They say you don’t know you’ve hit rock bottom until you can see China on the other side. Well, after leaving that social function, another friend made me watch a slideshow of his abroad pictures. Was it a sign? Almost certainly. Really contrived pithy aphorisms don’t grow on trees. At least, not where I’m from.

The truth is that I’d stopped blogging because there wasn’t any music out there that was getting me going (with a few notable exceptions, but they were by no means the rule). But this summer has been a downright cavalcade of elegant albums progressing onto the scene at a slow clip. I’ve never liked Arcade Fire more, been more blown away by a debut album than Janelle Monae’s (don’t hold me to that), or been as scared shitless as I was the first time I heard Salem. More on that later. More on a lot later. MORE LATER YOU GUYS.

For now, I’m dropping an Animal Show exclusive release. Everyone’s favorite mashup artist (and by “everyone,” I mean all five of your faithful correspondents here at the Show, which is to say everyone who matters in this confused, mosque-hating world) E-603 has remixed a sleeper off tourmates’ Passion Pit’s Manners, an album which also continues to grow on me. Ethan takes “Seaweed Song” and given it the Passion Pit handclaps it was missing, synths to the wall, and a Ratatat-reminiscent guitar line sure to make your hips quiver. Even if the kid may never make another E-603 album, this track makes clear that we have years of production and remixing to look forward to. Now when’s that Air Bud sophomore release coming?

Play it loud:

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Seaweed Song (E-603 Remix) – Passion Pit (YSI)

Related posts:

1. Don’t Call It a Comeback
2. Call A Plumber, Music Has Sprung A Leak
3. [Insert Super Smash Bros. Joke Here]

First of all, let me apologize (good start, right?): I have no idea how overplayed any/all of these songs are in whatever country it is you access this site. After all, only 679 visits came from Italy in the last year, meaning that no one is here looking for the latest remix of Eurotrash Jam ‘10 “Stereolove,” which is fine, because I’m really not interested in hearing that song ever again. In my internet-restricted foreign prison, I’ve been at a loss to keep up with singles. Hype Machine doesn’t even work here. Can you imagine? THESE METH BUGS WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE. You know, the ones I get from not being able to surf Hype Machine. Get it? You get it. But, as such, I’ve been forced to kick it old school, listening to albums like some sort of old man. Grampa’s been able to scrounge up a few songs from between the sofa cushions, though, and he’s taking you all to Friendly’s for Clown Sundaes. Hooray!

First comes Big Boi’s infectious “Shutterbugg.” If that voice doesn’t snap you into an I <3 2001 nostalgia montage, you need clinical help. Outkast’s less cool half (sorry, but true) is shaking that comeback tree, and it sounds like MEMORIES. Damn, y’all. Then comes my favorite track off of what may be my favorite release of 2010 so far, Subiza by the Spanish popmeisters Delorean, which is so good that it inspired me to tweet. Desperate times, right? Next off the blocks is a Harlem Shakes track that’s been kicked up to 11 by Kids at the Bar, which comes at you courtesy of my ear to the ground in all things music, James, who’s been trying his damnedest to keep me looped through these trying times. Finally, the rainmaker: Biggie Smalls’ “Can I Get Witcha” blended seamlessly with honey-voiced Andrea Bocelli’s “Por Ti Volare,” a name which almost certainly means something in Italian. A properly abroad-infused mashup to keep you going. So gobble ‘em up fast, because these took me an hour to upload and who knows when you’ll see the likes of me around these e-parts again. Until June, soul clap, soul clap, can I get a little soul clap?

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Shutterbugg – Big Boi (YSI)

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Simple Graces – Delorean (YSI)

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Strictly Game (Kids at the Bar Remix) – Harlem Shakes (YSI)

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Can I Get Witcha? vs Por Ti Volare – Notorious BIG vs Andrea Bocelli (YSI)

Related posts:

1. This time you can call it a comeback
2. Call A Plumber, Music Has Sprung A Leak
3. A Little Love For Another MJ

It’s alright. You can lean back from the edge of your seat. Our year-end lists are coming to their long, drawn-out conclusion in the form of our favorite mashes of 2009. It was certainly the year of the long-form mashup, with not one but two fantastically different and perfectly executed albums dropping, both of which placed in our favorite albums.

