mixtape maestro (2.0)

What if, after the breakout success of The Slim Shady LP, Eminem completely switched gears on the follow-up and released a soul record that was bathed in the glorious sounds of heyday Motown (or Amy Winehouse-as-produced-by-Mark Ronson), and heavily downplayed his rapping skills for some surprisingly sturdy Smokey-smoove singing chops? Sounds insane, right?

Well it just so happens to describe the heretofore career path of British rapper Plan B, who snatched up both critical acclaim and controversy with his 2006 debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words‘s uncomfortably raw and violence-obsessed “Straight Outta East London” tales, only to return four years later with a sophomore project (The Defamation of Strickland Banks) that re-paints him as a retro soul crooner.

It’s a ballsy transformation that works far better than one might think, with B’s rich singing voice (a talent only hinted at in his previous rap-based works) and the disc’s finely-tuned exercises in the honey-and-velvet-toned arrangements of soul’s yesteryear completely negating the fact that this “let’s recreate the vibe of our parents’ old vinyl collection” shtick has been a bit over-played in recent years. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Banks‘ central concept (following B’s titular character from the celebratory highs of the stage spotlight to the spirit-shattering lows of a years-long prison bid after being falsely accused of rape by a groupie), while cliched at points, would make for a nice lil’ big screen musical.

On stand-out cut (and third single) “Prayin’”, Plan B is found broken down to his knees feverishly praying for aid from a Higher Power after being involved in a prison brawl that ends with someone’s death. And while he didn’t necessarily commit the murder himself (it was a “lifer”, with “the devil in his eyes, but God is in heart”, stepping to his rescue), this fact doesn’t at all lessen the guilt that now clouds him.

A depressing tune yeah, but having his inner despair pleads caged inside a foggy billow of distant choir wails and a ringing Holland-Dozier-Holland-esque throb neatly steers it away from being a complete downer.

Catch the video below, then, as a bonus, enjoy a pairing of Plan B’s Actions single “Mama Loves A Crackhead” with Hall & Oates’ deathless jam “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” (from his 2007 mixtape Paint It Blacker).

BONUS DL: Plan B (feat. Hall & Oates) “Mama Loves A Crackhead (‘Paint It Blacker’ Version)” (alt)

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)

Even if Yael Naim was never to record another song again, it’s likely her presence wouldn’t be absent from the blogosphere for too long as DJ’s, producers and rappers seem obsessed with finding new ways to spin her 2008 fluke hit “New Soul”.

On this latest twist on the Naim tune, Sydney mash-up man Lezington crafts an admittedly cheesy, but definitely likable, marriage of “New Soul” with the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s kooky classic “Got Your Money” that has embedded inside our brains the hilarious image of a Muppet-ed Big Baby Jesus slapping down felt-made groupie ho’s on the seedier side of Sesame Street.

Grab it below, alongside another one of Lezington’s simplistic-but-irresistibly fun blends: Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli” merged with a-ha’s “Take On Me”.

DL: “Got Your New Soul (Lezington Blend)” (alt)

DL: “Take On A Milli (Lezington Blend)” (alt)

Even with Katy Perry‘s 2008 breakout album, One of the Boys, managing to strike platinum and peel off four Top 30 US hits (two of which-“I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot n Cold”-we’ll most certainly be hearing at least once a week for the rest of time), it’s huge success never really solidified the idea of the shtick-reliant singer being necessary beyond it.

If anything else, Perry seemed to be one of those flash-in-the-pan types who would fade away back into obscurity, only to make re-appearances in I Love The ’00‘s-type pop culture retrospectives or future “What ever happened to her?” coffee table conversations concerning the year-long time she somewhat ruled the pop roost.

That being said, it’s not only surprising that Katy would re-emerge with a new record on par with the sugary irresistibility of her biggest cuts and that it would speed it’s way to a spot on the top of the pop charts (and plenty of people’s current summertime guilty pleasure lists), but-and here’s the main shocker-that we would actually be welcome to her return.

Yearning for an explanation? Well, to put it simply: The past year has produced so many forgettable one(and sometimes two)-hit wonder plastic-pop sensations, it’s kinda of nice to have an “established” act of the genre around. Yeah, if you found Katy annoying before (whether because of all the overly-cutesy stage persona tics or her odd, caterwaul vocals), you probably still won’t have much tolerance for her, but if not having her back means more pop radio space for lesser-forgivable entries from the Ke$ha’s, 3OH!3′s and Jason DeRulo’s of the world, than we say “hurrah” for “California Gurl”‘s existence.

