But anyway, back to the point. “The Only Exception” is a revox (like a remix, but not – you’ll see what I mean) by Colin Munroe and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard all week. He takes a Paramore track, strips it of nearly everything but the vocal, and sings around it. Vaguely haunting and totally awesome.

Colin Munroe – The Only Exception (Paramore Revox)

Download audio file (04-The-Only-Exception-Paramore-Revox.mp3)

Just for fun I threw together my own “moombahton” track this afternoon, you can grab it right here. It’s not nearly on Nada’s level, but it’ll let you get your fix in. The original track is Mowgli’s “London to Paris,” and yes, that is a Cruel Intentions sample you hear in there.

Ezra Mechaber – London To Paris (Moombahton Edit) [mp3 download]

Download audio file (london%20to%20paris%20(moombahton%20edit).mp3)

Time for track three, you readers (all 6 of you! just kidding). This is by far one of my least favorite joints on the tape, as almost every version I’ve heard of “Chillin’” inevitably seems to be. What the hell is with these remixes?

Okay, we need to face it: “Chillin” wasn’t amazing to begin with. It was a noble effort on Wale’s part to find a chart-plausible single, but my guess is it may have been shoved down his throat by his label. Lady GaGa was a wise choice for that kind of move, the beat sounds like it should, and the lyrics are smart. But the whole joint feels empty. Even with Lady GaGa gettin’ her MIA on in the background, it fails to impress – it sounds like the token chart-friendly-single.

Calling this joint empty is harsh (and honest), so lets admit there are some great lines: “Let’s talk about the cars ya’ll got/You say you got a lotta whips? Well I’ve got a LOT.” This line is genius in it’s own way, if only because most people will never get it. He means a LOT, as in a car-lot of cars. It’s not obvious, but it is. Which makes it annoying and pseudo-clever. I like it. Whatever, shut up.

Now let’s talk about this remix. The intro sucks – it repeats the same orchestral hit WAY too many times in the same pitch before it leads into a totally disappointing beat. It isn’t a bad remix, but it certainly isn’t what I would expect from Nick Catchdubs regardless, but it certainly isn’t what I would put on a mixtape. The beat just doesn’t ever manage to make up for that truly awful intro, and every other time I hear the orchestral beat (every bar or so), I cringe.

Why did this make the cut? Honestly, I don’t get it. It’s a remix, Catchdubs did it, maybe that was enough – they certainly couldn’t include the lead-off single of Wale’s unreleased album on a mixtape as it was. Whatever, it’s hard to polish shit.

But IS “Chillin” shit? I’ll never really figure it out – it’s not TERRIBLE, but Wale is so much more. The music can be so much deeper, so much more raw in terms of energy – this beat is just totally over-produced, and GaGa’s presence (love her though I do) doesn’t help things.

Remixes of “Chillin’” worth listening to as alternatives? DJ Benzi and Skratch Bastid (via the fantastic Mixtape Maestro!) both have different takes on the track, and both are interesting in their own right. Benzi takes the acapella, speeds the crap out of it, and laces it over a Nightcrawler-The Feeling type house beat (with a video totally worth watching), while Skratch Bastid’s is more off the walls in an old-school hip hop and funk sort of a way. Just listen, you’ll understand what I mean – and enjoy the MIA/Arab Money samples at just the right parts.

…NEXT!

Wale – Chillin’ (Catchdubs v 9th) [mp3]

Download audio file (03-chillin-feat-lady-gaga-catch-vs-9th.mp3)

Wale – Chillin’ (DJ Benzi remix) [mp3]

Download audio file (chillin-feat-lady-gaga-benzi-willy-joy-remix.mp3)

Wale – Chillin’ (Skratch Bastid remix) [mp3]

Snoop dogg, what are we going to do with you? First you mess about with Jim Morrison and now you mess about with Mr. Johnny Cash. Oh wait, “Riders on the Storm” was hot. And this record is pretty cool too. You might be violating some sort of sacred rock & roll commandments, but I won’t say anything.

To be fair, “Walk the Line” isn’t incredible – it’s got some weird small key-clashes that always put me off it, but at the same time it’s nearly endearing. Odd, yet endearing.

Snoop Dogg & Johnny Cash – Walk the Line [mp3 download]

Download audio file (i-walk-the-line-remix-feat-snoop-dogg.mp3)

JT, you crazy mofo, what are you up to this time? What? You say you’re on a track with T-Pain and you used auto-tune?! What?! Well how does it sound? Good, you say? Alright, I suppose I could give it a listen…

This track is great – it’s about time we found out what kind of effects the auto-tune effect could have on an already-great voice. The answer is stunning. T’lake sounds out of this world on this official remix of T-Pain’s “Can’t Believe It.” It doesn’t hurt that T-Pain makes the statement “Auto-tune is on it’s way out!” at the end of the track, it is certainly encouraging.

T-Pain & JT – Can’t Believe It [mp3]

Download audio file (cant-believe-it-remix-feat-justin-timberlake.mp3)

Chew-Fu does it again, my friends. Last time, he remixed “Love Lockdown” to deep house perfection, and this time he’s back with a “Festival” refix of King’s of Leon “Use Somebody.”

The sound is pretty massive, and it’s definitely one of the best Kings of Leon remixes yet, check it out below:

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody (Chew Fu Festival Remix) [mp3]

Download audio file (use-somebody-chew-fu-festival-mix.mp3)