Archive for the 'mstrkrft' Category

BOTR vol 06

As I sat at my computer during the last month I had but one thought on my mind; how can I make this volume of Best of the Remix the most absolutely epic post of all time. And I got to wondering, pondering even, how this could be done. I’ve had some pretty wicked BOTR posts in the past six months {for a full list click here}, but I wanted to see if I could take this one post to never before achieved levels here on TWF. The thing is I’ve noticed a trend lately whereby bands, or other entities, are choosing to spell their name entirely with capital letters sans vowels. Whether this is because of lawsuits or becuase they simply think their online only record label now has a trendy name is up for debate. Regardless of the reason it’s quickly becoming a trend that threatens to be as popular as putting the quite ubiquitous “the” in front of your band name.

All that explanation aside I was still looking for the most epic BOTR volume I’ve posted yet. To do so I settled on two bands and two bands only. If their name didn’t appear in the song title then the remix didn’t make the track. In the end I found sixteen tracks {up from my standard thirteen} that are all excellent remixes as well as involving either MGMT or the masterful MSTRKRFT. Enjoy these remixes, this has been the most fun I’ve had on the BOTR series. Let’s hope this is epic.

Please do not provide links directly to music files hosted here. Instead, if you’d like, provide a link to this post or a direct link to the zip file hosted on zshare. Thanks.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Acid Jacks - Awake Since ‘78 (MSTRKRFT Remix David Wolf Edit)
I’m already in love wish this song even with though it comes across as slightly obsessive with the repeated phrase “disco” drilled into the speakers.

mp3 : Ayumi Hamasaki - Beautiful Fighters (MSTRKRFT Remix)
I’m not sure another remix in this series {world} will ever come close to matching the combination of power and grace embodied in this remix. It almost makes me want to go back to my J-Pop and K-Pop days. This is what I mean when I use the word epic.

mp3 : Juliette Lewis & The Licks - Got Love To Kill (MSTRKRFT Remix)
If the previous Ayumi Hamasaki track was light and angel filled then this track featuring Juliette Lewis is the devil that sits on your other shoulder that encourages you to get out there and slam dance at prom.

mp3 : Kylie Minogue - Wow (MSTRKRFT Remix)
As gorgeous, and talented, as Kylie is sometimes her tracks fall a bit flat when they stand on their own. Luckily for us all there’s always a dash of MSTRKRFT to pick up the pieces and make it shiny again.

mp3 : Usher - Love In This Club (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Usher has fallen a bit in the lyrics department lately. I feel as if he’s still making music, and selling records, based on the fact that he incorporates a dance break into all his music videos. If he hired MSTRKRFT to produce the beats for his next disc it would be massive.

mp3 : Wolfmother - Woman (MSTRKRFT Remix)
The most surprisingly likable remix hails from a band I wouldn’t give a second chance any other day of the week. Is there anything MSTRKRFT can’t turn into gold?

mp3 : MSTRKRFT - Street Justice (MSTRKRFT Remix)
What could possibly be better, more epic, than taking your own track and remixing it into something more ferocious than before? This is the longest track in this BOTR volume and it’s worth every second.

mp3 : Syria vs MSTRKRFT - Neon Knights (Roccanova Remix Odio Remix)
I’m really starting to love the new direction the mashup world has taken {that being one spearheaded by acts such as Immuzikation and Girl Talk} where tracks are mixed in such a way that they’re almost entirely new songs, not simple over dubs.

mp3 : Chairlift - Evident Utensil (MGMT Remix)
Not exactly the standard beat heavy remix I feel this edited track would be more fit in a Wes Anderson film than in a dance hall. I love it, but then again I own all of Wes’ films.

mp3 : Leif - Electric Feel My Cool (MGMT Remix)
This easily puts MGMT into the elite realm of remixers occupied most frequently by duos such as MSTRKRFT or Daft Punk. This is by far the best remix I’ve heard from these pop heads. And the flute is brilliantly displayed in this mix. {Although I’m not entirely sure if this mix can be entirely credited to MGMT}.

mp3 : MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix)
What would an epic volume of BOTR be if somehow, some way, Justice didn’t sneak into the list {regardless of their blatant inclusion of vowels in their name}? Maybe they should change their name to JSTC and they’d get their own volume of BOTR.

mp3 : MGMT - The Youth (MMMathias Remix)
There are parts of this remix that remind of sounds filtered through a passing train. They come at you in bursts, in glimpses, and yet your mind somehow puts them all back together and creates something beautiful and coherent again.

mp3 : MGMT - Time To Pretend (Jorge Elbrecht Remix)
I’m not sure if there’s a darker edge to any other remix in this list. I feel like this is what MGMT would sound like if they somehow became a mysterious mall goth act {who still loved synthesizers}.

