Don Quijote X BeatRehab

So to be honest I've been on a bit of a electro/hip-hop trip lately and I'm not upset about it. It seems like hip-hop since about 2005 has been made for electro remixes and Canadian DJ Zanski seems to have capitalized on that recent trend, especially when Gambino's "3005 Pt. II" dropped earlier this month. But if you think about it, it makes sense that a lot of electro remixers and producers are starting to get inspired by current hip hop. Childish Gambino (ATL rep) and many other artists have incorporated deep and well-built electronic based beats. I myself have noticed similar trends in Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, and SkizzyMars' tracks. So it's no wonder that we're starting to get well-done remixes, like Zanski's posted just a week ago. I'm assuming that all of you are familiar with "3005" off of Childish Gambino's wildly popular album  Because the Internet , but Zanski's remix also incorporates Gambino's new ...

Craig David, and even more specifically this track "Fill Me In," were very important parts of my musical (and personal) development at the ripe age of 14-15 years old. That's why Norwegian sibling duo, KREAM's remix, released about a month ago, is just so damn exciting. I'm gonna be honest with you all this is all really just an excuse for me to listen to Craig David a ton in the name of musical enlightenment. His original is just such an important song for me. I don't really know why, but for whatever reason this song is kinda how I always pictured incognito lover relationships to be like (I've been a few myself). At this point, I've listened to the track 3 times on repeat (in this sitting) and I'm not even tired of it. Craig's vocal is just so damn silky smooth, then you get this R&B beat with this groovy set of strings (I assume violin but I can't be sure) providing some melodic support in the back. The whole track is just perfect...

British DJ, salute, delivers a well balanced and innovative remix of Drake's "How Bout Now," a track that has a ton of soul packed into a simplified beat and minimal melodic support. As with most rap/R&B tracks, Drake's lyrics get most of the focus, but what makes the original compelling is that it actually has  a ton of elements, but none of them are too complicated. In fact, perhaps the most interesting part of this track, is that most of the verses don't have a beat underneath, but rely on the bass line to provide rhythm. I can pick out 7 different elements, when the drums are present: drums, bass, two synth lines layered over each other, and 3 vocal lines including Drake's rap. It's a really interesting, well layered track that benefits from that simplicity. Salute's approach, perhaps predictably, adds quite a lot in terms of complexity. First, you notice he adds a lightly staccato synth line (which almost feels like a xylophone) that adds ...

As we get deeper and deeper into Spring, I remixes like this one even more suitable mainly due to the fact that dank BANGERZ like this track are just better when it's a sunny day and maybe you've had a few drinks. What we have here is an Australian connection as Alison Wonderland and Just A Gent are based in Australia. Now, we here at CasaSwoop are very  very  familiar with electronic music from down under, mainly because right now the Australian electro landscape is probably the best in the world. Alison Wonderland's original "U Don't Know" is a decidedly "heavy" track. What i mean by heavy is that most of the movement in the track happens in the bass and lower registers. The vocal, obviously, is melodic (and quite well done if I'm honest), but the rest of the track is very bottom-heavy. Take for an example the "big moment" of the track, which is every bridge leading into the chorus, the percussion drops out for a while, comes back wit...