When you have one of these music blog type of thingies, you start getting music submitted to you that you never dreamed existed. From the absolutely terrible (horrorcore rap from Beaverton, Oregon, I’m looking at you) to the merely odd (really, random London dude? You thought the world needed the moombahton remixes of Dilla’s classics?), it all lands in the inbox.

Which is why it was such a pleasure to open up the trusty LxNxM email and find a genuine jewel: DJ Topspin and Kuddie Fresh’s REMIXtape, a mutually curated product from two of the most respected talents in the game. Kuddie’s production flips everyone from Collie Budz to Lil’ Wayne to – yes – Michael Jackson, his signature combination of smooth and neck breaking production adding new dimensions to each song (full tracklist after the jump).

Yes, good production wins again.

FYI, we wrote about Topspins’s first REMIXtape, the all-Platinum Pied Pipers flips joint, and if you haven’t yet, you should make sure to pick it up.

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This is cool.  Instead of a mixtape, I get to give you an actual live mix that you can watch too.  It’s good enough to just play in the background and ignore the video while you’re doing whatever it is you do, but definitely give it a watch if you got some time.  The Skratch Bastid lives up to his name, and he kills the mixes too (I especially like the live James Brown remix about 3/4 of the way through).  There are a couple of small fuck-ups, but hey it’s a live mix!  What do you expect?  He even throws in a little juggling session in there with some behind the back crossfader action and all.  Enjoy, you bastids!

(via the rub)

Here’s a brand new music video from Gabriel Teodros and Amos Miller’s growing side project, Air 2 A Bird. The project started when Teodros was denied entry into London last year, had his global tour canceled and was deported to New York. Instead of sitting around twiddling his thumbs, Teodros and brother Amos linked up for two weeks in New York and began crafting the songs for the incredible Air 2 A Bird album, Crow Hill.

As of yesterday, they finished their first music video and it’s not bad. I’m not familiar with the video directors but they do a good job of capturing Amos and Gabe’s zany personalities. Check it out.

so teena marie passed unexpectedly on sunday. very sad. a lot of the obits out there touch on how teena marie was successful as a white artist in a predominantly black genre. this ta-nehisi coates post plumbs the depths of that idea better than almost all of those obits. RIP.

Okay, so today is that most spendful of holidays, Christmas. Whether you celebrate it or have it celebrated at you, it’s a Thing That Happens. Me personally? I like that on this one day of the year (second only to that other day with the colonialism and the turkey), the people who I share blood and legal relationships with all get together and have a good time. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws? Not too shabby.

Now, that’s all non-musical, but as we all know, music is an extension of human interaction (take that away, and every love song gets verrrry creepy). In the last week, three local acts have released music that is perfect for this snowy/rainy/whatever it’s doing wherever you are/etc day. Plug them in, load them down, and enjoy your loved ones.

First up is Made In Heights, the collaboration between Blue Scholars impresario Sabzi and chanteuse Kelsey Bulkin. After hearing some rough versions a few months ago, this, the final and public, version is a happily complete whole. It’s nice to hear Sabzi flexing another side of his musical brawn – his natural inclination towards synthed-out melodies, provides an understated counterpoint to percussion that points to every corner of the musical globe. Bulkin’s voice buoys the ensemble with a smooth and world-weary tone, grounding the final product firmly in the analog world. And yes, it dropped just last night, making this a fresh chrismakwanzaakuh gift for you this day.

Secondly is the Heartfelts, a future-lounge act that injects stealthy doses of reality into the smoothest of songs. A trio featuring Hollis Wong-Wear, Amos Miller and Jahon Mikal, each of the members holds down double and triple duty, an excellent situation to be in when your trio is made up of highly talented musicians. The end result is an album of piano-driven ballads with unexpected moments of high-stakes digital production, sparring male and female voices, and a presentation that borders demure and – dare we say? – heartfelt.

Third and finally, there is Jus Moni. Moni is a seventeen-year-old singer, student, and mother, and Ready For Life is her first official output. The album focuses on Moni’s recent motherhood, and the many emotional angles that accompany it. The sound is glossy, smooth, and classically R&B, and complements Moni’s still-developing yet already-mature voice. The majority of Ready For Life is produced by Kuddie Fresh, a heavyweight who has been associated with Tha Bizness for the last year or so. Moni’s got a lot of love to give, and you can hear it drip in these songs.

So get them, enjoy them, and most importantly, enjoy your family and folks that are around you right now (I hope). This is the kind of consumerism I can really get behind.

Speaking of remixes, here’s another dope remix album that’s been making its way around the webs.  Masterfully blended by Wick-It The Instigator, these tracks might make you think that this is an actual Big Boi and The Black Keys studio album.  But it’s not, which might make it even cooler – this is straight from the DJ’s imagination.

The Brothers of Chico Dusty (Big Boi vs. The Black Keys) by wick-it

Merry Christmas, y’all!  Hope you’re having a good one.  Here’s a dope new album I’ve been bumping for the past few days and that I’ve been meaning to share.  Hella blogs posted this already, but I think it’s well worth reposting.  Consider it the best re-gifted Christmas present of the year.

It’s a compilation by French dude Brodinski, and he goes hard on this one. He commissioned a bunch of his homies to create the illest electro remixes of mainstream hip hop and r&b tracks they could, and they’re pretty much all done to perfection.  Hence the title, The Best of Everything Vol. 2.

BEST OF EVERYTHING vol.2 by BRODINSKI by brodinski-boe

Peep vol. 1 here.

Yes, it’s true, we’ve been slacking.  But, please, don’t get it twisted.  We still love y’all.  So, to show you we still care, I’m gonna hook you up with this dope mix I just found over at the Mad Decent blog.  It’s called Disco Hoti Hai, and it’s 44 minutes and 12 seconds of pure Desi disco funk.  Happy Solstice/Lunar Eclipse!

in the spirit of tang’s cameo video post, i thought i’d share probably the craziest disco/boogie video you’ll ever see. i feel kind of bad about it because the song is actually really great, but while you’re watching the video, it’s hard to take the song seriously. regardless, the video has everything you want: fog swimming, fog diving, bad lip-syncing, shimmying, crazy eyes, three-way hugs, hug-jumping into the fog water, hug-jumping out of the fog water, and a funky bass breakdown at 2:15. you can grab a high-quality mp3 of “inside out” here.