Madonna The Immaculate Collection vol. 1 - a podcast by Keith a.k.a. K j A M

Party Favorz has been working up to the last minute this morning putting the final touches on what is going to be one of the most epic collections of Madonna bootlegs ever assembled into a non-stop party mix of fan favorites re-worked for today's dancefloors.



The Immaculate Bootleg Collection closely mimicks the original greatest hits put out by the Queen of Pop and contains modern-day reworks of her biggest hits and more. The main focus of volume 1 is from the beginning of her career with "Physical Attraction" through "Rescue Me" — the final single from her eponymous collection of hits.



Personally, I'm shocked at how well these tracks have stood the test of time and the amount of talent that went into the updated versions. Marco Sartori (who you will see a lot of in these three volumes), Luca Debonaire and Maxim Andreev take top prize for their re-interpretations.



Granted, some of the songs were more difficult to update as in the case of "Material Girl." Here, we find Lukesavant on track for an excellent update but his release feels more like an unfinished demo. It's almost like he gave up and decided to put it out and then move on. Not trying to be critical because it's a difficult track to modernize but he really was on to something and frankly had the best version I had heard.



On that same note, Jetpack recently reworked "Like A Virgin" keeping the same bouncy pop feel of the original while adopting a happier shiny house version to accompany it making this a winner.



Still yet, "Open Your Heart" only had a couple of entries that missed the mark completely leaving me with no option but to go with the Ultimix version, which I edited down from the typical 80's-style production to keep it succinct.  Junior Vasquez still takes the prize for his house take on "Crazy For You," which has a happy-house vibe running through it and still holds up to this day.



Another surprise rework was "Live To Tell" by Luca Debonaire who takes the original slow-tempo number and updates it with an infectious Deep House groove that fits perfectly.



I really, REALLY like Maxim Andreev's rework of "Like A Prayer" even though it feels more like a dub using minimal vocals at the beginning. Not sure why he decided to go this route but it's hands down the best of the multitude of versions of this track with Marco Satori coming in a close second.



Leo Frappier a.k.a. Division 4 recently dropped his take on the track but only released the radio edit version that has a fade. The track is really good but overcompressed and a bit pitchy. I managed to tone it down and added a little bass and then mashed it up with Maxim's version which worked wonderfully. After I eq-ed the D4 version, I slowed the tempo down to 120 BPM to match Maxim's and spliced it together which was flawlessly executed. However, I decided not to use it because Leo may not be ready to release it into the world just yet out of respect for him.



Overall, I think Madonna fans are going to be very pleased with the final result as much as I am.



Originally, I said there would be four volumes but it looks like 3 will suffice. From the beginning to where she is currently at, each set will cover a very specific time in her career. This project is a massive undertaking as I have to poor through hundreds of different variations of each song to find the best versions that will mix well together. I hope that I've achieved that and am looking forward to remixing the 2nd phase of the Queen's career today. Those songs have already been compiled and it's just a matter of finding the best ones to include.



Since Madonna's birthday is coming up on Friday — I plan on having all three sets complet...

Further episodes of Party Favorz

Further podcasts by Keith a.k.a. K j A M

Website of Keith a.k.a. K j A M