We’ve been waiting for a new Wale mixtape since his last “Mixtape about nothing”, the beautiful Seinfeld homage. Back to the feature is out, once again in collaboration with a clothing company, this time LRG. The tracks are pretty great, and it’s free. Get it on his myspace, or here.

The tape is predominately produced by 9th wonder and features collabs with Peter, Bjorn and John, Talib Kweli, Memphis Bleek, Young Chris, Freeway and even Lady Gaga.

Wale – New Soul [Feat. Yael Naim] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Wale – Life’s a Bitch [Feat. Talib Kweli & Joell Ortiz] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Summer easy listening gravitates us towards the classics. Here we have two classics, the original Islands in the Stream duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton as well as the cover Ghetto Superstar by Mya, Pras and ODB popularized the 1998 film Bulworth.

Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton – Islands in the Stream (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Pras [feat. Mya & ODB] – Ghetto Superstar (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If this track sounds like a little bit of everything, that’s because it is. Sensual Harassment is a brand new band out of Brooklyn and the track below was produced by Jesse Cannon who has had his fingers in The Cure, Animal Collective and The Misfits. Production is especially important when trying to do a synth driven rock thing and the first two tracks that have been made available are catchy and tight. It’s just 80’s enough to make me want to order a gin tonic but not so much that I’ll start wearing white denim.

Sensual Harassment – Soldier (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Illustrator: Alex Davis

For many people, the very mention of a concept album will have them rolling their eyes. Visions of a generation of Dad’s and their teen sons who have fetishized albums like The Dark Side of the Moon ad nauseam dance in the head. It is understandably tempting to write off the concept album as nothing more than a vehicle to chauffeur the egos of the Abbey Road greats. Often thought of as the polar opposite to rock, hip hop music has historically been ingested on a song-by-song basis. But the hip hop concept album is alive and well. It has been lurking in the annals of the genre’s short history, only making the briefest of appearances in the mainstream and seldom getting its due.

To read the full feature I wrote for Snap Magazine, click here.

Here are some tracks from the albums I talk about in the story.

Deltron 3030 – Madness (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Handsome Boy Modeling School – If It Wasn’t For You (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Prince Paul – More Than U Know [Feat. De La Soul] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

These kids from Brooklyn have been remixing everything from Micheal Jackson to MGMT, with some pretty solid originals thrown in “for good measure”. You can check them out at Green Label Sound along with The Cool Kids and Matt & Kim. Here are a few of the better Holy Ghost! remixes “to keep the kids of the streets”.

Phoenix – Lisztomania [Holy Ghost! Remix] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire [Holy Ghost! Remix] (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Above is a screengrab of a postcard sent to fans from Kings of Convenience announcing an upcoming album and corresponding tour. This is great news for anyone in Montreal who has been waiting for another show since 2006! Here’s a new single which has also been floating around the internet to give you a taste of what’s to come. More of the same, great vocal harmonies and guitar melodies.

Kings of Convenience – Mrs. Cold (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I Come to Shanghai is a bay area band that has been many years in the making. Their debut self titled album was finally released a few weeks ago and by now I’ve spent a great deal of time listening to it. Although the band consists of just two members, Sam and Robert, it has a full sound that showcases the eclectic musical abilities of the band. Nearly all of the songs feature vocal harmonies at just the right moments – something that these days can be easily overdone. They also show a commitment to experimentation that never gets in the way of catchy songwriting and humorous but smart lyrics.

You can download the full album on their website on a pay what you want basis. The entire album as great as these two songs, so please do. If that doesn’t convince you, check out the video for the song “Your Lazy Eye” below.

I Come to Shanghai – Pass the Time (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I Come to Shanghai – Do We Have to Rise Again (zshare)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.