JayeL Audio

2 months later and there is finally enough decent hip-hop for a mixtape. Lets be honest though, all you were listening to was Watch the Throne, right? Yeah, I know I heard “N***as in Paris” coming out your car stereo.

The recipe is certainly there for this to be my favorite Nark in the past for year. Posse cuts are plentiful with collaborative cuts led by Fabolous, Cory Mo, Big K.R.I.T. Two of my favorite emcees Childish Gambino (“Bonfire”) and Common (“Blue Sky”) return with strong efforts from their next respective releases. Clifford wastes no time after his release from a halfway house on his street single w/Big K.R.I.T. (“I’m Flexin’) and a 2Chainz remix that gets constant play in the A. Notice a trend? Lots of Big K.R.I.T. tracks on this edition (and a bonus cut). From remixes to production, K.R.I.T. is one of the great hopes in hip-hop. Remember when I mentioned how K.R.I.T. would sound at home in 1994? Well, “Money On The Floor” shows how smooth he sounds next to legends 8Ball & MJG. Lastly, STS offers up one of the most sly premises of the year in “Cliche”. Hit rewind a couple times to make sure you get it all.

Nark and Day: DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Fabolous – Sicker Than Your Average ft Red Cafe & Trey Songz
2. Cory Mo – Ain’t Nobody Trippin’ remix ft Bun B, Pimp C & David Banner
3. J. Cole – Can’t Get Enough ft Trey Songz
4. T.I. – I’m Flexin’ ft Big K.R.I.T.
5. Childish Gambino – Bonfire
6. Drake – Club Paradise
7. Big K.R.I.T. – Money On The Floor ft 2 Chainz and 8Ball & MJG
8. DTMD – 95 Live ft Quartermaine
9. Common – Blue Sky
10. The Cool Kids – Summer Jam ft Maxine Ashley
11. B.o.B. – Strange Clouds ft Lil’ Wayne
12. Lloyd Banks – Shock the World
13. STS – Cliche ft The Knux
14. Diggy Simmons – Just Begun
15. Chip Tha Ripper – The Truth
16. Big K.R.I.T. – Yoko remix ft Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa and Berner
17. Ski Beatz – Illegal ft Freddie Gibbs
18. Game – Good Girls Go Bad ft Drake
19. 2 Chainz – Spend It remix ft T.I.
20. J. Cole – Who Dat
21. Jon Connor – F.L.I. 69
22. Lil’ Wayne – Blunt Blowin
Bonus Track:
Gilbere Forte – Black & Soul ft Big K.R.I.T. (.mp3)

Similar to last month, the ladies of indie music continue to have blogs, ipods and Spotify on lockdown. Florence and the Machine continue their streak of anthems (“Shake It Out”), Feist eerily charms (“Graveyard”) and St. Vincent gets poetic about society (“Cruel”). Bubbling acts like Alabama Shakes, Lydia Loveless and Meiko also carry the lady torch further with throwback sounds and enchanting vocals. My favorite newcomer though is Class Actress who offers up two solid new wave inspired tracks in “Keep You” and “The Weekend”.

Aside from the strength of the females, this mixtape certainly feels like a Fall mixtape in that the slower guitar-driven tracks out weigh the dance cuts. Justice pick up where they left off on dance anthem “Helix”, while Blitzen Trapper continue their alt country twang on “Love The Way You Walk Away” and Umphrey’s McGee bring their multi-instrument approach to “Miami Virtue”. Lastly, I’m not sure anyone else could cover Frank Ocean’s “Swim Good” the way Ed Sheeran did. Check it.

