Sorry things have been so quiet around here. It was a busy week for me personally, and there was not much noteworthy music to blog about. However, over the weekend I stumbled upon interesting covers from Vampire Weekend and Major Lazer, as well as a great Nas/Dilla mash up album. Without further adu:

Vampire Weekend – Ruby Soho (Rancid cover)
I still havn’t been able to get into Vampire Weekend’s new album. I love their debut, and I’m intrigued by the idea of them embracing their ska influence more on the new record, but it just hasn’t hooked me yet. When I heard they did a cover of Rancid’s classic Ruby Soho, I was sure this was going to do it for me. Boy was I wrong. Instead of emphasizing the few similarities of the two bands, VW goes in the complete opposite direction and flips the track in an ugly way.

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Major Lazer – Halo (Beyonce cover)
While Elephant Man emotes more soul here than Beyonce has ever been capable of, this is still a horrendous cover of a terrible song. Autotune + gimmicks does not a hit single make.

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Nas + J. Dilla – Dillmatic
I’ve never been a huge fan, but Nasty Nas is a serious MC with a number of classics under his belt. While Dilla produced beats for nearly all of Nas’s contemporaries, the two sadly never got the chance to work together. Squeek Boogie’s mashing of Nas’s best material over Dilla beats workings surprisingly well, and on the anniversary of Jay’s passing, serves as a nice reminder of how talented and versatile the musician was.
Download here.

It’s been a while since we first started hearing about the rumors that Greenday was going to put out a musical based on their album American Idiot. This week fans finally started to get a sneak peek of the production and the song “21 Guns” which is not actually from the American Idiot album but from “21st Century Breakdown.” Read more at Spinner.com

Another Mash-Up of Jay-Z, Mick Boogie presents Viva La Hova: Jay-Z & Coldplay.

1. Intro (produced by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)
2. Public Speeding (produced by Cookin’ Soul)
3. Know My Place (produced by The Amps)
4. Never Changing (produced by nVMe)
5. Miss Trouble (produced by Judah)
6. Back At My Place (produced by Remot)
7. No Love Coming Home (produced by The Kickdrums)
8. Lost Part 1 (produced by Coldplay)
9. A Spy’s Prayer (produced by nVMe)
10. Science Is Ignorant (produced by Gooch)
11. The Reverse Fix (produced by Mick Boogie & nVMe)
12. Hola Blanco (produced by Garbs Infinite)
13. Take The Hill (produced by nVMe)
14. Lost Part 2 (remixed by Mick Boogie)
15. Cold Success (produced by 9th Wonder)
16. What If We Cry? (produced by Remot)
17. Beach Chair (produced by Coldplay)
18. Falling In Shadows (produced by 6th Sense)
19. Life of Clocks (produced by Terry Urban)
20. X-Y-Z (produced by Hasan Insane)

New York Hip-Hop & Dance producer Minty Fresh Beats dropped this digital mash-up album of Jay-Z and Radiohead tracks at the end of last year. I’ve only just had a chance to give the album a full listening and I gotta say it’s dope.

1. Wrong Prayer – “Pray” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “I Might Be Wrong” (Radiohead, Amnesiac)
2. 99 Anthems – “99 Problems” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + The National Anthem (Radiohead, Kid A)
3. No Karma – “No Hook” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “Karma Police” (Radiohead, OK Computer)
4. Lucifer’s Jigsaw – “Lucifer” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” (Radiohead, In Rainbows)
5. Optimistic Moment – “Moment of Clarity” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Optimistic” (Radiohead, Kid A)
6. Dirt Off Your Android – “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Paranoid Android” (Radiohead, OK Computer)
7. Dreaming Up – “American Dreamin’” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “Up on the Ladder” (Radiohead, In Rainbows [Disc 2])
8. Change Order – “Never Change” (Jay-Z, The Blueprint) + “Gagging Order” (Radiohead, B-side of “Go to Sleep” from Hail to the Thief)
9. Fall In Step – “Fallin’” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “15 Step” (Radiohead, In Rainbows)
10. Ignorant Swan – “Ignorant S***” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + Black Swan” (Thom Yorke, The Eraser)

Download it at http://jaydiohead.com