I’m on the road till this thing drops. The truth is, no one raps about slinging coke like Clipse, and this has to be one of the most hotly and highly anticipated Hip Hop albums of the year. In a time when you can never be too sure what genre your favourite rapper’s new album is going to be (see: Wayne does Axl-meets-Alien or Kanye does Andre 3k meets Thom Yorke meets WTF), you can always count on the Clipse to continue rapping about cocaine, and street stuffs …

The new record will feature production by Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, The Hitmen, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Dame Grease, DJ Khalil, long time collaborators The Neptunes, and the legen (wait for it) dary, Rick Rubin.

This morning, the first cut from the album, called “Kinda Like a Big Deal” was released on their blog. It’s a very big deal. Featuring Kanye West, getting his College Dropout on (and by that I mean rapping very well), the beat is harder, and more filled-out than anything you would’ve heard the twins rap on in recent history – and while it’s not a gritty throwback to “Trill” or “Keys Open Doors”, it’s a banger which will definitely resonate in the places it’s meant to – bbq cookouts in Philly and basement parties at your baby mamazeses.

Clipse – Kinda Like a Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)

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After months of searching for something that I could play on repeat for hours, I found Brazil’s Copacabana Club. Because they are from Brazil, here comes the CSS comparison: they are like CSS & the Twelves on a Beach with the cool drink of your choice. The other reason why I compare them to CSS is how the lead singer over enunciates ending consonants; being from Toronto, it seems rather unusual. If like you what you hear in below, there is more from where that came from on their MySpace page, where they are nice enough to link their EP (4 tracks and 2 remixes).

Copacabana Club – Just Do It from Banzai Studio on Vimeo.

Copacabana Club – Just Do It

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Copacabana Club – Just Do It (Boss in Drama remix)

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So the first hints of spring are starting to sneak out from underneath the blanket of winter and with it comes eternal optimism, a sense of accomplishment for surviving another winter and the chance of finding new love…

Actually right now I’m in Australia, which means that it’s fall, the weather is changing from a beautiful 30 degrees and sunny to days that hover around 15 with a sprinkle of rain and a cool wind from Antarctica blowing in off the ocean. The winter is looming like some sort of shadowy figure in the corner of your eye that you know is there but you cannot quite see yet. But even with winter around the corner there is still the chance for new relationships to form in the most unusual or average of situations, as these next two songs will show.

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I know I’m not alone in this internet world by saying that I thoroughly <3 Van She Technologic.  They have so much going for them. They’re Australian, they put out some of the best remixes I’ve ever heard, they’re a spin-off group that didn’t kill the original!  Mind you, I much prefer the spin-off from the original.

Klaxons – Gravity’s Rainbow (Van She Technologic remix)

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I dare you to listen to that remix of the Klaxxons and not love it.  If you missed their remix of Fiest’s 1 2 3 4, then you must be living under a rock (don’t check your stocks if you have any).

To keep up with the Aussie kick, Teenagers in Tokyo are now London bound.  This excites me greatly.  Not that I will head to London anytime soon, but this greatly increases the chance that I may get to see them live!  They are apparently moving to the UK to set up shop and record their first album.

I swear, “End It Tonight” still sounds fresh as the first listen I had with it back in early 2006.  Congrats to them, check out their first self titled EP (available on iTunes).

teenagersintokyo – End It Tonight

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Back to the world of remixes, Lifelike is more a remix factory than anything else.  Sure, “So Electric” can be heard just as much as Daft Punk on www.frenchkissfm.com, but you really must hand it to Mr Ash.  Killer electro at its best.  From the remixes of Chromeo’s “Needy Girl” to Damon’s “Happy Therapy”, Lifelike does not disappoint.  If you are heading to Miami’s WMC, he’s playing on March 27th in the White Room.

Chromeo – Needy Girl (Lifelike remix)

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Exciting news everybody, theoretical physicists from Cambridge have recently discovered the formula for the perfect song and published it in the journal Science. The following is an excerpt from an interview with the papers author, “…it was simple really, we isolated the components and ran them through our supercomputer and it ended up with a beautiful correlation… really quite fascinating”. The equation was one part infectious beat, two parts jangley guitar and one part wailing vocals. Ok, so since this is my first post and I want to start off on a good foot I’m going to level with you, there was no paper from Cambridge, there was no interview, there are no theoretical physicists, I made the whole thing up. The important thing is that if there was a formula for a perfect song it would be that, and one song that would fit this formula perfectly is 1901 by Phoenix off their upcoming album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I have to admit I am fairly new to Phoenix’s work, however, from what I’ve heard so far I like ‘em and so will you. This French four-piece started out in the mid 90’s on the mean streets of Versailles. The band itself has some very strong ties with other high profile artists having initially worked on a remix of French band Airs song “Kelly Watch the Stars” and Laurent Brancowitz having been in the band Darlin’ before joining Phoenix with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo who later went on to form a little group by the name of Daft Punk. This isn’t Phoenix’s first rodeo either; WAP is their fourth studio album and has the potential to be excellent so keep your eyes peeled for this one, out May 25 if all goes to plan.