JayeL Audio – 10-04-11: DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Class Actress – Keep You
2. RAC – 1979 ft Liz Anjos (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
3. Florence and the Machine – Shake It Out
4. St. Vincent – Cruel
5. Blitzen Trapper – Love The Way You Walk Away
6. Karallreven – As Young As Yesterday
7. Meiko – Between the Sheets
8. Ed Sheeran – Swim Good (Frank Ocean Cover)
9. Apes In the Orange Grove – So Many Windows
10. Justice – Helix
11. Grouplove – Don’t Say Oh Well
12. Walk the Moon – Lisa Baby
13. Feist – Graveyard
14. The Head and the Heart – Cats and Dogs
15. Typhoon – The Honest Truth
16. Penguin Prison – Don’t Fuck With My Money
17. Umphrey’s McGee – Miami Virtue
18. Alabama Shakes – Hold On
19. Class Actress – Weekend
20. Lydia Loveless – Jesus Was a Wino
21. Pickwick – Hacienda Motel

Oh and I’ll be married in 4 days. How about that?!?! Comment aplenty below.

The ladies were out in full force during August. Powerhouses like Florence & The Machine, Feist and Marina & the Diamonds all offered up new music. Even if Marina sounds more like Gaga right now than Marina, I’ll still support it. Elsewhere, new albums from The Rapture (“Never Die Again”), The Features (“Another One”) and CSS (“Red Alert”) showed the releases were worth the wait. Newcomers TV Girl, Kimbra (last heard on Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know“) and Starsmith all show promise, but Oregon Bike Trails win for best new band name. Last, but not least, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis churned out a hit in “Can’t Hold Us” that I’ll most likely be addicted to for the foreseeable future.

JayeL Audio 9-9-11 – DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. TV Girl – Benny and the Jetts
2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us ft Ray Dalton
3. Mayer Hawthorne – The Walk
4. Florence + the Machine – What The Water Gave Me
5. James Vincent McMorrow – This Old Dark Machine
6. Starsmith – Lesson One
7. Holy Ghost! – Some Children ft Michael McDonald
8. The Features – Another One
9. Gotye – Easy Way Out
10. Typhoon – Summer Home
11. Caveman – Thankful
12. Release the Sunbird – Its All Around You
13. CSS – Red Alert ft Ratatat
14. Marina & The Diamonds – Radioactive
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr – We Almost Lost Detroit
16. Mountain Man – Animal Tracks
17. Givers – Words
18. Feist – How Come You Never Go There
19. Theophilus London – Love Is Real ft Holly Miranda
20. Toro Y Moi – All Alone
21. The Rapture – Never Die Again
22. Oregon Bike Trails – Cayucas
23. Kimbra – Good Intent

Comment aplenty below….

A lot have people have criticized the resurrection of Music Midtown. All I can say is:
A) Its the largest festival in Atlanta and you don’t have to drive 4 hours away
B) The ticket cost is about what Coldplay would cost to see on their own and probably what Black Keys fans will be paying soon
C) Even if you don’t enjoy Coldplay, the Black Keys know what they are doing (and don’t have an ATL stop otherwise)
D) The smaller bands are much better than you think. I guarantee you’ve heard Young the Giant’s “My Body”, The Joy Formidable have been getting rave reviews on the road and The Postelles blew me away earlier this year
E) Support Atlanta artists. Manchester Orchestra and The Constellations have been paying dues for awhile and are sure to put on a good show
F) Band of Skulls might be the sleeper band of the lineup with their bluesy garage rock. They’ll make an excellent appetizer for The Black Keys
G) Turns out Cage the Elephant have more in their arsenal than “Ain’t No Rest For The Weekend”. Check out their latest album Thank You Happy Birthday
H) Music Midtown takes place in the most beautiful park in Atlanta, Piedmont Park
I) Organizers know its not the “old Music Midtown”, but it is a start that could lead to something bigger and better. In the state that the music industry is currently, there is no way that would be possible. Why do you think fests like Bonnaroo and Lolla cost so much.

Bottom line: If you don’t like it, don’t go. Maybe this link will brighten your day instead.
That is all. See you at Piedmont Park in September.

