Deadmau5-Strobe (Special Features Remix)

Electronic Dance Music (EDM) continues to grow at a frantic pace and we're in a situation where someone like Avicii, virtually unknown 18 months ago, is quickly becoming a household name and is preparing an international stadium tour. Something else which has leached onto this fascinating growth is the remixer-producers who take tracks and add their own distinctive touch, often creating jams that just barely share more than a passing resemblance with the original. One such producer is Special Features, a young British producer who has been making quite a name for himself over the course of the last year. Of all his remixes, this jamandahalf "cover" of Deadmau5's "Strobe" is probably my favorite. The equivalent of rock band attempting to put out a cover to "Stairway To Heaven" and succeeding, Special Features takes a Deadmau5 classic and injects an undeniable energy to the original to the point where the two jams wouldn't recognize each other if they were walking down the same street. Check out Special Features here.

Download Deadmau5 Strobe (Special Features Remix)

Steve Aoki feat. Rivers Cuomo-Earthquakey People (The Sequel) (Original Mix)

The picture is of an awesome Aoki shirt featured on Breaking Bad

Steve Aoki's live shows are famous across the EDM universe for, well, being alive. Hot, sweaty people, mixing with Aoki's trademark champagne showers all fueled by his relentless music are quickly becoming the stuff of legends, stories told the day after with a big grin. "Earthquakey People" is the perfect example of the fuel that Aoki uses to get his parties going, as well as the musical Red Bull you can use to get your night going on this fine December day, wherever you may be. Like the best roller coasters, Aoki knows that most of the fun comes from anticipation, and like his best songs do, this continues to build and build before deciding it's finally time to let ya get funky. Though Aoki's music isn't everyday stuff, when it works, it's undeniable. Hope this one gets your Saturday night going on the right foot.

Click here to download


Steve Aoki feat. Rivers Cuomo Earthquakey People (The Sequel) (Original Mix)

Kaskade-Eyes

Not too long ago, being called the "Best American DJ" was kind of like being the "Best American Soccer Player." A great accolade no doubt, but yet one in something that most Americans don't care too much about. Things have changed. Despite the lists of top DJs still being dominated by Dutch, Swedes, and French, Americans like Diplo, Skrillex, and Steve Aoki have created a serious name for themselves and have opened up a space for their fellow Americans, just as American soccer players continue to make names for themselves in top European leagues. With the US continuing to be more and more of a fertile ground for EDM (Dirty South recently said it's his favorite country to play in), being the best American DJ is now a serious honor. Kaskade was recently voted the top American DJ, just in time for his latest release Fire & Ice and onn this new album is a banger which sounds like it's dying to be the song of Summer 2012. And like that guy who's early for the party (in this case many months early), it just wants to have a good time. "Eyes" has a throwback feel to it, devoid of any trace of dubstep. Instead it's pure electro goodness, with just enough sap to make it likable, and more than enough bang to make it an instant jamandahalf.

Click here to download

BT & Adam K-Tomahawk

Let this one be the official song of your Saturday night. BT & Adam K do a little bit of electro genre busting, mixing up a few different styles and creating a jam which flows like trance, bangs like house, and rages like dubstep. The dubstep drop at about 1:42 comes out of nowhere, busting in the doors of this jam. While it goes on a little too long for my tastes, the duo don't ever let it dominate, and the last minute rides out in a combination of house/trance goodness. This track is nothing less than surprising, and in a genre which seems to sometimes attempt to see who can be the "most" pure, it's definitely a welcome turn of events.

Click here to download


BT & Adam K Tomahawk

Icona Pop-Manners (Captain Cuts Remix)

You know a remix is good when you hear the orginal and immediately think it's missing something. Captain Cut's remix of Icona Pop's "Manners" is an absolute banger of a remix. Completely blowing my "remix criteria" out of the water (1-the song has to be a complete remake of the original, and 2-the cover has to make you think at least for a half second that it's better than the original), the crew behind this jamandahalf (including my buddy Ryan McMahon) has made a song which eclipses the original in every way. A mix of hard-hitting house with a slight sprinkling of dubstep, the trio don't just give "Manners" a facelift, they pull the biggest facial switcharoo since this. Captain Cut's jams have been heating up the blogosphere for a few months now and you can find their tracks here. Enjoy this monster track and be on the lookout for their first mixtape coming out soon.

