Alicia Keys - Fallin' (Stapleface Remix)

This takes all the warble and wail out of Alicia, strips the track down to a piano and some bass, and just seasons it with some handclaps. The result? One of the best ambient tracks I've heard this year.

This is music to live your life to. And if it's too naked, get onto this little number by Andreya Triana, which is stunning, and has more tune and vocals and shizzle.

Alicia Keys- Falling (Stapleface Flip) by Stapleface

Akala - Yours And My Children

This song sends shivers down my spine.

Akala is incredible. Don't waste time reading me - listen to this now.



And props to him for not showing the kids in degrading conditions - this is the most humanizing campaign video I've seen in a while.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie XX Remix)

I always loved the chorus of the original, but the verses seemed insipid.

Jamie XX has remixed it to perfection - it's much glitchier, and he's dared to amp up the reverb on the chorus to a sickly richness. It's delicious. He put the focus firmly on the vocal, and makes it so much fresher than the original. And, with this, I finally see why Jamie's been hyped to death.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle) by hotfortheencore

Moufy - Miss Newton

I think this kid is really interesting - his mixtape is one of the most listenable things I've heard this year.

He's on a classic hip-hop tip: there are ballads, hype tracks, sex songs and party music. But there's a twist - his mixtape's standout ballad is about a rich girl going off the rails, which is hardly standard material.

This is some of the most effortlessly eloquent storytelling since Immortal Technique. The rhymes are tidy and so natural, and the track is so well-produced, with that classic timeless sound.

Amos Lee - Careless

This is something like a folk/RnB crossover - blatantly soulful vocals, and a plodding piano. But I really like this: it's uber-acoustic, with an imperfect raw voice. It's not the world's most original song, but it's nicely done.

I reckon music's like food: sometimes you want something amazing, sometimes you just want comfort-music. This is macaroni and cheese in musical form: slightly stodgy and deeply reassuring.

Amos Lee isn't famous yet, but he's been signed, which is unsurprising given how easy this is to listen to. Watch this space.

Ben E King - I (Who Have Nothing)

This is one of those jazz standards which normally gets belted out at gale force. This is the original, much more restrained (and better).

But I think emotion still gets the better of him in the last chorus: he drops the "s" off of "loves", making it sound much more like Ebonics, which is probably what he would have spoken growing up in Harlem. I love accents, I think they're fascinating - Zadie Smith wrote a fantastic essay about our attitudes to accent.

Mellow Man Ace - Mentirosa

This is a tasty little cure for the Sunday night blues: it's from 1989, a Spanglish boom-bap hit. Mr Mellow Man isn't actually a Spanish-speaker (athough I would guess that the girl in the video is, by her accent), but he lived in East LA long enough to pick up the critical phrases.

My mama lived in East LA too, when she was a kiddo, but all she knows how to say is "I've forgotten my notebook". True fact.

J. Period (Dilla Remix) - Rumble In The Jungle

Wow. This is a refit of the original Rumble In The Jungle, which starred the Fugees at their 90's peak, and Busta Rhymes. Lauryn's verse on this is pure fire.

It's a slimmed down version: some of the verses have been cut, and the static on the original has been taken off. In place of the white noise is an inspired sample: James Brown's It's a Man's World. It makes for a gorgeous combination - the intro where the beats slide together is very neat.

It's off the J. Period Cornerstone mixtape, which is downloadable, and really good - a mix of new talent and incredible remixes.

J. Period (Dilla Remix) - Rumble in the Jungle by mantequilla

Chalino Sanchez - El Gallo de Sinaloa

I thought I should chase up the Cidinho e Doca track with a classic Mexican narcocorrido.

Narcocorridos are ballads, sung in the traditional Mexican style (heavy on the accordion), which detail the exploits of drug-traffickers in the area. They are phenomenally popular in Mexico (although not with everyone of course).

The fact that anyone in a drugs-ravaged country wants to listen to the tall tales of gangsters might be surprising. I think they are popular because they reflect an inescapable reality about Mexican society, and because they have a subversive appeal similar to that of gangsta rap. But a critical point is that the Mexican police/state are not incorruptible or well-loved institutions, and narcos often contribute financially to the improvement of their city of origin. Although it's an uncomfortable truth, narcos have often been folk heroes.

