Your music showed us a new path. You invigorated Memphis. You birthed the 70's.
You will be missed.
Isaac Hayes - Walk On By
Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft Read more!

Those wacky Belgians are at it again. Call them Soulwax, or 2 Many DJ's, or "Die Verboten," as their new band is called, but either way, David and Stephen Dewaele (plus those other guys) are some of the most prolific producers on the scene today.
The sheer number of Soulwax remixes both via commission and just for fun can be overwhelming, and it's quite easy for the most recent ones to just pass you by. I, of course, have no claim to being particularly aware of what's going on, and so these have just come to my attention - but they're good. Really, really good.
Coincidentally enough, the Rolling Stones remix was featured prominently in the movie 21 that came out a month or two ago (it actually was remixed by them specifically for it). I saw it being filmed down in Chinatown, but only learned weeks later that it was what it was. Same with the remix. Don't let them pass you by.
The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby (Soulwax Remix)
And don't miss...
One of the best pairings in recent memory, Soulwax and Justice have teamed up to perform unspeakable acts on Midfield General's "Disco Sirens." As of now, there's no official release, but the radio rip from Annie Mac should give you an idea of the awesome potential this double duo have to offer.
Soulwax v. Justice v. Midfield General - Disco Sirens (Annie Mac Radio Rip)
Having just recently returned from gallivanting around Europe, I cannot seem to get Estelle's 'American Boy' out of my head. At first I couldn't stand this track, but hearing it so many times in the clubs (one of my favorites was a little club called Mistral in Aix en Provence) and every time seeing so many French chicks go nuts, I've now grown to love it. In reality, I'll love anything that encourages European girls to be into American boys. Although the most prominent version features Kanye West, I prefer the sans Kanye version:
Estelle - American Boy (no rap)
On Another note, Boy 8-Bit has finally released his track 'Suspense is Killing Me'. After first hearing this track in Diplo's Essential Mix (September '07), I waited patiently until now, almost a year later, for this aptly titled track to become available to us non-superstar DJs. As frustrating as it was, this song was well worth the wait:
Boy 8-Bit - Suspense is Killing Me (Original Mix)
SUMMER! SUMMER! SUMMER! Oh, it's here alright. The air-conditioners are are blasting, the fire hydrants are flowing, the water-boys are hustlin', and r. kelly is bumpin...in the street again. ahh...sweet sweet summer. anyway. it's time to get into some summer jams...those blockbusters and guilty pleasure's you'll probably leave in '08 and never think on again. anyway here are my pleasures (guilty and not) for the month of June:
Kids - MGMT
Open Sesame - Kool & The Gang
Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
Brazilian Rhyme (Tittsworth Remix) - Earth, Wind & Fire
Hope you enjoy. Congrats to Obama!
(speakeasy)
Travel from today to 1979 and back in a little over an hour with:
Max Power's Time Traveling Birthday Mix
1. Max Power - Intro
2. Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy
3. Alan Braxe Fred Falke - Intro
4. Felix Da House Cat & Kris Menace - Artificial
5. Daft Punk - Around the World
6. Mylo - Rikki
7. Digitalism - Zdarlight (Discodrom Edition)
8. Para One - Dundun-Dun (MSTRKRFT remix)
9. Linstrøm - I Feel Space
10. CSS - Let's Make Love (Spank Rock remix)
11. Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood (12" Version)
12. Mr. Flagio - Take A Chance (12" version)
13. Roysopp - Beautiful Day Without You (Rex The Dog Remix)
14. Dharma - Plastic Doll
15. Kano - It's a War
16. Digital Emotion - Go Go Yellow Screen (12" Version)
17. Edwin Birdsong - Cola Bottle Baby
18. Casco - Cybernetic Love (Vocal)
19. A.I.M. - Thailand Seeds (vox)
20. Mike Mareen - Love Spy
21. Charlie - Spacer Woman (Vocal)
22. N.O.I.A. - Stranger in a Strange Land (Club Mix)
23. Claude VonStroke - Beware of the Bird
24. Roger Sanchez - Lost (D. Ramirez Lost in Rave Mix)
25. Fat Phaze - It's Magic (Lottie and Serge Santiago's Version)
26. Boys Noize - Let's Buy Happiness
27. Gonzales - Working Together (Boys Noize Dub Mix)
So I like good music, don't you? No, seriously...doesn't everyone like to chill out and listen to some really, really, good tunes? I'm not talking about some obscure 40's bluegrass band or Tibetan throat-singing which may be appealing to few (if any?)--I'm not talking about the latest Lil' Wayne joint or the same five Michael Jackson songs you hear at every party. What I'm talking about is that feel-good music that absorbs you but lets you be--something you can listen to at any time, for any occasion, and always puts a smile on your face. I should be cautious--who knows--some of you might get your jollies off from listening to the Gyuto Monks or playing "Lollipop" on repeat for hours at a time--for me I can only listen to that music so long before I go a bit nanners. Diagnosing a problem I have of shifting though genre's of music like taxi-driver through 5th avenue lanes during rush-hour, I've recently sought out the all-purpose cure for my various musical aches and pains. The prognosis, I found, was quite simple: type F-E-L-A K-U-T-I into the iTunes search thinger, press play and let him do the rest.
Fela Kuti, has, to say the least, become my life in the last week or two. His subtle melodies and upbeat approach has given me a most wonderful outlook during the crunch-time of school, jury-duty (which I'm currently serving) and the horrible weather in New York. I don't seem to be able to get bored or antsy listening to this stuff--it's infectious style has me dancing on train platforms and smiling at old women (even when they aren't to pleased to see me). It is no wonder people consider him to be the pinnacle of Afro-beat and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century--these beats have me begging for more every time I stop listening. I don't usually say this, but if you can't download any of Fela's work, go out and buy it--you won't regret it. It seems impossible to describe him--I'm certain the music needs to speak for itself, so I'll let you be the judge:
Fela Kuti - Roforofo Fight
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit
Fela Kuti - Coffin for Head of State
Fela Kuti - Zombie
Best wishes, everyone,
Peace,
(speakeasy)

