mixtape maestro (2.0)

To have Wu Tang MVP’s Ghostface, Method Man and Raekwon all together on one track, rocking their usually winning thug-in-love swagger atop a shimmering ’70’s soul loop, made “Our Dreams”, an early preview of the trio’s highly anticipated joint offering Wu-Massacre, an immediate win; and if we had to point out the track’s true star, hands down it would have to be “hook guest” Michael Jackson (the song samples his 1975 solo hit “We’re Almost There”), melting our hearts all over again with the awe-inspiring ways of his then-16-year-old pipes.

So why, after noting all the praise-worthy elements the original has, do we consider a remix version replacing MJ with Alicia Keys the better grab? Simple: A better production polish.

The one thing keeping us from completely loving the original was it’s mixtape-level beat-crafting: More specifically, the awkward chorus-to-verse transitioning. Whether this was done on purpose to retain a certain street edge or was an early rough draft misstep ultimately left alone doesn’t matter, because the jarring cuts completely erupt the song’s flow.

Thankfully, the “Ant Acid Mix” rights this distraction, mashing M/G/R’s verses with Alicia Keys’ cover of “Almost There” (a bonus offering from last year’s The Element of Freedom) with far smoother (and therefore aurally satisfying) results.

Hear the original here, grab the “Ant Acid Mix” and the full Alicia cover below.

Wu-Massacre drops March 30th.

DL: “Our Dreams (Ant Acid Mix)” (alt)

DL: Alicia Keys “Almost There (Michael Jackson Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized 70's, alicia keys, cover song, east coast rap, ghostface killah, method man, michael jackson, raekwon, soul sample, wu-massacre, wu-tang clan

There’s no better way to kick off the beginnings of better weather (and the arrival of spring break!!!!) than to have the good-times guitar strummings of Weezer’s “Island In The Sun” expertly merged with the locker-door slams and debaucherous dialogue of J-Kwon’s 2004 lone hit, “Tipsy”.

When listening to this excellent mash-up, the latest great achievement from the The White Panda crew, you can damn near hear jumbo sized sleeves of red plastic cups being ripped into all across the country.

“Tipsy In The Sun”:

DL: “Tipsy In The Sun (Weezer vs. J-Kwon Mash-Up)” (alt)

…And, just to keep this whole “Island”-meets-hip hop vibe going, enjoy D.C./ Maryland/ Virginia-based quartet The Five One’s 2009 music blog-circuit fave “L.A. Girl”, which uses the same Weezer track (as well as lyrics…ahem, borrowed from Kanye West’s “Robocop”) as foundation for a tribute to spoiled lil’ Cali babes.

Currently featured, amongst a few other great remixes/ cover songs, on The Five One’s newest mixtape, Road To SXSW.

“L.A. Girl”:

DL: The Five One “L.A. Girl” (alt)

Uncategorized j-kwon, kanye west, maryland, mash-up, mixtape, the five one, the white panda, virginia, washington d.c., weezer

Because we can’t comfortably rest until we’ve heard Young Money’s still-ridiculously fire “Bed Rock” re-fashioned under the sound of every hip hop sub-genre that ever was, peep this Emynd-helmed remix of the track, twerked out old-school booty bass style.

Whoomp, here it is. (shouts)

“Bed Rock (Emynd Pillow Bass Remix)”:

DL: “Bed Rock (Emynd Pillow Bass Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized booty bass, dance remix, emynd, posse cut, young money

Longing to dust off those old rollerskates but don’t have a proper (new-ish) jam to take a whirl around the block with?

Then look no further than Chilean-born DJ/ producer Matias Aguayo’s “Rollerskate”, a hypnotizing DIY delight amazingly built on nothing but intricately layered, mouth-noise-based orchestrations (think Bobby McFerrin gone all disco hipster) that lay out a nicely blissed out bop of a groove to bring out all those old roller rink tricks you used to wow the people with back in the day.

Yeah, your doofus ass will probably take more than a couple embarrassing tumbles, resulting in you angrily muttering to yourself something along the lines of “I should have just let that dream of re-living the highs of my youth go”, but if it’s any consolation, when you’re hobbling back home with your skates in hand, at least your bruised ego can be comforted with the echoes of this track’s uber-catchy “Roller roller roller skate skate roller roller” refrain giddily bouncing around the insides of your brain.

From Aguayo’s latest release, Ay Ay Ay, on Kompakt.

