Switch ft Andrea Martin – I Still Love You by DUBSIDED

“I Still Love You” could very easily be the best song in the world that few mainstream ears are actively listening to. Known by average party-goers at the rarely live DJIng half of the Diplo-assisted Major Lazer tandem, Dave “Switch” Taylor is, much like the production team’s current single, an “original don” of dance music. Of late, using elegant minor keys and percussive dance rhythms to massage plaintive and wistful emotions out of vocals has been his claim to fame. While UK artist Alex Clare’s debut album The Lateness of the Hour stumbled out of the blocks due to early adoption of a now commonplace underground co-mingling of sounds, Switch perfects the concept on this galloping bit of house-inspired R & B funk.

Vocalist Andrea Martin is the Darlene Love of her generation. A songwriter and background vocalist of great acclaim, she steps to the forefront in a most significant manner on this single. One of the chief songwriters behind SWV’s early 90s run of success, her most significant claims are songwriting credit on En Vogue’s 1997 #1 Billboard pop wailer “Don’t Let Go (Love)”  and two recent credits (“Give It to Me Right” and “It Kills Me” from The Bridge, Melanie Fiona’s 2009 debut album.

The song’s most significant selling point? It’s greater than the sum of its plentiful remixes, a rare statement in the present era. If unable to truly visualize how such a kingpin anthem can fit into a set or mix with current staples, Brodinski and The Shoes’ Gucci Vump tandem and Manchester duo Heavyfeet have added stellar bass and house variations on the theme , but if in another time, the original would have been a championship sound with immense crossover potential.

GUCCI VUMP REMIX
Switch feat. Andrea Martin – I Still Love You (Gucci Vump Remix) by Gucci Vump

HEAVYFEET RE-WORK
I Still Love You (HeavyFeet Re-work) – Switch & Andrea Martin by HeavyFeet

Beyonce – Girls (Who Run The World)

I remember sitting back at Washington DC’s Liv Nightclub one night, observing the crowd, and getting my drink on from the side of the wall. It was during a soul show–Little Dragon–I believe, where I first saw DJ Quartermane drop Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor,” and the mostly Black audience goes crazy. From that point on, I knew that the hipster anthem was a crossover anthem as well.

From that point on I would watch as DJs would sneak this track in at various club nights, and I would watch the reaction of the crowd. It must be something in the drums that makes the people go crazy. Diplo and Switch have created a monster. Questionable and controversial video be dammed.

Flash forward to 2011. Diplo now rocks tailored suits and performs around the world from his new base in LA, and his (and Switch’s) drums have been sampled by not one, but two Hip-Hop/R&B artists. First it was Swizz Beat’s use on Diddy Dirty Money’s “Ass On The Floor,” and now it’s the backbone for Beyonce’s gurl power anthem Girls (Who Rule The World). Let’s face it, these drums are becoming the Diwali Riddim of this decade.

Let’s face it, this re-interpretation of the song is somewhat lazy. With Swizz, at least he layered new synths on the top making a completely different song. But what do I know? This song is a bonefide hit. Laced with girl power messages (How we smart enough to make these millions/Strong enough to bare the children), this track will be the favorite of you girlfriend, daughter, and mom by the middle of July.

Diplo and Switch are set to be introduced to a whole new generation of listeners. As the mainstream is trying to get those hipster dollars, none of your sacred indie producers are safe. Welcome to 2011.

2.5 out of 5

Sia – Clap Your Hands (Diplo Remix)

Ahh Sia. The funky little Australian seems to be everywhere lately, and that’s becuse she just dropped a new album called We Are Born, the follow-up to her 2007 smash, Some People Have Real Problems.

My jury is still deliberating on Sia. I loved her as the unofficial frontwoman for UK trip-hop act Zero 7, but I find her solo work hit or miss. Either way, I’m excited to see that her single, “Clap Your Hands,” got the Diplo treatment. Part pseudo-dubstep, part floor-filler, the original track is barley recognizable–a true remix if you ask me. While this might not rank up there with Diplo’s best, it’s still the best way to start a Thursday morning.

Also, Sia is going on tour and will be in DC next week:

04/26: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
04/28: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
04/30: Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
05/01: Boston, MA @ House of Blues
05/02: Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
05/04: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
05/05: Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Ballroom
05/06: New York, NY @ Terminal 5
05/07: Richmond, VA @ The National
05/08: Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head

Original Track

Download: Free Gucci: Best of the Cold War Mixtapes

The nature of this mixtape in principle is to explore what Gucci Mane would sound like over musical styles unfamiliar to his typical dirty South productions. Instead, this just sounds like a bunch of ideas that Gucci can explore when he gets released from prison.

The concept of “genres” is dead.

