The Cure - Lullaby (Rayko Special Poison Re-Edit)

My love for The Cure has been pretty well documented on this blog, so it should come as little surprise that when I came across this albeit rough re-edit from Rayko, I just had to share it. A dark and dirty take on the already twisted and irksome 1989 single from Disintegration ("The best album ever"), Spaniard Rayko has re-spun "Lullaby" with a miasmatic mixture of baleful bass and septic sound effects.

Running more than twice as long as the original Gothic genius, the extended intro of this mix allows for Rayko's reconstruction to take hold in your head, still primarily led by the guitar grooves. However this is the first time fans of The Cure will likely be critical of the mix, as the new rattling bass and punchy percussion push the unmistakable lead of "Lullaby" deeper into the mixture of sounds. That said its familiarity never entirely evaporates but rather, near the 2:30 mark, the mix (led by web-spinning synth effects) becomes cleaner and clearer, running closer to the original.

Unfortunately, this does not last long as once Robert Smith's eerie vocals come in, the mix is once again muddied. I will say however, that this could be an artistic choice that is meant to mesh with the murkiness of the drug themes and metonymy of addiction and depression in "Lullaby." It's likely Rayko has pushed his "Poison Re-Edit" this way and certainly, from that perspective, it is successful. I cannot be upset with this edit. At worst it is a welcome reminder and cool creative take on one of my favourite Cure tracks; at best, an ingenious effort that builds upon The Cure's killer, cannibalistic "Spiderman."
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Enlightened Listening for June 29

Friday's never disappoint. Whether you want the biggest names or the freshest faces, there's always something spectacular somewhere. Hopefully I've done a good job finding a combination of both, with the usual range of genres and styles. Again I've done my best to deliver a diverse yet cohesive run through 12 tracks, from punchy PC Music stylings, through techno, house, disco, and more bass heavy bangers. Check the playlist below, read the descriptions following, and grab those free downloads.

DUCKY - Headfirst
Undeniable energy amidst a furious and fantastical flow. Great for diving into the long weekend.

Boy Sim - Solid Gold Clit (ft. Pearl)
Felt equally in your face and all over your body. Massive mind-bender of an anthem that you might not want stuck in your head, but will work its way in there regardless.

Eekkoo - Punks
Lead and title track from his just released 4 track EP. Another sensational, progressive and powerful take on techno, that delivers a godly groove with warm wobs, and tantalizing twists.

The Aston Shuffle - Everything I Got
Heavenly house with sublime synth swells that plays perfectly with the vocals (chops and otherwise).

The Pharcyde - Runnin' (Petko Turner's Extended Edit)*
Another awesome offering from Petko Turner. Big throwback vibes that will serve us well this weekend.

Fatback Band - Whicky Whacky (Count Funkula 12 Inch Fierce Discko Regroove)*
Party, party, party! Groove, groove, groove! Dance, dance, dance! Just let go and enjoy.

Family Of The Year - Hold Me Down (Autograf Remix)
Autograf deliver delicious quality as usual. This is massive, soulful and fun. Stunning.

Sultan + Shepard - I Got 5 On It
More throwback vibes brought bouncing back to beautiful life. Snappy, poppy and fun.

Tom Bull - It's My Life
Brilliantly banging bass house mix of Armand Van Helden's "You Don't Know Me." Simple yet strong.

POWERCYAN - Plutocracy (Ephixa Remix)
Stunning cinematics from Ephixa, which dive in a diabolic direction. Master craftsmanship.

NuKid x Lucille Croft - Got The Flow
Dirty, dirty, dirty stuff from NuKid as per usual. Not to sound old like Randy and in turn Stan on South Park, but I often envision bass sounds as farts, and this ones hella stanky (see here).

Diplo ft. DRAM - Don't Look Back (QUIX Remix)
Head spinning stomper of a remix. I can only imagine the exorcism that must've taken place to create the sounds in the drop. Absolutely wild.

Note tracks marked with an asterisk are available for free download.