Click here to download


Icona Pop Manners (Captain Cuts Remix)

Calvin Harris-Feel So Close (Updated with CDQ and Benny Benassi Remix)

Put this back to the top with the CDQ version of the track, and a sick remix by the legendary Benny Benassi. Now even more of a must download. 


This track had me at hello. Calvin Harris has now consecutively put out two absolute bangers, giving reassurance to the legions of fansout there who were a wee-bit dissapointed with "Awooga." After coming back in a major way with "Bounce," "Feel So Close" continues the good vibes. Another entry in what is proving to be a great summer for jams like these, "Feel So Close" explodes when it drops, infecting everyone within its listening radius with a desire to let it all loose on whatever you have available that can subsitute as a dance floor. Although it's all over painfully quick, this sweet taste is much much better than nothing at all (look for the full single to drop in August). Catch him if you can this summer on his massive tour, you won't regret it.

Click here to download Radio Edit


Calvin Harris Feel So Close (Radio Edit)

Click here to download Benny Benassi Remix


Calvin Harris Feel So Close (Benny Benassi Remix)

Rusko-Everyday

"Everyday" is like taking a shot of tequila to start off your day. Wakey wakey eggs and bacey!! Walking the line between house and dubstep, Rusko makes a fusion gem that starts off strong and never stops. Building and building until exploding at the 54 second mark, "Everday" seems possessed by the restless energy of a twelve year old with ADD-always wanting to move, never willing to take a second off. While nonstop, this jamandahalf never enters progresses into being obnoxiously energetic, the purgatory where many a dubstep song live. Rather, it comes off as crystalline clear, willingly and able to give you that extra push of adrenaline whenever you need it. 

Click here to download

Rusko Everyday

Alex Kenji, Starkillers, Nadia Ali-Pressure (Alesso Remix)

Back from the Camino de Santiago and it was a truly unique travel experience. Each day settled into a comfortable schedule-wake up before dawn, walk 25-30 kilometers, get to the hostel, wash dirty clothes, buy groceries, eat, chill, eat, sleep, repeat. The daily schedule was the only thing that remained constant throughout the trip as each day brought completely new and gorgeous landscapes, surprises, challenges, and memories. After 16 days we made it to Finisterre (Roman for end of the world) and watched the sun meander into the sea on a rocky point with two bottles of wine, big bocadillos, the company of our new Belgian buddy, Rick, a wild lizard, and a herd of nearby goats. Perfect way to end the trip.

Been yearning to write again and to keep this blog moving. Although music was not as much part of the Camino as I thought, as the soundtrack to the walks were mostly birds, long conversations with my girlfriend and my sister, and the constant "Buen Camino" to passing walkers and bikers, sometimes music was the perfect thing to help me get through those last few uphill kilometers on a tough day. The track that was my sonical Red Bull was this remix by Alesso, a seriously up and coming Swedish artist. The perfect summer jam, I kept coming back to this when I needed a personal dance party to forget the sore muscles in my shoulders and the blisters on my feet.

Really happy to be back. Come back every day this weeks for great new jamandahalfs.

Click here to download


Alex Kenji, Starkillers, Nadia Ali Pressure (Alesso Remix)

Calvin Harris-Bounce (feat. Kelis)

Unlike the Republican primaries, artists and DJs across the world have been quickly getting in the race to make the top Summer Jam of 2011. With summer and its festivals/parties right around the corner, a clear winner hasn't emerged to become that song, the ubiquitous track, that no matter where or when it is played, everyone immediately starts dancing. Last year's undisputed champ was of course "We No Speak Americano," and you, your mom, your distant cousin, all will know soon enough who's going to win this year.