The list sort of reads like it was intended to just be our favorite Hood Internet tracks, but I’m going to go ahead and blame that on the fact that there is no one out there executing as effectively or consistently as those guys, and I really do think they’ve earned all 3 of the spots on this list (and I should probably mention that my own list had “Comfortable Up In Here” filling out the #5 spot, so I’m certainly 100% behind anything and everything Hood releases). Anyway, enjoy, and then help me in looking forward to 2010’s exciting first quarter releases.

• #5: Hathaway – “Party and Bullshit in the USA” – There are some mashups that exist only out of the hilarity of their titles — in fact, for a long time, that was what I thought the most of mashups were, due mainly to icebergxc’s constantly asking me (way back in 07) if I’d heard “Walking in Memphis Down The Boulevard of 99 Broken Problems” or “Kiss You Through the Bananaphone” or “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Panther” — and this one certainly exists out of the merits of its overlapping titles. The strange part is that it works. Really well. Maybe it’s because everyone loves the synth backing of “Party in the USA” or we all like to shout “I’m a bad boy” along with Biggie. Or both. Sometimes, though, it’s best not to question, and to instead complacently enjoy “could you be kicked, pushed, loved, and then take on me while running so far away.” – Edward

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Hathaway – Party And Bullshit in the USA (YSI)

• #4: The Hood Internet – “Cult Logic Forever” – This is a great mashup without a hint of kitsch. “Forever,” on its own, is a disappointment. It’s got the right rappers, but the beat wrecks it mercilessly with sirens and other garbage noise. Stripping the mess off and bringing it up to speed with some talented instrumental from Miike Snow was the best thing that has ever happened to it. Now it’s as smooth as it is sharp and hangs together tighter than BFFs sharing a straightjacket. – icebergxc

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The Hood Internet – Cult Logic Forever (YSI)

• #3: The Hood Internet – “Make The Loop Say Aye” — I’ll admit it: I was one of the Vampire Weekend fanboys who nearly peed his pants the first time he heard “Osaka Loop Line.” I thought Discovery’s LP was going to be my favorite album of 2009. And I swear to god, the tattoo pen was not inches from my upper thigh when I finished the cd for the first time and realized that it was definitely not ink-worthy. But, as the saying goes, those that can’t do teach. And those who don’t know that “who” is the personal pronoun probably shouldn’t be calling others inept. And those who may not have the force to sustain your interest on their own ought to be mashed up. Yes, the song ruled on its own. But this was the late-inning pep-talk it needed. In October, long after I had grown tired of Discovery (although the fantastically polyrhythmic “So Insane” even to this day continues to impress me), I heard this for the first time, and my faith was restored. The Hood Internet perfectly match breaks and builds in every song they assemble, though this may showcase it the best. Beauty, grace, Ms. Mashup #3 of 2009, ladies and gents. – Edward

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The Hood Internet – Make the Loop Say “Aye” (YSI)

• #2: The Hood Internet – “Two Weeks of Hip-Hop” — As Matthew Whipple of the 2009 breakout Cymbals Eats Guitars said, “[“Two Weeks” is] pure ear candy… what a song… I want to be Chris Taylor’s bass line.” So when the Hood Internet’s ABX threw Dead Prez over one of the best songs of the year, chaos ensued in the form of “Two Weeks of Hip Hop.” The opening features two of my favorite intros of all time, the now classic keyboard progression of “Two Weeks” and Dead Prez yelling, “it’s bigger than hip hop, hip hop, hip hop.” The track seamlessly combines genres in a strikingly natural fashion, one which I believe Ethan Ward once said was the ideal goal of mashups (clearly he’s the freaking authority on this matter). A few of my stunningly brainless friends even believed “Two Weeks of Hip Hop” to be the original (don’t fear, I no longer associate with those morons). But in their defense, this is because the two wildly disparate tracks come together like Ben & Jerry’s delicious and all-natural Half Baked to create earth-shattering awesomeness. -DFJacobs

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The Hood Internet – Two Weeks of Hip-Hop (YSI)

