Sorry about the infrequent updates - it’s been mad. I was out in Cali last weekend playing Blow Up and Frisco Disco (much love for the Missingtoof crew), went home for two days and then I was off to Villahermosa, Mexico. I had a press conference this morning, a radio interview and then a talk show appearance…finally, some moments to myself.

Mexico is always a great place for me to play, both because I come here so frequently and the crowds are awesome, but my manager down here always has stories to tell me that he passes along so casually you would think he was reciting what he ate yesterday. For instance, the time he was eating what he thought was steak until he saw the fresh jaguar skin peeking out of the kitchen, or more bleakly, a story I heard in relation to the first time I came to Mexico. Five years ago I played in Cancun and one day, wanted to go see some ruins that were about two hours outside the city. The promoter asked his friend to take me - things were fine until the Federalis pulled us over. In short, they planted drugs in the car, held us ransom for $1,000 USD apiece (in cash on the spot of course), and the promoter eventually had to promise the cops some of the door money from the club that night. That wasn’t the crazy part. While sitting at dinner with the same promoter tonight, he said that friend was murdered a year after that day we all got arrested. He had thrown a party with someone in the Mexican mafia, they lost money, and weeks later, three men with machine guns came into the club he was working at, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him out. No one saw him again.

I never know what to say in these conversations.

I’ve taken lots of video of the trip, so I’ll put something together hopefully when I get home. I might not be able to update again over the rest of this week. I play Villahermosa tonight, Merida tomorrow, Cancun on Saturday and then Montreal on Sunday before going home. Oy. In the meantime, DJ Kue from Cali, one of my fave bootleggers of the moment, sent this Katy Perry remix for you all to enjoy.

Katy Perry: I Kissed a Girl (DJ Kue’s I Kissed a Squirrel Remix)
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Sorry I’ve been neglecting you guys, but I have a reason - I’ve been moving! We’ve bought a very cute house in a historic district of Chicago and I’ve been consumed by boxes boxes and more boxes. Since I’ve been driving my boyfriend nuts with everything I decided to take a break, go get a manicure (girl’s gotta look good, even when moving) and finally check my email. So while I had a moment, I thought I would take the time to post up a couple tunes that were floating in my inbox before I disappeared for a few more days. Sorry about the brief intros to these songs, but, well…you understand. Wish me luck!

Tittsworth, the b-more monster that I’ve written about for URB has a new album coming out called 12 Steps (which I have reviewed for URB - it’s awesome, trust me). The single “Broke Ass N*gga” comes with killer remixes, including this one from NYC’s The Glass (owners of Plant Music)

Tittsworth: Broke Ass N*gga (The Glass Remix)
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BSBTRGD Club stands for Backstreet Boys Total Rude Ghetto Dancing Club - no matter which way you say it, it’s a mouthful - not sure abbreviating makes it any easier. In any case - new remix from the group, and listening to it makes me very very happy. It’s super aggressive, and in the words of my friend Katie, is the kind of track that makes you want to fuck. Highly suggest you download this one.

Teen Wolf: Fukt (BSBTRGD Club Remix)
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OH SNAP!! passed some goodies along our way, including this slamming remix of Crookers’ tune “Sveglia” which means ‘alarm’ in Italian (hence the remix title…) and a remix of one of his own tunes, “I’m Too Fat To Be A Hipster.” The man has an EP coming out soon on Sweat It Out! Records… proving his apparent penchant for exclamation points. This one’s for you buddy!!!!!

Crookers: Sveglia (OH SNAP!! Booty Alarm Mix)
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OH SNAP!!: I’m Too Fat To Be A Hipster (Mightyfools Remix)
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I saw this in my inbox a few days ago but didn’t have time to open it due to a very hectic schedule. Now that I’ve been listening to it, I should have probably downloaded and posted it immediately. Hindsight… The remixes, courtesy of Geek Chic Soundsystem and Louis La Roche are of “My Heart Is Set On You” by Leeds-based group Heads We Dance. The Geek Chic remix is the one I slightly favor. It’s quite nice, with long breakdowns that get dreamy with the group’s vocals, heavy pads and trailing keys that suddenly slam into peak hour programming.

The original of “My Heart Is Set On You” is part of Heads We Dance’s debut single which will also feature song “Love In The Digital Age” mixed by Simon Gogerly (U2, Gwen Stefani, New Order, etc.) and will be pressed onto limited run gold 7″ vinyl (ooh!). If you want to get your hands on one, it will be available through Pure Groove starting Monday, the 16th of June.

Heads We Dance: My Heart Is Set On You (Geek Chic Cardio Workout)
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Heads We Dance: My Heart Is Set On You (Louis La Roche Remix)
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Can we say BOMB? Paul Anthony, the man who brought us a Technologic boot some time ago is back with partner ZXX to drop two MASSIVE bootlegs of Inner City’s “Good Life” and another Daft Punk boot, this time of “Around The World.” If you aren’t aware of Paul and ZXX yet, you should be - these guys have been gaining major steam lately. They have their own label, Dirty Fabric, are regulars on Beatport’s top 100 chart and consistently tour around the globe. Plus, they’re from my neck of the woods (well, a little south in Indiana), so I have to send some Midwest love. The two tracks below are straight electro bangers, with the Daft Punk remix leaning towards a more Laidback Luke-ish sound. Delightful! I’m sure you’ll find these two in regular rotation in sets, the car stereo, iTunes….

