FERGALICIOUS

Here’s a couple of contrasting Fergalicious remixes. Rumour has it potty pants Stacey Ferguson was a meth-head at one time, which might explain why she was dancing around ‘Tower Bridge’ in the video for ‘London Bridge.’

The Adam Bartas and Steve Paps reworking is a nicely understated electro-techy remix, and Axwell did a great job as usual on the Mason mash-up.

mp3: fergie - fergalicious (adam baras & steve paps remix). [zshare].
mp3: mason vs fergie - fergalicious exceeder (axwell 2007 rework). [zshare].

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THE DARK KNIGHT

The sequel to Batman Begins is due in about 12 months time and Christopher Nolan again directs the heavyweight cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman along with new arrivals Heath Ledger (The Joker) and Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two Face).

It’s also been confirmed that the fine Maggie Gyllenhall will be bringing her talents to the project, replacing Katie Holmes as Assistant District Attorney and Batman’s love interest Rachel Dawes.

The film will put our hero up against a basically insane Joker and over at ibelieveinharveydent.com nothing much is happening yet, but the the ball’s slowly rolling with a link to the ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com.

It’s shaping up to be a literally massive film; four major sequences/scenes are going to be filmed in the Imax format, including a bank heist which will be The Jokers grand entrance, all this means pretty amazing high definition.

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HE SAID SHE SAID

The photograph of Beth Ditto sans panties on the cover of the NME has got everyone talking. Anyway, now Ms. Ditto and Co have been largely embraced by the mainstream, a reworked ‘Listen Up’ is being released again on June 11th.

It’s hard to have a go at The Gossip for that because it’s a record company idea and the band have basically toured five years straight, so the hard work’s paying off.

Attitude and opinionated mouthiness are sadly lacking in today’s music and although some of what Ditto’s got to say is b*llocks, she doesn’t seem to give two shits either way. Calling Gwen Stefani an ‘appropriation station’ and the stuff she says about Paris Hilton is pretty funny and spot on.

The song ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ is essentially a protest song aimed at George Bush, and here’s two electro clash remixes from last year by Playgroup/Trevor Jackson and Headman that you might not have picked up.

mp3:the gossip - standing in the way of control (playgroup mix). [ysi].
mp3:the gossip - standing in the way of control (headman mix). [ysi].

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MASTERS AT WORK

Nice new version of the track ‘Work’ originally released in 2001 by house legends Masters At Work. It’s everywhere at the moment and is set for an official June 11th release.

Featuring the distinctive vocals of Denise ‘Saucy Wow Wow’ Belfon, who sounds like she’s a woman who knows what she wants.

mp3: masters at work - work (extended mix).

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DEPECHE RE-MODE

Here’s a couple of recent Depeche Mode remixes by Rex The Dog and Oliver Huntemann, along with a tenuously linked Felix Da Housecat electro remix of ‘Personal Jesus’, as covered by fire breathing satan worshipper Marilyn Manson, who’s now inevitably become a parody of himself.

mp3: depeche mode - photographic (rex the dog dubb mix).
mp3: depeche mode - everything counts(huntemann & bodzin mix).
mp3: marilyn manson - personal jesus (felix da housecat remix).

GREAT SIMPSONS INTRODUCTION

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MINIMAL WAGE SLAVES

Radio Slave used to be Matt Edwards and Serge Santiago, but the parting of ways in 2002 hasn’t done either of the any harm.

Multi-faceted Matt Edwards is label boss of rekids and under the guise of Radio Slave his stripped back, minimal groove normally clocks in around the ten minute mark. To say he’s in demand as a remixer is a bit of an understatement and he’s turned his hand to The Pet Shop Boys, Moby and Trentemoller to name but a very few.

The latest release is a mind bending cd he’s done for the Misch Masch series, where he’s somehow managed to fit about twenty of his reworkings into a mix. The release also has some of the remixes on a bonus disc. Additionally, the reliable Filter 27 have a fairly recent Radio Slave session he did for Radio 1.

mp3: cagedbaby - hello there (radio slave remix). [ysi].
mp3: xpress2 - kill 100 (cagedbaby remix). [ysi].

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GRAND NATIONAL TREASURES

New album ‘A Drink and A Quick Decision’ by London duo Grand National is out soon and should see them get the attention they deserve.

Their debut ‘Kicking The National Habit’ was well recieved (by those who actually heard it) but it didn’t get the exposure. Prog’ House dj Sasha did a fantastic remix of the track ‘Talk Amongst Yourselves’ for his Involver project, it’s recommended and it’s here in a previous post.

This follow up is better and is being pushed hard by Recall Records. In a canny move that reflects current buying trends it’s getting a digital only release first on June 18th, followed by a later store release in September, which will have packaging goodies, bonus tracks and remixes.

Rupert Lyddon and Lawrence ‘La’ Rudd make a nice noise for a duo (six piece live), combining great songwriting with a tight electronic production. In the mould of Depeche Mode, New Order, The Happy Mondays and St. Etienne, they mix eighties post punk, nineties dance, indie, electro, and ska into a collection of polished and fresh left-field pop songs.

Time Out summed them up as ‘A thrilling blend of baggy swagger, jangly indie pop and electro tinged rock’. Having ‘A Drink and A Quick Decision’ might be a smart move this summer.

mp3: grand national - reason to hide in. [ysi].

mp3: grand national - going to switch the lights on. [ysi].

Grand National (Exclusive DJ Mix).

