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.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

.

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.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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.

New mixtape by DJ Concept to drop alongside the the release of the Pennant Race Spring 09′ line. So go download the free mixtape and check their clothes out. They got some pretty dope pieces like The Garden Courtside Tee & The Staples Courtside Tee that feature Spike Lee & Jack Nicholson or my favorite The Millions Tee featuring the Hackensack Bulls from the Movie Brewters Millions with Richard Pryor.

Check out DJ Concept on MySpace Music

Tracklist
1. Jack – A Man Makes His Own Way Intro
2. Notorious BIG & Frank Sinatra – Juicy New York
3. Emilio Rojas f. Hassaan Mackey, Black Sinatra, LI & Nikal Fieldz – 585 (Roc Y’all Remix)
4. Spike – You Da Man Interlude
5. Dr. Dre f. MC Ren, Time Bomb, King Tee, Kokane, Hitman, Xzibit, Defari, Knoc-Turn’Al – Some LA Niggaz
6. Step Brothers (Alchemist & Evidence) – So Fresh
7. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Streets Of New York
8. Heltah Skeltah – Midnight Madness
9. Spike – Take A Chill Interlude
10. Self Scientific f. The New Royales – Heavy
11. Nas – New York State Of Mind
12. Jack – Do I Look Like I’m Kidding Interlude
13. Famoso f. Termanology, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Phantasm, Chubb Rock & Sadat X – Underground Railroad (Remix)
14. Defari – Lowlands Anthem
15. Gangstarr – JFK to LAX
16. Evidence – Down In New York City
17. Xzibit – Los Angeles Times
18. Dr. Dre, Kobe & TI – This Is Detox
19. Old Dirty Bastard – Brooklyn Zoo
20. Spike – Love & Hate Interlude
21. Murs & 9th Wonder – LA
22. Rakim – New York (Ya Out There)t me ) Ich Bin Hier Jawon – Get My Gun (prod by BTB)
23. Bubba Sparxxx – Survive

Download DJ Concept – The Courtside Coast To Coast

A politically geared mixtape broughts to you from the West Coast DJ September 7th of Cali Untouchables. He reached out to various artists across america to put together this mixtape. Enjoy.

Tracklist
1. Inauguration Intro (Prod. by Dae One)
2. Young Jeezy feat. Nas & Jay-Z – My President RMX
3. The Pharcyde – If I Were President
4. Richard Raw – Dear Martin, Dear Malcolm, Farewell Bush
5. Allnightaz – Election Night
6. Hell Razah – Crack Baby Cradles (Prod. by Shroomz)
7. Self Scientific feat. The Game & Talib Kweli – Everywhere I Go (Prod. by DJ Khalil)
8. Marcus Elias – Obama
9. Ludacris feat. Nas & Jay-Z – I Do It For Hip Hop
10. Tha Crow feat. Akon – Neva Look Back Again
11. Inauguration Interlude 1
12. Q-Tip – Shaka
13. One-2 – Mister Obama
14. Jay-Z – History
15. Richard Raw – Change
16. Mambo Sauce – Welcome To D.C. RMX
17. Inauguration Interlude 2 (Prod. by Amplified)
18. Nas feat. David Banner – Middle Finger
19. Pifftown – Recession Proof
20. Ya Boy feat. Techniec & Quiz – I Got The Power (Prod. by Pete G)(RMX Synth by L’s)
21. Makaveli – Letter 2 The President
22. Nas Interlude
23. Nas feat. Kelis – American Way (2004)
24. The Game feat. Anthony Hamilton – Hustler’s Dream
25. Snoop Dogg feat. Sly Stone – Dr. King (RMX Synth by L’s)
26. DJ Ice Pick – Anti-Bush
27. Inauguration Outro (Prod. by AAA Music Group)
28. San Quinn – We The President (ONE NATION DIGITAL BONUS TRACK)
29. Kash Floz – Obama Changing (ONE NATION DIGITAL BONUS TRACK)

Download September 7th Presents One Nation (Mixtape)