Our California friend DJ Kue is at it again, this time remixing Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade.” It follows the typical Kue format with hard hitting synths and vocal teasers that eventually open up into a snippet from the original song. Banging! Not much more to say…if you keep up with this blog, you know Kue has given us hit after hit in a very short amount of time. He has quite a few California gigs coming up for June - if you’re in the area, go check the man out in person. Can’t wait to hear what comes next!
Rage Against The Machine: Bulls On Parade (DJ Kue Remix) Download
One of my favorite people out there, Dave Nada, has paired up with Matt Nordstrom to push out this fantastic remix of Estelle’s American Boy under alias Nadastrom (get it…get it?). This remix ditches the familiar bmore beats you would expect from the likes of Nada. Well, you can still hear the influence, but instead of the expected sound and format, the remix is slamming electro house that will work any floor. This is a good indication of what you might expect in the future from these two, especially with a recent signing to the prolific Dubsided label. I’ve listened to this thing three times in a row and I still can’t get enough. I’m sure you’ll feel the same.
Zombie Zombie (actually, not this Zombie Zombie, but another group by the same name from LA), just remixed sassy artist Kesha for Warner and sent it over for posting. Kesha’s original tunes are quite fun, reminding me of a mix between M.I.A. Peaches and a little Beck sensibility with some commercial appeal thrown in. Unfortunately, there’s no word on her site as to when her album is coming out, but I’ll be keeping watch. The remix is of Kesha’s “My Heart’s On Fire” tune and is exactly what you would expect from a major label remix (I mean that in the nicest way, honestly). Great structure, nice use of the vocal (no chorus looping here!) and strong solid synth lines make Zombie Zombie’s version a nice solid rework of the gold-sneakered vixen’s tune.
Kesha: My Heart’s On Fire (Zombie Zombie Remix) Download
Everyone who knows me knows I am the biggest Chicago advocate ever. I love my city, I’ll probably never live anywhere else. However, despite Chicago’s rich and illustrious relationship with electronic music, we’ve been subject to some pretty unfair legislation, including the much disputed “anti-rave” law of the 90s. A lot of us are now feeling backed into a corner all over again with our city council trying to pass a controversial promoter law. If you’re in Chicago, please try and get involved…if you’re not, voice your opinion regardless. The entire piece is below, but you can access the original page here.
Taken from the Sun Times’ blog:
The city tries again to legislate Clubland — without any input from the music community
With nary a word of public notice — and with no public hearings seeking input from the Chicago music community — the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection was set to meet again today in its rush to push through a new “promoters’ ordinance” initially proposed last year and only delayed at the last minute when music activists caught wind.
Like most laws, this one has a noble goal: to regulate concerts and dance events in Chicago, rooting out illegitimate “underground” promoters operating without proper licensing and therefore possibly endangering music lovers. Like many laws drafted from only one perspective, however, this one could cause serious, perhaps unintended consequences for people who try to promote live music here.
Of course, the city already has myriad laws on the books dictating proper licensing and safety codes for concerts and clubs — not the least of which is the controversial “anti-rave ordinance” passed in the ’90s, which came on top of police, fire, city building and health department oversight and the always acute watch of aldermen and neighborhood groups.
But suddenly, city officials — chief among them committee chair Ald. Eugene Schulter and acting director of the Department of Business Affairs and Licensing Mary Lou Eisenhauer — have an urgent need to create an entirely separate part of the city code tightening the reigns on promoters even more. And this need is so urgent that little effort was made to seek any input from the promoters or the people who work with them.
If approved by the committee and the City Council, the law would require anyone promoting any event drawing more than 100 people to obtain a license — even if they are working with a well-established and already licensed promoter.
Licensees would also have to carry at least $300,000 in commercial liability insurance (even if the venue is insured), and they would have to be at least 21 years old (thereby ruling out enterprising college students, D.I.Y. punk fans and other budding young entrepreneurs from hosting a concert or a legal rave — and if you think that’s not a good idea, you should know that several of the top promoters in Chicago actually started their careers at age 18 or 19).
What all this means is that if, say, a local fanzine wanted to promote a monthly concert featuring the bands in its new issue at a well-established local club of 200 capacity, the editors would have to apply for a promoters’ license and meet all of the requirements and expenses, even if the club already has a license and can boast of a clean record of trouble-free events. The same would hold true of many regular benefit gigs.
As it now stands, the law would only allow venues with “fixed seating” — that is to say, chairs that can’t be removed — to host one-time events by unlicensed promoters like our magazine or benefit in the example above. This requirement rules out the exact sort of clubs that would most benefit from these events, including venues such as the Empty Bottle, Buddy Guy’s Legends and Metro.
One music activist who asked not to be named said that “the net impact of this law is simple: It’s going to make it harder for a lot of people to promote concerts in Chicago, and therefore there’s going to be less music in Chicago.”
Stay tuned for more as friends of the local music scene mobilize in an effort to make themselves heard at City Hall.
