Mash-up experts RIAA are back with a new crazy-ass mash-up collection, Sounds for the Space Set, which remixes the greats of electronic music - and by greats I mean the likes of Joe Meek, Dick Hyman, Jean Jacques Perry, Esquivel, Bruce Haack, Wendy Carlos, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, and many many more. It's all free for you, and definitely worth a listen.

On the "official" release news - the R is back in R&B. That's right, a new album dropped from R. Kelly. I usually would never use that term, but "dropping" just seems so appropriate to his style. Even though his album is on heavy rotation on my CD player, I won't share any with you...you know you'll be hearing the hell out of it on Hot 97 anyway. Instead, how about a mash-up of his new single I'm a Flirt crossed with the indie-pop of Broken Social Scene. It works, too!

And while we're talking about Kells, in July he is releasing the next chapters of Trapped in the Closet, where we may finally learn a bit about what's up with Roxanne and Tina. Now, I know TitC has become some sort of comedy gold, but I find it to be not so much funny transcendent, as if an MSR poet has finally hit the big time. Kelly has said that the plot twists are just him trying to make his friends laugh, so, yeah, ridiculousness is a given (though that is no excuse for his haphazard rhymes). But let's not ignore the fact that he has made a multi-part soap opera with a rather dull back-beat into a cultural phenomenon. Need proof? Look not ye to all the silly spoofs - but instead to the earnest home-made remakes, usually by truly dedicated teens. They're all over YouTube, but here's my favorite (note the fluidity of the cast members):

A truly crazy solo version after the jump, as well as this week's MP3 finds.

Here's another version of TitC, this time with all parts played by the same guy - live! - as he shuffles about his bedroom. Inspiring!

(See the next part here)

MP3 FINDS THIS WEEK:

• Winners of the Seventh Annual American Song Festival.
• Get down with a couple of great disco hybrid tracks from Chilly and Vivien Vee.
• Or if you prefer something a bit more psych-folk, try the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.
• All covers blog Copy Right reposts 20 favorites from their first year of blogging (back in ought 4). My favorites include the Frogs version of Vacation, Hikashu's take on The Model, an early Robert Palmer song metal-ed up by The Notwist, and Mogwai's G'N'R cover.
• Speaking of Covers, Soul Sides whips out two versions of It's Your Thing, including one by the best named soul group I can think of, Dyke & the Blazers.
• Music to eat by.
• Early Devo rarities from that reissue CD now out of print.
• A truly classic blues pairing: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
• A little collection of Bob Dylan rarities in celebration of his birthday.
• I once got kicked out of a Waffle House for playing Waffle House Fries (We Love 'Em) on the jukebox fifteen times in a row - then arguing about my right to do so. Now I can get the CD and do it at home!
• A fond farewell to Charles Nelson Reilly.
• I made a pretty firm conviction to ignore any more Star Wars stuff, but then came this Bulgarian Chalga version.
• One of my favorite Motown artists is Chris Clark, though most of her stuff has yet to be reissued. So, how about a vinyl rip of her '69 album CC Rides Again.
• "The songs are all from the 70's and are performed entirely (with the exception of the rhythm section) on electronic keyboard instruments, some of which at the time of recording were prototypes."
• Somebody else was...ahem...that's just dirty!
• Here on BotB you can get all the popcorn you want, but Funky 16 Corners offers up some soulful buttered popcorn.
• Lost In Time is an vinyl blog that is so upload-happy that it has FOUR pages, each with a different theme. The main page focuses on Psych and Garage, then there is the Prog and Classic Rock page, a Punk and New Wave page, and a Funk and Soul page. Updated daily, often more than once a day, it's worth a look - though they unfortunately use that pesky Rapidshare as their file host of choice.
• Of all the Bollywood soundtracks, here is the one I have been most eagerly awaiting - Don!
• The Vinyl Orphanage brings us cordovoxist/singer Shelly Taylor.

VIDEOS:

• Not all of Chubby Checker's dances caught on...
• Arcade Fire meets Sergio Leone, and I'll be if they don't fit together quite well.
• Dream Kitchens.
• A slew of classic clips from NBC's Night Music, including Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, The Residents, Nick Cave, and the list goes on.
• Thanks to The Tofu Hut for turning me on to Jumpstyle rave dancing.