This Week on the Scene (6/21/09-6/28/09)

1. Notorious B.I.G.- Party and Bullshit (Ratatat Remix)
2. Major Lazer- Mary Jane (feat. Maipei and Dr. Evil)
3. Digitalism- Jupiter Room
4. The Presets- My People (D.I.M. Remix)
5. N.A.S.A. feat. Kanye West, Lykke Li and Santigold- Gifted (Steve Aoki Remix)

1. How can you start a party without this early Biggie Smalls classic? Group Ratatat did this remix; it can be found on their mixtape "Remixes Vol. 2." After a month of listening to it ritually I can say that it is on par, if not better, than the original. Just goes to show the versatility of Christopher Wallace. Not only is the remix successful but Christopher Wallace is sampled quite well in bastard pop music.

2. Major Lazer is the best thing ever. Seriously. Their new album, Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do came out last Tuesday and I can't get enough of it. The group, formed by the duo of DJs Diplo and Switch, was previously responsible for M.I.A.'s hit "Paper Planes" and they show their musical prowess here as well. I also love the use of Dr. Evil saying "Ok." as a sound effect in the background. Listen for it!

3. Digitalism is probably the most underrated group in house today. Their album Idealism dropped in 2007 but in the heyday of Justice's Cross it's easy to see why they kinda fell through the cracks. This song really shows the group's ability to build up sound to a point that ends in ecstatic euphoria. It starts out slow and calm but by the end you feel like you're flying around in space. Jupiter. Room.

4. This one is a weird one that I play towards the end of a party at sort of a prelude before the big finale. There is a lot of empty space, sometimes only filled by the ambient scream. D.I.M.'s new single this summer is going to be epic, though. It's kept under wraps for now but you can find a snippet on Boys Noize's twitter.

5. N.A.S.A. sucked. The Brazilian funk hip hop- whatever the fuck they say they are- DJ duo's album, Spirit of Apollo is a complete waste of time on it's own. They clearly spent more time putting guests on the album cover when instead they could have been using the tremendous amount of talent they possessed in the studio. Steve Aoki (funny, I just said I wouldn't write about him in my last post...) saves Kanye's verse here in a new version that I'm hoping will make it to many DJs live sets this summer.