“Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do” is easily my favorite song from Robyn’s latest album. It’s danceable, and the lyrics are humorous. Scottish phroducer Mylo took some time off of producing his next album to remix this song by Robyn, which isn’t too shabby. An 80’s funk feel is present here.

Robyn – “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do (Mylo & Sharooz Mix)”

I wasn’t so sure if I liked N.E.R.D’s “Hot-N-Fun” featuring Nelly Furtado when it released in May. At first I thought it was an okay track that tried too hard to be  a summer hit, but it grew on me once I actually realized that this is N.E.R.D. – they’re just 3 dudes making fun, dancy music.

To try to make us love it even more, they got amazing artists like Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Boys Noize, and Crookers to hop on the N.E.R.D. train and remix this track for their “Hot-N-Fun” single EP.  My favorite from these 4 have to be Boys Noize and Hot Chip’s remixes. My least favorite has to be Yeasayer’s

N.E.R.D. – “Hot-N-Fun” (Boys Noize Remix)

N.E.R.D. – “Hot-N-Fun” (Hot Chip Remix)

Listen and download to the other two at 514 blog.

My summer is sure not going to be Hot N Fun, especially in July. I’ve got a summer school course starting in a couple of days…

Passion Pit, yeah they’re undeniable. Fine, fresh, fierce, they’ve got it on lock. I’m a big fan of Passion Pit and their remixes, and they’ve chosen to remix Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”. Admit it or not, “California Gurls” is a very, very catchy tune. It’s hard for me to not sing it all the time.

They haven’t done much to the track other than slow down the tempo (Katy’s voice is noticeably lower) and add a track behind her voice. But it works.

Katy Perry – “California Gurls” (feat. Snoop Dogg) (Passion Pit Remix)

I’m a bit late on posting about Crystal Castles. As most of you know, the second self titled Crystal Castles album titled leaked completely a couple weeks ago, and most of you are probably playing it on repeat (I know I am). The album was slated for a June release, however due to the way-early leak, they pushed the digital release to last week and the physical on my birthday, May 24th.

The track that stood out the most for me (other than Doe Deer and a couple other songs) was “Empathy“. It has this super rad beat to it that I couldn’t resist. I don’t know how to describe the sound, and that’s how speechless I was. I have to say that this is probably one of my favorite tracks of all time.

(NOTE:  My computer is dumb and not letting me upload the song and it’s not on Youtube so watch the video on the bottom of the post to stream)

P.S. I got a remix from 10,000 Volt Ghost of “Empathy” in my inbox today, and I thought it was pretty sweet. I LOVE the 0:08 second mark. Check it out:

Crystal Castles – “Empathy” (10000 Volt Ghost Remix)

P.P.S. I found this while surfing my fashion blogs the other day. I thought it was real for a second but I guess it’s not. It’s a pretty sick video, and I’ve got to admit that the first time I heard this track I immediately thought of ‘Voguing”, a type of hip-hop dance back in the 80s (? or 70s?) that Madonna popularized and brought to the mainstream world with her hit song “Vogue”.

Usually when I think of a remix it’s a techno/house producer taking a slower down beat electronic song and making it danceable.  But some of my favorite remixes come from bands like PB&J and Grizzly Bear who aren’t necessarily your of the norm remixers. What you get is something more unique and sometime more approachable than your standard techno crescendos. From this remix you notice minimal remnants of the original, with a Peter Bjorn and John take on electronic music. They inject it with their signature organic sound and manage to secure most of the danceability of the original by adding in a subtle chirping synthesizer riff and delayed wood block claps.

Like mentioned before, it’s good to see different artists getting in and trying their hands at some remixing. Not only do they add a different flavor of remixes to the scene, but they also open up their fans to new music that may have flown under peoples radar’s. It’s good to see things like this going on in the music industry and I hope bands like PB&J and Grizzly Bear keep up the great work they’ve been releasing lately.

The Golden Filter – Hide Me (PB&J Remix)Stream

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are great. Everytime I listen to “Home”, I get shivers down the spine of my back. It’s one of those songs that moves you, and either makes you feel good inside (and have memories flash back right in front of you) or makes you miss home.

One of my favorite DJ’s Andre Anjos from RAC remixed this track recently. Instead of making it more upbeat like other remixers would do, he took the song to the next level and made it even more intimate. His take at “Home” turned out to be  misty, and calming. And that, I like.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “Home” (RAC Mix)Stream

If you may have noticed, Freelance Whales do not get remixed much. I don’t even think a remix of any of their songs was ever released! Lately they’ve been touring heavily and getting ready for a proper release for ‘Weathervanes’ from their label, Frenchkiss records.

“Generator ^ First Floor” is the song that first started to lured listeners in to their music, and since then they just got bigger and bigger. For their first remix ever, they’ve given Aislyn (the keyboardist from Passion Pit) a chance to change the song up. The final result is a spacey tune which fans from both bands will be able to appreciate.

Freelance Whales – “Generator ^ First Floor” (Aislyn Remix)Stream

Steve Borth aka CHLLNGR, an instrumental producer who hails from Copenhagen is one of the many artists to remix an XX song. His take at “Islands” is chilling and chill. The cover is freakishly beautiful, and I loved the idea of a ‘remiXX’.

See, the little things do count in life!

He’s playing a few shows at SXSW. Catch his schedule here.

The xx – “Islands” (CHLLNGR RemiXX)Stream

I got a short email the other day from an electro/house duo from Netherlands called Keljet who just finished a remix of The xx’s “Crystalized“. I don’t know anything else about this duo other than that, but based on this remix that they sent me I can tell they’re pretty good. Check out their Myspace here.

The xx – “Crystalized” (Keljet Remix)Stream

When Rihanna’s video for “Rude Boy” was released, all I thought of was how similiar it looked to M.I.A.’s “Boyz”. You thought that too. Even Diplo pointed that out.

Diplo also went on to make a quick mashup of both songs and posted it on his Twitter. I thought it would be a really interesting mashup, but when I pressed play it was just an overload of both of the songs sped up. Halfway through, I thought I was going to get a headache. I like the idea of it, but sorry Diplo, it doesn’t work.

Listen to it anyways, what do you think?!

Rihanna – “Rude Boy” (Diplo Rudeboyz Remix)Stream

Compare the 2 videos:

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I haven’t noticed this remix of The xx’s “VCR” that Matthew Dear remixed until now when YVYNL posted a DIY video to it. I only started watching because I thought the video would be interesting and quickly got hooked on to the remix.

“VCR” is one of the tracks that stand out from the dark minimalistic, foggy sound in their self-debut album. I could have never expected the remix to turn out even more poppier than it already was, but Matthew makes the song into a fun dance party.

The xx – VCR (Matthew Dear Remix)Stream

Watch the actual video below. I’m so glad they’re doing so well because I’ve been rooting for them since the beginning and it’s definitely been a dream come true for them. I hope one day I get to see them live and experience an amazing concert.