Bay Area native Amplive of Zion I took the initiative to remix Radiohead's notoriously gratis LP In Rainbows with a legion of hip hop talent including Del The Funky Homosapien, Too $hort, MC Zumbi of Zion I and Chali2na of Jurassic 5. (Un)fortunately, Radiohead issued a cease and desist on the project when it was discovered - but allowing the finished tracks to be available free of charge. This 8-track remix album of In Rainbows , entitled Rainydayz , happens to be...

Photo of Kid Sister © NickyDigital.com Last month, The Natural History Museum hosted a gang of Chicago-bred, genre-blending upstarts from the Fools Gold label. It was a Flavorpill production that turned the site of numerous ennui-inducing school field trips, into an electro-hop playground. Hip hop tag team The Cool Kids , known for their musical-head-nod-to-the-old-school single, "Gold And A Pager," busted on stage with their reliable...

The most talked about newcomer of 2007 Amy Winehouse won a whopping 5 Grammys last night, including Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year and the most coveted Record of the Year. We've been saying it all year and rightly so - who can deny that voice? Mark Ronson, producer of Amy's 'Back To Black,' garnered Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for said album, Lily Allen's “Littlest Things,” his own 'Version' as well as Winehouse's...

February 4th, 2008: MLK Weekend This column is kicking off at the top of Black History Month and what better way to usher in February than with a bunch of celebrations in honor of that great orator and organizer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As a student, MLK weekend often means a wave of essays, lectures, symposia and even pageants commemorating his legacy. As an about-town 20-something in NYC it often means spending Sunday night shearing rugs at crowded venues...

Rykodisc turns 25 this year and to commemorate its quarter of a century status, the label is giving away 5 free downloads on the 25th of every month from its extensive back catalogue. Artists as wide ranging as Frank Zappa, Ali Farke Toure, Toumani Diabate, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, Jimi Hendrix, King Sunny Ade, Medeski, Martin & Wood and John Scofield have calleda Rykodisc home over the past two and half decades. The imprint continues to grow in 2008, extending its open...

Leslie Feist, Brad Paisley and Alicia Keys have been added to the list of performers at the Grammy Awards in LA, Feb. 10, joining Beyonce, Mary J. Blige performing a gospel collaboration with Aretha Franklin, Rihanna and others. Thankfully, last week the Grammy's reached an interim deal with the Writers' Guild of America so that it could move forward with planning the prestigious awards show despite the ongoing strike.

Erykah Badu is back with her first single "Honey" (prod. by 9th Wonder) off the new album New Amerykah out Feb. 26th. The video uses the oh-so-slick superimposed animation technique, recreating famous vinyl cover art - this time starring Ms. Badu. In a previous interview on SOHH.com, Erykah spoke about healing hip hop, and it looks like she's delivering the antidote to its ailments in just one month's time. "Honey"...

One of the largest and longest running purveyers of quality independent music, the European Ninja Tune label is preparing to release a monster compilation of 50 tracks entitled You Don't Know: Ninja Cuts Feb. 25th. It will be available as a 3-CD release and MP3 bundle. Visit the link below to download 10 free songs from the compilation including music by The Cinematic Orchestra, Zero dB, Wiley, Bonobo and more.

J.Rocc of The Beat Junkies has created an exclusive mix from tracks of the Droppin' Science: Greatest Samples From The Blue Note Lab compilation (out Feb. 12th), comprised of 10 classic records sampled by hip hop producers of the 80's, 90's and 00's. J.Rocc deftly juxtaposes the hip hop hits by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr, Beastie Boys, Dr. Dre and many more with the Blue Note tracks to which they pay tribute. The mix is streaming now on Giant Step's Weekly...

There has been a change of venue for the MySpace Music Tour Featuring Justice Presented by Discover Card. It is now being held at WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden , a slightly more intimate setting for your D.A.N.C.E.-ing pleasure. Tickets purchased for the Madison Square Garden will be exchanged for the WaMu show. Patrons who purchased tickets with a credit card will have the new ticket mailed to them. If they purchased through an outlet with cash they will have their tickets...