Chalino was one of the first popular singers to narrate narcocorridos, and had a very colourful life himself: in 1992 he was murdered at the age of 31 (probably by the government), but not before foiling a previous assassination attempt, by shooting his assailant. On stage. After he himself had been shot. In the lung.

This archetypal corrido tells the story of "El Gallo de Sinaloa" - slang for "The Boss of Sinaloa" (Sinaloa is one of the states most associated with drug-trafficking, thanks to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel). The lyrics are are sung in the first person - the "gallo" recounts what good luck he has, and the dangers of his trade, his skill in outwitting the police and the DEA, and the fate that will befall anyone who turns against him.

This is piece of Mexican history and culture: I'm no fan of drug lords, but I love the narcocorridos.

Cidinho e Doca - Rap Da Felicidade

I don't even know where to start writing about this one. It's a Brazilian anthem, and the first funk carioca song to hit the charts there when it came out in 1994. Cidinho e Doca are often described as proibidão rappers - MCs who narrate the doings of the underworld (somewhat like the Mexican narcocorridos). But this track is pure sunshine: that minor-key chant is all about wanting peace and respect for the favelas:

Eu só quero é ser feliz
Andar tranqüilamente
Na favela onde eu nasci
É...
E poder me orgulhar
E ter a consciência que o pobre tem o seu lugar
Fé em Deus

All I want is to be happy
Walk quietly
In the favela where I was born
Yes...
And I could be proud
and know that there is a place for the poor
Have faith in God

I read a phenomenal article about funk carioca and attitudes to social inequality and abject poverty.

Going back to the music: this has that danceable rhythm that makes funk so popular across Brazil, and an instantly-familiar tune. And those voices are incredible: Brazilian Portuguese is such a beautiful language with all those "eesh" and "adje" sounds. The lyrics are brutal: 17 years on I think they'd still resonate with the part of the population left out of Brazil's economic expansion.

MC NxtGen - Andrew Lansley Rap

Could you write a catchy song about the restructuring of health-care provision in the UK? Yeah, well, you can put your pens down right now, because MC NxtGen has done it already.

This made me laugh (in the bitter ironic way of someone who's watching the centerpiece of their civilization being thrown to the wolves), and also explains the planned Tory healthcare reforms better than anyone else.

Big ups to my favourite health-policy-wonk Sanjay, who showed me this. I am endebted.

Tayyib Ali - Keystone State of Mind

I don't normally get excited about Ray-ban rappers, but this one's good. He's bravely trampling on OFWGKTA's toes as another young California-based skater/rapper, but the two aren't really in competition: they sound completely different - Tayyib's channelling some classic instrumentals, with innocuous lyrics delivered with a buttery flow.

This is really feel-good music, nothing too taxing lyrically but some nice rhymes, and some gorgeous sonorous instrumentals. (He even makes the Black Eyed Peas sound good.) Also, I love his confidence in this video - there's not an awkward moment (and he's waaaay too hot for an 18-year-old). He deserves some hype. Get the mixtape here.

Umebayashi/Plastician/Boss AC - Flying Daggers

OK, sometimes I write this just to show off. Here goes. House of Flying Daggers is a lush-looking balletic martial arts film/love story, with some incredibly catchy title music:



This was sampled by the ever-eclectic Plastician for the intro to his Rinse:6 mix (which, incidently, is the most convincing introduction to dubstep you'll ever get: it manages to be complex and catchy at the same time).



So far, so easy? Boastful as I am, even I have to admit that the clue is in the title of the Plastician track - he made it too easy to sample-sniff. My only stroke of genius was subsequently hearing the hook being used as the instrumental in a Portuguese hip-hop video: if you listen with the ear of faith, it's definitely there in this Boss AC track Esteu Vivo:



Boom! And that was my lone moment of enlightenment for the day, which sadly for my patients occurred outside of working hours.

Kanye West - All Of The Lights

The intro to this is quite likely to induce seizures, but it's worth it because afterward you get to see almost all of Rihanna's boobs. She's so hot she almost even gets away with plastic hair. Almost.

The song itself is pretty hawt too - Kanye doing his thing of pushing pop to its limits, and sounding totally unique. The lyrics are stupid, apart from Rihanna's hook, which is definitely chat-up-line/marriage proposal of the week. But if you've ever wanted to hear electro marching-band hip-pop, this is your chance. And there's a bit of kuduro flavour to the drums - I'm not the only international bass ambassador.