Besides, if you look past the titular’s awful spelling of “girls”, the lame Snoop feature, the lyrics’ lazy (and/or awkward) “Cali is the place to be” signifiers and…hell, it’s overall corniness (the West Coast answer to “Empire State of Mind”,as it has been proposed, this surely is not), the track’s effervescent disco-ish sparkle can work wonders on a bad day.

Catch “California Gurl”‘s Candyland-inspired clip below, then afterward grab The White Panda crew’s mash-up of it with Trey Songz’ “Say Ahh”.

DL: The White Panda “Ahh California (Katy Perry x Trey Songz)” (alt)

We know, we know (get off Drake’s sack already!!!!!), but it’s not our fault hip hop’s current Boy Wonder is attached to so many noteworthy projects right now.

Added to that list is October’s Very Cold, a Drake/ Coldplay mash-up mixtape helmed by producer Chi Duly, which is not only great because the two acts it’s mashing-up actually sounds like an enticing musical marriage on paper (Drizzy and Chris Martin both have that whole e-mopey thing going on), but the ten-track results are all songs we wouldn’t be embarrassed to blast in our cars…with the windows rolled down (Special props to Duly and his expert chop/ blend work).

Grab our two favorites below, the sublime “Money To Fix” (“Money To Blow”/ “Fix You”) and the addicting “Forever La Vida” (“Forever”/ “Viva La Vida”), or simply cop the entire thing here.

DL: Drake & Coldplay featuring Birdman and Lil’ Wayne “Money To Fix” (alt)

DL: Drake & Coldplay featuring Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne and Eminem “Forever La Vida” (alt)

As any good DJ/ producer/ remixer/ mash-upper knows, you really can’t go wrong when you throw the synth riff to the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” beneath anything. Even the hardest of hardcore thugs have been known to grant a head bop or two (and possible sing-along) to the ’80′s pop classic.

For this mash-up, co-helmed by Quix-22 and Elliot Caps, the familiar beat is paired with the hook and Method Man verse to Wu Tang Clan’s 2000 single “Gravel Pit”, and what’s birthed is just as amazing as the duo’s previous genre-blurring musical marriages of 2Pac/Biggie & The xx and T.I. & Coldplay.

Oh, to be tipsy in a club and suddenly get hit with Meth booming “Holla cross from the land of the lost” against those haunting, stair-step keyboard notes sounds like it would be one of the most illest experiences.

DL: “Sweet Gravel Pits (Quix vs Elliot Remix)” (alt)

Leave it to dance-rock god James Murphy to craft a nine-minute (!!!) entry in which he basically sends a couple middle fingers in the direction of a record label requesting something “commercial” of him, and it come out in the end sounding like it could potentially end up a future smash radio hit.

That’s the case with “You Wanted A Hit”, the longest (and, to our ears, best) of several lengthy jams to be featured on Murphy’s new (and apparently last) LCD Soundsystem project This Is Happening.

Though it takes over three minutes before a single vocal lick is heard, “Hit” manages to hold your attention hostage in it’s extended intro build up, two hundred seconds of light drum patter and minor-key sprinkles that eventually explode into a lean funk groove once guitar chugs and handclaps enter the frame (expect this section to be looped and rhymed over by some mixtape rap sensation sometime before the year is over).

By the time Murphy finally arrives, his conversational snarl spewing “You wanted a hit/ But maybe we don’t do hits” (later corrected with the self-satisfying smirk: “Well this is how we do hits”), there’s nothing left to do but bow down to the musical genius for sticking it to The Man so brilliantly with proof that “hits” needn’t necessarily be bite-sized morsels.

“You Wanted A Hit”:

Stream the rest of This Is Happening (available legally May 17th) here, then, below, catch the video for the album’s first single “Drunk Girls”, as well as a bonus offering of Diplo’s years-old mash-up/ remix of LCD Soundsystem’s “Someone Great” and Justin Timberlake & T.I.’s “My Love”.