Calvin Harris has been a personal favorite for a few years now, and makes fun, catchy, house that doesn't aim to please at the lowest common denominator level. His newest single is no different. Enlisting the oddly entrancing vocals of Kelis, Harris does what he does best-throws some funky synths in there and makes an absolute banger. With lyrics that may allude to Kelis's public divorce with Nas (which caused this video), the song doesn't let itself get too caught up in it, it's too busy having a helluva time. In a crowd that gets deeper by the day, "Bounce" is so far the clear front runner.

Click here to download

Swedish House Mafia-Essential Mix (Live)

Edited the track so now it goes right into the good stuff. Enjoy

Live music has a way of making you instantly jealous, armed with the knowledge that at one point, people were watching what we have to be content to listen to on our headphones or speakers.You never know if you missed that golden concert, the one that you'll be telling your friends in 30 years you went to.

While Swedish Mafia is not the most refined group of DJs, they know how to put on a show. The classic BBC essential mix features sets from the best DJs of the world, spinning some of the hottest tracks in house/trance/dubstep, etc. Underlying it all is a running competition, with each DJ/ground trying to one-up their rivals. Each Essential Mix is critiqued by a flock of trance junkies and rave babies, each transition broken down, each drop carefully scrutinized. Swedish House Mafia, the motley group of three Swedish DJs, puts on a epic two hour long show for this live Essential Mix from the Creamfields Festival in England. Like mad puppeteers, their control over the masses is undeniable, with the crowd feeding off of the rise and fall of each track. We've featured an article questioning rave culture, but like the SHM say, it is hard to deny goosebumps. The perfect workout/road trip track, put this one on and let it ride. 

Click here to download

 

Deadmau5-Right This Second (Full)

After hearing the tagged shorter copy of this song a week ago, I couldn't wait to get the full thing. Here it is. With shades of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," Deadmau5's new single, "Right This Second," off of his first official album is a definite change of pace for both house music and Deadmau5 himself. For house music, this is a move away from the dubstep craze that has dominated the genre for the past year or so. For Deadmau5, this single shows him moving back towards trance and music fit to fill the airport hanger size venues of Coachella and other shows. A fixture in every major electro music festival of the last year, Deadmau5's popularity has skyrocketed, and with jams like this, I can't seen any end to the popularity of the masked mouse DJ.

 Deadmau5-Right This Second Full (jamandahalf.com) by jamand1/2

The Glowsticks-I'll Be There

I love hearing about what my friends are doing across the world, especially when they are doing big things...

My family and I moved to Abidjan, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, before the start of my 8th grade year. That year made a huge impact on my life, although a coup d'etat cut short our stay. When I wasn't playing basketball, my best buddy at the time, Jono (aka Kasper tha Ghost), and I would make beats and lay verses on them, even making and selling a full album (maximum 3 albums sold). There was a strong musical streak at that our international school, and people got really into producing, rapping, and battling, getting funky on tracks with a mix of kids from all over. While I would make simple pre-installed loop based beats on our bootleg copy of Ejay, one buddy of mine would get nuts on his beats, incorporating instruments from his native Sudan with a complexity far beyond his years.

This friend, Osama, now better known as Verse-Atile, started off small, but over the years has continued to make music, and has expanded his talents and crossed over genres. Now based in Canada, Verse-Atile is part of the group The Glow Sticks (TGS), which has a dope single out (I'll Be There) to promote their new album. Incorporating a strong house feel, "I'll Be There" shows off Verse-Atile's ear for making a hit, and feels like it could keep clubs going from Abidjan to Toronto.

I had a chance to catch up with him recently, and asked him a few questions about The Glow Sticks and "I'll Be There":

Can you tell us a little about TGS. How did the two of you meet? What type of sound are you trying to capture?

The Glowsticks (TGS) is a group consisting of myself (producer-songwriter) and DarkAce (vocalist -songwriter). Originally I was DarkAce's producer for his solo project. During the process of producing and co-writing Ace's project, we realized that we are stronger as a duo.

I know for a while you were making more traditional hip-hop. How did that evolve to the sound in "I'll Be There?"