Agent X - Mr Brown (Bob Marley Remix)

This is my favourite bassline track of all time. I first heard it on a Rinse podcast, and there was no track listing so I spent literally hours googling the lyrics to try to get the name. Now you can benefit from my geekery: this is a summer anthem. They've messed with the master, to great effect. The bassline they've put on the bottom of the breaks is phenomenal: that bouncy effect is instantly memorable. This just sounds like summer to me.

DJ Zinc & Benga ft. Sweetie Irie - Number One

This will absolutely murk your Monday blues: I'm boncing around on an office chair in the library writing this. It's a sort of mucky bassline dancehall fusion - nothing classy, but it makes you smile and dance. And it sounds freshish.

I've loved dancehall (in a shy sort of way) for a long time, and bassline won my affections with Ghetts' Mountain.

I should give credit to Uproot Andy (the man behind that genius Los Rakas remix) for drawing my attention to this little gem: it's on his fab podcast for XLR8R. To be brutally honest, it took me a few listen to get into his mix: it's not all as full-frontally sexy as that Los Rakas track. But give it some time and a few runs through and I promise you'll start to enjoy the switches from dancehall to bachata via cumbia. Mr Uproot himself has a really interesting take on Latin beats and musical globalism: there's an ace interview here

Jay Electronica - Exhibit A

Oh my days. If you listen to one thing I post all year, make it this. This is the most exciting rap I've heard in weeks. It's Jay Electronica on top of a shweeeet Just Blaze production.

The lyrics are something else: he name-drops Harriet Tubman, mentions hurricane Katrina and Elohim (and rhymes the latter with Coretta Scott King).

Brenda Fassie - Ngeke

Sometime I have a really clear idea of what I want to tell you about. Other times I just sit here clicking my way across the internet, looking for something that makes me stop. Today's little number is the latter: until about 3 this afternoon I'd never heard of Brenda Fassie.

Apparently, she was a South African pop-star-hero, famous for her vocal support of the people in the townships and her opposition to apartheid.

This track feels a bit like house music (unsurprising, given South Africa's love affair with house music, which eventually produced the kwaito love-child). It's got a 4-4 floor to it, and a completely OTT vocal. And a weirdly pointless video (although it wins points from me for the role reversal: nice to see some scantily-clad dancing men for a change)

But it's also got elements of gospel and choral music: there are those call-and-response patterns in the song, and the chorus of male voices. Her voice is exceptional - she seems comfortable right across her range, and she revels in some of the sounds.

If you don't like it on first listen, imagine it dropping in your favourite club, and everyone going crazy to it. Or it drifting out from a minibus stuck in traffic on a crowded street in a hot country. It might make more sense that way. And if you like it, check out the other kwaito that I have carefully pruned from the internet for you.

Clams Casino - Cold War (Janelle Monae Refit)

I've already explained how much I love Janelle Monae, and most specifically her song Cold War. Clams Casino, who has his fingers on the buttons for Lil B and Soulja Boy, amongst others, has also seen the light, and has done something beautiful with it.

Clams makes beats for rappers, so he's taken off the frenetic drum-n-bass beat, and got something quieter and slower ticking along in the background, with a once-a-bar boom to give us some landmarks. There's a great interview with him about it here.

This is stripped-down production at its best: an instrumental so good that it doesn't even need a vocal. Lil B put something on it. He's got some good lines ("growing up we were dying to live, now we're living to die") but overall he's just, erm, not that great? I love his voice: the sound quality on the vocal's a bit rubbish but you can still hear how good his voice sounds, a bass gutteral growl. But he just has nothing to say - he must say "Lil B" eight times in this. Ah well, enjoy the instrumental!

You can download Clams Casino's whole mixtape of instrumentals via Potholes in My Blog

Clams Casino - Cold War by mantequilla

Monchy and Alexandra - Hoja En Blanco

This one will probably divide opinion. It's an old bachata classic from 1999, originally sung by Monchy and Alexandra. Bachata is a Dominican song-style, with an accompanying dance (like salsa, or merengue). It was a rural peasants' dance, which has become enormously popular in Latin America in the last 10 years thanks to the US-based bachata supergroup Aventura.