DL: “Rollerskate” (alt)

Uncategorized bedroom pop, chile, matias aguayo

Ten months after being honored with a Pitchfork BNM tag for their contagious semi-politi-dance-rap juke anthem “Chi Don’t Dance” (memorable for it’s brow-arching line “MTV gave me ADD/ BET taught me to hate me” and a rowdy, Goodie Mob-referencing hook), Chicago trio BBU (Bin Laden Blowin’ Up) try to prove that they’re no one (blog-)hit wonders with the release of their cleverly-titled mixtape, Fear of a Clear Channel Planet.

Out of it’s thirteen-cut tracklisting, the one that’s sure to earn them even more Web-hype in the coming months is set highlight “Black n’ Plastic”, a dishing of occasionally cutting “What’s happening to us?” cultural commentary (“Do you really love yourself?”, they ask to all the “GQ magazine, coke fiend cover girls/ And all them other girls that wanna look like other girls”) and potentially beef-starting digs at LMFAO, Asher Roth and Lil’ Wayne, served atop a surprisingly winning mix of sparse-ish Dirty South production tricks blended with an endlessly looped sample of Aqua’s ’90’s hit “Barbie Girl”.

Yeah…you read that right, they’ve sampled “BARBIE GIRL”…and the beat rocks (or, in their case, we guess jukes) somethin’ tough.

DL: “Black n’ Plastic” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, aqua, bbu, chicago, conscious rap, indie rap, juke, mid-west rap

“Like a G I hold it down for the town I’m AT/ And I flash like THAT/ Recognize I’M BACK!,” sneers T.I. on the hook to newly unleashed comeback banger “I’m Back”; if news of the Southern rap kingpin nearing the end of his year-long sentence didn’t necessarily hit you with excitement concerning his return, those punctuated peaks at the end of each of those lines definitely do the trick.

Here, as the Trackslayers production team excellently surround him with the kind of epic-sized, Southern hip hop trunk-rattler he’s crushed with so many times before, T.I. spews breathless rounds of annoyance and ire aimed at those he felt did a sucky job holding down the fort in his absence. “Tight jeans, funny haircuts, dancing on the screen/ It’s a drought of real niggas in the game so it seems,” he spits with such heat you could almost feel the saliva spraying from his mouth against your ears.

For those that thought that Lil’ Wayne’s trip into the clink would hurt the Third Coast rap scene in 2010, you needn’t at all worry any longer. The King is back, and from the sounds of things, more than ready to make up for the time he’s lost.

For all you other jailed rappers wondering how to truly mark your re-emergence into the game upon your release, this is how you stage a return to make the crowd go nuts.

DL: “I’m Back” (alt)

Uncategorized southern rap, T.I., trackslayerz

It’s difficult seeing the greatness in Gorillaz‘ Plastic Beach on first complete listen: the album lacks focus, kind-of drags, bears no immediate “Clint Eastwood”/ “Feel Good Inc”-type confections and is based around a environment-friendly concept that, while commendable in theory, initially comes across lame as theme. Give it a few more spins, though, and you’ll eventually be sold on it’s efforts, especially when it comes down to the album’s well-crafted handful of lazily drifting, haze & fuzz-cloaked midtempo fare (expect plenty of crit shout-outs for “Rhinestone Eyes”, “On Melancholy Hill”, “Broken” and the two Little Dragon-assisted pieces “To Binge” and “Empire Ant” when all is said and done).

Being such fans of the oddly mesmerizing jump-off that was “Stylo”, with featured guest Bobby Womack’s crazed soul-man beltings, the cut we most anticipated upon Beach’s release was Womack’s second contribution to the project, as we were swept away with intrigue on how else the Gorillaz could fancifully utilize the R&B veteran’s talents.

Tucked near the end of the album, that record, “Cloud of Unknowing”, ultimately ends up the rewarding experience we hoped it to be.

Bookended by the soothing sounds of cawing seagulls and crashing waves, the track beautifully captures a pensive moment of one man sitting beachside, his toes digging into the sand and his gaze fixed upward into the sky’s starry abyss, trying to figure out it all.

“On the cloud of unknowing/ My world seems open/ Every satellite up here is wanting/ But I was here from the very start,” Womack muses, his funereal moan tinged with an aching twang. What he’s going on about, you feel like you need a half-drunken bottle of wine and a bruised heart to completely understand, but there’s no mistaking the piercing his vocals do your emotional core, especially when accompanied by Damon Albarn and the East Midlands-based sinfonia ViVa’s spaced-out, classical composition.

