SLAG PATROL

Britney Spears – Piece of Me (Tiesto Radio Edit)

This is my favorite Piece of Me remix. It’s probably not the best one to dance to (that’s either the Junior Vasquez/Jonny Vicious mix or the Bloodshy and Avant mix), but the haunting synth chorus Tiesto made for this one is just brilliant. Poor Britney–at least we have the remixes.

Girls Aloud – Call the Shots (Tony Lamezma Mix)

Call the Shots was already pretty much the perfect pop track, so Tony Lamezma had a tough task ahead of him in remixing it. His mix doesn’t quite soar to the heights of his Biology remix (a Slag Patrol all time #1 favorite)–what it loses is the sheer sultriness of the original. It’s still a solid effort though in an understated, repetitive way.

Bloodhound Gang – Screwing You on the Beach at Night

Bloodhound Gang? These guys are still around? Indeed they are, and Screwing You on the Beach at Night is actually very good pop. Except for the lyrics.  They are inane, silly, asinine, even kinda offensive (”on a unicorn that shits your name in stars”?). The beat is great though–if only Girls Aloud’s producers had used it to make a song that could be taken seriously.

The Veronicas – Untouched

I really like the Veronicas and really like the strings in this song. In a reversal of how it ‘normally’ is, the chorus on this track is the weakest part. It lacks the smoothness and tone of the rest of the song and only works adequately with the strings. The verses, however, really won me over. They just keep going and going and leave the girls with barely any time to breathe.

Goldfrapp – A&E

This song is beautiful. It’s not dancey at all–definitely a departure from the sound I associate with Goldfrapp. I hope the new album still has some dancey stuff (the remixes I’ve heard of this song so far are only ok)–but this is just gorgeous.

Mika – Happy Ending

Two ballads in a row. I know. Not typical but this song is also excellent. It starts out very slow and eventually goes all Like a Prayer with a mega chorus.

Kelly Rowland – Work (Freemasons Radio Edit)

I heard this for the first time on Radio 1 the other night, and during the first minute I thought, ‘Gee, this isn’t half bad for a Kelly Rowland track’–then when it kicked in at a minute I realized that this was the track she collaborated with the Freemasons on. It’s actually quite good. Freemasons normally turn meh Beyonce tracks into stompers, so it’s not much of a stretch for them to be fixing a Kelly Rowland song.

Dannii Minogue vs. Dead or Alive – I Begin to Spin

A fine mashup of Dannii Minogue’s best song and Dead or Alive’s only song.

Taio Cruz feat. Luciana – Come on Girl

Hadn’t heard of Taio Cruz before this song–the lyrics are crap but the synth beat is very slick. It sounds a little like Timbaland was involved and ran it through his Timberlake filter, which isn’t a bad thing.

Hot Chip – Ready for the Floor

Hot Chip actually wrote this song for Kylie Minogue and then decided they wanted to use it for themselves. It meanders a little and I don’t like it as much as Over and Over, but it’s still very good electropop.