The roots of the remix...

I may be wrong but I think I've discovered the root of all mashup/remix culture. Dutchman Jaap Eggermont  may have started the entire scene back in 1981. Using a fixed tempo and studio reproduced recordings of famous 60's hits he produced a single called stars on 45 medley. The idea behind is was to get a more disco friendly version of classic well known hits. Which pretty much sums up about 80% of todays remixes (smells like teen spirit?). The medley samples mostly Beetles songs but has a few other gems in there.


Stars On 45 - Medley 


This is a much more recent track released in 97. It features a bunch of 80/90s housey/trancey/black female vocally stuff which you will recognize.


Stars On 45  - Club Hits 

Lazy..

Hey guys, sorry I've been so lazy over the last couple of days. To make up for it here's a tune. It's an oldie but a goodie, I freakin' loved this song a couple of years ago (and pretty much everything else Van She Tech did)

I Am Finn - I Love You (Van She Tech Remix)

The Bloody Beetroots..

It seems like all of a sudden The Bloody Beetroots have exploded into the mainstream. With Warp 1.9 being featured in party playlists alongside Beyonce and Lady GaGa. 1,2 woop woop has become synonymous with the Beetroots however I believe their best stuff came before the release of Romborama and Warp. These are two of my favorite Beetroots songs and they're a few years old, around the time Warp would have been considered hard dance and the only wobble in music was coming from Rolf Harris.


Timbaland - Miscommunication (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

The Bloody Beetroots - We Are From Venice (La Serenissima)

Doin' it for the thrill.

It's pretty hard not to like La Roux , singer Elly Jackson's voice is nothing short of amazing and with backing by Ben Langmaid's nicely crafted synths La Roux is a winning combination. Being an Electropop phenomenon their tunes have been remixed by the biggest names in the business.

'Quicksand' was their first single release and UK producer Boy 8-Bit has done an amazing job with his remix.

La Roux - Quicksand (Boy 8-Bit Remix)

The second single off their album was 'In For The Kill' which dubstep producer Skream turned into a dark and ominous banger. Last Japan put a little bit more pep in it's step with their re-edit.

La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream Remix)[Last Japan ReEdit]

The third single of their self titled debut is probably their most well known. Bulletproof is a catchy pop gem which I often find myself singing along to (by myself in my room of course). And Foamo who has recently cemented himself as the next big thing in electro turns the volume knob to 11, adding his signature bassline to this tune.

La Roux - Bulletproof (Foamo Remix)

Their latest offering comes to us in the form of 'I'm Not Your toy'. Jack Beats adds their signature wobble to this already bouncy masterpiece turning it into a dance-floor destroyer.

La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy (Jack Beats Remix)

'As If By Magic' has been confirmed by Elly as the next single off the album. I'm pretty excited to hear the remixes that will come with it.

More Cowbell!!!

Sydney band Van She  have done a great synth heavy cover of the Blue Oyster Cult  classic 'Don't Fear The Reaper' and I think it's pretty darn good. Have a listen.


Van She  - (Don't Fear) The Reaper [Blue Oyster Cult cover] radio rip 

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I don't know much about Chewy Chocolate Cookies , until today I thought they we Parisian however their MySpace states they are from London.... perhaps they are from both?  I think the first track I got from these guys was over 2 years ago, which means in terms of the new electronic scene they have been around for a while and in that time have remixed so many tracks it's stupid. Recently they have remixed two of the biggest tracks of 2009, Major Lazers Pon De Floor and The Bloody Beetroots Warp 1.9. Their take on Pon De Floor is amazing and really really fun. They sample the A-team theme in the build up then drop it into a heavy charging bassline that makes you want to jump up and down repeatedly. Their Warp remix takes a different direction to most of the other mixes floating around. They sample the 2002 dance anthem At Night by Shakedown. I'm not to sure how I feel about it, seems a little mainroomy/girly however the rest of the song is pretty darn rad and refreshing because every one knows Warp is getting old........ don't you think?


Major Lazer - Pon De Floor (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix)

The Bloody Beetroots - Warp 1.9 (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix)

Back in the U.S.S.R

I came across this tonight whist doing my daily youtube-ing. Proxy is well known for his dark, heavy basslines however he goes in a bit of a different with this track with it's middle eastern/indian samples it becomes pretty bouncy. Video was done by fellow Turbo artist Thomas Von Party. 

Graham Who?

Today whilst at work my colleague and fellow music lover showed me a song which he had been jiving to of late. I looked down on his iPod and noticed that the song was a remix by a producer named The Living Graham Bond a.k.a TLGB from London . I first stumbled upon TLGB around June last year when he released a bootleg mix of Stardust's hit Music Sounds Better With You. I played this song out a few times and with it's heavy yet bouncy take on a dance classic it got some feet shufflin'. Now TLGB's latest work....MY JESUS H. CHRIST (yes Jesus has a middle name and it's Hernando) this track is a banger if I've ever heard one, super bouncy and with one of the best basslines I've heard in a while. I really like TLGB's syncopated beats, gets me bouncin' no matter what the mood.  This guy is one of my favourite producers right now and he has his debut EP 'Incredibly Soft' out on UK Fidget label Venga so head on over to Beatport and check it out, well worth a look.

B Rich - Make Me Dance (TLGB Remix)

Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (TLGB Remix)

I've been absolutely froffin' on Miike Snow lately. I find their upbeat sound just makes me smile and let my arms flail around uncontrollably whilst jumping (that's what I call dancing). When Song For No One came on whilst I was driving yesterday I started "dancing" and nearly collected the guard rail. The lesson here is WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T DANCE AND DRIVE!!! (however do listen to Miike Snow)

Miike Snow - Song For No One

Their most well known song is probably Animal . It's been remixed by a plethora of producers and I think Fake Blood has done the best job. Unsurprisingly really, everything Theo Keating touche's turns to gold. ZOMG LOL See what I did there I should have my own talk show.

Miike Snow - Animal (Fake Blood Remix)

Welcome to Smidgem

So this is the first of many posts on Smidgen, a blog with photos, music, happenings etc. So it's pretty much like every other blog out there except way cooler because it's called Smidgem and it's brought to you by some fairly cool dudes.

So first off i thought I would start with a song for you all to download. This has been floating around for a little over two weeks now and has seen some serious playback on my iTunes since I acquired it. It's a remix by UK electro duo Jack Beats of the Passion Pit song Little Secrets. I can safely say this is one of the best "electro"(if that's what you want to call it) songs to date with enough grind to keep the hardest of core shufflin' and enough of the original in there to get your everyday joe toe-tappin' and singing along to that falsetto Passion Pit sound.

Passion Pit - Little Secrets (Jack Beats Remix)