The Remix

I need to confess another guilty pleasure of mine lately. I know the remix fad has been around for a long time but I've been drawn back to it recently with the concept of remixing hip hop and R&B songs (read: club songs) into techno and electronic songs (read: Euro club songs). I don't really know why, but for some reason I've been drawn to this mini genre of remixes lately and therefore have spent my time recently looking for remixes (and there are plenty of bad ones out there let me tell you) rather than good new bands.

Maybe it was the techno/club music from South America a couple months ago or something, but I find it really interesting how DJs are able to take songs that are popular in North America and able to rework them to sound like hit songs from other places (i.e. Europe). So my post today features some of the better reworks of songs I've found recently. The first one "American Boy" is the one that started it all off. I've been obsessed with this remix; the upbeat techno beat combined with the sped up Kanye West verses just becomes addicting. Furthermore, if you're not familiar with the song be sure to check out Estelle who is lighting it up across the pond with her release Shine featuring tracks by a who's who of top American hip hop producers (there that's a legit rec for you).

Estelle (feat. Kanye West) - American Boy (DJ Benzi remix)

The other ones are a couple of my other favorites, and I'm sure you'll recognize the originals. I think its pretty interesting how the various DJs have taken the songs and broken them down and put them back together along with their own elements to make them fit another genre of music. The One Republic remix might be a little over the top, but I think its unique in a way to hear all the stereotypical techno/electronica tricks and effects applied to such an American sounding song.

Rihanna - Umbrella (Seamus Haji and Paul Emmanuel remix)

One Republic (feat. Timbaland) - Apologize (Peter Rauhofer Remix)

Usher - Love in this Club (MSTRKRFT remix)

And finally, I can't do a post on remixes without mentioning the fact that the king of remixes, Girl Talk, has released his new album which is available here for whatever price you feel like paying (I chose zero dollars. Actually to be honest I still downloaded illegally from a 3rd party...beam me down Satan. Hey with his success he was able to quit his engineering job, I shed no tears for him).

Ok enough of this euro trash, time to celebrate the 4th of July. America! Fuck Yeah!

- Alec