Paradise.

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I often marvel at the thought of production duos or DJ duos, or any collaborative electronic production affair for that matter. The idea of being hunched over the computer with your friend pushing buttons seems uncomfortable and the thought of passing stems back and forth over e-mail seems cold, but ultimately I forget that musical collaborations in general (i.e. bands) have been in existence for some time now and seem to work out all right for most people.

Out today on Trash Menagerie label-favorite Car Crash Set Records is the Mighty Music Remix EP from South Wales foursome, that’s right four producers, who call themselves C.R.S.T. An acronym of their last names (Chesus, Rodski, Stroud & Tony Blitz), C.R.S.T. are, ostensibly, a band. Don’t know what your 21st century definition of band is, but the way kids are pressing buttons these days, “band” may as well get thrown around a little more fast and easy. I’d prefer a new, fresh-sounding word; something about “band” sounds punitive when discussing electronic music, sorry guitar players, and sorry C.R.S.T.

Band or not, C.R.S.T. are doing some interesting things with the sounds of UK Funky and UK Garage. With releases on Well Rounded, Ten Thousand Yen and forthcoming work on Cheap Thrills and No Hats No Hoods, C.R.S.T. have a lot to say when four chaps are busy making beats.

As a follow up to their split digital 12′ “The Bells! V.I.P. / Saturday Tingz” on Car Crash Set, they’ve gathered a truly mind-blowing set of remixes for “The Bells!” with interpretations from Girl Unit and Distal and packaged it all with a new track called “Mighty Music” with remixes from The Mista Men and Roof Light.

Every track on the E.P. is a stand-out for me, but there is no question that Girl Unit’s remix is a wtf-moment of asking oneself what they just heard. Awash in a waterfall of synths, high hats, sub-bass and melody, Girl Unit did what any other great producer does when they remix a track, he totally re-invented it.

Between C.R.S.T., Distal, Girl Unit and Mista Men, this EP is must-have, out today, exclusively on Juno. Make the purchase below, and keep scrolling to enjoy full-song SoundCloud previews of C.R.S.T.’s “Mighty Music” and Girl Unit’s remix of “The Bells!”

C.R.S.T. ‘Mighty Music’ by carcrashset

C.R.S.T. ‘The Bells’ (Girl Unit Remix) by carcrashset

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Riddim hunting is one of the more elusive internet-sleuthing activities. Versions and their riders are numerous, some riddims better than others, and myriad spaces in which they’re held. Dancehall is deeply within my musical roots, and I look forward to sharing more of it here in the future.

This week it’s the Night Vision Riddim, replete with the version and a few of my favorite deejays from the collection. Release on Armz House Records, the production credit simply goes to Armz House. I was unable to find any other information on the production credit, but oddly enough Armz House lost one of its best producers Rado this May, shot in Spanish town for unknown reasons.

This riddim saw versions from some of the biggest names in Dancehall, deejays like Sizzla, Capleton, and D’Angel. Below you’ll find interpretations from Mr. Easy, Mr. Vegas, Tnez, and Ghandi ft. Spice, all versions I found to be better than the versions than the ones on the original release. Decide for yourself.

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Armz House – Night Vision Riddim

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Ghandi feat. Spice – Twenty Ten

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Mr. Easy – Peace Time

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Tnez – Take Time

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Mr. Vegas- You Me Want

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Much to my dismay, I’ve been M.I.A., so to speak. Despite a new role as a blogger over at Pop Matters, I refuse to relinquish my duties here in the underground. A forewarning to Trash readers, there may be some changes around here, we’re in a need of a feather ruffling and a site re-design and consolidation of topics are in order. I hope you ride it out with us, as a wise man once said, “the only thing constant is change.”

I hope that at least the weather has changed for many of you by now, summer has certainly arrived in the Pacific Northwest and this place is almost a tropical paradise, the key word being almost. To mark my return to the blog-o-sphere with some flair, I’m sharing a sparkly gem of a tune I dug from the depths of the internets.

From DJ Alan Javier, one of the young guns in the Monterrey, Mexico area churning out exciting iterations of Cumbia called Guarachero or Tribal (pronounced tree-bal), comes this little banger. It’s hard to believe this is the first Guarachero tune I’ve posted, but there are some of us holding on to these in hope that they’ll maintain dubplate status at the club. Such pretensions are overrated, and this track needs to be in more hands and ears.

An epic, crowd riling re-interpretation of Enur ft. Nastasha’s 2007 global-takeover Calabria, Javier turns it into a shuffling Cumbia number while keeping it at the four-to-the-floor level. Make sure to drop this amidst flowing skirts, elevated fists, and tequila-based drinks. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find some more gems from Mr. Javier, all of them with his handsome young face in the iTunes album cover.

Tengan un verano maravilloso.

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Dj Alan Javier – Calambria 2010

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Erhm… Its been a minute, hasn’t it?? I’m feelin’ the latest Benga production, “Katy on a Mission,” out soon via Rinse. It’s the first single off the debut LP from the soulful South London songstress, Katy B. Summer obsession? Have a listen.

http://rinse.fm/katyb/

So Jamie Grind, recently signed to Infrasonics alongside such names as Spatial, xxxy, Hot City, and Ike Release, recently recorded an absolutely head-spinning mix for one of my favorite blogs, Sonic Router.  Its packed with all kinds of future music across a number of genres, but underneath it all is a tendency towards broken beats, odd syncopations, as well as big bass and chopped, pitched-up, wonked-out vocal cuts.  It’s really challenging, provocative stuff that doesn’t sacrifice the GROOVE that so many people overlook in trying to support head-y, bizarre, art music.  You should check out the interview over at Sonic Router, as well as Jamie Grind’s recent release on Infrasonics, Balloon, which is more of the same twisted, dis-orienting but ultimately GROOVY rhythm-driven club music that is incubating in and around the UK right now.  Still, doesn’t anyone else get all nostalgic over a time when Dubstep was just Dubstep??  Just kidding.
Infra12003 a2 jamie grind – balloon by Jamie Grind
Anyways, I love Sonic Router and I love this mix; the blog is consistently smart with their reviews, cutting-edge music taste, and it seems that since they’re so involved in the scene over there across the pond, they’ve got a direct line to the artists and the industry people that are making the changes that we get to report in the blogosphere.

By the way, if you check out the Infrasonics website, they’ve got a bunch of unreleased downloads from some of the label heads…  Check it out here.

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