Jacki-O + Frankie Valli + Pilooski + Mavs

You may or may not remember Jacki-O and her 2004 track "Pussy (Real Good)." Truth is, y'all probably don't; despite spending two-thirds of my waking hours listening to music on- and offline, I didn't remember the cut. But her new cut "Hood Girl" (which samples "Sweet Dreams") is out of control, and you'll soon remember what you loved about the young lady. (Thanks to the Grindin squad for putting me on to this.)



And for something slightly less new (but equally awesome), check out the video for Pilooski's edit of Frankie Valli's "Beggin'." The song's incredible (and we've all known that for a hot minute now), but I hadn't seen the flick until yesterday. And that's a shame, for it's quite fun. Though the same throughout (until the slightly sexual ending, that is), I'm intrigued. Mostly 'cause I kinda wish girls still wore hilarious dresses like that, but still.



Oh. And Dallas beat the Spurs last night. That means that the 6th-seeded Mavs are moving on to the second round for the first time since the Dwayne Wade incident (note: my money's on the Hawks in that series). Granted we'll probably be squashed by Denver, but still. Much love:

Girl Talk @ Cornell Photo Recap

This is a few weeks delayed - sorry folks.

I'd caught Girl Talk before, so the set was as expected. Jackhammer samples of top-40 jams and classics smashed together in an omlet fit for a crowd of screaming teenagers. What blew me away this time was the fuel injection Mr. Gillis has obviously given his tech rider. The show crammed somewhere in the area of 4,000 kids into our field house and set a lucky few (they seriously raffled off on-stage "dancing tickets" to 40 kids) on stage with the laptop maestro for what seemed like way too much production for a mashup artist (I'll respect his efforts to avoid the term "DJ" - no matter how much I may or not disagree). Well, when the 34 subwoofers (at my count) started pumping and the former bio-engineer took the stage, shit went off. As if that weren't enough, a highly intoxicated GZA (much love!) came on stage to shoot the shit and look around at how this bearded clown on an IBM Toughbook had so many 20 year-old girls taking their clothes off at the sound of Tiny Dancer. Peep the fotoz yawl.

Little Boots + Sugarhill Gang + Bob Sinclar

O.K. So I've loved Little Boots for ages and ages and ages. Thus, I was naturally skeptical when everyone and the hyper-elitist dog started barking about how rubbish "New in Town" was. And, as per usual, I was right - the song's on point and the haters are yapping without reason. So maybe it doesn't quite measure up to "Stuck on Repeat" and "Meddle." So what. This track's still fun as heck, and the video's interesting (to say the least). Peep:



And on that older tip, be sure to check out the Sugarhill Gang's new effort with Bob Sinclar. Seriously. Everyone knows "Rapper's Delight," "Apache", and "Eighth Wonder," but how many cats realize that the dudes are still rhyming? And gracious grannies, these guys can still flow better than the vast majority of the Top 40 scene.

DJing in Syracuse + Thunderheist + Soulja Boy

Those of y'all who were around for the early Panda Toes days know that I love Thunderheist. I interviewed Isis a gazillion years ago and caught the dude and dudette live in L.A. - both experiences only made me love the duo more. And though "Jerk It" and "Sueños Dulces" are still my two favorite Thunderheist songs (see: my two favorite songs of all time), this cut's still on point.



And now for the Soulja Boy I promised y'all a couple of posts back. The song features Gucci Mane (what's more, I believe this is his first post-jail video) and Shawty Lo. Much like most Soulja Boy cuts, I hated this at first; unsurprisingly, I soon fell in love. Crucial video shots such as Way hanging his chain over the door of his car and dancing in front of (and in sync with) a trillion kids don't hurt, either. "Gucci ban-dana, Gucci Gucci ban-dana."



P.S. I'm DJing at Trexx in Syracuse tonight. Should be a great time. I'm on at one, but doors music starts at ten. Roll through!

Passion Pit + Linus Loves

"Sleepyhead" was without question one of the five most prevalent songs on the Dartmouth campus during the summer of 2008. Every fraternity basement was pumping an unexplainable mix of random radio rap, off-key and poorly timed mash-ups, and Passion Pit. It was bizarre. Lovely, but bizarre. And though slightly less memorable (the vocal wails on "Sleepyhead" are impossible to forget), "The Reeling" looks to be a similarly popular jam. Infectious, energetic, etc. - the tune's got all the ingredients to give Passion Pit a summer anthem for the second year in a row.



When I got an email regarding Linus Loves and his new track "Prom Night," I simply couldn't be bothered to check it out - I hadn't heard of the lad, and I'm lazy as can be. But when I saw that he's label mates with the ever-incredible Mylo (dude was my introduction to electronic music), I knew I had to check the video out. And lo and behold, it's fun as can be. The song's unpretentious and exciting (much like those of my aforementioned hero) and the video, though a played out concept, is hilarious. Hilarious in an uncomfortable way, but hilarious nonetheless.

