Phoenix - Fences (Robotaki Remix)

Robotaki, aka Preston Chin, is a 19 year-old DJ hailing from the great province of Quebec, and while you may not know his name yet, you certainly will in 2011.  The McGill freshman throws some fun analog sounds and waveforms into one of my favorite Phoenix tracks, "Fences", which creates this ambient electro cool that I can't get enough of.  He's also put out some really cool remixes of OK Go, Weezer and Kylie Minogue, so make sure to check him out on Soundcloud.

 Phoenix - Fences (Robotaki Remix) by Robotaki

Enjoy MGMT's 'Time to Pretend' with Sunday Girl

There's no doubt in my mind that Sunday Girl's rise to blogosphere stardom in 2010 will payoff immensely in the new year, and her cover of MGMT's "Time to Pretend" is more than enough to convince anyone.  It's funny that two of the hotter indie acts of 2010 made their leap to fame with covers of MGMT tracks, and that both developed their sound across the pond in England (let's not forget Chiddy Bang's sampling of 'Kids'), but hey, I'm not gonna go complaining about great new music.



So 22 year old Jade Williams, aka Sunday Girl, was scared to sing in front of anyone until she was 17, and started out singing covers at local bars in her home town of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. Working with producers like Diplo and Jim Elliot, Sunday Girl is finding her own upbeat sound, and no, her name isn't a reference to the Blondie song of the same name.

Ryan Gosling Can Only Sing "Goofy"

Saw this trailer for Blue Valentine while fulfilling my Kwanzian duties of seeing a movie on X-Mas (actually saw two, The Fighter and True Grit - both amazing). And no, I didn't order Chinese food... I went sake bombing...

Ryan Gosling apparently ropes some passerby (who clearly becomes his future girlfriend/wife/soul-mate/whatever) into dancing while he strums the ukulele. However before he begins, he warns her, "I can't really sing. I have to sing goofy... I have to sing stupid."



The curious thing about that line of dialogue is, that's how Gosling actually sings in his real-life band Dead Man's Bones. Gosling is an Executive Producer of the film, so he clearly had some say over the script. Good for him for putting the obvious out there, I guess. Still not going to see the movie.

Here's the Dead Man's Bones singing "In the Room Where You Sleep" As goofy his voice may be, it works for the music he's putting out. And how can you not like a little kid attempting to sing through a wolfman mask. See for yourself.



Movie comes out December 31, 2010. First narrative-feature from director Derek Cianfrance since 1998. Both Gosling and Williams received Golden Globe noms for their respective performances. The film is scored by Brooklyn idie-band, Grizzly Bear, however has no connection to the Tom Waits album of the same title.

Mashup Monday: Shalomie Homie - Meet KosherKuts

Hailing from the great city of er, um, Cleveland, KosherKuts has made a name for himself spinning at a number of local spots, and his tracks are regularly syndicated by the fine people over at White Folks Get Crunk. Everything is Kosher, which was released back in August, features a wild ride that includes mashed remixes of Soulja Boy, Far East Movement, Taio Cruz, Ludacris, Usher, NeYo & Bruno Mars.

 "EVERYTHING IS KOSHER" (new download link) by KOSHERKUTS

Download link

Tracklisting:

1. One - Four Color Zack
2. Favorite DJ - Clinton Sparks
3. I Made It (Oh Snap!! Remix) - Kevin Rudolf ft Birdman, Lil Wayne, & Jay Sean
4. Now You See It - Pitbull ft. Jump Smokers
5. Pretty Boy Swag Like A G (DocRoc MashUp) - Soulja Boy
6. Like A G6 (Miami Ski Team Remix) - The Far East Movement
7. Dynamite (Beatbreaker Club Banger) - Taio Cruz
8. My Chick Bad (Dj Scene Remix) - Ludacris
9. Gangsta Muzik - Dj Doc Rok
10. Beamer, Benz, or Bentley (Dj Scene Remix) - Lloyd Banks
11. O Lets Overdo It - ATrak Ft. Waka Flocka & Diddy
12. We Dont Want No Goblins - ATrak ft. Lil Wayne vs. Gucci Mane
13. DJ Got Us Fallin In Love (DJ Kue Remix) - Usher
14. Beautiful Monster (Brass Knuckles Remix) - NeYo
15. Voices In My Head - Bruno Mars

