mixtape maestro (2.0)

Just as they’ve hit the road as opening act for the American leg of Chromeo‘s Business As Casual Summer 2010 tour, NY duo Telephoned have gifted fans with another serving of their fetching not-quite-covers/ not-quite-mash-ups record re-imaginations with new mixtape Keep Their Heads Ringin’.

Doing just what the collection title promises, Ringin’ features vocalist Maggie Horn taking on everything from Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” and Led Zeppelin’s “What It Is and What Should Never Be” to a spliced-together reading of Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade” and Sleigh Bells’ “Rill Rill”, with some, like a surprisingly awesome minute-long merging of The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” atop Young Money’s “BedRock” instrumental, begging for lengthier treatments.

Peep out two of our favorites below, remakes of Chromeo’s “Night By Night” (set to the soul sample lushness of Big Boi’s “Shine Blockas”) and Yeasayer’s “O.N.E.” (gone reggae over Gyptian’s “Hold Yuh”), or simply grab the entire mixtape through Fools Gold.

DL: “Night By Night (Chromeo x Big Boi Cover)” (alt)

DL: “O.N.E. (Yeasayer x Gyptian Cover)” (alt)

Chromeo‘s electro soul-pop-funk creations adhere so close to their obvious 80′s-born influences and lean so heavily on the quirk, that it can be a bit difficult to embrace the Montreal duo as more than a novelty act, let alone imagine them ever being able to break beyond their cult-ish fanbase and become household names; yet, even within the current music scene’s increasingly tiresome three-decades-old retro-fetishism, the group remains root-worthy, each new serving of their 8-bit-stylized, vocoder-aided pizazz (whether for themselves or as a remix for someone else) easily hitting you right dead-center in the part of the soul that enjoys a good guilty pleasure entry.

That adoration should be kept afloat for “Don’t Turn The Lights On”, the second single from Chromeo’s forthcoming third album Business Casual.

Documenting one man’s struggle to emotionally move past a former relationship, “Lights” may surprise passive Chromeo admirers in it’s turn towards the serious, but there’s no denying the track’s late-night erotic under-tone, the combination of the hook’s sensual request (“Don’t turn the lights on/ Cause tonight I wanna see you in the dark”) and the backing beat’s libidinous synth burblings (which will totally bring to mind the sexy digi-groove of Rufus & Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”) making this a necessary addition to a DJ’s “end of the night” bump & grind set.

Don’t Turn the Lights On by Chromeo

BONUS DL: Chromeo “I Can’t Tell You Why (The Eagles Cover)” (alt)

Injecting himself amongst the prancing keys of Chromeo’s infectious, Oedipal-tinged curioso “Momma’s Boy”, Staten Island emcee AC (of that clever “New Soul (Remix)” from earlier this year) further fleshes out the track’s uncomfortable lyric as he details the dysfunction of his current relationship.

From instant turn-off comments about her reminding him of his Mom, to awkward requests for her to sit on his lap (“She said ‘No’/ Cause that’s her Dad’s thing”) to his…erm, Downy-scented threads, AC absentmindedly gives his girl several moments of “Why am I even with you?” pause. Throw in the fact that he hasn’t yet proposed, and their romance has reached an unfortunate no-sex standstill. Now he’s left confused and horny, with nothing but a bowl of Special K and ESPN as his sole source of joy and a brewing hatred towards Sasha Fierce for even planting the idea that he should have put a ring on it.

While it’s about time someone started lashing out at Beyonce’s alter-ego and her trouble-causing hook, completely siding with AC proves to be just a little too difficult in this situation. That whole Mom comparison thing? It’s kind of icky, dude.

DL: “Momma’s Boy” (alt)