Music Midtown 2K11 – DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
2. Coldplay – Lost!
3. Coldplay – God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (live)
4. Coldplay – Strawberry Swing
5. Coldplay – Violet Hill
6. The Black Keys – Chop and Change
7. The Black Keys – I Got Mine
8. The Black Keys – Strange Desire
9. The Black Keys – She’s Long Gone
10. Cage the Elephant – Shake Me Down
11. Cage the Elephant – Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
12. Cage the Elephant – Around My Head
13. The Joy Formidable – Whirring
14. The Joy Formidable – Austere
15. The Joy Formidable – A Heavy Abacus
16. Young the Giant – St. Walker
17. Young the Giant – My Body
18. Band of Skulls – I Know What I Am
19. Band of Skulls – Friends
20. Band of Skulls – Light of the Morning
21. Manchester Orchestra – April Fool
22. Manchester Orchestra – Pensacola
23. The Constellations – Felicia
24. The Constellations – We’re Here To Save The Day
25. Mona – Listen To Your Love
26. The Postelles – White Night
27. The Postelles – 123 Stop

Pick-up your tickets here and view the schedule here.
Comment aplenty below, por favor.

I debated back and forth on waiting for Watch the Throne to drop to include some tracks, but I’m betting on that being a front to back classic. You’ll just have to pick that up on your own. Speaking of dream teams, hip-hop has been all about collaboration so far this summer. Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y are working on a joint mixtape, while Kyle Lucas & Captain Midnite try to recreate the magic from I Brought Dead Flowers To A Funeral. Elsewhere, Project Pat & Juicy J come together on “Kelly Green”, the best Three 6 Mafia-related cut I’ve heard since “Stay Fly”, J.Cole helps Wale with a sure-fire single on “Bad Girls Club” and Common and Nas collaborate on a No I.D. produced joint certain to satisfy old head hip-hop fans. Somehow, even Game got Dr. Dre and Snoop together on a West Coast club banger (despite the awful chorus). So far, my non-collaborative favorites include Jon Connor’s ode to a Flint hip-hop legend, Drake’s lead single from Take Care and Hoodie Allen‘s reflective wordplay on “Flipping Out”. Yeah, I couldn’t pick one this time.

MIXTAPE: Lord of the Narks: The Fellowship of the Nark – DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Royce Da 5’9″ – Legendary
2. Drake – Headlines
3. Common – Ghetto Dreams ft Nas
4. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Otis
5. Wale – Bad Girls Club ft J. Cole
6. Hoodie Allen – Flipping Out
7. Game – Pot Of Gold ft Chris Brown
8. Big Sean – Wait For Me ft Lupe Fiasco
9. Project Pat & Juicy J – Kelly Green
10. 50 Cent – Outlaw
11. Pusha T – Trouble On My Mind ft Tyler, the Creator
12. Wiz Khalifa – Flowers ft Curren$y & Big Sean
13. Game – Drug Test ft Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg
14. Kyle Lucas & Captain Midnite – Your Tragedy
15. Drake – Dreams Money Can Buy
16. Yelawolf – Gangsta of Love ft CyHi Da Prynce
17. Asher Roth – Another One Down ft DA Wallach of Chester French
18. 50 Cent – I’m On It
19. Obie Trice – Battle Cry
20. Jon Connor – Ain’t No Future (MC Breed Tribute)
21. 2Pac – Road 2 Glory
22. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Wings
Bonus Tracks:
Mac Miller – Just a Kid (.mp3)
Cobe Obeah – My Sickness (.mp3)

Let me know your favorites below. Tom is still kicking tail in the comments section.
Props to Logan on the artwork. Hopefully, you can work this non-sensical series into the rest of the LOTR movies.