The most important lesson learned from the Free Gucci: Best of the Cold War Mixtapes release by Mad Decent Records is that there are a ton of young production minds in this world now available to the world of hip hop. Now that Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj freely flow over dubstep, Pitbull has made a career on electro, and reggae emcees have already been on the dub and reggae tip for quite some time, we’ve reached a musical equilibrium. The nature of this mixtape in principle is to explore what Gucci Mane would sound like over musical styles unfamiliar to his typical dirty South productions. Instead, this just sounds like a bunch of ideas that Gucci can explore when he gets released from prison.

Literally one year ago, Diplo and the gang at Mad Decent released a mixtape taking Alabama’s Paper Route Gangstaz into the underground club scene. At the time, that album sounded fresh, odd and entertaining. Fast forward after 2009, and the same concept with Gucci Mane sounds like his latest mainstream album release. This says a lot about the saturation of electro in mainstream top 40 music, and if anything portents the same expectation for dubstep in the year to come. Instead of reaching far, this mixtape sounds like an amalgamation of competing B-sides for Warner Brothers to choose from for inclusion on white label releases of singles. Music is an odd place, and with this release, we begin to see where the separation of styles of music actually ceases to exist, and the invocation of a fertile, genre-less musical atmosphere can occur.

In just under 53 minutes, some of the brighter young production minds in electronic dance music, alongside a select few veterans attempt but often fall short in creating awe inspiring remixes of Radric Davis. However, there are a few standouts that require spotlight. Chicago Ghetto-industrial band Salem’s take on Gucci’s “My Shadow” is dark, bleak and completely frightening, adding tremendous depth and meaning to the track that clearly was not there prior. The weaving and meandering synths and frankly depression inducing bassline is fantastic. The band has prior experience in the realm of Gucci Mane remixes, so their success here is in no way shocking at all. Chicago’s Willy Joy and DJ Benzi go bonkers on “I’m the Shit,” crafting a fun and funky house remix with Daniel Bedingfield’s “Gotta Get Through This” as a winning track to lay the vocals over. The doubles on the chorus are a particularly entertaining touch, creating some fun UK 2-step type instrumentation.

But the champion here is Diplo. He’s weirder than ever now, and in his fertile imagination lies such far reaching freedom for innovation that by comparison, though everyone here is more than talented, Diplo sets the bar so far above and beyond that it’s truly impossible at this moment to reach. Take for example the mixtape opener “Danger’s Not a Stranger.” I can’t imagine anyone else in the universe re-interpolating Mariah Carey’s “Can’t Let Go” and blending in Gucci’s vocals to create a mid-tempo, drive time radio banger. Mixtape closer “Break Yourself” goes from being a hood anthem about women to being an Ibiza trance inspired bottle service club crusher when Diplo injects the familiar synth lines of ATB’s “9PM (Til I Come)” into it, changing the emotion and expanding the hit potential of the song.

The issue with the mixtape is that many of the younger producers on the album violate the nature of the vocals in attempting to take an acapella in a particular direction seemingly as a route to attaining mainstream acceptance. As solid as Douster and DZ are at providing dubstep for the masses, Gucci Mane’s cadence really just does not lend itself well to deep basslines. Veterans Bird Peterson and Emynd show and prove here, Peterson’s take on “Dope Boys” a downtempo and intropective track that is acceptable, and Emynd gets southern vet Playboy Tre to drop 16 bars on Frowny Face, creating a high hat, bass kick and 808 laden ATL strip club style remix that certainly passes muster as expected.

In final, this mixtape is more than solid. However, it speaks much more to the proliferation of underground musical styles succeeding in the mainstream than to any advancement or celebration of Gucci Mane as an artist. On the strength of Diplo’s, Salem’s and the Willy Joy and Benzi remixes alone, this is a must download compilation, but certainly not a contender for the best compilation of the year.

Gucci Mane x Diplo – Dangers Not a Stranger

This is the first leak off of the upcoming “FREE GUCCI” Mixtape that Diplo and Mad Decent are putting together. (via Mad Decent)

Download: Jovi Rockwell – Psycho Therapy

Jovi Rockwell – Keep It Real (produced by Diplo)

I’m loving this mixtape by Jamaican artist Jovi Rockwell, who most of y’all might know from her collaboration with Mr Vegas on the Diplo/Switch produced Major Lazer project. Well, Ms. Rockwell just dropped a new mixtape of her own this week, with production from Diplo and Akon among others. I’m loving her stuff, its a bridge of traditional reggae with modern, more pop tracks of today’s sound. I’m loving What do y’all think?

Also, I know that Keep It Real uses the same sample as Floetry’s Floetic, but what was the original sample? It’s bugging me.

Jovi Rockwell and Mr. Vegas – Cant’ Stop Now

To say that the Mad Decent Block Party was simply insane is like saying that driving a Ferrari down The Beltway is just your average ordinary commute. No, this Block Party was most likely one of the wildest things to take place on the Eastern Seaboard, drawing hipsters from all over to a neighborhood street in North Philly with the lure of free food, copious alcohol, and non-stop entertainment.

