Shakira vs Panjabi MC - Mundian/Hips Don't Lie Mashup (Robin Skouteris)

Everyone likes Mundian To Bach Ke: even Jay-Z jumped on a remix. The bassline is the Knight Rider theme - what's not to like? And Shakira builds schools for street children and can belly-dance.

Unfortunately they're all busy people, so it fell to Mr Mashup (Robin Skouteris) to unite them in musical harmony. You can download lots more mash-ups, for free, from Mr Skouteris' facebook page.

My favourite is his mash-up of the Black Eyed Peas and MC Hammer. On a par with Alanis Morissette's gorgeously sardonic cover.

Sia - Taken For Granted

There's no denying it's the sample which makes this track. Still, kudos to her for managing to merge a Prokofiev sample and pop. Pop-kofiev, anyone? Yeah? Yeah? No, thought not.

But the sample is lush. It's so good, anyone's going to suffer by juxtaposition. Guess that's why Pop-kofiev never took off as a genre. Nothing to do with the name.

Talib Kweli - Lie A Lot

You know those songs which have less lyrical content than a nursery rhyme, but delicious catchy instrumentals? Yeah? They torture me.

A case in point is Mims' spectacular one-hit-wonder This Is Why I'm Hot. The instrumental is reverbed-out bleeps of bass with a driving snare and handclaps: hip-hop heaven. The lyrics really don't bear analysis.

Fortunately, thanks to the wonderful magic of computers, the ever-articulate Talib Kweli has been able to perform the equivalent of a brain transplant by putting a new vocal on the whole track. Yesss.

Cee Lo Green - No One's Gonna Love You

Cee Lo is half of Gnarls Barkley (who made "Crazy"), and this is his cover of a song by Band Of Horses.

If morbid obesity is the price Cee Lo has to pay for his voice, it's a bargain: it's got this throatiness on the high notes that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

The video also serves as a useful infomercial about the risks of falling in love with hipsters. Hoxton beware.

Devlin - F64

I showed this to my mum to try to persuade her of the virtues of grime. Didn't exactly win that argument. But I still contend that these are some of the best bars Devlin has ever come out with, although his War Report bars directed at Wiley are impressively filthy.

Kelis - Good Stuff

This is ancient, but it's killer. It's got The Neptunes on production, and was written by Pharrell himself.

Putting this on loudly is pretty much auditory cocaine - I doubt anyone can dance to this without pouting and posing. Terrar's verse is pretty cringe though.

Drew Landry - The BP Blues

I am admittedly way behind the times on this one, but it's good. I like that bluesy sound, and it's a perfect fit for the subject matter.

Aloe Blacc - Loving You Is Killing Me

This is the best new thing I've heard all week. That old-skool Motown sound is so stripped-down and pitch-perfect. He's also got a heart-rending slow groove version of Billy Jean, filmed in the same studio.

He's got a bunch more beauty on his Youtube channel.

Chop Steak - Mixtape

Since I'm regifting this Xmas, here's another mixtape, for free download (get it here). This is made by Chop Steak, and is via the incredible PotholesInMyBlog.com.

It's got some absolute gems on it: Tightrope by Janelle Monae is a standout of course (it also has a phenomenal video). Little Brother also have a nice little piece. Also featuring the inimitable Lauryn Hill covering The Carpenters - her voice is just pure emotion on this.

Plus there are some songs (i.e. Black and Yellow) that you probably wouldn't be seen dead downloading but are a deliciously guilty pleasure (if like me you have a soft spot for rap which samples xylophones). In short, this is nom-nom tasty.

You can show your love for Chop Steak and thank him for his generosity by liking him on facebook or hitting up his beautiful blog.

Freddie Gibbs - National Anthem

Freddie Gibbs has amazing flow: the rhythm of the rhymes in the intro, and the transition to double time at 0:40 are incredible.

He might be the reincarnation of gangsta rap, which would be no bad thing. Neverending Cycle is the probably the most articulate statement about First-World deprivation you'll hear this year.

Makiza - Rosa de Los Vientos

This was released in Chile in 1999 barely 10 years after the fall of the Pinochet regime. The name Makiza is a reference to the French "maquisard" - someone who resisted the Nazi occupation, (Anita Tijoux herself grew up in France where her parents were political exiles during the Pinochet dictatorship).

The lyrics of this song are about the complexities of national and personal identity. Pretty ground-breaking for a part of the world which has traditionally been ruled by white military elites despite having a large indigenous population. And they say hip-hop has a negative social impact?

Anita Tijoux reminds me so much in this video of a young Lauryn Hill - just the way she carries herself. She's still making stuff: I really like this track that she did in 2007. Really rocking that 1920's-flapper-wearing-Adidas look.