• #1: E-603 – “If You Wanna” — On ‘If You Wanna’, international superstar E-603 saves a potentially generic mash-up affair from mediocrity by adding the only possible ironic element to a mash-up: a narrative. Mash-ups and bootleg, by definition, are anti-narrative, deconstructing source texts and transforming them into a work that is based in pure aesthetics. Taking a vocal sample and chopping out pieces and parts, as E-603 does at the beginning of the track, leaves you with nothing but a glorified DJ set. But by adding the song long crescendo, ending with the full story of City High’s gritty ‘What Would You Do?’, the song develops a more full structure that leaves the listener in awe of E-603’s ability to create true songs, rather than mere mash-ups. Bringing the song’s two distinct parts together is a fantastic showcase of technical ability, in what one internet critic called, “some of the most fluid mixing I’ve heard.” A sublime track in itself, it is by far the most accurate representation of E-603’s mature mash-up opus.- Marquis Meowmers

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E-603 – If You Wanna (YSI)

Related posts:

1. Revenge of the Hood Internet: the First Animal Collective Mash-up I like.
2. Top 10 Songs of 2009
3. Wasn’t the Fourth of July Yesterday?

Boyz, In Da Hood.

Usually, I don’t pay much attention to mixtapes. It’s been my experience in the past that you have to cut through a lot of crap in order to get to the good stuff. That said, there are a few key exceptions to this rule, and that comes in the people who know best how to maximize the mixtape. The best example I can think of is Wale, whose Mixtape About Nothing flaunted copyright laws in mixtape-perfect form, while showcasing his ability to rhyme on every and any topic. Lil Wayne also manages to make his stuff consistently awesome, so that each mixtape is newsworthy. And, after their Swelly Express, Chiddy Bang are making a serious case for inclusion among the ranks of those hip-hop all-stars.

We’ve heard of these Chiddy boys both with their summer-smashing “Kids” and in the form of a sweet mashup courtesy of their DJ, Xaphoon Jones. Lucky for us, the mixtape holds pace with those two. The production value on it is pretty amazing, and they drop some samples that are sure to please. The highlight in my opinion is “Truth,” which samples the only Passion Pit song as catchy as “Sleepyhead,” “Better Things.” Plus, they reference Full House’s Jesse Katsopolis, so what’s not to like? Kickstart your week with a bang, and thank me later.

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Fresh Like Us (feat. Yelle) – Chiddy Bang (YSI)

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Truth (feat. Passion Pit) – Chiddy Bang (YSI)

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All Things Go (feat. Sufjan Stevens) – Chiddy Bang (YSI)

Grab the mixtape for free here.

Related posts:

1. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
2. [Insert Super Smash Bros. Joke Here]
3. This time you can call it a comeback

DC Chillin'

As I was surfing the blogosphere (as I am apt to do Friday nights. What? I do it for you!) I found that Attention: Deficit, the new Wale album I have been eagerly awaiting was “leaked onto the streets of binary code”(see: firstup.se). Just eleven days before its official release, Attention: Deficit fell victim to music’s H1N1 virus. After taking Blueprint 3 officially on August 31st, MH1N1 has been attacking artists of all genres, but rap in particular has taken a huge hit. Jockin’ Jay-Z, the aforementioned self-proclaimed “greatest rapper alive” took a lighthearted approach to the leak saying, “it’s a preview. I’m excited for people to hear the album. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done, so enjoy it.” However, not all artists can afford to give their listeners this free preview. But, seeing as Edward has recently explored the music industry’s trying times, I’ll move on to Attention: Deficit.

What separates Wale’s leak from Hova’s is that the Blueprint 3 was by and large a disappointment. “Empire State of Mind” may be the hottest Jigga track I have heard since “The Black Album,” (with the exception of “Brooklyn We Go Hard”) but other than that and possibly “Young Forever” the album was highly anticlimactic. Attention: Deficit, however, is a revelation. After the Back to the Feature bust, Wale brings us his first commercial record. And in the interest of full disclosure I have not listened to the whole thing (I’m waiting till the official release on November 10th), but “90210″ is the most promising hip-hop song I’ve heard since Cudi’s “Make Her Say” hit us this spring. The Mark Ronson-produced track features Wale’s classic one-liners, “word spread fast that your knees spread quick,” to accompany the Barney-sounding beat (definitely a compliment, impressive at least). Promise me you’ll support Wale; he’s great, and any guy that makes a whole mixtape about Seinfeld is my hero (sorry JFK, you shoulda made a Seinfeld mixtape). I’ll give you “90210,” which I have perpetually put on repeat, anotha hot track off of “Attention: Deficit,” the Neptunes’ produced “Inhibitions (Let It Loose) (feat. Pharrell),” and also an awesome “Chillin’” remix by Top Billin.

