Probably the best remix of Daft Punk I've heard! A summery pop-filled cover of "Something About Us" that doesn't disappoint. I don't know anything about Jellynut, but whoever he/she/they is/are, they've made a real gem of a tune!
Synth-pop legends The Human League have been given the disco treatment by Disco disco!! favourite Plastic Plates on their brand new single "Sky", a track from their new album; Credo. Stabbing synths and thumping percussion are wrapped around a catchy hook of "Life goes on/Now you're gone/Life goes on after sky". In-keeping with other Plastic Plates tracks, this isn't an up-tempo one, but it's still club-friendly and worth a play!
The Sauce are back! A-Trak & Armad Van Helden return with a deeper house tune named "The Big Bad Wolf". Surprisingly, it doesn't have a disco sample or even a slapped bassline. One thing's for sure though, after you've heard it you'll be going "THE BIG BAD WOLF" at the least appropriate moment for the next week or so!!
Wait, what? I'm posting a remix of Madonna?! I haven't gone mad, this dub of the Monsieur Adi remix of Madonna's "Music" is really good. It retains it's famous melody that sounds like a robot trying to speak (probably how Monsieur Adi's robot [above] speaks), whilst adding an indie-electro distorted guitar sound. This sounds some something an artist from the future would produce, think Worship or Daft Punk's Interstella 5555!!!
Two of the leading funksters in the music game today, Chromeo & Breakbot, come together in Breakbot's remix of the Chromeo track "When The Night Falls". Obviously, it's full of slapped bass and piano melodies, and although it's not as up-tempo as Breakbot's "Fantasy", it's still a brilliant tune!
Oxford's Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs has taken the catchy ditty "Hawaiian Air" by Friendly Fires and created an astounding summery track with a huge, huge bassline and glittery synths and one of those "hands in the air moments" that I really enjoy. It'd be perfect for a beach party playlist!!
I have always been a huge fan of Crookers. Hailing from Milan, the duo of Bot & Phra were once pioneers of the short-lived Fidget House movement, before the huge success that was their remix of Kid Cudi's "Day 'n' Nite". Although it was a huge commercial success, the duo didn't like the fact that one of their songs had become part of the mainstream, and so they included a satirical acapella version of the track performed by beatboxers in their debut album. Post-Cudi, their sound has matured into something that is quite different from their original stuff, with a much more Tribal and Big Beat sound in some tunes, as well as a bigger House feel to others. Here's my take on one of my favourite artists, how they came to be and how they took the dance music world by storm. But to start, we have to go all the way back to 2006...
PART I: Emergence
There was a time, before Phra grew his now trademark left-wing author style beard and when Bot was rarely seen out of a New Era cap, that Crookers were one of the leading artists in the Fidget House movement. Their sound had the perfect balance in the sound, which meant that their tracks sounded great either in a club or on an iPod. Originally first bursting onto the blogosphere with a substantial amount of remixes for artists like Wiley, Moby & Dusty Kid, Crookers also released some EPs that were now driven into the spotlight. Their first EP, End 2 End, contained a tune named "Just Ghetto" that sampled UK singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae as well as two other tracks. The duo went onto release a host of remixes for various artists as well as EPs Funk Mundial #3, Massive, Aguas De Parco (all 2007), Knobbers, Mad Kidz & E.P.istola (all 2008).
After a bit of a wait and a lot of anticipation, Crookers dropped their debut album, Tons Of Friends (because every track is a collaboration), in 2010. Boasting such talent as Pitbull, Kelis & Major Lazer (amongst other amazing artits), the album has a diverse sound that includes Fidget, Hip Hop, House & Dubstep, every track including Crookers' swagger that had been a part of their style since they first appeared on the scene. Critics branded the album as "100% party", whilst others claimed that the duo were trying to "cover too many bases". Make what you will of it, the album is well-produced and most importantly has a density to it; it isn't just an album of tracks that all have the same old 'double drop' formula, it's a real arrangement of musical styles and you have to commend the pair for having the audacity to move away from their tried and tested sound and making such a good album.
Crookers' latest guise is Dr. Gonzo, another project full of collaborations with the likes of Savage Skulls, Neoteric & Wax Motif. Again, this is a mash up of many styles, with Dr. Gonzo creating the hard-hitting and catchy sound in "Bust 'Em Up", to the tribal and experimental "The Anthem". It looks like now that Crookers have proven themselves at a club level, they now want to have full licence to make tracks that aren't as club friendly, but are true pieces of music, shifting their song balance now towards the iPod than the club. With more Dr. Gonzo tracks on the way, this coud be the start of something big for Crookers and their collaborators.