I started out as a hiphop and RnB producer, yet thanks to my frequent travels to Europe, I fell in love with House and Electro music, which then began to influence my style of production. I began mixing genres together to create more interesting beats that crossed genres. "I'll Be There" is more house influenced, but the rest of the TGS project is more mixed genre.

What are your plans for TGS? You have a dope single that people will probably love, what's your next move?

We have been working on other music and we now have over 8 songs fully finished and we are currently working on more. They will be cross genre with a lot of electro and house influence, and a touch of urban hiphop.

I know you've come a long way since our days of making beats on ejay. What's your process to making a song like I'll Be There?

I use a combination of tools to create beats based on what sound I want to achieve, everything from FL Studio to Logic and Protools. For TGS we play with different sounds and experiment with them in different styles until we are happy with the result.

I'll Be there by TGS (The Glowsticks) ">Download Here

 I'll Be there by TGS (The Glowsticks) 

Yolanda Be Cool-We No Speak Americano

Writing to us from Spain, a country that knows how to enjoy itself like no other (and Leks' home in a few weeks), Kyle wants to share a little European flavor after being in the continent over the summer. A first time writer, one of Gator's best buddies, and a good homie of Moose and mines, welcome Kyle, and we hope to hear more from you soon. Moose, get your dancing shoes.

Hello Moose, Leks, and all-

Big fan of Jamandahalf, first time writer. Having spent nearly 3 awesome months galavanting across Europe, I have run into several epic tunes that can only be labeled awesomely Euro. I heard your call and one song rang true in my mind. After some diligent research I discovered that this jam topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom-- might as well just say, Europe. 

Spawned by an underground indie funk group, comes the undisputed number one Euro club banger of the summer, "We No Speak Americano." The brainchild of Aussie duo Yolanda Be Cool, in collaboration with producer DCUP, "We No Speak Americano" embodies all that is expected from a topcharting Eurojam.

What elevates this jam to a jamandahalf is its undeniably groovy hook which happens to be a sample from the 50's hit entitled, "Tu vuò fà l'americano" by Renato Carosone. The Aussie tagteam then did what they do best and added a sick beat with appropriately thumping levels of bass. Do yourself a favor and don't listen to this jamandahalf without a sub. It's just not the same. In the words of Leks, "I can tell why it swept across Europe-funky bass line, catchy sample, danceability levels off the charts." I'd say truer words have yet to be spoken. 

In my travels this summer this song was bumped in the best beachfront clubs in Barca, the not-surprisingly lavish gay pride festival and coffeeshops of Amsterdam, the biggest beerhall in Munich, the elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Tiesto even saw fit to sample it in Ibiza. Literally everwhere. 

By now hundreds of DJs have hopped on and remixed this song, but the original still rings true to me. It was the jam of the summer here in Europe, hope you enjoy, "We No Speak Americano." 

-Kyle

Download Here



RA28TVN9NPQD

Justice-Phantom Part 1.5 (live)

There's not much more Euro than techno music. For some reasons, most Americans don't get it. We need guitar riffs and lyrics about hard living and our dog leaving us. On the whole, we look for that perceived realness, and love those sing-a-long ballads that everyone knows the words too. Doesn't have to be the best music, but we like those catchy tunes, songs that we can feel good singing at the top of our lungs. And you sure daggone it can't sing along to no euro techo!

Other than techno (and by techno I mean trance, electronica, house etc), what else does europe have that the US hasn't adopted in some way? Great espressos and mixed coffee drinks? I can go to the Mickey D's around the corner for a uber french McCafé any time of the day. Tight jeans and skinny shirts? Have you seen a hipster lately? Even our health care will soon (hopefully) be a couple of shades more Euro soon. But one trend that has never truly caught on is music that I will fit under the giant umbrella of "techno." Despite some artists like Tiesto, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, etc, getting some festival love and larger tours, I would say that American society as a whole just hasn't accepted this music yet, hasn't made it their own. I mean, shoot, I've been trying to convert moose for years; no luck. And he's more american than corn bread and miley cyrus.