Top 10 Albums of 2010

Merry Christmas to one and to all - while the whole Audionugs crew are members of the Tribe so-to-speak, between the snow-covered trees, heaviliy Jack-infused eggnog, and ornately festive sweaters, it's hard not to get into the Christmas spirit.  Therefore we give you our Top 10 Albums of 2010:

1. B.O.B. - The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Hands down the best album of the year, B.O.B.'s debut album blew critics away with mixtape gem’s like “I’ll Be There in the Sky”, “Nothin’ On You” and “Bet I Bust”, while putting together instant classics like “Fame”, “Magic” and “Past My Shades” featuring Lupe Fiasco, T.I., Playboy Tre, Hayley Williams (of Paramore), Rivers Cuomo (of Weezer), Janelle Monae, Eminem and Giggs. B.O.B. continues to play around with an odd fusion of Dirty South rap and slick r&b that continues to develop into a wholly new strain of hip hop, and all with the help of up and coming hip hop producer J.R. Rotem.



2. Ben L'Oncle Soul - Soul Wash
Ben L'Oncle Soul is everything that his name suggests and more. Recently signed to France's Motown label, Soul embodies every good thing that has happened to R&B in the last 50 years. His style is an awesome blend of The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, John Legend, and a little Justin Timberlake. Soul Wash in some ways might be the my favorite pop album of the last 10 years, as Ben brings his Euro-centric soul to some of America's poppiest tracks of the last decade - you have to give credit to anyone that can make Aqua, the Spice Girls & Katy Perry sound amazing (but my favorite track has to be the White Stripes cover of 'Seven Nation Army).



3. Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
Covering virtually every genre of music worth listening to, Janelle Monae's debut album has been critically acclaimed and represents, in some ways, the 'rebirth of the diva' in R&B, because I don't really think that any other female artist can measure up to Monae's musical talent and creative ability.  'Tightrope' was probably my favorite track on the album, and the presence of hip hop demigod Big Boi only added to Monae's hip hop credentials...



4. Tom Caruana Presents: Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers
All I've got is six words for you: Beatles and the Wu Tang Clan. Two of my favorite musical groups mashed together by virtually unknown producer Tom Caruana, in what quickly became one of the biggest blog buzzes of last winter. The volume of samples here might seem overwhelming, but Caruana does not give any one sample excessive attention. Caruana explains, "I've seen on blogs, somebody says something like, 'I've only heard two Beatles samples that I recognized in here.' And to me that's quite a good thing - you have to listen extra hard to hear them. I was purposeful not to just take 'Love Me Do' and put Wu-Tang with it." Download the album below and enjoy.

Wu Tang vs. The Beatles: Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers


5. Black Keys - Brothers
The Brooklyn immigrants who I've come to really love since the Blackroc blues album, have outdone themselves yet again with their May 2010 album Brothers.  The album has a much more playful tone than we're all used to, which in some ways I assume has opened the music up to a much wider audience, which is never a bad thing.  Without a pantheon of rockers like we've had in past decades, the Black Keys represent the 21st century evolutionary phase of rock&roll, bringing a more unique and fine-tuned sound without a lot of the fanfare and glamor expected of rockstars.



6. Sharon & The Dap Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
In every way that artists like Janelle Monae and B.O.B. are taking music to new heights, Sharon & The Dap Kings are bringing us back to the glory days of soul, when Otis Redding, Sam Cooke & Marvin Gaye owned the music charts.  Singing of the hard times that drove the philosophical inspiration behind rhythm and blues, it's mind blowing that this album was produced in 2010 and not 1972.



7. Chiddy Bang - The Preview/ Air Swell
Chiddy Bang is probably the hottest up-and-coming hip-hop duo around, which may sound odd to some in the hip hop community who view the Drexel-educated (well, at least their freshman year...) Xaphoon Jones and Chiddy as too hipster for school. Honestly, who cares, because they've been killing it since they inked a deal with UK-based record company EMI earlier in 2010. Since they've yet to put out an actually debut album, we've chosen their two most recent mixtapes, because lets face it, they're probably the hottest hip hop group going into 2011, and we've all get 'Opposite of Adults' playing on repeat on our ipods....