Boom Box tee designed by Alex Solis available at Threadless

Whoops. Sorry for the music overload, but a lot has happened since those 4th of July mixtapes. M83 decided to drop their glowing first single from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Calvin Harris figured he wanted to continue making people groove and Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver opted to take over the cover game with renditions of Bonnie Rait & The National cuts. The pace may be slightly more laid back than Tuesday’s mixtape, but no less stunning. Icelandic gypsy folk collective Of Monsters and Men make harmonious music together, while Toro y Moi and Ralphael Saadiq offer up midtempo jams of their own. My favorite track so far though is Luke Temple’s strumming ode to a lady he just can’t have “Ophelia”. Interesting name and even better song. If someone explains Iron & Wine’s “Monkeys Uptown” though, it may be the frontrunner.

JayeL Audio 7-29-11 – DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Fair Ohs – Baldessari
2. Jack Beauregard – Hollywood
3. Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle
4. M83 – Midnight City
5. Of Monsters and Men – From Finner
6. Handsome Furs – Memories of the Future
7. The Tallest Man On Earth – Weather of a Killing Kind
8. Alex Winston – Velvet Elvis
9. Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing
10. Gardens & Villa – Thorn Castles
11. Calvin Harris – Feel So Close
12. Hoodie Allen – The Chase Is On
13. Iron & Wine – Monkeys Uptown
14. Outasight – Setting Sun
15. Luke Temple – Ophelia
16. St Lucia – All Eyes On You
17. Raphael Saadiq – Just Don’t ft Yukimi Nagano (of Little Dragon)
18. Toro y Moi – Still Sound
19. Mumford & Sons – England (The National cover)
20. Bon Iver – I Can’t Make You Love Me/Nick Of Time (Bonnie Rait Cover)

Get after it in the comments.

photo via Joakim Johnson and available for purchase at Threadless.

New music time. It may only be July, but this edition may have one of my favorite tracks of the year in Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”. Go ahead and try to ignore the chemistry with Kimbra and the chorus that will somehow inch into your mind multiple times a day. Aside from that bombshell, Wilco, Mumford & Sons, The Drums and Real Estate show off wares from their next efforts. Tennis and She & Him showcase female driven throwback covers and Fair Ohs continue on their threat to own summer of 2011. Later, Heavy Roc artist Samuel gets his Postal Service on in honorable fashion and The Knux come up with a summer anthem with the help of Scott Mescudi. Last but not least, GA’s own Turf War comes up with their most potent offering yet in “Cheers To The Years.” Ask Laura, I haven’t stopped listening to it for two weeks.

JayeL Audio 7-26-11 – DOWNLOAD (.rar)

1. Wilco – I Might
2. She & Him – Oh Boy (Buddy Holly cover)
3. Turf War – Cheers to the Years
4. Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know ft Kimbra
5. Mumford & Sons – Home (live on KBCO)
6. me&LP – La Belle Tocade
7. Jonquil – Get Up
8. Swimsuit – Sunlight (.mp3)
9. Acid House Kings – Under water
10. My Morning Jacket – Holdin On To Black Metal
11. Real Estate – Its Real
12. Fair Ohs – Everything is Dancing
13. Sean Bones – If You Hear A Knock
14. The Knux – Run ft Kid Cudi
15. Fitz & the Tantrums – Dear Mr. President
16. The Drums – Money
17. Samuel – Say Goodbye (.mp3)
18. Atlas Genius – Trojans (.mp3)
19. Theophilus London – I Stand Alone
20. Radical Something – Long Hair Don’t Care
21. Chromeo – When The Night Falls ft Solange (Breakbot Remix)
22. Tennis – Is It True (Brenda Lee Cover)
23. Trails – Animal (Miike Snow cover)

Let me know your favorites in the comments. Seriously.

Delayed releases are nothing new for hip-hop albums, in fact they are almost expected. Lil Wayne and Young Money are particularly notorious for keeping fans on a revolving release calendar (no way Drizzy’s new album comes before 2012, btw). For comic relief, AVClub has been doing a fantastic job on reporting this recently. At least Wayne and Drake have rewarded fans for their patience with free music and so come the Sorry 4 The Wait mixtape. We forgive you Weezy.