It's been a while all around. I've certainly been busy, though. Highlights of what I've been up to during our little hiatus after the fold:
January Mix
March Mix
April Mix
"...too blunt as an instrument, as VChK officials concede, because the government could not simultaneously institute bankruptcy proceedings against 90% of the enterprises in the country. Instead, the VChK devised a complicated arrangement under which the tax debts of the delinquent enterprises would be restructured as bonds. If an enterprise defaulted on these, a controlling stake in its shares would be taken over by the government and auctioned off to the highest bidder. But one year after the plan was announced, only three large enterprises were restructuring their tax debts, and the government's attempt to seize the assets of two oil refineries only ignited..."
Michael Hunter - The Soviet Connection
Seryoga - The Invasion
Detsl - Pizness (Feat. MC Molodoy)

It has been a while. Our bad. Although speakeasy kind of made up for it. Pssh. Excuses, excuses.
At any rate, if you don't know DJ Format, you better get on that train. He's a whole mess of freshness, having produced two albums and a Fabric Live compilation. A frequent collaborator with Abdominal and D-Sisive, he just put out a new single, a mix-blend, if you will, of a bunch of James Brown tracks.
The moral of this story is that funk is back, in a big way. Or maybe it isn't. Then again, was it ever gone in the first place?
DJ Format - Stealin' James, Pt. 1
DJ Format - 3 Feet Deep (feat. Abdominal & D-Sisive)
DJ Format - The Place (feat. Chali 2Na & Akil)


