AWmusic

I love remixes. I enjoy the process of taking one idea, cutting elements from that idea and forming your own interpretation. It’s exciting to find new remixes of songs I already enjoy, a blend of familiarity mixed with the giddiness of something new. I am however also completely aware that many people think the direct opposite of me, a belief that somehow the integrity of the original has been destroyed. To each his own I guess.

I’ve started receiving submissions from artists via this website and I have to admit, most don’t really peak my interest. Last weekend was a different story. I got an email from an dj/producer that goes by the name of la ZEBRA and I was about to pass him by when I noticed that beautiful word “remix”. Intrigued, I went on to download his remix of Matt & Kim – Daylight. I was instantly hooked. The catchy piano riff grabbed me and had me stuck on repeat for three to four listens in a row. This 19 year old California native is sure to make some waves soon, so keep an eye and ear open.

I’ve always been a fan of electronic music, since the days of early rave culture, but have recently been getting deep into electro house and bassline breaks. For the last couple months I have been an avid listener of Annie Nightingale on BBC Radio 1. If you haven’t heard her show on Friday nights, it’s a 2 hour collection of the newest tunes from these genres.

After my introduction to la ZEBRA I continued on my ever evolving hunt for good remixes, then earlier today I came across a new version of a Little Boots single called ‘New In Town’ on the NME website. This sparked an idea….. A little Saturday night dance (re)mix party for all of you. A collection of driving beats and bass that makes you shake what your momma gave you.

For those of you jaded by the idea of a remix, sorry. I’m sure you’ll find something else on this site that will peak your interest.

For the rest of us… Let’s get this party started.

Little Boots – New In Town (Drop The Lime Dub)
Lykke Li – Little Bit (Villains Remix)
Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning (Alex Metric Mix)
Sebastien Tellier – Kilometer (A-trak Dub Mix)
Matt&Kim – Daylight (la ZEBRA Remix)
Lady Sovereign – So Human (JoolsMF Remix)
MGMT – Electric Feel (Justice Remix)
M.I.A – U.R.A.Q.T (Konrad Remix)
Notorious B.I.G – Party and Bullshit (Ratatat Remix)
Does It Offend You, Yeah? – Epic Last Song (Jack Beats Remix)

I was a bit fan of the album, giving it a 4.5 out of 5, despite the album considered a critical “flop”. They just couldn’t get past the name.

Here are the contest rules:
1. You have to reside in Canada.
2. To enter you shall leave a comment in the comment’s section below
3. You must fill out the e-mail portion of the form or leave an e-mail in your message (not recommended)
4. Contest ends July 31st (no fix time, you can get lucky that day if I haven’t done the drawing).
5. I will e-mail the winners and ask them for their address. You must reply asap so I can get the CD’s sent out.

Thanks to Groundswork Marketing.

Currently Does it Offend You Yeah? are in support of their tour. Here are their tour dates (they are supporting Nine Inch Nails on a few dates):
17 Jul at Les Plages du Rock in Cannes
18 Jul at the MELT FESTIVAL in Leipzig
19 Jul at Vielles Charraus in France(?)
25 Jul at Popscene in San Francisco
26 Jul at Echo in Los Angeles
28 Jul at The Glass House (with Bloc Party) in Pomona, California
29 Jul at Mayan Theater (with Bloc Party) in Los Angeles, California
30 Jul at Fillmore (with Bloc Party) in San Francisco, California
2 Aug at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois
4 Aug at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, Ontario
5 Aug at Theater of the Living Arts (with Bloc Party) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6 Aug at Webster Hall (with Bloc Party) in New York, New York
9 Aug at SUMMER SONIC in OSAKA
10 Aug at SUMMER SONIC in TOKYO
15 Aug at Pukkelpop in Belgium
16 Aug at Lowlands Festival in Holland
22 Aug at READING FESTIVAL (HOMECOMING!) in(duh) Reading
23 Aug at LEEDS FESTIVAL in Leeds
27 Aug at Izod Center (with NIN) in East Rutherford, New Jersey
29 Aug at Wachovia Center (With NIN) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
13 Sep at Monolith in Denver, Colorado
20 Sep at Street Scene in San Diego, California
27 Sep at ADELAIDE – PARKLIFE in ADELAIDE
28 Sep at MELBOURNE – PARKLIFE in MELBOURNE
29 Sep at PERTH – PARKLIFE in PERTH
4 Oct at BRISBANE – PARKLIFE in BRISBANE
5 Oct at SYDNEY – PARKLIFE in SYDNEY
11 Oct at Club Academy in Manchester
12 Oct at Empire in Middlesbourgh
13 Oct at Duchess in York
15 Oct at The Charlotte in Leicester
16 Oct at Stylus in Leeds
17 Oct at The Leadmill in Sheffield
18 Oct at the Custard Factory in Birmingham
20 Oct at C2 in Brighton
21 Oct at Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth
23 Oct at Academy in Bristol
24 Oct at Sin in Swansea
25 Oct at Academy 2 at Liverpool
27 Oct at Oran Mor in Glasgow
28 Oct at Regal in Oxford
29 Oct at Electric Ballroom in London