8. The Cataracts - I Thought They Were Black?!
The Cataracs put together the amazing new mixtape I Thought They Were Black!?, which boasts tracks featuring Lil Wayne, Dorrough, and the hyphy king himself, E40. The Cataracs are able to build a unique bridge between pop and hip-hop, creating a chaotic orgy of auto-tune harmonies, drum beats, and guitar riffs best heard on "Ice Cream Paint Job" and "Undercover". We're going to see a lot more of The Cataracs in 2011, so enjoy their best music from 2010!



9. Mochi Beats - the album
Mochi Beats is one of the most exciting up-and-coming mashup artists these days, based in Santa Ana, CA at Proof.  His self-titled debut album is a wild ride of mashups, and in a lot of ways, listening to it took me back to my sophomore year of college when I heard Girl Talk's Nightripper for the first time.  Having had a number of his tracks rank pretty high on Hype Machine recently, Mochi Beats is on a sure path to success - my favorite track has to be "Hypnotize Gold", which miraculously mashes together Biggie and Neil Young!!!



10. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Arcade Fire's 3rd installment has been widely viewed as one of the best rock albums of the year, and therefore has been nominated in a handful of Grammy categories.  Finding inspiration from their Houston upbringing, the boys from Texas intended the album to represent 'a message from the suburbs', and is widely being coined the band's OK Computer album.  Not sure how much I can make the parallel between Arcade Fire and Radiohead (because as some of you may know, I really don't like Radiohead), but the band is using the album similarly, as a crucial stepping stone to musical greatness.

Dosvec's 'Stuntin Like 1901' Mashup is a Great Holiday Treat

Hats off to the fine folk over at White Folks Get Crunk for partnering with mashup DJ Dosvec for 17 days of Christmas - I've been really impressed with the overall quality of the mashups and 'Stuntin Like 1901' is sure not to disappoint.  It's always hard to take a good rock band like Phoenix and find a way to not screw up their sound, but the Lil Wayne & Birdman rhymes really bring the track together nicely.  Oh, and Happy Christmas Eve!

Mike Tompkins Covers Owl City Without Instruments???

As we wrap up 2010 (Look out for Audionugs Top 10 of 2010 tomorrow), it's good to look back on some of those unknown (or now a bit more known I guess) YouTube stars, who really could not be where they are without that grand old thing called the internet. So Mike Tompkins was the guy that made all of those acapella covers of songs by the likes of uber-pop stars such as Taio Cruz & Miley Cyrus, but it was his Owl City cover of 'Fireflies' that made me bite the bullet into another guilty pleasure YouTube video.  Besides the fact that it's probably the only tolerable song he's ever covered, the video is pretty cool, and well, the whole thing was shot in Ontario, so take that Maccabeats.....



And if you like the track as much as I did, here's you're free download....

OtBP: The Award for Best Kazoo Solo of the Year

And the award for Best Kazoo Solo of the Year goes to...


20-year-old singer/song writer Kai, hailing from Toronto, Canada. Check out two rocking kazoo solos in her single, I Choose Me. The song comes from her debut EP 11:11, which is set for release in January 2011.

Simple and upbeat, its hard not to like this track.

Kai - I Choose Me

Sounds like: Pearl and the Puppets, Ingrid Michaelson, Regina Spektor.

Cascada + Lil Wayne + Drake = DJ Money Genius

Maybe I just forgot about Cascada after 'Everytime We Touch', which literally took over the Emory airwaves my freshman year, but DJ Money's remix of 'One More Night' makes me think that maybe I shouldn't have completely fallen off the bandwagon.  Granted the Weezy and Drake rhymes are what really get this track moving, but a spoonful of Cascada here and there never hurt anyone.



I've actually been holding off on finishing my upcoming mixtape until I can get some good Cascada vocals for 'Everytime We Touch', so if anyone knows where to find a good vocal track, or could lay down the vocals themselves, lemme know and some sort of compensation will be worked out.

(quick shoutout to Hype Floats for this one - I haven't checked out the blog in forever, but nice to find some good music there every once in a while....)

Mashup Monday: Mochi Beats Brings in the Holidays with 'Goodnight EP'

Mochi Beats has quickly become my favorite mashup DJ of 2010, and Goodnight EP, which came a bit out of the blue to be honest (Mochi Beats - the album came out earlier this year), does nothing less than impress.   The track list is a whole lot of fun, featuring the likes of Three 6 Mafia, Madonna, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Nina Sky, Far East Movement, Rihanna, and many more.  Since the EP is only 22 minutes in total, I figured I would just post the track as a whole, but make sure you check out Mochi Beats' website for full track info and the individually separated songs....

