Recommendations for DJ samples/songs ala Fatboy Slim?

December 7, 2009 6:30 PM

My husband mixes dance music using Fruity Loops. I want to get him some CDs for Christmas for samples -- particularly stuff that sounds like Fatboy Slim. Help?

I can buy loops already sampled or I can buy songs for that he can sample himself, it doesn't matter.

This song is a good overview of what FBS sounds like and what I'm looking for:
Mad Flava

There's a lot of retro sounding piano and brass, some funky bass/guitar, syncopated percussion, a bit of synth/electronica, and non-rap but rhythmically interesting vocals. If you're familiar with Fatboy Slim, you know what I mean!

FYI, I already got him "The Ultimate DJ Sample Box" which has actual Fatboy Slim samples. Just looking for supplemental goodies now.

So what should I get for him, music experts?

Thanks so much!

posted by heatherfl to media & arts (16 answers total)

Upgrade him to Paul Oakenfold - If he likes Fatboy, he'll most likely approve of Oakenfold as well (possibly like it even more).

Also, does he have all the Fatboy Slim material? You could probably fill a small CD rack just with his work.
posted by pla at 6:41 PM on December 7, 2009

Take a look at the Soundway Records catalogue. They have put out quite a number of amazing compilations of local, out-there music from Africa and central America. Nigeria Special and Ghana Special are, I can attest personally, both amazing in terms of the music and in terms of the sample possibilities.
posted by sleeping bear at 7:21 PM on December 7, 2009

Oakenfold has a completely different vibe. Also, it doesn't really help with what CDs to get.
posted by heatherfl at 7:24 PM on December 7, 2009

sleeping bear, that is awesome! Thanks!
posted by heatherfl at 7:31 PM on December 7, 2009

This can be kind of a tricky request because people who have and collect samples tend to be very secretive about it [myself incuded] I dig for records personally and record them into a computer myself.

These might not be too bad..

Bite Harder

All the Breaks

Ultimate Breaks
posted by mattsweaters at 7:43 PM on December 7, 2009

Oakenfold and Fatboy Slim are miles apart in terms of sound, vibe, and production style.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:26 PM on December 7, 2009

Jalapeno Records -- my faves are Skeewiff and Smoove&Turrell.
posted by noahv at 9:13 PM on December 7, 2009

Plug the song into Pandora and see what kind of results you get.
posted by mikeand1 at 10:34 PM on December 7, 2009

The genre you speak is best described as Big Beat. I assume he already has all the Fatboy Slim albums, if he doesn't then "On The Floor At The Boutique" has a number of good tracks and is not as well known as his studio albums. There is a good amount of live stuff and side projects floating around on the net as well. For instance, while I wouldn't ever pair Paul Oakenfold and Norman Cook together (above), they did split the mixing duty on the 2-disc Essential Selection #1. You might want to look at Skint or Astralwerks (Fatboy Slim's label) compilations, similar genre mainstays of course are Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method and the Propellerheads. Other albums:

Amon Tobin - Supermodified
Fingathing - And The Big Red Nebula Band
Lionrock - An Instinct For Detection
Mint Royale - See You In The Morning
Cut Chemist - Rare Equations
Plump DJs - A Plump Night Out
Pest - All Out Fall Out
Brighton Port Authority - I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

I'm too tired for links, but between Allmusic, Amazon, Pitchfork, Lala and Youtube, you should be able to get a pretty good feel for each.
posted by sophist at 12:29 AM on December 8, 2009

Just wanted to mention that if he is really going for the Fatboy Slim sound, a lot of Norman Cook's samples come from 60's and 70's rock music. These are used as the inspiration upon which the drum track and effects are layered. You can hear some of the originals on the album "A Break from the Norm". Some decent samples are available directly on CD, with less restrictive copyright license, but finding the really good stuff usually involves digging through a whole lot of vinyl in some guy's dirty basement.
posted by sophist at 1:12 AM on December 8, 2009

Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) has his own sample CD which appears to be different than the "Ultimate DJ Sample Box" content.
posted by mmoncur at 2:01 AM on December 8, 2009

Came in to recommend skip to my loops. Lots of good stuff in there.
posted by CharlesV42 at 5:44 AM on December 8, 2009

I listen to lots of funky heavily sampled music. Some choice albums

Blockhead - Uncle Tony's Coloring Book
C-Mon and Kypski - Where The Wild Things Are
Static Traveler (You can find both these albums cheaper elsewhere
Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening
Balkan Beat Box - Balkan Beat Box (Way more gypsy/European then FS but also super danceable)
DJ Format - Music for the Mature B-Boy (Especially the instrumentals)
RJD2 - Deadringer (sample)
posted by cyphill at 8:21 AM on December 8, 2009

Here's the thing though: You don't want to actually use Fatboy Slim and his contemporaries for his sampling...you want to use source material which for someone like Fatboy Slim is probably a lot of funk/soul and very old school hip hop. That's where you get the ingredients from. Then he uses his sampler to adjust those ingredients (by speeding up, chopping the samples etc) to make it into big beat styles.

So you should be thinking more along the lines of James Brown, the Meters, Grandmaster Flash etc. as obvious examples, but any sort of upbeat funk/afro/hip hop collections should work nicely. If he samples directly from contemporary artists it will likely sound hackneyed. Good luck!
posted by the foreground at 10:40 AM on December 8, 2009

He might want to check out releases from Finger Lickin' records. Actually, I see Plump DJs mentioned above, they come from that label.
posted by Frasermoo at 7:37 AM on December 9, 2009

Just to clarify, he's composing songs, not DJing sets. So the simpler the sounds are, the better. Plus the more retro, the better.

I'm marking the recommendations that I bought records due to! Thanks guys!
posted by heatherfl at 10:28 AM on December 9, 2009