)
To be honest MSTRKRFT are much better when remixing instead of creating original music, but this track had me at “all I do is party, ha ha ha ha.”  Makes me think of the Real World.

mp3 : Phoenix – Fences (The Pointdexter Remix)
If the previous remix was a mouthful of random club beats and party music this simple remix is a smooth sorbet, a sort of aural palate cleanser, a chilled out relaxing moment in the sun.

mp3 : Phoenix and Peter Bjorn and John and Victoria – One Thousand Nine Hundred and One Folks (Immuzikation Remix)
It’s been a long time since I listened to an Immuzikation Remix.  It’s been far too long.  At one time he alone sat atop the list in the remix world and here’s a nice example why.

mp3 : R Kelly vs Major Lazer – Ignition (The Hood Internet Remix)
No remix set is complete without one completely gratuitous R Kelly song.  Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce…

mp3 : Shout Out Louds – Fall Hard (Passion Pit’s Summertime Radio Remix)
If any remix could serve as the exact opposite, a counterpoint, to the previous R Kelly remix then this is that track.  Smooth and sugary like molasses this remix sounds like I usually feel on a hot summer day.

mp3 : Wale – Good Girls (A. Clark, Quix Remix)
This remix further cements in my brain that Wale and CuDi will end up being two of the most influential (or at least most long lasting) rappers in the current generation.  His rhymes remind me a lot of the iconic day of rap when Biggie and 2Pac were still around.

Insert some clever outro here.

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BOTR vol 12

It has been a full year since the BOTR series graced this humble page.  And I do apologize.  I apologize.  But it is far better to apologize than to eulogize.  And in the end it is far better to actually post music than to take months off (sorry mates, but deadlines at work and real life adventures are simply dominating my time).

I started this series, and the BOTM series, because in my previous life I had much more free time than anyone else on the face of the planet.  Literally.  Well since then I landed a fairly demanding (and rewarding) job, a car, a girl, a life, a etc.  So I’m not sitting flush with free time anymore, but I still care.  Honestly, I still care.  So enjoy the remixes, witches.

mp3 : Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix)
Imagine if you took Bloc Party and strained their music through a Nintendo soundtrack.  Then you added a grungy bass line and called it a remix.  Brilliant.

mp3 : Busta Rhymes – Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See (Valerna Remix)
Everything about this mix is perfection.  Busta spits like usual except this time the backing beats and remixed nature perfectly complement his nasty flow.  Rappers today wish they could drop lyrics like Busta.  This track is so good I’m tempted to simply stop now and publish this post.

mp3 : Chromeo – Destination Overdrive (DFA Remix)
This remix reminds me of Kill Bill.  Just when you start to think “OMG, is this ever going to end” you’re immediately stunned into silence at the beauty of the following moment.  Yes, it’s over seven minutes.  Yes, it’s worth it.

mp3 : Fenech Soler – Lies (The Phantoms Revenge Remix)
If anyone out there is looking to edit a sweet ass parkour video I highly recommend this song.  I don’t know why they should be lumped together, but it makes sense.

mp3 : Fever Ray – Seven (The Twelves Remix)
Hello 2009, welcome to 1974.  Or a Guy Ritchie film.

mp3 : Florence & The Machine – You Got The Love (The XX Remix)
I love the bass line in this remix.  It sets the perfect subdued mood and lets the string plucking float along like it was meant to.

mp3 : Ladyhawke – Paris is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)
This is another track that feels like it’s never going to reach a point worth caring about.  If you turn it off in the first minute you’re missing out.

mp3 : Major Lazer – Keep It Goin’ Louder (Feat. Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze) (Diplo Remix)
I honestly should not have to sell you on this track.  Look at the group name.  Major + Lazer = Win.  This track = Massive Win.

mp3 : Major Lazer – Pon de floor (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix)
Oh colonial era drum beats, oh trumpet fanfare, oh crazy twisted drum and bass synth that cuts in after thirty seconds.

mp3 : Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (Ring Trick Remix)
Remember when everyone was claiming Passion Pit was going to be huge?  Remember when everyone was wrong?  Dead wrong?  Well guess what, no one cares anymore, because this remix is great.

mp3 : Peaches – I Feel Cream (Proxy Remix)
The opening of this remix could easily qualify as the essential ‘film noir’ of remixes.  I’m not quite sure if I’m supposed to think that is a good thing or a bad thing.

mp3 : Phoenix – 1901 (L’Aiglon Remix)
The first of three remixes of one of the most popular tracks of the year.  This takes a straightforward pop/rock track and makes it even more straightforward.

mp3 : Phoenix – 1901 (Pete Herrs Symphonic Remix)
If the previous remix was straightforward then this remix is literally so far out in right field it’s playing cricket.  It begins spread out and sparse but soon enters the realm of angels.

mp3 : Phoenix – 1901 (The Tremulance Remix)
I’m including this remix to round out the trifecta of what a remix can be.  We had a straightforward pop remix, followed by a minimalist symphonic remix/re-imagining, and this is a frenetic blip filled mix.

mp3 : Phoenix – Lisztomania (Redial Remix)
I know you’ve all be wondering what this track would sound like it was sped up and played frantically with more reverb than a live Prince show.  Well wonder no more.

mp3 : Radiohead – Videotape (Ring Trick Remix)
You can almost never go wrong with a Radiohead remix.  Especially one centered around the impressive track Videotape.  Ring Trick simply nails this remix.

mp3 : The Sounds – No One Sleeps When I’m Awake (La Dolce Vita Remix)
Sugar coated remix covered with whip cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles.  Bring your own cherries.

mp3 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
A fitting, wailing end, to this installment of BOTR.  The repeated “off, off, off, off, off” is what remix dreams are made of.

I hope it’s been worth the wait and we’ll all keep our fingers crossed that it’s not another year before BOTR returns.  Enjoy the music.

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