Mr. Oizo is a pretty odd character no matter how you approach the matter. His name pronounced “Monsieur Wah-zoh”, he got his start with the hugely popular (in Europe mind you) “Flat Beat” that was featured in Levi ads. He quickly went on to make some of the most screechy inaccessible electro ever. Despite the jangled horror he became a cult fave among the original fans of the Ed Banger crew. There was something refreshing about bold, hard electro in contrast to the sky rocketing Justice sound or the sheer stupidity that Uffie quickly vanished into.
That was then, a healthy story in it’s own right and some music well worth checking out.
This is now and Mr. Oizo is back. And he changed everything. Two of his new tracks are simply amazing, some of the hands down best soulful house I have heard in years. It’s incredibly accessible. And incredibly beautiful.
At first I was tempted to pursue something similar to Palms Out Sounds remix Sunday now that this classy broad has direct downloading. Then I realized that I only really liked two of the fresh remixes in my inbox. No filler for you, just the music I genuinely consider to be the best.
The remix of H&LA’s Blind is a no brainer due to the originals pure house power but the inclusion of anything by Kings of Leon may come as a shock. What can I say, Tenzin always keeps it fresh and this reincarnation has an epic rock build to it as well as some subtle baltimore clap.
Enjoy! Hercules and Love Affair- Blind (Hotline Remix) Kings Of Leon- Sex on Fire (Tenzin Remix)
Every Monday morning my friend (and local celebrity) Leigh posts a bulletin with his favorite videos of the week to wake up to. They are usually quite good and I wanted to share the love. Here are my picks of his picks.
Kanye West is about to release an album that has recieved a lot of hate. Not only is it unconventional for Hip-Hop, but it’s unconventional for him as an artist. Say what you will about Auto-Tune, or attitude, Kanye West is about to change the game and open the doors to something both refreshing and necessary. Check out my review of the album after the jump.
(photo by Fernando Arturo)
Deadmau5 drops a slight re-work of his classic or classics; The Reward is Cheese. If you are new to the greatness of this song this is a good place to get familiar or if you are already a convert here is an update, with a little more noise and complexity. the reward is more cheese- Deadmau5
Until this point the only Black Holes track I could find was a remix of Hollywood Holt. And I got tired of Hollywood Holt ages ago. (If you are curious click this link). Here we can more fully appreciate the complexity and echoing fidget of Black Holes. Little Jinder – Polyhedron (Black Holes Remix)
Diplo leaves South America (and the Favella beats he usually uses) alone in this outing which sounds a bit Kissy Sell Out meets Metric with a crazy clapping, strumming and screech of a synth line all supporting the vocal loop which sounds so indy it hurts. Must be the Devil- Diplo
Remember Zombie Nation? The birth of one of the most infectious and popular dance songs of all time, the “Oh oh oh ooh” that soon spread to be a sports chant? Until this day several of my friends claim the band to be named “Kernkraft 400″ and the song to be “Zombie Nation”. Well here is a newer offering, one of more intelligence and bang. Zombie Nation – Forza (FUKKK OFFF Remix)
A single song can make you. You no longer need an album to back up your name, just four bonkers remixes and a swaggery self produced cut or two. In a demanding dance music scene where we want progression, depth and intelligence we also only demand one new song at a time. The album is not dead but I am not holding my breathe either.
Here we have a new group from Paris called Art Whiplash releasing, “Party, sex and bullshit”. A new song to take seriously, be you a DJ or a selective fan.
The original buzzes like SebastiAn, builds like Justice and chants like the anthem from Party Monster before it commits suicide near the end and folds in on itself to get real artsy. Either genius or crazy it ends the track sounding like Mylo and Air are having a real peaceful tea party as the sun comes down. Somewhere with rolling hills where the warm air bleeps with the soft light of fireflies.
This takes the artsy aspect farther, removing words for the sake of more Edbanger-esque bangs and most likely being the easiest version to work into a set.
DJ Ravi of Portland (not to be confused with the Indian wedding DJ Ravi), just sent me two tracks. Ravi has been one of my favorite DJs here in Portland, to work with, and also to see perform. Along with Beyonda, he’s one of the best multi-genre DJs around this town, able to seamlessly move from old skool hip hop to house beats. Even his all-higher-dance-tempo sets include turntablist action. He also the only dj in PDX (besides myself, as far as I know) that REALLY likes Miami Booty Bass.
This first track is a remix of “We got the beat” by the Go Go’s. The original always seems to be a hit at parties where people want to dance the 80s, and I believe that the remix is true enough to the original that one could slide this in to mix it up just a little. My only complaint is that it needs more bass.
The second track weighs in at 110bpm, and reminds me of a progressive house version ofThe Sweater by Meryn Cadell. I like it, but I don’t believe the rhythm of the vocals on the chorus match up, and I preferred the vocalists spoken word to her singing. [Don't hate me Ravi, I know thats your girlfriend]
My good friend, fellow resident DJ and the man that happens to be responsible for all the web hosting/design of this very website has just been written up in the Willamette Week. Thank you Nilina for the continued support!
To read the article click the link.
I just found these four mp3’s in my mailbox. They are all steaming fresh and rather epic, electro seems to be getting even more spastic and polished as genres meld. I am a huge fan of Lazertag but find that not even they can save The Faint’s new album, though this is the most valiant attempt yet.
