Flip It

If you've been reading my posts you know that I've been listening to a lot of BBC Asian Network and getting into more desi-style sounds. I'm not a huge fan of bhangra, but there are quite a few interesting iterations of the bhangra formula (the best being the drum n' bass twist on bhangra). I've also found that quite a few American artists have been getting Indian remixes of their own songs done (a la Truth Hurts, but many more unique than that). These are remixes commissioned by the artists themselves so they tend to be much better than random deejays taking a track and slapping a new beat onto it (a la Puffy). Some of these commissioned songs are still pretty lame since the new beat just doesn't seem to go with the lyrics, tempo, or artist's style. But some are really very good. Some have new Hindi or Punjabi lyrics, other just have the new music.

One example of a great mix job is for Nelly Furtado's new single, Powerless, done by a DJ named Josh. I've been really impressed with Josh's work on this for a few reasons. First of all, I should mention that I like Nelly Furtado. She's got style all her own and can groove. So anyways, the original track is not all that amazing. The lyrics are interesting, but overall, the song feels a little slow and muddled. That's fine I suppose, but honestly, it bores me. Josh, however, proceeded to flip this song and smack it upside the head. It's really catchy and most importantly, the beat he layed down goes very, very well with the song. Maybe it's just because I appreciate a desi beat when it's more than just a basic tabla or dhol, but this guy could go far if he continues to do remixes like this. Most amazing? He didn't speed up the song at all and the new beat, when overlayed on top of the original, is exactly the same tempo.

Ok, so now you're wondering what the versions actually sound like? Well, I finally got around to taking this blog multimedia, baby! Since the track is difficult to get a hold of, I've put together a little sample of the original song and two parts of the remix to give y'all an idea of what a great job Josh did with it.

Give it a spin here (low quality, WMV file on purpose).

Anyways, since I've finally gotten around to this music sampling thing, I'll try and provide more....Drop me an email (assuming you have it since I'm not gonna leave here) if you want this song, but you're having trouble finding it.

And hey...leave a few lines to let me know how I'm doing with this blog!