Dizzee + A.v.H. + Soulja Boy

We all knew Dizzee Rascal + Armand van Helden was gonna be a good look. However, I didn't know I'd ride for "Bonkers" this hard. Something about Dizzee's urgency over Armand's fuzzy instrumentals just kills me. Don't really know what to think of the video just yet, but at least enjoy the song:



And then there's Soulja Boy. (Haters: leave now, please.) Though I'm pretty sure Way doesn't rhyme once on "Turn My Swag On" (I guess "I put my team on, get my things on" is kinda close to a slant rhyme), I love it. Certified club hit, no joke. And the video. Oh, the video. Blowing your nose with money, putting on four or five chains, riding Vespas, etc. Welcome to the good life, Mr. Tell 'Em.



P.S. Be sure to grab a new Major Lazer cut from my latest BIGSTEREO post.

P.P.S. Get ready for more Soulja Boy posts in the very near future. No whining.

Walking on a Dream

It's the weekend - you know what that means. I'll be spending my time spinning, grilling, and basking in the precious few hours of sunlight we have here in Ithaca. I've got two remixes of the same Empire of the Sun jam that both kill. Fellow Aussie Van She Tech takes the original on a bassy-electro ride, while Treasure Fingers gives the melodies some synth re-imagination (dude is on some funky disco ish).

Maino + The World - "Hi Hater"

I'm pretty sure the video of some dude towing Maino's "Hi Hater" van (and proceeding to give Maino's famed wave) was posted on more blogs than was the actual "Hi Hater" video. And because I'm a great guy with outstanding morals, I feel that it's my duty to take a step towards rectifying this horrifying situation.

Dudes love to credit the success of this tune to it's novelty (the wave, of course) alone. However, the song's a quality effort. I mean, there's definitely a reason Swizz Beatz, T.I., Plies, Jadakiss, and Fabolous signed on. The video may or may not be boring as can be, but boy do I ever like the track.

Nightcrawlers + Pitbull

OK. So I may or may not need a sixteen year late pass. But regardless, Nightcrawlers' "Push the Feeling On" is hot as heck. Bob Sinclar kept it in mind when remixing Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music." And though it may or may not have the worst music video in the history of music videos, I find myself listening to it on YouTube each and every day. It's just that good.



And what's more, Pitbull - a.k.a. the king of jacking great dance instrumentals and spicing 'em up with a little Miami flavor - just sampled the cut for use in his "Hotel Room." And though I'd rather listen to the original any day of the week, there's no denying that this jam's gonna come in handy for those that play Top 40 parties on the regular.

Chamillionaire + Paul Wall + Ricochet

Aight. So let's move on to some Texas rap. First up is a classic from Paul Wall and Chamillionaire: "Falsifying." Could've gone with some U.G.K. I suppose (R.I.P. Pimp C), but this Color Changin' Click joint has been dear to me for many, many years. Two of Houston's finest (I don't really dig Paul Wall, but it's a whole different story when he's with Chamillionaire) doing some great stuff. Pre-beef brilliance.



And then there's a new joint: Ricochet's "Clean as a Whistle." Song is everywhere you go in Dallas. What's more, it's all over the radio. Simply inescapable. Which, of course, is a good thing. Gotta love songs that drop the line, "I'll pop your ass like a pimple." There's a lot of really hot stuff coming out of Dallas these days, and y'all will be hearing a lot of it here.

The Juan Maclean is not a Latin American Cleaning Solvent

If this new jam, "One Day," is any indication, the Juan MacLean is much more than that. The track has been blowing up since WMC and this Surkin edit adds some funky Miami house chops that scream "we're yachting in skinny jeans!". I'm predicting this to be the disco jam of the summer. Cop the full release over at the Turntable Lab.

Jack Peñate - "Tonight's Today"

Hi boys and girls. Welcome to the new and unimproved Panda Toes. Since I'm well aware of the fact that each and every one of you internet fiends can hunt down any track I post about, I'll no longer be wrestling with zShare and Y.S.I. links; instead, I'll be posting videos and encouraging y'all to buy the tracks I write up (knowing full well that you'll probably just steal 'em in cold blood).

Ahem. So now that that's out of the way, let's get onto some music. In particular, Jack Peñate's "Tonight's Today." I guess the dude released an album (Matinée) that did relatively well on the U.K. charts. Still, word on the Wikipedia tells me that the release got some not-so-rave reviews. Which means that either a) Peñate seriously stepped his game up for this single or b) people are haters. Or both. Anyways:



Welcome back, Panda Toes faithful. Let's do big things.