Battle Royal by Does It Offend You Yeah?

Here’s a random playlist that I hope seems somehow related: ( I gotta go out)
1. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance by Vampire Weekend
2. Flyin by Regina Spektor
3. Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk
4. Ballad of A Comeback Kid by The New Pornographers
5. Inaction by We Are Scientists
6. Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus by Does It Offend You Yeah?
7. In Search of the Youth Crew by Cadence Weapon
8. Passing the Hat by Cold War Kids
9. Heart and Soul by Joy Division
10. Lucky Ones by Kevin Drew

Filler so I can adjust the below alignment!!!

The tracks they have available for streaming were pretty good actually. I ended seeing a review on Pitchfork (not deserving of a link here) giving them a 2.3 out of 10. I think after awhile when reading Pitchfork the albums that get praised are good and the ones that get their ass handed to them are usually well-off bands which don’t need a great review (e.g. a major label band) and they are making a statement at something that’s popular that shouldn’t be.

In this case it sounds like many reviewers hate the name Does It Offend You Yeah? and I must agree as it’s doesn’t seem to fit well in daily conversion and when you’re not exactly offensive or an asshole/prick/jerk it’s not very fitting. The title to the album of this album is also quite terrible and the first thing that comes to mind is “pretentious” before even picking up the album.

Bad band names and album titles aside, what it comes down to is the quality of the music. You can have band names such as The Throat Gaggers, The Horse Fuckers or The 2Girls1Cup Watchers (I don’t know if band names such as those exist but I’m not going to search for obvious reasons). As long as the music is good, I could care less and in this case Does It Offend You Yeah?’s You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Into is pretty darn good.

The album starts off with Battle Royale an instrumental track that seems to be homage to one of my favorite films of the same name. I think this is one of the better tracks, while there isn’t much vocally it’s quite enjoyable to listen to and you can see elements of houses or more specifically comparisons to Daft Punk.

Here’s a fan made video for Battle Royale – eat your heart out fans of the Power Rangers (who didn’t like them when you were 5?)

The next two tracks We Are Rockstars and With A Heavy Heart(I Regret To Inform You) are pretty awesome dance songs and all the way through you have some great dance tracks that would be awesome at the club. Other then the rather typical house music, you have these dance ballads that I guess you wouldn’t find after listening to the first few tracks and it’s more of a breath of fresh air as they are just adding vocals to a pretty solid set of music.

I guess see that their music isn’t exactly original but you can argue most pop music has been done before and it really just comes down to whether you enjoy it or not. Sure the music doesn’t offend me and I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into but I am shaking my head here at how poorly critics found the album. If there’s any way of alienating music that I’m sure the masses would like that would be it by acting snobby and thinking that this music is “boring” and “unoriginal” and putting too much stock in a band name does much less for us as music fans more then anything.

Overall pretty darn good, an enjoyable record and I can’t say that about other albums that have been praised a great deal. My favorite tracks are Battle Royale, Being Bad Feels Pretty Good

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Due to this album being on a major label, I’m not exactly able to put up tracks to give you a correct idea of what you feel but enjoy these random tracks nonetheless.

Let’s Make Out by Does It Offend You Yeah?

Se7en by Does it Offend You Yeah? (another movie homage?)

Map of the Problematique by Muse (Does It Offend You Yeah Remix)