Phoenix – 1901

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Updates after the jump.

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Illinoize: a remixtape imagining a hip hop world where Sufjan Stevens is the sought-out producer. Where he has the magic formula to let Brother Ali talk his shit funkier and make the dress look nice on Gift of Gab. Yet Montreal-based producer Tor is the true Socrates behind Illinoize, marrying Sufjan with the kings of hip hop to create a rich and surprisingly natural mix, and available for free download at Illinoize, we’re all richer for it.

1. Star of Wonder/None Shall Pass (ft. Aesop Rock)
2. Dumb I Sound/ATLiens (ft. Outkast)
3. John Wayne Gacy Jr./Specialize (ft. Pete Rock & C L Smooth)
4. The Tallest Man/I Like It (ft. Grand Puba)
5. Kill/Any Type of Way (ft. Big Daddy Kane & DJ Premier) 
6. Night Zombies/Talking My Shit (ft. Brother Ali)
7. The Dress Looks Nice On You/Make You Feel That Way (ft. Gift of Gab)

UrbanDictionary.com:

Hyphie-West Coast/Bay Area’s way of being crunk

usage: “this party is hyphie.”

There are certain places where music just sounds different. It’s intangible, but there’s something in the air that sound and light travel through better. After spending a week in the highest of places (that would be California), you can’t help but think about the interaction between music and illicit substances, music and nature, and music and your brain. And whether you’re climbing Mushroom Trees in Santa Cruz or cruising down an East Bay freeway with a Golden State native throwing blunts and forties at you (occupational hazard), shouting about spreading the gospel of hyphie to colder climes, Northern California is a place where music sounds really, really good. And if there’s anything California’s taught me, it’s that life is about two things: getting stoned and going stupid.

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As some of you already know, everyone’s favourite Canadian combination of dance beats and heartbreak, Metric, are back at it again with a new album, Fantasies, due out on April 7th from Last Gang Records. It will be almost four years since the release of their third album, Live It Out, which was not a complete disappointment but was perhaps more exciting as remix fodder for MSTRKRFT than as an actual album, especially when compared to Old World Underground which managed to do in six songs what the former could not do in nearly double that, actually get me dancing.

UPDATE: Right after posting this I noticed this over at Sterogum. So through the magic of the internets, we can also stream the whole album, right here! (MP3, and streaming version of the album after the jump)

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Baltimore:

18-year-old tiny rap spitfire Rye Rye dances like a maniac and rhymes just as fast. M.I.A. protegee and tour-mate, she’s garnered as much attention for a Youtube video of her schooling a crowd at a Harlem dance party as for her collab with DJ Blaqstarr, Shake It To The Ground.  Her album is set to be released on M.I.A’s N.E.E.T label (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) this March. Her verse on a Paper Planes remix, with M.I.A. and Afrikan Boy, proves she lives up to the hype.

Rye Rye w/ DJ Blaqstarr – Shake It To The Ground

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M.I.A. feat. Rye Rye & Afrikan Boy – Paper Planes

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Diplo f. Rye Rye – Wassup (Crookers Remix)

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Bay Area:

Local hero, Zion I, has released a new album called The Takeover, with a round-up of notable guests like K-Flay, Brother Ali, and Devin the Dude. The album weaves between soft, meditative tracks and high energy club anthems, like the electronica-heavy ‘DJ DJ.’

www.myspace.com/zioni

Brooklyn:

5-piece Brooklyn band Apache Beat’s post-punk gets taken up a notch (and brought to most people’s attention) thanks to remixes and recommendations, and these Neu!-bies count Crystal Castles and Deerhunter among their a-list fans. They continue to keep excellent company, touring the UK with School of Seven Bells to promote their new 13-track album, Last Chants (which was recorded with the help of Martin Bisi, who has worked with Sonic Youth and Afrikaa Bambataa). The album comes out in April on Summer Lovers Unlimited (Crystal Castles, The Teenagers).

Apache Beat – Tropics

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This video does not require an introduction, however, you may require a few moments afterwards to stare off into space contemplating what you just experienced.