mp3 : MGMT vs Daft Punk- One More Time To Pretend (Immuzikation Remix)
Easily one of the best mashups I have ever heard. I know I’ve posted this track before, but I felt that it was good enough to get yet another spin here on Best of the Remix.

mp3 : MGMT vs Of Montreal - Future Faberge (Amplive Remix)
I would listen to this track over and over again just to hear the computerized voice say MGMT over and over again in the first thirty seconds. By the end I feel like I should be watching a macabre clown parade at a circus in some barely understood anime.

mp3 : Talib Kweli vs MGMT - Time To Listen (DJ Topcat Remix)
I love this mashup, honestly, maybe more than I love the Immuzikation effort. I’m not sure. Mixing spitfire rap over the top of MGMT’s synth almost seems too perfect to not have been realized before. I feel like Nas would be another perfect candidate for this treatment.

There you have it folks, the most epic post I could imagine for volume six of the Best of the Remix series. I think the only thing that could possibly be more epic is if I could get a bootleg recording of a live MGMT set where MSTRKRFT is mixing all the beats for each song {but that’ll most likely never happen. If it does, I better get comp tickets}. And for those of you who missed the link up top, if you’d like to view all six of the BOTR volumes on one page click here.

+ twf hype elbows amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook

BOTM vol 08

I’m actually committing to doing this month’s Best of the Month volume actually at the end of the month {volume 07 came out about five days after April was a bygone, so this is a change of pace}. Once again I present to you the best tracks that I heard during this month. This is my no means a completely exhaustive list of all the great music floating around on the interwebs, but it’s my personal slice of thirteen delicious tracks. Enjoy them on at a time or grab the entire volume in one convenient download. For all previous volumes of this series click here.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click} {link broken}

mp3 : Cloud Cult - Love You All
I’ve been listening to their latest album almost nonstop since I got it a few months back and I’m starting to think that this is my favorite track from the disc. Granted it has arguably the most simple lyrics on the album but the complexity of emotions portrayed through the arrangement is quite amazing.
site myspace amaozmp3 itunes

mp3 : Coldplay - Can’t Get You Out of My Head (Live Kylie Minogue Cover)
Although they might not be the biggest band of all time I would argue that they just might be the biggest band of this year. They’ve masterfully promoted their new album and somehow they’ve kept the lid on the leaky pipes which plague so many other big bands. This is a great cover.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Although Violet Hill was the first single dumped on the world, and the music video for that song is quite well done, I think it’s Viva la Vida which shows a nice maturity for these four boys fronted by Chris Martin. My only question is how they produce the strings in a live setting. Quite a brilliant start for their upcoming album which I am greatly anticipating.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Death Cab for Cutie - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Live Cyndi Lauper Cover)
With all the hype surrounding bigger, or at least more blogged about, acts I feel as if the launch date of the latest DCFC album passed by without much ado. In all actuality I guess I didn’t even post a review {although I love it}. Regardless I love Ben Gibbard’s special take on this classic song.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Emilie Simon - To The Dancers In The Rain (Live)
Sometime during this month I started listening to the more melancholy female singers on the market right now and I found myself falling in love with each of them in turn. Sometimes being sad is what you need to feel and sometimes listening to sad music is the right choice.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Eugene Francis Jr - Poor Me
Kind of like a mashup of Frou Frou with The Shins, Eugene Francis Jr seems like the golden reason to make a sequel to Garden State {if only for the soundtrack}. I love this song.
myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : MSTRKRFT - VUVUVU
I haven’t really listened to this genre of music since the days of undergrad all nighters spent studying architecture. Energy drinks of tomorrow will still fall short of the punch packed into any MSTRKRFT song. Ever.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Regina Spektor - The Call
Although I’m not a big fan of The Chronicles of Narnia movies {they’re a bit childish and the CGI is almost as bad as that found in the new Indiana Jones} it’s quite a treat to hear Regina Spektor on the soundtrack. And I really like the lyrics in this song. Kudos to you Ms. Spektor.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Say Hi - We Lost The Albatross
After dropping the To Your Mom from his title and, arguably, dropping some of the silliness from his musical creations as well, Eric Elbogen’s music has grown up quite a bit. I love this song off his latest album and I hope it’s a sign of even greater ideas yet to come.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
I’m officially a sucker for all things Sigur Ros {much to the chagrin of many of my friends}. I don’t know how I first heard of this band from Iceland {a land I’ve long wanted to visit}, but I’ve loved them from that first listen. This song hails from their upcoming album {hot on the heels of their last effort Hvarf/Heim} and they’re giving it away free from their website.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : The Flaming Lips - Knives Out (Radiohead Cover)
The Flaming Lips caught my attention when they sang about robot killer Yoshimi {for an entire album} and it’s great to hear them cover another of my favorite bands. This performance hails from a 2002 set they played at the esteemed KCRW studios.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : The Magnetic Fields - Too Drunk To Dream
I really hate the latest album by The Magnetic Fields. It was such a departure from the melodramatic beat and cello filled pop of their previous two efforts. Somehow songs from that album keep sneaking into my favorite lists though. It’s as if taken one at a time the songs are alright, but when put together for forty five minutes they’re simply too much to handle.
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