To the hipsters, this is their Mecca, and to Diplo and his Mad Decent crew, it was a way to celebrate and showcase the achievements of his brand of cutting edge music and culture, with a bill ranging from rock acts (POPO), to electro (Nadastrom), to straight up hood club (Brick Bandits and DJ Sega).

Lady Glock (of Lady Glock Photography) was there (along with me, Sonya from The Glass House, DJ Cam Jus, and half of DC) and took these amazing shots. Video coming soon.

More pics  on Lady Glock’s Flickr Photostream.

If you didn’t know by know, Major Lazer is the latest collaboration between “Paper Planes” producers Diplo and Switch. The concept revolves around “a renegade commando with a lazer arm and a rocket-powered skateboard who fights the spoils of Vampires, Zombies, Pimps, Mummies and other unsavory forces of evil.” Yes, even if you might have to light a spliff to get down with the concept, their first single, “Hold The Line,” featuring Santigold and Mr. Lexx is a straight banger.

The video has that Saturday morning cartoon feel to it, don’t ya think?

So yeah, I was ready for the Kanye/Badu/Common lovefest at the Red Bull Moon Tower to begin. I had prime real estate AND my SLR. It was about to go down. Then Red Bull got shut down by the cops. 

No worries. Me and Marcus were kidnapped by a girl from the “Austin hood” who goes by redyellow and transported to what they were calling the Texas Niteclub, an abandoned Salvaiton Army in a nondescrept shopping center somewhere in Austin, for the IHeartComix/Mad Decent Party, with Diplo, Kid Cudi, Farnsworth Bentley and a host of others on stage.

The ish was crazy. Cudi was so damn hype. I went to give a dude some dap and he was so excited he almost pulled me across the stage and embraced me as a brother. Granted, he could’ve been hype off that duet with Little Boots 3 hours earlier but I think having Diplo behind you and hundreds of screaming hipsters had something to do with it. The pictures only convey 1/4th of the crazyness of this night.

FULL FLICKR PHOTOSET HERE

DJ SEGA – Pinky and the Brain Theme

DJ SEGA – Philly Action News Theme (go here for reference)

Baltimore Club is a love it or hate it type genre. Most people outside of I-695 and your blogger/hipster scenes can’t stand it. Even though I’ve been following the sound for the past few years, I’ve been diving in head first into the scene recently. Going to B-More reminds me of going to those underground house parties in London during the 2-step/pre-grime era, where a DJ would take the hottest US pop track and put their own spin on it. The B-More culture is the cousin to that UK House scene (most early Baltimore releases were on UK labels) and a whole Black subculture exists 45 minutes up the road that people either hate on or don’t know about. The Baltimore sound has spread worldwide, and now there are dudes in other towns putting their own spin on the genre–like Philadelphia’s DJ SEGA.

DJ Sega’s set at Feedback last week was phenomenal. SEGA is a modern day Andy Warhol, taking bits and pieces of our pop culture and slicing them up into new, and sometimes unrecognizable tracks. SEGA’S set included a bevy of songs from my childhood–”Pinky and The Brain,” “Bill Nye The Science Guy,” and “Power Rangers,”–in addition to a Quagmire montage from Family Guy, all set to 130 bpm. It’s almost like SEGA–who was barely legal enough to be in the club–used the turntables as his canvas during his non stop set of almost all original material.

Clearly DC wasn’t ready for the Mad Decent protege, which was a shame. The crowd thinned out considerably during his set, with only the craziest and drunkest people left in the building towards the end. Those who stuck around were treated to one of the future pioneers of the club music genre. Check out DJ SEGA at his MySpace.

myspace.com/djsegatheblackknight

DJ SEGA Video Podcast

DJ SEGA – Quagmire’s Theme (Philly Remix)

This year, instead of just having me yap on about my Best of lists, I reached out to several of our readers to give their Top 5 of the best releases of the year. I’ll be profiling a new reader each day until the end of the 2008.

Today’s writer needs no introduction. Lady Glock is a fixture on both sides of the Atlantic. Check out her website at ladyglockphotography.wordpress.com.

Name: Lady Glock
Location: Washington, DC
Website: ladyglockphotography.wordpress.com

Top Five (In no particular order)

1. Jerk It – Thunderheist
2. Walking on a Dream – Empire of the Sun
3. Going On – Gnarls Barkley
4. Lights Out -Santogold
5. Day & Nite (Crookers Remix) – Kid Cudi

Runners Up (In no particular order)

1. Magic – Robin Thicke
2. A Milli – Lil Wayne
3. Rolex It Up (The Heatwave Refix) – Beenie Man & Wiley
4. Inna Da Ghetto – Diplo & Buraka Som Sistema
5. Electric Feel – MGMT

Honorable Mention

1. Biko – Bloc Party