BONUS DL: LCD Soundsystem vs. Justin Timberlake “My Love (Diplo Mix)” (alt)

Since The xx crept it’s way onto the blogosphere around a year ago, it seems that nary a week has gone by without umpteen DJ’s/ producers/ remixers/ masher-uppers offering their own respective tweakings on the London trio’s entrancingly, ebon-hued indie-pop.

The latest artist to inject his two cents into this ever-popular gig is San Francisco DJ Wait What, who, after becoming intrigued with the idea of hearing the vocals of Notorious BIG’s rags-to-riches classic “Juicy” atop the instrumental of The xx’s “VCR”, was then moved to create an entire mash-up mixtape marrying the two acts.

Not every cut works, an expected result when it comes to projects like these, but The Notorious XX surprisingly ends up more hit than miss, producing more than a handful of genuinely awesome cut-n-paste moments across it’s eleven-track span (whether it’s hearing Romy Croft hesitantly co-sign the mezmerizing powers of Biggie’s mic chops on “Basic Hypnosis” with a clever “I still let you in” cut-in, or having Biggie reflecting on his come-up while “hook-boy” Oliver Sim chimes in “Where would I be/ If this were to go under?/ That’s a risk I’d take” on “Islands Is The Limit”).

Peep the video for project jump-off “Juicy-R”, alongside offerings of two of our favorites, below, or simply pick up the entire album here.

juicy-r [the notorious b.i.g.'s juicy vs. the xx's vcr] – wait what (mashup) from wait what on Vimeo.

DL: “It’s All About The Crystalizabeths” (“It’s All About The Benjamins” v. “Crystalised”) (alt)

DL: “Mo Stars Mo Problems” (“Mo Money Mo Problems” v. “Stars”) (alt)

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)

Oh look, it’s in-box cleaning out time again.

Wale & Just Jack “Embers/ Good Girls (Phillip Martell Mash-Up Remix)”

For it’s first two-thirds, this mash-up concoction by ATL DJ Phillip Martell emerges quite effective in it’s enchanting blend of the acapella from Wale’s 2007 track “Good Girls” with a hyper-speed orchestral loop and sampled vocal snippets swiped from Just Jack’s ’09 UK hit “Embers”, but it’s in it’s final minute-and-a-half when the project truly blooms, thanks to Martell completely doing away with the JJ instrumental for a killer assault of electro-house pomp.

DL: “Embers/ Good Girls (Phillip Martell Mash-Up Remix)” (alt)

Aaliyah “One In A Million (Belief Remix)”

The third installment in L.A.-based producer Belief‘s on-going Aaliyah remix project
finds him taking on the late singer’s 1996 classic “One In A Million”, and while nothing could really come close to topping the way-ahead-of-it’s-time Y3K sonics Timbaland cooked up for the original, we’re digging the languid, neo-soul-ish incense vibe Belief brings here.

DL: “One In A Million (Belief Remix)” (alt)

Private “My Secret Lover”

First things first: Thomas Troelson, the main producer and lead singer dude of this Dutch dance-pop trio, looks a little bit freaky.

Once you get past his physical creepiness, though, you’ll likely be swept away by the pure ’80′s pop infectiousness on display in this single, an irresistible sugar packet of helium-voice mackadelics (“Girl take off your dress/ Let’s make this place a mess!!”), warped old-school B-boy-isms and glossy bubblegum-funk carved from the guilty pleasure-filled catalogue of Wham!.

DL: “My Secret Lover” (alt)

Tayma Loren featuring The-Dream “Tipsy”

This Detroit-born R&B newcomer‘s real-life brother Carlos “Los Da Mystro” McKinney has co-helmed some of the best The-Dream jams (“Shawty Is A 10″, “Rockin’ That Thing”, “Walkin On The Moon”, “My Love”), as well as hits for Usher (“Trading Places”), Trey Songz (“I Invented Sex”) and J. Holiday (“Bed”), so it’s only right that he would hook up his sister with a joint that’s just as smash-worthy.

Tayma’s debut single “Tipsy” oozes that signature Dream/ Mystro radio magic, from it’s light and lazy piano bounce to the quirky, echo vocal mini-hooks speckled throughout it. It’s most entertaining factor, however, lies in the humorous honesty of it lyrics’, which detail how a drunken, post-nightclub one night stand usually ends up being a regrettable moment in one’s life rather than the mind-blowing sexcapades event most R&B acts blow it up to be (“When you wake up/ It’s all fucked up”).

DL: “Tipsy” (alt)