Throwback Thursday: Sandro Silva & Anjiro Rijo - Fifty What (Dem Slackers Remix)

For this week's installment in my Throwback Thursday series, it's with great pleasure that I reintroduce the world to one of the heaviest, grimiest, bass-jacking, insanity-inspiring, electro house remixes ever, courtesy Dem Slackers, who transformed Sandro Silva and Anjiro Rijo's "Fifty What," into a legitimate barn-burner. I first came across "Fifty What,"when Fake Blood dropped it way back in 2010 at the massive three room affair Digital Future at Sound Academy (which I've mentioned before). I haven't been able to spot myself in the video (below) but I'm sure I'm right up at the front losing my mind as Fake Blood absolutely massacred the crowd. The whistle in the second drop is one of my friends who became well known for that antic. I've since seen Fake Blood drop it at least two separate times, each of which the incredible atmosphere of "Fifty What" transforms the crowd into an undead army under FB's spell. Most times his crowd interaction with this track is perhaps the most awesome I've seen, miming a fisherman, casting a line and reeling us in to the back and forth rhythm of the sub-harmonics. Also in the video you may notice locals, Rynecologist and photographer, thesupermaniak.

Whether used in a set or played in full by itself on your iPod, Dem Slackers delivered a nearly perfect production. Putting most of the original elements Sandro Silva and Anjiro Rijo laid out to good use. The combination of the incredible low end and driving percussion propels the remix into an entirely new stratosphere. Both of the drops remain two of my favourites of all time, in part because of their slight yet inalienable differences; the first for its almost shotgun quality, cocking and firing out the subharmonic death knell, while the second has the additional bongos (added so ingeniously after everything but the flute is cut), it leans on a more complex and playful drum fill before the inescapable madness of the now modified drop. When first introducing my parents to electronic music they often thought much along the lines of Randy Marsh, that the drops sounded like farts, and "Fifty What" is the best example of this. My mom often referred to it as the fart song, and while the drop may induce incontinence with its brown note bassline, its overall power remains unmatched.

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SUPPORT SANDRO SILVA: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

WTF Friday: An Hour Down The Soundcloud Wormhole

It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise that I troll soundcloud on the regular. And much like Alice In Wonderland is relatively easy to fall through some sort of wormhole to that transports you to an alien world. This just happened to me as I was looking at goofy mashups, particularly those combining rap and kawaii, and came across this incomprehensibly insane account, dicksoak.


This was the second track I came across, probably should have stopped at the first one but it was so incredibly ridiculous that I just had to give this guy another chance to see if there was any hidden gold. I was immediately greeted with this tuned up Eminem monstrosity, the vocal stabs are hilariously tuned and hits an absolutely awesome peak with the chipmunk tuned background vocals at 33 seconds in. The 8-bit video game score brings the intensity and makes it feel as though you're being chased my some hyperactive Marshall Mathers.

Summæry Steel Drum Special - Now Downloadable

With winter on the horizon and the temperature dropping steadily I quickly found myself gobbling up tracks with a more summery feel. Originally, this gave me the urge to simply create a playlist compiling those types of tracks that I most yearned for. This, in itself, was quite the task and I ended up with upwards of 200 tracks, totalling nearly 15 hours of music; a hugely daunting playlist now sat in my library begging to be cut down to an appropriate and manageable size. I then set out to find a more clear sound and theme for this playlist that was quickly becoming more and more important to my daily music consumption, and therefore my happiness quota. I found myself unable to cut the playlist further than to 120 tracks and nearly 9 hours of music; still more than one could possibly jam into a two hour mixtape.

Luckily, I had been inspired by the rapid-fire DJing skills shown off this year's Red Bull Thre3Style DJ World Championships held right here in Toronto. The amazing talent and mixing made me believe that anything was possible in terms of what genres and styles of music could be jam packed into a small span of time (check out my favourite act of the finals Trentino among others). Following the inspiration taken from the RB3Style DJ World Championships and armed with the warm feeling from some of my favourite instruments (the steel drum, chimes, bells and so forth), I slowly began creating what is now called the "Summæry Steel Drum Special" invoking both the summer I most desired and the idea of a summary (year in review) mix.

As is the case with a free Soundcloud account, 2 hours is always my target length for a mixtape. As was also the case with RB3Style there were often audio clips strewn together so as to fashion an introduction as well as conclusion, and with all the great clips available from the infamous Rob Ford, mayor of this great city, I would have been remiss were I not to include and take advantage of our most beloved crack-smoker.