Daft Punk: Around The World (Paul Anthony and ZXX Boot)
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Inner City: Good Life (Paul Anthony and ZXX Boot)
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Mike Gillenwater is one of my good friends who lives just over the border in Indiana. He has a background more in disco-centered house which is probably a result of his formal music training background. He plays guitar for his tracks, writes the keys, everything - he’s pretty much the man. Aside from producing, Mike is also very involved in the Nine Records camp, a label that has not only housed his debut artist album, but releases from artists like Granite & Phunk, Harrison Crump and Johnny Fiasco. So when MIke wanted to collaborate on a tune together, I jumped on the chance and spent a couple days down in Indy working in his studio.

The result of our work together is a bit of a mash of our two styles. While I came to the table with a more classic electro sound, Mike loves swing, switch-ups and has been experimenting with pulling back, instead of adding more. The track is called “The Sound Of Disco” and I hope you have as much fun listening, passing it around and DJing it as we did making it. “The sound…of disco…Berlin…San Francisco…the club…the heat…p-p-play that beat.”

Thanks to Keem All Hippies, White Folks Get Crunk, Hot Biscuits, So Indie It Hurts and anyone else I missed for posting and supporting the tune.

Dani Deahl and Mike Gillenwater: The Sound Of Disco
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The Rocky Theme has another remix out, this time courtesy of Miscellaneous Chocolate from Seattle. The kitsch is not as integrated as it is in the well-circulated “Rocky Raver” by Herve…but is centered towards the beginning of the song. This is intentional on MC’s part, as the tune is meant to be more of a set opener to get the crowd riled up. I can’t wait to play this out and test the theory - the tune drops heavy after about thirty seconds in and doesn’t let up in its brief, but packed three and a half minutes.

Bill Conti: Gonna Fly Now (Rocky Theme) (Miscellaneous Chocolate Remix)
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Zombie Zombie first sent us his remix of Kesha a couple weeks ago, and now he’s back with another remix, this time of LA-based band The Vacation. The original is called “I Can’t Dance” and the remix is what we’re coming to expect from Zombie Zombie - straightforward, synth-centered and dance floor friendly mixes that keep the original song and lyrics consciously in mind. If you like the remix, I highly suggest you check out the Myspace page for The Vacation - several of their songs are available for free download via their Myspace player…suh-weet!

The Vacation: I Can’t Dance (Zombie Zombie Remix)
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Swedish house/electronica band Dada Life (comprised of Olle Corneer and Stephan Englblom) have been some of my favorite artists for years, and I must say I got a little starstruck when I got an email from them this morning with their new June promotional mix. It’s amazing - along what I would play during a set…so maybe I’m biased, but what the hell. The mix also includes lots of exclusives from the duo, giving it a sweet personal touch. As they say themselves, “We take nice tunes and make them even better.” Amen.

Dada Life June Mix
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Tracklist:

1. Daft Punk - Teachers (Laidback Luke’s 2008 Rework)
2. Surkin - Radio Fireworks (Riot In Belgium Second Remix)
3. Lykke Li - Dance. Dance. Dance. (Dada Life’s Guerilla Fart)
4. Elite Force - Kinetic Connection (Rogue Element Remix)
5. Siriusmo - Simple
6. Maral Salmassi - Television Rocks 08 (Fukkk Offf Remix)
7. T.Raumschmiere - E
8. Etienne de Crecy - Punk
9. Tommy Trash - Lover Lover
10. Dada Life - Fun Fun Fun! (Dada Life’s Guerilla Fart)
11. Nhan Solo & Daniel Dexter - The Bounce is Back (Malente Remix)
12. Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor (Soulwax Nite Version / Dada Life’s Guerilla Fart)
13. Dada Life - Your Favourite Flu
14. The Subs - Papillon (Yuksek & Brodinski Remix)
15. Crookers - Love To Edit

We first posted French artist Facteur when we got wind of his “Dr. Rhythm” remix and now the man is back again with two fresh remixes. Other people have been taking notice of his talents as well, as proven by his recent signing on Dubmood’s Data Airlines label and an upcoming EP with SexySynth Records. Both tracks below are non-stop beaters with only slight breaks to allow you to catch your breath. Normally tunes along these lines don’t appeal to me as they verge on just being noisy, but Facteur manages to layer his synthwork brilliantly to add additional rhythms and patterns.

Giko: Asshole (Facteur Remix)
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Dubmood: Transregional Des Pyrénées (Facteur Remix)
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Oh how happy am I - friend Kill The Noise has a new remix out, in correspondence with his School’s Out Forever tour with buddy Treasure Fingers. Nadastrom’s remix of Estelle’s “American Boy” was brilliant, and KTN’s interpretation is as well, though in a different way. A little more lighthearted, this version has trailing synths, a poppy breakdown, nice sidechaining action, thumpy kickdrums…the list of why this is great could go on and on. I love that Kill The Noise has the capacity to create an array of sounds, from harder, more minimal tunes to solid melodic pieces like this remix. Always a winner from this one.

If you’re not aware of the tour the duo is currently on, check the flyer below…you might be able to catch one of the last few stops.

Estelle Feat. Kanye: American Boy (Kill The Noise Remix)
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