Editor’s Note: In the time between DFJ’s Friday night composition of this piece and my publishing it on Tuesday, the Hood Internet dropped a sick Black Moth Super Rainbow/Wale mash, which I’m appending to this. DFJacobs has not preapproved this track, but we all know how much he loves his Hood Internet.

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90210 – Wale (YSI)

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Inhibitions (Let It Loose) (featuring Pharrell) – Wale (YSI)

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Chillin’ (Top Billin UK Mix) – Wale (YSI)

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Sticky World Tour (Black Moth Super Rainbow vs. Wale) – The Hood Internet (YSI)

Related posts:

1. Revenge of the Hood Internet: the First Animal Collective Mash-up I like.
2. More Bang for Your Buck
3. Don’t Call It a Comeback

Look who's back

In February of 2008, I received an email from Marquis Meowmers IV, which simply read:

Awesome song just listen not a mash-up just fucking rad.

Also, fuck Georgia and their do-nothing Bulldogs.

I couldn’t tell you what the second line was in reference to (something about a Georgia legislative attempt to annex something or other away from Tennessee, I think), but the first was about a song he had attached, the Wiz Khalifa single “Say Yeah,” a teeth-rattling monster that, in hindsight, should have easily made my Best of 2008 list. What was I thinking? Since then, I’ve been sitting around waiting for new Wiz to be as amazing as that, and have been continually disappointed. But not now.

After a long and tortured battle, Wiz Khalifa’s debut album, Deal or No Deal, is set to be released on November 24th. However, that album won’t include the sickest Wiz track that’s making the blog rounds these days: “The Thrill,” which features pop monsters Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream,” a song I’m amazed I haven’t posted yet. Maybe I’ll do that soon. But for now, enjoy a few choice songs from Wiz, including “The Thrill” and lead Deal or No Deal single, “This Plane.” And, while you’re here, nab “Say Yeah,” and then consider how divinely inspired the lyrics are:

I’m high and drunk, doing my same dance
They call it Pocahontas, doing that rain dance
Talking dough: I got it, so make it rain man.
Cause the flow retarded, sorta like that rain man

All are hot, but none that hot. Eat ‘em:

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Say Yeah – Wiz Khalifa (YSI)

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The Thrill (feat. Empire of the Sun) – Wiz Khalifa (YSI)

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Ode to Naked Pop Stars (feat. Drake) – Wiz Khalifa (YSI)

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This Plane – Wiz Khalifa (YSI)

Related posts:

1. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
2. The Animal Show Rocks You Into 2009: Part I
3. I've Just Been Falcon Punched in the Ear.

The Animal Show: occasionally seasonally relevant

“Man, I remember the days when those handsome and incredible intelligent and witty guys over at the Animal Show posted, like, every day.”

Yes, those were the days. Remember when all you had to do to get bombarded by an onslaught of new music was tip your laptop towards your ear after firing up the old Animal Show on your favorite web browser, Netscape Navigator? Back in those days, when John Hughes still roamed the earth, everything still had that new-president sheen. Bloomberg was looking more turtle-like than ever, and Li’l Wayne only seemed like a convict. But I still hold out hope, because sometimes that’s all we have, you know?

It’s been a while since I’ve thrown some remixes at you, so here are a few I’ve been digging recently. These go out to my boy Bish, who reinspired my love of remixes this summer by constantly pumping my veins full of new mixed, chopped, and screwed goodies courtesy of his then-employer, DJ Chachi. He’s just started a blog where he’s been taking us all to remix class, which is definitely worth a click or two.

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Best I Ever Had (Matematics Remix) – Drake (YSI)

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Use Somebody (DJ Slink) – Kings of Leon (YSI)

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We Are Your Your Friends (Barretso Remix) – Justice (YSI)

Related posts:

1. It's Remix Time: Chewy Chocolate Cookies
2. The Way Remixes Ought to Sound, Part I: "I Feel It All"
3. The Animal Show Rocks You Into 2009: Part IV

The Animal Show does not and never will condone violence against any creature on the Earth. But, c'mon dudes, it's Tintin!