Deadmau5 x Friday x Snow + DC = Awesome

Since the release of Deadmau5's 3rd installment 4x4 = 12 earlier this month, I think that it's safe to say that Ontario's favorite dead mouse-inspired DJ has reached superstardom, entering him into the Pantheon of 21st century DJ'ing (no, seriously, he was known amongst the DJ forum chat rooms as 'the dead mouse guy', because he once found a dead mouse in his computer while replacing the video card).  The first major single off the album, "I Can't Behave Myself", is a bit poppier than I think we're all used to, which I'm pretty sure we can attribute to Neon Hitch's vocal accompaniments, but at the same time, you can't tell me that you're not feeling this track....

 Deadmau5 ft. Neon Hitch - I Can't Behave Myself by Audionugs

In Honor of Jersey Shore Season 3: Luny P's 'Miami 2 Ibiza'

Ok, so admittedly I wasn't as obsessed with everybody's favorite GTL guidos' and guidettes' Miami vacation, but after reading GQ's shockingly long profile of The Situation in it's end of the year edition (remember, I've spent a lot of time in airports recently....), I'm ready to reinvest some serious time into The Jersey Shore.  And what better a way to show my appreciation for that decrepit state in which I spent about 40% of my life than with Luny P's 2Live Edit of Swedish House Mafia & Tinie Tempah's "Miami 2 Ibiza"??? The original track was so fun to begin with, but Luny's addition of the Face Down/Ass up vocals perfectly supplement's The Jersey Shore's chaotic orgy of fake tits, grenades and enough cosmetics to supply the continent of Africa.



And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't actually talk about the highly anticipated third installment of everybody's favorite tri-state Italian-American reality show.  Apparently Vinny thinks he's gonna get a lot more poon this time around because, and I quote, "Jersey girls are a bit easier", and Snooki had to recruit pre-fame friend (and future attention grubbing media whore) Deena Cortese as Angelina's replacement, because this time around, Snooki want more smush smush...

Cassette Schwarzenegger: Greatest. Name. Ever.

First of all, I want to take a moment to thank Cash for holding down the fort while I was raising havoc in Paris - after eating anything and everything under the sun (escargot, foie gras, duck confit, etc...), I'm back and ready to bring you some cool international nugs.

Without listening to a single beat of the Seoul-based DJ duo Cassette Schwarzenegger, it's pretty obvious that Mik and Edi Volcano are probably two of the coolest and most visually creative up-and-coming DJ's on the scene.  'Play' would be your standard disco pop track for any dance party, but the music video, which was directed by Studio Shelter, is easily the most trip-inducing disco video game experience that I've ever seen (I can't even imagine how many drugs were consumed in the production of this video), upgrading this track to nothing less than epic...

Cassette Schwarzenegger - Play from Cassette Schwarzenegger on Vimeo.


 CassetteSchwarzenegger-Play by Audionugs

Matshup Monday

Uh...

So, Deck submitted a mashup for me post today, but I have no idea how to do that. Told you I shouldn't have been left in charge...

Enjoy Matshup Moday.

Might Fuck You Better (Cee Lo Green vs. Amanda Blank)

Happy Birthday BTDecker

Busy day for me. Wrapping up my last week of work in DC, however I couldn't let AudioNugs go quiet on Decker's birthday.

So I'm posting quite possibly the strangest music video I have seen in a very long time. The song is "Future Proof" and the band is Stars and Sons. Take a look. Yes, its silly, but damn catchy.

Stumbled Upon

This is what I know about Carlos St. John:

1. That is his real name.
2. He bills himself as "Brooklyn's James Bond."
3. He drops a song a week on his website, that I literally "stumbled upon."

I was pleasantly surprised with this find. Definitely has that BK flow. Maybe I'll even visit his website by choice next week...or maybe not.

Carlos St. John - Who Else But Me

OtBP: My Generationals

If you haven't heard of the Generationals yet, now is a good time to start.

Last month marked the release of their latest EP, Trust, the follow-up to their killer full-length album, Con Law. The 4-song set is solid from cover to cover, however the title track easily is the standout of the lot. Good luck getting this bass-line out of your head.