The basic steps are very simple, and is danced with the partners in close approximation: it's been said that if salsa is the embodiment of flirting, then bachata is sex. And it's probably the sexiest dance I've ever seen: watch a video if you don't believe me.... It's incredibly popular in my beloved Nicaragua, where everyone knows how to dance it, and the clubs are a seething mass of entwined bodies, windows open to the hot night air.

What I love about bachata are the gorgeous mournful tunes, and the hopelessly romantic lyrics. Most of the songs are about lost or unrequited love: I love the contrast between the sexed-up dance and the romantic lyrics.

The lyrics for this one are particularly good: it's a duet between a man who left his town looking for work, and the girl he left behind. He never told her whether he would return, but he's now come back to the town, saying he was never able to forget her, only to find that she's married someone else. The chorus is the killer:

Monchy: "Y vuela, vuela, por otro rumbo, ve y suena suena que el mundo es tuyo"
Alexandra: "Ya no puedes, volar conmigo, aunque mis suenos se iran contigo"

Monchy: "And fly, fly, on another path, go and dream that the world is yours"
Alexandra: "It's too late for you to come with me, although my dreams will go with you"

Jay Electronica - A Million In The Morning

I knew I would love this from the moment the beat dropped. It's got this gorgeous G-funk sound (R.I.P. Warren G) that is simple, tuneful and memorable: the perfect vehicle for Jay's wordy verses. The drums on this are lush too: I love the bloopy bass at the start of every other bar, and the stuttering snares. An incredible instrumental for sure.

And those lyrics are something else - some of the best writing on insomnia since Kevin Young's Serenade (which you can read right at the bottom of this blog post)

Barrington Levy - Here I Come (El Mayonesa Remix)

Here's a 2011 refit of a 1984 classic, Barrington Levy's one international superhit.

El Mayonesa has taken seductive advantage of the similar rhythm and pace of dancehall and cumbia, and has retrofitted Mr Levy's vocal with a trippy electro cumbia. It's tasty.

He's picked out all the best bits of the vocal as well, so this is a smorgasboard of gorgeousness. Talent.

Here I Come (Live) - Barrington Levy (ELMAYONESA Remix) by ELMAYONESA

Ghostpoet - Cash And Carry Me Home

This gets props for song title of the week. And bassline of the week. And topic of the week.

Ghostpoet's flow is weirdly phrased - sort of staccato and Baz Luhrman-esque? But it's got a method to it: I think he's using his voice to put a syncopated rhythm on the 4-4 bassline. This is gorgeously gritty: it's got that contrast between a squeaky-clean bassline and a scratchy voice.

And that bassline is something else: even Kano jumped on it, but much as I love him and his flexible voice, I don't rate his verse (he's so much better on this)

Broke - Run That Shit

Oh sugar... It's a refit of Gang Starr's seminal track Just To Get A Rep. And refitting a track that classic is about equivalent to trying to give the Mona Lisa a new smile. Risky business.

But Broke nails it: this definitely wins instrumental-of-the-week - I like pianos in hip-hop. But there's no need to get analytical on this: it's just one and a half minutes of gorgeousness. And it's downloadable. Oh yes.

In terms of heritage, the final lines are originally from Funky For You, which was then quoted by Gang Starr.

Run That Shit by Broke/

EPMD - Don't Get Clapped

I've been hush-hush for a little while, partly because I had an apocalyptic hangover on Sunday, and partly because I haven't heard anything that made me smile or dance (the two may be related).

And then about 5 minutes ago I heard this party banger (thank you Potholes). There's this bouncy deep double bass, and tickety-tickety snare and high-hat, and the New York-style vocals are so clearly enunciated, with a velvety flow. Which is unsurprising when you consider that EPMD have been in the scene since the invention of CD's.

This is incredibly old-school, and totally fresh: it's not cholera-catchy, but it's going to be one of those songs that makes you smile every time you hear the intro. You can get it on free download from Potholes In My Blog. If that doesn't put a smile on your face, your hangover's worse than mine (and you should probably get help.)

EPMD - Don't Get Clapped by Hypetrak

Alex Winston - Choice Notes

If you ever have a craving for some pitch-perfect indie pop, this will do the trick. If you manage to ignore the flagrant pretensions of the man with the egg shaker and the "oh-we're-in-London-it's-so-monochrome" cinematography, it's a cute little video - I like things that were shot in one take.

And those girls can sing - even the glissando is quite tasteful.

P Money - What Did He Say?

