Not to state the obvious or anything, but there are a lot of great songs already out there in the world. And don’t get me wrong, originality is the shit, but the concept of the remix is just a beautiful thing. The internet age makes it possible for folks to create entirely new songs out of other artist’s work, usually without even asking them. In general, I think that’s a good look. It democratizes music, treating songs more like public property, rather than just a commodity. Anyway, the blog world has actually been teeming with ridiculous remixes, edits and blends lately. So we thought we should share some favorites. Enjoy.

Download: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes – “Janglin’” (RAC Mix)

Download: The Hood Internet – “Dougie Vision” (Toro Y Moi + Cali Swag District)

Download: Beach House – “Lover of Mine (Roman Ruins Remix)”

Download: Best Coast – “Boyfriend” (Ghostwaves Edit)

Download: Usher – “There Goes My Baby + Bonita Applebum” (Splash Blend)

Download: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy” (RAC Mix)

Download: Al Green – “Simply Beautiful” (George Lenton Remix)

Download: Yeasayer – “O.N.E.” (Teen Daze Remix)

Download: Maximum Balloon feat. Theophilus London – “Groove Me” (Alex Metric Remix)

Download: Au Revoir Simone – “Another Likely Story” (Aeroplane Remix)

Video: Cee-Lo feat. 50 Cent – “Fuck You” (Remix)

This song is a movement in itself already. I swear I’ve seen like thirty folks throw it up on Facebook in ten days or so it’s been out. It’s funny though. When songs like this drop, I tend to feel like it’s poetic justice. Cee-Lo is one of those cats that’s written a few dozen amazing songs, and only a few of them ever really get that mainstream ubiquity (“Crazy” being the most obvious example). It’s good though. Max said last night that he’s juiced to see what Mr. Green does next, and I think that’s the mark of a great artist. So here go the visuals for the most viral song on the internet right now. If you don’t crack a smile watching this, you might want to look into these.

Download: Mos Def – “California”

For the kids like myself that grew up in ’90s, I think most of us remember an era when MTV was the purveyor of all things cool. Beavis & Butthead and Daria aired daily, The Real World wasn’t scripted yet and alternative, electronica, and hip-hop music inspired some of the dopest music videos of all time. The music video was a full-fledged art form, complete with superstar directors (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry) and full of weird shit an eight year-old kid probably shouldn’t have been watching.

But hey. Now that MTV programming is almost exclusively dedicated to quality, thought-provoking programming like Jersey Shore and The Hills, it’s hard to see why anyone would be nostalgic for a time when these five-minute masterpieces ruled the small screen. In any case, Pitchfork picked 50 of their favorites, and luckily for us nostalgia junkies, Maaria gave me the heads up. Check here for the full list, and hit MORE for a few of my personal favorites.

Notorious B.I.G. ft. 112 – “Sky’s The Limit” (Directed by Spike Jonze)

Jamiroquai – “Virtual Insanity” (Directed by Jonathan Glazer)

The Smashing Pumpkins – “1979″ (Directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)

Missy Elliott – “The Rain” (Directed by Hype Williams)

Weezer – “Buddy Holly” (Directed by Spike Jonze)

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Directed by Samuel Bayer)

Good songs come from a lot of different places. I remember last month at the Foreign Exchange show at Yoshi’s SF, Phonte spoke on the all-too-common, and frankly unnecessary debate between “mainstream” and “indie” fans. The Foreign Exchange proceeded to hit us with the musically inclined, neo-soul versions of “Turn My Swag On” and “Stanky Leg”, among others. That shit was comedy. The point being that at the end of the day, it’s all music, and the lines people tend to draw often have more to do with perception than musical quality. With the Bowties crowd, maybe I’m preaching to the choir. You guys have some eclectic tastes, which is why I can drop some Diddy and some Beach House in the same post, and not really think twice about it. Anyway, we’re glad to have you behind us. The best is yet to come.

Download: Lupe Fiasco – “Go To Sleep”

Download: Beach House – “White Moon”

Download: Flying Lotus – “Camera Day”

Download: Wale – “The Soup”

Download: Ducktails – “Hamilton Road”

Download: Dirty Money feat. Drake – “Loving You No More”

Download: Nipsey Hussle – “Hotel Room Music”

Download: Small Black – “Photojournalist”

Download: Consequence feat. Rick Ross – “The More I Get”

Video: MGMT – “Congratulations”

Video: Drake feat. Lil’ Wayne – “Miss Me”

Video: Mac Miller – “Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. It’s usually better to keep things simple. With the video for “Fuck You”, Cee-Lo’s songwriting is front and center, and with good reason. This is just a really, really well-written pop song, and it’s something most of us can probably relate to. All analysis aside though, this record put a big, stupid smile on my face last night. And not that many records are capable of doing that. Thought you might dig it too.

