Yes, I'm still listening to music (a post with substance)
Lots of tabs have hung about open for a while. Herewith an attempt to close the first half dozen of them. I'll save the real brain-twister for last, I promise.
http://soundcloud.com/groups/glitch-mob-remix-it-like-you-stole-it-competion/tracks?page=1
A while back the Glitch Mob announced a competition in which people would remix their "Drive It Like You Stole It" track, the remixes would be posted on Soundcloud, and people would vote for their favorite. The winner is now up, a high-hard fast scratch mix by mirkokosmos. It's not my favorite personally, but it's quite good.
I've only listened to three pages of entries so far. The Soundcloud set-up is nice in that you can just push play on the first track and it'll stream all the entries on that page. I don't recommend doing more than a few a day, or you'll get seriously earwormed, but the variety of styles and influences brought to bear shows there's some awesome talent out there just waiting to break through.
http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2010/10/08/much-better-you-than-i
Speaking of talent, The Kleptones have another beauty of a mash-up posted on their blog. "Vicarious Devil" puts together Tool's disturbing "Vicarious" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hii17sjSwfA) with Laura Marling's "Devil's Spoke". I confess I'd never heard Marling before and I must now immediately remedy this. Both tracks have a dark energy that makes them work extremely well together.
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/09/duck-sauce-barbara-streisand.html
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/09/duck-sauce-barbra-streisand-the-video.html
I admit I wasn't that taken with the Duck Sauce (http://www.myspace.com/ducksaucenyc) "Barbara Streisand" track when I first heard it. It's a bit of a dance-pop confection but it didn't seem worth calling out. The video made me change my mind - it makes so much more sense when it's not taken on its own but rather as the soundtrack to a video. And what a great vid - featuring Streisand herself - for anyone who loves or even likes New York a bit. The video shows the wild variety that makes the city so interesting, and features lots of fun short snips remixing the original, including a guest scratch from Armand Van Helden.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GravitonasLABORATORY#p/a/u/1/5d1FejZJ6cs
Sometimes things get blogged because I can't stop playing them until I do. About a month ago I posted about Gravitonas' (http://www.gravitonas.net/) "Religious". That track is remixed a bunch of times on their YouTube channel, and more and more of them are being blocked by copyright claims, which is just a damned shame. The song, both the original and the remixes they've got up, remains beautiful and haunting and something I play over and over because I like the way the sounds wash over me, and move me.
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/09/jamie-woon-night-air-ramadanman-refix.html
This extended remix by Ramadanman (http://www.myspace.com/ramadanman) is another one I'm loving for the lush soundscape. It's an extended remix of Jamie Woon's beautiful "Night Air" (http://www.youtube.com/user/jamiewoon). Unfortunately there are only short bits from the original online, but you can still get a sense for it. There are blues, jazz, and definite soul influences permeating this track, and yeah, it's perfect to stream out the open window after dark when you're stargazing.
http://audioporncentral.com/2010/10/wax-audio-stayin-alive-in-the-wall.html
OK, I promised a brain-twister to close this out and here it is. Wax Audio (http://www.waxaudio.com.au/) have done A Bad Thing. They've taken The Bee Gees' "Stayin’ Alive" and mashed it with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. II". Yes, really. Go listen. What's even more frightening is the video - both of these songs are not just aurally famous, but have appeared prominently in iconic movies (Saturday Night Fever and The Wall).
It's even more personally disturbing for me, as those movies both have drwex stories associated with them and both are reminders of a long-ago time when I was a very different person, who is also me today.