The way I see it, there are two trends that have just about made their way into modern music: the mash-up phenomenon and the Indie-hop phenomenon. I’ve highlighted some the artists that have been at the forefront of these movements in the past, so I’m gonna repeat a couple of old artists today, but then add a couple others.

A plethora of bands have been hopping on the Indie-Hop band wagon. From rap legends De La Soul’s Matt & Kim remix to new kids on the block Chiddy Bang’s recent mix tape, everyone is realizing the market potential meshing these two genres together has. A new name to the list is the ever-fun Blue Scholars. They recently came out with a mix of Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream.” They’re not the first group to use this particular song for their rap, but that doesn’t take away from what they’ve done with Empire’s track.

Next, we have some new Chiddy Bang, this time using Hot Chip’s new “One Life Stand.” I’ve got to say the Chiddy crew came through pretty quickly with this one, as Hot Chip only just dropped the One Life Stand album a couple months ago. I also particularly like the shout-out to Virgin Atlantic’s free in-flight wireless. Oh cultural references…

Read the rest of this entry »