Faze-O - Riding High

This track was Faze-0's only hit, and the group only put out one album. It's a classic though, which has been reworked and sampled more times than most one-hit-wonders are listened to. I think the original is still my favourite. It just hits that sweet spot.

For a hip-hop holiday game that's fun for all the family, you can play spot-the-sample: here's the original, and a bunch of tracks that sample/remix it.



Kam - Hang Um High
Kriss Kross - Tonight The Night
Ghostface Killah - Killa Lipstick
EPMD - Please Listen To My Demo
Platinum Pied Pipers - Riding High (Remix)

Astro Nautico - Xxxmas Mix

When I was a kid, my mum always made us keep about half of our presents to open on Boxing Day (this was back in the day-glo 90s when nothing except the corner shop opened on Boxing Day).

So please consider this a completely timely, and not-at-all-late present. It's the Xxxmas mix from Astro Nautico. It's free to download, and so I'm essentially regifting, but it's funny enough that I feel this is justified. There's a happy-hardcore/breakcore remix of Last Christmas. Say no more.

Kid Loco - Theme from The Graffiti Artist (Suburban Dream Remix)

For me, this is just sort of quietly comforting. It sounds like that feeling you sometimes get when you're standing in the middle of a city at dusk and you look up at the sky. Pretensions aside, it's actually a remix of an old Kid Loco track that was part of the soundtrack for a film.

The remix is by Dublin-based producer Suburban Dream. He has a Midas touch.

Kid Loco - Theme from the Graffiti Artist (Suburban Dream Remix) by Suburban Dream

Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow

Brace yourself: actual music with guitars, and feedback and everything. Also Beach-Boy-esque tight harmonies in the intro. I never said life was simple.

This album was one of the very few I owned back in 2001 when the only way we knew to get music for free was to saunter out of HMV with something under your coat. Nonchalance, sauntering and the suchlike have never been a strong point for me, so for one long winter, I had this on repeat.

I still have a soft spot for it though. Good music for bad days.

Alicia Keys vs. Sean Paul - No One (Remix)

I just love how stripped-down this sounds. It's like Alicia hired a bunch of Spartans to produce her record. The instrumental is off a Sean Paul track, but Alicia's vocal elevates it so much: I prefer the mashup to either original.

Janelle Monae - Sir Greendown

This, to me, sounds like a cross between Moon River and Doe, A Deer. Not in a bad way at all.

Jean Grae - Bridge

This is a leak off the newly-released Community Mixtape. Which is available for free download. Snap up that hot schnitzel.

It's down-tempo, almost tripped-out ambient hip-hop love song, with a sample of an old man speaking Spanish. In other words, it pushes all my buttons, even the secret ones.

Jean has the most amazing flow on this track, and as always her lyrics are horribly honest, in a good way.

Roots Manuva - Dreamy Days

What's special about this song? The chorus and the instrumental sound instantly familiar, maybe because it's built around what sounds like a backwards arpeggio. And Roots Manuva manages to pull off the Shakespearian feat of speaking in verse and sounding unforced.

And the girl in the video's fit too.

Detroit Spinners - It's a Shame

Old-school Motown soul, with some tidy little barbershop harmonies in the back. Plus a nice little guitar riff and a falsetto bridge before the key change. Seriously, what more could you ask for?

Oh, and if you get your mum sozzled on the Christmas booze, and play this loud enough, she may well do a hilarious 70s dance. Ace.

Talib Kweli - Ms Hill

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill wasn't the first album I ever bought, but it was the first one I knew every word to. And I still love it. Evidently I'm in good company, because Talib Kweli is also in the fan club.

This is Talib's tribute to Ms Hill, with a little Ben Kweller sample. Both amazing songs. Also useful for winning any arguments about rap's supposed misogeny and denigration of women.

05 - Talib Kweli - Ms. Hill by shenal1992

Angel y Khris - Ven Bailalo

This aboslute gem has one of the best videos ever (sunflower bra anyone?), and combines latin guitar with a contagious beat. Also features Angel and Khris wearing some excellent hats.

All in all, top marks to the costume department. Nil points to casting: why do they always put kids in reggaeton videos? It's disturbing.

Skepta - Nokia Charger Wire

Now, this song is as old as the hills. Actually it probably is as old as The Hills, since it was out in 2007 at the latest.

But it's good. This is grime on the cusp of crossing over to the mainstream: it's got a big crashing chorus, but you might still need a translator for bits of it: a skeng is a knife, apparently. Guess Skepta would be no good at a game of knifey-spoony.

