Equipped with quite possibly the sweetest stage name in the music business, Chicago-based DJ duo Flosstradamus have quickly established themselves in an ever-growing remix/mashup/dance-party genre. The duo of Autobot (Curt Cameruci) and J2K (Josh Young) first gained popularity with their remixes of Matt & Kim’s “Yeah Yeah” and The Cool Kids’ “Pump up the Volume” and have created enough music for a few mix albums and some memorable DJ sets. In fact, the band is most notable for their electric and exhilarating live shows, performing alongside Kid Sister (who happens to be J2K’s little sister….logically), and the aforementioned Cool Kids. Chromeo, a duo with similar stylings and foray into the blogosphere, gave them their big break and invited them along for the “Fancy Footwork Tour” in 2007.
While some of Flosstradamus’ contemporaries simply add a bassline or a new synth to the latest indie jam, these two like to mash-up seemingly unrelated tracks to create the ultimate club banger, like “Yeah Yeah”, which technically is just a remix of Matt & Kim’s hit but in actuality takes Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At” and seamlessly ties the two together. J2K and Autobot deliver a sparkling new product devoid of thetypical forced and uncomfortable feel of the majority of mash-ups and remixes that pollute the college radio airwaves these days. It is for this reason that I declare Flosstradamus the remixers to watch for in 2009 (alongside Boys Noize and Soulwax, of course).
