#146 – Ben Leftwich’s ‘Pictures’ Gets Remixed

I would not put myself on record as being a massive fan of Dubstep. But that’s probably not fair, as it’s not all ‘quiet bit, quiet bit, quiet bit, pause…… DROP’ (kind of like this). I suppose the following is probably a Dubstep remix, but I like it. It’s from the up-and-coming Benjamin Francis Leftwich, who has been making waves of late and who looks like making it big this year. I’ve heard a fair bit of his stuff, and on the strength of his original stuff he deserves too. And if he’s going to get more songs remixed like the one below, then surely the next logical step is superstardom. It’s laid back, soaring stuff from a quality Welsh producer called GZUS. I don’t know an awful lot about him, only that he’s also worth checking out, especially if you’re more of a dub-head than I am.

#114 – Gang Colours

Gang Colours is Will Ozanne, a “post-dubstep” (that genre name has nothing to do with us!) artist from Southampton who is signed to Brownswood. The music he makes is far more than just “post-dubstep” though. He infuses elements of UK Funky, Garage and the moodiness of Burial & co. to create a sound which is very recognisable as his own. His debut EP came out at the start of June and his first full-length effort should be out at the end of this month. This is something that fans of the downtempo bass scene should be listening out for. It’s got sampled vocals, glitchy, twitchy ambient noises and beats that draw from a host of garage influences. And it has plenty of warm sub bass.

To read more about check out his Brownswood artist page here. Buy his music here.

Lucky Paul – Thought We Were Alone (Gang Colours Remix)

#111 – Remix. Remix. Remix.

Yes. That is correct. We have some remixes for your listening pleasure. The first is one that was sent our way by a certain DJ called Faux Pas. I like his name. And I like this track. The original song has been one of the most popular posts of the past four months, and for good reason. This remix (by one of the band!) has turned it into a bouncing, stripped down, dancehall vibe song while keeping some of the vocal elements that we all loved so much about the original song. Here’s the Faux Pas remix of Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.

If you want to have a crack at remixing the song you can. The original stems for the song have been put online (here) for all and sundry to have a go at. If you do give it a shot and you think we’ll like it then please send it over!

Next is a remix of Marina And The Diamonds ‘Radioactive’ by lo-fi aficionados

#104 – Remix O’Clock

Here we go with another roundup of remixes, old and new, that I’ve been listening to over the past week or two. I am going to start with something off the Wugazi mashup album. It’s rare for mashups to be any good at all, let alone comparable with the original songs. Yet somehow Cecil Otter  and Swiss Andy have managed to pull this off. Picking one song off the album is a pretty much impossible task. So rather than simply listening to this one song, head over to www.wugazi.com, download the album and listen to all of the songs. Lots.

Wugazi – Shame On Blue

Having put Rihanna’s latest song up on Sunday I started relistening to a reggae remix of Rude Boy I found ages ago. I don’t have a clue who it’s by, but it’s about as summery as it gets.

Rihanna – Rude Boy (Reggae Remix)

Music For Horses no. 9

Deadboy / Small Black

I thought as a new contributor I best enter into the spirit of the blog, so here’s my first two chilled-out selections for the bafflingly titled Music For Horses series.

My first selection takes an emotionally charged Pop song by Drake, Fireworks from his fantastic album ‘Thank Me Later’, and twists it delicately into something completely new. Deadboy’s self proclaimed slo mo house edit sees the London based (soon to be) bass heavyweight dismantle the track and extract it’s soul and emotional core. Focusing on the achingly beautiful Alicia Keys piano and adding drum clicks and the deftest touch of bass the atmosphere is delicate, sparse and eerie. Alicia Keys chipmunk’d vocals threaten to ruin the piece on first listens but after a short while you’ll fight the instinct to dismiss the effect and understand they’re pitched perfectly as they wash in and out throughout the track. Taking a lead perhaps from Burial’s production technique Deadboy takes this track to it’s inevitable emotional conclusion, without ever forcing it.

Deadboy posted the track himself on Dubstepforum.com back in June and Pitchfork have recently added it to their playlist which is, hopefully, leading up to the originally mooted limited 7″ release.

Drake ft. Alicia Keys – Fireworks (Deaboy Slo Mo House Edit)