Meet Fool’s Gold’s latest signee, Telephoned, the brainchild of Maggie Horn and Fool’s Gold DJ/producer Sammy Bananas.  The 18-track “Off The Hook” Mixtape features a new spin on many songs that we already know and (in some cases) love.

The project’s tracks are neither remixes nor covers, rather a hybrid of both. Sammy Bananas expertly morphs the original beats into infectious tunes fit for the dance floor. Paired with Maggie Horn’s vocal stylings, each song on the mixtape brings a fresh take on the original track. The reggae-tinged “Dancin’ On Me” (Featuring Jahdan Blakkamoore) samples Enur’s Calabria and has a hint of dubstep, while “Million Dollar Bill” (originally by Whitney Houston) samples Major Lazer’s “Keep it Goin Louder”. The mixtape also features reimagined versions of “aNYway” by Duck Sauce, “Turn My Swag On” by Soulja Boy (featuring Telli Gramz from Ninjasonik), and “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

Cop a free download of the mixtape from RCRDLBL or stream it after the jump. The duo’s self-titled EP, released today, is available on iTunes and features full versions of “Dancin’ On Me”, “Turn My Swag On”, “Rockin’ That Thang”, “Pop Champagne”, and “Can’t Believe It”.

Telephoned will be celebrating the release of their EP tomorrow night at Ella. Check out our events page for more details and to RSVP. You can also catch the duo at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 30th with Cubic Zirconia and Cage. Click here for tickets.

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Re-Living Thing, Mick Boogie’s reimagining of Peter, Bjorn and John’s most recent album, was finally unleashed on the internet this week, and we are happy to report that it was worth the wait.

On his previous mixtape, Viva La Hova, Mick Boogie collaborated with Terry Urban to create mash-ups of Coldplay’s music with Jay-Z’s rhymes. For Re-Living Thing, Mick Boogie worked closely with PB&J to select producers and rappers for each track, resulting in cool remixes layered with freshly written raps.

The concept is immediately illustrated by the opening track, “Blue Period Picasso”, where Naledge & Mickey Factz use art-themed lines to compliment PB&J’s lyrics, “The paintings surround me”. Standouts include “Stay This Way” (Big Pooh, Chaundon & Phil Nash) and “It Don’t Move Me” (Kardinal Offshall, Donnis & Henok Achido), but the whole LP is a great listen from start to finish.

This might be a premature call, but Re-Living Thing could  be my favorite mixtape of the year. It’s on-point, highly original, and definitely worth your time. Download it here, and check out “Stay This Way” below.

Mick Boogie and PB&J, Featuring Big Pooh, Chandon & Phil Nash – “Stay This Way”

Click here for the full track listing.

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This week, Jay-Z released the artwork and track listing for his eleventh solo album, The Blueprint 3. Kanye West produced most tracks on the album, which features collaborations with Pharell (on the N.E.R.D.-produced track “So Ambitious”), Kid Cudi, Drake, and Alicia Keys. The buzzworthy contribution by MGMT comes in the form of “Venus vs. Mars”, which they produced.

The Blueprint 3 will be released on September 11, 2009 by Atlantic Records. View the full track list after the jump, and click here to see photos by Oliver Correa from Jay-Z’s recent headlining performance at All Points West.

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“Who you know fresher than Hov’? Riddle me that.”

Jay-Z backed up his statement with Friday’s headlining performance at All Points West. I saw him once in 1997, after releasing only 2 albums (Reasonable Doubt and In My Lifetime Vol. 1) when he was the second opener on Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Family tour. Twelve years and a staggering nine albums later, Jay-Z is a living legend.

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After the unfortunate news regarding Adam Yauch’s recent medical diagnosis, many festival organizers had some big shoes to fill. Goldenvoice, who are organizing the upcoming All Points West festival, pulled out all the stops to book Jay-Z for his first US festival performance. Hova will headline Friday night July 31st and we have a pair of tickets to give away just for you.

Jay-Z vs. Radiohead – Wrong Prayer

Over the weekend, Jay-Z made headlines with the release of his single D.O.A – Death of Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune, the audio processor used to correct pitch in vocals and instruments, is typically used to disguise precisely tuned recordings. As of recent, rappers have come to embrace this sound in attempts to sing by changing the levels of their voice to a point where they sound robotic. From Kid Rock’s Only God Knows Why to Kanye West’s album 808s and Heartbreak, the processor has come to a wide acceptance among artists who utilize the tool as an annoyance more so than a contribution to their creativity. Surprisingly, Jay-Z’s upcoming album, the Blueprint III – slated for release on September 11th, is produced by Kanye West, who also had a hand in D.O.A’s production along with producer No I.D. Its questionable that the rapper who created an entire album with Auto-Tune also produces the track that knocks on industry’s door to stop. With Jay-Z’s access to a wide audience, D.O.A has spread across the web within a couple of days like fire, but he isn’t the only artist making some noise about rappers utilizing the Auto-Tune. KRS-ONE and Buckshot are also highlighting the Auto-Tune trend on their upcoming album Survival Skills with their lead single Robot (produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep). The album is set to release on August 25th.

Perhaps Auto-Tune may return to its days of subtlety in the studio for singers. Kanye West and T-Pain may be two of the few rappers who can utilize the processor’s ability to skew pitches and make it sound good, but with Kanye producing D.O.A, one has to question if he plans on walking away from using the tool in the future. More important than the timing of Death of Auto-Tune is Jay-Z’s ability to call attention to the matter by creating some anticipation and buzz for the Blueprint III, all while making a statement to the industry.

D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune) – Jay Z

Robot – KRS-ONE and Buckshot