Peep the standout below, than enjoy two of our favorite B. Wo tracks ever: his 1976 single “Daylight” (the ideal theme song for anyone who can’t let the night life go so easily) and his soul-tastic take on the Neil Diamond karaoke staple, “Sweet Caroline” (“bah, bah, bah…”).

“Cloud of Unknowing”:

DL: “Cloud of Unknowing” (alt)

Bonus DL: Bobby Womack “Daylight” (alt)

Bonus DL: Bobby Womack “Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized 70's, bobby womack, cover song, gorillaz, grown folks R&B, neil diamond, plastic beach, sinfonia viva

In which Lady Gaga reminds us of the old days when a “World Premiere Music Video Short Film Event” (as well as corded land-lines) really meant something.

We can’t help but think (or hope) that somewhere Missy Elliott has just finished watching this awesomely WTF!!-to-the-infinite-power  (and obviously Quentin Tarantino-influenced) smorgasbord of mass murder, girl-on-girl kissing (and prison fights!!!), bizarro fashion sense (where does one buy still-lit, half-smoked cigarette butt shades?), early Madonna eyebrows, purposefully flat acting, shared Honey Bun snacking, vogueing boy dancer chefs, future Twitter-hyped one-liners (“Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger“) and…erm, Tyrese, and has immediately got her record label on the phone, demanding that they get her a music video budget big enough to include James Cameron as director and the actual Moon as a set location, just so she can end up besting GaGa’s “Telephone” as the owner of 2010’s best clip.

BONUS DL: As An Aquarius (Myspace) featuring Bryan Zimmerman “Telephone (Lady Gaga/ Beyonce Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized as an aquarius, beyonce, bryan zimmerman, cover song, dance pop, diva pop, lady gaga

On paper, having one of our top guilty pleasure jams of 2009, the Vistoso Bosses‘ unfortunate non-hit “Delirious”, be completely sapped it of it’s appealingly Crayola-hued, “Legend of Zelda”-meets-four-square wispiness for darker electro textures doesn’t seem like it would fly.

Yet, consistently impressive remixer/ producer Doctor Rosen Rosen ultimately makes this revision work, his heavy slabs of spooky synth gloom and typewriter drum machine ticks bringing a sinister heft to lines like “When you look in my eyes/ You make me delirious”, instantly transforming what was once this cutesy (and fairly harmless), teenybop crush ode into the beginnings of an exciting “Fatal Attraction”-for-the-high-school-set big screen thriller.

DL: “Delirious (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized doctor rosen rosen, electro-R&B, remix, soulja boy, teen rap, vistoso bosses

Say what you will about Grey’s Anatomy not really being the “must-see” event it once was (we wouldn’t necessarily argue with you), but you got to admit, they still know how to alert viewers to great under-the-radar pop finds. “Die Young”, from (previously MM-approved) Swedish indie duo The Sweet Serenades, is one of the prime-time soap’s latest compelling scene-soundtrackers.

Effectively pairing the rustic tenor of Serenades’ singer/ rhythmic guitarist Martin Nordvall with the sighing, featherweight coo of Club 8 vocalist Karolina Komstedt atop a melancholy recipe of wistful guitar, synth squiggles, cracking drums and rumbling bongos, midtempo ballad “Die Young” hones in on the all-too-familiar awkward scenario of a couple waking up from a one night stand with differing reactions.

“It’s a lie, we knew it all along”, emotes Nordvall on the hook, yet despite being fully aware of the “rules”, he’s still hesitant to budge from bed, wanting to milk every single second out of his post-lay state of bliss (“Oh I don’t wanna leave/ I just wanna lay here and watch you breathe”). Too bad Komstedt doesn’t share that same sense of euphoria, all she wants is for him to quickly depart before he falls for her any deeper: “I’m not looking for love/ I told you that I just wanna dance,” she pointedly reminds him, her words bathed in a weighted remorse.

Peep the MP3/ video below, followed by a dark n’ dubby “Die Young” remix put together by the Artymove gang.

From Sweet Serenades’ latest, Balcony Cigarettes.

DL: “Die Young” (alt)

DL: “Die Young (Artymove Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized artymove, club 8, duet, grey's anatomy, indie pop, karolina komstedt, sweden, the sweet serenades