I love how Yuksek can work in so many genres and still bust out great sounds. Now, I don’t mean that he produces rap and indie-rock songs (he usually makes french tinged electro), but he can take rap and indie-rock songs and make them sound like they were always made to be played at 1 AM on a sweaty dance floor. In the last year he has killed remixes for Ghostface Killah, The Kaiser Chiefs, and Corey Hart.

Well his latest reworking is just as special if not more so than those other ones. He is a king of manipulating the high end to get a wonderful tin/processed sound while still kicking your ass with his thumping low end and he does exactly that in this remix of Tommy Sparks.

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Tommy Sparks - I’m A Rope (Yuksek Remix)

Bonus: See what he can do with a rap artist.

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Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown (Yuksek Remix)

I’m not sure how to talk about Beirut without sounding like an A&R guy for them. I think Zach Condon (lead singer of Beirut) is an absolute creative genius. The inevitable comparisons with Conor Oberst are justified yet I find Zach’s music, and the way he carries himself, more mature and worldly. He is only 22 years old but has released two amazing and inventive LP’s that collect work from when he was only 15 years old.

Well, I just recently found out that he will be releasing a double EP March of the Zapotec/Holland. Zapotec is a new recording under the Beirut name which created and recorded during a trip to Teotitlan del Valle, Mexico. The CD Holland is made under the pseudonym Realpeople, the name of Zach’s pre-Beirut bedroom electronic project.

Posted above is an inventive video of Zach and his band performing Nantes. Beirut and La Blogotheque collaborated on producing videos for all the songs on his latest CD Flying Club Cup, so if you enjoy this I highly recommend watching the rest.

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Beirut - Nantes

BONUS: I couldn’t just post one video.

I think everyone at Rollin’ & Scratchin’ know that I’m an Ocelot fanatic. I just love everything Ocelot does, it’s as simple as that. Well this time The Killers song Human gets a much needed remix that takes it from the dregs of contemporary culture (maybe a little harsh for a Stuart Price produced song) and lifts it to a quality dance floor pleaser. It’s not as hard as their Pacey Singer remix but that’s probably because they wanted to appeal to a wider audience, including fans of the original.

It’s a really well done rework of a bland and forgettable song. Some big names should start paying attention and grab Ocelot to add some edge to their coffee-shop brand of music (Madonna, Rihanna, Kanye West, Britney Spears, almost everyone on the Billboard Hot 100).

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The Killers - Human (Ocelot Remix)

This is for all the people that only started listening to Sébastien Tellier because his CD Sexuality was jammed down your throat as soon as you walked into American Apparel. To be honest, I don’t really care how people get introduced to good music as long as they truly appreciate it and don’t start listening to it because the Creative Director of AA is the pied-piper of hipsterdom.

In reality (as opposed to non-reality I guess), this post is not fueled by dumb AA obsessed frat girls but instead by Daft Punk’s ultimate electro stoner-flick Electroma. I watched it a few days ago and it really blew me away with the incredible cinematography (done by Thomas Bangalter) and an equally appealing soundtrack. Tellier’s Universe is one of the standout tracks used in the movie. The song itself is used as the perfect companion to a scene where Daft Punk’s newly human faces are deteriorating, effectively rendering them useless observers in their own slow destruction. This is a whole other side of Sébastien Tellier and it should not be ignored.

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Sèbastien Tellier - Universe

Lots of little updates around the site. I added a new website to the ART section that I made for one of my buddies in the greatest electronic group to come out of Canada, TMDP.

There are also some changes to the design and organization of the site that should make travailing it a little more enjoyable.

Also, I changed my contact e-mail address. That other one doesn’t work so if you e-mailed me in the past feel free to e-mail again at the correct e-mail address… christian.r.rice@gmail.com.

I miss poutine. For those of you who don’t know, poutine is basically french fries with cheese curds and gravy. It may sound gross to some people but as a former hater and now a certified lover, I can attest to the greatness that is poutine.

A couple of months ago I moved back to the US and now live in a barren poutine-free land and it couldn’t be any harder on me. In Canada it is pretty much assumed that, after catching a late night show or going to a club, your next adventure will be trying to find the closest poutine place that is still open. Once there, you will continue to purchase the largest size on the menu and hurriedly shovel it in your mouth at the fastest possible human rate. Most will get in your mouth but a good percentage will assuredly land in your lap or stick to your face.

As I sit here day-dreaming of drunkenly shoving people on the snow covered ground to claim my poutine even faster, I have put on Omnikron (Montreal) & TTC’s (Paris) ode to poutine, “Danse La Poutine”. So listen to this song that was made during the hype of French rap music and dream of soggy cheese covered french fries.

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Omnikrom - Danse La Poutine (ft. TTC)

BONUS: Watch the video because it brings to life exactly what I’m talking about.

Again, I have pure heat to share with you. Our favorite 80’s freaks Futurecop! have been watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (or listening to the soundtrack) enough to realize how amazing Robbie Rob’s classic “In Time” is. I’m actually surprised that Futurecop! didn’t name themselves Wyld Stallyns after Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan’s fictional band.

Regardless, Futurecop! speed up the tempo of the original and then give their 80’s influenced electro touch that results in a nostalgic trip that will not disappoint.

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Robbie Robb - In Time (Futurecop! Remix)

I added 3 new pieces to the ART section. Subject matter includes: robot, wolves, the sky, an owl, ghosts, triangles, water, stars, and many colors. If any of that sounds appealing I suggest you check them out.

Honestly, I’m not trying to make all these posts about Breakbot, but until he stops killing it, I’m going to have to document his slayings. The latest is a remix of Fatlip’s classic “What’s Up Fatlip”.

The way I found out about this song was really weird. Anyone who knows me knows I love 90s hip-hop music. So obviously “What’s Up Fatlip” is a big favorite of mine and I’ve been listening to it a lot lately. This lead to the inevitable thought (inevitable as a blogger/former dj) of why someone hasn’t remixed this song yet. Well my wish came true. Actually, it came true a while ago when the famous label Delicious Vinyl released a compilation CD of a lot of their classic songs re-imagined by new talent. Apparently Breakbot is also a Fatlip fan and decided to add some signature piano riffs to lighten and further chill out a chilled out song.

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Fatlip - What’s Up Fatlip (Breakbot Remix)

It would just be a straight shame if I didn’t post the original.

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Fatlip - What’s Up Fatlip

BONUS: I nearly forgot it was Halloween. So as a Halloween present I give to you a little edit I did last year of Herve’s “Cheap Thrills”. For those of you who don’t know, Herve remixed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” last year and called it Cheap Thrills. I had to DJ a Halloween party last year so I made an edit of the song a good part of the original Thriller song. It worked wonder’s in my set so hopefully it can do the same for you. The end is a little messed up because I made it just hours before the party but mix out of the song before that part comes and you’re all set.

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Herve - Cheap Thrills (DJ Underpants’ Laughin’ Edit)

Empire of the Sun, “Walking On A Dream”

I love Australia’s Empire of the Sun but I haven’t posted anything because tons of other blogs post their stuff and we don’t want to just re-iterate what other people are doing. Thankfully (or not), most blogs don’t follow up with artists when they make videos and we can pick up the slack.

Walking On A Dream is a breathe of fresh air and the video makes me appreciate it even more. The song is super beautiful and relaxed but I was always worried that the guys making it might be taking themselves too seriously. After watching this video I realized that they have a good sense of humor to everything their doing which makes the song, and video, even more fun and beautiful.