Music that Got Me Blogging About Music (Part 3)

Overseas - from London to Japan

We’re half way through the “Music that Got Me Blogging About Music” and it’s only up hill.. down hill.. get’s better from here. So far we’ve covered Midwest hip-hop, West Coast hip-hop, and now we’re going International!

In this portion we will be covering groups from abroad and, not surprisingly, are all from genre’s other than hip-hop (unlike the other sections). This portion was only going to have four artists covered, the final list (my top five) took the best one from here, but I decided to add one because a few of his songs were very influential in my current music tastes (like every other artist on here).

So check ’em out and drop some feedback in the comments below. Also, prepare for The Bay Area next week!!

Check out the International Goodness »

DJ Deckstream – Life is Good Remixes

featuring Mos Def & Talib Kweli

I was looking at my ‘tracks to post’ when I ran across Mos Def & Talib Kweli. For a second I was confused on why they were there, I haven’t heard anything new from the two in a while and didn’t think anything recently emerged. Then I saw who produced the tracks, DJ Deckstream, and realized why I need to post these up.

Deckstream is one of my favorite nu jazz producers from Japan. He’s got a shit load of good tunes to chill to, but up until recently lacked good rap support. In Deckstream Soundtrack 2.0, the producer steps up his rap game featuring some talented rhymers, including Mos Def on the original “Life is Good”. But on the two remixed versions that dropped last year, Mos Def gets some support by the other half of Black Star […]

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Sweet Child O’ Mine by DJ Deckstream

"She's got eyes of the bluest skies"

I’ve come across a few covers songs lately, so I thought I’d contribute a favorite of mine from DJ Deckstream’s Music Castle. Deckstream is a DJ/producer from Japan who could be classified in either hip-hop or jazz depending on the song/album. In Music Castle, Deckstream covers quite a few different oldies, all with a nu jazz style. Some famous songs include Tom’s Diner, Tripping Out, Just the Two of Us and my personal favorite, Sweet Child O’ Mine.

I chose Deckstream’s remix of Sweet Child O’ Mine because of its dreamy, relaxing take on a classic by Guns N’ Roses. One thing I would’ve loved to have seen on the track, along with a few others, is the original vocals included. It would’ve been interesting to hear Axl Rose’s voice over these instrumentals, but as this album is more intented as background music that may have been why Deckstream had chosen to leave him out.

This song actually brought up an interesting question in my mind: would you consider this a cover or remix What are the differences I think of a remix as cutting up a song, rearranging it, adding or removing parts and really making it your own. Compare this to covering a song where the song is relatively kept in its original form, but the performers put a little of their own style into it. As you can tell I marked this as a cover. What do you think

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Music Castle by DJ Deckstream

A relaxing compilation of covers.

DJ Deckstream is a well established producer in Japan that has worked with several well-known emcees including Moka Only, Pep Love, Mos Def and Talib Kweli. His album, “Music Castle”, is a stretch from his usual upbeat, hip-hop style to a jazzy, chilled-out set of covers. The album covers such classics as Tom’s Diner, Just the Two of Us, Sweet Child o’ Mine and a few others from genres in classic rock to rap.

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