Anyway, this is Skepta doing what he does best: tongue-in-cheek fury, and a big instrumental. I'm all over this instrumental, it sounds like half-tempo squelchy dancehall. I also love Logan Sama's little apology at the end.

DJ Dain - Don't Worry, I'm Yours

This is a mash-up with a difference: it sounds really good. It combines Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, with Bobby Ferrin's Don't Worry Be Happy and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. And it sounds shweeeet.

Get some of this down you for breakfast, it's auditory porridge. (In that it's got this good warming-soul-filling thing going on. Nothing like having actual porridge in your ears, which would be gross with a capital yuck.)

Don't Worry, I'm Yours [Remastered] (Jason Mraz vs. Bobby McFerrin vs. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole) by DJ Dain

Also it's available for free download. How nice is that?

Sizwe C - Fiyah

I know I've been on a bit of a dancehall/Caribbean thing of late, but this one is worth it.

I know that because I got it stuck in my head, and spent at least an hour trying to remember enough of the lyrics to be able to Google it and listen to it. Now that's dedication.

If there was ever a song which merited a video of women dancing in bikinis, this is it. All I can suggest is that you use your imagination.

Tego Calderon & Don Omar - Bandoleros

Straight out of Puerto Rico, this video is pure art. And the chorus is one of my favourites ever written.

The lyrics are mostly about the trumped-up charges Don Omar was arrested on. They also address the dismal state of Puerto Rican politics - to quote Tego:

"soy bandolero como el mister politiquero que se robo to el dinero y lo postularon de nuevo" ("I'm as much a gangster as the Mr. Politician who stole the money and they put him up to run for office again")

Elephant Man - Dancehall Soca

This song is one which physically lifts your limbs out of the chair and makes you dance.

I think it's impossible to hear the fast break ("gimme-gimme-gimme-gimme de wine") without shaking whatever bit of your body wobbles best.

The video's nothing special, so just shut your eyes, get up from your chair and feel the Caribbean heat. Honestly, if you do nothing else today, dance to this.



His homophobia is reprehensible to be sure, but this tune's a banger.

Jean Grae - Desperada

This song is an anthem. I can't say anything better than she does already.

12 Desperada by Jean Grae

Turf Feinz - R.I.P. Rich D

OK, not strictly on here for the music (although it features a mean sax riff) but for the dancing: this is one of the most joyous, expressive, imaginative things I have ever seen.

This elevates humanity. I defy you to watch this and not smile, and want to go out and make the world brighter.



Props to YAK Films for making the video, and everything they're trying to do.

Marsha Ambrosius - I hope she cheats on you (with a basketball player)

Who doesn't love a brutally specific revenge song? And there are few curses more gorgeously specific than this hook. This is pure cynicism coated with honeyed vocals.

01 Hope She Cheats On You (With a Basketball Player) by MsAmbrosius

Her Soundcloud has a lot of smooth neo-soul on it too, some of which is downloadable.

Raynor feat Alicia Keys - Broken Heart (Dubstep Remix)

I have been listening to this for weeks, mainly on trains pulling out of stations in the driving rain. Although if you can't arrange that, I think a bus would do equally well. The weather will doubtless be appropriate until at least June. And they ask why we're cold (badda-bing badda-boom).

Alicia Keys - Broken Heart [DUBSTEP REMIX] Prod. By RaYNOR by RaYNOR

This stonker was made by a kid in his bedroom in Notts, and through his generosity it's available for free download to your personal music device. I love this new generation.

YoVideo - Fool

This one was a bit of a slow grower, in that it took a couple of listens for me to get over the fact that the bass is a bit 2008-dubstep-disco.

Then I realised I never got over disco. This is one for raving in your living room.

Also, the video is nice over-styled UK urban, and you can never get too much of that.

Janelle Monae - Cold War

Mix relentless DnB with intensely emotional RnB, and you get something that you could call DnRnB.

Or just call it Cold War by Janelle Monae, since there's never been anything like this before, and I doubt it will ever be equalled.

Astronautico - Quiet Nights EP

If you've ever doubted it was possible to get ambient bossa nova stuck in your head, hear this now.

A varied little sampler of remixes of an absolute classic, this EP has been my go-to record all week.  It's the sort of music that seems to perfectly echo how you feel, however you feel. 

It's the work of a tripartite Brooklyn collective who also run an awesome blog.  You can listen to the EP online here, and download it 100% free.

My favourite track on the EP isn't embeddable (or at least, not with my poor bedding skills.  Need to work on my chat-up skills...) but this absolute beauty is: it's a love song with laser sounds in.  I'm in love.

We're Gonna Make It by Kuhn