It's 5am. I'm alone in the library save for the companionship of some obscure movies and books, many empty cans of energy drinks and an unwritten paper that makes my brain feel like ouchies. Oh! There's also this A Clockwork Orange soundtrack my friend gave me (to keep me on the sane side). Well anyway, all work and no play makes a speakeasy delusional--so delusional that he went and spent the last half hour mashing ghetto tech with various songs on this wonderful soundtrack. Why? I really don't know. I'm soo sorry, world. So yeah...that's my confession, I took a perfectly good song and brought more perversion than Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse. I'll save you the time of finding out if its any good: its horrible. I put about as much effort into it as I have this paper tonight--and yet in my cracked out state, I can't help but laugh at this monstrosity. So here you go...another silly mashup:
William Tell (Throws Up All) Over(Her)ture - Gioachino Rossini vs. GhettoTech (zSHARE)
It's been a while...sorry. Hope everyone had a good winter. I've been busy failing out of school, bullshitting: watching pretentious movies, smoking endless cigarettes, and getting addicted to lost and the wire. Yes, that's right, I like lost. Yes, it is a good show. No, YOU'RE a loser. Anyway, here's some shit I've been working on over the cold months:
Sympathy for the Devil (spkEz Bmore Glitch Edit)
Goin' Down (spkEz remix)
Kick out the Sweet Child (Guns and Roses vs. Dave Nada)
Rock Steady (Steady Rockin' spkEz edit)
Bongos on the Ground (Rye Rye vs. Zongamin)
Cranque Dat (MSTRKRFT vs. Soulja Boy vs. Frederico Franchi)
Hood Nigga (spkEz rough remix)
And a mixtape I just put together...Winter '08
--Glad that's off my chest.
Love, speakeasy.
My childhood memories are inextricably mixed a (perhaps fantasized) image of the "golden age" present nowadays in the lyrics of wizened old MC's. I remember a 90's New York (more specifically, Prospect Heights and Flatbush, Brooklyn, where I grew up) as a blur of BBQ's, West Indian Day Parades, and red cherry ice's that cut your lips. Call me nostalgic, perhaps even romantic, but at some point I became obsessed with this period of New York City's history. The transition phase--a no-man's land between the wreckage of the eighties and the inflated, hipster-filled realm of the 21st century--a time when you could still buy loosies or use tokens. When red painted train cars still ran, at the height of graffiti, this was the glory age of Hip Hop...

I had the wonderful privilege of spinning at a gigantic and epic party last night here at Oberlin College. Joining me were two phenomenal DJs, Harry Bornstein and Mike McGill, and the amazing duo FX Unicorn. Everything was going just as planned, the music was hot and the kids on the dance floor were eating it up. Then, about 6 or 7 songs into my set, this guy spills my beer all over my computer. It seemed fine at first, but within 30 seconds my monitor died. Needless to say it is pretty much impossible for me to mix anything when I can't see shit on my screen. The whole party was screaming for more and I couldn't give it to them. Luckily FX Unicorn jumped into action and got people moving again. To top it off, McGill played a 3 1/2 hour set without missing a beat, and I think everybody just about shit themselves from dancing so hard. Despite the major party foul, it was a sick party.
Now that my computer is all dried out and functioning normally again, I decided to take some time and record the set that I would have played last night.
Listen up:
Woodland Party
1. Max Power - Intro
2. Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To (Erol Alkan Remix)
3. Melomanics - Get You (Mr Miyagi Remix)
4. Goose - Black Gloves (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)
5. Muscles - One Inch Badge Pin (Ghetto Ruckus Remix)
6. Yelle - A Cause des Garcons (Riot In Belgium Remix)
7. Scenario Rock - Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix)
8. Death From Above 1979 - Sexy Results (MSTRKRFT Edition)
9. The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon (MInitel Rose Remix)
10. Justice - Phantom
11. Le Castlevania - Trouble In Daylight (LA Riots Remix)
12. Might Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride '07 (Shinichi Osawa Remix)
13. Goose - Bring It On (MSTRKRFT JFK Remix)
14. Justice - Waters Of
15. Chromeo - Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT Remix)
16. Riot In
17.
18. Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar (ft. Au Revoir Simone)
So we've got another sweet party for all you kids out there. This Friday, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings will be gracing SLC with their amazing funk/jazz/nu-soul ridiculousness. If you for some reason have been living under a rock or on Staten Island, the Dap-Kings have worked with Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, The Budos Band, and Antibalas, and they're probably the single best R&B act since Otis Redding. That one starts at 8:30 under a big fucking white tent (and they play the Apollo on Saturday night), but be sure to stick around for the afterparty: 11:30 in the Blue Room. I, and quite possibly your boy Speakeasy will be spinning for some classy people. That means you.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Tell Me