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TRON VS THE PRODIGY

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NEED A BEAT TO GROOVE TO?

If experimental, leftfield electro indie pop is your bag then check out Toronto’s Vivek Shyra. New long player ‘If We’re Not Talking’ dropped May 15th and you can get it through his MySpace page.

Vivek brings a good combination of understated, groove driven electronica with soulfully sung straight up lyrics. On the infectious ‘Chemistry’ a song about infatuation (we’ve all been there) he explains that’s he’s a ‘greedy motherfucker’ over a beat reminiscent of Trent Reznor in his more relaxed moments.

One of his biggest fans is Tegan Quin of duo Tegan & Sara, who he worked with on his last record, continuing the association, Sara Quin guests on the new record on the track ‘Your Name’.

This is well written stuff that’s different enough to be interesting, but has enough appeal to see it get the attention of a more mainstream audience. Check it out.

mp3: vivek shyra - chemistry.
mp3: vivek shyra - i won’t envy.

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ROBOTS REVENGE

Some fairly recent tunes for a monday made with the help of robots and computers. Not these ones though.

mp3: the presets - i go hard i go home (ascii disko mix). [ysi].

mp3: lady sovereign - love me or hate me (kim fai hoodies n hoops mix). [ysi].

mp3: rihanna - umbrella (jody van broeder destructive remix). [ysi].

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STONED LOVE

This promo for Justin Timberlakes ‘LoveStoned’ has been hanging around lately and I have no idea if it’s official or not. Whether it get’s a release is anyone’s guess - although there are some rumours of it coming out in June. The sound quality is ok, but not that great.

After coming into town recently on tour, JT and his pal Timbaland were a little taken with our fair city and spent a fair amount of time in Manchester/Salford, opting to film the majority of their upcoming respective videos ‘Love Stoned’ and ‘The Way I Are’ in the area.

Justin, who had been staying in the £2,000 a night Lowry Hotel with current squeeze Jessica Biel, brought sexy back to Little Hulton while filming at Web Lighting Studios where he used 600 kilowatts of lighting power - I remember the lights flickering in my apartment that night.

Timbo, meanwhile, opted for luxury by shooting in a car park just off Chapel Street, and in the back of a black cab.

Anyway, the tracks on the promo are pretty straight up club remixes, best of the bunch coming from Goldtrix and Don Zee.

mp3: justin timberlake - lovestoned (don zee mix). [zshare].

mp3: justin timberlake - lovestoned (goldtrix mix). [zshare].

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SCHNAUSS IN THE HOUSE

Time for a sunday wind down in the shape of Ulrich Schnauss, who has made a welcome return with EP ‘Quicksand Memory’, put out through Indipendiente/Domino as a primer for his soon to be released and long awaited new long player ‘Goodbye’.

Featuring two new tracks, the opener ‘Look At The Sky’, a collaboration with Rob McVey of Longview which is more band based, along with an edit of ‘Medusa’ which will appear on the new album. The remaining tracks are Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) reworkings of two of Ulrich’s most popular songs ‘Gone Forever’ and the excellent ‘On My Own’.

If anything ‘Quicksand Memory EP’ gives everyone new material and remixes, and the record company are hoping that it’ll serve as a starting point for anyone unfamiliar with this truly mesmerising music. Lazy sunday comparisons are My Bloody Valentine and Vangelis.

mp3: ulrich schnauss - look at the sky (rob mcvey version).
mp3: ulrich schnauss - on my own (robin guthrie version).

• More info about ‘Goodbye’ at Filter 27.
• Buy ‘Quicksand’ from Juno.

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REIGN OF KING MONKEY

After receiving some criticism lately for not featuring more home grown, specifically local, talent on these pages (they’re a proud lot the mancunians), I’m hopefully redressing the balance by posting about King Monkey himself.

Ian Brown recently announced a pretty massive 22 date UK tour starting this Autumn, kicking off at the Newcastle Academy on September 27, around the same time his hotly anticipated fifth solo album will drop. With a working title of ‘The World Is Yours’ Mr. Brown is working with fellow Manc musicians on the release, namely Smiths’ bassist Andy Rourke and the Happy Mondays’ Paul Ryder.

Making use of a 30-piece orchestra for the follow up to 2004’s ‘Solarized‘, he’s recently been reported saying ‘I’m trying to make my own ‘What’s Going On’. It’s going to be something really beautiful, with violins, dead sharp beats, socially conscious lyrics – this time around, I’m trying to bury everything I’ve ever done.’ Which is basically what everyone says.

Recently he’s made no secret of the fact that he’d like to work with Liverpudlian Paul McCartney, but the ex-Beatle is notoriously cagey about collaborations, explaining that nobody has since come close to John Lennon.

mp3: the stone roses - i wanna be adored. [ysi].
mp3: ian brown - dolphins were monkeys (unkle mix). [ysi].
mp3: ian brown - f.e.a.r. [ysi].
mp3: ian brown - forever and a day. [ysi].

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RUSTY PILOOSKI

I’m so late to the game on this one it’s not funny, but I’ve just heard it on the the radio and it’s pretty great.

This infectious remix by French beat maker Pilooski of Frankie Valli’s (The Four Seasons) ‘Beggin’ combines Northern Soul attitude with Beyond The Wizards Sleeve type coolness.

You might have last seen Valli on The Sopranos playing Rusty Millio and if you haven’t already got it, here’s the link bada bing!

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