The Metermaids, made of up emcees Swell and Sentence, have embraced the small space that exists at the intersection of underground hip hop and indie rock. The irresistable energy of their live shows during the last two years of touring has generated quite a bit of buzz that continues to grow with the release of their album, “Nightlife”, on which many of the songs seem to have been mixed with a live performance vibe in mind.
Instead of just releasing an album, however, the Metermaids have taken it one step further. They created “Nightlife in Illinoise”, a mashup of “Nightlife” and Sufjan Stevens‘ critically acclaimed concept album “Illinoise”. You can download it for free here. Antimusic deems it “a lush album that highlights the strange folky eccentricities of Stevens and the earnest lyrics and creative production of the Metermaids” and Prefix Magazine says “the result is slightly disorienting, but a totally new way to listen to both albums”. I say remixing and mashup culture is blowing up and these guys are an inspiration to all the DIY musicians and genre-bending artists out there.
You can make your own remix of their title song, “Nightlife” on the Remix Wizard found on their MySpace page. Not only is this an awesome way to experience their music on a new level, but you can also win stuff. The winner gets a free copy of Reason 4 by Propellerhead Software, the track offered as a free download on iTunes, and a featured spot on the Metermaids’ MySpace. Pretty sweet.
Watch the video below to get to know Swell and Sentence a little better.
Now go get your remix on! And while you’re at it, check out the other artists using the Remix Wizard here.
