Sound Bluntz Down On Bling And Chris Sheppard... Craaazee

After listening to the first few seconds of the drum beat, you recognize Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." But then, instead of the smooth '80s rhythm and bass, comes a booming house attack, new hi-hat slaps and hand claps.

It's a brand new take on one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded. Yet somehow, Toronto's two-time Juno Award-winning Sound Bluntz manage to make it their own.

"Today, when everyone is downloading music, a DJ or musician can't make what they made back in the day when sampling was cheaper," says Lil' Pete (real name Peter Pantzoures). "We couldn't afford to use many of the original songs for samples, so we had to recreate them, recording them our way and sample after that."

A major portion of Sound Bluntz's Blame The Bling debut album is comprised of house-takes of some pretty major moments in music. Besides the reworked "Billie Jean," Lil' Pete and DJ Swet (real name Cory Bradshaw) re-recorded booming and pitch-playful dance versions of The Cars' "Just What I Needed," Young MC's "Bust A Move" and even The Monkees' "Stepping Stone."

Thrown in to show that they can also write their own music is the disco club slapper "(Maybe You'll Get) Lucky" — for which the boys have released a video about ghetto blasters getting it on in an electronics store — and some down-tempo groove songs.

"We're just two guys that are trying to produce what we think is acceptable and brings us back to a time that was fun," Bradshaw says. "There never used to be segregation in dance music. Everyone was feeling the music back in the day."

Back in the day, Bradshaw had another musical job — being the brains behind a lot of Chris Sheppard's DJ mixes, compilations, radio shows and hit songs.

"I put my best into that music, and it's when you start seeing people's houses get bigger instead of yours as a result of the hard work that you're doing, that's when it gets bitter," he says. "And it got bitter.

"And if he was here right now I'd say the same thing to him. He didn't take care of his people. He was very selfish that way."

Fortunately, Bradshaw and Pantzoures remain part of Toronto's dance music scene, where they like to share their talents with everyone. But there's one beef that the electronic duo have, and that's "the bling."

"There are many reasons to blame the bling," Bradshaw says."It's the pressure to try and fit in a world and trying to be what you see on TV and videos. Blame The Bling is being yourself, have an influence, but don't be taken over by it."