I can hear your thoughts. Fact. And I hear you thinking, “where the hell is Edward? Did that bastard ditch us again?” Shut up, mind noises. I’m right here. In fact, I’ve been sitting right here for the 2 weeks since I last posted. DOING WORK. Do you know what that’s like? No, you don’t, because you waste all your time reading WEBSITES. Laaaaaaaame. Seriously, I’ve been doing meaningful shit. Like analyzing pure monadic schemata. How much schematic analysis have you done recently? That’s what I thought. But now I’ve come out of the logical woods and back into civilization, arms full of musical goodies to distribute while you’re asleep, like Santa but with creepier facial hair. So leave your stockings near your router, because here I come.

First, it’s time for a hats off to Dave, for covering my absence so ably and wordily. He enlightened us with some pretty sick Arcade Fire b-sides, hit us with a NASTY Sufjan mash-up, and titled a post so well, I thought I was about to read some Magic Tree House fanfic (not the first time I’ve been disappointed by not finding some Magic Tree House fanfic). More importantly, however, Dave did the important work of reintroducing some oft-mentioned, never (til now) realized Animal Show features, namely album reviews. I’ve got a couple in the pipe, that I’m going to hit you with early next week (NEW SUFJAN NEW SUFJAN NEW SUFJAN). But first, I’munna bust you in the face with some JAMS. ANIMAL SHOW STYLE.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to the often-maligned but never forgotten Audio Safari! I set the bar pretty high there with how much I liked the Silver Sea’s “Imaginary Girl” (and if you don’t have that song, you should immediately click the link above and go download it and listen to it a million bajillion times and then burn it onto mix cds for all your friends, drawing hearts and stars around it on the enclosed tracklist). But I still stand behind these songs. They rule. Like them. Now.

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Flashing Lights (High Contrast Remix) – Kanye West (YSI)

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Never Chasing Pavement (Urban Noize Remix) – Jay-Z feat. Adele and Kanye West (YSI)

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Sleepyhead (The Knocks Remix) – Passion Pit (YSI)

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The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance (Miike Snow Remix) – Vampire Weekend (YSI)

Keep your eyes peeled for my promised review of Late for the Sky, as well as much BQE goodness.

Related posts:

1. Audio Safari!
2. Is It Time For An Audio Safari Again? Yes, Yes It Is Time For An Audio Safari Again.
3. Poker Face? I hardly know her!

And, unfortunately, not enough of these.

So, I have nothing new to bring to the table right now.  But in the interest of interest, it’s interesting that recently I’ve been listening to more individual songs than albums.  Normally, I’m really an album guy, slavishly devoting my ears to the artist’s intent.  Mixes are fun, but usually I’m too respectful lazy to embark upon making them.

And I’m still not.  I’ve just been hitting the genius button on my iTunes a few more times a week, letting it scour my massive library for gems I’d never given a chance to before–gems past and present.  Here are some great launching points for me from this past year:

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Buck 65 feat. Sufjan Stevens – Blood Pt. 2 (YSI)

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Metric – Help I’m Alive (The Twelves Remix) (YSI)

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Avett Brothers – And It Spread (YSI)

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The Antlers – Bear (YSI)

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Franz Ferdinand – Call Me (Live) (YSI)

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Monsters of Folk – Temezcal (YSI)

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Dirty Projectors – Stillness Is The Move (YSI)

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Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For The Others (YSI)

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My Morning Jacket – El Caporal (YSI)

Related posts:

1. Sneak Peek: Bruce Springsteen's Working on a Dream
2. Birds Aren’t Muppets.
3. Live, on air, it’s The Animal Show show (Now with a playlist!)

Now imagine this, but with Phoenix, too!

I’m currently enrolled in a Logic class, so I know a thing or two about conclusion-based theory. And I can tell you that, if Phoenix is awesome and Animal Collective is double-awesome, then the combination is too much awesomeness to be quantified. These are the sort of things you’re taught at Bowdoin College.

And the most recent display of awesomeness is a brilliant AC reimagining of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’s atmospheric masterpiece, “Love Like a Sunset.”

Stop reading, start listening:

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Love Like A Sunset (Animal Collective Remix) – Phoenix (YSI)

UPDATE: apparently, Pitchfork’s hip to the news, too. They keep stepping on my toes, you know?

Related posts:

1. Threefer Thursday: Up, Up, and Away, Phoenix!
2. Phoemixes: Phoenix, Remixed
3. Passion Pit! Phoenix! PASSION PIT AND PHOENIX!