Old-school grime from 2008. This is pure aggro on the vocal, and an instrumental that thickens up to menace - that slow minor bass is sinister. I think I first heard this on Rinse or one of Logan's sets on Kiss, but it's definitely on the No Hats No Hoods mixtape.

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

This one has been a secular prayer for me since I was about 12, when the album dropped. There's something about the melody which just lifts you up. So it's probably to Lauryn's credit that I'm still headstrong and happy.

That said, I always thought she sang "the answer, it wasn't me" - I took it to be a song about resignation and separation, rather than unbridled self-affirmation (apparently, it's "the answer, it was in me"). Either way, it did the trick. This is definitely one of the songs that changed my life.

Freddie Gibbs - The Ghetto

This is the latest evolution of gangsta: it's brash, unashamed, and touches on social injustice and the plague of poverty. Admittedly, Skinnyman did something similar (beautifully) in 2006. But I've never heard something like this out of the States... Obviously there's conscious hip-hop, but Freddie's not as righteous as that - he's an unabashed gangster, analysing the origins of his criminality.

This is good. The video's beautiful too: a love song to a suffering community.

Randy & De La Ghetto - Sensación Del Bloque

More summer music. This one's a cheesy classic: it's got a falsetto chorus and a snare that sounds like UK garage. I love that contrast you get when the instrumental is computer-perfect and the voices are totally natural.

Also, the video looks a bit like home, and a bit like the barrios where they shot Talento De Barrio (which is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand what street kids in Central America aspire to. Ignore the critics.)

Los Rakas - Abrazame (Uproot Andy Remix)

Oh my days - this one sends shivers down my spine. I've had a soft spot for Los Rakas ever since they worked with YAK films. And what they've done on this is probably their best work: the instrumental can explain itself, but the lyrics are something else. They've taken their genres to the next level - the boys' lyrics are standard dancehall/reggaeton seduction-chat, and then they admit "no lo pienso cambiar" ("I'm not going to change"). What amps it up is the girl's lines:

"aqui me tienes, borracha y arrepentida,
es que no hay nadie como tu no se que hacer,
estoy volviendo loca, perdoname
espera un momento, no me apresures,
es que quiero sentir tu piel,
abrazame, abrazame, abrazame, abrazame
no te voy a soltar"

"here you have me, drunk and ashamed
it's that there's no one like you, I don't know what to do
I'm going crazy, forgive me
wait a moment, don't rush me,
I want to feel your skin,
hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me
I'm not going to let you go"

Ever heard something so guilty and good?

The illustrious XLR8R have already done a phenomenal job explaining the complicated parentage of this song. And if you like Uproot Andy, there's a wicked mixtape he made available for download.

Abrazame (Uproot Andy mix) by Los Rakas by PaolaCapo13

Onyenze - Onwa Nna Na Nwa (Schlachthofbronx Remix)

Sorry it's been so quiet lately: I was off pretending to be Charlie Sheen for the weekend.

So today I bring you some music that messes with your head (but in a good way). Also, it has tiger blood.

This is a light-fingered remix of some new Afrobeat from Nigeria's own Onyenze.

It's utterly bass-less, which sounds so fresh after years of dubstep. There's just a vocal and some incredible rhythms. Get into this - it's available for free download.

(Also, if you can dance to this without looking like a tit, you are a much better dancer than me.)

Onyenze - Onwa Nna Na Nwa (Schlachthofbronx Remix) by schlachthofbronx

Damian Marley & Nas - Sabali

Musical alchemy from an All-Star dream-team trio: Nas, Damian Marley, and Mariam Doumbia

The merging of three such disparate styles is incredible. I love the contrast between Mariam's utterly pure voice and Marley's hoarseness. His phrasing is absolutely perfect, he stretches and squeezes the lengths of words in the most gorgeous way.

Nas' verse is disappointing, although though that might be because I think that someone else already has a monopoly on inane questions in rap (check out these hilarious atrocities). And it's kinda reassuring to know that even legends have off days.

Salva - Issey Miyake

I have no idea why this is named after a revolutionary Japanese fashion designer. None.

The album has already been jizzed over by the entire webiverse, so I'll hold fire.

But I like this. Spacey, nervous, melody-driven electronica. It's almost devoid of emotion, but it's really well put together, a clever little piece where you can almost hear the layers of structure.

Salva - Issey Miyake by mantequilla