Listen for yourself.
Thank you to the consistently fine people over at Discobelle for turning me onto Buraka Som Sistema’s new mix. Officially billed as a club act from Portugal playing Kuduro, I see them more as just another crossover victory for the dancers and DJ’s of the world.
Great skittery, frenetic energy with enough vocals to make new converts. Buraka Som Sistema- Mixtape
This just started shooting around the internet. It’s pretty silly and not very important but hugely entertaining. Prop’s to the Hot Mess party for becoming VICE magazines wet dream.
When I first started DJing many years ago, the house parties I was doing never wanted to hear electronic, so I would blast mostly top 40 hip-hop party jams. In my own bedroom however, I jammed to the more intelligent jazzy hip-hop sounds of Arrested Development, Black Sheep, Black Eyed Peas (before Elephunk), A Tribe Called Quest, and Digable Planets. You know, pre-2000 hip-hop.
I loved Digable Planets Grammy-winning 1993 debut album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) since I could pick up on the samples from jazz/R&B greats like Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, and Curtis Mayfield. After the trio’s second release Blowout Comb, they separated to pursue their own projects (of which Ladybug Mecca’s work stands out the best, she even released some jams on Om Records!). They reunited a decade later and promised the release of a third album in 2005, of which I’m still waiting to hear.
I do have the opportunity this week however to go here them live here in Portland with other great hometown hip-hop heroes Dj Rev. Shines and Nico Luminous. Thank God it’s at the 2410 N Mississippi space and not the Roseland.
Oh joyous day. Barack Obama has become the next president elect of the United States of America. Let’s just hope that George W. Bush does not find some excuse to declare martial law before he has to give up the office. To celebrate the soon-to-be-renewed economic figure of this land, I, the web admin of this site, am very pleased to announce that we now have right-click downloads. No longer will you have to suffer through 15 seconds of ads in order to download our hand selected MP3s. And if you, our valued readers, demand it enough in the comments, maybe I will build a MP3 player into the site so that you can play the tracks immediately within the posting. Wouldn’t that be neat.
Go on, take advantage of those right clicks right now in the track listings of my previous post for my latest DJ mix. All the original tracks are available.
In celebration of the election, I’m releasing a new mix I have been hard at work at for the past several weeks. “For several weeks?!” you say? yes, that’s right, I’ve been building it bit by bit using Traktor DJ studio 3.4. I don’t care what you say about replicating the authenticity of a live set, this mix is awesome and all the levels sound spot on because I can go back to any point in the mix and change the frequencies as much as I need.
So here it is, my “Fidgetal Love October 2008 mix.” For you Portlanders, if you like this, come to ElectriCity this Friday and every Friday after that; you’re likely to hear much of the same.
We are re-branding the production side of this media monster in the making, just so slightly. The Website will stay the same but the events will now appear under the moniker of DigitaLove. Words! Branding and promotion! We obviously have too much time at the moment.
We also have a banging promotional mix by DJ Gray coming out very soon to support our brand new weekly party.
And less you forget, we are hosting a very legit night of hiphop, mashups and general dance floor hysteria on the 22nd. Between Low Budget and Dundiggy I could not think of better talent for the genre.
Doctor Adam is a new transplant to the Portland DJ scene and a new writer for fuckbadmusic. He also just released this spot on mix of those epic bangers that we all love. Infectious driving and vocal, “bangers” are the reason that “normal” people come to our dance parties. They are also the only way I can get though my morning before coffee. Picture, Hoopdreams, Doctor Adam Can I Haz Bangers?
As the year winds down the press releases pour in with all the agencies making their case for the artists they represent. One band serves as a good reminder, however, that there is still two months left in 2008. Lemonade’s self titled debut came out late last month, and has been tearing apart my player ever since. Also released along side the album is a remix album that sees their friends close and far away reinterpreting the songs. Here is San Francisco’s Ryan Merry taking on the excellent Sunchips under his Ghosts On Tape moniker.
With you forever – PNAU
Two creepy looking men make an amazing album featuring beautiful vocals and dancing strawberries. ( Photo of Deadmau5 in deep thought.) Move For Me (Santiago & Bushido Mix) – Kaskade feat. Deadmau5
It is a little hard to follow what happened with this track (Why is Kaskade featuring Deadmau5 and not the other way around? And who is singing?) but we can rest assured that the finished product is gorgeous. Enjoy (Crookers Remix) – Outhere Brothers
Just when you thought I was going soft on you. Here is some epic skittery noise by the masters of electronic crunk. The Crookers are due to drop an album either in “October, November or December”
according to their cooking interview. No I am serious.
FBM is a blog written about all kinds of music. We often focus on small acts and DJs, promoting and loving what we consider to be the very best in Indy, Dubstep, House and far beyond. We are a collective of (currently) unpaid kids based out of Portland Oregon. We urge you to support this music and hence we will provide the the most accurate show listings and heads up on things to do in Portland.
This is all those things but more then anything else this is about community, about having as many authors contributing as much as possible and promoting all of our friends. I believe in politics as still being important and I believe in this generation still being relevant. Our culture is all we have.
Almost all of this music is sent to us by the creator and is entirely legal to download, if something slips through the cracks and you are the owner of a soundfile you wish removed, simply email us. Thank you.