Here's a little something I put together from some of my favorite electro tracks these days. Listen up:
930 Mix
1. Max Power – Intro
2. Talking Heads – Psycho Killer (
3. Pet Shop Boys –
4. Soulwax – E Talking (Rex The Dog Mix)
5. Tomcraft – Overdose (Lady Radio Version)
6. Alloy Mental – Alloy Mental (Boys Noize Remix)
7. Goose – Black Gloves (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)
8. Hostage – Gluttony (Felix Cartal Remix)
9. The Living Things – Bom Bom Bom (Boys Noize Remix)
10. Superbass – I’m With You (Richard Dinsdale Remix)
11. Paul Johnson – Hot (Surkin Remix)
12. Justice – Stress (ZUER Edit)
13. Pryda – Rage
14. Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd – Proper Education (Dub)
15.
16. Trentemøller – Beta Boy
17. Nine Inch Nails – Capital G (Switch Remix)
18. The Chemical Brothers – Do It Again (Daft Mix)
19. Sneaky Sound System – I Love It (Riot In
The subject of today's musical exploration is, I'm afraid, kind of predictable--yes, its about remixes. Today we shall focus on our friends from the north, MSTRKRFT. The duo, Jesse F. Keeler (former member of the band Death From Above 1979) and Al-P (producer of Death From Above's "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine" and former member of the electroish group, Girlsareshort), hail from the wonderful world of Ontario, Canada. For anyone who hasn't heard them, I guess it's apt to mention that I discovered MSTRKFT on a gay-centric blog some time ago, under a picture of Paris Hilton--in other words, they pretty much epitomize the whole happy gay sound. Lots of fun, in deed. Strangely enough though, these synth-and-keyboard-thumping-party-makers sound almost nothing like DFA 1979. So then, where did that gritty-guitar, wailing-ballad sound go? Where do these crazy Canadians vent their urge to rock the fuck out....? Well remixes, of course. Since the release of their first single in early 2006, MSTRKFT has produced a slew of rocky sounding remixes, selecting songs from an eclectic range of genres. Anyway, to make a long blog shorter, these remixes bring forth the best of rock and electro, creating a head-bangin, dance-inducing combination, that is sure to get a party bumpin'. If not, they certainly make for some fun listening (Or, at least, I sure enjoy them.)
MSTRKRFT - Got Love To Kill (Juliette & The Licks Remix)
Bloc Party - Two More Years (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Death From Above 1979 - Little Girl (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Death From Above 1979 - Sexy Results (MSTRKRFT Edition)
The Gossip - Listen Up! (MSTRKRFT Relick)
Wolfmother - Woman (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Ok, I must admit, even I was suckered into the whole Spank Rock thing. I, whom for years tried to claim some form of status through hip hop snobbery, fell for the tricks and flashy ways of these dirty pseudo-Bmore beats. Perhaps it was their attempts to incorporate an electroish sound, perhaps, I just wanted to dance; who knows? Suffice to say that, at the very least, I have been quite excited about seeing the fabled Spank Rock perform for quite some time now. So granted, the Apple store in mid-town Manhattan is no real club, and for sure, free shows don't always prompt the best performances, but GOD DAMN, that was a real flaky show. I'll try to leave aside the uncontrollable factors--the hipster scummery, the faulty equipment, the tight quarters--but criticism is needed. I mean, I hate to say it, but the performance sucked.
First off, XXXChange, what's the deal man? I mean, as a DJ, and not even a very good one at that, I was kind of upset with some of the sloppy mixing and predictable choice of music. Stopping for 20 seconds because you fuck up, or dropping out the volume for a moment or two by accident, is no fun. I mean, of all places, it wasn't as if this was a high pressure show--there are no excuses for those kind of mistakes. Oh, and playing catchy Bmore stuff, that everyone's heard a million times, does not make up for a sloppy performance.
Next, Mr. Naeem Juwan, let me make this real clear---being a class A hipster, talking about vagina's and penises, and shaking your ass, does not make you a good MC. Do yourself a favor, go back, and watch all those late 70's, early 80's hip hop movies where all the hipsters steal their style from, and watch how a real MC rocks a show. I'll give you some hints, first: when you spit, do the whole verse, don't just start in the middle, or stop for that matter, and definitely don't just let Amanda Blank say your lines. Oh, try rapping over instrumentals rather than vocal edits, it kind of gives you the illusion of talent. Lastly, throwing water in a store full of computers, iPhone and iPods probably isn't the best idea.
I'm sorry if I sound like a complete hater right now, but I am REAL disappointed, and I've heard no real criticism of this group. So, Spank Rock, please get your act together.
Sincerely,
(speakeasy)

If you're not coming, you're lame. But seriously, walk, run, drive, fly, or do whatever you have to to be at Sarah Lawrence College tonight. If you're coming from New York, take the White Plains Metro-North to Bronxville, and then ask around for the school shuttle. Starts at 11.
We've got Max Neely-Cohen (you may know him as the Kleptonian), Manatee, DJ Pravo, our boy SpeakEasy and myself destroying everything until 2 AM. Don't miss it.
Mr. Flagio - Take A Chance
Soulwax - NY Lipps