Tiefschwarz Hip Hop remixes

Kelis, "Trick Me (Tiefschwarz remix)"

Missy Elliot, "Teary Eyed (Tiefschwarz remix)"

This post seems a perfect blend of the two genres dominating my listening, rap and dance music. Tiefschwarz is a German brother duo, who have been at the forefront of the new sounds of house music. I've only been a fan recently, but it appears that their sound has changed a bit since they first formed in the mid 1990s. Their earlier stuff was a more mellow, lush house sound. Now, they've gone down a darker, more electro sound that suits me just fine.

The Kelis remix is my favorite of the two above, it lives up to that dark electro sound perfectly. The brothers take Kelis' vocals on "Trick Me" and go crazy, intially chopping them up down to her breath. They also have another sequence where they seem to add a male voice (one of their won) or are they just messing with her voice? But, what makes this song is the raging bass that takes over for good around the halfway point. It's funny, as I've always been very slow to fully engage dance music. The main reason was that I always felt like I couldn't quite get it, how these people could dance for hours to music without words, hell music that wasn't even popular. It's song like this remix that make me understand, as I could go crazy for as long as this shit played on a huge system.

The Missy Elliot remix is of a similar sound, but it's no less unique. This time the boys bring a bigger percussion sound, banging away throughout. They also utilize Missy's vocals more, using her refrain throughout, giving it much more of a house music feel. It gets a little too busy for me at times, with the insect sound that comes in throughout unnecessary and a little distracting.

It's still a nice song, and a great example of how close these two genres are. I feel like fans of both music never cross and have negative opinions of the other. Dance music considers this thug music, less sophisticated and intelligent, while hip-hop fans assume that you are soft or gay for listening to this. I could be totally wrong on this one, but I feel like there are very few clubs or nights that mix these two scenes. It's a shame that there isn't more crossover, as I think both musics are in conversation. Hell, the producer of the music from our previous post, Mannie Fresh, got his start as a house producer in New Orleans. Hopefully we can keep bringing all of this shit together and open up all this scene shit. To only thing you have to lose is your chains!
-Two special events tonight featuring some of Philly's finest, one in Philly, one in NYC. For my Brooklyn massive, head out to the hush-hush Spank Rock show in Bushwick tonight. Spank Rock is performing, the Baltimore Bass Connection will be there, Drop the Lime of Tigerbeat6 and Oxy Cottontail are spinning. It's goin' down at 3rd Ward, take the L to the Morgan stop, 195 Morgan Ave. at Stagg. There is nothing better going on in that city tonight, possibly the rest of the summer. I'll be there in spirit.

-Here in the 215, Plastic Little is performing at Space 1026 in Chinatown with Triangle Forest. fiftyOne:fiftyone has all the info for those who want it and a look at the great flier.