mp3 : Weezer - Pink Triangle (Live Acoustic)
I love me some Weezer and I really love what I’ve heard so far from their upcoming album. Pink Triangle hails from what may be my favorite Weezer disc of all time, Pinkerton, and this is a solid live version of the song {even if the crowd gets picked up by the mics a bit much. Cut them some slack, obviously they’re drunk. Right?}
site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

+ twf hype elbows amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook

BOTR vol 05

Welcome back you little remix addicted children. For those of you who simply aren’t satisfied with the music scene of today it’s good to know you can find a little slice of heaven in sometimes mediocre tracks which have been remixed to new heights. Thusly I present to you volume five in the Best of the Remix series. If you’d like to check out all previous volumes simply click here. Enjoy the music, these are the best remixes I heard last month.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click} {link broken}

mp3 : Britney Spears vs Madonna - 4 Minutes to Break the Ice (Remix)
I think we could just say Britney vs Madonna and there would probably be a couple thousand downloads a day until I’m out of bandwidth. If I knew who was responsible for this remix I would tell you, but I don’t.

mp3 : Feist - I Feel It All (Escort Remix)
Is it just me or does Ms. Feist embody all of the feel good vibes you wish were still left in Madonna or Britney? Love this remix, it’s simple and catchy.

mp3 : Fergie - Fergalicious (MSTRKRFT Remix)
I hate Fergie. I think she’s fine as a part {a small small part} of Black Eyed Peas, but on her own she sings about working out {and spelling} far too much. Luckily MSTRKRFT can save anything.

mp3 : Fleetwood Mac - Never Forget (Cut Copy Lifelike Remix)
Cut Copy does an excellent job with this classic Fleetwood Mac track. It starts slow and builds into a dance hall worthy head bobbing beat. Kudos to Cut Copy, if only your original tunes were this inspired.

mp3 : Madonna (feat Justin Timberlake) - 4 Minutes (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
Madonna = meh. JTim = pretty sweet. Jacques Lu Cont = brilliant. Put together = download.

mp3 : Madonna (feat Justin Timberlake) - 4 Minutes (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Remix)
Basically the opposite direction from the previous Jacques Lu Cont remix. This is space. This is funk. This is distorted bass.

mp3 : Madonna - Hung Up (Diplo Remix)
Say what you want about Madonna’s talent, aging dance moves, or questionable… everything. She knows how to make songs that can be remixed into something better.

mp3 : Madonna vs Fatboy Slim - Praise 4 Minutes (XAM Remix)
It’s nice to see Fatboy Slim still getting recognition. It’s also nice to hear the way Fatboy Slim’s sound mellows out Madonna in the best way.

mp3 : Metric - Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)
If you’re only here to download one single track let this be it. In my opinion {which we all know matters more than yours} this is the remix to beat so far in the BOTR series.

mp3 : MGMT - Time To Pretend (Tronik Shr-Edit Remix)
This is what it would sound like if computers ruled the world, then made robots, then made those robots into a band named MGMT.

mp3 : Phoenix - If I Feel Better, I’ll Go To The Disco (Said The Buffalo Bunch)
I’m not really sure if this qualifies as a remix, so count this as your bonus track number 14 for this volume. It’s a great track.

mp3 : Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
Minimalist French remixes appearing in BOTR? Who knew? I think this is the first remix I’ve heard in awhile that actually slows the beat down.

mp3 : Sunny Day Sets Fire - Adrenaline (XXXCHange Remix)
After the Sebastien Tellier downer it’s nice to return to a song you can really dance to. And by dance I do mean jump around awkwardly like you’re in your own private rave.

mp3 : The Mystery Jets - Hideaway (Switch Remix)
In a remix, how do you make everything sound far away? Is it some way you mess with the channels {like centering all sounds or playing them through left/right simultaneously}? Whatever it is it sound great here.

That’s all you little addicts. See you next month with another BOTR volume.

+ twf hype elbows amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook