Free mashups and compilations continue to provide some of the best pop anywhere, reckons Chris Salmon
According to legend, the sound of inmates whooping in response to the murder lyric in Johnny Cash's live recording of Folsom Prison Blues was actually added in a studio afterwards. So, really, mashup artist DJ Topcat has merely followed tradition by updating the famous performance with a breakbeat and a blistering guest rap from NWA's Eazy-E. The resulting track, Folsom Prison Gangstaz, is the highlight of the Best of Bootie 2010 album, the latest instalment of the free compilations put together each year by bootiemashup.com. The album proves, once again, how imaginative and vibrant the mashup scene remains. Other corkers include Knock Out Eileen, which features LL Cool J rhyming over Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Papa Was a Ghost which seamlessly matches the Temptations with Deadmaus. Meanwhile, Van Halen are unlikely winners of the "most mashed" award with their song Jump appearing in three of the album's 22 tracks: the one somehow combining it with the backing track of John Lennon's Imagine is particularly impressive.
It's been a bumper month for mixtapes, with several more artists unveiling their free downloads in the past few days. Chicago rapper Kid Sister has caused quite a stir in the US with her excellent new Kiss Kiss Kiss mixtape, which you can swap your email address for at foolsgoldrecs.com/kidsister. The mixtape features 13 of the MC's groovesome, baile funk-inspired hip-hop tunes, including Gucci Rag Top, a pin-sharp collaboration with rising Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane. Meanwhile, electropopsters Fenech Solerhave uploaded their latest compilation mixtape, featuring a party-starting selection of tracks from Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem and, of course, themselves: get it from bit.ly/fenechmix.
In a week that's contained what's said to be the most depressing day of the year, owners of iPhones/iPod Touches can, quite literally, sing the blues with the new Blues Writer app. Shell out �1.19, via blueswriterapp.com, and the app opens with a blank notebook page, where you're encouraged to jot down your worries and woes, using the inbuilt rhyming dictionary to help transform it into verse. Then, having selected from one of 10 professionally recorded blues backing tracks, you can record yourself singing the song and share your musical sorrows across the social sites, via Soundcloud. But even if you don't let anyone hear your blues creation, it turns out that ranting along to music is both enjoyably silly and strangely cathartic.
Send your favourite links to chris.salmon@guardian.co.uk
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/20/click-to-download-best-of-bootie
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