Sorry 4 the Wait Mixtape:
01. Tunechi’s Back
02. Rollin’ freestyle
03 Throwed Off freestyle (feat. Gudda Gudda)
04. Gucci Gucci freestyle
05. Marvins Room freestyle
06. Sure Thing freestyle
07. Grove St Party freestyle (feat. Lil B)
08. Racks freestyle
09. Hands Up freestyle
10. Sorry 4 The Wait
11. Inkredible Remix freestyle
12. IDK freestyle

The Carter IV dropping Neveruary 3000 (at least it will be before Detox).

Now these are the types of mixtapes I can have a little more fun with. Its not all necessarily brand new music, but hopefully plenty of music to keep you parting into the night. There are new tracks from the likes of Martin Solveig, Asher Roth and Beyonce, but also remixes of favorites like Beastie Boys, Alex Winston, The Police and Daft Punk. Oh, and I still can’t get the new Rapture song out of my idea. Let me know when you do. See you at the campfire, next to the dancefloor…

JayeL Audio – 4th of July 2011 Mixtape – NITE: DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Wiz Khalifa – Fly Solo
2. Asher Roth – Last Man Standing ft Akon
3. Beastie Boys – Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win ft Santigold (Major Lazer Remix)
4. Martin Solveig – The Night Out
5. LehtMoJoe – Machu Picchu Goes On (The Strokes vs. Lupe Fiasco)
6. Alex Winston – Sister Wife (Star Slinger Remix)
7. Foster The People – Houdini (RAC Mix)
8. TV on the Radio – Will Do (XXXChange Dancehall Mix)
9. The Police – Roxanne (DiscoTech Remix)
10. Avicii – ID (Levels) (Original Mix)
11. Outasight – Figure 8 (Gigamesh of DiscoTech remix)
12. Adele – Rolling In The Deep ft Childish Gambino (Jamie xx Remix)
13. Swedish House Mafia – Save the World ft John Martin
14. Kelly Rowland – Lay It On Me ft Big Sean
15. Pitbull – Give Me Everything (Tonight) ft Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer
16. Martin Solveig – Ready 2 Go ft Kele of Bloc Party
17. The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love
18. Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
19. Beyonce – Party ft Andre 3000
20. Daft Punk – Derezzed (Avicii Remix)
21. The Hood Internet – All Of The Lights (Ellie Goulding x Portland Cello Project x Kanye West)

Who doesn’t love 4th of July? Friends, family, burgers, beer, sunshine, beach, margaritas? Hopefully, these tunes are apt to keep you satisfied in the sand. CSS is the winner of this mix (in my opinion), but Fair Ohs, Josh Rouse and the Knocks put up a fight as well? Let me know your favorite in the comments

JayeL Audio – 4th of July 2011 Mixtape – DAY: DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Peter Bjorn John – Dig A Little Deeper
2. Josh Rouse & the Long Vacations – Diggin In The Sand
3. Noah & The Whale – Tonight’s The Kind of Night (RAC Mix)
4. Fair Ohs – Almost Island
5. Tally Hall – You & Me
6. CSS – Hits Me Like A Rock
7. Hey Champ – Anything At All
8. Lightwaves – Everybody Rock
9. Naked & Famous – Punching In A Dream
10. Spree Wilson – No Use In Running
11. Fitz & The Tantrums – Money Grabber (Daytrotter Session)
12. Delta Spirit – She’s Not There (The Zombies Cover)
13. Cee-Lo – Baby, I Don’t Care (Buddy Holly cover)
14. Mayer Hawthorne – A Long Time
15. Best Coast – Gone Again
16. James & Evander – Constellating
17. Fair Ohs – Eden Rock
18. Givers – Up Up Up
19. Starfucker – Rawnald Gregory Erickson The Second
20. Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
21. The Knocks – Sunshine
22. Pretty Lights – Pretty Lights vs. Summertime