04 Trust

And because I love you (lie), here are two tracks from 2009's Con Law.

Generationals - Con Law

The Generational's next LP is due to hit the internet on March 11, 2011. Stay tuned.

The Return of Bobby Ray

If you haven't heard yet, B.o.B. (aka Bobby Ray Simmons) dropped his newest mixtape this morning. The 16-track album is called No Genre, a reference to the musical versatility the hip-hopper demonstrated on his debut LP, The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

The bad news is, No Genre lacks the musical ingenuity of its predecessor. The good news is, even on B.o.B's least creative day, he still blows most out of the water. The albums full of the catchy (and witty) tracks that we've come to love from B.o.B.

If B.o.B.'s loose cannon flow over typical ATL bass and drum beats (with a few TI appearances thrown on top) is your style, you'll love this mixtape. If you were looking forward to more of a divergence, well, then these will have to do.

The mixtape is free on Bobby Ray's site.

B.o.B - No Genre


Honorable mention: Grand Hustle Kings - feat. Young Dro & T.I. - (Prod. by Quincey Jones) - Deck posted about this when the single dropped. This is easily one of the best on the album.

Dishonorable Mention: I'm Beaming (Remix) - All City Chess Club. The super-group teams up again to drop a very mediocre track. A disappointment considering the talent of its collaborators. Lets hope they have far better things in store for the future.

Lupe, Asher Roth, B.o.B., Charles Hamilton, the Cool Kids, Diggy Simmons, and Dosage appear on the track.

16 I'm Beaming - Remix (feat. All City Chess Club)

The (Abbreviated) Adventures of AudioNugs in Paris

La Femme - Sur La Planche



Yes, as Deck mentioned yesterday, he will be touring Paris on a cultural exploration for the next week. This of course means that I am, once again, left in charge (why do people keep making this mistake?!?)

Keep a close eye, because I've got a few great tracks picked out for this week (and maybe a few other surprises). And don't worry, I won't inundate you entirely with geek pop.

Mashup Monday: Dr. Dre vs. Punjabi MC vs. Cassidy vs. Jim Jones

After getting a lot of positive feedback on some tracks that I've been working on, I figure that it's high time to give everybody a sneak preview at the upcoming Ridgewood Social Club album.  "Sexual Episode in Paris", a Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg vs. Punjabi MC vs. Cassidy vs. Jim Jones ft. Ron Brownz mashup, got people grooving onto the dance floor over the weekend at the 6th & I party (except for some guy in his late 60s who kept demanding 50's swing music...apparently he didn't get that it was a party for young professionals...wtf?), so enjoy the mashup on what's shaping up to be a frigid Monday in DC.

 Sexual Episode in Paris (Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg vs. Cassidy vs. Punjabi MC vs. Jim Jones) by Audionugs

On a side note, I'm heading to Paris later today (and hopefully going to a Ben L'Oncle soul concert Tuesday night!!!), so Cash will be taking over Audionugs in the meantime - enjoy a full week of the greatest hipster obscurities floating around that giant thing called the internet and au revoir......

Happy Hanukkah from Audionugs: Check out the Maccabeats in 'G6 Dreidel'

First off, on behalf of our team at Audionugs, I'd like to take a moment to wish everybody a Happy Hanucca (or how do you spell it???) With almost 700,000 hits on YouTube, The Maccabeats acapella group from Yeshiva University (I'm not kidding, this is like even more Jewish than if Matisyahu and John Goodman ditched out on Saturday afternoon bowling to eat latkes) have become an internet sensation over night with their song 'Candlelight', a gleeful yet uber-Semitic take on Taio Cruz' smash hit 'Dynamite'.



While I admittedly told someone on Gchat yesterday that I was completely abhorred by the fact that it has become so popular, I've been mashing some samples for a Hanukkah party that I'm DJ'ing this Saturday night @ 6th and I, and just had to take a crack at mashing it. Truth be told, I was working on the Taio Cruz vs. Far East Movement mashup a few weeks ago and left it alone, but with the holiday and everything I really couldn't resist adding some Maccabeats. It's perfect for that baller dreidel tournament that's you're planning as the highlight of this year's Hanukkah party, all that's missing is that crunk juice, I mean oil, ya know, that stuff that lasted 8 days................