But listening to this jam and a half, one wonders when will people start realizing the energy, the emotion, the rawness of a lot of the techno music out there. Constantly evolving, changing, and reaching higher heights,  today's scene could be compared to what happened to hip hop in the late 80s and early 90s: DJs who pushed boundaries, the infusion of new sounds, the reawakening  and revitalization of a style of music. Justice, the french duo, are among the leaders of this current wave, and have a distinct sound, harder than other djs, but without missing any creativity or complexity. Phantom Part 1.5 stands out because no matter whether the beat is building up or dying down, whether it's using a sample of their own song or whether they're just using a pounding bassline, it's pure, unfiltered, energy. The crowd is living for each new movement, each subtle change, and the fusing of their noise and the music of two musicians who after only one album are among the masters of their craft, combines to make a jam and a half.

Download Here

Calvin Harris-The Rain

After the 25 year old Calvin Harris's debut, I Created Disco, many thought that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to capture that unique sound again. They were wrong. His sophomore effort, Ready for the Weekend finds the young Scot perfecting his craft and sound. After the massive summer jam "I'm Not Alone," and the various remixes by some of the hottest DJs around, the hype around Calvin was huge. Full of bells, heavy 80s influence, and mean synthesizers, Calvin 2nd album weaves trance, electronic, pop, and a healthy dose of goofy to create a sound that is familiar, but striking at the same time.

I caught a Calvin Harris DJ set in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago, and was pretty disappointed...I've seen videos of his full live shows, where he has a band, and sings and all that, but the show I saw consisted of a goofy Scotsman and 2 MacBook Pros. My expectations were admittedly very high coming in, and he did manage to get the crowd hyped while mixing in some of his biggest songs (Acceptable in the 80s, You Used to Hold Me). Great crowd, solid venue, but I think everyone left wishing it had been an actual live show. And where was the Humanthesizer?

While his new album has jams for days, the one that sticks out is "The Rain." This is classic Calvin Harris. Starts out with some soul claps and a funky horn melody, quickly drops to a bass line and Calvin singing, and continues from there, grooving along until you find yourself not wanting it to end, like a great movie, or an epic Mario Kart session. With the catchiest chorus this side of YMCA, I guarantee that you will find yourself grooving to this in your room/car/taekwondo class. In fact, I can already see Kai playing this 18 times in a row on an late Saturday night....

Calvin brings fire in Ready for the Weekend, and one jam and half. "The Rain" takes it this time for being an uplifting song that brings people together, while making sure they got their twinkle toes moving. I dedicate it to the Class of 2010, cuz even though we all got a million things going on right now, it might be a good thing to take a seat and smile; everything will be alright...

As always, here is a Download Link and the youtube clip is below. I also added two pictures and a video from the show.

Cœur de pirate-Comme des Enfants

Man...what can possibly follow nina and rodgab? Been mulling this for a little while, and decided to go with someone who most of you probably haven't heard before, the French-Canadian artist, Coeur de Pirate. Having just turned twenty, Coeur de Pirate, real name Beatrice Martin, blew up last year on blogs across the world with her song, Comme des Enfants...Although I'm no french major, or even a doctor, her angelic voice really uplifts the song, binding seamlessly to the simple piano harmony...The strength of her vocals, weaving between timid playfulness and full fledged power, makes the original a fun, easy listen, jam...

But the real jam and a half, and the reason for this post, is the Los Matos Andy Carmichael Remix. Playing casi nonstop in Apartment 651 G last year, this remix is a jam and a half and goes hard. Andy Carmichael somehow kept the innocence of the original, and mixed with a funky bassline and futuristic horns.... guaranteed to keep you moving time after time. Stretching the song out to a full fledged 5 minute jam and a half, Andy found a way to take something that was both so simple, but so pure, and turn into the ultimate club jam...He did what all remixes aim to do, make their song better than the original....and for this, Andy Carmichael gets the 3rd Jam and a Half...good work chief..

Download Original
Download Remix


Original Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaUI6Tvd1sA

Remix: