All in all, there were some amazing remixes submitted for the 1st annual Outside Lands Remix Contest powered by URB.com and MixMatchMusic. Entrants from around the world competed for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to DJ at this year’s festival. After torturous deliberations among the judges, the grand prize winner is Nisus for his remix of GogolBordello‘s “TranscontinentalHustle“. As the winner, Nisus will get to perform in front of thousands of festival goers at Outside Lands this weekend, so be sure to check him out if you’re going! Nisus will also get $500 and a free iPhone app from MobBase. To learn more about the winner, check out his website.
We’d also like to congratulate the following winning remixes selected as finalists:
How to participate? 1) Choose a song to remix
2) Download the song stems, its free and easy!
3) Create your remix using the stems and any additional music or beats that either you have created or have a creative commons license for. You can also make your mix online by clicking on the MixMaker button of the widget. 4) Upload an MP3 of your remix via the same widget you used to download the stems. Enter as many remixes as you like!
5) Share the track with your friends and ask them to comment, rate, playlist your mix and share it with their friends on twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and their blogs, etc.
6) Once you have finished and uploaded your remix, judges will select a winner for each track and one grand-prize winner!
7) Contest ends at 11:59pm on August 5th, 2010. Winners will be notified on August 6th, 2010.
Prizing Each song will have one winner who will receive two general admission passes to the festival and a prize pack of CDs from the artist they remix. Each of these winners will go on to compete for the grand prize, which includes two passes to the festival with artist credentials, a custom MobBase iPhone app and lifetime subscription from MixMatchMusic, $500 for travel expenses, and a one-hour set in front of thousands of festival goers at Outside Lands!
About the bands Gogol Bordello’s Trans-Continental Hustle, the group’s American Recordings debut, is perhaps the most ambitious undertaking in the group’s already remarkable decade-long gypsy punk career and it’s the result of an inspired, year-length collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin. Gogol Bordello is arguably the hardest working — and hardest rocking — group of our discordant new century, maintaining a touring schedule and an onstage energy level that would send the average combo running for the emergency room.
Kentucky-born My Morning Jacket formed in 1998 and has been going strong ever since. Their fifth full-length studio album, “Evil Urges” is the most far-ranging, surprising, and satisfying record of the band’s career. Have a go at remixing the freak-funk electro-slam of “Highly Suspicious” for your chance to win.
Rebirth Brass Band, a New Orleans institution, evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world. Committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands, while at the same time incorporating modern music into their show, their signature brand of heavy funk has been winning over hearts for almost three decades.
Beats Antique is an Oakland, CA based group forging a curious alliance between middle eastern traditions and potent west coast circus, underground hip hop, breakbeat brass band, downtempo, glitch and dubstep. Their paradoxical brand of electro-acoustic music is perfect fodder for the savvy remixer.
About Outside Lands The 3rd annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival takes place in beautiful Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on August 14 and 15, 2010. The two day festival is a celebration of music, food, wine and art that benefits the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department. It features over 40 bands, including Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Phoenix, My Morning Jacket, Further featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Wolfmother, Gogol Bordello, Al Green, Nas and Damien Marley, Tokyo Police Club and more! For complete, up-to-date information about Outside Lands click here. To start remixing, click here.
The idea of combining indie rock darlings Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, Jim James, and M. Ward, conceived in 2004, finally came to fruition yesterday with the release of The Monsters of Folk‘s self-titled album. The fifteen track disc defeats the old adage, often applied to super-groups, of the sum being less than its parts.
The four artists, each already having their own successes with bands Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, and She & Him, highlight the best in each other. All four players share songwriting and vocal duties, and no one artist steals the spotlight completely; however, Oberst’s trademark sound does permeate most of the songs. His distinctive wordplay lyrics and jaunty folk-rock are predominant.
James’ past work with many different genres and influences in his band My Morning Jacket comes through on the trip-hop opening song “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” and the funk inspired “Losin Yo Head.” The evocative harmonies typical of Ward and Oberst are pervasive. And Mogis, originally of Oberst’s band Bright Eyes, plays a more minor role in the forefront of the album, but was major behind the scenes working as producer.
All four artists brought their best to the table, and created a disc of enjoyable, catchy folk tunes.
Last Tuesday, Jim James, front man of My Morning Jacket, released his new EP, “Tribute To.” Under the quirky pseudonym Yim Yames, James pays tribute to George Harrison with a collection of six covers of songs from both Harrison’s Beatles days and his solo career. Although James does very little tailoring of the songs to make them his own, his beautiful vocals compliment the slow moving, simple tunes. His voice sounds particularly sweet and haunting on “My Sweet Lord,” a song inspired by Harrison’s practice of Eastern-based religion.
James has had a very busy year thus far, as he is also preparing for the release of a full-length album and an international tour with his collaborative group The Monsters of Folk, made up of himself, M. Ward (successful solo artist, and also the “him” of She & Him with Zooey Deschanel), Conor Oberst (ringleader of Bright Eyes, and more recently, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band), and Mike Mogis (musician/producer of Saddle Creek Records fame). The self-titled album is due out at the end of September, but three tracks are already up on iTunes for purchase.
In other fun Beatles-related news, last week was also the forty-third anniversary of the release of Revolver. To celebrate, enjoy a free track from “Tribute To,” “Behind That Locked Door,” available on James’ (or Yames’…) website.