Download: Bilal – “Restart”

There’s a few things I like to think I know about art. And among them are a few ideas pretty closely related to this video. For one, less is more. Doing something simple often says a lot. Secondly, emotional investment in one’s work is important; it allows to art to be a release for the artist, and it makes the piece resonate with it’s audience that much more. Thirdly, a magnetic and talented performer can make anything worth watching. For all of those reasons, the video for “Cold War”, shot in a mental asylum in a single take, is one beautiful piece of art. Janelle continues to impress.

No one really likes Monday mornings. Getting up early is weak. Work is weak, unless you’re job is really that clean (Crosby, Will and the rest of the Google staff, I see you). But hey, getting up early has its upside sometimes. Take right now for instance. It’s been a slow ass week, so today’s a good day to drop a gang of new tracks. For the folks who missed the latest snippet from Andre 3000, feel free to peep below, and expect to see the CDQ off Jeezy’s album soon. The K-Os & Drizzy is serious, the Röyksopp is a jam, the Matthew Dear is geeked and that Twista damn near gave me chills. One of the best verses I’ve heard in a minute. Anyway, there’s a bunch of new shit to check out, and the last two songs are about hard drugs, which is cool too. For the folks on the grind, I hope you work somewhere where it’s cool to have some headphones on.

Download: Andre 3000 – “I Do”

Download: Röyksopp – “This Space”

Download: K-Os feat. Drake – “Faith”

Download: Mark Ronson feat. Ghostface Killah – “Lose It (In the End)”

Download: Matthew Dear – “Soil to Seed”

Download: Twista feat. Raekwon – “The Heat” (Produced by No I.D. & The Legendary Traxster)

Download: Arcade Fire – “Half Light II (No Celebration)”

Download: Teengirl Fantasy – “Cheaters”

Download: Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West – “Wylin’ Cuz I’m Young”

Download: How To Dress Well – “Ecstasy With Jojo”

Download: Young Jeezy – “Powder” (“Power” Freestyle)

Video: M.I.A. – “XXXO”

Video: Theophilus London – “Hey Wonderful”

Video: Freddie Gibbs – “4681 Broadway” (Live in Studio, from Yours Truly)

So where do you go after you’ve done it all musically? Well after the polarizing, genre-stretching autotune opus that was 808s, I guess a return to his hip-hop anthem comfort zone makes sense. Following up the portrait of “Power”, Mr. West stopped by Angie Martinez’ show earlier today to premier the latest from his forthcoming, still-untitled album. Accompanied by a soulful pair of appearances from Beyonce and Charlie Wilson, Ye drops quotables left and right (“I’m Socrates, but my skin more chocolatey”), over smooth fare from No I.D. with a little help from Lex Luger (Rick’s “B.M.F.”). It’s unmastered, and as far as the new material we’ve heard so far, it’s pretty light stuff. But given that there’s only so much summer left, it’s pretty good timing. Thoughts?

Download: Kanye West feat. Beyonce & Charlie Wilson – “See Me Now”

Whether we’re looking at albums, or artistic statements, I think few are more important or more impressive than the ones we’ve had a chance to see from Ms. Badu so far this year. Two important things to keep in mind about Erykah though for this one. For one, she’s a hip-hop head. Secondly, she likes to throw curveballs every once in a while. So if the collab/short-film with Ricky Ross sitting shotgun wasn’t quite what you expected, that’s okay. The best artists keep us guessing, and this one is something special. I’d recommend waiting this one out til the end.

Download: Tha Boogie feat. Raphael Saadiq – “I See U”

Damn, is it really August already? By some folks’ logic, I think that’s supposed to mean Summer should be winding down. Personally, I like my glasses half-full, so let’s just say there’s a whole month left. Lately, I’m pretty partial to the Freddie Gibbs tape, but Arcade Fire, Slum Village and Seu Jorge’s new projects have all been getting some burn too. For my B-Town folks, I’m not mad at the latest from the Cataracs either. A little pop shit is only healthy. Hit MORE for all of the above, plus the new single from Wayne and Drizzy.

Download: Slum Village feat. J Dilla, Posdnous & Phife Dawg – “Scheming”

Download: Teen Inc. – “Friend of the Night”

Download: Lil’ Wayne feat. Drake – “Right Above It”

Download: Seu Jorge & Almaz – “Rock With You” (Michael Jackson Cover)

Download: Kid Cudi – “Mojo So Dope”

Download: Deerhunter – “Revival”

Download: Big Boi feat. Sleepy Brown – “Turns Me On”

Download: Arcade Fire – “City With No Children”

Download: Freddie Gibbs – “4681 Broadway”

Download: The Cataracs – “Top of the World”

Video: The Roots feat. John Legend – “The Fire” (Directed by Rik Cordero)

Video: Chromeo – “Don’t Turn the Lights On”

Download: Nina Simone – “Here Comes the Sun”