Killa Katie

Another busy week in terms of production from me - fortunately I've had a lovely lazy week off from the office and as such have managed to complete a couple of the 5 or 6 projects that have been sat on my PC for a while now.

The first of which I can't tell you too much about, as it's an exclusive track I created for Scott Johnson over at the excellent Ramdom Thoughts podcast which will be played on show #70 next weekend (24th August), and I will then put up for download on the 31st. All I will say is that it's some dark electro funk from a well known band, spliced with some powerful pop, and I love it. Seriously, if you get chance (and you should check him out anyway as his shows are awesome) head over to

http://www.ramdomthoughts.co.uk/

and check it out.

The second track I've bashed out this week is this, and I have to say, I'm am STOKED with it.

I've been long toying with the idea of doing a Kate Nash track ever since I first heard Foundations. For me it's in the top 5 tunes released this year so far, with it's simple 4 chords, catchy handclap beat and uplifting piano. And of course, it's Mockney-esque pronunciation of the words Bitter and Fitter (Harrow's a bit far from the East End me thinks). But as far as I am aware, no-one else has produced anything with her vocals on the scene, so the dilemma was, where to grab the 'pella?

Well, why beat around the bush. I made me own instead on Audition! It didn't come out too badly at all on the verse parts, although the chorus seemed to mixed in with the piano riff, and as such a few artifacts remain, but I like their sound so I won't quibble.

So what to mix it with? Well, it was obvious to me that the rhythm follows a simple skipping drum n' bass-esque pattern. Of course, this is another genre I grew up on in the 90s so I fortunately have a large collection of d'n'b tracks to choose from. Saying that, I tried quite a few out agains the vocal but I found the end results a little too dark. By coincidence though, I'd got hold of the awesome Killa Kella debut album the other day - "The Permanent Marker". I've been listening to quite a bit of human beatbox lately (since making the Deceptikon/Lily Allen boot earlier this year!), and this chap really is the business

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killa_Kela

And so I found the perfect track with a d'n'b rhythm, but with the added bonus of it being performed live by a human.

One last element needed was the addition of some vocals fom the Streets eponymous "Don't Mug Yourself". Not only does this create a bit of a dynamic tension between Kate and Mike ("Oi oi oi"), but it almosts fits together as a bit of narrative story, Kate moaning about the night before, with Mike talking to his mate about the night before too. Or I could be making that bit up, hehe, but either way it's a battle of the Mockneys. With some bass rumbling filters applied in the last few bars.

Anyway, this track is dedicated to my lovely friend Katie - she's always been a big Streets fan, and is partial to the odd bit of beatbox too, so I've named it after her, and made her the cover star too. Hope you enjoy it hon.

Killa Katie

Killa Kela vs. Kate Nash vs. the Streets
Crop Circles (Splinter remix) vs. Foundations vs. Don't Mug Yourself)



Download page here
http://www.mediafire.com/?dbvi5iyxx3o

And if all else fails - give it a shot here
http://www.zshare.net/audio/3199620252e5da/