Noir Boys Club is a UK based DJ and production duo comprised of Nottingham/London based Lillica Libertine and Birmingham based Glamour Soundystem (not THE Glamour, mind you). Though their combined efforts really only began two months ago, they are picking up incredible steam and are already releasing their first EP, “Style Noir Presents: NBC.” Two of the tracks are named Agness Deyn & Sienna Miller, not surprising when you consider that Noir Boys Club is also directly linked with the fashion media and publication group StyleNoir, launched just a few months ago. -ed note: if you don’t know who Agyness Deyn is, hop the f*** on it. Why don’t we have models like her here in the States?
Noir Boys Club is set for a busy 2008 with international and national bookings flying in every direction as well as the promotion of the StyleNoir brand which will enjoy a memorable launch party taking place at london’s Hoxton Bar and Grill on the 11th of May with dj’s Tapedeck, Lillica Libertine and Thick As Theives as well as live performances from The Real Heat and Glamour Soundsystem and a one off live show by Noir Boys Club.
Ok, so it’s a couple days later than when I promised, but the announcement for my new partner in crime has finally arrived. Her name is Marea, a.k.a. The Lady Foursquare, a.k.a. part of Noise Floor Crew, the group that’s been making waves lately with their Portishead remixes. She has been quite busy lately, recently signed to DJ Pierre’s Afro-Acid label and was just involved in the “No Love Lost Mixtape Project” alongside artists such as The Toxic Avenger and The Bloody Beetroots. Marea is also a part of the Dust Traxx record company here in Chicago and I’m so excited to have someone else on board who is not only going to rep Chicago with me, but is another busy woman active within the industry. Plus, the woman has wicked tattoos and I’m admittedly too much of a pussy to get one, even though I love the way they look.
Coincidentally, I just finished an article for TimeOut Chicago profiling Dust Traxx and interviewed Marea (and founder Radek) for it. It’s in this week’s issue, so the print version unfortunately goes out of circulation today, but the piece is also up online. View it here.
Please join me in welcoming Marea into the fold!
Art Of Noise: Beatbox (Lady Foursquare Remix) Download
Ah yes, my schedule continues to put me in a position of mega posts as the craziness continues with my condo! There is good news though (aside, of course, from the goodies below). There will be an announcement later today about the addition to the team - a lovely lady who, like me, tries to be incredibly active in our little industry. She’s a force!
Coming your way now is…good god…another House Moguls rework. These guys are putting their touch on every classic rave tune I remember from my days at the Harvey, Dolton…well, you Chicagoans will get the references. I would love to see them do a House Moguls mix of Triple X’s “Feel The Same,” some Madison Avenue or maybe Modjo’s “Lady.” Now I’m getting all misty-eyed, great. Actually, damn, put some suggestions in the comments on what classic you would like to see them edit next and I’ll send the nominations in to them.
Next, the latest installment of the Future Disco Project. Brought to life by FutureFlashs (a.k.a. Nike de Vries) from Hamburg, is a gorgeous, fifty minute journey exploring retro 70s and 80s sounds reinvented by contemporary electronic artists. The result is a meeting of organic and synthetic as artists like Puzique and Lifelike weave a dream-like audioscape to get lost in.
Tracklisting:
1. Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Russ Chimes Remix)
2. The Lowbrows – Dream in the Desert
3. Futurecop! – N.A.S.A. (Cryptonites Remix)
4. Melomanics – DAF (Blokgolf Remix)
5. Bag Raiders – Fun Punch (Calling In Sick Remix)
6. Sidechains – Waiting so long
7. Ben Mono – Jesus was a B-Boy (Moulinex Remix) (exclusive Track!)
8. Xinobi – Day Off
9. Futurecop! – Class of 1984 (80Kidz Remix)
10. Sebastien Tellier – Divine (Danger Remix)
11. I-Robots – Frau (Puzique Remix)
12. The Presets – This Boys in Love (Zombie Nation Remix)
13. Does it Offend You, Yeah? – Epic last Song (Lifelike Remix)
14. Keenhouse – Deep in the Forest
Designer Drugs sent me a new track last night that they’ve been working on….and oh how perfect it is. The original, by Fake Shark Real Zombie is named “Designer Drugs.” Yeah, I think they had to go ahead and work on that one. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Designer Drugs yet, the duo from New York has been capturing the ears of bloggers for some time now, and has lead up to their recent signing with Kitsune. Don’t let the intro of this remix fool you, it might begin with some benign poppy ascending basslines, but the heavy hits about two minutes in.
Fake Shark Real Zombie: Designer Drugs (Designer Drugs Remix) Download
Lastly, blog FuckThatWorld.com just put together a compilation of ten electro, nu-rave, big beat tunes all ready for download. One in particular stood out to me, a tune by Dany Gold, an artist out of France who has….absolutely no information about him on his Myspace. Well, enjoy the angry synths in “Choco” anyway!
