Cassetteboy Vs. The Bloody Apprentice

Cassetteboy are a duo from Brighton who specialise in Plunderphonics. Don't worry I didn't know what that meant either. Apparently it's when you put together a montage of tiny sound clips from existing sources, and turn them into something else. You know that tired joke comedy shows always use, when they parody devious editing and have someone saying something like "i love knobs" on the news or whatever? Yeah, that's Plunderphonics, but it's used in music too. Anyway, Cassetteboy have put together some Apprentice clips in this video, and it's actually really funny. I like the intro part when various utterances of the word "bloody" are played over the Apprentice theme tune, which by the way is "Dance of the Knights" by Sergei Prokofiev.

Jamie Foxx Vs. Arrested Development

I love this mix of Jamie Foxx's "Blame it," courtesy of DJ Fabian. The beat from "People Everyday" really improves the song in my eyes.

MP3:Blame it on the People (DJ Fabian Mix) - Jamie Foxx Vs. Arrested Development

Its got a really summery feel and I think its going to be a favourite of mine for the holidays.

Shit yourself yet today?

I watched a Spanish horror film called Rec last night and it's fully, fully terrifying. It's a kind of Blair Witch style mockumentary where a local film crew follow a fire brigade for the night and find themselves locked in an apartment building for reasons which slowly become clear as the film unravels. It's been a while since a film has left me as distressed as I was last night, and they really pull out all the stops: suspense, shock, gore, creepy children and relentless psychological torment.

What's really cool though, is that - since it's all supposed to be footage for a documentary - all the clever, tension-building techniques are diegetic and automatically justified. Each time the scene changes there's a deathly silence, then a really loud, jarring noise as the film jumps; and sometimes there are "sound problems" during scarier parts, so everything you hear becomes distorted for extra discomfort. They even do a little "rewind" sequence so you can see some of the gore twice.

Apparently there's an American remake called Quarantine, but I imagine the original is better. It's like the illegitimate love child of The Blair Witch Project and 28 Days Later, with all the moral dilemma of Sophie's Choice... Alright, maybe Sophie's Choice is an overstatement, but there's some really conscience-tearing moments. It came out a couple of years ago, so go out and rent or buy it, but have some clean pants to hand.