Oliver Heldens - Shades of Grey (Unfranchised Remix)

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Unfranchised is a group of guys from Burnley in the UK producing some pretty cool nu/deep/tech house. We featured their Kiesza remix back in the July 10th Friday Care Package, and have been watching their page for more music since. Last weekend they uploaded this remix of Oliver Heldens' Shades of Grey that puts a really nice touch on the original.  Where the original features a bit of a mix of broken beat/garage/house sounds and percussion, the Unfranchised remix sets the track solidly in the realm of familiar four-on-the-floor house music. Unfranchised also positions their bassline slightly into the background than the original, focusing much more on the classic piano to drive the track.  The result is a refreshing take on the original that is blowing up right now with over 2M plays on OIiver Helden's Soundcloud page alone. Don't miss this one, and make sure to follow Unfranchised on Soundcloud to keep up on their new material.

- KJ

Calvin Harris - How Deep Is Your Love (Ben Dooks Bootleg)

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While Calvin Harris needs no introduction, nor any promo from underground blogs at this point in his career, this bootleg of his newest single with Disciples by Ben Dooks may not be as widely promoted - but it is a hell of a bootleg.

Ben Dooks' spin on the original gives the piano a much more central role in the bootleg, while still keeping a bit of a nu deep house vibe.  The stream below is only a two minute preview, but the full version is available through the link as a free download. 

- KJ

Chase & Status - Time ft. Delilah (Luke①Hundred House Bootleg)

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This little house bootleg is a great low key remix for Tuesday evening. Luke①Hundred just dropped this bootleg of Chase & Status' poppy drum and bass track Time that features the vocals of Delilah from back in 2011.

Luke's house bootleg is great in that it doesn't try to be something super epic and complex - sometimes house music is most powerful when it is stripped back to some of its more minimal elements. The Time bootleg does this really well, with a simple but effective percussion setup to open up the track, leading into an early breakdown and buildup with some melodic pads and Delilah's vocals. This buildup is followed by the drop into a nice bassline groove accented by the occasional vocal cut and the continued backbone percussion throughout. This is a great house reimagining of the original, and definitely one I would play out at any time of night - perfect in an opening or afterhours set.

It looks like this is currently just up as a stream, but hopefully you will be able to get your hands on this tight little bootleg soon.

- KJ

Clean Bandit & Jess Glynne - Real Love (BÅUT Bootleg)

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This remix was uploaded on Soundcloud by BÅUT a while back, but I was waiting to see if it would get set to a free download before I posted it here, and it did!  I've already tossed this into a couple of my sets, as it's a seriously great bootleg. The Soundcloud play stats are seriously way too low considering the quality of it, but that's why I love digging for music - you come across absolute gems that are still secret weapons.

BÅUT keeps a majority of the vocals from Jess Glynne from the original, and it sounds very similar to the pop version right up to the first buildup, but when the drop comes in at the 1:30 mark, you know this is something a bit different. Working on the style that is evident in the other bootlegs posted on BÅUT's Soundcloud, this bootleg oozes deep bass in line with the deep/future/tech house niche. If you want a bootleg that goes hard but still is recognizable to everyone in the club, grab this one now - it's now your secret weapon too.

- KJ

Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (Chris Stebbins Remix)

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Chris Stebbins dropped us a line letting us know he was dropping his remix of Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do as a free download last week.  You may recognize his name if you checked the Friday Care Package out on Friday, as we included his remix of Wiz Khalifa's See You Again.

The track eases into things with a gradual build that introduces some of Chris's melodic elements through the initial verse and into the first run through the chorus.  The percussion doesn't really drop until the one minute mark when the second verse hits. This remix has a slightly reigned in big room progressive house sound that gives a nod to mainstream dance while also staying away from being cliché.  Fans of the original Ellie Goulding track will also appreciate that Chris left the vocals intact and without pitching of any kind.

Make sure you check out this Ontario producer's Soundcloud page, and keep an eye on it as he mentioned he's got a few more tracks up his sleeve that are forthcoming. 

- KJ

Penthouse Penthouse - Conspicuous

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The guys of Penthouse Penthouse out of LA have recently redone Usher's 2004 hit Yeah! Their rework entitled conspicuous has an interesting mix of Future R&B, Nu Disco and Chill Trap elements, used all alongside the majority of the easily recognizable original lyrics from the chart topper. 

The guys recently picked up a Juno 106 (which will make any gearhead producer or synth fan jealous for sure) and put it to use with all of the synths in this remix having been created with the 106. These sounds give the track an interesting vintage vibe meshed with nu school sound and production and those nostalgic mid 2000 club-pop feels.

This is a really cool piece of work, and Penthouse Penthouse have uploaded it as a free download - so if you're feeling it, just hit the download button in the top right corner of the embedded player.

- KJ

Friday Care Package - May 1st

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- KJ

Snoop Dogg - Peaches N Cream (JackLNDN Remix)

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If you're looking for some serious summer vibes, look no further - JackLNDN delivers just that in his remix of Snoop's first single Peaches N Cream off of his upcoming 2015 album Bush. JackLNDN's bootleg has a laid back house vibe with warm synths throughout, while retaining the funky vibe from the original and featuring the full suite of Snoop lyrics.

Stream below, grab the free download and get the summer started.

- KJ

Friday Care Package Double Drop (Valentines Special) - February 13th

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This Friday Care Package we did it a little different.  Given Valentines Day falls on Saturday, we thought we'd customize the Care Package with this in mind. In an effort to include everyone, we made two 14-track playlists of spectacular new music that centre around both Valentines and counter-Valentines themes. There's great music in both, and likely half of the tracks are free downloads if you dig into the playlists - so we'd encourage checking out both ;) We hope you enjoy, and have a great Valentines Day weekend, however you choose to spend it!

The Valentines theme playlist starts off higher energy, and moves into slower, sexy bedroom beats by the end. 

The Anti-Valentines theme playlist goes in house, gets into some trap and hip hop, then back out house. 

-KJ

Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk (Jump Ship Bootleg)

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This Thursday I'm all about the pop influence on freshdrops I guess. Hard not to be though, with tracks like this showing up! Once again, a free download, this one courtesy of Jump Ship.

The original is a great funk pop track, and Jump Ship's take on it is a great house bootleg. There is just enough of the main vocal left in to make it obviously recognizable, but definitely a departure from the original. The bootleg keeps the funkiness of the original track, while also integrating a kind of deep/future house hybrid sound to give this a unique feel.

Make sure to check the bootleg out below, and if you want a copy, just send a message to the guys themselves and they will get you a copy!  So far it looks like they haven't uploaded it for general download yet, but they also have a number of other free bootlegs and originals through their Facebook page if you're feeling their style.

- KJ